13022019 - Ex-SGF Lawal docked, remanded in EFCC custody

CCT Trial: 

Allow NJC to 

decide 

Onnoghen’s 

FG accuses PDP of 

plan to trigger crises 

Polls: Supreme 

Court knocks out 

APC in Rivers 

ahead of polls 8 

ACF endorses 

40 fate, NBA Buhari for 

9 

begs FG second term 13 

says APC 

GDP grew by 2.38% in Q4’18 —NBS; ERGP on course — FG 

Towards credible election: 

Constitutionality of 

dragging Army into 

electoral process 

(Yusuf vs Obasanjo) 

12 

Ogun: Amosun'll pay for 

rally fracas after polls, 

20 

14 

VOL. 26: NO. 63743 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 

N272m GRASS-CUTTING SCANDAL: 

Ex-SGF Lawal docked, 

STORY 

ON PAGE 

9 

remanded in EFCC custody 

•Docked alongside 3 others, pleads not guilty; bail application before judge today 

4,695 card readers 

destroyed in Anambra 

INEC office inferno 34 

APC PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN IN KWARA... 

From left: Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture; Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, 

APC National Chairman; APC Governorship Candidate in Kwara State Abdulrahaman AbdulRasaq 

and President Muhammadu Buhari, at the APC Presidential Rally in Ilorin, Kwara State, Monday. 

PDP RALLY IN LAGOS 

Mr & Mrs 

From left, Mr. Peter Obi, PDP running mate; Prince Uche Secondus, PDP National 

Chairman; Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, PDP Presidential Candidate, his wife, Dr Titilayo 

Atiku Abubakar and Dr Bukola Saraki, Senate President, at the PDP Presidential 

Campaign Rally in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: AKEEM SALAU.

2— VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 — 3

4— VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019

vanguardnews 

@vanguardnews 

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019—5 

NEWS HOTLINES 

POCKET CARTOON 

018773962, 

@vanguardnews 08052867058 

ARRAIGNED—Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, David Babachir Lawal (2nd 

left)), with his defence counsel, during his arraignment at High Court of Federal Capital Territory in 

Abuja, yesterday. Photo: NAN. 

NEW MINIMUM WAGE: Buhari begs 

private sector not to sack workers 

•Says he’s committed to new national wage 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

ABUJA — 

PRESIDENT 

Muhammadu Buhari 

has pleaded with the 

organised private sector 

not to retrench their 

workers in a bid to pay 

the new N30,000 

national minimum wage. 

The President also 

assured Nigerian 

workers that he was 

committed to ensure the 

payment of a new 

national minimum wage 

to better the lives of the 

citizenry. 

President Buhari, who 

addressed Lagos 

Business Community on 

the sideline of the 

ongoing 

All 

Progressives Congress, 

APC, presidential 

campaign, said he would 

continue to stand firm 

with the workers on the 

implementation of a new 

minimum wage. 

While showering 

praises on the Minister 

of Labour and 

Employment, Senator 

Chris Ngige, on his 

efforts towards ensuring 

that the workers had a 

new wage, the President 

described him as very 

competent and efficient. 

At the meeting were 

the Organized Private 

Sector; Manufacturers 

Association of Nigeria, 

MAN, Nigerian 

Association of 

Chambers of 

Commerce, Industry, 

Mines and Agriculture, 

NACCIMA, Nigerian 

Association of Small and 

Medium Enterprises, 

Nigerian Employers 

Consultative 

Association, NECA, 

captains of industries 

and financial experts. 

Reading a prepared 

speech, President 

Buhari stunned his 

audience when he turned 

down the usual standing 

ovation, asking them to 

rather sit down and hear 

another story he had to 

tell about the National 

Minimum Wage. 

President Buhari said 

he had been in support 

of a New Minimum 

Wage right from the start 

because of the prevailing 

inflationary rate and the 

rising cost of living since 

the last Minimum Wage 

came into effect in 2011, 

adding, however, that he 

had little reservation 

which an Hausa folklore 

would best express. 

He said though he was 

not Hausa, rather a 

mixture of Fulani by 

father and Kanuri by 

mother, the Daura where 

he was born and grew up 

was a pure Hausa 

settlement. 

The folklore, the 

President narrated was 

about a certain mentally 

deranged Hausa woman 

who went to the bush to 

fetch firewood. 

“The woman after tying 

a load of firewood, 

discovered she would 

not be able to lift it, yet 

certain passersby urged 

her to gather more 

firewood since she had 

so many people to feed. 

“The woman paid heed 

and gathered even more 

firewood and ended up 

not being able to either 

PRESIDENTIAL, NASS POLLS: What are your areas of concern? (1) 

lift her initial load of 

firewood or the later 

additions,’’ the 

President narrated. 

He recalled that many 

states as well as private 

sector players could not 

pay the existing 

Minimum Wage, which 

prompted the Federal 

Government to give 

bailout to some states. 

President Buhari, 

therefore, appealed for 

the commitment of all 

stakeholders to ensure 

the 

smooth 

implementation of the 

new wage without 

retrenchment and its 

consequent adverse 

social effects. 

Why we end payment of 

shortfall to GENCOs —FG 

By Chris Ochayi 

ABUJA— 

The 

F e d e r a l 

Government, yesterday, 

announced that it has 

stopped the payment of 

the shortfall for the 4000 

mega watts per hour, 

MWH, to the Electricity 

Generation Companies, 

GENCOs. 

The Permanent 

Secretary, Ministry of 

Power, Dr. Louis 

Edozein, dropped the 

hint during a workshop 

on Eligible Customer 

Regulation organised by 

Nigerian Electricity 

Regulatory Commission, 

NERC, in Abuja, 

Edozien told 

stakeholders at the 

workshop that the 

Electric Power Sector Act 

does not make provision 

for the Nigerian Bulk 

Electricity Trading 

Company, NBET, to pay 

for shortfall to GENCOs. 

He explained that, in 

line with the contractual 

agreements, it was the 

consumers who should 

pay for the power they 

consume. 

He said: “In addition 

to that 2,000 MW, the 

Continues on Page 48 

By Bose Adelaja, Ebun Sessou, Yinka 

Latona, Sophia Ogu & 

Chiamaka Uba 

My areas of 

concern border 

on how to ensure the 

credibility of the voting 

process across the 

country, ensuring that 

every vote counts and 

how to avoid violence. It 

is important that people 

are free to vote for 

candidates of their choice 

without hindrance. 

Rev Peter Ujomu 

Clergy 

My area of concern 

ahead of Saturday’s 

election are as follows: 

security and vote- buying. 

Government must provide 

adequate security which 

must not be seen to be 

intimidating the electorate 

and influence the votes in 

any form. Our people 

should not sell their votes 

but vote according to their 

conscience for a better 

Nigeria. 

Mr.Wolimoh Olajide 

Warehouse Manager 

My concern about 

Saturday’s Presidential 

and National Assembly 

elections is that 

there should not be challenges 

like desperation by 

politicians who may want to 

employ unwholesome tactics 

to win the election at all 

costs and logistics problems 

by INEC, especially in difficult 

terrains. 

Mr. Oluwashina Ishola, 

Tourist 

From my point of view, 

the coming elections 

should be successful and 

all stakeholders should 

play the game accordingly. 

The warlords should 

sheath their swords across 

the six geopolitical zones 

to make the elections 

peaceful so that the best 

candidates can emerge. 

Mr. Ogunlana Babatunde 

Community leader 

My concern is that the 

youths of our great 

country should not be used 

as political thugs to disrupt 

the conduct of the elections 

as we have the duty to vote 

and protect our votes. Many 

have sent their children 

abroad and they are using 

innocent citizens as political 

tools. Let us all be good 

ambassadors of Nigeria. 

*Comrade Sonaike 

Omotola, Youth leader 

My concern about the 

election on Saturday 

is primarily about security, 

making our votes count and 

accepting the results of the 

election in good faith. In all 

honesty, I am not too impressed 

about the preparations 

knowing that our socalled 

politicians are masters 

when it comes to election rigging. 

I expect the best riggers 

to carry the day. Let 

every Nigerian take good 

care of himself during and 

after the election. 

Mr. Julius Adegunna 

Publisher

6—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 

Police 

arraign 

fake nurse 

over 

certificate 

forgery 

THE Police, yesterday, 

arraigned a 35-year-old 

fake nurse, Morili Balogun 

in a Grade ‘A’ Customary 

Court, Iyaganku GRA, 

Ibadan for allegedly using a 

forged nursing certificate to 

get a job as a nurse. 

The Police charged 

Balogun with two counts of 

conspiracy and forgery. 

According to the Police 

prosecutor, Sergeant Bola 

Olookooba, Balogun and 

others (at large) allegedly 

conspired and committed the 

forgery. 

Olookooba alleged that the 

defendant forged a nursing 

certificate and licence in her 

name which she used in 

gaining employment at the 

Ona-Ara Hospital, Ibadan. 

The law 

He said the offence was 

committed sometime in 2011, 

and contravened the 

provisions of Section 465 and 

punishable under Section 

467 of the Criminal Code of 

Oyo State 2000. 

The defendant pleaded not 

guilty to the charges against 

her. 

The President of the court, 

Mrs Basirat Gbadamosi, 

admitted the defendant to 

bail in the sum of N100,000 

with two sureties in like sum. 

Gbadamosi ordered that 

one of the sureties must be a 

blood relative, while the 

other must be a cleric or 

community leader. 

She adjourned the case 

until March 26, for hearing. 

TWO bus conductors, Peter 

Ayodele, 20, and Chibuzor 

David, 21, were yesterday arraigned 

in court in Lagos for allegedly 

stealing three underwears belonging 

to a housewife. 

Mr. Ayodele, a resident of Oshodi, 

and David, who lives at Ejigbo, Lagos, 

were charged with two counts of 

conspiracy and stealing before an 

Ikeja Magistrate’s Court. 

While Ayodele pleaded guilty to the 

offences, David pleaded not guilty. 

The magistrate, M. O. Tanimola, 

ordered that Mr. Ayodele be 

Scenes of people 

fainting, abandoned 

footwear and a survivor of 

the stampede at All 


APC, presidential 

campaign rally at Adokiye 

Stadium, Port Harcourt, 

Rivers State, yesterday. 

PHOTOS: Nwankpa 

Chijioke 

2 men docked for stealing housewife’s panties 

By Onozure Dania 

LAGOS—A Federal High Court, 

sitting in Lagos, yesterday, 

remanded a manager with Ecobank 

Plc, Ifeanyi Azike, in prison custody, 

for allegedly defrauding the bank’s 

customers to the tune of N411 million. 

The defendant is facing a threecount 

charge of obtaining money 

under false pretence, false 

representation and fraud, preferred 

against him by the men of Zone 2, 

Nigeria Police, Onikan, before Justice 

Ayotunde Faji. 

The police alleged that Azike had 

between 2016 and 2017 fraudulently 

obtained about N150 million from one 

Mr. Okafor Ikenna Kelvin, a customer 

with Account number 0533010936, 

under the false pretence of buying 

him Federal Government Treasury 

Bills in his bank. 

He was also alleged to have forged 

the bank customer’s signature, 

picture, Letter of Instruction with 

which he opened a parallel account 

as Ikenna Okafor Kelvin with account 

number 5333063028. 

The Police further alleged that the 

bank manager, without the consent 

of the bank, fraudulently converted 

the sum of N411 million belonging 

to the bank to his personal use. 

The offences according to the 

prosecutor, Mr. Daniel Apochi, are 

contrary to Section 1 (1) (a), 15(1)(2) 

and 15(2)of the Advance Fee Fraud 

and Other Fraud related Offence Act 

No. 14 of 2006, and punishable under 

Section 1 (3) of the same Act. 

The offence is also contrary to and 

remanded in Kirikiri Prisons, 

pending review of the facts of 

the case and sentencing while 

David was granted N80, 000 

bail with two sureties in like 

sum. 

Earlier, the police prosecutor, 

Aondohemba Koti, told the court 

that the accused on February 6 

at Idi-Oro, Mushin, stole three 

under wears belonging to one 

Mrs Kehinde Oladumeji with 

intent to use for a ritual. 

“The defendants unlawfully 

entered the complainant’s 

punishable under section 

1(2)(2) of the miscellaneous Act. 

Cap. M17, laws of the 

federation of Nigeria, 1999 (as 

amended). 

The defendant, however, 

house at night, while she was 

sleeping and stole three of her 

pants. 

“However, luck ran against 

them as they were caught by a 

team of policemen on patrol. 

“When they were asked of 

their mission at the time of the 

night and could not give a 

satisfactory answer, they were 

searched and three female 

underwears were found on 

them. 

“Ayodele told the Police 

where they stole the 

Court remands bank manager over N411m fraud 

By Esther Onyegbula 

FEW weeks after the case of 

gang-rape was reported to 

the Police at Ijede Divisional 

Police Headquarters, Ikorodu, 

Lagos, none of the four suspects 

involved in the gang rape of the 

15-year-old victim(names 

withheld) has been arrested. 

The suspects identified as 

Dokun Ojo, Olawale Ojo and 

two others, allegedly attacked, 

gagged and gang-raped the 

victim who was returning from 

an errand on January 24 at 

Gberige area in Ikorodu. 

Narrating her ordeal, the 

victim said: “I was attacked by 

the suspects while running an 

errand for my father at about 

5p.m. on January 24. They 

gagged and raped me one after 

the other, and used their phone 

to video the act. 

“I didn’t tell my family 

because I was scared as they 

threatened to kill me. They said 

they will upload the video on 

the internet if I open up to 

pleaded not guilty to the 

charge. Following his plea, the 

prosecutor urged the court to 

remand him in prison custody 

pending trial. 

Consequently, Justice Faji 

anyone. But when I could not 

keep it to myself any more, I 

had to open up to a friend in 

the church. It was my friend 

that talked to a family member, 

who informed my parents.” 

The victim was taken to Ijede 

General Hospital in Ikorodu 

and medical reports confirmed 

that she was raped. 

Victim’s father speaks 

Her father told Vanguard: 

“My daughter was scared 

because they threatened her. 

She did not tell anybody what 

happened to her. I was at home 

when a relative and few church 

members came with my 

daughter to see me. 

“They told us what happened 

to my daughter. After 

questioning her, we went 

straight to the Police to report 

the case. 

“However, when the Police 

went to the main suspect’s 

house, they arrested his elder 

brother but his father attacked 

the policemen and during the 

underwear from and when the 

scene of the theft was visited by 

the police, the complainant 

confirmed that the pants were 

hers,’’ the prosecutor said. 

The alleged offences, he said, 

contravened Sections 287 and 411 

of the Criminal Law of Lagos 

State, 2015 (Revised), which 

stipulates three years 

imprisonment for stealing while 

Section 411 attracts two years for 

conspiracy. 

The case was adjourned until 

March 4. 

ordered that the defendant be 

remanded in prison custody, and 

adjourned till March 8, for trial. 

The judge also fixed the date 

for hearing of his bail application. 

Gang rape suspects at large, as 

victim’s father alleges threat to life 

process, the suspect escaped. 

“Consequently, the Police 

arrested the suspect’s father and 

elder brother for assault. Later, his 

father was released while his 

elder brother was arraigned in 

court. After meeting his bail 

condition, he was released. 

“Now the family of the main 

suspect is threatening to deal with 

me and my family if we don’t 

withdraw the case. They also 

attacked and beat up my son.” 

NOPRIN reacts 

Reacting to the development the 

Executive Director of Network on 

Police Reform in Nigeria, 

NOPRIN, Okechukwu 

Nwaguma, called on Lagos State 

Commissioner of Police to order 

the immediate arrest of the culprits 

and all those involved in the 

assault on Police officers and for 

obstruction of investigation and 

justice in the heinous crime. 

“The case should be transferred 

to the Gender Unit of the state 

command for proper investigation 

and prosecution,” he added.


Gunmen abduct APC House of Reps 

candidate's campaign DG in Edo 

UNKNOWN 

gunmen, 

yesterday, abducted Mr. 

Monday Aighobahi, Director- 

General of Mr. Dennis Idahosa 

Campaign Organisation. Idahosa 

is the All Progressives Congress, 

APC, candidate for the Ovia 

Federal Constituency in Edo 

State. 

Idahosa, former council 

Chairman of the area, said the 

abducted Director General of his 

campaign organisation was at 

Ofosu, Ogbogui Ward to canvass 

for votes, adding Aighobahi was 

kidnapped shortly after a 

campaign rally at Ofosu. 

According to him, “I was at the 

rally at Ofosu with him and left 

shortly after for other places in 

continuation of my campaign. 

“He was left behind to sort some 

things out after which he was to 

join us at another campaign 

location,” he narrated. 

Idahosa alleged that the 

abduction was politically motivated 

as Aighobahi has a strong hold of 

the ward. 

“Politically, Aighobahi has a 

stronghold of the ward and my 

opponent knows this. I am not out 

to see bloodshed; so I will urge all 

to go about the electioneering in a 

very peaceful way. 

“While urging his abductors 

to release their captive 

unconditionally, I appeal to my 

supporters and the people of 

Ovia to remain calm,” he said. 

Idahosa, however, said he 

remained resolute in his quest 

to win the Ovia Federal 

Constituency seat in the House 

of Representatives. 

Contacted, state Commissioner 

of Police, Hakeem 

Odumosun, said he was yet to 

be briefed, but promised to 

verify from the Divisional Police 

Officer of Okada.” 

Scores injured as ex-minister, 

Senator’s supporters clash in Ekiti 

•...as APC accuses Senate Minority Leader of inciting violence 

By Rotimi Ojomoyela 

ADO-EKITI—SCORES of 

supporters of All 

Progressives Congress and the 

Peoples Democratic Party 

sustained various degree of 

injuries during a bloody clash 

at a campaign rally in Omuo 

Ekiti, headquarters of Ekiti East 

Local government area of Ekiti 

State. 

The incident was said to have 

occurred when members of the 

APC were said to be holding a 

joint rally for the senatorial 

candidate in Ekiti South District, 

Prince Dayo Adeyeye and the 

House of Representatives 

candidate in Ekiti South Federal 

Constituency, Femi Bamisile, 

Monday evening, when the 

suspected PDP thugs invaded 

the rally and launched attacks 

on them. 

Those who allegedly carried 

out the attacks were those loyal 

to the Senate Minority Leader, 

Senator Biodun Olujimi and 

senatorial candidate of the PDP 

in Ekiti South. 

Some APC supporters, Adeniyi 

Saliu, Kayode Ojo and Adeniyi 

Ayo, who sustained deep cuts in 

their heads, backs and 

stomachs, were referred to Ekiti 

State University Teaching 

Hospital, Ado Ekiti for intensive 

medicare. 

Fifteen others were said to 

have been wounded during the 

unexpected attack. 

It was gathered that those who 

committed the crime fled the 

town and are now being trailed 

by the Police for possible arrest 

and prosecution. 

Former Speaker of Ekiti State 

House of Assembly and an APC 

House of Representative 

candidate, Bamisile described 

the attack as unfortunate, 

barbaric and uncalled for. 

Bamisile said the desperation 

of some PDP members are 

becoming a threat to Democracy 

and called on the security 

agencies in the state to 

apprehend the perpetrators of 

the latest ugly development in 

the area without further delay. 

His words: “APC as a party will 

not fold arms and watch its 

members attacked by members of 

other political parties, hence the 

need for a strong warning to 

troublemakers to retrace their 

steps and allow peace to reign 

in the land. 

“Nobody has monopoly of 

violence, therefore PDP members 

should be aware of that, and 

stop provoking peace-loving 

APC members in the state.” 

APC senatorial candidate 

and former Minister of Works, 

Prince Dayo Adeyeye, warned 

miscreants and thugs 

planning violence and 

mayhem in the build up to 

Saturday elections to be 

careful or risk prison. 

7-yr-old girl assaulted with hot knife 

by aunt for stealing chewing gum 

FOR allegedly stealing a 

neighbour’s chewing gum, a 

girl was beaten and injured with a 

hot knife by her 25-year-old aunt, 

Loveth Ozoihu. 

Ozoihu, who was arraigned in 

an Ikeja Chief Magistrate’s Court 

yesterday, however, denied the 

offence. 

It was gathered that Ozoihu, a 

resident of Josiah Aina Street, 

Alakuko, a suburb of Lagos, 

reportedly beat her seven-year-old 

niece to a pulp, then burnt her with 

a red-hot knife from a cooking gas 

fire. 

The defendant, who is facing a 

charge of assault, occasioning 

harm, according to the Police 

Prosecutor, Inspector Benson 

Emuerhi, committed the offence on 

February 2, at her residence. 

“The defendant was, however, 

arrested by the police at Alakuko 

Division, following a tip-off from a 

neighbour, one Nmasi Okwudili, 

that they should rescue the victim, 

who was being abused by her 

aunt,” Emuerhi said. 

He said the defendant beat 

the victim and used a red-hot 

knife to burn her buttocks for 

allegedly stealing her 

neighbour’s chewing gum. 

Emuerhi said the defendant 

had earlier used cable wire to 

beat the victim for taking fish 

from her stock and eating 

without her permission. 

The offence, he said, 

contravened Section 173 of the 

Criminal Law of Lagos State 

2015, which prescribes a twoyear 

prison term. 

The defendant was granted 

bail in the sum of N200,000 by 

Chief Magistrate Olufunke 

Sule-Amzat. 

Sule-Amzat ordered the 

defendant to provide two 

responsible sureties as part of 

the bail conditions. 

She said the sureties must be 

gainfully employed and show 

evidence of tax payments to the 

Lagos State Government; and 

adjourned the case until March 

7, for trial. 

Fayemi promises govt support 

for family of slain policeman 

GOVERNOR Kayode Fayemi 

of Ekiti State has 

commiserated with the Ekiti State 

Police Command and the family of 

the policeman that was killed by 

robbers last Thursday in Ado-Ekiti. 

It was an emotion laden visit at 

the home of late Kamoru Momoh, 

a CID operative, by Governor 

Fayemi, who was almost moved to 

tears sighting the wife and young 

children of the deceased. 

He promised the family that 

government would sponsor the 

education and other needs of 

the children. 

He described the incident as 

unfortunate and assured the 

family of government support, 

especially in the area of 

collecting death certificate and 

carrying out of post-mortem of 

the deceased because they said 

they don’t have money. 

... with Emma'nKen (08163121378) 

Who said ‘Nigerian men’? 

Pastor Daddy Freeze, behold 

your sheeple. Sorry, disciple 

It's Naija Ninja. No, it's Sound Sultan. 

No! It's Specimen Next Level

8—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 

By Egufe 

Yafugborhi 

PORT HARCOURT— 

ALL Progressives 

Congress, APC, yesterday, 

resisted temptations to 

present governorship flag 

to Tonye Cole when the 

Muhammadu Buhari’s 

Presidential Campaign 

train berthed in Port 

Harcourt, Rivers State, as 

the Supreme Court 

rejected appeals by state 

chapter of the party to be 

put on the ballot. 

President Buhari and 

party chairman, Adams 

Oshiomhole, both ignored 

the high expectation by 

cheering supporters at the 

crowded Adokiya 

Amesieamaka Stadium 

campaign rally venue to 

see Cole presented the 

governorship flag. 

Addressing the crowd of 

party supporters, 

President Buhari said: “I 

am disturbed that we are 

not allowed to participate 

in some of the positions in 

some part of the country. I 

have to respect the 

institutions. Be patient and 

resolute. We are going to 

ensure that justice is 

done.” 

Counting on the Rivers 

APC support in Saturday’s 

election, the President said 

he has kept his 2015 

promises of fighting 

corruption, ensuring food 

security and dealing with 

insurgency, promising on 

re-election, to remain 

steadfast, and be 

accountable to God and the 

people. 

Earlier in a welcome 

appeal, Rivers APC 

Chairman, Ojukaye Flag 

Amachree, had appealed 

to the President to 

intervene in the situation 

the party had found itself. 

“There’s a deliberate 

attempt to deny Rivers 

people the right to choose 

the kind of governor, 

senators, reps and state 

lawmakers we want to 

lead us in the coming 

elections," he said. 

In his speech at the rally, 

the party’s gubernatorial 

candidate, Tonye Cole, 

pledged his support to the 

APC and Buhari, in spite 

of his predicament. 

He said: “We stand 

without fear. The people 

you see here are 

determined. No matter 

what has been done, no 

matter what they do, we 

will stand and deliver APC 

in Rivers. We are not going 

to disappoint you.” 

Whatever Wike 

wants we'll give to 

him— Amaechi 

Transportation Minister 

and Director-General, 

Buhari Campaign 

Organisation, Rotimi 

Amaechi, vowed to lead the 

party to the election, fire-forfire, 

with the incumbent 

governor. 

STAMPEDE: 

Scene of the 

stampede at 

APC 

Presidential 

campaign 

rally at 

Adokiya 

Amesieamaka 

stadium, 

Port 

Harcourt, 

yesterday. 

Photo: 

Nwankpa 

Chijioke 

Rivers APC: I’m disturbed but must 

respect the court — Buhari 

•Whatever Wike wants we’ll give him on Saturday —Amaechi 

•There's huge gap between judgement,justice —Oshiomhole 

•Cole hopeful, Abe shunned, harassed at rally 

•14 feared dead in rally’s tragic end 

•Rivers people’ll never support violence —Wike 

Amaechi said: “Let me talk 

the way you haven’t seen me 

talk for some time. I am not 

following you (President) to 

Abuja again. I am staying 

here (Rivers). Whatever 

Wike wants on Saturday, we 

will give him. He is afraid, 

not so?" 

Amaechi recalled his trials 

before and during the 2015 

governorship election, 

including perceived 

withdrawal of his security 

details as a sitting governor 

and the weight of federal 

might against him, vowing to 

face Wike head on this time 

around. 

“They got a High Court 

judge to say some things. We 

will battle him to the last 

minute. There comes a point 

when you can no longer 

allow being pushed. 

‘’Whatever PDP wants, we 

are equal to it. I say this, 80 

per cent of those who have 

made success in Rivers 

politics today passed through 

me, including Wike.” 

There’s huge gap 

between 

judgement, justice 

—Oshiomhole 

Regretting the restraint on 

presenting the Rivers APC 

flag to Cole, party’s national 

chairman, Adams 

Oshiomhole said: “There can 

be a huge gap between 

judgement and justice. Cole 

is the governor in the heart 

of Rivers people. We are 

committed to justice in Rivers. 

“There is much effort to 

prevent our party and award 

positions to PDP. Our right to 

choose our persons could be 

frozen, but cannot be taken. 

Those who laugh in the 

morning may cry at the end 

of the day. PDP is laughing 

too early. They may cry in the 

end.” 

Oshiomhole praised the 

“fighting spirit of Rivers APC” 

for remaining supportive and 

turning out in large numbers 

at the rally, in spite of the court 

setbacks. 

He charged them to come 

out on Saturday to vote 

between a President (Buhari) 

who believes in uplifting the 

poor and another man (Atiku) 

he accused of fighting to 

benefit only the rich and 

privileged few in Nigeria. 

Abe shunned, 

harassed 

Meanwhile, the presence 

of Sen Magnus Abe, parallel 

claimant to Rivers APC guber 

ticket at yesterday’s rally was 

greeted with non-recognition 

at the podium and 

harassment of his supporters. 

Unlike Cole who received 

rousing welcome and 

addressed the president and 

entire gathering, a bout of 

fisticuff greeted Abe’s arrival 

at the Adokiya Amasieamaka 

Stadium, Port Harcourt rally 

ground as supporters awaited 

the arrival of President 

Buhari. 

The cold welcome for Abe 

and teeming cheering 

supporters who arrived the 

stadium about 12.30 pm 

degenerated into violence 

when private security details 

mobilised by the Ojukaye-led 

Rivers APC, loyal to 

Amaechi, barred supporters 

of Abe from escorting him 

beyond the floor as he 

ascended the VIP stand of 

the stadium. 

It took the quick 

intervention of mobile 

policemen to calm the 

situation, but not before some 

of Abe’s men had been 

molested and thrown out of 

the VIP area. 

14 feared dead in 

rally’s tragic end 

Meanwhile, Port 

Harcourt Teaching 

Hospital, UPTH, has 

confirmed 14 persons 

dead, while some survivors 

are under medical attention 

over the fatal stampede that 

ended the crowded All 


APC, Presidential 

campaign rally at Adokiya 

Amasieamaka Stadium, 

Port Harcourt, Rivers State. 

Kem Daniel-Elebiga, 

UPTH Public Relations 

Officer, said: “I can confirm 

14 persons dead as I speak. 

Initially it was six, but the 

figure can change as they 

bring them and are being 

examined. There are others 

under medical attention at 

the Emergency Unit, so we 

can’t force a clear figure 

beyond what the situation 

is at the moment” 

Most of the affected 

victims fell and were 

trampled over as teeming 

party supporters made to 

force their way through a 

locked exit gate on the trail 

of President Muhammadu 

Buhari as he left the 

stadium. 

The Police Command in 

Rivers State is yet to 

respond to the tragic 

development as phone 

calls and text enquiries to 

Police Public Relations 

Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, 

were not responded to at 

press time. 

Rivers people’ll 

never support 

violence—Wike 

Reacting last night, 

Governor Nyesom Wike said 

Rivers people would never 

support violence as 

orchestrated by leaders of 

Rivers APC. 

Speaking during an 

interactive session between 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari and traditional rulers 

of Rivers State in Port 

Harcourt, Governor Wike, in 

a statement by his Special 

Assistant, Electronic Media, 

Simeon Nwakaudu, said 

leaders who have imported 

war songs will not succeed. 

He said: “Rivers State does 

not believe in violence and 

we will not support any 

dance for violence. Those 

who sing other people’s song 

for violence, they know what 

they achieve. They know what 

they gain. 

“I want to assure the 

President that Rivers State is 

a peaceful state. It will never 

be a violent state. I will not 

support violence and Rivers 

people will not support 

violence.” 

Rivers PDP reacts 

Meanwhile, PDP in Rivers 

State was quick to respond 

to the vows by an opposition 

party leader as it called on 

security agencies to keep 

record of what it described as 

threats. 

Chairman of Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, in 

Rivers State, Felix Obuah, 

recalled a similar threat by 

Amaechi in 2016 during the 

re-run elections when, in 

collaboration with security 

agencies, he unleashed 

mayhem on Rivers people, 

an incident that claimed 

several lives of innocent 

persons. 

Warning that the Rivers 

people abhor blood-letting in 

whatever disguise, Obuah 

said the state would no longer 

accept such act of 

hooliganism from whoever or 

whatever quarters and urged 

security agencies not to look 

the other way as before. 

“A stitch in time saves 

nine,” Obuah noted. 

FG accuses 

PDP of plan 

to trigger 

crisis ahead 

of polls 

By Emmanuel 

Elebeke 

WITH just a few days 

t 

o 

Presidential and 

National Assembly elections, 

the Federal Government has 

accused Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, of last-minute’s 

plot to orchestrate crisis and 

trigger a sense of panic 

among the populace, in 

furtherance of its plan to 

discredit the election and 

cause a constitutional crisis. 

In a statement in Abuja, 

yesterday, Minister of 

Information and Culture, 

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said 

the plot confirmed the alarm 

raised by the Federal 

Government on January 21 

and February 3, 2019, that 

PDP was planning to scuttle 

the election and, where that 

failed, discredit it. 

He said in the days ahead, 

PDP bigwigs, including its 

presidential candidate, Atiku 

Abubakar, his running mate, 

Peter Obi, PDP governors and 

others, were planning a 

world press conference to 

level frivolous and 

unfounded allegations 

against the Federal 

Government and All 


APC. 

According to him, part of 

the false allegations they 

planned to make is that the 

Presidency, in connivance 

with the APC, is planning to 

force Independent National 

Electoral Commission, 

INEC, to announce 

presidential election results 

that are favourable to the 

government in power, on the 

basis of the false premise that 

the APC’s intelligence team 

is worried that the ruling 

party will lose the elections. 

He said PDP bigwigs also 

planned to use their world 

press conference to further 

disparage the Buhari 

administration and the ruling 

APC, with a view to painting 

an unfavourable image of the 

government and party both 

to Nigerians and the 

international community and 

to put the government on the 

defensive in the run-up to the 

polls. 

“The PDP’s last joker is a 

two-hour live press 

conference to be addressed 

by PDP Publicity Secretary, 

Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan, on 

February 14, the last day of 

electioneering campaign, to 

chronicle all their concocted 

allegations and lies against 

the ruling government, cast 

aspersion on government 

and ruling party officials and 

throw innuendos here and

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019—9 

N272m grass-cutting scandal: Ex-SGF, 

Lawal docked, remanded in EFCC custody 

By Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri 

A BUJA—ECONOMIC 

and Financial Crimes 

Commission, EFCC, 

yesterday, docked former 

Secretary to the Government 

of the Federation, Babachir 

Lawal, before an Abuja High 

Court at Maitama, following 

his alleged complicity in a 

N272 million contract fraud. 

Lawal, whose arraignment 

came about two years after he 

was accused of illegally 

diverting a contract the 

Presidential Initiative for 

North-East, PINE, awarded 

for the removal of grasses in 

Internally Displaced Persons, 

IDP, camps, to his own 

company, pleaded not guilty 

to the 10-count criminal 

charge the EFCC preferred 

against him. 

The ex-SGF was docked 

alongside three other 

defendants, including 

Hamidu David Lawal, 

Sulaiman Abubakar and 

Apeh John Monday as well 

as two firms that were 

allegedly involved in the 

grass-cutting scandal, 

Rholavision Engineering 

Limited and Josmon 

Technologies Limited. 

Shortly after the 

arraignment, trial Justice 

Jude Okeke ordered that all 

the defendants be remanded 

in EFCC custody till today 

when their separate bail 

applications will be 

considered. 

EFCC had through its 

lawyer, Mr. M. S. Abubakar, 

opposed the ex-SGF’s 

request to be allowed bail, 

pending the determination of 

the case against him. 

The agency contended that 

Lawal and his alleged 

accomplices were unable to 

present sufficient materials 

that would enable the court 

exercise its discretionary 

powers to release them on 

bail. 

Besides, EFCC said it was 

opposed to the court allowing 

Lawal to go home on the basis 

of a mere oral bail application. 

The embattled former SGF 

had after his plea, begged the 

court to grant him bail on selfrecognition, 

vowing to make 

himself available for his trial. 

His lawyer, Chief Akin 

Olujinmi, SAN, informed the 

court that the anti-graft 

agency had earlier released 

his client on administrative 

bail. 

He said the EFCC had 

even allowed his client to 

travel abroad for medical 

treatment while the 

investigation was ongoing. 

“My lord he could have ran 

away when he was given his 

passport, but he went and 

came back. The 1st 

defendant is not one that will 

run away from his trial. 

‘’Moreover my lord, the 

prosecution has concluded its 

investigations, so the 1st 

defendant has not way to 

interfere with the 

investigation,’’ he said. 

Olujinmi told the court that 

EFCC declined to accept 

service of Lawal’s written bail 

application. Similarly, all the 

other defendants who also 

said they were previously on 

administrative bail, relied on 

provisions of sections 35 and 

36 of the 1999 Constitution, 

as well as sections 158, 162 

and 165 of the Administration 

of Criminal Justice Act, 

2015, and prayed the court 

to grant them bail, pending 

their trial. 

Countering this, the EFCC 

maintained that the 

defendants, including the 

ex-SGF, did not run away 

from the country while on 

administrative bail, 

considering that no formal 

charge was pending against 

them before any court as at 

that time. 

After he had listened to all 

the parties, Justice Okeke 

adjourned ruling on the 

defendants’ bail applications. 

Meanwhile, one of the 

counts in the charge marked 

CR/158/19, read: “That you 

Engineer Babachir David 

Lawal while being the 

Secretary to the Government 

of the Federation (SGF) and 

a director of Rholavision 

Engineering Ltd, Hamidu 

David lawal being a Director 

of Rholavision Engneering 

Ltd, Sulaiman Abubakar 

being a staff of Rholavision 

Engineering Ltd and 

Rholavision Engineering Ltd 

on or about the 7th of March, 

2016 at Abuja in the Abuja 

Judicial Division of the High 

Court of the Federal Capital 

Territory did conspire to 

commit an offence to wit: 

fraudulent acquisition of 

property and thereby 

committed an offence 

contrary to Section 26 (1) (c) 

of the Corrupt Practices and 

Other Related Offences Act, 

2000 and punishable under 

Section 12 of the same Act." 

Clinton’s cancelled visit: We 

don’t want any foreign 

interference, Keyamo insists 

By Dapo 

Akinrefon 

FOLLOWING 

the 

cancelled visit of Bill 

Clinton, former United States 

President, spokesperson for 

Buhari Campaign 

Organisation, Mr. Festus 

Keyamo, SAN, said the 

cancellation was a welcome 

development, insisting that 

foreign observers should not 

interfere in Nigeria’s 

electoral process. 

Clinton cancelled his 

planned trip to Nigeria 

ahead of Saturday’s 

presidential election, saying 

the visit could be “politicised.” 

The former US President 

was scheduled to visit the 

Federal Capital Territory, 

Abuja, this week alongside 

the Secretary-General of the 

Commonwealth, Baroness 

Patricia Scotland. 

Reacting to Clinton’s 

cancelled visit, Keyamo, said 

the world had seen how 

imperfect the American 

system is. 

He said: “We cannot give 

reasons more than what he 

said. We have always said that 

we do not want them to come 

and interfere in our process 

and make prejudicial 

comments. At times, they 

over step their bounds. 

‘’We welcome them, we 

appreciate them but once 

they begin to suggest what 

we should and how we 

should do, that is when we 

say no. 

“They should just observe 

and write their reports 

because the world has seen 

the challenge with the 

American system now." 

Reacting to the comments 

of the presidential candidate 

of Peoples Democratic Party, 

PDP, Atiku Abubakar, that 


Buhari was promoting 

violence in his campaigns, 

Keyamo said the President 

never called for violence in 

Zamfara State but was “only 

weighing in on a joke.” 

Atiku had on Monday at 

his party’s presidential rally 

in Port Harcourt, accused 

Buhari of preaching 

violence, saying it was not the 

president’s first time of doing 

so. 

Keyamo said Atiku made 

the accusation out of 

frustration, having sensed a 

comprehensive defeat in the 

forthcoming presidential 

election. 

CCT trial: Allow NJC to decide Onnoghen’s 

fate, NBA begs FG 

By Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri 

A BUJA—NIGERIAN 

Bar Association, NBA, 

yesterday, urged the Federal 

Government to withdraw the 

non-assets declaration 

charge it entered against the 

suspended Chief Justice of 

Nigeria, CJN, Justice Walter 

Onnoghen, before the Code 

of Conduct Tribunal, CCT. 

The legal body, in a 

statement signed by its 

National President, Mr. 

Paul Usoro, SAN, asked the 

government to terminate 

further hearing of the matter 

at the tribunal and allow the 

National Judicial Council, 

NJC, to determine Justice 

Onnoghen’s fate. 

The plea came ahead of the 

scheduled resumption of 

proceedings on the six-count 

charge the Federal 

Government preferred 

against Onnoghen. 

The Danladi Umar-led 

three-member tribunal had 

on January 28, ordered the 

suspended CJN to ensure 

that he appeared before it 

today to enter his plea to the 

charge. 

However, the NJC, at the 

end of its emergency meeting 

on Monday, said it would, 

today, reconvene to take a 

decision on corruption 

allegations against Justice 

Onnoghen. 

Consequently, the NBA, 

which is the umbrella body 

of lawyers in the country, 

implored the Federal 

Government to allow the 

NJC, which is the organ with 

the constitutional powers to 

discipline erring judicial 

officers, to conclude its probe 

on petitions against the 

suspended CJN. 

Besides, the NBA noted 

that the CCT boss had in his 

response to a query from the 

Federal Judicial Service 

Commission, FJSC, 

contended that he is only 

answerable to the Presidency. 

Polls: NAF begins airlift of 

materials for INEC 

By Joseph 

Erunke 

ABUJA—THE Nigerian 

Air Force, NAF, said 

yesterday it has begun airlift 

of election materials for 

Independent National 


INEC, across the country. 

The Air Force in a 

statement by its spokesman, 

Air Commodore Ibikunle 

Daramola, said it started the 

movement of the materials 

on Monday. 

The statement read: “The 

Nigerian Air Force, 

Monday, February 11, 

2019, commenced the airlift 

of electoral materials for 

INEC across the country for 

the conduct of the 2019 

general elections. 

“The airlift exercise 

includes day and night 

missions, during which 

both sensitive and nonsensitive 

electoral materials 

were conveyed in batches, 

with NAF C-130 Hercules 

aircraft from the Nnamdi 

Azikwe International 

Airport, Abuja to various 

airports across the country. 

“The materials were duly 

delivered by the C-130H 

aircraft crew to teams of 

INEC and Central Bank of 

Nigeria, CBN, officials 

together with security 

personnel waiting at the 

various airports. 

“It may be recalled that the 

Chief of the Air Staff, CAS, 

Air Marshal Sadique 

Abubakar, during his 

meeting with Air Officers 

Commanding, AOCs, and 

NAF Field Commanders on 

February 1, 2019, had 

expressed the readiness of 

the NAF to avail INEC its 

transport aircraft to enable 

expeditious movement of 

electoral materials, as done 

in the past."

10 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 

African leaders back Dangote, 

Imoukhuede-led Business 

Coalition for Health 

•As Dangote canvasses 1% of PAT to fund 

health sector 

HEADS 

of 

government across 

Africa have expressed 

support for a new health 

platform tagged African 

Business Coalition for 

Health, ABC Health; a joint 

initiative of the Aliko 

Dangote Foundation; 

GBCHealth, and United 

Nations Economic 

Commission for Africa, 

UNECA, which was 

launched, yesterday, in 

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

The ABC Health platform 

is an ambitious platform 

designed to bring together 

business leaders in Africa to 

collaborate with heads of 

government and other 

stakeholders to tackle basic 

health challenges in 

Africa, with assurances 

from government to 

collaborate for healthier 

Africans. 

It was launched with 

commitments by all partners 

and stakeholders to put 

efforts together to improve 

basic health care services in 

the continent during the 

inaugural Africa Business: 

Health Forum 2019, which 

witnessed the launch of the 

official logo of the ABC 

Health. The platform has 

the objective of driving 

business leadership, 

strengthening partnerships, 

and facilitating investments 

to change the face of 

healthcare in Africa. 

Taking place on the 

margins of the 32nd African 

Union Summit, Heads of 

Governments and Business 

Community leaders across 

Africa, the forum examined 

opportunities to accelerate 

economic development and 

growth of the continent 

through a healthcare reform 

agenda that focuses on the 

wellbeing of employees for 

a more active and 

productive workforce. 

The forum is expected to 

unify Africa’s key decision 

makers in exploring 

opportunities for catalysing 

growth in the continent’s 

economy, through business 

partnerships to invest in the 

health sector. 

In his opening remarks, 

the Chairman of Aliko 

Dangote Foundation, Alhaji 

Aliko Dangote, who was 

represented by the 

Foundation’s Executive 

Director, Halima Aliko- 

Dangote, said Africa 

Business Health Forum 

would identify issues and 

solutions to Africa’s health 

challenges with a view to 

mobilising the will to 

confront it headlong. 

He said it is a well-known 

fact that there is a vital 

relationship between health 

and economic growth and 

development in Africa as 

healthy populations live 

longer, are more productive, 

and save more.'' 

BUSINESS PARLEY: From left; Executive Director, Aliko Dangote Foundation, Halima Aliko Dangote; 

President GBC Health, Nancy Wildier-Field; Nigeria's former Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; 

and MD/CEO, Aliko Dangote Foundation, Zouera Youssoufou, , at the 2019 Inaugural Africa Business 

Health Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where the Chairman, Aliko Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote 

and a lineup of experts, pioneers and health professional across the continent are leading the discussion on 

“Creating Healthy Communities, Healthy Businesses, Healthy Economies” 

I won't disappoint you like APC — ATIKU 

By Gabriel 

Olawale 

LDemocratic 

AGOS—PEOPLES 

Party, 

PDP, presidential 

candidate, Atiku Abubakar, 

yesterday, reiterated his 

commitment to 

restructuring the country as 

president, saying that he 

would not disappoint with 

his promises like the All 


APC. 

Speaking before a 

mammoth crowd of 

supporters in Lagos, Atiku 

chided the APC 

administration for failing 

to deliver on its key 

promises made to the 

electorate before the 2015 

general election. 

National chairman of 

the party, Prince Uche 

Secondus also speaking at 

the occasion threatened to 

report Governor Nasir El- 

Rufai of Kaduna State to 

the International Criminal 

Court, ICC, for 

purportedly adopting 

terrorism in his recent 

rebuff of international 

observers to the country. 

The Lagos PDP Mega 

rally held at the Tafawa 

Balewa Square attracted 

several dignitaries 

including Senate President 

Bukola Saraki; Vice 

Presidential candidate, 

Peter Obi; former Governor 

of Ogun State, Gbenga 

Daniel; the immediate past 

governor of Kogi State, 

Captain Idris Wada; 

Governorship candidate of 

PDP in Lagos State, Jimi 

Agbaje and former Deputy 

National Chairman of PDP, 

Chief Olabode George 

among others. 

Noting that the present 

administration has failed in 

all areas of human 

development despite its 

earlier promises, Atiku said: 

“Let me assure you people 

of Lagos, South West and 

Nigeria as a whole, you 

know I am not like the All 


APC. 

“When I promise 

something I will do it. When 

I say am going to do 

something, I am going to do 

it. I swear that I am going 

to restructure this country 

and I am going to do it. 

“I promise Nigerians that 

my administration will 

create jobs and I have 

already started doing that 

and I will continue when I 

assume office. 

By Innocent Anaba 

L President 

AGOS—VICE 

Yemi 

Osinbajo has urged the 

church in Nigeria to step up 

its condemnation of 

corruption and illegally 

acquired wealth. 

Osinbajo lamented that 

corruption has been the 

country’s biggest problem 

and causes a multitude of 

child deaths yearly. 

He was the guest 

minister at a special service 

of the Redeemed Christian 

Church of God, RCCG’s 

The Open Door Parish, 

Odogunyan, Ikorodu in 

“As you all know, APC 

promised to create jobs 

but many people are losing 

their jobs on daily basis. 

“During their 

administration, we have the 

largest unemployment 

record in the history of our 

country. These are not 

people you can trust, they 

promised to secure this 

country, and before they 

assumed office it was only 

North East we had issue of 

insecurity, today we have 

insecurity in North West, 

North Central. 

“They said they are going 

to revive our economy but 

today we are the 

headquarters of poverty in 

the world. I promise you 

that am going to reverse all 

that." 

Atiku, who vowed to 

respect the constitution, 

said: “I will work with the 

National Assembly, protect 

judiciary and respect the 

rule of law.” 

DEFECTION: I remain in APC — TINUBU 

LLeader AGOS—NATIONAL 

of the All 


APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, 

yesterday, said he has no 

plans to leave the party for 

any other as being 

insinuated in some quarters, 

insisting he remains in the 

party. 

A video where Tinubu, at 

the APC presidential 

campaign rally in Abeokuta, 

Ogun State, was seen 

throwing the party’s flag to 

National Chairman Adams 

Oshiomhole to give to the 

party’s governorship 

candidate in the state, Prince 

Dapo Abiodun, was being 

framed by the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, to 

mean he was throwing 

away the APC flag. 

In a statement by his 

Special Adviser, Media, 

Tunde Rahman, the APC 

leader denied throwing 

Church must condemn 

corruption —OSINBAJO 

Lagos. 

Speaking on the topic: 

The church and the 

destiny of the nation, 

Osinbajo berated Church 

leaders who, through their 

teachings, “sometimes 

give the impression that 

there is no need for hard 

work.” 

The Vice President said: 

“I do not hear very often 

that the church criticises 

corruption and corrupt 

people. I don’t hear very 

often that there is 

condemnation, because, 

when you look at it, the 

greatest problem that our 

country has is corruption." 

away the party’s flag as 

being insinuated by PDP. 

The statement reads: “If 

you want to fault Asiwaju 

for anything in this matter, 

your critique can only be 

limited to the accuracy of 

his toss. Any attempt to 

enlarge the episode 

beyond this is fiction. 

“The true incident that 

should be reported and 

condemned is that people 

who furtively oppose the 

party and the president 

tried to infiltrate and 

disrupt this rally. The 

attack by these operatives 

was disrespectful of the 

office of the president and 

could have potentially 

harmed the person of the 

president. 

“With but a few precious 

days until the election and 

with its chance of victory 

L AGOS—THE 

l a w m a k e r 

representing Lagos West 

Senatorial District, Senator 

Solomon Adeola has stated 

that some wealthy 

politicians and retired 

military generals are 

against the re-election of 


Buhari because he ended 

the era cornering of the 

nation’s wealth while 

channeling same for things 

that directly impact on the 

lives of the poor. 

Addressing stakeholders 

of Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA at 

Ajegunle after a tour of 

Ajegunle, Adeola said: 

“For 16 years all the 

principal actors opposing 

running out even faster than 

the time, the Peoples 

Democratic Party now 

grasps at the most 

nonsensical and desperate 

tactics to salvage its falling 

enterprise. However, a 

drowning man cannot toss 

himself a lifeline. Nor can 

the PDP succeed in turning 

the innocuous attempted 

exchange of a flag between 

the National Leader and 

National Chairman into a 

rift in the APC’s successful 

campaign. 

“An incident did actually 

occur at the Ogun State 

APC rally but it is not the 

one PDP has concocted. The 

true incident that should be 

reported and condemned is 

that people, who furtively 

oppose the party and the 

president, tried to infiltrate 

and disrupt this rally. '' 

Why wealthy politicians, Generals 

gang up against Buhari 

—ADEOLA 

Buhari were in PDP or have 

links with the party with the 

sole aim of enriching 

themselves at the expense 

of things that benefits the 

masses like infrastructure, 

power, social intervention 

for the poor and 

empowerment. They are 

used to collecting billions of 

naira from our 

commonwealth for projects 

that are not executed or out 

rightly looting our 

resources as revealed in 

various anticorruption 

drive of Buhari. That era 

ended with Buhari faithful 

implementation of 

Treasury Single Account, 

TSA, to the chagrin of those 

who fed fat on the old 

system, hence the fight 

against Buhari.”

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 — 11 

APC PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN IN RIVERS, BAYELSA STATES 

The presidential campaign rally train of All Progressives Congress was in Rivers & Bayelsa states yesterday. 

President Muhammadu Buhari (2rd right); Comrade Adams Oshiomhole APC National 

Chairman (right); Rivers State APC governorship candidate; Pastor Tonye Cole 

(3rd right); Sen Godswill Akpabio (3rd left) Hon Victor Giadom, Rivers State APC 

Deputy governorship candidate (2nd left) and Sen Olorunnimbe Mamora during 

APC presidential campaign rally in Port Harcourt. PHOTOS: NWANKPA CHIJIOKE. 

(LEFT): From 

left; Hon 

Abike Dabiri; 

Hon Ojukaye 

Flagg Amachree; 

Rt Hon 

Rotimi Amaechi 

and Hon 

Victor Giadom. 

From left; President Muhammadu Buhari; Chairman, Traditional 

Rulers Council, Bayelsa State, HRM Alfred Diette Spiff; Governor 

Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State; and the Deputy 

Governor of Bayelsa State, Rear Adm. Gboribiogha John Jonah 

(retd), during the president's arrival at Government House, 

Yenagoa before flagging off his campaign. 

(RIGHT): 

Massive 

crowd of 

supporters at 

Adokiye 

Stadium. 

PDP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN IN LAGOS STATE 

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential campaign rally was in Lagos State, yesterday. 

From left: Mr. Peter Obi, PDP vice presidential candidate; Prince Uche Secondus, PDP National From left: Mr Ayodele Fayose, former governor of Ekiti 

Chairman; Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, PDP presidential candidate; his wife, Titilayo and Dr. Bukola State; Senator Ben Murray Bruce and Otunba Gbenga Daniel, 

Saraki, Senate President. PHOTOS: AKEEM SALAU & BUNMI AZEEZ. 

former Governor of Ogun State. 

(LEFT): Otunba 

Oyewole Fasawe 

(left) and former 

governor of Kogi 

State, Capt Idris 

Wada (retd.) 

(RIGHT): Party 

supporters engaging 

in 

free-for-all.


Court affirms Etim John as 

state chair of C-River APC 

By Emma Una 

C ALABAR—A 

FEDERAL High 

Court sitting in Calabar, 

Cross River State, 

yesterday, declared Mr 

Godwin Etim John as the 

state Chairman of the All 


APC, in Cross River State. 

Trial judge, Justice Simon 

Apeh said the Etim John 

faction of the party should 

be recognised by the 



INEC, which should in 

turn recognise the 

candidates submitted by the 

faction. 

The court affirmed an 

earlier order by an Abuja 

High Court presided over 

by Justice A. Musa, which 

on December 13, 2018 

declared Godwin Etim 

John as the authentic state 

Chairman of the APC. 

The court annulled the 

congresses that produced 

the late Mathew Ojong, 

recognised by the National 

Working Committee, 

NWC, of APC, describing 

them as illegal. 

The court also ordered 

the NWC of APC to 

forward the list of 

candidates as submitted by 

Godwin Etim John to 

INEC. 

Reacting to the 

judgment, Director 

General of Usani 

Campaign Organisation 

Ekpeyong Cobham said 

the enforcement of the 

judgment has been long 

overdue and appealed to 

both INEC and security 

agencies to do the needful 

by complying fully with the 

judgment. 

UPUA organises Urhobo 

language competition 

URHOBO Progress 

Union, America, will 

on February 23, organise 

an Urhobo Language 

competition for students in 

government secondary 

schools in Delta State. 

According to a statement by 

UPUA President, Dr. 

Onome Dema, the 

competition will hold at the 

Federal University of 

Petroleum Resources, 

FUPRE, Effurun, Delta 

State, from 9a.m. 

Participants are to send 

their names, schools and 

local governments via 

SMS to 08036247377. 

Dema said the winner of 

the competition would go 

home with N100,000; first 

runner up, N70,000, while 

the second runner up 

would have N50,000. 

The UPUA initiative is 

part of efforts to ensure that 

the younger generation 

speak Urhobo and prevent 

it from going into 

extinction. 

Mark, Ibori, Ogboru, Gbagi 

mourn Ejoor 

FORMER 

Senate 

President, Senator 

David Mark, former Delta 

State governor, Chief 

James Ibori, former 

Minister of State for 

Education and Urhobo 

leader, Olorogun Kenneth 

Gbagi and All Progressives 

Congress, APC, 

governorship candidate in 

Delta State, Olorogun 

Great Ogboru, yesterday 

joined millions of 

Nigerians and Deltans to 

mourn the first Military 

Governor of the defunct 

Mid-West Region, Major 

General David Ejoor 

(retd), describing his 

death as shocking. 

Polls: APC knocked out in Rivers as 

S-Court dismisses appeal 

By Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri 

ABUJA— 

THE 

Supreme Court, 

yesterday, barred the 



INEC, from recognising 

any of the candidates of the 

All Progressive Congress, 

APC, in the forthcoming 

general election in Rivers 

State. 

The apex court, in a 

unanimous judgment by a 

five-man panel of Justices, 

dismissed an appeal by the 

APC, in which it had 

sought an order allowing it 

to field candidates in Rivers 

State. 

Justice Amiru Sanusi in 

the led judgment, held that 

the appeal lacked merit and 

therefore, deserved to be 

dismissed. 

Though it upheld a 

preliminary objection that 

challenged the competence 

of the suit, the apex court 

panel said it would on a 

later date, give full reasons 

behind its decision not to 

overturn the concurrent 

findings of both the High 

Court and Court of Appeal 

in Port Harcourt, which 

invalidated the outcome of 

primary elections the APC 

conducted in Rivers State. 

The panel was headed by 

Justice Rhodes Bode- 

Vivour, had on Monday, 

heard and reserved its 

verdict on the appeal, even 

as it expressed its 

dissatisfaction over the 

multiplicity of legal actions 

on the APC Rivers 

primaries. 

It noted that aside APC’s 

appeal marked SC/1333/ 

2018, there were about four 

other appeals revolving 

around primary elections 

the party held for the 

purpose of nominating its 

candidates for the 2019 

polls. 

Some 23 aggrieved 

members of the APC who 

earlier secured the 

judgment that voided the 

outcome of the primaries, 

had in the preliminary 

objection that was upheld 

by the Supreme Court, 

applied for the appeal to be 

dismissed. 

The group, which was 

cited as respondents in the 

matter, had through their 

lawyer, Mr. Henry Bello, 

contended that the appeal 

had become academic in 

view of previous 

judgments of the Supreme 

Court on the matter. 

Bello argued that under 

section 285(14) of the 1999 

Constitution, as amended, 

and past decisions of the 

Supreme Court, the 60 

days time-frame for hearing 

of pre-election matters, had 

elapsed. 

However, APC’s lawyer, 

Prince Lateef Fagbemi, 

SAN, prayed the Supreme 

Court to dismiss the 

respondents’ preliminary 

objection to the appeal. 

Insisting that the appeal 

was not a pre-election 

matter, Fagbemi, urged the 

apex court to look at the 

substantive reliefs APC 

presented before it. 

Responding, Bello, relied 

on section 87 of the 

Electoral Act to contend that 

the dispute was within the 

purview of a pre-election 

matter since the congresses 

were held to produce 

delegates that participated 

in the indirect primary 

election. 

The litigants, who are 

members of a faction of the 

APC loyal to Senator 

Magnus Abe, had on May 

11, 2018, secured an 

interim injunction from a 

High Court in Port 

Harcourt, which restrained 

the APC from going ahead 

with the indirect primaries 

that held on May 19, 20 

and 21 respectively. 

Among beneficiaries of 

the primary election 

included Prince Tonye 

Cole, who the party had 

since urged INEC to 

recognise as its 

governorship flag-bearer in 

Rivers State. 

However, another panel 

of the apex court by Justice 

Mohammed Dattijo, rather 

re-affirmed its previous 

ruling that validated the 

high court order that barred 

APC from going ahead with 

the Rivers primaries. 

Buhari vows to probe PDP govt $16bn power fund 

...says ‘we’ll take security, economy, infrastructure seriously 

By Samuel 

Oyadongha & 

Emem Idio 

Y ENAGOA—THE 

presidential candidate 

of the All Progressives 

Congress, APC, in 

Saturday’s poll, President 

Muhammadu Buhari has 

vowed to probe the $16 

billion reportedly spent by 

past administrations on the 

power sector. 

Buhari in Yenagoa, 

Bayelsa State during the 

presidential campaign rally 

of the APC, held at the 

Oxbow Lake Pavilion, said 

he will make public officers 

accountable to the people, 

just as he assured that his 

administration will take 

seriously its programmes of 

security, economy, and 

infrastructure. 

The president’s campaign 

train had earlier visited 

Governor Seriake Dickson 

at the Government House, 

Yenagoa and the Bayelsa 

State Traditional Rulers 

Council, where he met with 

monarchs in the state before 

arriving the campaign rally 

venue. 

Admitting that fighting 

corruption had not been 

easy, Buhari said he would 

probe and recover the $16 

billion spent on power by 

the Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, led past 

administrations with 

nothing to show for it. 

His words: “You know we 

are building roads, 

railways, there was no 

power, we are bringing 

power back. The previous 

governments mentioned on 

their own that they spent 

$16 billion on power but you 

are better witnesses than 

myself, where is the power? 

Where is the money? We 

will follow them, eventually 

we will get them and we 

will get our money back. I 

assure you that we will 

maintain focus in securing 

this country and mange it 

The Chief Observer, 

Delegation of 

European Union 

Election Observation 

Mission to Nigeria 

2019 General 

Elections, Ms. Maria 

Arena (right), a 

member of the 

European Parliament 

from Belguim and 

Inta Lase Media 

Analyst visited the 

International Press 

Centre yesterday for 

mutually beneficial 

discussions on the 

state of the nation 

and the media ahead 

of the elections. Ms. 

Arena with the IPC 

Director, during the 

visit. 

properly. 

“I assure you that the 

APC government will take 

seriously our programmes 

on security, economy and 

infrastructure. We are also 

promising that we will 

make people who occupy 

executive positions both in 

federal and state 

governments to be 

accountable to the people. 

“If you could recall, when 

I came in 2015 with our 

party, we articulated issues 

which we campaigned on 

and which we are working 

on, among them security, 

economy and fighting 

corruption."


ACF endorses Buhari for second term 

By Ben Agande 

K ADUNA—AREWA 

Consultative Forum, 

ACF, has formally endorsed 


Buhari for a second term, 

saying he has made enough 

contributions to economic and 

infrastructure development 

and tackled security 

challenges in the country. 

Briefing newsmen, 

yesterday, at ACF secretariat 

in Kaduna, the forum said it 

also took into consideration 

the integrity of the candidates 

contesting the presidential 

election. 

The endorsement of the 

candidate of All Progressives 

Congress, APC, by the 

umbrella body of the north has 

effectively divided the north. 

The Northern Elders 

Forum, NEF, led by Professor 

Ango Abdullahi had earlier 

endorsed Buhari’s rival, Atiku 

Abubakar, the presidential 

candidate of Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP. 

According to acting 

Chairman of the forum, Alhaji 

Musa Liman Kwande, 

Buhari’s achievements so far 

were enough to give the 

President a second term. 

He said: “Given the 

contributions of the incumbent 

government to the economic 

and infrastructure 

development of the nation, 

and the government’s 

achievements in combating 

insurgency and other security 

problems bedeviling the 

country, ACF believes that 

President Buhari deserves a 

second term to consolidate 

his achievements. 

“The ACF is, therefore, of 

the view that certain attributes, 

such as clarity of thought, 

unity of purpose, character 

and morality of the 

candidates, their leadership 

qualities, performance and 

general acceptability of the 

candidates contesting, not 

only the office of the President 

of the Federal Republic of 

Nigeria but also other elective 

offices, should guide voters in 

making their choices. 

“The decision on who to 

elect should not be based on 

any form of inducements, mob 

hysteria, intimidation or false 

promises, but by calm and 

deliberate consideration of 

the candidates’ qualities of 

leadership, performance and 

moral standing in their public 

and private lives.” 

Speaking further on other 

reasons that informed its 

endorsement, ACF said it 

also took into consideration 

Buhari’s capacity “to tackle 

security challenges, fight 

corruption, and boost the 

economy by way of 

diversification from over 

dependence on oil and 

infrastructure development to 

promote growth. 

"The integrity of the 

candidate to raise the image 

of Nigeria in the comity of 

nations is equally important 

in the election.” 

While calling on politicians 

and their supporters to avoid 

all forms of violence before, 

during and after the elections, 

ACF urged Independent 

National Electoral 

Commission, INEC, to live 

up to its promise and 

assurance of credible, free 

and fair elections. 

“ACF equally calls on the 

police and other security 

agencies involved in 

providing security to the 

election process to remain 

neutral and professional in 

their conduct,” the forum 

said. 

INSPECTION: Dr. Mordi Ononye, Delta State Commissioner for 

Health (2nd left); Dr. Onome Ogueh, Chief Medical Director, Delta State 

University Teaching Hospital, Oghara (2nd right), Mr. Osadebe Osakwe, 

CEO, North China Construction Company Limited (right), and Dr. 

Harrison Abedi, Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee during the 

inspection of the ongoing rehabilitation work at Clinical Building, Delta 

State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara. 

M-Belt Forum reaffirms endorsement 

of Atiku 

“The 

By Chris 

Ochayi 

ABUJA—BARELY 96 

hours to the 

presidential election, 

Middle Belt Forum, MBF, 

has reaffirmed its 

endorsement of the 

candidate of Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, 

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as 

the sole candidate of the 

people of the zone for the 

polls. 

The forum, while 

justifying its adoption of 

the former vice president, 

noted that one major 

consideration for this 

decision was the security 

of lives and property of 

the people of Middle Belt. 

President, MBF, Dr. 

Pogu Bitrus, who made 

the remarks at an 

interactive session with 

newsmen in Abuja, 

admitted that Middle Belt 

had never witnessed the 

magnitude of killings 

under the three and a half 

years administration of 


Buhari, which he 

described 

as 

“unprecedented.” 

He said, after extensive 

discussion with Atiku 

Abubakar and observing 

his campaigns, the forum 

believes Atiku has the 

intellectual and mental 

capacity as well as the 

vitality to attend to the 

security challenges in the 

Middle Belt. 

According to him, 

"another major 

consideration for our 

endorsement was Atiku's 

stand on the issue of 

restructuring of the 

Nigerian federation. As 

presently constituted, the 

Nigerian federation is 

unwieldy and a 

contraption for the 

annihilation of the people 

of the Middle Belt, our 

cultures and aspirations. 

Buhari-led 

administration has failed 

woefully in that duty and 

endangered the entire 

Middle Belt region. We, 

therefore, had no hesitation 

in rejecting him as a 

candidate deserving of our 

support in the forthcoming 

presidential election. 

Sanusi calls for restraint over 

political tension in Kano 

By Abdulmumin 

Murtala 

K ANO—FOLLOWING 

increasing attacks by 

rival political groups in 

Kano leading to destruction 

of property in parts of Kano 

metropolis, the Emir of 

Kano, Muhammad Sanusi 

II, has called for caution by 

politicians and their 

supporters. 

Making the call, 

yesterday, in his palace, the 

emir said: “We have 

received news of threat to 

security in Kano between 

yesterday and the day 

before. We are calling on 

the people for restraint.” 

He called on the people 

to utilise their voters’ cards 

to elect candidates of their 

choice and not to engage 

in any form of crisis 

whatsoever, saying: 

“Whosoever has his voter 

card should come out and 

vote for the candidate of his 

choice without engaging in 

any form of crisis.” 

The royal father called on 

political leaders in 

particular not to do 

anything that could cause 

breach of peace as no one 

knows the result of such 

action. 

He reminded the public 

that the relative peace being 

enjoyed in the state should 

not be compromised at any 

cost, warning that 

unscrupulous elements out 

there were waiting to take 

opportunity of any crisis to 

unleash lawlessness on the 

communities and asked the 

public to refrain from 

igniting crisis. 

The emir appealed to 

district heads and other 

traditional rulers to extend 

his message to the 

grassroots and ensure that 

no crisis erupts in the 

communities as a result of 

the elections. 

Meanwhile, Kano State 

police command has 

arrested 50 thugs in 

connection with recent 

clashes between two 

leading political parties, All 


APC, and Peoples 


Experts point way for 

Nigeria’s economic recovery 

at NASD meeting 

THE success of this year's 

general election and a 

clear economic direction 

afterwards have been 

identified as the basis on 

which Nigeria’s economy 

will recover fully. 

Experts at a breakfast 

business meeting organised 

by NASD Plc said Nigeria 

was currently undergoing a 

period of weak economic 

growth, which could 

continue should crisis erupt 

after the election. 

Also the policy makers 

must pay attention to global 

economic developments like 

the slow growth in the US 

economy and trade wars. 

Managing Director and 

Chief Executive Officer of 

NASD Plc, Bola Ajomale, 

said businesses listed on the 

platform were anxious to 

know what the outcome of 

the elections will be. A 

successful election will mean 

the outlook for 2019 is very 

bright for the business 

community and investors. 

“A lot will depend on the 

outcome. If there is a quick 

resolution then, yes the 

country will continue. If 

there is no quick resolution, 

then we are going to be in 

trouble. When there is trouble 

or peace it will reflect on the 

market,” Ajomale said. 

Nigerian economist, Doyin 

Salami, noted that other 

indices that could put the 

economy on a sure footing 

include fiscal policies of the 

new government, adding: 

"Should the incumbent 

President win the election, 

will there be economic 

reforms? 

Salami observed that the 

sluggish growth had also 

reflected in the direction of 

the 2019 budget. 

He said: "Nigeria’s 

economy is experiencing a 

fragile and weakening 

economic recovery pace, as 

the country has failed to grow 

higher than its population 

rate of two per cent at the 

moment. The current 

economic growth rate is 1.8 

per cent and the Central 

Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has 

warned that the country 

could slip back into a 

recession. 

“Expect a tighter monetary 

policy. In addition, a win for 

the incumbent is likely to see 

current exchange rates as 

well as the interest rates 

maintained at the level it is 

at least for the first half of 

2019. This could change if 

the main opposition defeats 

the incumbent. 

“Will the opposition 

appoint a new CBN 

governor? The scenario 

could be retaining the current 

CBN governor until his 

tenure expires in June 2019, 

which also gives ample time 

to whoever is the new 

president to appoint a new 

governor. 

Why we arrested PDP 

Campaign D-G —DSS 

By Ben Agande 

K ADUNA—KADUNA 

State Command of 

Department of State 

Services, DSS, has said it 

arrested Director-General of 

Peoples Democratic Party, 

PDP, campaign in the state, 

Ben Bako, because of 

alleged inciting statement 

by him, which if left 

unchecked, was capable of 

leading to a “complete 

breakdown of law and 

order in the state and 

beyond.” 

The PDP Campaign 

Director-General was 

arrested after a video in 

which he allegedly called 

for anybody that failed to 

vote for the PDP in the 

forthcoming election to be 

killed. 

The PDP in the state, 

however, said his arrest was 

part of plans by All 


APC, in the state to clamp 

down on opposition 

elements. 

But in a statement, DSS 

said the PDP chieftain was 

arrested for him to “shed 

light on his inciting 

statement." 

DSS statement by A. I. 

Koya, Director of Security 

of the state command, said 

“other people with similar 

tendencies are also being 

investigated and would 

equally face the same fate 

if found culpable. 

The statement reads: 

“On February 9, 2019, this 

service invited Mr Ben 

Bako to shed light on his 

inciting statement and call 

for violence in the state. 

Earlier on February 7, 2019 

Bako had addressed a rally 

at Kafanchan, Jema’a Local 

Government Area of 

Kaduna State. 

"During the rally, Bako 

was recorded calling his 

followers to kill anybody 

that votes for any party 

other than PDP. The video 

has already gone viral 

through the social media. 

“Bako, a former 

Commissioner for 

Information in this state and 

a leader in his own right 

made this call along with 

other inviting statements at 

Kafanchan, deliberately 

with the intention to cause 

violence in the state. 

"This development, if left 

unchecked, could lead to 

complete breakdown of law 

and order in this state and 

beyond."


OSUN TRADITIONAL RULERS VISIT OYETOLA: Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State (middle); his 

deputy, Mr. Benedict Alabi (3rd right); the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi (3rd left); the Oluwo of Iwo 

land, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi (2nd right), Orangun of Ila, Oba Abdulwahab Oyedotun (2nd left); the Timi of 

Ede, Oba Munirudeen Adesola Lawal (left), the Ogiyan of Ejigboland, Oba Omowonuola Oyeyode Oyesosin and 

others, during a courtesy visit by traditional rulers, at the Government House Osogbo, Osun State yesterday. 

Ogun: Amosun'll pay for rally fracas 

after polls — APC 

•Directs supporters to vote only its candidates 

•New CP appointed for Ogun State 

•Osinbajo flays Amosun 

By Kingsley Omonobi, 

Omeiza Ajayi & Daud 

Olatunji 

ABUJA—THE 

All 

Progressives 

Congress, APC, yesterday, 

accused Governor Ibikunle 

Amosun of Ogun State of 

sponsoring thugs to pelt 


Buhari and other 

dignitaries during its 

campaign rally in Abeokuta 

on Monday. 

This was as the party 

asked its supporters to vote 

for only its candidates, a 

departure from the 

Presidential admonition to 

them to vote candidates of 

their choice after the 

presidential elections. 

Similarly, following the 

stoning incident that 

happened on Monday at 

the MKO Abiola stadium, 

the Inspector General of 

Police, Mohammed 

Abubakar Adamu has 

ordered the redeployment 

of Ogun State 

Commissioner of Police, CP 

Ahmed Iliyasu. 


Buhari had at the Monday 

rally, in an apparent 

attempt to calm frayed 

nerves, told the 

supporters at the rally to 

follow their hearts, saying 

it was within their 

democratic rights to so do. 

Buhari said: “I advise 

you to practice your civic 

right come next Saturday, 

and on the 2nd of March 

to choose whoever you like 

across the parties. This is 

your right, so there is no 

problem about it, I have no 

problem about it, and you 

shouldn’t have problems 

about it”, the president had 

said, deviating from the 

tradition of canvassing 

support for all candidates 

of the party, being its chief 

campaigner. 

However, the party 

hierarchy, yesterday, in a 

strongly worded statement 

by its spokesman, Mallam 

Lanre Issa-Onilu, differed 

with him, telling its 

supporters to vote for “all 

and only” APC candidates. 

The statement reads: “We 

urge our teeming party 

supporters and members 

not to be disturbed by 

Monday’s condemnable 

incident. We urge all to 

continue trooping out 

enmasse for our remaining 

campaigns and vote 

massively for all and only 

APC candidates in the 

forthcoming general 

elections.” 

“The All Progressives 

Congress, APC, regrets 

Monday’s premeditated 

attacks sponsored by 

Governor Ibikunle Amosun 

on President Muhammadu 

Buhari and other senior 

party leaders at the venue 

of the presidential 

campaign rally in Ogun 

State. “The APC will not 

condone acts of 

indiscipline, indiscretion 

and anti-party activities from 

any party member no matter 

how highly placed. 

“The party will review this 

gross misconduct of 

deliberately positioning 

thugs to attack and 

embarrass the President and 

the party’s leadership. The 

party will take a decision on 

this matter immediately after 

the elections. 

“It must be stated that party 

supremacy and discipline, 

according to our 

constitution, are not 

matters of choice but 

binding principles which 

must be adhered to by all 

party members. 

“The APC is a party 

known for discipline, 

justice, fairness and 

equality, hence any plan to 

destroy what this party 

stands for would be 

rejected. No single person 

will be allowed to put his 

personal and selfish 

interests ahead of the 

wishes of the people of 

Ogun state and elsewhere. 

“Postprimaries, the 

decision of the National 

Working Committee to 

uphold the wishes of party 

members is unbendable. 

Therefore, whatever means 

being currently deployed 

by persons intending to 

undermine the wishes of 

the people for personal 

gains will not be tolerated.” 

Osinbajo tackles 

Amosun over comment 

Meanwhile, Vice 

President Yemi Osinbajo 

has tackled Governor 

Amosun over his 

comments at the APC 

rally in Abeokuta, urging 

the electorate in the 

state to vote for the APC 

candidates all through. 

Osinbajo said this 

during a town hall 

meeting held at the 

palace of the Ebunmawe 

of Ago Iwoye area in 

Ijebu North Local 

government, Oba 

Abdulrazak Adenugba. 

The Vice President 

spoke 24 hours after APC 

and Allied People 

Movement, APM, 

caused chaos at the 

Presidential campaign 

in Abeokuta. 

Osinbajo, who did not 

mention Amosun’s name, 

however, described those 

promoting other parties as 

‘bad cutlasses.’ 

He said: “Vote for APC 

alone on all the elective 

offices because, we don’t 

know of those who are 

meddling or promoting 

another party because 

anyone caught in such 

act can be described as 

bad cutlasses. 

“Vote for APC alone in 

all elective offices, remember 

a cutlass should have 

only one sharp edge. Anything 

short of that makes 

such cutlass a bad one. 

“You need to vote for APC 

because even the most 

hardened enemy of 


Buhari knows that he is not 

a thief nor is he corrupt. 

Secondly, you have to vote 

for us because of many 

things that we have in stock 

for you.” 

New CP deployed for 

Ogun 

Meanwhile, a new 

Commissioner of Police has 

been appointed for Ogun 

State. 

He is CP Gbenga 

Adeyanju. 

CP Adeyanju was a 

former Commissioner of 

Police in Ondo State. 

A top Police source 

confirmed 

the 

redeployment, saying 

supporters, who thronged 

the stadium with missiles 

and objects, ought to have 

been prevented from 

entering the stadium with 

such dangerous objects by 

the Police. 

Lagos gov poll: AD members 

defect, adopt ADP candidate 

By Gabriel Olawale 

L 

A G O S — 

MEMBERS of 

the Alliance for Democracy, 

AD, in Lagos State, have 

defected to the Action 

Democratic Party, ADP, and 

declared support for the 

party’s governorship 

candidate, Mr Babatunde 

Gbadamosi. 

The defectors are known 

as the G89 group in the AD. 

In a statement jointly 

signed by the Leader and 

executive members of the 

G89, Prince Eniola Ojajuni 

(leader), Mr. Caleb 

Agbanimu and Mr. 

Ikudehinbu Matthew 

(Executives) respectively, 

on behalf of G89 AD group, 

ELIGIBILITY CASE: Fayemi 

floors Oni 

By Rotimi Ojomoyela 

ACourt DO-EKITI—THE 

of Appeal 

sitting in Ado-Ekiti, 

yesterday, dismissed the 

case filed by former Deputy 

National Chairman of the 

All Progressives Congress, 

APC, Chief Segun Oni over 

the eligibility of Governor 

Kayode Fayemi as the 

candidate of the party in the 

July 14, 2018 governorship 

election in the state. 

The Appeal Court, in an 

unanimous judgment, said 

Fayemi needed not resign 

as then Minister of Steel 

and Mines Development to 

contest the May 12, 2018 

APC governorship primary 

, where he emerged as 

candidate. 

The three-man Appeal 

panel presided over by 

Justice Adamu Juaro, also 

held that Fayemi was only 

compelled to resign 30 days 

to the election which he did. 

Other Justices on the 

Appeal panel are: Justices 

Emmanuel Agim and 

Abubakar Lamido . 

On the White Paper, 

Justice Agim who read the 

judgement said that 

Fayemi’s indictment by 

Justice Silas Oyewole led 

judicial panel of inquiry set 

up by former governor 

Ayodele Fayose to try the 

governor for alleged 

embezzlement, was not 

enough to bar him from 

participating in the election. 

The Justices said only a 

competent court of law can 

convict or bar any aspirant 

from participating in a 

primary or general election 

and not a mere indictment 

by a panel . 

Agim said: “We have 

considered the positions of 

all the parties regarding 

who is a public servant. 

...as A'Court dismisses suit 

Section 277 of the 1999 

constitution explained who 

is a public servant and a 

Minister being an office in 

the service, is a public 

servant. 

“But the 1st respondent 

(Fayemi) was not an 

employee since he was 

hired and confirmed by the 

Senate to perform a specific 

task in the Ministry of 

Mines and Steel 

Development. It is not every 

public servant that is an 

employee in the civil 

service.” 

On the issue of 2018 

primary, the Court said: 

“The 30 days 

recommended by law for 

any public servant to resign 

is not applicable in this 

case, because the 1st 

respondent is not an 

employee of government 

and he can be removed 

anytime by his principal.” 

In the case of his 

indictment by a judicial 

panel, the court said: 

“Indictment is not a 

conviction. Only a 

competent court of law can 

bar anyone from 

participating in an election. 

“The judicial panel that 

indicted him is not a court 

of competent jurisdiction. It 

is just a fact finding body.'' 

Fayemi, Oni react 

Reacting to the judgment, 

Fayemi’s lawyer, Raheem 

Balogun, commended the 

jurists for their industry and 

zeal, saying they had once 

again reestablished the fact 

that Fayemi did not err in 

law by contesting the 

primary. 

On his part, Oni’s lawyer, 

represented by Olusesan 

Akinola, said they 

would study the 

judgement and determine 

the next line of action. 

Python dance III not for war 

only — ARMY 

By Daud Olatunji 

ACommander BEOKUTA—THE 

of 35 

Artillery Brigade 

Command, Alamala, 

Abeokuta, Brig Gen. 

Olaniyi Olatunde, 

yesterday, said the Python 

Dance III otherwise called 

Lagos State, the group said 

that Gbadamosi is the 

candidate that can take the 

state to the desired heights. 

The statement reads: 

“After due consultation and 

accurate brainstorming, we 

the G89 from the Alliance 

for Democracy, AD, hereby, 

declare for Gbadamosi 

Olalere Babatunde as the 

best candidate and by the 

grace of God, the next 

Governor of Lagos State. 

“Gbadamosi is a man of 

integrity and after our 

meetings, we decided to 

join ADP and join forces 

and form a movement that 

will deliver maximum 

votes for him in the 

forthcoming governorship 

election in Lagos State.'' 

Egwu Eke 111 is not meant 

for only war. 

Olatunde said this during 

a free medical Outreach and 

distribution of books and 

other writing materials to 

students of the host 

community at Lafenwa in 

Abeokuta, Ogun State. 

Chief of Army Staff, Lt. 

Gen. Tukur Buratai had said 

that the Operation Python 

Dance is to reinvigorate all 

existing operations in the 

country, with additional 

manpower, equipment and 

resources to address the 

lingering security problems 

in the country. 

Olatunde said the event 

was part of the activities 

lined up to commemorate 

the nationwide exercise 

Python dance 111 in 81 

Division Area of 

Responsibility. 

He said: “No one is 

permitted to disclose any 

information that is injurious 

to national security. We are 

doing this to maintain the 

citizens and change their 

orientation that Nigerian 

Army is not about war only. 

“We can also relate with 

the citizens and the 

mandate to provide 

adequate protection and 

security for the good 

people of Nigeria.''


Nyiam sends sos to security agencies 

over elections ...warns against threats to US, EU, UK 

By Chioma 

Gabriel 

LAGOS—RETIRED Lt 

Colonel Anthony 

Nyiam, one of the army 

officers who attempted the 

April 22, 1990 coup and a 

member of the Presidential 

Advisory Committee, PAC, 

which packaged the 

National Conference 

during the Jonathan 

regime but later resigned 

has requested that the 

Chiefs of the Armed Forces 

and other national security 

agencies need to rise up to 

their duty of protecting the 

Nigerian people from any 

act that tramples on their 

democratic rights to elect 

who governs them. 

Police arrest 5 fake army officers escorting 

politician in Imo 

•As Uzodinma, Ihedioha, Nwosu sign peace accord 

By Chinonso 

Alozie 

OWERRI—FIVE Army 

officers suspected to be 

fake soldiers, were 

yesterday paraded at the 

Imo State Police Command 

headquarters in Owerri. 

The Commander, 34 

Artillery Brigade, Obinze 

Owerri, Brigade General 

H. I. Bature stated this 

during the signing of the 

peace accord by the Imo 

State governorship 

candidates ahead of the 

general elections. 

He also said that two out 

of the five suspects were 

caught escorting a politician 

but the army commander 

did not mention the name 

of the politician said to be 

enjoying the security of the 

fake army officers. 

Among the top 

governorship candidates 

who attended the peace 

accord/agreement 

ceremony were Hope 

Uzodinma of the All 


APC; Emeka Ihedioha of 


He said the security 

agencies need to be careful 

not to execute 

Unconstitutional 

Presidential Executive 

Orders. 

In an encounter with 

Vanguard yesterday, Col 

Tony Nyiam said, “the fate 

of the Nigerian people 

during the Presidential 

election in a few days’ time, 

and the weeks immediately 

after the election, depends 

squarely on the armed 

services Chiefs and the 

Inspector General of Police. 

Any partial support of any 

political party particularly 

the ruling party could lead 

to loss of innocent peoples 

lives. The blood of such loss 

of lives would definitely be 

Party, PDP and Uche 

Nwosu of Action Alliance, 

AA. 

However, Ikedi Ohakim 

of the Accord Party, AP, and 

Ifeanyi Araraume of the All 

Progressive Grand 

Alliance, APGA, sent their 

running mates, Mrs. Ann 

Dozie and Steve Nwoga 

respectively. 

On the arrest of the 

suspected fake Army 

officers whose names were 

not mentioned, the Army 

Commander said: “You can 

see, they are wearing the 

same uniform. You will find 

it difficult to differentiate 

them from myself. They are 

not soldiers. Unfortunately, 

two of them were caught 

escorting a politician. 

“One of them, Kelvin is 

not anywhere close to a 

military formation. We have 

a way of identifying fake 

soldiers. The exhibits 

recovered are unbelievable. 

I want to sensitize our 

people that if you are in the 

habit of recruiting fake 

soldiers, we will arrest 

you.” 

on their hands. 

“I speak as non-partisan 

citizen. The evidence of 

this, is that I support the 

APC gubernatorial 

candidates in Lagos State 

– Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat, 

and in Delta State, Chief 

Great Ogboru who I’m sure 

will stop the looting of 

Deltans’ commonwealth. 

For the pretentious wise 

men who accuse Chief 

Ogboru for being a coup 

plotter, forget that the 

Olorogun never plotted 

against a democratically 

elected government. Lest 

we forget, as one of 

Nigeria’s youngest 

Billionaires, Chief Great 

Ogboru’s 1990 role led to 

the creation of Delta State.” 

In his remark, the Imo 

State police commissioner, 

Dazuki Galadanchi also 

said: “Democracy is a game 

of numbers. There must be 

a winner and a loser. 

Anybody who is not here is 

not a supporter of 

democracy. We have only 

one state and that is Imo 

State. Our gathering today 

is to make sure that the 

election is credible, free and 

fair. Anybody here and is 

in Imo State is here to serve 

humanity. Everybody must 

eschew violence.” 

Also, the Imo state 

Resident Electoral 

Commissioner, REC, 

Francis Ezeonu, was of the 

view that, “Election is not 

war. On out part, we will 

provide a level playing 

ground for all the players. 

We will work hard to keep 

the integrity of the election.” 

APC governorship 

candidate, Uzodinma, 

expressed confidence in the 

security agencies as well as 

INEC. 

He said: “We highly 

commend the idea of the 

According to Nyiam, the 

responsibilities of the armed 

services and other national 

security agencies chiefs 

have become more than at 

any time in Nigeria , very 

crucial. “The incidences 

playing out in our very eyes 

which have necessitated 

this Save Our Soul (SOS) 

message to the services 

chiefs include the following: 

There is a cabal of unelected 

three-some who have been 

consistently taking 

advantage of President 


bodily and mental illhealth, 

to mis-lead the 

Commander-in-Chief to be 

mainly of service to their 

selfish interests and their 

kinsfolk." 

D O N A T I O N : 

Chairman, Oyo State 

Education Trust 

Fund, ETF, Chief 

Onikepo Akande 

CON (middle), 

Executive Secretary, 

Mrs Yetunde Fatoki 

(4th left); Principal, 

Our Lady of Apostles 

(Senior) Secondary 

Grammar School, 

Odo-Ona, Ibadan, 

Mrs Deborah 

Olatunde (2nd left) 

and some students, 

during 

the 

presentation of 

Science equipment to 

the school by the 

OYO ETF at the 

school's hall, in 

peace accord initiated by 

the various security 

agencies and we will abide 

by this accord. I have trust 

in INEC and security 

agencies. If not, I will not 

be here for this accord 

meeting.” 

The AA, guber candidate, 

Nwosu said: “Myself and 

my party, the AA, believe 

in democracy and that is 

why we are here. We are 

committed to this peace 

pact.” 

Court to hear contempt charge 

against Oshiomhole Feb 18 

By Chinonso 

Alozie 

OWERRI—AS the 

legal tussle on who 

controls the leadership of 

the All Progressives 

Congress, APC, in Imo 

state continues, a suit 

seeking to charge the 

national chairman of 

APC, Adams 

Oshiomhole to prison for 

disobeying court order 

has been slated for 

hearing on February 18, 

2019. 

Vanguard gathered 

yesterday in Owerri 

that the Daniel Nwafor 

led executive of Imo APC 

had gone to court on the 

grounds that the 

leadership of APC in the 

state had been tampered 

with by Oshiomhole. 

Nwafor in a suit 

marked FCT/HC/BW/ 

CV/103/2018, before a 

high court in the Federal 

Capital Territory, has 

asked the court to commit 

the APC national 

chairman to prision citing 

an earlier order 

stopping such action 

which he said was issued 

on August 14, 2018. 

Part of the motion on 

notice said: “Take Notice 

that this honourable court 

shall be moved on the 18th 

day of February 2019, at the 

hour of 9 o’clock, in the fore 

noon or so thereafter as 

Counsel on behalf of the 

3rd Defendant/Applicant 

may be heard praying the 

court for the following; 

“An Order committing 

Adam’s Oshiomhole, the 

national chairman of All 

Progressives Congress 

,APC, the 2nd Defendant 

to Prison for disobeying the 

Order of this honourable 

court made on the 14th Day 

of August 2018. And for 

such Order(s) that the 

Honourable Court may 

deem fit to make in the 

circumstances." 

The application argued 

that, “The contemnor/ 

party sought to be 

committed, disobeyed the 

Order of this Honourable 

Court made on the 14th 

Day of August, 2018. The 

disobedience of the Court 

Order has continued till 

date. 

Don't boycott elections, 

Igboekulie tells Ndigbo 

By Godfrey 

Bivbere 

A 

foremost Igbo sociocultural 

group, 

Igboekulie has urged 

Nigerians to ignore any 

call for boycott of the 

elections, calling on them 

to turn out en-masse 

during the polls and vote 

in the right persons that 

will steer the ship of the 

nation in the next four 

years based on personal 

merit. 

In a statement, 

yesterday by Prince Ben 

Onuora and Benjamin 

Obidiegwu, President 

and Secretary 

respectively, Igboekulie 

urged the voters to 

disregard political parties 

affiliation and vote for 

persons that they are 

sure have the 

competencies to run the 

affairs of the country in the 

next four years. 

They warned against any 

form of apathy or boycott of 

the elections, saying the 

reality is that “when we 

choose not to vote, the 

elections would not be 

postponed or cancelled on 

account of the ill-advised 

decision. Therefore, we 

invariably indirectly 

surrender our right to 

choose our leaders to the 

others who actually vote." 

The association further 

stated: “There is no 

gainsaying the fact that our 

political parties are not 

ideologically focused. In 

the light of this, we advise 

that candidates must be 

considered on personal 

merits than on any party 

affiliation as the parties in 

Nigeria have become only 

vehicles for contesting 

elections. 

Presidential poll: Bitter campaigns worry 

Mbazulike Amaechi 

By Vicent 

Ujumadu 

AWKA—WITH three 

days to the 2019 

presidential election, a first 

republic minister, Chief 

Mbazulike Amaechi 

yesterday painted a 

gloomy picture of the 

exercise, warning that the 

signs hovering around the 

polls from various states 

were not good at all. 

Amaechi, 90, and the 

only surviving minister of 

that era, who addressed 

reporters at his country 

home at Ukpor in Nnewi 

South local government 

area of Anambra State, also 

faulted those opposed to 

the endorsement of the 

presidential candidate of 


Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku 

Abubakar and his running 

mate, Mr. Peter Obi by 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo, 

describing them 

(opposition) as unpatriotic 

Igbo people. 

According to him, the 

campaigns for the 

presidential election had 

been characterized by so 

much bitterness, signaling 

grave danger for the 

country. 

He said: “As the very last 

surviving nationalist, 

freedom fighter and 

Minister of the first republic 

still alive, I feel compelled 

to say something and warn 

those who may be plotting 

to plunge the country into 

a major crisis that may 

threaten the very 

foundation of our 

federation. 

“Nigerians must brace up 

and defend democracy and 

the federation itself. There 

is grave danger ahead. 

Those who destroyed 

democracy is 1983 are up 

again to deprive the people 

of their fundamental rights."


By Olasunkanmi 

Akani 

LAGOS—BARELY five 

days to the general 

elections, Senator Gbenga 

Ashafa, representing Lagos 

East Senatorial District, 

has urged voters in 

Magodo and environs in 

Ikosi-Isheri Local Council 

Development Area, LCDA, 

to vote for President 

Muhammadu Buhari, 

Yemi Osinbajo and other All 


APC, candidates. 

He stressed that corruption 

should be killed totally 

through the February 16 

poll "or else corruption will 

come back to kill us." 

Ashafa made the plea, 

yesterday, at the 

commencement of door-todoor 

campaign and 

sensitization of Magodo 

residents for Buhari's reelection 

and all APC 

candidates in the 

forthcoming Presidential 


election on Saturday, organized 

by Gbenga Ashafa 

Campaign Organisation. 

Also in attendance were 

Chairman, Magodo Residents 

Association, Mr. Jade 

Niboro and APC chieftain 

in the community, Chief 

Lanre Obisesan. 

Other candidates Ashafa 

canvassed votes for are 

senatorial candidate for 

Lagos East, Bayo Osinowo 

and Rotimi Agunsoye, 

House of Representatives 

By Festus Ahon & 

Ochuko Akuopha 

K WALE—NDOKWA 

Neku Union, NNU, 

the apex socio-cultural 

organization of the 

Ndokwa nation has urged 

all Deltans to adhere to the 

rotation principle of the 

governorship position in 

the state in the interest of 

equity and fair play. 

Addressing newsmen at 

Kwale, Ndokwa West Local 

Government Area after a 

sensitization tour of 

Ndokwa nation, President- 

General of NNU, Johnson 

Opone, stressed the need 

for Delta central and south 

senatorial districts as well 

as all gubernatorial candidates 

in the state to give 

equity a chance. 

Opone said: “You will recollect 

that our former governor, 

James Ibori, served 

out his two tenures and he 

is from Delta central, you 

will also recollect that the 

governor from Delta south, 

Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, 

served out his two tenures 

and he is from Delta south. 

"We from the Delta north 

senatorial district believe 

that if our governor 

(Senator Ifeanyi Okowa) 

has performed and he is 

from Delta North senatorial 

district, we will stand by 

that agreement which has 

been performed in the two 

senatorial districts. Now is 

the turn of Delta North 

senatorial district”. 

“We beg our Urhobo 

brothers that in 2023, we 

will support them but now 

we call on them to support 

HANDOVER: From left— Mrs Adebunmi Adekanye, Perm-Sec, Ministry of Education; 

Dr Idiat Adebule, Lagos State Deputy Governor; Dr Olufolayinmika Abiose, 

Tutor-General, Perm- Sec, District One and Mr Hakeem Kosoko, Tutor General, 

Perm Sec District Four, during the handover of a furnished Block of 8 Classrooms 

to Oke Odo Junior High Oke Odo, Alimosho, by the state Ministry of Education, in 

Lagos. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi 

Vote Buhari, Osinbajo, APC to kill 

corruption, Ashafa tells Lagosians 

candidate for the district, 

governorship candidate, 

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and 

other APC candidates. 

Ashafa, who listed 

achievements of President 

Buhari as one of the reasons 

for their vote, promised that 

Buhari would do more for 

Lagos State in particular and 

South West, in general if reelected. 

He mentioned, Lagos- 

Adhere to rotation principle, NNU urges Deltans 

us. I hereby call on our 

Urhobo brothers, 

Itsekiri, Isoko and Ijaw, 

to give equity a 

chance. What is good 

for them is equally good 

for us. 

Buhari group takes campaign to Edo LGs 

By Alemma Aliu 

BENIN CITY—THE reelection 

bid of President 

Muhammadu Buhari got a 

boost in Edo State yesterday 

as the Buhari Support 

Group (BSO) commenced 

campaigns across the 18 

local government areas that 

make up the state saying it 

was sure the people of the 

state would vote massively 

for the president. 

A leader of the BSO in 

the state, Lady Philomena 

Eriyo while fielding 

questions from journalists 

said the re-election of Presi- 

Lagos APC sensitises youths on voting 

By Monsuru 

Olowoopejo 

LAGOS—Lagos 

All 


APC, yesterday began 

sensitisation of its members 

on how to vote at Saturday's 

presidential election and 

next month's governorship 

election. 

The party, at the event, put 

together by the Youth 

Organising Secretariat in 

Lagos, charged youth supporters 

to vote with their index 

finger on the ballot paper 

in order to prevent their 

Ibadan, Ikorodu-Sagamu 

Expressway rehabilitation 

and expansion projects, 

Lagos-Ogun-Ibadan 

standard guage rail-line, 

just commissioned and 

several bills signed into 

law by Buhari's administration 

as some of the 

achievements that would 

be sustained and improved 

he's if reelected. 

Ashafa, after a door-to-door 

"We at Ndokwa 

Neku, support any 

candidate that justifies 

our confidence but 

when it comes to the 

governorship race, we 

stand with the agreement 

that we have 

dent Buhari would no 

doubt continue the implementation 

of Economy 

Recovery, Growth plan, 

infrastructural transformation 

as well as Social 

Programme already embarked 

upon by the current 

administration, 

hence the need to vote for 

development cum integrity 

as demonstrated by 

the president. 

"Those of us who have 

been following events in 

Nigeria knows who President 

Buhari is starting 

from where he met the 

votes from being voided. 

Lagos APC Youth Organising 

Secretary, Idris 

Aregbe told supporters at 

the party Secretariat, 

Acme Road on Monday 

that the party felt it was 

necessary to sensitise the 

youths on voting tips during 

election. 

He said the essence was 

to ensure that their votes 

were not voided for voting 

wrongly, saying that the 

party wanted the voters to 

get it right when they 

voted on Saturday. 

campaign and sharing of flyers, 

later converged on the premises 

of the Magodo Residents 

Association Secretariat,addressed 

some residents, largely made up 

of middle class, on the need to 

vote for Buhari, saying a vote for 

him is a vote for progress. 

According to the senator, 

The People Democratic 

Party, PDP destroyed the 

country for 16 years through 

corruption. 

had over the years that 

what is good for the 

central is equally good 

for Delta north and we 

stand by our amiable 

governor, Dr Ifeanyi 

Okowa, as the decision 

of Ndokwa people. 

country , where the country 

is now and where he 

intends to take the country. 

“This is a man who has 

no single property tied to 

his name in United Kingdom 

where I lived and 

who is ever ready to remain 

in his Daura home 

in Katsina. 

“Can we compare such 

a man ( Buhari) with those 

in the opposition party 

who Nigerians tolerated for 

16 years but could not find 

solutions to our problems?" 

According to him, youths 

of the party were bent on 

ensuring that they mobilised 

huge number of 

youths to cast their votes for 

the APC, hence the need 

to let them know the tips of 

voting that would not be 

voided. 

State Secretary of the 

APC, Lagos, Wale Ahmed 

said the essence of the programme 

was to create 

awareness on the coming 

election among the youths 

in the language they 

would understand. 

SA manufacturing output growth slows 

for second month 

SOUTH Africa's manufacturing output slowed 

for the second straight month in December, 

preliminary data from Statistics South Africa 

showed on Tuesday. 

Manufacturing output edged up a non-adjusted 

0.1% year-on-year in December following a 1.3% 

increase in November and a 3.0% gain in October. 

Food and beverages, motor vehicles, parts and 

accessories and other transport equipment, and 

glass and non-metallic mineral products made the 

biggest positive contributions in December. 

Negative contributions came from petroleum, 

chemicals, rubber and plastic products, iron and 

steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products 

and machinery industries. 

Uganda: New KCCA law to regulate 

operations of city markets 

THE controversy surrounding management of 

city markets is likely to be contained if the 

new law is implemented. 

The Kampala Capital City Ordinance, 2018, that 

was passed last week by the city authority at 

Kampala Capital City Authority Hall, only awaits 

the nod of the Attorney General. 

It, among others, seeks to provide for a clear 

and comprehensive licensing for permanent, 

semi-permanent and temporary markets, overall 

management and control of all types of markets 

in the city, and processes through which market 

leaders in public markets can be elected. 

According to Section 7 of the 2010 KCCA Act, 

the Authority is mandated to, among others, 

initiate and formulate policy, and enact legislation 

for the proper management of the city. 

Business to grow as IBEDC energizes 

Ijaiyecommunities after 8yrs of blackout 

THE management of Ibadan Electricity 

Company (IBEDC) has put smiles on the faces 

of electricity consumers in the ancient town of 

Ijaiye on route Iseyin, Oyo state, after an eightyear 

period of blackout which predated the era of 

privatization. 

The MD/CEO, 

Mr. John Donnachie took the swift decision to 

ameliorate the sufferings of the people of Ijaiye, 

an outskirt of Ibadan, that is now becoming 

strategic economic location in Ibadan due to the 

siting of the new Railway Terminus that will link 

the Agege Railway Terminus in Lagos state. 

This is coupled with the World Bank road project 

from Ijaiye to Iseyin making the place a 

commercial hub for business in less than two years 

from now. 

He said, "even though their situation was an 

inherited challenge, we can no longer close our 

eyes to the sufferings of our customers and the 

potentials ones in the fast-developing areas critical 

to our revenue generation'. 

During one of the meetings, the Monarch, 

Onijaiye of Ijaiye, Oba LasisiAkano, appealed to 

the management of IBEDC to take the ancient 

town as a new revenue generation opportunity 

owing to the infrastructural development taking 

place rapidly in the areas.He added that the 

length of Ijaye feeder deserves to have an injection 

substation. The management in reply said they 

shall ensure that a fair and equitable power supply 

is given to the area based on load the allocation. 

Paris low-carbon economy would 'boost 

EU's GDP by 1.1%' 

THE EU's GDP would grow by 1.1 per cent if its member 

states successfully implemented the Paris climate 

agreement and transitioned towards a low-carbon economy, 

a report finds. According to an analysis by Eurofound, an 

EU research agency, a green transition would also result in 

a 0.5 per cent growth in employment by 2030 compared to 

projections for "business as usual" in the bloc. The report's 

authors suggest this would be largely due to improved 

"investment activity" required to fuel the transition, as well 

as countries spending less on importing fossil fuels.

THIS question should be of 

particular interest to 

Nigerians as we prepare to vote 

in yet another election. 

Nigerian governments have 

traditionally taken a very 

conservative stance on social 

issues, choosing to support 

private businesses belonging to 

their associates over ordinary 

people: rather than attempt to 

fix the structural conditions 

enabling poverty, the choice has 

often been to pretend, for 

example, that foreign direct 

investment, FDI, alone can lift 

Nigerians out of poverty. 

However, without investing in 

healthy, well-educated citizens, 

attracting all the businesses on 

earth to Nigeria will not produce 

real progress or long-term 

development, particularly if 

citizens have not been 

empowered to produce wealth 

themselves. 

Health and education budgets 

have suffered considerable 

underfunding in Nigeria (one 

really can’t compare the 

average Ghanaian university to 

its Nigerian counterpart). And 

this was at one point 

encouraged by the World Bank, 

hence the propensity in many 

state governments to build 

airports, bridges and new 

buildings which the average 

citizen couldn’t afford to use. 

Overall 

growth 

Without building the masses’ 

capacity to trade, and therefore 

make use of local infrastructure, 

the majority of our airports will 

remain grandiose, elitist 

dreams in the minds of our 

governments, which don’t add 

much to this country’s overall 

growth and prosperity. 

Truly, a number of politicians 

have no problem with the 

majority of Nigerians remaining 

poor: such is their fatalist 

understanding of poverty. To 

them, some people are destined 

to suffer, unless they “wise up” 

and embrace some form of fraud 

or the other. 

Exploitation, in the ultracapitalist 

system we’ve adopted 

as the norm, demands the 

abuse or mistreatment of those 

who do not have the power or 

Atiku 

THE PDP presidential 

candidate, Atiku 

Abubakar, asked the leader of 

the Indigenous People of Biafra, 

IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, to prove 

he is from Cameroon after Kanu 

claimed Atiku wasn’t Nigerian. 

When Kanu claimed Buhari 

was Jibril from Sudan, PDP 

bigwigs supported the rumour 

or claimed they couldn’t be sure 

it wasn’t true. 

What usually happens when 

one encourages fake news or 

any sort of wrongdoing is that 

eventually, it comes back to 

haunt us. Kanu encourages his 

followers in the South-East not 

to vote (the South-East is the 

region where the PDP is 

concentrating all its hopes of 

victory in the coming 

presidential election), thus 

attempting to discredit not just 

the two major contenders but the 

entire electoral process, which 

Whose interests should government serve: 

the many or the few? 

the means to defend 

themselves. 

Those who defend such a 

system, are those who faint and 

develop illnesses as soon as 

their corruption case is called 

up in court. 

They are the same people 

who talk about protecting or 

defending the human rights of 

those accused of embezzling or 

mismanaging huge sums while 

ignoring the victims, the 

millions of people who neither 

have decent roads, schools, 

hospitals or jobs because of the 

actions of a few. 

One only reads about the 

rights of those who can afford 

to appear in court with a 

hundred Senior Advocates to 

defend them for committing 

crimes which are nothing short 

of national sabotage. All arms 

•Atiku Abubakar 

opposition politicians had no 

issues with until Kanu seemed 

to focus his negative energies 

on PDP. 

Until ethnicity ceases to play 

such an important role in 

Nigerian politics, spoilers like 

Kanu can manipulate history to 

suit their own purposes. 

of government in Nigeria have 

served the interests of the few 

over the many, enabling a small 

class of individuals to get away 

with murder. Road contracts 

were endlessly awarded and reawarded, 

monopolies granted 

to some individuals, thus 

hindering competition and new 

entrants into key sectors of the 

economy, and Nigerians were 

brainwashed into accepting all 

of this as the norm. Indeed, the 

pages of newspapers were full 

of congratulatory messages 

celebrating the false brilliance 

of overnight millionaires whose 

only real achievement was 

successful proximity to 

government. Is this what we 

want? 

On the subject of wealth 

creation, it’s interesting that a 

scheme such as TraderMoni, a 

bank of industry loan for petty 

traders and artisans, could be 

labeled or misrepresented as 

“vote-buying” while public 

opinion ignores the number of 

failed banks and private 

businesses which are bought 

over and propped up by 

AMCON using public funds. 

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 —17 

What about the funds the uplifiting millions of artisans 

Nigerian government lost each and petty traders were spent on 

time it made concessions to elite interests as usual. 

wealthy individuals simply Those who hate trader money 

because they were close to are often the same group of 

power? How many people who think FDI, which 

businessmen in Nigeria take mostly enriches the West in the 

advantage of the masses’ poor long run, is the only path to 

understanding of governance prosperity. FDI should be one 

and public finance to owe of the ways of increasing 

salaries while they live big or 

use shareholders’ funds for 

obviously fraudulent purposes? 

Why are these same 

individuals celebrated in public 

despite their obvious misdeeds 

which contribute towards 

poverty, unemployment and 

economic instability in Nigeria? 

The political class ignores such 

We must do 

what is difficult 

but necessary to 

save this 

country from 

complete 

ownership by a 

few 

unproductive 

leeches 

Federal Inland Revenue Service 

THE Federal Inland 

Revenue Service plans to 

prosecute 40,000 millionaire tax 

defaulters. Can we see why 

government in service of the 

many rather than the few is so 

unpopular amongst elite 

quarters? 

Modern, democratic nations 

survive primarily on taxes not 

oil rents, which produces 

accountability. If we pay taxes 

in accordance with our 

earnings, we can begin to 

monitor how our government 

spends our money. FIRS 

corruption and would rather 

criticize collateral free loans 

used to promote small 

businesses and enterprise at the 

grassroots. Perhaps they would 

rather the funds devoted to 

recorded N5.320 trillion tax 

revenue in 2018, the highest 

number since the agency was 

created. 

Tax defaulters in Nigeria 

aren’t poor, middle class or civil 

servants, rather, it’s the same 

oligarchy opposing reforms at 

JAMB, NIMASA and other 

federal agencies which 

“suddenly” increased their 

declared revenues. Corruption 

has held us back in 

unimaginable ways and 

cheated Nigeria out of revenue 

it desperately needs. 

economic growth rather than an 

over-arching strategy: 

supporting our local, regional 

economies, increasing trade 

and exchanges between states 

has hardly been a priority in 

Nigeria, yet it is a surer path to 

stability. 

But politicians who only see 

Africa as a market for the West 

to dump its own products while 

we continue to produce nothing 

except raw materials whose 

prices aren’t determined by us, 

can never appreciate any 

scheme meant to encourage 

home grown products or local 

consumption. No matter how 

much politicians talk about 

diversifying our economy, as 

soon as they talk about their 

plans to sell the NNPC 

(particularly to their friends and 

cronies), it should be obvious 

that generalised prosperity is 

the farthest thing from their 

minds; the model they’re 

encouraging got many African 

countries into the situation they 

find themselves in today. 

Global capitalist 

agenda 

This obsession over 

privatisation and FDI without 

investing in local people is in 

compliance with the global 

capitalist agenda. So long as 

Africans mindlessly consume, 

the Western world has an easy, 

ready market for its goods. 

Nigerians should be wary of 

those who would sell this 

country and all its resources to 

the highest bidder. Leaders 

who’ll put Nigeria first are few 

and far between; it’s thus 

important for Nigerians to look 

at candidate’s antecedents: 

what did they do when they had 

power? Who did their power 

benefit, the many or the few? 

Everyone wants to be a 

millionaire in Nigeria and no 

one wants to live within their 

means. Frank, austere leaders 

aren’t always popular because 

they don’t allow us to keep 

pretending spending money we 

haven’t earned is sustainable. 

We must refuse the fantasy 

that brought our economy to its 

knees; that is, the illusion of 

wealth, growth and prosperity 

using public funds which can 

only “trickle down” for a short 

period of time until another 

recession occurs (oil prices are 

no longer what they were). 

We must do what is difficult 

but necessary to save this 

country from complete 

ownership by a few 

unproductive leeches: 

Nigeria’s future is in our hands. 

Tabia Princewill is a 

strategic communications 

consultant and public policy 

analyst. She is also the cohost 

and executive producer 

of a talk show, WALK THE 

TALK which airs on 

Channels TV.

18 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 

OVER the years, the failure of the 

National Health Insurance Scheme, 

NHIS, to fulfill its primary objective of 

providing the required health 

insurance coverage for all Nigerians 

has compounded the fortunes of those 

at the lowest rung of the economic 

ladder. 

A ray of hope that emerged through 

the approval of one per cent from the 

Consolidated Revenue Fund by the 

Federal government in the 2018 budget 

remains the key to the provision of 

basic health care for all Nigerians 

irrespective of their financial status. 

The move, essentially, was to enable 

the funding of projects, programmes 

and policies towards the goal of 

attainment of Universal Health 

Coverage, UHC, in Nigeria by 2025. 

The goal of the UHC, according to 

the World Health Organisation, WHO, 

is to ensure that all people and 

communities obtain the health services 

that they desire without undergoing 

Emergence of State Health Insurance Schemes 

financial hardship. 

One of the most telling outcomes of 

the approval of the one per cent 

Consolidated Revenue Fund has been 

the emergence of State Health 

Insurance Schemes, SHIS, across the 

Federation. 

Several states have launched and are 

operating their locally-developed health 

insurance schemes. No doubt, this is a 

step in the right direction. 

Health insurance is the main pillar for 

the attainment of the UHC in the 

National Health System. 

It is part of the social protection 

architecture to ensure that Nigerian 

citizens get quality health service when 

and where they need it, without 

suffering undue financial hardship. 

Coupled with the comprehensive 

revitalisation of functional Primary 

Healthcare Centres, rural dwellers and 

the urban poor are now hopeful of 

accessing, at least, a basic healthcare 

package whenever they go to the 

hospital, even when they do not 

immediately have the finances to pay 

for treatment. 

It is expected that the gap of 

providing qualitative healthcare that is 

affordable, accessible and available to 

all Nigerians is gradually being closed. 

In states that have blazed the trail by 

establishing their own health insurance 

schemes, the ultimate desire must 

remain the core principle of health 

insurance, which is reducing out-ofpocket 

payment. 

Provision of a basic minimum 

package of health services to citizens 

without the undermining challenges of 

financial barriers, should be guaranteed 

once and for all. 

It is desirable that the natural 

progression of the States Health 

Insurance Scheme in the spectrum of 

reforms aimed at removing financial 

barriers to healthcare for ordinary 

Nigerian is not truncated. 

Rolling out these plans should 

primarily remain focused towards 

achieving the overall goal of enabling 

all residents to have unhindered access 

to quality healthcare irrespective of 

their social or financial status. 

If properly implemented, this will be 

the first social insurance programme 

that caters for everybody, not just 

government workers. That is 

commendable. 

Monkey work, baboon chop 

By Sunny Ikhioya 

WHILE the whole country is praising 

God for the safe landing of all occupants, 

including the Vice President, on board 

the ill-fated Caverton helicopter that crashlanded 

in Kaba, Kogi State, many are still 

pondering on what would have been, if the 

accident had been otherwise. This is a man 

who has given his best to shore up the image 

of a government that has apparently fallen 

short on its promises, in all ramifications 

except in the area of propaganda. 

He was able to calm the restless Niger 

Delta youths for the brief period he held 

sway as Acting President while his principal 

was away. This accounts for the peace that 

the whole country enjoys today. There is no 

trouble spot in the country that he has not 

found time to personally visit, to calm frayed 

nerves. It is a thing of joy to note that in a 

government generally perceived as being 

inert, there is still one shining star. The problem 

is that the tainted ones are so manyand 

have refused to allow the only credible one 

to properly manifest. 

That is the reason why it has been very 

difficult to situate Vice President Yemi 

Osinbajo in a badly run government. And 

with the election campaigns in full swing, 

Osinbajo has once again been thrust to the 

forefront while the hawks and cabals running 

the government have taken a backseat. 

We are not seeing or hearing from them 

throughout the campaign for Buhari's 

reelection. 

The question is, after the whole brouhaha 

of election campaigning, will history repeat 

itself? We all saw how the Vice President 

intelligently answered all the questions in 

the TV encounter with Khariat Ahmed, with 

the President looking on as a spectator. Will 

the next time be a situation of the monkey 

doing the working and the baboon going 

home with the spoils? Are people taking note 

of the on going campaigns, that those spearheading 

it are from the South; underscoring 

their intellectual and mobilisation capacity? 

Why is this not reflected when it 

comes to assigning key positions to individuals? 

Let me put it another way. 

In the next few weeks the elections would 

have come and gone but will it be on record 

as a free and fair? That will be left for posterity 

to be the judge. But those of us voicing 

out our fears are not doing so because we 

want the opposition to win; we want it on 

record that we did say so, like we did in year 

2015 and to which fault those in government 

now are attributing to the past governments, 

instead of taking responsibility. 

Indeed, the electioneering campaigns on 

and I can see all my Southern brothers at 

the forefront, vigorously canvassing for 

votes. The question to ask now is: Where are 

all those who have appropriated this government 

to themselves these past four years? 

Is there going to be a repeat of the 2015 

scenario if Buhari succeeds in his re-election 

bid? In the heat of our passion and sentiments, 

we have not been able to situate the 

true cause of the APC failure in government 

apart from attributing things to previous 

governments and corruption. Any government 

that cannot progressively move a nation 

forward in four years is a failure. 

Analyzing the cause of Buhari's failure in 

this past four years, we will discover that the 

chief culprit is the one facing the mirror 

and looking to find another image elsewhere. 

We have the human capacity. And 

like I have pointed out previously, Osinbajo 

demonstrated this during the brief period 

he acted on behalf of the President. But each 

OPINION 

time the President returned, all previous 

gains are consigned to the trash bin. It took 

six months to constitute a cabinet in 2015. 

What did the various committees set up by 

the president to run things do? They were 

busy scrambling for the spoils and ensuring 

that their cronies, siblings and ethnic descendants 

are put in place of authority, irrespective 

of their qualifications, experience 

and ability to do the job. Even when the ministers 

eventually took over, the damage had 

already been done; in some cases the civil 

After the whole 

brouhaha of election 

campaigning, will 

history repeat itself? 

servants were not even subordinated to the 

ministers in charge, they went straight to 

the Presidency. 

That is why NNPC still operates the same 

way today as it was eight years ago; that is 

why we have not seen significant progress 

in our insurgency battles; that is why the 

general populace is not motivated and why 

the economy is stagnant. There are people 

who can turn things around positively in 

this country but the President must be ready 

to give them the position and authority to 

help him do it. Will he allow Osinbajo to 

have more relevance as he did in the TV 

discussions with Khariat Ahmed where he 

answered most of the relevant questions? 

Will Buhari allow the progressives in his 

party to lead him this time, especially with 

the economy? 

Will Buhari and his cabal allow a proper 

representation across geo-political lines? 

Because you cannot say what you have now 

is a coincidence. I must re-emphasise the 

fact that apart from Osinbajo, there are 

many other capable hands in this country; 

but the President must be ready to allow 

them to help him. If he fails to do this, this 

government will go down as the worst administered 

in the history of this country. All 

we have had are successions of the same 

politicians since the military left the scene. 

Someone drew my attention to the fact that 

in one Kogi State senatorial district, it has 

always been a contest between Dino Melaye 

and Smart Adeyemi. 

If Dino is in PDP, Smart will be in APC and 

when Smart goes to APC, Dino moves to 

PDP. No party ideology considered, no 

principles, no policy. All are same. Then you 

are forced to ask the question: who is the 

fool here? My brothers in the South-South 

have been busy abusing themselves, setting 

the populace against themselves. I have seen 

the North relatively restrained and going 

about their campaigning with decorum. 

Again we wonder, what is it that makes those 

of us in the South so noisy and with all the 

noise we get so little when it comes to sharing 

of the so-called national cake. 

I have watched Professor Itse Sagay put 

all his integrity, as a foremost human rights 

activist, on the line for the Buhari project, 

even when it appears that his voice is falling 

on deaf ears. The same thing goes for Festus 

Keyamo, shouting his himself hoarse, defending 

the indefensible, while the ones with 

power are doing something else. 

Oshiomhole has virtually turned himself 

into a gadfly to some of his fellow Southern 

APC governors. And they all have no 

qualms exposing their linen in public. 

Continues online 

•Ikhioya, www.southsouthecho.com 

Twitter: @SunnyIkhioya

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 — 19 

Why we put oil price benchmark at 

$60 — SA Economy 

By Emeka Anaeto 

AMIDST fears that oil price 

benchmark for 2019 budget 

may fail the test of prudence 

following stalemate in 

commodity price rally since this 

year, the Special Adviser to the 

President on Economic Matters, 

Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu, has said 

that the federal government 

relied on forecast that expects 

oil price to be about $65 per 

barrel. 

At average of $62 per barrel 

since this year, the actual oil 

price, though trading within the 

2019 budget benchmark of $60 

per barrel, provides barely 3% 

comfort gap contrary to the 

usual 10 - 15% for national 

budget estimates. 

However, Dipeolu hinted that 

the budget may eventually be 

subjected to supplementary 

budgetary measures in the event 

a serious shortfall is recorded. 

He also alluded to the 

stranglehold of overdependence 

on oil revenue, 

stating that the major plank of 

the present administration’s 

policy was revenue 

diversification alongside other 

key strands of the economic 

reform anchored on the 

Economic Recovery and Growth 

Plan, ERGP. 

He explained how the 

government arrived at the $60 

benchmark saying, “You know 

the oil price fell in December to 

below $60 per barrel, but the 

2019 budget has not started and 

you know also that last year it 

was at $80 when we were 

preparing the budget. First we 

are looking at the average, 

secondly, oil price is inherently 

volatile, those figures are 

projection even a lot of people 

are projecting $65 per barrel. 

The point I am trying to make is 

that you have to make a 

CURRENCY BUYING SELLING 

US DOLLAR 

POUNDS 

EURO 

FRANC 

YEN 

CFA 

WAUA 

RENMINBI 

RIYAL 

SDR 

DANISH 

RAND 

$101.00 0.80 

2,233.00 9.00 

$12.91 0.24 

$63.16 1.65 

$53.93 1.52 

305.7 306.2 306.7 

394.5976 395.243 395.8884 

345.7773 346.3428 346.9084 

304.5731 305.0712 305.5694 

2.7738 2.7783 2.7829 

0.5096 0.5196 0.5296 

424.1021 424.7957 425.4894 

45.0212 45.0953 45.1694 

81.5135 81.6468 81.7801 

425.1676 425.863 426.5584 

46.3224 46.3982 46.4739 

. 22.2486 22.285 22.3214 

CBN Exchange rate as at 12/02/2019 

calculated estimate, at the time 

the budget was turned up, who 

would have thought it would get 

to $60? Nobody. 

“The budget wasn’t drawn up 

when it was presented, it was 

drawn up when the price was 

$80 per barrel and the price 

currently is still above $60 per 

barrel. 

“I think for us the problem is 

meeting our production 

challenges and what do I mean, 

possible OPEC quota, and with 

Egina (new large scale 

production platform) coming on 

stream, that is another 

200,000bpd potential taking us 

to our normal 2.3mbpd. 

“I am not too worried again 

about that, it doesn’t look too 

over ambitious if we look in term 

of what it added, we are already 

doing 2.1mbpd. If you remove 

condensate we are doing 

1.76mbpd and that is around 

our OPEC quota, but then we 

do condensate. 

Ultimately, a budget is an 

estimate and that is why you 

have a supplementary budget. 

“I think the parameters we 

used are the best figures we had 

during the time of the budget 

and as conservatively as 

possible. The satisfaction for me 

is the day we are able to say oil 

revenue is only accounted for 

lower percentage of Nigeria’s 

revenue”. 

NNPC, SNEPCO move to take FID on $10bn Bonga 

South West Apora project 

By Udeme Akpan 

THE Nigerian National 

Petroleum Corporation, 

NNPC and Shell Nigeria 

Exploration and Production 

Company Limited, SNEPCO have 

concluded plans to take a Final 

Investment Decision, FID 

on the $10 billion Bonga 

South West Aparo project. 

Speaking to Vanguard, 

a top industry source who 

preferred not to be named 

said: “SNEPCO, NNPC 

and others involved in the 

Bonga South West Aparo 

development have 

reached agreement on 

the key commercial terms 

necessary to move the 

development forward.” 

“This agreement covers 

related production 

sharing contract 

interpretation disputes. It 

also sets an incentivising 

and fair framework for 

developing this world 

class opportunity while 

further opportunities in 

the prolific Nigerian 

Deep-Water Oil and gas 

industry. 

“We look forward to 

From left, Indian High Commissioner, His Excellency Abhay 

Thakur and NNPC GMD, Dr. Maikanti Baru, sharing ideas 

on how to deepen collaboration between Nigeria and India in 

the energy sector. 

realising the significant benefits to 

the Nigerian state, the Nigerian 

Deep-water oil and gas construction 

contractors, their workforce and the 

investing parties as we progress 

towards the investment decision, 

construction and startup. 

“Following the OML 118 heads 

of terms agreement, we are pleased 

to announce the release of the 

BSWA Invitation to Tender, where 

Nigerian and international 

companies on the agreed bid list are 

requested to bid fir the various 

contract packages that make up 

engineering procurement and 

construction of the BSWA project.” 

According to him, this is an 

important step that will allow 

SNEPCo, government and 

investing parties to understand the 

cost of the project and if within 

expectation, take the project to a 

Final Investment Decision, FID. 

IFRS9: CBN relaxes implementation of rules for bad loans 

By Elizabeth Adegbesan with 

agency report 

THE Central Bank of 

Nigeria (CBN) has 

relaxed the time limit for 

commercial banks to absorb 

impairments from 

implementation of IFRS9 rules 

on bad loans. 

The apex bank disclosed this 

in an emailed response to 

questions, according to 

Bloomberg. 

According to the responses, 

the banks now have four years 

to absorb impairments arising 

from the implementation of IFRS 

9 accounting standards last 

year, thereby easing fears that 

an immediate transition would 

have severe repercussions for 

banks’ capital adequacy ratios. 

CBN stated: “The total 

provision amount is to be 

absorbed over the next four 

years in four equal parts to 

cushion the effect”. 

However, Some banks said that 

the migration would deduct as 

much as 400 basis points from 

their capital bases. 

Commenting on the 

development, an analyst at 

Lagos-based First Bank of 

Nigeria Quest, Tunde Abidoye, 

said: “The decision is a good 

development for the banks as it 

gives them more time to either 

raise capital or build up more 

CIS moves for 

financial system 

review, listing of 

govt assets on 

NSE 

By Peter Egwuatu 

Stockbrokers under the 

aegis of Chartered Institute of 

Stockbrokers, CIS have called on the 

Federal Government to review the 

entire financial system and as well 

as list some of its entities in Nigeria 

and other world’s major stock 

exchanges if its vision of double digit 

growth must be realised. 

The stockbrokers also demanded 

for quick inauguration of the Boards 

of the Securities and Exchange 

Commission, SEC, and the National 

Pension Commission, PENCOM, 

as they play key role in the 

development of the capital market 

and the economy in general. 

Speaking on the theme: 

“Strategies to achieve double digit 

growth for Nigeria: The capital 

market option” during an interactive 

session between the CIS and the 

Vice President, Professor Yemi 

Osinbajo in Lagos last weekend, the 

President and Chairman of Council 

of the Institute, Mr Adedapo 

Adekoje said that the government 

should use the capital market 

instruments to address the 

infrastructure gaps in the country, 

adding that the capital market must 

be given adequate attention if the 

country must realize double digit 

growth. 

He emphasized the need for 

government to continuously engage 

the Institute and other stakeholders 

in the capital market, stressing that 

the capital market can help accelerate 

the economic growth, reduce 

unemployment among others. 

In his address at the interactive 

session, the Vice President, 

represented by the Minister of Trade 

and Industry, Dr. Okechukwu 

Enelamah said: “The government 

has done well in moving the 

economy forward considering 

where it met it in 2015. Nevertheless, 

there are still a lot more to do that is 

why we are having this session. 

Government alone cannot do it all, 

we need the private sector to provide 

the needed fund to bridge 

infrastructure gaps.” 

capital from retained earnings 

over the four-year period. Most 

small and medium-sized banks 

have capital adequacy ratios 

close to the regulatory 

minimum.” 

Lenders with international 

licenses are required to have a 

minimum capital adequacy 

ratio of 15 percent and those 

with local licenses 10 percent. 

The industry average rose to 

12.1 percent in June from 10.2 

percent at the end of 2017. 

While the regulator wants to 

protect the industry from 

unforeseen shocks locally and 

internationally following 2016 

recession, many smaller lenders 

are battling to raise capital.


Godwin Emefiele, CBN Governor 

Adeyemi Dipeolu, Economic 

Adviser to President 

GDP grew 2.38% in Q4’18 — NBS 

*Shows ERGP on course - FG 

Udo Udoma, Minister of Budget & 

National Planning 

Yemi Kale, Statistician General 

By Yinka Kolawole 

THE National Bureau of Statistics 

(NBS), yesterday, reported that Nigeria’s 

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 

grew by 2.38 percent in real terms yearon-year 

(YoY) in the fourth quarter of 2018 

(Q4’18). 

In a report titled, ‘Nigerian Gross Domestic 

Product Report Q4 and Full Year 

2018’, NBS said the figure represents an 

increase of 0.27% over that of the fourth 

quarter of 2017 (Q4’17) which recorded 

a growth rate of 2.11%, and a rise of 0.55% 

when compared with the growth rate 

recorded in the third quarter of 2018 

(Q3’18). 

The bureau stated: “On a quarter on 

quarter basis, real GDP growth was 

5.31%. The fourth quarter growth performance 

implies that real GDP grew at 

an annual growth rate of 1.93% in 2018, 

compared to 0.82% recorded in 2017, an 

increase of 1.09% points.”“It further reported: 

“During the quarter, aggregate 

nominal GDP stood at N35.23 trillion, 

which is higher than N31.28 trillion recorded 

in Q4 2017, a nominal growth 

rate of 12.65%. “For 2018, nominal GDP 

was therefore recorded at N127.76 trillion 

representing a nominal growth rate 

of 12.36% when compared to N113.71 

trillion recorded in 2017.” 

Meanwhile, the federal government 

has described the higher than expected 

GDP growth in Q4’18 as a clear indication 

of the effectiveness of its economic 

policies. 

A statement in response to the new GDP 

figure by the Special Adviser to the President 

on Economic Matters, Dr. Adeyemi 

Dipeolu, made available to Vanguard 

stated: “The latest figures released by 

the National Bureau of Statistics, 2.38 

per cent for the fourth Quarter (Q4), 2018 

show an appreciable improvement in the 

growth performance of the economy. The 

figures are encouraging in several 

respects.““Notably, the growth recorded 

in the fourth quarter of 2018 (Q4 2018) 

was higher than both the growth of 1.81% 

in Q3 2018 and in the corresponding 

fourth quarter of 2017. 

Indeed, quarter-on-quarter growth 

from Q3 2018 to Q4 2018 was 5.31%, 

which signals a great potential for a higher 

annual growth rate. ““In annual 

terms, the growth rate more than doubled 

in 2018, rising to 1.93% as compared 

to 0.82% in 2017, again reflecting the 

strong momentum of growth.““Also notable 

is the fact that growth in Q4 2018, 

and indeed for the whole year, owed a 

great deal to the performance of the nonoil 

sector. The non-oil sector grew at 2.7% 

in Q4 2018 as compared to 1.14% in the 

oil sector. The non-oil sector also grew 

by 2% in the whole year 2018 which was 

considerably better than its growth in the 

whole of 2017, which was 0.47%. The 

share of the non-oil sector in GDP was 

92.94% while the oil sector contributed 

7.06%.” 

Dipeolu further said: “With the maintenance 

of this trend, the economic diversification 

objectives of the Economic Recovery 

and Growth Plan are well on their 

way to being met.““It was encouraging 

that agriculture which accounts for 26.15% 

of total GDP grew by 2.46% in Q4 2018, 

while manufacturing grew by 2.09%. The 

service sector which accounts for 53.62% 

of GDP registered its strongest growth 

performance in 11 quarters. 

“Transport and storage, as well and information 

and communication, were particularly 

notable growing at 13.91% and 

9.65% in the whole of 2018. This owes a 

lot to the investments that are being made 

in roads and rail as well as in broadband 

infrastructure.““The NBS figures also 

show that 39 out of 46 economic activities 

recorded growth in Q4 2018 which shows 

that growth across sectors is becoming 

more mutually reinforcing. 

“This growth is consistent with the policies 

and principles of the Economic Recovery 

and Growth Plan (ERGP) relating 

to macroeconomic stability and economic 

diversification. When better economic 

fundamentals like lower inflation rates, 

increased foreign reserves, a more stable 

exchange rate and increased capital 

inflows are taken together with increased 

investments in the real sector, infrastructure, 

the social sector and business environment; 

it portends well for economic 

performance in 2019 and beyond.” 

The President’s Economic Adviser asserted 

that the economy remains well on 

course to grow by 3% in 2019 as estimated 

in the Medium-Term Expenditure 

Framework.“Major economic sectors in 

Q4’18 

Reviewing the major economic sectors 

in Q4’18, NBS noted: 

Agriculture 

The Agriculture sector contributed 

23.08% to nominal GDP in Q4’18 , 

which is higher than its contribution 

in Q4’17 (21.93%) but lower than it was 

in Q3 2018 (25.52% ). The sector contribution 

to real GDP in 2018 was recorded 

at 25.13%, up from 25.08% in 

2017. 

Mining & Quarry 

In real terms, the Mining and Quarrying 

sector recorded –1.23% in Q4 

2018, lower than rate recorded in Q4 

2017 (10.7%) but higher than the 

growth rate in Q3 2018 (-2.81%). The 

sector’s contribution to real GDP in Q4 

2018 stood at 7.23%, slightly lower than 

its contribution of 7.49% recorded in Q4 

2017 and the 9.53% recorded in the Q3 

2018. The sector contributed 8.74% to 

total real GDP in 2018 . 

Manufacturing 

In the fourth quarter of 2018, nominal 

GDP growth for the Manufacturing sector 

was recorded at 33.57%, which is 

24.37% points higher than the rate recorded 

in the corresponding period of 

2017 (9.20%) but only 0.84% points higher 

than the preceding quarter’s (32.73%). 

Quarter on Quarter growth of the sector 

stood 

at 6.62%, while annual growth was 

24.00% in 2018. The contribution of Manufacturing 

to nominal GDP in Q4 2018 

was 10.11%, which is higher than its 

contribution in the corresponding period 

of 2017 (8.53% ) and Q3 2018 

(10.01%). For 2018, the sector contributed 

9.75% to total nominal GDP , 

higher than its contribution, of 8.83% 

in 2017. 

Trade 

In Q4 2018, nominal growth rate for 

Trade stood at 4.41%, representing an 

increase of 1.30% points when compared 

to the same quarter of 2017, and 

0.64% points higher than Q3 2018. 

The quarter on quarter growth rate was 

10.64%. Trade grew at 1.60% in year 

2018, as against 4.34% in year 2017. 

Trade’s contribution to nominal GDP in 

the fourth quarter of 2018 was 17.24%, 

lower than its contribution in Q4 2017 

(18.60%), but higher than the contribution 

in the preceding quarter 

(16.45%). Overall, trade contributed 

17.16% to nominal GDP in 2018. 

In real terms, Trade GDP growth rate 

stood at 1.02%, which is –1.05% points 

lower than the rate recorded one year 

prior, but 0.04% points higher than recorded 

in the preceding quarter. 

ICT 

In nominal terms, the fourth quarter 

of 2018 saw the sector grow by 14.82% 

(year-on-year), or 15.37% points higher 

than the growth rate recorded in 

Q4 2017, and 1.41% points higher 

than the growth rate recorded in the 

preceding quarter . The quarter on quarter 

growth rate recorded in the current 

quarter was 24.20%. In 2018, the sector 

grew by 10.77% in nominal terms. By 

contribution, the Information and Communications 

sector contributed 10.23% 

to total nominal GDP in Q4 2018 , 

slightly higher than its contribution of 

10.04% in Q4 2017 and 8.70% in Q3 2018. 

For 2018, annual contribution to nominal 

GDP was 10.16%. 

In real terms, the sector recorded a 

growth rate of 13.20% in Q4 2018, representing 

an increase of 14.65% points 

when compared to Q4 2017.


Access to information in Nigeria 

By Femi Falana, SAN 

IUnder ntroduction 

section 22 of the 1999 

Constitution the mass media is required 

to uphold the fundamental 

objectives of the State and uphold 

the responsibility and accountability 

of the government to the people. 

While the duty imposed on the 

media has been frustrated by the 

denial of access to information on 

public affairs it is submitted that 

access to information is a fundamental 

right by virtue of section 

38 of the Constitution which stipulates 

that "every citizen shall have 

the right to freedom of expression 

including the right to obtain information 

and impart ideas". 

Access to information is equally 

protected by article 9 (2) of the African 

Charter on Human and Peoples 

Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) 

Act which provides that 

“Every individual shall have the 

right to receive information”. In 

SERAP & Ors v Attorney-General 

of the Federation (Suit No: FHC/ 

ABJ/CS/640/2010) the applicants 

applied for information on the 

mismanagement of the $12.4 billion 

in the dedicated accounts in 

the central bank by the Ibrahim 

Babangida junta. Following the 

refusal of the Federal Government 

to release the report of the Okigbo 

Panel which had investigated the 

scandal a suit was filed at the Federal 

High Court by the the plaintiffs 

seeking to compel disclosure 

of information of the fund pursuant 

to section 38 of the Constitution 

and article 9 of the African 

Charter. The trial judge dismissed 

the case for want of locus standi 

on the part of the applicants. 

However, in Dododo v EFCC the 

Court of Appeal upheld the human 

right of the appellant to access information 

when it was said that he 

was entitled to a copy of the report 

of the investigation in respect of 

the petition alleging corruption by 

a public officer which he had submitted 

to the respondents. According 

to the Nwodo J.C.A. who delivered 

the leading judgment of the 

court, “The Appellant is entitled to 

the investigation report on his right 

as the complainant. See Article 9 

of the African charter." 

We have cited the aforementioned 

provisions of the relevant 

laws and cases to emphasize the 

point that the struggle for access 

to information in Nigeria predated 

the enactment of the Freedom 

of Information Act. All the same, 

the human rights community, the 

Media Rights Agenda and other 

media bodies which fought the 

battle that culminated in the enactment 

of of the Freedom of Information 

Act, 2011 deserve commendation. 

Basic provisions of the FOI Act 

The essence of the law is to open 

up the government to the public, 

promote transparency and accountability 

in government. Thus, 

the law has recognized the right of 

every citizen to access information 

from any record under the control 

of the government or public institution. 

The law is also applicable 

to private institutions which utilize 

public funds, perform public functions 

or provide basic services. Private 

organizations like telecommunication 

companies and other 

public quoted companies fall into 

this category. Religious bodies 

which engage in business may 

also be asked to disclose information 

with respect to funds 

collected from the members of 

the public. 

The law requires public officers 

to keep the records of the 

government. They shall be 

made available upon demand 

by interested members of the 

public including the media (section 

1 & 3). An applicant is required 

to apply for access to information 

in writing and to provide 

sufficient detail in the application. 

An oral application is 

not allowed under the law. Under 

section 2(2) thereof an applicant 

is not obliged to give any 

reason or demonstrate any specific 

interest in the information. 

Upon the receipt of a written 

request the information shall be 

provided within seven days. 

The request shall be attended 

to by the head of the organization. 

If a letter is wrongly addressed 

to any department it 

shall be forwarded to the appropriate 

office as the case may be. 

There are adequate provisions 

for the information needs of illiterate 

and physically challenged 

people to access information. 

It is also important to 

note that there is protection for 

whistle blowers. Refusal of information 

shall be communicated 

within 7 days. Public officers 

may ask for extension of time 

within which to make requested 

information available to an 

applicant (section 6). 

Reasonable standard charge 

for search, duplication 

An applicant may be requested 

to pay reasonable standard 

charge for search, duplication 

and transcription (section 8). 

But where the information is in 

the public interest payment is 

not required. Where information 

is withheld it shall be communicated 

to the applicant within 

7 days. The letter shall contain 

information that the applicant 

has the right to challenge the 

refusal in court. An applicant 

who has been denied access to 

requested information is at liberty 

to apply to the Court for a 

review of the matter within 30 

days after the denial. An application 

for mandamus to compel 

disclosure shall be heard by a 

court summarily to prevent delay. 

To ensure the implementation 

of the law the government is required 

to publish in the Gazette 

a description of its responsibilities, 

the records under its control, 

administrative manuals etc. 

Public institutions are compelled 

to keep records and information 

and organize them in a way that 

they can be accessed. The Act 

requires government and public 

institutions to provide training 

for officials on the public’s 

right to access information of 

public records. 

The law has created reporting 

obligations on compliance with 

the law for all institutions affected 

by it. These reports are to be 

submitted annually to the office 

of Attorney-General of the Federation 

who in turn is required 

to oversee the effective implementation 

of the Act and report 

on the execution of implementation 

of the Act to the National 

Assembly. 

Penalties for violation of FOIA 

If it is proved that information 

has been altered or destroyed 

by a public officer or any person 

he shall be liable to be tried 

and if convicted he shall be sentenced 

to 1 year imprisonment. 

However, sections 29 and 30 

have provided immunity for 

public officers from civil or criminal 

prosecution for disclosing 

information without authorization. 

In violation of the Act some 

public officers have been victimised 

for disclosing information 

to the members of the public, the 

media and the anti graft agencies. 

Exceptions to the FOIA 

The exception to the FOIA includes 

information that could 

compromise national security, 

the conduct of international affairs, 

records that could expose 

trade secrets, test questions, architectural 

engineering designs, 

research materials under 

preparation, legal practitioner 

– client relationship, health 

worker – patient relationship 

and journalists’ confidential 

source of information (Sections 

11, 12, 14, 15, 16 & 17). 

The disclosure of personal information 

is also exempted except 

where the person involved 

agrees to its disclosure or where 

the information is already publicly 

available, or where the disclosure 

is in the public interest. 

For instance members of the 

public are empowered by the 

Electoral Act 2010 to seek information 

with respect to nomination 

forms submitted by candidates 

who are contesting 

elections in Nigeria. 

The Official Secrets Act and 

other ant freedom of expression 

enactments and regulations 

cannot be invoked to prevent 

the disclosure of official information. 

This is the purport of 

section 2(b) of the FOIA which 

has guaranteed access to official 

information notwithstanding 

anything contained in any 

other law or regulatioImple- 

To ensure the implementation 

of the law 

the government is required 

to publish in 

the Gazette a description 

of its responsibilities, 

the records under 

its control, administrative 

manuals 

etc 

mentation of the FOI Act 

Since the FOI Act was enacted 

on May 28, 2011 it has been 

invoked by civil rights lawyers 

and the human rights community 

to obtain vital information 

from some public bodies. Where 

information was withheld court 

orders have been sought and 

obtained to compel disclosure. 

Ironically, the media which led 

the campaign for the successful 

enactment of the legislation 

has not taken advantage of the 

law to seek information with a 

view to discharging the duty of 

promoting public accountability 

pursuant to section 22 of the 

Constitution. 

Our law firm has invoked the 

law to obtain information from 

the Universal Basic Education 

Commission (on the total 

amount paid to the UBE Fund 

since 2005 by the Federal Government 

and disbursement of 

the fund to states), Nigerian 

Communication Commission 

(on the disbursement of the fine 

of N1 billion imposed on GSM 

operators for disrupting services), 

National Drug Law Enforcement 

Agency (on the list 

of 197 persons who were convicted 

for drug trafficking but 

who were not found in prisons), 

Corporate Affairs Commission 

(on whether there was a move 

to ban the Nigeria Governors' 

Forum). 

Falana, SAN 

In order to deny access to information 

some agencies have 

asked applicants for information 

to pay prohibitive fees. For instance, 

when our firm requested 

the National Oil Spill Detection 

and Response Agency 

to provide information on the 

Bonga Oil Field spillage we 

were asked (NOSDPRA) to pay 

N100,000.00. We made the payment 

and collected the report. 

But after collecting the report 

we petitioned the office of the 

Attorney-General of the Federation 

to protest the commercialization 

of access to official information 

by the NOSPRA. 

Upon the intervention of the 

then Attorney-General of the 

Federation, Mr. Mohammed 

Adoke SAN, the sum of N95,000 

was refunded to us while the 

remaining N5,000 was retained 

by NOSDRA for reproducing 

the report in line with 

the FOI Act. 

Aceess to information through 

litigation: 

The human rights community 

has filed majority of the cases 

filed under the FOI Act. Some of 

the cases include the following: 

1. In Olasupo Ojo v Economic 

and Financial Crimes Commission, 

the EFCC under the leadership 

of Mrs Farida Waziri 

claimed that the CDHR was critical 

of the activities of the EFCC 

because it had been paid by some 

unnamed corrupt persons. The 

CDHR invoked the provision of 

the FOI to demand for the identity 

of those who had paid it to attack 

the EFCC. As there was no 

response the then CDHR president, 

Mr. Olasupo Ojo, approached 

the federal high court 

to compel disclosure. The order 

was granted. 

2. In Legal Assistance and Aid 

Project v National Assembly the 

applicant requested for information 

on the details of the jumbo 

salaries and allowances of national 

assembly members. When 

the information was not provided 

the applicant dragged the 

National Assembly to court. In a 

judgment delivered on the matter 

the federal high court ordered the 

defendants to accede to the request 

of the applicant. Dissatisfied 

with the verdict the National 

Assembly has taken the matter to 

the Court of Appeal. 

3. The Socio-Economic Rights 

and Accountability Project 

(SERAP) has sued the Federal 

Government to account for the repatriated 

loot of the late military 

ruler, General Sani Abacha. In 

granting the order of mandamus, 

the trial judge, Idris J (as he then 

was) directed the federal government 

to provide detailed information 

on the loot. Following the 

judgment the anti graft agencies 

as well as the ministries of justice 

and information have regularly 

provided information on the loot 

recovered by the Buhari administration. 

4. SERAP has also sued the National 

Assembly to account for 

N500 billion spent on running 

costs from 2006 to 2016. Furthermore, 

SERAP has sued the federal 

Ministries of Agriculture and 

Water Resources to explain why 

millions of Nigerians have to 

drink contaminated water despite 

the trillions of Naira the authorities 

claimed to have spent on provision 

of water in the country. 

While the Act has been effectively 

invoked to hold the federal government 

accountable it has been 

difficult to promoted public accontability 

in the states. Apart 

from the Ekiti state government 

which has adopted the Act others 

have rejected all requests by concerned 

citizens to access information. 

In Alo v Ondo State House 

of Assembly the Court of Appeal 

held that the applicant, a journalist, 

was entitled to a copy of the 

audited accounts of the defendant 

between 2012 and 2016. According 

to the Court, " in a democratic 

dispensation such as Nigeria's, 

the citizens have been proclaimed 

owners of sovereignty and mandates 

that place leaders in the saddle." 

However in Edocasa v Osakue, 

the Benin judicial division 

of the same court held that the Act 

is not applicable in states which 

have not adopted it. It is hoped 

that the Supreme Court will soon 

resolve the contradictions in the 

two decions of the Court of Appeal. 

From the foregoing, it can no 

longer be business as usual in the 

running of public affairs by public 

officers and institutions under 

the federal government. Thus, by 

virtue of the FOI Act there is no 

more secrecy in the affairs of the 

federal government as information 

can be requested for on any 

aspect of the management and 

operations of public institutions 

including the award of contracts, 

disbursement of funds, recruitment 

of staff etc. Any public officer 

who withholds information is 

liable to be prosecuted apart 

from being ordered to disclose the 

withheld information. The human 

rights community should however 

ensure that the masses are mobilised 

to take advantage of the 

providions of the FOI Act to demand 

accountability from public 

officers and officials of of private 

institutions that render public service. 

Conclusion 

From the foregoing, it has been 

demonstrated that the Constitution 

and the African Charter have 

recognised the right of citizens to 

information. The right has been 

strengthened by the FOI Act. So 

far, the FOI Act has enhanced the 

legally enforceable rights of Nigerian 

citizens to official records, 

documents and information held 

by the federal government, public 

institutions and private bodies 

performing public functions 

subject to certain exceptions. 

Since the law is designed to improve 

transparency in the conduct 

of public affairs by making it easier 

than hitherto to access public 

records and information that are 

deemed to be in the public interest, 

sufficient pressure ought to be 

mounted on state governments to 

adopt the Act. With guaranteed 

access to information I am confident 

that Nigerians will continue 

to challenge the quality of governance 

and use of public resources. 

(Being the address delivered 

by Femi Falana SAN at the 

Public Hearing on Capacity of 

Citizens on the Use of the 

Freedom of Information Act, 

2011 held by SERAP in Lagos 

on Tuesday, February 12, 2019)

22—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019









VOL. 2 NO. 42 

BY VINCENT UJUMADU 

AWKA — IT is three days 

to the 2019 presidential 


elections and voters in the 

South-East geopolitical zone 

are set to join the other five 

zones in determining who will 

govern the country for the next 

four years. With a little above 

eight million voters in the 

zone, the South-East is the 

least among the six 

geopolitical zones. 

But besides the number of 

registered voters in the zone, 

the people of the South-East 

also have large voting 

strengths in other zones, 

particularly in South-West, 

North-West and South-South. 

Although there are some Igbo 

contesting the presidential 

election, attention is focused 

on the two major political 

parties namely: the ruling All 

Progressives Congress, APC, 

and the People's Democratic 

Party, PDP. 

In 2015, the South-East 

overwhelmingly voted for the 

PDP which then had former 

President Goodluck Jonathan 

as its candidate. Since then, a 

lot had happened and the 

ruling APC appears to be 

making inroad in some parts 

of the zone. With the party 

controlling Imo State, it uses 

that state as a launching pad 

to other states in the zone. 

But the nomination of the 

former governor of Anambra 

State, Mr. Peter Obi, as the 

vice-presidential candidate of 

BY EMEKA MAMAH 

E NUGU—The 

University of Nigeria 

Teaching Hospital, UNTH, 

mortuary at Ituku-Ozalla, near 

Enugu metropolis, is 

overflowing with dead bodies 

as relations have abandoned no 

fewer than 450 corpses in the 

referral hospital. 

The authorities of the hospital 

are worried over the health 

hazard posed by the inability of 

the owners of the corpses to 

collect the remains of their loved 

ones and have threatened to 

dispose them at the end of 

February, this year. 

The dead bodies, some of 

which have been abandoned for 

over three years now, are said to 

•Igbo elders at a meeting 

2019: Which way 

will S/East go? 

the PDP has pushed up the 

PDP support base in the zone. 

Although there was initial 

misunderstanding among 

PDP leaders in the zone 

following the nomination of 

Obi, the dust has settled and 

the entire PDP in the zone is 

presently on the same page. 

PDP is, therefore, banking on 

total support of all the PDP 

governors in the zone. 

The recent PDP campaigns 

in Ebonyi and Anambra states 

are cases in point. Ebonyi has 

fully come out in support of the 

PDP presidential candidate, 

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his 

running mate, Mr. Peter Obi, 

thus dismissing insinuation 

few weeks ago that the Ebonyi 

State governor was supporting 

the reelection of President 

Buhari. 

Campaign materials from the 

Ebonyi State Radio have gone 

full blast for the PDP 

candidates and urging the 

people not to allow any vote 

from the state drop for any 

other political party. Deputy 

Senate President, Ike 

Ekweremadu is also on the 

same page with PDP after 

initial reluctance. 

In Anambra State, the recent 

road show by the PDP running 

mate, Obi, and other leaders 

of the party could be described 

as a huge success going by the 

mammoth crowd that followed 

them in all the cities and 

markets where the campaign 

train passed through. At Ose 

Okwodu market in Onitsha, 

Obi’s presence made the 

traders to close their shops 

and join the campaign train. 

Seeing the crowd in ecstatic 

mood, Obi said he was happy 

UNTH mortuary overflowing with dead bodies as 

relations abandon 450 bodies 

... As stench from decomposed bodies pose health hazards to workers, patients 

be creating health-related 

problems due to the foul odour 

from them. 

The UNTH Public Relations 

Officer, Mr Cyril Keleze, 

confirmed to South-East Voice 

•Prof. Benjamin 

Chukwuma Ozumba 

that 450 corpses were 

abandoned in the hospital, 

adding that efforts to get their 

owners to claim them were not 

yielding results. He spoke in a 

telephone interview with the 

South-East Voice on Sunday. 

Sources said that the 

existence of such a large 

number of unclaimed corpses 

was causing some health 

hazards to both workers and 

patients in the hospital due to 

poor power supply, even as the 

hospital was said to be spending 

thousands of naira in buying gas 

to fuel the hospital’s generator 

due to epileptic power supply 

from the national grid. 

According to the sources, the 

management of the hospital 

had been spending scarce 

resources to keep the dead 

bodies intact. “Patients and 

hospital workers here are going 

through hell because of the 

stench from the decomposed 

bodies. You cannot breathe 

normally here. The whole 

atmosphere is fouled,” some 

nurses who spoke on the 

condition of anonymity said. 

Another health worker in the 

hospital also said that it was 

difficult for the management to 

accept fresh dead bodies into 

the mortuary in view of the 

inability of relations to claim the 

corpses of their loved ones. 

He said that some of the dead 

bodies were abandoned due to 

the inability of their owners to 

pay the hospital bills, even as 

such bills were subsidised. 

that the people were buying 

the message of the 

preparedness of Atiku to get 

Nigeria working again. 

Already, permutations are on 

as to which political party would 

carry the day in the South-East 

on February 16. One thing is 

clear and that is that with the 

level of awareness and voter 

education that had taken place, 

the turnout of voters will be 

massive and any party that will 

win in the zone will do so with 

a wide margin. 

Apart from president, those 

contesting for the Senate, House 

of Representatives and Houses 

of Assembly in the zone have 

been traversing their 

constituencies to woo voters. 

Places the South Easterners 

should watch out for include 

Anambra Central, where the 

incumbent, Senator Victor 

Umeh, will square up with Mrs. 

Uche Ekwunife who stayed in 

the Red Chamber briefly before 

she was sacked by the court. 

Umeh appears to have an edge 

because of his performance 

within the short period he had 

been in the Senate, coupled 

with the fact that his party, 

APGA, is very much on ground 

in all the wards in the senatorial 

zone. 

There is also the Orlu 

Senatorial Zone in Imo State 

where the incumbent 

governor of the state, Owelle 

Rochas Okorocha is seeking to 

go to the Red Chamber on the 

platform of APC. He is 

contesting against Mr. Osita 

Izunaso, the candidate of 

APGA, who had been in the 

senate before. But the 

confusion in Orlu zone is that 

while Okorocha does not want 

the APC governorship 

candidate, Senator Hope 

Uzodinma to win, he wants to 

be elected on the platform of 

the party. 

Another zone people are 

watching with keen interest is 

Anambra South, where two 

brothers, Senator Andy Uba 

and Chief Chris Uba are 

fighting each other. Andy is 

seeking to retain the seat on 

the platform of APC, while his 

brother is the candidate of the 

PDP. 

For the governorship, Imo is 

also providing an interesting 

scenario. Though the outgoing 

governor, Okorocha is 

contesting election in APC, he 

is unapologetically supporting 

his son in-law, Uche Nwosu, to 

govern the state on the platform 

of Action Alliance, AA, after his 

son in-law failed to secure the 

ticket of APC. 

Abia governorship election is 

also another state to watch as 

the contest is between the 

incumbent, Okezie Ikpeazu of 

PDP and Oti of APGA. Going 

by the controversy that trailed 

the 2015 election in the state, 

more drama is expected to 

unfold on March 2 nd when the 

two will face each other again. 

In Anambra, though there will 

be no governorship election, the 

seriousness with which 

Governor Willie Obiano is 

campaigning for the candidates 

of the House of Assembly shows 

how important their success at 

the poll is to him.

How to stop farmers, herdsmen 

crises in communities — SOCSEEN 

Says crises increasing hunger in villages 

BY CHINONSO ALOZIE, 

Owerri 

The Society for 

Conservation and 

Sustainability of Energy and 

Environment, SOCSEEN, has 

called on authorities to step up 

plans in establishing more 

dams as well as revamping the 

existing ones in the country. 

The President of SOCSEEN, 

Mr. Uzodimma Adirieje, told 

South-East Voice in Owerri that 

the creation of dams could help 

to generate more green grasses 

for grazing activities which he 

said would stop completely the 

issue of 'invasion' by herdsmen 

and reported clashes with host 

communities. 

Recall, South-East Voice had 

reported the several clashes 

between herders and their host 

communities in Imo State. 

Out of the 27 local 

government areas of Imo State, 

some of them reportedly 

attacked were Owerri West, 

Ohaji/Egbema, Owerri North, 

Okigwe, and others. 

Some of the cases are still 

being looked into by the 

various stakeholders of the 

affected communities. 

Following the incidents, the 

communities have been living 

in fear over sudden attacks by 

suspected herdsmen. 

As a result of this 

development and the fear of 

being killed, the villagers were 

said to have left their 

communities to safer 

environments till the troubles 

subside. 

Not only that, the rural 

dwellers, peeved by what they 

described as continued 

attacks on their farms, 

protested to the Imo State 

House of Assembly, to lay their 

complaints. 

Similar incidents have taken 

place in other states of the 

South-East zone. 

However, Adirieje told South- 

THE TEAM 

SUPERVISING EDITOR: 

Chioma Gabriel, Lagos 

(08052201257) 

EDITOR: 

Emeka Mamah, Enugu 

email: 

emekemamah@yahoo.com 

Anayo Okoli, Umuahia 

Vincent Ujumadu, Awka 

Chidi Nkwopara, Owerri 

Peter Okutu, Abakaliki 

Chimaobi Nwaiwu, 

Nnewi 

Nwabueze Okonkwo, 

Onitsha 

Ugochukwu Alaribe, Aba 

Denis Agbo, Enugu 

*Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and President- 

General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo. 

East Voice that governments at 

all levels should be blamed for 

the inability to nip in the bud 

the problems which have risen 

from the ugly incidents of the 

farmers-herders clashes. 

Adirieje further said that any 

responsible government ought 

to have ended the continued 

crises by simply looking into 

the solutions as well as taken 

urgent decisions to construct 

dams to forestall the dangerous 

trend. 

He added that the inability of 

the government to establish 

dams had also forced the 

herdsmen to embark on 

migration in search of grazing 

opportunities. 

He pointed out that the 

conflicts may not end as long 

as the government refuses to 

listen to the call for 

establishment of dams. 

Adirieje noted that the failure 

to arrest the root causes of the 

crises through the management 

of the environment, had 

resulted to a lot of avoidable 

and ugly developments. 

He explained that the 

activities of herdsmen had 

increased hunger in the land. 

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13 , 2019 —31 

Apart from that, he also 

said that poor management 

of the environment may 

lead to increase in diseases 

as well as problems of 

inequality amongst 

women. 

The environmental activist 

said that the issue of having 

more dams must be tackled 

first so as to end the 

negative impact on the 

society some of which are 

high mortality rate, 

communal conflicts, among 

others. 

According to Adirieje: 

“When we protect out 

environment and adopt 

measures to face climate 

change, we will be able to 

tackle the problem of 

inequality, reduce conflicts 

like that of herders and 

farmers and reduce forced 

migration. "It is not every 

herdsman that really wants 

to move, some are are 

forced to move. 

“Government, especially at 

the state level must produce 

sound urban planning. It is 

time to embrace transport 

systems that run on a low 

carbon because what we use 

now runs on high carbon 

which also generates its own 

problems in the society. 

“That cycle of poverty and 

ill health induced by poor 

management of our 

environment and high 

carbon transport system, 

should be stopped. 

Government should 

promote low carbon 

system.” 

If the government fails to 

do these things, according 

to Adirieje, “it will increase 

hunger among the 

populace. It will increase 

sickness, disease, gender 

inequality and make women 

Stakeholders brainstorm on ways to 

tackle illicit drugs in Nigeria 

BY ANAYO OKOLI 

U 

M U A H I A - 

STAKEHOLDERS 

involved in the fight against 

drug abuse which has in many 

ways posed a major threat to the 

nation’s development met last 

week in Umuahia, the Abia 

State capital to brainstorm on 

ways to tackle the menace. 

At the end of the session, they 

came up with a major position 

that the Federal Government 

should step up the funding of 

the fight against the menace. 

The stakeholders were drawn 

from the federal and state 

governments and 

representatives and officials of 

the 17 Local Government Areas 

of Abia State. 

The Stakeholders 

unanimously agreed that no 

nation could afford to joke with 

the dangerous consequences 

of its citizens engaging in drug 

abuse. Led by members of the 

Presidential Advisory 

Committee on Elimination of 

Drug Abuse, the interactive 

session agreed that drug abuse 

is one of the reasons Nigeria 

witnesses high level of crimes 

as most of the crimes are 

committed under the influence 

of illicit drugs. 

Addressing the session, Abia 

State Governor, Okezie 

Ikpeazu charged the 

participants to work hard and 

ensure that all hards are on 

deck to tackle the menace 

which they agreed was on the 

increase in the country. 

Represented by his deputy, 

Ude Oko Chukwu, the 

governor also joined in the call 

for adequate funds for effective 

war against the menace of drug 

abuse and also tasked the 

media on the need for adequate 

public enlightenment on the 

evil effects of illicit drugs. 

In her remarks, the leader of 

the Presidential Advisory 

Committee team, Mrs Wasilat 

Audu said that the Federal 

Government is conscious of the 

negative impact of drug abuse, 

especially on the healthcare 

delivery system. 

She called for synergy 

between the federal, state and 

local governments in the effort 

to tackle the problem which 

poses a great threat to the 

nation’s development. 

Also in his remarks, the Abia 

State Commander of the 

National Drug Law 

Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, 

Akingbade Bamidele said that 

the command has been 

embarking on enlightenment 

campaign as well as 

confiscating and destroying 

illicit drugs and called for more 

assistance to enable them do 

more. 

more powerless. 

“When they pesist, the 

women will continue to be 

at the receiving end. Of 

course, this leads to 

premature death, rancour 

among communities; things 

like herdsmen clashes with 

farmers; it increases the rate 

of death among animals, 

humans and plants.” 

Looking at the 

consequences of the clashes 

between herders and 

farmers, he said: “It is our 

poor approach to 

environmental management 

that has led to the migration 

of herders. 

“If we have managed all 

the dams that we have 

established in the north well 

and used them to irrigate 

farmlands and have a lot of 

greens here and there; 

herders would not have to 

migrate no matter what they 

think that their religion tells 

them. 

“They can do only internal 

migration, from one green 

zone to the other. But it is 

because we have not been 

able to manage our dams 

and waterways very well that 

we were not able to irrigate 

green grass that these 

animals will be feeding on. 

“So, it leads to all these 

unbridled migration that 

leads to the destruction of 

farmlands that should feed 

human beings. Ultimately, 

what we see is the result of 

our poor attitude to 

environmental management 

and lack of good biodiversity 

management. “Efforts 

should be made towards 

having renewable energy, 

energy efficiency, waterways 

management, forest 

management, including 

plastic pollution. 

“All these serve to destroy 

our environment, kill our 

people, animals, plants, 

make us poorer and cause 

unmitigated and 

uncontrolled migration that 

has led to the clashes that 

you see. 

“We have watched not 

helplessly but very 

embarrassingly how 

governments in Nigeria, 

including Imo State, have 

failed in their statutory 

responsibilities to protect 

the citizens and their 

environment. 

“Look at our rivers, they 

are drying up because there 

is no arrangement to 

resupply them with water..” 

•Cross section of stakeholders at the meeting.


Should Nigerians give Buhari 

their votes on Saturday? 

FIRST a quick clarification, 

one that I have variously 

restated in this space in the last few 

months: I do not see a Peoples 

Democratic Party-led government 

being radically different from the 

Muhammadu Buhari-led All 

Progressives Congress 

government. That is in the event of 

that party winning this Saturday’s 

election as some pundits have 

predicted in what looks like a very 

tall order. Which is to say that our 

way out of the crippling 

corruption, the singular disease 

that has misbegotten the countless 

others by which Nigeria is plagued 

and has destroyed the future 

prospects of Nigeria, will not be 

charted by the same people that 

brought us where we are now. Yes, 

there may be some changes here 

and there but such would be so 

cosmetic that they would be the 

medical equivalent of 

administering iodine to a 

gangrenous wound. Hardly better 

than the vacuous words of a 

President Buhari who declared “I 

belong to everybody and I belong 

to nobody.” Nigerians now know 

better. We know that while Buhari 

does not belong to everybody, he 

does belong to somebody, or better 

put, he does belong to some people: 

the Hausa-Fulani or the 

geographic north, the 

predominantly Islamic section of 

it, that is. 

The return of the PDP would 

amount to nothing significantly 

different from its past incarnation. 

It is a non-starter and would, in 

one word, be worse than 

scratching the surface of a chronic 

problem. While on the stumps the 

PDP candidates in the presidential 

elections have made very 

attractive promises that many 

would find irresistible- promises to 

fight corruption, improve the 

economy, end insurgency and 

above all restructure the country. 

The APC and, indeed, President 

Muhammadu Buhari made more 

mouth-watering promises. 

Promises the president has since 

walked back where his associates 

have not simply denied he ever 

made them with spins that are as 

foolish as their proponents. 

In the face of the lackluster 

performance of the APC in the last 

four years, I have no confidence in 

a PDP whose moving spirit are 

renegade members of the APC, 

people who in the main helped 

prop the APC to victory. Nothing 

spectacular can come from such a 

body of disgruntled men and 

The sad story of the four years ago... 

By Albert Akanbi 

AS I watched Kaduna State governor 

Mallam El-rufai threaten, on national 

television, that “foreigners who ‘interfered’ 

with” the upcoming general elections “would 

return in body bags”, I wondered how things 

have degenerated to this low in less than four 

years. 

It is sad that the veteran broadcaster who 

anchored the interview did not make attempt 

to distance the NTA from such reckless 

statement, but sadder still is the fact that the 

presidency, and even the man himself, have 

made attempts to either justify or rephrase a 

statement that is so clear, to even a child. 

There is no body with a conscience, Nigerian 

or not, observing the way things are going in 

the last four years, that would not wish for the 

APC to be voted out of power this Saturday. 

Many of us need not struggle with our 

memories to recall that four years ago in this 

same country, it was 200 naira to one dollar. A 

bag of rice sold for 10,000 naira, a litre of 

petrol sold for 87 naira, a tin of milk sold for 

100 naira, and so on, today what is the story? 

Yes, the PDP government was accused of 

corruption, but it was the same government 

that announced that Nigeria had overtaken 

South Africa as the largest economy in Africa. 

Then 2015 came, and a former military 

General well over 75 years, took the 

saddle...then many of us had already bought 

into the narrative that he was ‘a man of 

integrity’, forgetting the truth that integrity 

alone, whatever that means, does put food on 

the table, we voted and encouraged others to 

vote en-masse for him. 

Suddenly everything changed... 

First, it took him six months to name his 

ministers, and when he finally did, it was the 

same old recycled names, some of whom have 

corruption cases hanging on their necks till 

today. 

Then prices of commodities went skywards, 

the naira quickly crashed against the dollar, 

petrol, as of today sells for 150 naira per litre 

or more in some places, so much so that the 

last Christmas was the only Christmas that 

didn’t become the worst in living memory of 

Nigerians in the last four years, where many 

had to sleep at filling stations while many 

more paid three times the usual transport fare 

to travel home, and so on... 

As of today, The International Organisation 

for Migration IOM, have reported an 

increased in violence brought about by 

terrorism in the North East, they say over 

59,000 Nigerians have been displaced in the 

last three months, and that’s despite claims of 

victory against terrorism. 

Our troops are not motivated, they are left 

on their own, to war against an enemy that the 

government has been accused to be 

systematically empowering by paying 

ransoms running into billions of naira to. As I 

write, Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe and in fact 

the entire North-East is experiencing the worst 

form of humanitarian crisis Nigeria has ever 

seen. 

If all these negatives are all that there is to 

this government maybe it would have been 

bearable. But no, they are not. 

The security of lives and properties of 

Nigerians, in the last four years, has become a 

mirage. We saw how Islamists Fulani herdsmen 

joined forces with Jihadist Boko Haram... 

Even though there has been a lull in 

reportage, we know that the result of this 

partnership has been blood, blood and more 

blood. As we speak; the young Christian girl 

kidnapped with others in Dapchi, who refused 

to renounce her faith and accept Islam, Leah 

Sharibu, is still in captivity. 

Yet, we have a government whose body 

language suggests it would not accept voices 

of dissent, would, according to the chairman 

of its party, ‘forgive’ thieves who joined their 

party, does not take the matter of the killing of 

innocent people seriously, and most 

importantly, may not even be willing to give us 

free and fair elections. Or how else do we 

women. Disagreement over pork 

sharing is never a good reason or 

sufficient basis to bring together 

people who promise to make real 

change in a country whose social 

and political fabrics have been 

torn apart. What holds the PDP 

together today is the personal 

interest of its members. There is 

neither altruism nor national 

goodwill in their desire to oust the 

APC from power. I have no hope in 

them and a victory for the party on 

Saturday will only be a reminder 

that Nigeria is yet perambulating 

in circles and that we have only 

Buhari had all 

but abandoned 

them until he 

realised he 

needed them 

for his reelection 

bid 

passed the fate of the country from 

the hands of one group of looters 

to another that is, going by past 

record, probably worse. I should 

think that my indifference to the 

situation is clear enough. But not 

to those Nigerians who I now 

realise conclude that rejection of 

APC translates automatically to 

support for the PDP. Nothing could 

be farther from the truth. 

My desire is for a new direction, 

for a Nigeria that will move in a 

direction that is completely 

different from where we are 

headed with and are being led by 

either the APC or the PDP. But the 

system has been so severely 

corrupted and rigged against 

those political parties that are led 

by Nigerians that are new to the 

terrain, those far younger than 

either candidates of the APC and 

the PDP. It would have been very 

good for the world to see us try 

something truly new for once, not 

this shameful exchange of batons 

between one class of looters and 

another that has blighted our 

political landscape in the last six 

decades. Nigerians should not be 

reduced to the level of having to 

choose the less execrable of two 

abominations. But except the 

political equivalent of something 

seismic happens to upend the 

current calculus of our political 

system, except a miracle of yet 

unimaginable proportions 

happens, Nigeria will remain 

firmly in the hands of either of the 

two parties, the APC or the PDP, 

that have respectively grounded us 

all in the last four or sixteen years. 

I desperately wish to be proven 

wrong. But should the scenario I 

just painted come to pass, let us 

spend the following four years to 

empower a new class of politicians 

that can effectively challenge and 

defeat the monstrosity that both the 

APC and PDP have become. 

That being said, which of either 

the APC or the PDP would I rather 

see return to power on Saturday? I 

see the APC holding on to power. I 

say this based on intuition and 

knowledge of our electoral 

experience, without totally 

disregarding the various 

permutations that have been 

advanced by political pundits, 

observers, party stalwarts and 

other interested persons and 

groups. But to answer my question 

directly: I say once more that 

neither party deserves our votes but 

in terms of their mealy-mouthed 

commitment to combating 

explain the recent redeployments of 

Commissioners of Police and the attempts to 

‘cage’ the judiciary? 

Although many may not care to notice, hardly 

a day goes by presently that we don’t wake up 

to news of carnage or some acts of illegality in 

the country, to the extent that Nigerians don’t 

care anymore. 

There are reports that the number of deaths 

and internal displacements in Nigeria in the 

last four years may be more than what is 

obtained in Syria where there is currently an 

ongoing civil war! 

Bishop Oyedepo of Living Faith Church noted 

that although we are not at war, since this 

government came to power, we have organised 

mass burials than some places where there is 

ongoing war. 

As if that is not enough, there are also reports 

that this president gave the order to recruit 

“repentant” ex-Boko Haram members into 

our security forces! 

As of today, the International 

Organisation for Migration 

IOM, have reported an 

increased in violence brought 

about by terrorism in the 

North East 

In the last four years, in Plateau State alone, 

many have been killed, so much so that over 

120 people were massacred in cold blood in a 

manner that left bulging eyes and dropping 

jaws in one Saturday alone. 

It is in this same country, within the last four 

years, that we heard reports of some fellow 

who claim to represent a group that calls itself 

“Miyetti Allah” (Warriors of Allah) coming 

forward to announce that the Plateau State 

carnage was revenge for over 300 cows killed 

by the youths of the State...till this moment, 

many of those killings, many also in Benue 

State, have not been properly handled. 

The government’s response was to blame the 

massacres on desperate politicians...so called 

politicians that they do not have neither the 

will nor the nerve to name and prosecute. 

corruption, which is the primary 

criterion by which I’m assessing 

them, I imagine things look a little 

better under the APC. Would I have 

the APC returned to power on that 

basis? I would say no, particularly 

as I can still see Buhari and his 

cabal conducting themselves in the 

same manner they have conducted 

themselves in the last four years. 

Things could, indeed, probably get 

worse as the president has no need 

or reason to come again before 

Nigerians to ask for their votes. 

This should be cautionary warning 

to the likes of Bola Tinubu and 

company that may have been 

blindsided by personal ambition 

to see clearly what is in store for 

them. Buhari had all but 

abandoned them until he realised 

he needed them for his re-election 

bid. 

But if only to tell him that the 

voice of ALL and NOT some 

Nigerians count, Buhari deserves 

to lose Saturday’s election. That a 

leader that came to power on a 

pan-Nigerian mandate, one in 

whom almost all Nigerians from 

all parts of the country invested so 

much faith in spite of past personal 

failures and apparent 

shortcomings- that such a leader 

would not only express distrust for 

Nigerians and retreat into a tribal 

enclave by surrounding himself 

only with a few people from among 

his own kit and kin while filling 

nearly every available national 

position of influence with 

Nigerians from his parts of the 

country- that he would do this 

while being totally deaf to the 

complaints and demands of 

Nigerians to change his ways- for 

all this and more, including his 

generally middling performance, 

Buhari deserves to lose the 

February 16 election. 

After the usual paparazzi that attended all 

those killings, deployment of troops, 

announcements of curfews and hypocritical 

political statements, all the noise would 

disappeared to be replaced with the routine of 

dangerous politicking, endless talking and 

tribalism, until another massacre. 

Are we a people without conscience? Are we 

so unserious as a people, suffering from a case 

of chronic collective dementia, that over 120 

people dead in one day and we still go on as if 

all is well, while some youth retards amongst 

us still canvass for this government? Just few 

weeks ago, a sitting CJN was illegally removed, 

and ASUU just called off a three months old 

strike, and it is pretty obvious that if it were not 

for Saturday's election, this government 

wouldn’t care. 

In more serious climes, by now the whole 

country would have been shut down, all 

activities would have grounded to a halt'; Civil 

Society Organisations, Labour Unions, 

religious bodies, university students, market 

women, etc would have mobiliSed and poured 

into the streets in protest to demand a solution 

to these endless killings, madness, and 

illegality or better yet insist that the “desperate 

politicians” that Mr. Buhari spoke about be 

named and brought to justice... 

But no, not Nigeria; not Nigeria where 

people can go on the streets of Kano in protest 

because one atheist in Denmark drew cartoons 

of one “prophet” even though citizens were 

being killed in their hundreds, daily, by Boko 

Haram. Not Nigeria where we carry on as if 

all is well leaving those affected and the victims 

of massacre to leak their wounds. Not Nigeria 

where a group such as MURIC, under a 

supposed professor, would spend quality time 

and energy writing about why Friday should 

be declared a public holiday for Muslims ‘since 

Saturday was declared for The Seventh Day 

Adventists and Sunday for Catholics and other 

Christians’ but refuse to speak out against the 

untold acts of violence, persecution and killings 

of Christians and minorities in some place in 

the north. 

*Mr. Akanbi, writer and humanitarian, 

wrote from Abuja. 

C 

M 

Y 

K


Ogboru describes Okowa’s move to reinstate 3,000 sacked 

workers as panic measure 

By Onozure Dania 

DELTA State All 

Progressives 

Congress, APC, 

governorship candidate, 

Chief Great Ogboru has 

described the recent move 

by the Delta State 

Government of Dr Ifeanyi 

Okowa to recall the sacked 

3,000 civil servants 

employed by Dr. 

Emmanuel Uduaghan 

during his administration 

as panic measure aimed at 

scoring cheap political 

points ahead of 2019 

elections. 

Uduaghan had 

employed over 3,000 

ADutch court will, today, 

hear arguments in a 

historic case against Shell, 

in which the oil giant 

stands accused of 

instigating human rights 

violations committed by the 

Nigerian government 

against Ogoni people in the 

1990s. 

Esther Kiobel, Victoria 

Bera, Blessing Eawo and 

Charity Levula are suing 

Shell over what they say is 

its role in the unlawful 

arrest, detention and 

execution of their husbands 

by the Nigerian military, 

following a crackdown on 

Ogoni protests against 

Shell’s involvement in 

pollution of the region. 

Esther Kiobel said: “Over 

the years, Shell has fought 

to make sure this case is 

not heard in court. They 

have the resources to fight 

me instead of doing justice 

for my husband.” 

Amnesty International, 

which is supporting the 

plaintiffs and legal team 

bringing the case, has 

independently 

documented Shell’s role in 

people into the civil service 

at the last lap of his tenure, 

which was halted by 

Okowa on assumption of 

office over alleged 

irregularities in the 

exercise, a claim the former 

governor debunked. 

However, a statement by 

the Head of Service, 

Reginald Bayoko, said the 

state government has set 

up a nine-man committee 

to re-examine the 2015 

recruitment exercise. 

It added: “It is hereby 

announced for the 

information of the general 

public that in fulfillment of 

his earlier promise to revisit 

the 2015 recruitment 

rights abuse by the 

Nigerian government in its 

effort to crush protests. 

Barinem Kiobel, Baribor 

Bera, Nordu Eawo and 

Paul Levula were hanged 

in 1995 after a trial. 

Their widows are now 

demanding compensation 

and a public apology from 

Shell. Five other men, 

including protest leader 

Ken Saro-Wiwa, were 

executed and have become 

collectively known as the 

Ogoni 9. 

Amnesty Int'l 

Mark Dummett, Business 

and Human Rights 

Researcher at Amnesty 

International, said: “This 

will be the first time, in a 

battle for justice spanning 

more than two decades, 

that Esther Kiobel and her 

fellow plaintiffs get the 

chance to tell their stories 

in court. 

“These women believe 

that their husbands would 

still be alive today were it 

not for the brazen selfinterest 

of Shell, which 

encouraged the Nigerian 

exercise, which was 

suspended due to alleged 

irregularities, Governor 

Okowa, has approved the 

commencement of a 

screening exercise to 

review the suspended 

recruitment with a view to 

lifting the suspension.” 

Reacting to the statement, 

Ogboru in a statement by 

Mrs Stephanie Osama- 

Agho and members of 

Ogboru’s Campaign 

Media Team condemned 

the state government for 

waiting this long before 

acting on what has become 

a moral burden. 

He said: “It is clear that 

defeat is imminent for 

Okowa and Peoples 


government’s bloody 

crackdown on protesters 

even when it knew the 

human cost. 

“Despite a cache of 

evidence against Shell, the 

company has managed to 

dodge justice for years and 

until now has never had to 

answer in court for these 

allegations. 

“The court hearing, has 

huge significance for 

people everywhere who 

have been harmed by the 

greed and recklessness of 

global corporations.” 

The case 

Esther Kiobel first filed a 

case against Shell in New 

York in 2002, but in 2013 the 

US Supreme Court ruled 

that the US did not have 

jurisdiction to hear the 

case. 

This meant that the US 

courts never got to examine 

the substance of the 

allegations against Shell. 

The four plaintiffs accuse 

Shell of being instrumental 

in the unlawful arrest and 

detention of their 

husbands; the violation of 

come March 2. Delta State 

PDP-led government has 

become desperate hence 

they are resorting to panic 

measure by going back to 

eat their vomits. 

“Is it not the same Okowaled 

government, in a 

political vendetta, sacked 

over 3,000 Deltans who 

went through a rigorous 

screening exercise and 

were lawfully engaged? 

“Deltans are not fools and 

cannot be taken for granted 

by politically-motivated 

policies few days to an 

election. 

“Therefore, their panic 

and desperate move will not 

save them from defeat, as 

Deltans have rejected 

PDP.” 

WORKSHOP: (Front row)— Governor, Rotary International, District 9141, Adeyemi Oladokun 

(middle); President, Rotary Club of Warri, Happy Apai (5th right), Ambassador Joel Bisina of LITE- 

Africa (2nd right), and Rotarian Akatakpo (left). Back row: Rotarians Josephine Ajoku (3rd right), Dr. 

Blessing Inubiwon (2nd left), with some officers of Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Security 

& Civil Defence Corps and the Police, at a two-day workshop on Voluntary Principles on Security & Human 

Rights for Public and Private Security Personnel in Warri, Delta State. 

Suit against Shell for hearing 

today 23 years after Ogoni 9 

their husbands’ physical 

integrity; the violation of 

their right to a fair trial and 

to life, and their own right 

to a family life. 

Amnesty International 

supported Esther Kiobel’s 

legal team to bring the case 

to the Netherlands in 2017, 

and detailed Shell’s role in 

the arrests and executions 

in a briefing. 

The plaintiffs are also 

calling for the court to 

order Shell to hand over 

more than 100,000 

internal documents crucial 

to the case. Shell’s 

lawyers have refused to 

do so, even though these 

documents were 

submitted as evidence in 

the US case. 

Mark Dummett said: 

“It’s time to bring an end 

to decades of impunity for 

Shell. These women’s 

courage, resilience and 

determination to clear 

their husband’s names 

and bring Shell to account 

is inspirational. 

“They have the support of 


activists all over the world.” 

Duke is our candidate 

—C'River SDP 

By Emma Una 

C ALABAR—MR 

Eyo Ekpo, Social 

Democratic Party, SDP, 

governorship candidate 

in Cross River State has 

said the recent adoption 

of President 

Muhammadu Buhari, 

presidential candidate 

of All Progressives 

Congress, APC, by the 

National Executive 

Council, NEC, of his 

party, was undemocratic 

and against the 

constitution and, 

therefore, null and void. 

Ekpo who was 

speaking in Calabar, 

yesterday, said the 

party’s presidential 

candidate is Mr. Donald 

Duke, who won the 

primaries of the party in 

October 2018, therefore, 

the executive of the SDP 

SUCCOUR has came 

the way of residents 

of impacted 

communities during the 

Niger Delta crises as the 

Presidential Amnesty 

Programme, PAP, 

distributed various items 

as starter packs to the 

people as part of its 

empowerment 

programme. 

The exercise which 

involved thousands of 

recipients drawn from 

various communities in 

Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, 

Edo, Cross Rivers, Imo, 

Ondo, Akwa Ibom and 

Abia states, commenced 

in Warri, Delta state, 

weekend. 

No fewer than 177 

persons profiled from 

various communities for 

and all its candidates in 

the state would continue 

to work with him towards 

winning the presidential 

election on Saturday. 

“We will continue to 

support Donald Duke for 

the Presidency because 

the decision of the NEC 

of the party doesn’t have 

popular support of the 

people. Duke remains the 

candidate of the party 

recognized by INEC.” 

The former Attorney 

General of the state, who 

is confident of victory in 

the governorship election, 

said: “Because of 

Governor Ben Ayade’s 

poor performance even 

the North where he comes 

from will not vote him, as 

he noticed during his state 

tour that people are more 

concerned about good 

governance and not where 

the governor comes from.” 

Artisans get starter 

parks from PAP in Delta 

By Festus Ahon 

ASABA—A chieftain 

of the People’s 


in Ughelli North Local 


Delta State, Professor 

Innocent Ojefia has 

called on Urhobo people 

to vote massively for 

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa 

for equity and fairness. 

Ojefia, a senior aide to 

the Governor on 

Research and 

Communications spoke 

when the PDP Ughelli 

North ward to ward 

campaign train visited 

Orogun ward one, 

Otorho-Orogun. 

Addressing a crowd of 

party members and 

supporters, he 

each of the 20 distribution 

centres across states in the 

Niger Delta received items 

for various trade areas 

which included welding 

equipment, tailoring, 

catering, deep freezers, 

and generators of different 

sizes. 

Special Adviser to the 

President on Niger Delta 

and Coordinator, Amnesty 

Programme, Prof. Charles 

Dokubo, while officially 

flagging off the 

empowerment 

programme in Abonnema, 

Akuku-Toru Local 


Rivers State, yesterday, 

said the gesture was an 

evidence of President 


love for people of the oilrich 

region. 

Vote Okowa for equity, 

fairness, Ojefia tells Urhobos 

expressed confidence that 

PDP would win all 

elections in Orogun Ward 

one. 

He urged the people to 

work hard to ensure that 

those who emerged at the 

party primaries win the 

elections in the ward. 

He appealed to all who 

lost in the House of 

Assembly primary in 

Ughelli North 

constituency 1 to support 

Mr. Kenneth Ibru, who 

won the ticket, adding that 

the primary election was 

a free and fair contest 

among members of a big 

political family. 

Ojefia also asked the 

people to vote massively 

for the federal constituency 

candidate, Mr. Samuel 

Mariere.


Election: Udeogaranya begs 

UN, US, China, ICC, others to 

save Nigerians from ‘looming 

genocidal war' 

By Ebun Sessou 

FORMER Presidential 

aspirant of All 


APC, who dumped the 

party for the Peoples 


Chief Charles 

Udeogaranya has urged 

the international 

community to save Nigeria 

from a looming genocidal 

war. 

He also harped on the 

need to steer the affairs of 

the nation to a better path 

due to an unprecedented 

high level of hopelessness 

on the part of Nigerians 

towards their national 

government. 

Taking a cursory look at 

why he wanted to be 

President ab initio, he said: 

“However unsuccessful 

my bid was, I have a 

greater stake in the welfare 

of Nigerians than in my 

own personal political 

success, because I believe 

Okowa's aide canvasses support 

for gov, PDP candidates 

By Simon 

Adewale 

THE Senior Special 

Assistant on 

Communities Liaison to 

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of 

Delta State, Chief 

Okeimute Okwagbe, has 

thrown his weight behind 


Party, PDP, candidates in 

the state with a vow to 

canvass support and votes 

for all its candidates in the 

2019 general elections in 

Delta, including Governor 

Ifeanyi Okowa and the 

Presidential candidate, 

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. 

In a statement, Olorogun 

Okwagbe, who is also the 

Esama of Ukepidi 

Kingdom, urged Deltans to 

work together for the victory 

of the party by mobilising 

Deltans to vote Okowa and 

others to justify the 

in a better Nigeria for all 

Nigerians. 

“Nigeria at no time in 

her history has been 

subjected to a state of 

catastrophic anarchy and 

the signs are everywhere. 

This to me is a genuine 

reason every concerned 

citizen of the world must 

lend a helping hand now 

before it is too late and if 

Nigerians are left with the 

option of seeking refuge 

abroad, they will as well 

export their environmental 

effects to the receiving 

nations, effects that will 

harm these nations. 

“I am therefore on my 

knees pleading with world 

powers, UN, EU, ICC, 

USA, UK, China and AU 

to save Nigeria from a 

looming genocidal war, if 

the National Independent 


INEC, should rig 2019 

presidential election in 

favour of President 

Buhari against the wishes 

of most Nigerians.” 

Igbo group endorses Atiku 

By Chimaobi 

Nwaiwu 

N NEWI—AFTER 

going through the 

ruling All Progressives 

Congress, APC, manifesto 

and that of the opposition 


PDP, an Igbo grassroots 

organisation, Imeobi Igbo 

Forum, yesterday said it 

had endorsed the PDP 

ticket of Alhaji Atiku 

Abubakar and Mr Peter Obi 

and urged Ndigbo to vote 

massively for the PDP flag 

bearer and his running 

mate. 

Speaking to newsmen in 

Onitsha, national chairman 

of the forum, Chief 

Mike Ikeguru-Onugha, 

said their endorsement of 

Atiku /Obi’s ticket was 

"due to hunger, frustration, 

unemployment, economic 

downturn pervading 

the country, including 

killing of innocent Nigerians 

on daily basis by 

armed herdsmen and the 

Boko Haram insurgents 

terrorising the people 

under the present 

administration that has 

offered no answer to the 

problems. " 

popularity of the party in 

the state. 

Okwagbe pledged 

support for PDP 

candidates and Gov. 

Ifeanyi Okowa, saying 

Okowa has the requisite 

political and managerial 

experience and skills to 

deliver dividends of 

democracy, which he has 

done during his first term 

in office for the people of 

Delta State because of his 

grassroot knowledge of 

their hope and aspiration. 

He stressed that he had 

painstakingly studied the 

political terrain and all the 

parties' antecedents and 

had come to the realisation 

that it was only the PDP 

that had capability to truly 

rescue the state and the 

entire country from its 

current economic 

quagmire and sociopolitical 

doldrum. 

4, 695 card readers destroyed in 

Anambra INEC office inferno 

•APC behind fire incidents at INEC offices, PDP alleges 

By Vincent 

Ujumadu, Omeiza 

Ajayi & Dirisu 

Yakubu 

A BUJA—THE 

Independent 


Commission INEC, has 

said that no fewer than 4, 

695 of its Smart Card 

Readers were destroyed in 

yesterday’s fire incident in 

its Anambra state office. 

Festus Okoye, National 

Commissioner and 

chairman, Information and 

Voter Education Committee 

of the Commission 

disclosed this yesterday in 

a statement in Abuja. 

“Further to our statement 

of Sunday 10th February 

2019, the Independent 


Commission INEC regrets 

to inform the public that 

there has been another fire 

incident this time in its 

Anambra State office”, he 

said. 

This is the third of such 

incidents in less than two 

weeks, following closely 

behind those of lsiala 

Ngwa and Qua’an Pan 

Local Government offices of 

Abia and Plateau States 

respectively. 

“While the commission 

awaits the details of the 

latest incident, it notes with 

some relief that there was 

no fatality or injury 

reported. Initial assessment 

however confirms that a 

total of 4, 695 of the Smart 

Card Readers were 

destroyed in the inferno”, 

Okoye said. 

Conceding that the 

incident was no doubt a 

setback to INEC’s 

preparations for the smooth 

conduct of the elections in 

Anambra State, he said, 

“the Commission has taken 

immediate measures to 

ameliorate the situation by 

mopping up some of the 

spare Card Readers from 

other states to deploy to 

Anambra State”. 

According to him, with 

the steps so far taken, the 

commission remains 

confident that the election 

in the state will proceed as 

scheduled. 

“We have in the meantime 

reported the incident to the 

Police and the Fire Service 

and investigations into the 

cause have commenced. 

We take this opportunity to 

commend the Fire Service 

FORUM: From left, moderator, Nigeria Union of Journalisits, NUJ 

Enugu State Council Democracy Arena, Mr Ossy Rockefeller Ogboso, PDP 

Enugu-West House of Representatives candidate, Mr Toby Okechukwu; and 

Chairman, NUJ, Enugu State council, Comrade Rex Arum, during NUJ Enugu 

Democracy Arena 2019 general elections programme in Enugu. 

for its response which 

prevented the spread of the 

fire and averted more 

damage”, he stated. 

APC behind fire 

incidents at INEC 

offices, PDP alleges 

Meantime, the Peoples 


yesterday, claimed that 

fresh facts available to it 

showed that the All 


APC, was responsible for 

the burning of Independent 


Commission, INEC, offices 

in various parts of the 

country. 

The party also said it had 

in its possession details of 

how the APC mobilised 

some misguided elements 

in its fold to burn INEC 

offices and destroy electoral 

materials and equipments 

in Plateau, Abia and 

Anambra states. 

In a statement issued by 

Kola Ologbondiyan, the 

PDP spokesman, the party 

claimed the fire incidents 

would spread to other 

states, in what it described 

as a ploy to frustrate the 

effort of the umpire in such 

places. 

“Our party is also privy to 

clandestine plots by the 

APC to burn INEC offices 

in some other states, so as 

to paralyze the 

commission’s operations in 

such states and pave the 

way for the isolation and 

postponement of 

Presidential elections in 

those states; after which it 

plans to unleash 

compromised security 

agencies to muzzle the 

shifted polls in favour of 


Buhari," the party alleged. 

IPOB accuses Army of abducting members in Aba 

...warns against being pushed to carry arms 

By Chimaobi 

Nwaiwu 

N NEWI—THE 

Indigenous People 

of Biafra, IPOB, yesterday 

alleged that the Nigerian 

Army is conducting a 

stealth genocidal war 

against the people of the 

South East, with the 

shooting to death of two 

people in Owerri, Imo State 

on Monday and the 

abduction of unidentified 

number of people in Aba, 

Abia State yesterday 

including a husband and 

wife. 

IPOB called for the 

immediate release without 

further delay of those 

allegedly abducted by the 

Army, including a husband 

and wife they allegedly 

kidnapped yesterday 

morning and urged the 

world to take note and not 

to blame it if it eventually 

decides to carry arms to 

defend the people of the 

South East. 

IPOB in a statement by 

its Media and Publicity 

Secretary, Emma Powerful, 

said “it has been made to 

feel that a Biafran life is 

worthless,” warning that 

it should not be pushed into 

carrying arms. 

"Inspite of Biafrans being 

long-suffering, their anger 

is becoming uncontrollable 

and the world will wake up 

to start pontificating if they 

should get involved in the 

act of carrying arms. 

“The Nigerian Army is at 

it again. The Army is 

conducting a stealth 

genocidal war against 

Biafrans and it is the 

responsibility of the world 

to take note.Yesterday, they 

shot dead two young men 

in Owerri. Last night,they 

have commenced their 

abduction of Biafrans in 

Aba. Biafrans are now the 

longest suffering race in 

human history. One day, 

their anger will no longer 

be controllable and the 

world will wake up then to 

start pontificating. 

“We have been made to 

feel that a Biafran life is 

worthless." 

APGA Reps candidate vows to harness S-East 

resources if elected 

By Ayodele 

Oluwafemi 

THE All Progressives 

Grand Alliance ,APGA, 

candidate for the Federal 

House of Representatives, 

Bende Federal 

Constituency of Abia State, 

Comrade Emmanuel 

Ugboaja, has promised to 

harness the vast resources 

of the South-East for the 

development of the region, 

if elected. 

Speaking during a 

solidarity rally in 

Uzuakoli,Abia State, by a 

socio-cultural group in his 

constituency, Bendel Oma 

Ugboaja said: “I will work 

with like minds to harness 

the vast human resources 

that abound in the southeast. 

I promise to also work 

towards restoring dignity 

in labour to ensure that 

the workman will always 

be entitled to his wages. 

“I believe in a 

government that fights for 

social justice, equity, 

compassion, and an 

economy that allows 

everyone to thrive. I 

promise to work tirelessly 

to ensure that all Bende 

sons and daughters have 

fair share of a brighter 

future”


N11.08bn lost to crude oil theft in 2018 

By Joseph Erunke 

A BUJA—NIGERIAN 

Navy, yesterday, said 

activities of oil thieves in the 

country cost it N11.08 

billion in 2018. 

The disclosure came as it 

said 1952 illegal crude oil 

refining sites in the Niger 

Delta were uncovered and 

subsequently destroyed by 

its troops in the region. 

Speaking during 

Nigerian Navy First 

ECOBANK PAYZONE: From left— Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, 

Carol Oyedeji; General Secretary, Alaba International Market Association, Electronics, Ben Okolie; 

Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan; Managing Director, Ajuoye Dynamic Concept, 

Ecobank customer, Okwelogu Romanus, and Managing Director, J-Clax International, another customer, 

Jude Esedebe, at the launch of EcobankPay Zone at Alaba International Market, Lagos. 

A-Ibom APC insists on REC, 

Igini’s removal over alleged bias 

By Harris Emmanuel 

UYO—AKWA Ibom 

State chapter of All 


APC, has insisted on the 

removal of the Resident 

Electoral Commissioner, 

Mike Igini, over alleged 

partisanship and other 

sundry offences ahead of 

the general polls. 

State Chairman, APC, Ini 

Okopido, maintained that 

the party would not have a 

level playing field with him 

superintending the conduct 

of the elections in the state. 

According to him, the 

party has copious evidence 

to show that REC has been 

romancing with the 

People’s Democratic Party, 

PDP, accusing him of 

handing over uncollected 

Permanent Voter’s Cards, 

PVCs, to the officials of the 

state government. 

Responding to Vanguard 

inquiry, Igini described the 

allegations as baseless, 

saying the Commission 

would give all the parties 

equal opportunity to test 

their popularity at the polls. 

His words: “The 

allegation by APC is 

nonsense. How do I have 

a meeting with the people 

Quarter Media Dialogue 

in Abuja,its Chief of 

Training 

and 

Operations,CTOPS, Rear 

Admiral Mackson Kadiri, 

said the money was lost to 

maritime crimes,which he 

noted,included illegal oil 

refining and theft of other 

products. 

Kadiri, who noted 

that illegal refining was a 

major threat to Nigeria’s 

maritime environment, 

disclosed that the activation 

•They should organise their affairs, Igini replies 

I have never met in my life? 

Where was the meeting 

held? They should go and 

organise their affairs. In this 

By Chioma Onuegbu 

UYO—AHEAD 

of 

Saturday’s 

presidential and National 

Assembly elections, the 

Inter-Party Advisory 

Council Nigeria, IPAC, 

has appealed to Akwa 

Ibom State voters to eschew 

all forms of violence as they 

go out to vote. 

National Chairman of 

IPAC, Chief Peter Ameh, 

who made the appeal 

during IPAC voter 

education and sensitisation 

road show and workshop 

in Uyo, said the objective 

of the exercise was to make 

the general election a 

model in Africa. 

Ameh also appealed to 

the electorate to ensure that 

they go out to vote on the 

election days, noting that 

the participation of citizens 

in the electoral process 

contributes immensely to 

the success of democracy 

anywhere in the world 

of Operation Sweep by the 

service paid off as 

according to him, “in 2017, 

a total of 1,315 illegal 

refining sites were 

destroyed and in 2018, 637 

were destroyed. Another 

threat to Nigerian maritime 

environment is illegal 

refining of crude oil. In 

response to this, in 2016, 

the Nigerian Navy 

activated what we call 

Operation River Sweep 

which is aimed at 

election, nobody will write 

results at home. 

“I will give all the parties 

a level playing ground and 

He said, “IPAC voter 

education and sensitization 

road shows and workshops 

have successfully impacted 

governorship elections in 

Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, 

Osun among others, and 

we hope and believe we 

can do same for the entire 

nation, Nigeria in this 2019 

general election. We must 

get it right this time. 

nobody would truncate the 

wishes of the people of 

Akwa Ibom State. Their 

votes must count.” 

... as IPAC urge A-Ibom voters to eschew violence 

By Boluwaji 

Obahopo 

LOKOJA—KOGI State 

Government yesterday 

said the state lost about N50 

billion from the sale of 

cashew nuts in 2018 due to 

adulteration of the nuts by 

cashew dealers and lack of 

quality control. 

The development has 

forced the government to 

announce the immediate 

enforcement of Farm 

Produce Regulations 

combating crude oil theft 

and illegal refining 

activities. 

“In 2017,a total of 1,315 

illegal refining sites were 

destroyed and in 2018,only 

637 only were destroyed, 

“he said. 

The Navy, according to 

Kadiri, also lost of 277, 040 

barrels of crude oil, 23.1 

million litres of AGO, 212, 

610 litres of PMS, and 1. 2 

million litres of DPK to 

vandals and oil thieves. 

“We heartily appeal to all 

voters to be peaceful, play 

by the rules, vote their 

choice candidates, and 

eschew all forms of violence 

or intimidation, electoral 

corruption and anything 

that may compromise the 

elections. 

“As you go out to vote on 

February 16, put Nigeria at 

the back of your mind.” 

Procedures; especially 

cashew nuts across the 

three senatorial districts of 

the state. 

State Commissioner for 

Agriculture, Mr. Kehinde 

Oloruntoba, who disclosed 

this yesterday while 

addressing newsmen, said 

last year's negative effects 

had also affected the state's 

image in the cashew nuts 

markets; making the state 

lose credibility. 

Oloruntoba said: “Cashew 

business in the state has 

Firm accused of printing election 

materials threatens to sue PDP 

By Marie Nanlong 

JOS—CONTRARY to 

reports that sensitive 

election materials like 

ballot papers are being 

printed in Hamtul 

Printing Company located 

in Bisichi, Barkin Ladi 

Local Government Area of 

Plateau State, the 

Managing Director of the 

company, Leo Dilkon, 

has denied the 

report, threatening to sue 

Yiljap Abraham, 

Chairman, Media and 

Publicity Committee of 

the state People’s 


The PDP Campaign 

council had in a statement 

by Yiljap said 

By Bashir Bello 

K ATSINA— 

GOVERNOR 

Aminu Bello Masari of 

Katsina State, 

has described 

“desperation by the 

leading opposition party, 


PDP, to return to power 

less than four years after 

its 16 years rule brought 

Nigeria to its knees,” as a 

ploy to truncate Nigeria’s 

dream of reaching its 

promise land soon. 

Masari said PDP’s 

quest to return to power 

is conceived in bad faith 

and meant to reverse 

what President 

Muhammadu Buhari is 

Lagos NDE trains women, 

disburses N10,000 MEES loan 

Kogi losses N50bn in cashew nuts 

happenings within the 

printing outfit were of 

serious concern as PDP 

was “inundated by series 

of reports of what appear 

to be clandestine activities 

within the company 

premises that are related 

to the production, storage, 

haulage and usage of 

sensitive election 

materials such as ballot 

papers.” 

However, the 

company’s Managing 

Director, Leo Dilkon 

refuted the report saying 

Mr. Abraham was 

inciting the citizens 

against his business even 

when there was no such 

activity taking place in his 

company. 

PDP'll truncate Nigeria’s 

dream—Masari 

become all comers affairs 

without regulations. In 

2017, the state produced 

over 100,000 metric tons 

which drastically reduced 


“In 2017 the state made 

N70 billion in the sale of 

cashew nuts, but declined 

to N20 billion in 2018 due 

to the effect of adulterated 

nuts from the sellers. 

“No serious government 

will fold its arms and watch 

its viable business sector 

collapse.” 

doing for next and 

younger generations of 

Nigerians. 

He spoke when he 

received Deputy 

National Chairman, 

North, of All 


APC and leader of 

Buhari support group, 

Forward For Buhari, 

Senator Lawal Shuaibu, 

in Government House, 

Katsina. 


“what Buhari is doing is 

to bring Nigeria to a 

level that it can be easily 

managed, but certainly 

anybody who is thinking 

of any reversal does not 

know the consequences 

or appreciates them.” 

N ATIONAL 

Directorate of 

Employment, NDE, 

Lagos State, has flagged 

off the training of women 

and girls in cosmetology, 

while also disbursing 

N10,000 interest-free loan 

to about 300 beneficiaries 

under its Micro 

Enterprise Enhancement 

Scheme, MEES. 

Speaking at the doublepronged 

event in Lagos, 

Director-General of NDE, 

Dr. Nasir Argungu, 

represented by Mr. 

Adebowale Ologbenla, 

Lagos State, NDE 

Coordinator, said the 

schemes were efforts at 

meeting the legitimate 

demands of 

unemployed citizens, 

“especially youths and 

girls, for decent job 

opportunities.” 

“Employment is key to 

supporting and fulfilling 

personal and family goals 

and contributes to local 

and national economies,” 

he added, urging the 

beneficiaries to exploit the 

opportunity for selfreliance 

and wealth 

creation. 

On his part, Ologbenla 

said the multiplier effect 

of the training and loans 

NDE implemented is 

tremendous, pointing out 

that the NDE has an 

inspectorate department 

that does follow up.


WITH CHARLES KUMOLU 

midweekpersonality@gmail.com 

08052140865 (sms only) 

Prepared for the future: 

I was born into a Christian 

home and I am still a Christian. 

My mother is deceased but 

was a great influence in my life. 

She was the type of mother 

who did not allow me to pass 

through school without 

learning a skill or two. She 

always told us that we needed 

to acquire skills because we 

didn't know what would 

happen in the future. 

Apart from learning fashion 

while I was growing up, I also 

learned graphics designs 

which have also helped me 

with my branding today. My 

mother was a seamstress. She 

was a senior staff in the defunct 

Power Holding Company. She 

was also an entrepreneur 

because she had a 

supermarket. 

She also loved education. I 

spent my after school hours 

acquiring different skills. The 

different skills I acquired are 

helpful to me today. I apply the 

knowledge in all I do. I 

learned many things from my 

house. When I ventured into 

the boutique business it was 

easy for me to stand out. I did 

the business successfully for 

nine years, after a while I also 

traveled o and erseas to 

acquire knowledge for other 

brands I own. 

White collar job 

My mother had a big 

business. We started with one 

shop before owning two shops. 

That was how we kept growing. 

She ensured that we learned 

hands-on. If anybody had told 

me that I would be feeding 

from fashion, and not just that, 

also empowering through 

that, I would not have believed 

it. The lesson here is that it 

pays to encourage people to 

learn a skill even when they 

are schooling because it pays. 

Going to a proper school is 

important but people should 

acquire skills. It is very 

important because white 

collar job is not for everyone. 

That is why there are so many 

graduates even with first-class 

degrees, looking for who will 

employ them. 

Avoid being a liability 

For someone to succeed, the 

person must identify his or her 

strength and give the best to 

whatever task. Young people 

should acquire a skill like 

fashion designing which is 

very broad. Who says the 

person without a job cannot be 

an illustrator? 

You can be a designer, 

blogger, fashion marketer, and 

fashion event planner. There 

are many opportunities out 

there. It is important for our 

girls to learn hands-on so that 

they can become independent 

and avoid being a liability to 

themselves, their spouses, or 

even society. These are the 

things I learned from my 

mother, and they are the best 

for me. 

From modelling to 

entrepreneurship 

I started my business in 

PRINCESS OGHENE: 

Where beauty, brain, 

entrepreneurship meet 

CHIEF Executive Officer, CEO, of GMYT Academy, and other 

GMYT brands, Princess Kelechi Oghene, narrates how parental 

training sowed the seed of greatness in her. Her transition from a 

full-time model to a successful owner of chains of businesses 

testifies that beauty and brain go together in some people. 

Personality Ethics 

*Being independent 

brings self-worth 

*You must find your 

strenght to succeed 

*Hard work is the 

route to everything 

worthwhile 

2005. I was already running 

my business before I joined 

Orange Drugs in 2009. I 

retired as an ambassador in 

2017. Nevertheless, I would 

say it has been an interesting 

journey from running a 

boutique business for nine 

years to starting my bespoke 

brand, GMYT Couture Ltd. I 

also have the GMYT 

Foundation and GMYT 

Fashion Academy which is the 

parent company today. We 

also have the GYMT African 

Humanitarian Award and 

GMYT Support Scheme. I was 

doing all these and also 

schooling at the same time 

because I love learning. I have 

done several Masters 

programmes, including 

management programmes, 

Human Resources 

Management and Styling. I am 

an alumnus of Lagos Business 

School, London College of 

Fashion and Model Fashion 

Academy, Dubai. I try as much 

as possible to develop myself 

alongside working. 

Working and schooling 

I have been working and 

schooling all my life. I am 

much focused. If I am not, we 

would not have been able to 

put in place the structures we 

have now. For instance, my 

elder sister learned catering, 

and hairdressing, when she 

was in school. She also 

attended to a fashion school. 

Aside from my parents paying 

for her education, she was also 

able to take care of herself. I 

remember then, in the hostel, 

she toasted bread, cake and 

other things for her course and 

hostel mates. She made money 

from it while our parents were 

also sending money to her. 

Before my mum passed on in 

2012, she always called to say 

that she was sending money to 

me, but I told her not to send 

because I do not need it. 

Instead, I should be the one 

sending money to her. There 

was joy in that experience 

because my mum prepared us 

for the future. We should try as 

much as we can to encourage 

our girls, men and women to 

become independent. Some of 

the facilitators I have here are 

guys, and they earn good 

money. 

I know it is not everybody 

that can do skilled job, but 

whatever anyone wants to do, 

the person should ensure he is 

doing the thing he is 

passionate about. 

Self-worth is crucial 

There is no easy way to 

success. For instance, we are 

still building our brand. I 

cannot count how many times 

I have been admitted to the 

hospital for working every day 

of the week. That is why I am 

reiterating that our girls be 

encouraged to learn a skill 

because at the end of the day, 

when they are independent 

they would not go into a 

relationship because 

somebody wants to offer 

something to them. An 

independent person makes a 

better decision. For instance, 

instead of buying things, the 

person may invest and become 

successful. By doing that, the 

person would have self-worth 

and whoever is coming will be 

scared to mention sex. When 

they come to you, they will 

value you because they know 

you are independent. 

Known for giving 

I am known for giving. After 

running the couture business 

for sometime I decided to start 

teaching people free at the 

GMYT Foundation. I started by 

teaching over 50 students who 

enrolled in the academy. 

However, most of the people 

who came were more interested 

in paying than learning at no 

cost. They did not just want to 

be associated with the word 

foundation, because they felt 

they could afford to pay for their 

training. That was what birthed 

the GMYT Fashion Academy. 

The foundation came first 

before the fashion academy. We 

became more structured and 

today we have more fashion 

academy students. That is why 

the fashion academy is the 

parent company of the 

foundation. The fashion 

academy is the source of 

funding for the foundation. If 

students were not paying, I do 

not think we would have been 

able to train over 200 women 

without sponsors. The GMYT 

Academy is also funding the 

GYMT Entrepreneur Award. 

The GMYT Support Scheme 

which supports startups is also 

being supported by the 

academy. I am just giving back 

to society. For me, the 

academy is also a networking 

platform where the students 

meet their prospective clients. 

For me, it has been a journey 

from modeling to 

entrepreneurship. 

Re-ignite a mindset 

We live in a world where 

more money is spent without 

making more impact on 

people's lives. There are 

thousands of women, girls, 

and youths who need to be 

empowered. Every year, we 

see more graduates on the 

outside and fewer students 

admitted into schools. Some 

women, girls feel deprived, 

unwanted, lonely and even 

depressed. They are distressed 

because of their inability to 

cater for their basic needs 

amidst their overflowing 

willingness to earn a living. 

Hence, the good news is that 

skill as little as a grain of sand 

can end pennilessness, reignite 

a mindset, and make 

someone independent. The 

world has become a place 

where skill is more lucrative 

than even white collar jobs. 

Respective fields 

GMYT Foundation is known 

for impacting people's lives by 

giving scholarships to people 

especially women and girls. 

Through random selection, 

women are being admitted into 

the academy and trained to 

become proper fashion 

designers. So far GMYT 

Foundation has spent over 

N200,000,000 to train over 200 

Read full version on 

www.vanguardngr.com

My man’s too tightfisted! 

Dear Bunmi, 

My boyfriend never gets me 

anything for my birthday. It’s 

very upsetting since I spend 

lots of money and think about 

each present I buy for him 

really carefully. It’s got to a 

point after four years together 

that I start stressing about it 

and dropping hints from about 

a couple of months to my 

birthday. 

He always suggests he’s got 

something special for me, but 

when the big day arrives, his 

gift doesn’t. There’s always 

some excuse, like he forgot it 

in the office, but I never see 

anything. Am I making too 

much fuss? 

Jenny, by e-mail. 

Dear Jenny, 

No, you’re right to be 

How could I have fallen for a brute! 

Dear Bunmi, 

When I met my husband 

shortly after leaving the 

university, I thought I had 

struck gold. He had his own 

house, ran a thriving business 

and showed me a lot of love 

and affection. When I got 

pregnant, he insisted we got 

married and we had a lavish 

one. He’s been a good father 

to the two children of the 

marriage. 

In the last few years, I’ve 

been regaled with stories of 

his forcefully making love to 

women and even having anal 

one with some! He came 

home with funny smells on 

his person and the last straw 

was when a niece who came 

to stay during an exam 

complained he forced her to 

make love to him. 

In the end, I quietly left and 

I’m now living in a flat with 

my children. He’s still a 

generous father, but I kick 

myself for getting married to 

such a maniac. Why hadn’t I 

seen the signs before I 

married him? 

Betty, by e-mail. 

Dear Betty, 

What signs were you 

expecting to see? Lovemaking 

offenders don’t look 

different from the next guy 

and you did well to leave him. 

People like him are possessed 

and there is little you could 

Should I expose this cheat? 

Dear Bunmi, 

I was doing a late night 

shopping a few days ago 

when I saw my married friend 

drunkenly getting into a car 

with a young woman who 

looked like she was half his 

age. I thought there must be 

an explanation, but he started 

pinching her bum and kissing 

her. 

Our friendship goes back 20 

years, but I’ve never known 

him to behave like this and I 

feel so disappointed with 

what he’s done. 

I’ve been friends with his 

wife for as long, and I’m 

totally heart-broken for her. 

Should I tell her what I saw 

him doing? 

Gbade, By e-mail. 

Dear Gbade, 

You need to tackle your friend 

first. Tell him you saw him 

with that woman and 

concerned. It is not about the 

cost or even the choice of gifts, 

it’s the thought that goes into 

it, and he’s clearly thinking 

only about himself. 

Do you really want to spend 

your life with a selfish, 

thoughtless man? Why not 

give him a dose of his own 

medicine by giving him 

nothing but a smile on his 

next birthday? See how he 

reacts to that! 

have done to change him. 

Of course, he could be nice, 

romantic and responsible, 

your ex has what is called the 

Jekyll and Hyde personality 

- the man who wooed and 

married you is also the man 

with the twisted mind. You 

had no way of knowing what 

a monster he would turn out 

to be. 

Do you really want to 

spend your life with a 

selfish, thoughtless man? 

Why not give him a dose of 

his own medicine by giving 

him nothing but a smile on 

his next birthday? See how 

he reacts to that! 

wondered if everything is Ok? 

Tell him that if he needs to talk, 

you’ll be there. This way, you 

let him know what you saw 

and it’s up to him to decide 

whether he’ll deny everything 

or come clean if and when his 

wife finds out. 

His actions will be his 

decision - all you need to do 

is plant the seed in his head. 

He wants us to wait to have a baby 

Dear Bunmi, 

My fiance and I hope to 

get married soon, but 

haven’t set the date. We’ve 

done the traditional 

engagement ceremony, but 

he wants us to get enough 

stuff for the flat before we 

get married. 

I am on the pill but I 

would rather have kids 

when I’m young enough to 

cope. 

I am 25 and he is 30 and 

we both have fairly wellpaid 

jobs. Do you think 

getting pregnant would 

hasten his marriage 

proposal? I could go off the 

pill without telling him. 

Fatima, by e-mail. 

Dear Fatima, 

You are better off 

discussing how you feel 

with your partner instead 

of tricking him into putting 

your marriage date forward. 

Both of you might want to 

make some sacrifices like 

settling for a modest 

marriage ceremony instead 

of a big wedding! Whatever 

stuffs you’ll need for the 

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 — 37 

He says he wants his wife 

back because of his kids 

Dear Bunmi, 

I was in love with my 

boyfriend for close to a year 

when he had a 

misunderstanding with his 

wife and moved in with me. 

He’s always been responsible 

for the rent and I was happy 

to finally have him all to 

myself. 

Recently, he told me there 

had been reconciliatory moves 

by both sides of the family 

and he’s set to go back to his 

wife because of the children. 

He said the move wouldn’t 

affect our relationship but how 

can that be when he would no 

longer be living with me? 

Esther, by e-mail. 

flat could be bought as the 

means arise, but believe 

me, taking care of a baby 

doesn’t come cheap! 

Whatever you do, pin a 

date to your proposed 

wedding that would take 

your mind off the anxiety of 

the possibility of him not 

committing to you. 

Dear Esther, 

You make it sound as if 

you’re competing with your 

lover’s wife but it’s a 

competition you’re unlikely to 

win. 

When he moved in with you, 

you probably thought his 

marriage was on the rocks. 

But the reality is that apart 

from his wife, he has to 

consider his children. It’s 

fruitless trying to get things 

back to where they were 

before. 

And going back to being a 

mistress would leave you 

feeling bitter and used. Next 

time you fall in love, look for 

someone who is free to love 

you. 

How do I cope with hostile 

workmates? 

Dear Bunmi, 

I’ve finally got my dream 

job, but my workmates don’t 

want to know me. They freeze 

me out all the time, leave me 

out of social events and it 

makes me miserable. 

I’ve been here for about two 

months now and, at first, I 

made a big effort to join in and 

make friends. It might be 

jealousy because I’m 

employed in a senior role to 

my workmates, but I don’t 

know what to do. 

It’s not really bullying, but 

it hurts just as much. Should 

I keep trying to be friends 

with them? If I tell my 

manager, they might become 

worse. 

Mobola, by e-mail. 

Dear Mobola, 

Don’t keep trying with 

them. It’s your dream job, not 

a social event. If you do your 

job well, they’ll probably get 

used to you. Be civil and I’m 

sure in time, you’ll settle in! 

Try not to focus on the 

negatives. As long as you’re 

happy in your job, what they 

feel about you doesn’t affect 

that —you got the job you 

wanted, so, congratulations! 

I didn’t know he was a kiss-and-tell! 

Dear Bunmi, 

I have so fancied this man a 

long time that when I ran into 

him at a friend’s birthday 

party, I made a play for him. 

He invited me to his flat and 

we made passionate love — 

it made me fall in love with 

him more. 

To my greatest shock, he 

doesn’t want to have 

anything to do with me in 

spite of the fact that we’d 

been intimate. He told all his 

friends that I was cheap and 

easy; this hurts me a lot. 

I still love him and would do 

anything to have him back. Do 

you think there’s any hope for 

us? 

KeEechi, by e-mail. 

Dear Kelechi, 

Which “us” are you talking 

about? The “us” that lasted for 

only one passionate rump in 

the sack? It’s a shame that you 

not only made a play for the 

man, you belittled yourself by 

thinking that the only way you 

could hold him was to have 

sex with him without getting 

to know him first. 

If that’s the way you’ve been 

handling your relationships, 

you’re better off putting a stop 

to it or there would be plenty 

of men who will be happy to 

take up such a generous offer. 

Forget this man who’d been 

running you down and tell 

yourself that there are many 

decent men out there you just 

haven’t met the right one yet. 

Then, do yourself a favour 

and wait for him to show up. 

You’ll recognise him as the 

one who keeps his mouth shut 

after you sleep together and 

who only opens it to tell 

people how wonderful you 

are. 

Share your problems and release your 

burden. Write now to Dear Bunmi, 

Vanguard Newspapers, P.M.B 1007, 

Apapa, Lagos, or bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk


By Prince Osuagwu 

(Hi-Tech Editor) 

& Juliet Umeh 

Couple of years back, 

businesses needed serious 

conventional advertising 

or marketing to grow their 

brands, attract clients and 

connect to more people. 

This included the “usual” 

venues for media placement 

such as newspaper, radio 

broadcast, television or outdoor 

billboards. Also, typical 

materials needed for businesses 

included brochures 

and business cards. These 

were useful products that people 

normally expected from 

established businesses to 

build successful brands. 

However, they came with big 

budgets that so many startups 

or small and mediumsized 

enterprises, SMEs, 

could not afford. The situation 

kept them struggling to gain 

traction and most often relegated 

to the background. 

Today, the game has 

changed. The advent of social 

media platforms such as Instagram, 

twitter, Facebook and 

others, has introduced a different 

level of 

engagement. Small, medium 

and large businesses are now 

on a level playing field. They 

help brands grow identities 

and organically reach new 

and more customers globally. 

Interestingly, statistics from 

2018 Global Digital report by 

We are Social and Hootsuite, 

indicate that more than three 

billion people around the 

world now use social media 

every month. 

Transforming Social media 

outlook to real digital business 

Meanwhile, there are 

strong indications that majority 

of these three billion users 

engage the social media for 

business rather than social 

purposes. 

Usually, social media was 

characterised with chat messages 

and personal/ social 

conversations on the internet, 

but today, it appears the case 

is different. Businesses are 

transforming social media 

outlook to real digital business. 

At least, discussions at the 

recently-concluded Social 

Media Week, SMW, in Lagos, 

supported more of that school 

of thought. 

The SMW is one of the 

world’s premiere conferences 

and industry news platforms 

for businesses. It provides 

brands, agencies and technology 

providers with the latest 

insights, trends and best practices 

together with access to a 

global community of marketing 

decisionmakers. 

At the opening of the one 

week event at the Landmark 

Event Centre, Oniru, Lagos, 

Penultimate Monday, new 

generation bank, Stanbic 

IBTC seized the stage to introduce 

some of the innovative, 

social media- based 

SOCIAL MEDIA WEEK 

How social media drives 

•Helps in measuring returns on investment 

•Why over three billion people use social media monthly 

banking packages it has introduced 

into the financial 

sector and how they have revolutionised 

the financial sector. 

At a session themed: Positioning 

the Digitization Agenda, 

Manager, Business 

Management Processing 

Improvement at the bank, 

Wale Ojo, said to achieve 

the optimisation, Stanbic 

IBTC deployed Artificial Intelligence, 

AI to improve 

SMEs driven by social media 

AFEX 

Afex Commodities Exchange Limited 

enables the transition from production 

to transaction for agricultural 

commodities, providing secure 

storage and ready market for both 

farmers and buyers . As a go between, 

the company’s major target is to 

seamlessly build trust while bridging 

the link between famers and the 

market. 

Corporate Communications analyst 

of the company, Obianuju Okafor, 

said: “Our services are not limited 

to farmers and their market; one 

can also come as an individual who 

wants to trade In commodities. Deploying 

some social media tools it 

is now possible for clients to sit in 

the comfort of their homes with 

their phones and subscribe to our 

daily updates. They can see the 

market prices before they decide to 

sell their products. Social media is 

actually helping us to get customers 

and push our brand. We are using 

Instagram and twitter more,” 

she added. 

According to Okafor, in four 

years, Afex has established 45 warehouses 

in 13 states, admitted over 

100,000 farmers out of which 40 

per cent are youths and women; 

curated over 100,000 grains and 

seeds and carried out trades worth 

over $30 million and made over $5 

million loan inputs. 

God is Good Motors, 

Transport company, God is Good Motors, 

GIGM, also said it uses social media 

effectively to drive its business. Human 

Resources Manager of the company, Ms 

Adaku Okeoma, said the company creates 

a lot of awareness of its services through 

social media. 

“What our brand sells is comfort and 

safety. We have an app that helps our 

customers stay in the comfort of their homes 

and book 

a ride. It 

g i v e s 

them better 

option. 

Social 

media 

h a s 

helped 

create 

t h i s 

awareness. 

service delivery to its customers. 

He said the AI deployment 

was in addition to Internet 

of Things, which the company 

has embraced in order to 

ensure that people, processes 

and systems are connected. 

He argued that there 

was the need for digitisation 

of all banking services 

as the only way to op- 

Vesi Cash, 

The new digital 

payment system, 

owes its rapid growth 

to social media. Cofounder 

of the company, 

Mr. Tomi Adesina, 

said: “We recently 

launched the


company 

and because 

we want to 

familiarise 

the brand, 

we have 

b e e n 

pushing out 

contents on 

social media 

especially 

twitter. 

Today, we 

are happy because a lot 

of people have been 

coming to tell us that 

they know our brand 

through social media 

interractions. It has 

given us appreciable 

level of exposure,” 

Adesina added. 

WOW Booth 

WOW Booth provides customised 

fototainment for events or 

ceremonies and creates 

unforgettable experiences that can 

be documented and recalled by both 

the event organisers and attendants. 

CEO of the company, 

Mr. Tokunbo 

Odebunmi, said: “We 

do experiential 

marketing, taking out 

events and products 

where people can 

actually touch, feel, 

ask questions and 

experience their 

impacts. For instance, 

all activities at the Social 

Media Week, including 

visitors who 

came into the booth 

and share their experiences 

are seen on 

different social media 

platforms because we 

post it instantly. We 

even copy and store 

for visitors who need 

them for references.” 

*From left: Olusola Bankole, Chief Marketing Officer; Victor Abulele, 

Director, Finance and Admin; Joe Onwubuya, Executive Director; Ms Boma 

Beddie-Memberr, Sector Lead/ Trade Advisor for ICT, British High Commission; 

Stanley Oduah, Chief Operating Officer, and Azubike Osunwa, Chief- 

Technology Officer during the official handover of ISO 9001:2015 QMS 

Certificate to Cyberspace Limited in Lagos. 

Measuring returns on social 

media investment 

At an event held at the 

Oriental Hotels, Lagos, to 

run concurrently with day four 

of the Social Media Week, Digital 

Strategist of an advertising 

agency, Syracuse Digital, Mr. 

Sunkanmi Ola, said the most viable 

option for any business in 

this digital era, is to invest in social 

media. 

However, Marketing Strategist 

of a marketing consultancy firm, 

Redwire, Mrs Doyinsola Ajayi, 

said that the bane of SMEs in 

the country is their inability to see 

how fast their businesses could 

grow by deploying social media 

tools. 

She regretted that not all SMEs 

in the country are leveraging the 

opportunities that social media 

offers to expand their businesses 

Ṡpeaking at a panel of discussion, 

themed: Measuring the 

returns on social media investments, 

Ola said a lot of businesses 

leveraging on social media are 

making so much gain but regretted 

that quite a lot of Nigerian 

businesses that would have 

helped transform the economy 

are not doing so because of not 

taking advantage of social media. 

He urged Nigerian businesses 

to invest in social media as a 

way to grow, knowing that it has 

today’s businesses 

able to understand how to effectively 

leverage on the adfective 

marketing for a 

ing them all to have an ef- 

timise quality service delivery 

to customers. 

vantage social media gives, brand. 

it is quite able to drive sales He explained that social 

more effectively. 

media has become the new 

Transformative power of 

However, Ola said: “This is business driver of the 

social media 

not to say that social media is 21st Century. “It has 

Also, a Digital strategist, 

here to replace the regular changed the way brands and 

Mr. Sunkanmi Ola, also 

market, they go hand in hand. consumers interact. Companies 

are able to create and tai- 

agreed that social media has 

It is about understanding the 

not only become part of everyday 

life for people but 

blend of the different channels, 

addressing them, know- 

through analysis and underlor 

their marketing strategies 

also for businesses. 

ing how to meet customers standing of the demands, 

He said once a brand is 

in different parts and combin- 

likes and dislikes of their clients. 

Businesses around the 

globe have realised that social 

media is an essential part 

of their business marketing 

strategy. From multinationals 

to startups, social media 

marketing is being adopted 

to increase brand awareness, 

connect with consumers and 

boost sales.” 

Instagram, Facebook leading 

social media platforms 

for SMEs 

However, investing in social 

media, on its own, does not 

Doculand, 

Digital Marketing Executive for 

the computer services company, 

Mr. Dayo Adeniyi, said social 

media is one of the pillars of the 

company’s marketing. “It gives us 

opportunity for exposure and 

brand awareness. It helps us to 

meet other SMEs. They always 

come to us for one service or the 

other. We use Instagram, Facebook 

and twitter.” 

become the global trend. 

He said: “From multinationals 

to start-ups, social media 

marketing is being adopted to 

increase brand awareness, connect 

with consumer and boost 

sales.” 

He noted that social media has 

changed the way brands and 

consumers interact and how 

companies are able to create and 

tailor marketing strategies. 

However, he warned that 

investing on social media requires 

the competence of using 

the right tools to measure such 

investments to justify spending 

budgets. 

He advised that tools such as 

Facebook insight will help 

businesses understand the 

analytics of their pages, while 

others like Google analytics and 

twitter analytics will also help 

organisations listen to customers’ 

feedbacks and track trends and 

directions. 

He said: “There are tools that 

cost you thousands of dollars per 

month and others that are free. 

So it depends on what a business 

wants to monitor, measure or 

what insights it needs. 

“Every business has to 

understand what a successful 

social media campaign is. It is 

not a one jacket fits all,” he added 

do the magic but the platforms 

that will give returns on 

such investments. 

Meanwhile, a recent study, 

says Facebook and Instagram 

are the top two channels that 

SMEs use for communication 

with customers. According to 

the statistics, 98 per cent of respondents 

say they use Facebook 

and 82 per cent use Instagram 

to interact with their customers. 

Majority of SMEs that exhibited 

their products and services 

at the Social Media Week 

Lagos also told Hi-Tech that Instagram 

builds their businesses 

and promotes their brands 

faster. 

Creative Director, 24 Apparel, 

Mr. Temitayo Eyitayo said: “Instagram 

gives SMEs more opportunity 

than any other. It 

helps businesses remain focused 

because people see pictures 

of the advertised products 

or services as well as read texts 

accompanying them, giving 

complete information to a prospective 

client,” he added. 

Sunkami Ola also agreed with 

him. Although he argued that 

the social media platform 

SMEs should adopt basically 

depends on the type of products 

or services they offer, he 

said the general knowledge is 

that Instagram builds businesses 

faster no matter the genre. 

C 

M 

Y


Towards credible election: Constitutionality of dragging 

Army into electoral process (Yusuf vs Obasanjo) 

THE 2019 presidential 

and national 

assembly elections are a few 

days away and aside from 

the ongoing campaign of 

the candidates, one aspect 

of the impending elections 

which continues to attract 

attention is what role the 

military will play on the day 

of the election. As it was 

during some past elections, 

there are concerns not only 

about the intention of government 

to deploy the 

military on election date but 

also what that will portend 

for the smooth conduct of 

the elections. While those 

in support of such moves 

argue that security 

concerns permit or even 

make the deployment of the 

military an absolute necessity, 

others opposed to it 

refer to past incidents where 

the military were utilised by 

unscrupulous politicians to 

skew the electoral process 

in their favour through 

means including intimidation 

of voters and members 

of the opposition. 

Indeed at the advent of 

the current administration, 

one of its very first decisions 

was the retirement of certain 

officers alleged to have 

participated in or facilitated 

electoral fraud in one of the 

gubernatorial elections held 

in a south west state. In 

another election held not 

too long ago, there were 

reports that soldiers, very 

early on the day of the 

election either arrested or 

restricted the movement of 

prominent leaders of a 

particular political party 

without any attempt to 

effect the same measures to 

members of another 

political party. This was 

seen as selective 

enforcement of the law in a 

bid to aid one party over the 

other. Indeed in many 

Petitions filed in years past 

including some filed to 

challenge the validity of the 

election of Chief Olusegun 

Obasanjo in 2003, the 

deployment of military 

personnel was cited as a 

reason for the voter apathy 

in many states. 

The duty to maintain 

law and order is that 

of the Police 

Generally, elections are 

an internal affair of the 

country involved. The 

threats to peace and order 

that could possibly arise 

from the conduct of an 

election are equally 

internal. The direct and 

obvious implication of this 

is that the force to prevent 

or suppress such threats 

should be the force 

equipped to combat internal 

threats to law and order, 

peace and security. 

This force is the Nigerian 

Police. The Police Force has 

the duty to secure the lives 

and property of Nigerians 

and they do so in concert 

with other internal forces 

like the Department of State 

Security (commonly 

referred to as S.S.S) and the 

National Civil Defence 

Corps. 

The functions of the 

Armed Forces 

The armed forces are a 

creation of the Constitution. 

Section 217(1) of the 

It is up to the police 

to protect our 

nascent democracy 

and not the 

military otherwise, 

the democracy 

might be wittingly 

or unwittingly militarized 

Constitution so reads: 

“217.(1) There shall be an 

armed forces for the 

federation which shall 

consist of an Army, an Air 

Force and such other 

branches of the armed 

forces of the Federation as 

may be established by an 

Act of the National 

Assembly.” 

The purposes that the 

armed forces can be 

directed toward are listed 

in section 217 (2) of the 

Constitution to wit: 

“(2) The Federation shall, 

subject to an Act of the 

National Assembly made 

in that behalf, equip and 

maintain the armed forces 

as may be considered 

adequate and effective for 

the purpose of- 

(a) defending Nigeria 

from external aggression; 

(b) maintaining its 

territorial integrity and 

securing its borders from 

violation on land, sea or air; 

(c) suppressing 

insurrection and acting in 

aid of civil authorities to 

restore order when called 

upon to do so by the 

president, but subject to 

such conditions as may be 

prescribed by an Act of the 

National Assembly; and 

(d) performing such other 

functions as may be prescribed 

by an Act of the National 

Assembly” 

Many who support the 

deployment of the military 

on election duty usually 

rely on the provisions of 

Section 217(2)(c) 

reproduced above by which 

the military can be called 

upon to suppress insurrection 

or aid civil authorities 

to restore order when called 

upon by the President. I 

however fail to see how 

deploying the military on 

days of election can be 

equated to suppression of 

insurrection or restoration 

of order! As the words used 

in the Constitution are 

clear, there has to be an insurrection 

or a break down 

of law and order before the 

military can be called upon. 

Thus the military cannot 

even be called upon or 

deployed in anticipation of 

a breakdown of law and 

order. Unfortunately owing 

to this misconception, it 

appears that the military itself 

is gradually confusing 

its role with that of every day 

law enforcement agencies 

and no incident brings this 

to the fore more than the 

reaction of the army to 

report of clashes between 

soldiers participating in 

“Operation Python Dance” 

and some alleged members 

of the Indigenous People of 

Biafra (IPOB). It was 

alleged that the soldiers 

had shot at three members 

of the group and to refute 

the allegation, the military 

issued a statement which 

reads partly as follows: 

“The attention of the 82 

Division Nigerian Army 

has been drawn to an 

online news publication 

gathering attention in 

social media …alleging 

that some soldiers of 144 

Battalion on routine patrol 

in Aba general area of Abia 

State have shot three 

persons and one of them 

died instantly. 

“The Division wishes to 

state that although there 

was an incident involving 

144 Battalion patrol team 

with some traders at Asa – 

Nnentu Spare Parts’ 

Market, in Ugwunagbo 

Local Government Area of 

Abia State, at no time was 

anybody shot at, wounded 

or killed as lopsidedly and 

therefore wrongly reported 

by the medium. 

“However, six members of 

proscribed Indidenous People 

of Biafra, IPOB, were 

arrested and handed over 

to the Nigerian Police Abia 

State Command. 

“For record purposes, this 

was what happened; – at 

about 1200 hours on 

Wednesday, the 6th of 

February, 2019. Troops of 

the Battalion on exercise 

EGWU EKE 111 were 

alerted on the massive 

presence of some youths 

allegedly disrupting 

commercial activities and 

pasting posters with the 

inscription that ‘there will 

be no elections in Abia State 

and entire Biafra land, 

Support Biafran 

Referendum, Vote for 

Biafra, Vote for total 

freedom from 

slavery,’ among others 

which were unusually 

widely pasted on private 

shops around Aloaji 

general area. 

“Consequently, as 

professionally responsive 

soldiers, the team moved to 

the area to ensure peace, 

security and (that) no 

person was to be harassed 

or molested by miscreants 

or violent secessionist 

agitators.” 

I have highlighted the 

above to show that the 

military is fast losing its very 

identity and according to 

itself duties and 

responsibilities which do 

not belong to it. From the 

narrative of the army stated 

above, the team of 

“professionally responsive” 

soldiers moved to area to 

ensure “peace, security…” 

without any directive or 

request for them to do so. 

They could only have done 

so in aide of civil authorities 

who they should have 

alerted to the likely or 

ongoing breakdown of law 

and order and not assume 

for themselves the role of 

restoring law and order. 

The usurpation by the 

military of police duties 

This point is very 

important as if care is not 

taken, the usurpation by the 

military of police duties 

either on election day or not 

will have dire consequences 

for both institutions. 

While the military 

will begin to lose 

effectiveness in its 

constitutional role of safeguarding 

the country’s territorial 

integrity, the police 

and other civil law 

enforcement agencies will 

lose their capabilities to safe 

guard law and order and 

the entire country will suffer 

for it. In Yusuf v. Obasanjo 

(2005) 18 NWLR (Pt. 956) 

p. 96 at 174 the Court of 

Appeal stated thus: 

“It is up to the police to 

protect our nascent 

democracy and not the 

military otherwise, the 

democracy might be 

wittingly or unwittingly 

militarized. This is not what 

the citizenry bargained for 

after wrestling power from 

the military in 1999. 

Conscious steps or steps 

should be taken to 

civilianize the polity and 

thereby ensure survival 

and sustenance of 

democracy.” 

These words ring true now 

more than ever. I therefore advise 

the government to read with 

extreme caution on the proposed 

deployment of the military on 

election day. If they are to be 

deployed at all, it should be as a 

stand by force to be called upon 

to aide civil authorities should the 

need arise. Soldiers have no role 

to play at election polling unit.



On the trail of Ganduje’s campaign 

By Amanze Obi 

MY countrywide 

exploratory survey of 

governments across the states found 

anchorage in Kano State recently. 

Just as the states earlier reviewed 

presented us with a mixed bag, Kano 

came with its own colours and 

colourations. Kano is the home 

state of the late elder statesman and 

orator called Alhaji Yusuf Maitama 

Sule. 

While there, I recalled with 

nostalgia the encounter of 

THISDAY Board of Editors (which 

I belonged to at that time) with Alhaji 

Sule at a Town Hall meeting in Kano 

in January, 2001. In getting us to 

appreciate who northerners are, 

Maitama Sule told us that the 

peoples of northern Nigeria have 

their manners and mannerisms, 

their character and characteristics 

and their customs and costumes. His 

message was simple: we should, in 

all we do, respect and appreciate a 

people for who they are. 

Alhaji Sule has since quit the stage 

but his progenies are holding aloft 

his torch of greatness. Prominent 

among them is Dr Abdullahi Umar 

Ganduje, the man whose everconfident 

poise always left me 

wondering about the kind of man 

he was long before I met him. In 

those distant days, Ganduje, the 

governor of Kano State, always 

came across to me as someone who 

was in effective control of his 

environment. He radiates an air of 

assuredness. As a distant observer, I 

wondered what it was that goaded 

him on. 

Fortunately, contact has provided 

copious answers to my inward, 

unspoken wonderings. What keeps 

the man going is not necessarily his 

personal accomplishments but his 

relationship with the people. As 

governor, Ganduje makes the 

people the centrepiece of his 

administration. In a clime where 

many in positions of authority see 

themselves as birds of passage who 

should not worry about the people, 

Ganduje’s people-centred approach 

to governance is remarkable. 

Anybody who wants to face the 

reality of our situation as a people 

will readily admit that one of the ills 

plaguing our society today is the 

problem of disoriented young men 

and women who have been led 

astray by drug addiction. Such 

upside down youngsters are all over 

the country. But the phenomenon 

appears to be more prevalent in the 

north where you have a surfeit of idle 

young people who do nothing but 

sniff narcotics and court violence. 

But Kano, under Ganduje has 

taken the bull by the horns. The 

government is reclaiming the lost 

youths and returning them to the 

path of sanity. To this end, it has set 

up a Reformatory Institute in Kiru 

local government area of the state. 

It is a centre for rehabilitation of 

drug addicts, both male and female. 

The Kiru centre has over 150 

inmates. Here, the addicts are first 

de-intoxicated and made to function 

as normal human beings that they 

once were. 

Having regained their sanity, they 

are then exposed to trades and skills 

such as electrical and electronics, 

carpentry, dress-making, computers, 

and many more. The objective is to 

reintegrate them into the society 

where they will be useful to 

themselves, their families, the state 

and the country at large. The 

establishment of the institute, from 

available records, has drastically 

reduced the incidence of drug 

addiction in Kano state. 

The Reformatory institute is 

working for Kano but the 

government is taking the issue of 

youth rehabilitation and 

empowerment to higher heights with 

its Skills Acquisition centre in Kano 

city. The centre is a massive complex 

designed for training of youths who 

have graduated from high schools 

or tertiary institutions but lack the 

skills required for gainful 

employment. It is something of a 

finishing school which equips the 

youths with about 20 different skills 

such as electrical and electronics, 

hospitality and catering, fashion and 

dress- making, carpentry and joinery, 

renewable energy, automotive 

engineering, plumbing, blockmaking 

etc. 

With ready instructors who have 

been trained abroad in the various 

trades, the centre promises to be a 

model which any government that 

wants to improve the lot of the youths 

must aspire to. For me, projects and 

programmes such as the 

aforementioned ones make 

government what it should be. 

Government exists in the service of 

the people. Its goal should therefore 

be directed at the welfare and 

wellbeing of the people. 

While on the campaign trail of 

Governor Ganduje, I came face to 

face with the synergy that exists 

between him and the people. They 

were always ectastic each time they 

saw him. Their excitement, most 

times, came close to mob hysteria. 

Many just wanted to catch a glimpse 

of him. Little wonder virtually every 

segment of Kano has endorsed his 

second term bid. He is their cult hero 

with whom they are well pleased. 

The governor, as a matter of fact, 

has embarked on a number of 

ambitious projects that should 

commend him to the people. There 

are massive bridges and 

underpasses tailored towards 

decongesting traffic in the busy 

commercial city of Kano. The rural 

areas of the state are not left out in 

the massive road construction and 

reconstruction drive of the 

government. 

•Kano State governor, Abdullahi 

Umar Ganduje 

As a daring reporter who has 

always had a knack for venturing 

into hidden, sometimes unexplored 

places, I had no difficulty 

meandering through rural 

communities that make up the 

hugely populated Kano state. The 

tour, I must say, opened a fresh, new 

world to me. I traversed local 

governments, towns and villages. 

Everywhere we went to confirmed 

further the governor’s ride on the 

back of populism. I can say without 

fear of contradiction that the man is 

truly loved by the people at whose 

pleasure he is in office. 

The governor’s relationship with 

non-indigenes deserves some 

mention. The man does not see 

anybody in Kano as a non-indigene. 

He has given all a sense of belonging. 

Apart from the fact that he appointed 

some of them into his cabinet, he 

provides them with opportunities 

that can help them to excel. In my 

interactions with some Igbo and 

Yoruba residents of the state, one fact 

resonated. Ganduje, they said, is the 

first governor to remember Sabon 

Gari in so many years. 

Sabon Gari, a huge, sprawling 

settlement reserved exclusively for 

non-indigenes, has suffered neglect 

over time in the hands of successive 

administrations in Kano State. But 

Ganduje has made that ugly story a 

thing of the past. Yoruba, Igbo and 

Weatherhead roads, among others 

in Sabon Gari, have been 

rehabilitated and reconstructed. 

While we were there, excited residents 

and business owners thanked him 

profusely for remembering their 

settlement. 

In the end, I came away with the 

impression that our story as a people 

is not entirely hopeless. At least we 

have a crop of leaders, no matter how 

few, who understand the reason for 

the existence of government. 

Ganduje is one of them. 

•Mr. Obi, senior journalist, wrote 

from Lagos


44 —VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019


46 —VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019


Grow with Nigeria initiative to grow 

agric value chain — Baker Magunda 

Audu Ogbeh; Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development , Yoila Hanabi; 

Best Performing Farmer 2018 Farming Season, Baker Magunda; MD/CEO 

Guinness Nigeria and Viola Graham-Douglas; Corporate Relations Director 

Guinness Nigeria at the launch of Guinness Nigeria Agriculture Scheme themed 

“Grow With Nigeria” at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja 

Private sector invest 

ment in Nigeria’s 

agricultural sector is 

looking up with a member 

of Diageo Plc, Guinness 

Nigeria PLC, heeding 

the call for private 

sector stakeholders to 

grow Nigeria’s agriculture 

as the company recently 

launched its 

laudable agricultural initiative 

“Grow with Nigeria”. 

Through the initiative, 

Guinness Nigeria Plc 

entered into a partnership 

with the Central 

Bank of Nigeria, CBN, 

and Stanbic IBTC Bank 

Plc to empower over 

5,000 farmers across the 

country to boost raw materials 

availability for the 

manufacturing sector. 

Speaking on the launch 

of “Grow with Nigeria” 

scheme, Baker Magunda, 

MD Guinness Nigeria, 

said, “we have 

launched this initiative to 

further demonstrate our 

commitment to the Federal 

Government’s policy 

on diversification and 

local content, the growth 

of the agricultural value 

chain and that of small 

holder farmers , who 

form an integral part of 

our business. 

“ Over the last twenty 

years, our business has 

consistently sourced all 

its core ingredients such 

as sorghum and malt extract 

locally through the 

various local raw material 

chains. Currently, 

our local content sourcing 

is 75% and we plan 

to increase this significantly 

within the next 

couple of years.” 

He added “These partnerships 

have enabled us 

to develop an ecosystem 

of private sector players 

creating value that impact 

smallholder farmers 

directly. 

“In 2018, we partnered 

with 5, 121 smallholder 

farmers across eight 

states of Nigeria. These 

farmers were provided 

access to finance, certified 

seeds, unadulterated 

inputs, mechanization, 

training on good 

agronomic practice and 

basic book keeping, supplier 

credit process, extension 

support and access 

to market. 

Magunda said “With 

this intervention, Guinness 

Nigeria was able to 

leverage on the collaboration 

as provided by the 

respective partners in 

the ecosystem to improve 

the livelihoods of these 

farmers by moving them 

from subsistence level to 

full economic inclusion.” 

Also speaking, Minister 

of Agriculture and 

Rural Development, Mr. 

Audu Ogbeh, commended 

Guinness, the CBN 

and the other partners 

for supporting Nigerian 

farmers, stating that this 

was critical to the transformation 

of the Nigerian 

economy. 

He said, “We have 

seen the logic of buying 

raw materials from farmers. 

We have seen 

wealth moving into the 

rural areas, rather than 

out of the shores of Nigeria, 

because anytime 

you import anything into 

Nigeria, you are importing 

poverty and exporting 

wealth; you are also 

importing dangers 

which cannot be seen.” 

Ogbeh also advised 

Guinness and other 

stakeholders to support 

the cultivation of sorghum 

for export, especially 

as the commodity 

was being sought after 

by manufacturers of alcoholic 

beverages outside 

the shores of Nigeria.. 

He said, “When Guinness 

began buying sorghum 

from farmers, 

many of us who are farmers 

realized that this was 

an initiative that had 

started way ahead of its 

time.” 

Ogbeh further commended 

the CBN for the 

Anchor Borrowers’ programme, 

stating that 

without the initiative, 

most farmers would not 

be able to access loans at 

over 25 per cent interest 

rate; and this would also 

hamper agricultural activities 

in the country. 

He also applauded the 

CBN’s ban on access to 

foreign exchange from 

the official window for 41 

items, declaring that the 

ban should have been 

done 20 years ago. 

He commended Guinness 

for its support for 

the country’s agricultural 

sector, while he stated 

that any programme that 

would bring about the 

inclusion of every Nigerian 

who is willing to 

work was strategically 

important and a welcome 

development. 

“With investments in 

Agriculture, local manufacturing 

and backward 

integration, the Guinness 

Nigeria Local Raw 

Materials (LRM) initiative, 

has benefited over 

6,000 subsistence farmers, 

rural traders and 

various stakeholders in 

the production value 

chain. 

“The LRM initiative 

despite its current focus 

on rural subsistence 

farmers is helping to create 

value in local markets, 

strengthening state 

and national economies, 

improving agricultural 

systems, enhancing food 

security, and boosting 

supplies of sustainable 

raw materials that meet 

global standards. 

MTNF launches program for 

business of the Arts series 

Stories by Princewill 

Ekwujuru 

MTN Foundation 

has launched series 

of workshops to 

give students of the 

MUSON Music Scholars 

Programme a better 

understanding of the 

business side of their 

craft. The first in the 

quarterly series was 

themed “Copyright & 

Intellectual Property 

Protection,” held in 

MUSON Centre, Lagos. 

Speaking on the new 

initiative, Nonny Ugboma, 

Executive Secretary 

of MTN Foundation, 

stated, “We have a longterm 

commitment to the 

development of young 

talent, as demonstrated 

through our interventions 

over the years. 

“Last year, we sponsored 

a masterclass with 

the renowned countertenor, 

Daniel Taylor and 

soprano impresario, 

Ellen McAteer for all 

Fidelity wins Bank of The 

Year at Leadership Award 

Fidelity Bank Plc 

has clinched the 

award for Bank of the 

Year at this year’s edition 

of the Leadership Awards 

2018. The bank won the 

prestigious award in recognition 

of its unparalleled 

commitment to 

growing the nation’s 

economy by supporting 

the agricultural industry 

and consistently enhancing 

the development and 

competitiveness of Micro, 

Small and Medium Enterprises, 

MSMEs. 

Receiving the award on 

behalf of the bank at the 

presentation ceremony, 

Deputy Managing Director, 

DMD, Fidelity Bank- 

Plc, Mohammed Balarabe 

students of the MUSON 

School of Music; Our 

desire to see well-rounded 

music professionals 

who are skilful, and understand 

the business of 

music led us to introduce 

this workshop series 

for participants in 

the music scholarship 

programme. The workshops 

will help prepare 

the scholars for the real 

world.” 

Director, School of 

Music, MUSON, Princess 

Banke Ademola, 

who appreciated the 

Foundation, reminded 

attendees that, “What 

MTNF is offering is critical 

learning often overlooked 

or unavailable to 

aspiring artistes. It’s difficult 

to find words to 

express my delight that 

beyond supporting the 

scholarship programme, 

MTN Foundation, is providing 

this opportunity.” 

Peak Milk donates to Nigeria 

Para-powerlifting Federation 

Peak Milk from the 

stables of Friesland-Campina 

WAMCO 

has donated a 27-seater 

bus to the Nigeria parapowerlifting 

federation. 

The company’s Managing 

Director, Ben Langat 

who led other top 

management staff of the 

company said the company’s 

support to Nigeria 

Para-powerlifting 

Federation clearly explains 

Fries-land- 

said: “We are greatly honoured 

to be recognised 

as the 2018 Bank of the 

Year and as one of the 

most supportive banks 

aiding the growth of the 

agriculture and MSME 

sectors, which are critical 

sectors of the economy.” 

Balarabe who dedicated 

the award to the 

Bank’s over 4.2 million 

customers, promised that 

the bank will not rest on 

its oars particularly in relation 

to boosting Nigeria’s 

agricultural valuechain 

through the provision 

of innovative funding 

schemes and technical 

advisory services to 

MSMEs and commercial 

agribusiness projects. 

“Agricul 

Campina WAMCO’ s 

purpose as a company 

and its belief that every 

Nigerian has the right to 

reach for their peak. 

“By empowering our 

Unstoppable Para-powerlifters, 

the Peak brand 

is enabling Nigerians 

to reach for their Peak. 

We designed the Unstoppable 

Campaign to 

tell the story of this remarkable 

set of people 

who have continued to 

break new grounds in 

spite of their physical 

limitations. Peak has 

touched the lives of 

many Nigerians with 

this campaign. It has 

become so powerful and 

is receiving very positive 

testimonials from 

consumers.” 

The Minister of Youth 

and Sports Development, 

Solomon Dalung 

who was the Special 

Guest of Honour represented 

by the Permanent 

Secretary, Ministry of 

Youths and Sports, Olusade 

Adesola said: “With 

this donation, FrieslandCampina 

WAMCO 

has elongated its catalogue 

of support to the 

Para-powerlifting team 

who has continued to 

contribute positively to 

Nigeria through global 

para-sports. 

Goldberg hosts Unlimited Faaji in Ondo 

GOLDBERG Lager 

Beer, from the stables 

of Nigerian Breweries 

Plc thrilled the city 

of Akure with Unlimited 

Faaji showing brand loyalists 

that despite the 

end of the yuletide season 

the celebration continues. 

The event which is a 

spectacle of culture, arts 

and music was held at 

the Democracy Park 

Akure. 

The Brand Manager, 

Goldberg, Olufunmilayo 

Ogunbodede said: 

“Goldberg Lager has 

various activities centered 

around aiding consumers 

and brand loyalists 

celebration. We at 

NB are quite relentless 

with our efforts and as 

such we have put together 

this Unlimited 

Faaji event for residents 

of Akure. Delivering 

highly engaging and 

memorable moments to 

our consumers is something 

we take immense 

pride in, and I know the 

audience all round have 

had a good time.” 

Life Continental La 

ger hosted two parties 

in February to celebrate 

Alaba International 

Electric hub 40th anniversary. 

The beer brand has 

been on an exciting 

spree starting off in December 

2018, when it 

hosted three year-end 

parties in the space of 

six days. 

Speaking on the two 

parties, Sales Director, 

Nigerian Breweries Plc, 

The event was anchored 

by Nollywood actor 

and Goldberg ambassador, 

Odunlade Adekola 

featuring artists such 

as Leye Williams, Tope 

Ajani and Remi Aluko 

who were on ground to 

thrill the audience. 

Life Lager fetes Electronic hub @ 

40th anniversary Uche Unigwe said: “We 

had a really good 2018, 

and we have our loyal 

consumers to thank for 

that. We felt it was very 

important to celebrate 

our progress as well as 

the progress of our consumers; 

after all, 

progress is in our culture. 

We had some interesting 

parties in Awka 

and Asaba and we decided 

to bring it down to 

the West, so our people 

here in Lagos can also 

get a taste of the celebration.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 —49 

VENEZUELA: Showdown looms as selfdeclared 

President sets aid entry date 

VENEZUELA’s oppo 

sition supporters returned 

to the streets nationwide 

on Tuesday to 

keep the heat on embattled 

President Nicolas Maduro 

and demand he allow humanitarian 

aid into the 

country where food and 

medicine shortages are 

rife. 

The rallies occurred 

nearly three weeks to the 

day that opposition leader 

Juan Guaido invoked a 

constitutional provision to 

assume the presidency, arguing 

that Maduro’s reelection 

last year was a 

sham. 

Most Western counties 

including the United 

States have recognized 

Guaido as Venezuela’s 

president, but Maduro retains 

the backing of Russia 

and China as well as control 

of state institutions including 

the military. 

The sides are at loggerheads 

over the humanitarian 

aid. The opposition 

says the U.S.-backed aid 

including food and medicine 

is needed due to Maduro’s 

mishandling of the 

once-buoyant OPEC nation’s 

economy, and they 

are working to get it delivered. 

Maduro has blocked the 

aid and denounced it as a 

U.S.-orchestrated show to 

overthrow his government. 

He has demanded instead 

that Washington lift economic 

sanctions. 

“They have to let the aid 

in because people are dying 

from lack of medicine,” 

said 72-year-old 

Armida Quintana, who 

stood on a plastic stool to 

see above crowds of thousands, 

many wearing Venezuelan 

flags as capes. 

“Little by little we have 

convinced everyone that 

Maduro is an impostor 

and a tyrant.” 

U.S. supplies were 

among the first delivered 

to a collection point established 

in the Colombian 

border town of Cucuta. 

Nigeria: We’ll deploy over 100 observers 

to 15 states -- UK 

By Thomas Ejiemere 

THE United King 

dom, UK, on Tuesday, 

reiterated that it 

respects Nigeria’s sovereignty, 

and would never 

interfere with her internal 

affairs, especially as regards 

the elections in the 

country. 

The UK, through the 

British High Commissioner 

to Nigeria, Ms Catriona 

Laing, also said 

that it would be deploying 

over 100 observers to 

cover 15 states in Nigeria 

during the general elections. 

Ms Catriona Laing 

disclosed this while 

speaking as a guest on Nigerian 

Info FM in Abuja on 

Tuesday. 

According to her, “it is 

our job to stand with the 

people of Nigeria in this 

democratic journey.” “As an 

independent observer 

country, we respect Nigeria’s 

sovereignty; it is our 

job to stand with the people 

of Nigeria in this democratic 

journey. 

“The process is what matters 

to us. This is why we 

will be deploying over 100 

observers covering 15 

states to support observer 

missions from the European 

Union, United States 

Diplomatic Mission in Nigeria 

and other local observers. 

“We are confident that 

many things have been put 

in place since 2015 to 

strengthen the process. 

We’ve invested heavily as 

a partner with the Independent 


Commission and civil 

societies to strengthen 

those institutions and 

make the process stronger.” 

This is coming on the 

backdrop of the continued 

stance by the Buhari-led 

government, warning foreign 

observer missions not 

to interfere with the affairs 

of Nigeria. 

May to MPs: We need to hold our nerve on 

Brexit talks 

BRITISH Prime Min 

ister Theresa May 

sought to buy more time to 

achieve a Brexit deal 

with the European 

Union in a statement to 

MPs on Tuesday. 

Just 45 days to the March 

29 Brexit deadline, the 

prime minister asked for 

support in her bid to seek 

changes to the Irish backstop 

in a vote on Thursday. 

The prime minister also 

said that if there is no deal 

by February 26, the government 

will make a 

statement on that day and 

table another amendable 

motion for MPs to vote on 

the following day. 

“The talks are at a crucial 

stage. We now all need 

to hold our nerve to get the 

changes this house requires 

and deliver Brexit on 

time,” May said in her 

statement at the House of 

Commons. 

Britain and the EU 

agreed last week to hold 

further talks by the end of 

the month in an attempt to 

avoid a no-deal Brexit. 

May is seeking changes 

to the backstop, the backup 

mechanism contained 

in the withdrawal agreement 

to avoid a hard border 

in the island of Ireland, 

after MPs asked her 

to go back to Brussels to 

renegotiate it in a vote late 

last month. 

The EU has remained 

adamant that no changes 

would be made to the withdrawal 

agreement, which 

together with the political 

declaration is part of the 

deal the two sides negotiated 

over 18 painstaking 

months. 

World’s biggest drug lord found 

guilty 

JOAQUIN “El Cha 

po” Guzmán Loera, 

the Mexican drug lord 

who pocketed nearly $14 

billion as the decadeslong 

head of the 

murderous Sinaloa cartel, 

was found guilty 

Tuesday of all 10 federal 

criminal counts against 

him, including the top 

charge of engaging in a 

continuing criminal enterprise. 

The vast Brooklyn 

courtroom fell silent as 

the verdict was read. 

There was no visible reaction 

from Guzmán, who 

faces a mandatory sentence 

of life in prison. 

He’s due to be sentenced 

June 25. 

US District Judge Brian 

Cogan confirmed the verdicts 

with each of the 

eight women and four 

men on the jury, telling 

them later their conduct 

on the panel “made me 

very proud to be an 

American.” 

After the jury left the 

room, Guzman waved 

and smiled at his wife, 

Emma Coronel, a former 

beauty queen and courtroom 

regular who smiled 

back and touched her 

hand to her heart. 

“Good, thank you,” she 

said when asked how 

she felt after the verdict. 

The partially sequestered 

and anonymous 

jury deliberated roughly 

34 hours over six days. 

“We are obviously disappointed 

with the jury’s 

verdict in the trial of 

Joaquín Guzmán Loera 

but are respectful of the 

process and the jury’s 

decision,” defense attorney 

Eduardo Balarezo 

said. “We were faced 

with extraordinary and 

unprecedented obstacles 

in defending Joaquín .”


Govt must uphold 

human rights 

during, after 

elections 

—AMNESTY 

INTERNATIONAL 

A 

m n e s t y 

International 

has urged the federal 

government to protect 

people from violence and 

ensure full respect for 

freedom of expression, 

peaceful assembly and 

association before, 

during and after the 

forthcoming general 

elections scheduled for 

February 16 and March 

2, 2019. 

The group noted that 

there had been several 

instances of violence at 

election campaign rallies 

in some states in recent 

months, including the 

deaths of four people in 

Kano State in clashes 

between rival political 

supporters in December 

2018. In a statement 

signed by the Director, 


Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, the 

group said: “The 

election-related violence 

in states such as Kano, 

Kwara, Kogi, Rivers, 

Taraba and Bayelsa is 

deeply troubling and, if 

not urgently addressed, 

will undermine respect 

for human rights 

throughout the election 

period. 

“Amnesty International 

has received reports of 

supporters of some 

politicians violently 

targeting political 

opponents, real or 

perceived. The 

authorities must stamp 

out any potential 

impunity by ensuring 

these incidents are 

investigated and that 

those suspected to be 

responsible are brought 

to justice.” 

‘’In other pre-election 

violence, one person was 

killed and many were 

injured when an All 


APC, rally in Sagbama, 

Naira up to N361.87/$ in I&E 

window 

By Elizabeth Adegbesan 

The Naira yesterday appreciated to N361.87 

per dollar in the Investors and Exporters 

(I&E) window. 

Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative 

exchange rate for the window dropped to N361.87 

per dollar from N361.95 per dollar on Monday 

translating to eight kobo appreciation of the naira. 

The appreciation was as a result of a 16 percent 

increase in volume of dollars traded which rose to 

$131.99 million from $113.86 million on Monday. 

However, the naira, yesterday, remained stable at 

N358 per dollar in the parallel market. 

vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguardnews 

Bayelsa state turned 

violent on 3 February. 

‘’Previously, a 12-hour 

curfew was imposed in 

Wukari, Taraba state last 

month following violent 

clashes between 

supporters of the APC 

and the People’s 


the two main political 

parties. 

“Authorities must put 

in place measures to 

ensure politicians and 

their supporters do not 

infringe on human 

rights. They must make 

clear that there is zerotolerance 

for human 

rights violations and that 

anyone suspected of 

wrongdoing will be 

brought to justice. 

‘’Recently, a PDP 

politician in Kaduna was 

caught on video asking 

his supporters to attack 

Continues from Page 5 

4,000 mwh that is 

consistently being 

delivered is not fully 

paid for. 

“Government, through 

the nation’s insurance 

programme, is paying the 

generation companies for 

any shortfall payment 

from NBET. 

“Clearly, that is not what 

the Act intends the 

industry to be. And 

ultimately, government 

has to exit from this role. 

“So, it is this regulation 

that will ensure that not 

just stranded power but 

delivered power is 

delivered to consumers 

who are contractually 

bound to pay for it. And 

if they do not pay for it, 

they do not enjoy the 

service.” 

anyone who voted for a 

different political party 

in a volatile southern 

part of the state. 

“The authorities must 

fully investigate all 

allegations of 

incitement to violence 

and other human rights 

He stressed further 

that it was obvious that 

there was more 

generation than the 

consumers could pay for, 

noting that the solution 

was for the stakeholders 

to look for the customers 

that were not well served 

under the Eligible 

Customers Regulation to 

take it and pay for it for 

their benefits. 

“If we do this 

aggressively, that 

2,000mw of so-called 

stranded generation will 

quickly evaporate,’’ he 

said. 

He told the 

stakeholders to look for 

customers to buy the 

stranded power because 

it was inappropriate for 

government to continue 

to pay for the power. 


government cannot 

abuses before, during 

and after the elections 

and ensure that 

suspected perpetrators 

are brought to justice. 

“Political parties and 

candidates must publicly 

condemn any advocacy 

of hatred or incitement to 

perpetually pay for their 

power consumption. 

The Permanent 

Secretary also told the 

Transmission Company of 

Nigeria, TCN, to stop the 

complaint about nonincrease 

of tariff to the 

NERC and work with the 

GENCOs to get willing 

customers to buy the 

available power. 

He said: “I have a 

message also for TCN. 

Stop complaining to 

NERC about your tariff. 

Your job is to satisfy your 

own customers that is 

GENCOs and DISCOs. 

“Work with them as you 

have the money to find 

all customers using this 

policy who will take the 

power GENCOs have, 

contract with GENCOs at 

a tariff that you, the 

GENCOs and customers 

agreed, to transmit the 

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018773962, 

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discrimination, hostility 

or violence. 

“The authorities must 

also ensure that 

international and national 

civil society groups and 

agencies that will monitor 

the elections are able to do 

so in safety.” 

Alleged Certificate Forgery: Court fixes March 1 to 

decide Gov. Bindow’s fate 

By Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri 

ABUJA —A High 

Court of the 

Federal Capital 

Territory sitting at Apo, 

has fixed March 1 to 

deliver judgment in a 

suit alleging that 

Governor Mohammed 

Bindow of Adamawa 

State, submitted forged 

certificates to the 



INEC. 

A non-governmental 

organisation, under the 

aegis of Incorporated 

Trustees of Kingdom 

Human Rights 

F o u n d a t i o n 

International, had in a 

suit marked FCT/CV/ 

518/2018, tendered 

documents before the 

court to substantiate its 

claim that the defendant 

who is a flag-bearer of 

the All Progressive 

Congress, APC, falsely 

PROTEST— Members of staff of Federal Medical Centre Ebute-Metta, protest over the non upward 

review of salary and alleged illegal withholding of April and May 2018 Salaries in Lagos, yesterday. 

Photo: NAN. 

declared his educational 

qualification and date of 

birth. 

The plaintiff alleged that 

the governor supplied 

false information in the 

Form CF 001 he tendered 

to INEC, by purporting to 

have sat for the West 

African Examination 

Council, WAEC, in June, 

1983, and possessed 

General Certificate of 

Education, GCE, issued 

by the examination body. 

In an 18-paragraphed 

affidavit deposed to by one 

Aimiebenomon Okonofua, 

the group, told the court 

that contrary to the 

defendant’s false claim 

that he attended 

Government Secondary 

School, Miango, Plateau 

State, “incontrovertible 

evidence shows that 

Governor Bindow never 

attended the said school 

nor sat for the WAEC 

examination to warrant 

the issuance of the 

Testimonial or any other 

certificate.” 

According to the 

plaintiff: “A search at the 

2nd defendant (WAEC), 

showed that contrary to 

the false information 

given to the 3rd 

defendant (INEC), the 

candidate who attended 

and sat for the said 

examination at 

Government Secondary 

School, Miango, Plateau 

State in May /June, 1983, 

was one Daylop Pam 

Dong Rim and not the 1st 

defendant. 

“That contrary to the 

false information given by 

the 1st defendant, the 

correct student with 

candidate No: 20623055 

that attended Government 

Secondary School, 

Miango, Plateau State in 

May/ June, 1983, was 

Dalyop Pam Dong Rim. 

“That the act or conduct 

of the 1st defendant in 

now using the said false 

Testimonial in his 2018 

INEC Form CF001 

instead of the purported 

General Certificate of 

Education used in 2011 

and 2015 was to suppress 

the fact that he gave and 

/or supplied false 

information to the 3rd 

defendant.” 

Aside from seeking 

disqualification of the 1st 

defendant from 

participating in the 2019 

governorship election, 

the plaintiff prayed the 

court to declare that the 

Inspector General of 

Police (4th defendant) has 

a mandatory statutory 

obligation to undertake 

criminal proceedings for 

the prosecution of the 1st 

defendant for offences of 

perjury, forgery, 

falsification and 

impersonation at the 

expiration of his immunity 

as the governor of 

Adamawa State. 

Why we end payment of shortfall to GENCOs —FG 

power close to the 

customers. That is the 

way you will raise your 

revenue.” 

The Permanent 

Secretary urged the 

DISCOs to satisfy their 

customers in order to 

encourage them to pay 

for the service. 

He explained to the 

DISCOs that the reason 

the customers would 

want to take advantage 

of the eligible customer 

regulation was when 

they were not satisfied 

with the services 

rendered to them by the 

DISCOs. 

“So DISCOs, this is 

your opportunity to 

service your customers 

better. Listen to them 

when there is 

infrastructure challenge 

in getting the product to 

them.” he said.

50 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2019 

Politics of 2023 shaping 2019 

Whereas many people are looking 

forward to this Saturday to elect a 

president for the country, many other 

political actors are looking beyond 

towards the next presidential election 

when they would either be on the 

ballot themselves or have their 

interests represented. 

By Emmanuel Aziken, 

Political Editor 

Senate President Bukola Saraki has 

perhaps been the boldest person to 

express what many claim as the hidden 

interest of many of the country’s 

leading political actors ahead of this 

weekend’s election. 

In a strongly worded statement on 

Monday evening, he accused the 

national leader of the All Progressives 

Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu 

of being blinded by what he claimed 

as a blind ambition to succeed President 

Muhammadu Buhari in 2023. 

“Tinubu on his own part said though 

he agreed with me about my 

assessment of the man, he would 

continue to support Buhari even if the 

man had to govern from the hospital 

stretcher because that is the way he 

(Tinubu) could become the President 

in 2023.” 

Saraki’s assertion that Tinubu wants 

to succeed Buhari is, however, not new. 

The former governor of Lagos State a 

gave a peep into it himself in November 

2017 during a reconciliation visit to 

Afenifere had said that he would contest 

the presidency if President Buhari does 

not contest. 

Also in the same statement he issued 

on Monday, Saraki also alleged that the 

political difference between himself and 

the former governor of Lagos State had 

to do with his opposition to the Muslim 

– Muslim ticket between Buhari and 

Tinubu in 2015. 

Tinubu has yet to speak on the 

allegation by Saraki or even comment 

on a previous allegation in the same 

vein as alleged by Governor Aminu 

Waziri Tambuwal. 

Whether true or not, Tinubu as a factor 

in 2023 is one that cannot be 

underestimated. 

The idea that Tinubu is supporting 

Buhari only because he wants to 

succeed him, however, would largely 

come into play if Buhari wins today’s 

polls. 

However, there are other factors that 

have lately emerged to contend with 

Tinubu as a factor from the Southwest 


Among the leading contenders is 

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo the once 

thought of apolitical apparatchik who 

has now become one of the most 

controversial political actors of the 

present campaign. 

The enthusiasm with which the vicepresident 

has taken to hustling for votes 

has lately drawn suspicion from many 

stakeholders as being beyond the 

ordinary. 

His well-heeled staff in the villa 

according to mutterings is equipped 

and perhaps financed beyond the reach 

of recent vice-presidents. 

Osinbajo has also performed as acting 

president for a stretch beyond which 

•Tinubu 

none of his 

predecessors has 

acted. It is now being 

gossiped that the man 

that Tinubu positioned to hold the 

turf for him may have become 

enamoured with the office as to now 

pose a serious political challenge 

towards Tinubu’s aspiration. 

Is it possible for Osinbajo to boldly 

confront or challenge 

Tinubu for the 

presidency in 2023 if 

they succeed today? It 

is a guess work that is 

bound to be a 

spectacle among 

political actors in the 

country. 

Meanwhile, 

Osinbajo is not the 

only one that is bound 

to unsettle Tinubu at 

home. 

The intentions of Mr. 

Babatunde Fashola, 

the minister of works, 

power and housing 

remains a specter for 

many in the Tinubu 

camp. Though he was 

brought to the political 

limelight by Tinubu, 

Fashola has evolved to 

become his own man 

and is today believed 

to be among those 

•Kingibe 

former Tinubu 

associates positioning 

themselves to play an independent 

political circuit to Abuja outside the 

Tinubu route. 

Among those believed to be on the 

Fashola side are the likes of the 

governors of Ekiti, Ondo and Ogun 

States, respectively, Dr. Kayode 

It is now being 

gossiped that the 

man that Tinubu 

positioned to 

hold the turf for 

him may have 

become 

enamoured with 

the office as to 

now pose a 

serious political 

challenge 

towards Tinubu’s 

aspiration 

•Saraki 

•El-Rufai 

Fayemi, 

R o t i m i 

Akeredolu and 

Senator Ibikunle 

Amosun. 

Of the lot, Senator Amosun who is finishing 

his second term as governor is the only one 

on the ballot today as the APC candidate for 

Ogun Central. It is still within the realm of 

political permutations that 

Amosun who arguably has 

the oldest political linkage 

with Buhari in the Southwest 

could be resuming in the 

Senate to sustain the 

relationship with the 

intention of pushing a 2023 

agenda. 

The permutations of 2023 

are, however, loudest in the 

Southeast. Supporters of the 

president in the region have 

taken the 2023 agenda as 

the most visible campaign 

issue to market to the people 

of the region. 

Speaking in Ozubulu, 

Anambra State earlier this 

week, Mr. Osita 

Okechukwu, directorgeneral 

of the Voice of 

Nigeria, VON, said that Igbo 

leaders who recently visited 

President Buhari went to 

negotiate the 2023 issue with 

him. 

Okechukwu who is about 

one of Buhari’s strongest 

allies with relationship dating from 2002 during 

the pair up with the late Chuba Okadigbo has 

maintained the stance that the APC ticket gives 

the Igbo the fastest route to the presidency. 

His argument has been that Atiku could 

decide to contest for a second term whereas 

Buhari would be ineligible. 

“We’re saying that Buhari’s 

four years is cast in 

constitutional stone. The 

Buhari I know cannot come 

tomorrow to say he wants to 

prolong his stay in office. It’s 

not about pledge but 

constitution.” 

Though Osita and many 

Buhari supporters have been 

canvassing this strategy to 

win over the Southeast, it is 

remarkable that the 

strategy has largely failed 

to win traction among the 

elite and grassroots in 

the region. 

The reason some say 

is that seeing is 

believing. The 

Southeast in the view 

of some has been 

most neglected in 

terms 

of 

appointments by the 

B u h a r i 

administration with 

no single Igbo in the 

security line up of the 

administration. 

It is in that respect 

that the 2023 agenda 

canvassed by Mr. 

Okechukwu and others 

has had trouble in sailing 

through. 

The 2023 intentions of the 

cabal around the president is 

also unknown. Should the 

strength of the cabal hold on 

with a Buhari victory this 

Saturday, the cabal is bound to 

play a decisive role in the 

emergence of a new president 


It is also being said that the 

cabal may not look beyond the 

north in finding a new 

president. 

Given that the constitution 

does not approve of rotation of 

the office of the president, the 

cabal could decide to look 

within itself or among possible 

lackeys that they could use to 

hold on to power. 

One of the most qualified 

persons for the office at that 

time could be Mallam Nasir El- 

Rufai. However, the Kaduna 

State governor is no friend of 

the cabal and would only 

struggle for supremacy in the 

national sphere if he is able to 

survive his own election in two 

weeks time; and then fight the 

cabal. 

Governor El-Rufai has strong 

alliances with the south to 

project his aspiration, among 

whom are Rotimi Amaechi, the 

minister of transportation. The 

gist of the two pairing up in 

2023 has been gossip for 

sometime. 

The cabal’s capacity to 

produce one of its own as a 

candidate may be difficult. 

Ambassador Babagana 

Kingibe, arguably the most 

politically exposed strategist in 

the inner workings of the 

Buhari inner room is 73 this 

year. In four years time he will 

be 77, obviously weighed down 

by age, but definitely not in his 

thoughts and imaginations.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2019 — 51 

My husband is compassionate, has 

led by example – Aisha Buhari 

By Urowayino Warami 

Wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, 

Aisha on Tuesday in Abuja, said that 

though her husband maybe seen as a hard 

man, he is compassionate and very loving. 

Aisha who heads the All Progressives 

Congress (APC) Women and Youth 

Presidential Campaign Team stated this at 

the National Union of Road Transport 

Workers National (NURTW) National 

Headquarters in Abuja. 

She led some members of the team to the 

union headquarters to inform its leadership 

what the Buhari-led administration was 

doing to impact on the lives of the people. 

Aisha Buhari Aisha was represented by 

Retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa, 

Chairman, Central Working Committee of 

the APC, Women and Youth Presidential 

Campaign Team at the event. 

She stressed that the meeting was to 

discuss governance with the union’s 

leadership and steps to be taken by the 

Buhari led administration to address the 

plight of the common man. Aisha said 

Buhari in the last three and half years had 

led the country by example and had proved 

to be an incorruptible leader. This, she 

added, was the secret of his success in 

governance. She noted that with regards 

to security, motor parks in the country had 

had been secured compared to the past 

when bombs blasts were daily occurrences. 

“The President is up and doing and he 

had been able to curtail the Boko Haram 

menace. He has worked, and he is working 

very hard. 

“By the time his mandate is renewed by 

Nigerians in the coming election, it will be 

better for us all,” she said. 

PDP to pass over campaigns in Ogun 

By Emmanuel Aziken, 

Political Editor 

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP will not 

stage a public campaign in Ogun State in 

response to the decision of the Supreme Court 

to recognise Senator Buruji Kashamu as the 

candidate of the party, high level party sources 

have said. 

Kashamu emerged as the candidate of the 

party vide the decision of the court and against 

the decision of the mainstream of the party’s 

leadership which is inclined to Oladipupo 

Adebutu who emerged as the candidate at the 

primaries organised by the national 

leadership of the party. 

The party leadership it was gathered is still 

to come to a conclusion as to whether 

Kashamu is being used by the ruling All 

Progressives Congress, APC to cause 

confusion in the party. The APC in Ogun State 

is itself still mired in its own crisis which 

boiled over at the presidential campaign rally 

on Monday where dignitaries including the 

national chairman, Comrade Adams 

Oshiomhole were petted with stones in the 

presence of President Muhammadu Buhari. 

“How do we relate with this man? He did 

not buy form, his name was not returned to 

INEC by the national chairman and despite 

our protest that he committed forgery the 

former IGP (Ibrahim Idris) refused to heed our 

petitions. 

Atiku will replicate 

AUN success in 

public institutions 

- Imasuagbon 

By Yinka Ajayi 

Educationist and politician, Ken 

Imasuangbon has commended the 

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP presidential 

candidate, Atiku Abubakar to stakeholders 

in the sector saying that he was best 

positioned to elevate the sector among other 

presidential candidates. 

Imasuangbon, proprietor of Pacesetter 

Schools, Abuja in a statement averred that 

besides the successes he made in various 

areas of business had also accomplished in 

the educational sector and famously with the 

American University in Nigeria, AUN, Yola. 

“Of all the presidential candidates, I can 

comfortably say that Atiku Abubakar has 

made a success in his commitment to 

education and Nigerians everywhere can 

attest to the pride of place that the American 

University of Nigeria, AUN plays in our 

society. 

“If he was able to make a success of AUN, I 

see no reason why he would not make a 

success in also managing Nigeria’s public 

universities. It is on that basis that I commend 

him to everyone that has the interest of 

promoting Nigeria’s educational sector to 

greater heights,” Imasuagbon said. 

“That is what gives some of us the suspicion 

that the APC may have a hand in it because if 

not, why is it that all our protests to INEC and 

security agencies were just ignored?,” a senior 

party official who spoke on the condition of 

anonymity said. 

Despite its restraints in Ogun, the party is 

still optimistic of doing well in the state. 

•Kashamu 

SDP crisis worsens as Adeniran’s 

faction expels Gana, Shonibare 

•Places presidential candidate, Duke on suspension 

By Joseph Erunke 

ABUJA—THE crisis in the Social 

Democratic Party,SDP,appeared worse 

on Tuesday,as a faction loyal its Vice 

Chairman (South), Professor Tunde 

Adeniran, expelled former Minister of 

Information and National Orientation, 

Prof. Jerry Gana 

The faction also expelled Chief Supo 

Shonibare,who was announced as the 

new national chairman of the party only 

•Imasuagbon 

Alhaji Najeem Yasin, National President 

NURTW while appreciating the team for the 

visit, acknowledged that Buhari had done 

well for the country in terms of delivering 

democracy dividends. 

“On behalf of members of the NURTW, we 

commend Buhari for the good work he is 

doing, especially with regards to road 

construction across the country,” he said. 

He assured that members of the union 

would on Saturday, exercise their 

franchise by voting for the right 

candidate. He added that the union 

had already signed a 

Memorandum of Understanding 

(MoU) with the Independent 

National Electoral Commission 

(INEC). He added that as part 

of the MoU, members of the 

union were expected to assist 

in distributing electoral 

materials to states ahead of 

the election. 

“It was indicated in 

the MoU that we 

should not be 

partisan,” Yasin said. 

Two Presidential 

candidates step down 

for Atiku 

By Dirisu Yakubu 

ABUJA- The Presidential ambition of the 

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP 

candidate in the 2019 election, Alhaji Atiku 

Abubakar got a boost yesterday following 

the decision of two candidates to drop out 

of the race in support of the candidacy of 

the former Vice President. 

Dr. Nicolas Felix and Barrister Chuks 

Nwachukwu, presidential candidates of 

the Peoples Coalition Party, PCP and the 

All Grassroots Alliance, AGA, respectively, 

announced their endorsement of Atiku at 

on Monday,this week, by another faction 

backing Prof. Gana. 

Also,the Adeniran backed faction 

announcd that the party’s presidential 

candidate in the Saturday’s election and 

former Cross River State governor,Mr 

Donald Duke,was placed on indefinite 

suspension. 

Addressing the media,at the party’s 

headquarters, Abuja, the National Publicity 

Secretary of the faction,Yemi Akinbode, 

while said Gana and Shonibare were 

suspended for alleged gross misconduct 

and anti-party activities. 

The party also accused the former 

Minister of Information of organising a 

stakeholders’ meeting which suspended 

the vice presidential candidate, Shehu 

Gabam, and other chieftains of the party. 

Akinbode said Duke’s suspension 

became imminent because the former 

governor of Cross River State failed to 

commence campaign since emerging the 

standard bearer. 

He further said that the decision was in 

accordance with the party’s constitution to 

discipline erring members, claiming that 

the decision would not have any negative 

effect on the party because it would give it 

an opportunity to reposition itself in future. 

He accused the former Deputy National 

Chairman (South West), Supo Shonibare, 

who emerged two days ago as a factional 

chairman recognised by Gana, of indulging 

in anti-party activities. 

•Aisha Buhari 

a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday. 

According to them, the former Vice 

President had demonstrated sufficient 

willingness to address the multi-faceted 

challenges facing the nation, adding that 

as result, they resolved to work with him 

after getting the permission of their 

teeming supporters to do so. 

Felix who was the first to address 

newsmen said Atiku if elected would bring 

the nation back on her feet, saying of all 

the candidates, the Wazirin Adamawa has 

what it takes to make a positive difference 

in the lives of Nigerians if given the 

opportunity. 

“After careful consideration and several 

meetings among some Presidential 

candidates, I Dr. Nicolas Felix the 

Presidential candidate of Peoples Coalition 

Party, PCP, together with Barrister Chucks 

Nwachuku the Presidential Candidate of 

All Grassroot Alliance (AGA) are officially 

and enthusiastically declaring our support 

for the Presidential Candidate of the 

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji 

Atiku Abubakar. 

“On this note, we are urging all our 

supporters and millions of youths across the 

country on February 16th 2019 as they go 

to the polls, to vote for Alhaji Atiku 

Abubakar. 

On what motivated him to drop out of the 

race, the PCP candidate said his sacrifice 

“is borne of the need for a great Nigeria for 

all. It is borne out of unselfish ambition and 

patriotic moves towards a greater 

Nigerian.” 

On his part, Barrister Nwachukwu took 

a swipe at incumbent administration, 

stressing that in the guise of an anticorruption 

fight, the nation have been 

subjected to democratic infractions in the 

past four years. 

“As has been the case throughout our 

history, in the name of fighting corruption; 

we have been served in the past four years, 

like prisoners in our land, the odious meal 

of destruction of our institutions through 

nepotism and inflection of institutional 

culture to achieve narrow, malicious ends. 

The judiciary, the most sacred of our 

institutions, has been the latest victimstripped 

naked of its dignity and self 

confidence in the market square,” he stated. 

Atiku was represented at the event by one 

of his long time associates, Elder Chike Obi.

52— VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2019 

Why Manager 

must go 

– Dr Emmanuel 

Uduaghan 

By Emma Amaize, South- 

South Editor, Jimitota Onoyume, 

Asst News Editor, Festus Ahon & 

Chancel Sunday 

What has been your message 

to the people in your campaign? 

Ihave packaged my message 

in my campaign manifesto. 

We have issues to address in 

Niger Delta and Delta South 

Senatorial District is like nucleus 

of the Niger Delta. Delta South in 

terms of economic base, has the 

largest quantity of crude oil in the 

Niger Delta. 

Some of the crises in the region 

have histories that have to do with 

Delta South; I was involved in the 

management of these crises at 

various levels while in office. 

My strategy for managing these 

issues as governor of the state then 

was engagement by the state and 

enforcement; law and order on the 

part of federal government. There 

was respite because of that but I 

do not think the respite is 

sustainable. We need to do 

something more so that the Niger 

Delta will be less problematic to 

manage. 

Delta South voice muffled in 

Abuja 

Right now, the Delta 

South voice in Abuja, to 

me, is not audible 

enough, not heard as 

much as necessary; 

people need to know 

that there is a Delta 

South in Nigeria. Not Delta South 

that is involved in violence, not 

Delta South that is involved in 

crime, but Delta South that is 

speaking for Delta South and by 

extension the people of Niger 

Delta. That has been campaign 

message to people. 

Your major opponent, Sen. 

James Manager, has been in the 

Senate for 16 years, now going, 

how do you intend to dislodge 

him? 

I do not know why you used the 

word "dislodge". Rather, I am 

vying for it and I want to sit on 

that seat. How I am going to do it? 

It is by bringing issues to the table 

and I am already bringing them 

to the table. My campaign is issuebased 

and not person-based, not 

even ethnic-based. It is about what 

are the issues affecting us. I have 

the capacity, I have the knowledge, 

I have the reach and I have the 

experience because I have been 

there and that is why I am 

presenting myself for the race. 

JEW+P 

Let me tell you, my mission to 

the Senate will be focused on four 

pillars, which I call the JEW+P 

(Jobs, Empowerment, Wealth plus 

Peace). 

As a former Secretary to the Delta 

State Government and a former 

two-term governor of the state, I 

know and understand the pains 

and needs of the people. There 

were things I wanted to do to open 

up opportunities and bring 

economic development to the 

people, but I could not do because 

I was constrained by the laws of 

the country. This was what fired 

my desire to represent the people 

at the Senate. 

There is this claim that the PDP 

your former party has been 

rigging elections in the state. That 

Uduaghan vs Manager: 

The battle in the creeks 

Few of the 109 Senate battles on 

Saturday would be as watched as the 

battle in Delta between two former 

allies, colleagues and party men, Dr. 

Emmanuel Uduaghan, the immediate 

past governor of Delta State and 

Senator James Manager. 

The contest for the Delta South 

Senate seat turned into an anti-climax 

in 2015 when Dr. Uduaghan as the 

incumbent governor of Delta State 

withdrew from the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP Senate 

primaries after a famous falling apart 

between the two men. Dr. 

Uduaghan’s bid to claim the Senate 

seat was firmly rebuffed by Senator 

Manager who upon then proceeded 

•Uduaghan 

is a party on which platform you 

were governor of the state for eight 

years. Your victories -were they 

achieved through rigging? 

Not at all and it could not have been. 

In fact, after elections, there were 

usually tribunals. Overall, they took 

me to tribunals and there were about 

19 tribunal cases. I passed through 

77 judges. That is why I have written 

a book about my electoral cases. If my 

elections were rigged, I would not 

have been in office for eight years. 

There was a time the judges said 

that I should go and re-contest. The 

basis for that was that at the time there 

was confusion in the judiciary. The 

plaintiff said I rigged and the court said 

I should prove I did not rig. However, 

my lawyers did not prove that I did not 

rig and because of that, the court said I 

should leave office. 

Nevertheless, I am happy that the 

Supreme Court has corrected that. 

Apart from that, all the other cases I won 

and I do not know if the 77 judges 

would have been wrong. 

We have been hearing about a 

purported power sharing agreement 

in Delta South senatorial district, is it 

such a treaty? 

Let me say this; Nigeria is a multiethnic 

society and because of its multiethnic 

nature, there are ethnic groups 

with large populations and there are 

ones with small population. Over the 

years, people have been looking at how 

the ones with small population get 

power and how the ones with large 

population ensure that the small ones 

get power. 

They put different mechanisms in 

place, but as at today, I would not want 

to get involved in that debate. I will get 

involved when I have finished taken 

part in my election. From my 

experience, that is the way it should 

be. Now, I do not want anybody to 

drag me into the debate on power 

shift or power rotation. 

for a fourth straight term in the Senate. 

Dr. Uduaghan last year defected from the 

PDP, the party he belonged to for 18 years 

and on whose platform he served as 

governor for eight years, secretary to the 

state government, commissioner among 

others. 

Senator Manager, who is Ijaw but with 

Isoko blood traces his political beginnings 

to the Third Republic where he served as 

state commissioner for sports and was the 

foundation chairman of the PDP in Delta 

State. 

In this interview with the two contenders, 

they ventilate on their aspirations, plans 

and purposes in a battle that is bound to 

stir the interest of stakeholders on the land 

and in the creeks of the delta. Excerpts: 

•Manager 

By Emma Amaize, South-South 

Editor, Jimitota Onoyume, Asst News 

Editor, Festus Ahon & Chancel Sunday 

The people of Delta 

South will decide 

-Senator Manager 

Senator James Manager is the incumbent 

Senator representing Delta South Senatorial 

District in the National Assembly. 

In this interview at his Warri residence, he 

spoke on February 16 National Assembly 

elections, his preparedness and much talkedabout 

zoning arrangement. 

Excerpts: 

You have been in the campaigns gunning for 

your fifth term; what have been your staying 

power and your hopes on February 16? 

A 

s 

representative of the people of Delta 

South, I have tried to serve the people 

diligently with their interest uppermost 

in my heart. I do only those things that make 

them feel happy. 

People expect a lawmaker to do extraordinary 

things, influence so many things physically to 

your own people. Therefore, at my level I have 

been able to do that. I may not have done it to 

the maximum satisfaction of people but on the 

average, I think so far so good, I am giving my 

people good representation. That is the reason I 

am still serving. 

Sir, what has been your message to the people 

in your campaign? 

My campaign is about continuity. Just allow 

me to continue to serve. By that, I mean I have 

been on the seat and I participated in almost 

everything. I have also influenced quite a number 

of things and I want to believe that the people of 

Delta South believe in me that my continuity will 

bring more dividends of democracy to them. 

I cannot say what I have done so far has 

satisfied a hundred percent of my people. My 

constituents are so articulate and intelligent and 

so if I were not doing well, they would have 

definitely rejected me long ago. 

Even within the PDP, I passed through a very 

turbulent test; I mean the party primaries, not 

just the recent one but all the other ones that 

have come and gone. We have put 

in place mechanisms in the party 

where the most popular person is 

always projected and that I passed 

through. 

It is not as if I disqualified the 

other people and emerged as a 

candidate. Now, the judgment of 

the people of Delta South I am 

relying on, and that judgment by 

the grace of God will be very 

wonderful. 

Some of your lead contenders 

from the Itsekiri axis insist that it 

is their turn to produce the next 

Senator on February 16; what is 

your take on that? 

Yes, because of the clamour for 

rotation, I promised that beyond 

this 2019 election, by the grace of 

God I will provide the platform 

where the ethnic nationalities will 

assemble for an all-round 

discussion and that discussion will 

be the first of its kind. 

I have been contesting with 

people from everywhere. Even 

when I contested in 2003, I 

contested with people from 

everywhere. Nobody zoned it to a particular 

ethnic group. 

I have been contesting with people, not just 

party primaries, not just main elections, election 

tribunals but also post-election matters. Most 

of them went up to the Supreme Court. 

So, as I sit down here talking to you, I cannot 

remember at any point in time when it was 

zoned to me or zoned to one particular ethnic 

group where only people from that ethnic group 

contested and I won. 

However, because of the clamour that it 

has to rotate, and for us to have peace, 

I will provide the platform, God 

willing if I win. That clamour is 

coming for the first time as far as 

I am concerned. If anybody 

remembered at any time that 

people sat down, discussed and 

agreed that it must be the turn of 

this ethnic group or that. We 

need to grow beyond this 

ethnicity thing. 

When my very good friend, colleague and 

ally, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, wanted to be 

governor of Delta State, the entire Delta South 

came together and there was nothing like 

ethnicity; ethnicity was not an issue and he got 

bulk of the votes. 

I want to put on record that I have never at 

any point in time done anything to undermine 

any ethnic group I represent in my sojourn in 

the Senate, to God be the glory. 

Are you worried by the threat of federal 

might? 

Well, elections have been taking place in this 

country and not just this one. So, I don't know 

whether something different will happen, 

because I also hear people boasting that results 

will be pre-written and announcements will be 

made contrary to the voting pattern. The 

boasting is there and we are watching, we are 

waiting, but I do not want to believe it, though 

the rumors are very strong. 

I am very confident as we speak. The people 

peddling those rumors have their reasons for doing 

so but I am very confident going by what is on 

ground. I am the candidate to beat and people will 

be surprised if the contrary be the case because we 

are talking about Delta South Senatorial District. 

The story cannot be different in my humble view 

and it is difficult to see it otherwise. 

Sir, people see the race between you and 

former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan as an 

epic battle; how do you see it and how do you 

want to tackle him? 

Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan is the immediate 

past governor of Delta State and that makes it 

very significant. Not only immediate past 

governor, he was a PDP man. He benefited for 

clearly 16 years under the PDP. The people 

under the PDP elected him governor three 

times. He was a PDP man until very recently 

and therefore people are bound to have that 

feeling that it is an epic battle. 

I do not see any epic battle. The man himself 

knows that there is no epic battle here because 

the APC is not on ground. Do not forget, in 2015 

APC in Delta State did not even take second 

and their worst results came from Delta South. 

Therefore, it is just in news, beyond the news 

there is no epic battle. APC is yet to register itself 

in the minds of Delta Southerners.


YOUR LUCK TODAY 

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 

SAGITTARIUS: You can make it a successful day with positive 

approach on your part. You will be in a better position to 

defuse tension within your working arena. Try to be more 

ambitious. 

CAPRICORN Yes! You’re not scared a bit even, when opposition 

and/or competition come your way but, if you give in to 

diplomatic approach, you’ll fare better today. 

AQUARIUS: Pressure that came your way suddenly will give 

way unexpectedly, today, to the betterment of your course. 

The more financially ambitious you are today, the better for 

you. Be steadfast. 

PISCES: You sincerely believe in intelligent argument or discussion. 

And if you allow your ability to be diplomatic come 

to play today, you’ll be better for it. Enjoy your love life. 

L E I S U R E 

TAKE HEART — ELLA RANDLE 

The light is within thee so wear your lux beautifully 

and shine forth to embrace life. -Take Heart- 

Always know that there is divine grace and this love walks 

with thee in silence, and sometimes with a soft bang in your 

heart. Listen to the still voice from within. Your heart knows 

the answers you seek. 

When in doubt or sad, keep faith, let go and let God. Start 

living your beautiful life. -Ella Randle- 

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” 

SAYINGS OF 

OUR PEOPLE 

Marriage is like 

a groundnut; 

you have to 

crack it to see 

what is inside. 

~ Ghanaian 

proverb 

By Kola Fayemi 

ARIES: You’ll tend to become both creative and persuasive to 

the administration of others. Then those who’ve been resisting 

secret love may slip suddenly and become excited. 

TAURUS: Your creativity quotient within your working arena 

will today be enhanced. You’ll be blamed if you keep official 

issues secrets from your colleagues at work. 

GEMINI: After a few tension soaked days, you’ll have the 

needed opportunity to look through windows of the world 

and have your way as well. Magnetic and/or magic days is 

predicted for lovers today. 

CANCER : Even if you continue to work under pressure via 

increased workload, you will have good results to show for 

your efforts today. Be steadfast. 

LEO: Even if opposition persists, supports you are getting 

from the influential people will be enough to see you through. 

Yet, the more cooperative you are the better. 

DUDU in “ROLLING HOT” By A.O. OLAIDE 

VIRGO: Better than yesterday. And the more co-operative 

you are today the better for you. Those of you travelling for 

love are in for an exciting day . Success indicated for you. 

LIBRA: Those of you willing to let go hard feelings at work 

are for a progressive day to the betterment of your finances. 

Let go yesterday, move ahead. You are closer to good luck 

today. 

SCORPIO: Once again, you’ll have the needed opportunity 

to assert yourself to the administration of others. Both love 

and financial success can be yours with efforts. Reason with 

your tried and trusted friends. 

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING 

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING 

Send your date e and place of birth th to the Astr 

trological 

Counselling, P.M.B 100 

007, 7, Apapa, Lagos 

WHEN WAS I BORN? 

Dear Joshua, 

Kindly tell me how the planets lined up when I was born and the 

day of the week I was born but don’t publish my date of birth. 

Adedoyin, Lagos. 

Adedoyin, 

You were born on a Sunday. 

YOUR HOROSCOPE DATA 

Sun Sign = Scorpio. Sun in Zero Degree of Scorpio 

Moon Sign = Libra: Moon in 5th Degree of Libra 

Mercury in 12th Degree of Scorpio 

Venus in Zero Degree of Sagittarius 

Mars in 1st Degree of Aquarius 

Jupiter in 29th Degree of Cancer 

Saturn in 10th Degree of Scorpio 

Uranus in 27th Degree of Cancer 

Neptune in 25th Degree of Libra 

Pluto in 26th Degree of Leo 

North Node in 8th Degree of Capricorn 

South Node in 8th Degree of Cancer 

No planet in earth spar sign, one in available, two in fire, three in 

air, four in cardinal, fixed and water star signs hosted five planets 

each. 

PUSH-FULL INFLUENCE = 50% 

NON-PUSH-FULL INFLUENCE =50% 

PLANET AT HOME = NONE 

ANALYSIS OF THE HOROSCOPE DATA 

You are both an intelligent and emotional person. And as there was 

no planet at home when you were born, too many ideas will always 

struggle for prominent place in your mind, thus decision making is 

difficult but most times, your intelligence comes to the rescue. 

Certainly, you appear to other as a gentle person who can be 

mistaken for soft fellow but in your inner-self is the personality with 

a steel-like-will-power. 

VIRGINIA 

HOME & ABROAD 

dadadekola@yahoo.com 

By Lawrence Akapa


Tottenham v Dortmund 

Sancho 

forgets 

passport, 

delays 

Dortmund's 

flight 

Borussia Dortmund's 

flight to London for 

their Champions 

League encounter against 

Tottenham tonight was 

delayed after England 

winger Jadon Sancho 

forgot his passport. 

The 18-year-old realised 

his mistake when he 

Ajax v Madrid 

Ramos to 

play his 

600th game 

for Madrid 

ealMadrid captain 

R Sergio Ramos is set 

to feature in his 600th 

game as a Los 

Blancos player at 

the Johan Cruyff 

Arena against Ajax 

tonight. 

On May 20, 1998, 

when Madrid lifted their 

seventh Champions 

League title at the same 

stadium, Ramos was a 

12-year-old boy who had 

dreams 

of 

reaching Sevilla's first 

team. 

Since his debut 

for Madrid on 10 

September 2005 in a 

home 

defeat 

against Celta 

Vigo, Ramos has won 

four Champions 

League titles, three of 

which have come in the 

last three years. 

Against Ajax he will 

become the joint 

thirteenth player, 

with Xabi Alonso, in 

terms of appearances in 

the Europe's premiere 

competition; he currently 

has 118 games to his 

name. 

arrived at the airport and 

needed to return home. 

Dortmund have arrived 

in England and trained at 

Wembley before the first 

leg of the last-16 tie. 

Sancho scored the first as 

Dortmund drew 3-3 with 

Hoffenheim on Saturday. 

Osaka dumps coach 

aomi Osaka stunned 

Nthe tennis world as 

she surprisingly 

announced a split with 

coach Sascha Bajin just 16 

days after winning the 

Australian Open. 

The world No. 1 has won 

back-to-back Grand Slam 

titles en route to claiming 

the top ranking in the 

G 

areth Bale moved 

from Tottenham to 

Real Madrid in 2013, but 

apparently hasn't picked 

up much of the local 

language in the past six 

years. 

According to Marca, his 

Real Madrid team-mate 

Marcelo claims that Bale 

still only speaks English. 

This news comes 

alongside growing 

concerns over Bale's future 

at the club, with the 

Welshman saying he is 

happy there despite unrest 

from some fans. 

After the departure of 

Cristiano Ronaldo and Kiko 

Casilla, Marcelo says he is 

now lonely in the dressing 

room. 

women’s game but Bajin 

has now fallen by the 

wayside. Bajin enjoyed an 

eight-year stint as Serena 

Williams’ hitting partner, 

before working with Grand 

Slam champions Victoria 

Azarenka, Sloane 

Stephens and Caroline 

Wozniacki but had 

appeared to found his 

perfect match with the 

quirky Japanese No. 1. 

The German was named 

as the inaugral WTA coach 

of the year after guiding 

Osaka from outside the 

world’s top-70 to a first 

Grand Slam title, beating 

Serena Williams in a 

controversy-filled US Open 

final. But Osaka confirmed 

their 13-month journey 

together was over just a 

matter of weeks after 

winning the Australian 

Open. 

She posted a brief 

statement on Twitter, 

saying: ‘Hey everyone, I 

will no longer be working 

together with Sascha. I 

thank him for his work and 

wish him all the best in the 

future. 

Football's worst-kept 

secret has finally been 

confirmed with Aaron 

R a m s e y t o 

leave Arsenal for Juventus at 

the end of the season... and 

with a bumper pay packet 

to boot. 

With his contract set to 

expire in June, Ramsey 

was courted by some of 

Europe's biggest names 

and secured himself a 

quadruple-your-money 

deal in Italy. 

Ramsey has agreed a 

four-year contract on 

£400,000 a week, pre-tax, 

an improvement on his 

reported current salary of 

£110,000 a week at Arsenal. 

Agbo rejects 

lucrative 

Chinese offer 

N 

igeria international 

Uche Agbo revealed 

he rejected a lucrative offer 

from China in order to 

continue his football 

development in Europe. 

The 23-year-old opted for 

a return to Spain by joining 

Rayo Vallecano on loan 

from Belgium Standard 

Liege until the end of the 

season. 

The midfielder 

previously had a spell in 

Spain with Granada. 

"It was a big decision to 

make because the offer 

and money from China was 

unbelievable," Agbo told 

BBC Sport. 

"Yes, it's an awful lot of 

money from China, some 

very serious money, but 

after speaking with my 

agent, we both agreed that 

it's not the best in terms of 

career progression. 

Juventus 

want Salah in 

£175m deal 

J 

uventus are reportedly 

preparing a £175m 

move for Liverpool attacker 

Mohamed Salah. 

Salah has been an 

absolute revelation since 

joining Liverpool from 

Roma in the summer of 

2017, finding the back of 

the net on 64 occasions in 

86 appearances for the 

Merseyside giants. 

The 26-year-old has 

experience of Italian 

football with both 

Fiorentina and Roma, 

enjoying a successful spell 

with the latter before 

making the move to 

England. 

According to Sky News 

Arabia, Cristiano Ronaldo 

is desperate for Juve to 

bring Salah to the club this 

summer and the Italian 

champions are prepared to 

tempt Liverpool with an 

offer in the region of 

£175m. 

Ramsey will earn £2360 an 

hour at Juve 

Bale does not speak Spanish after 

6 yrs in Madrid 'Now I have no one by my 

side, I have Bale on the 

other side, but Bale does 

not speak, he only speaks 

English, we speak with 

gestures and say "hi, hello 

and good wine."' 

Gareth Bale recently 

scored his 100th goal for 

Real Madrid, however his 

future is still uncertain as he 

has not yet filled Ronaldo's 

boots since the star left for 

Juventus. 

Recently, Sport claimed 

that Bale's 'introverted 

personality doesn't fit well 

with the rest of the group,' 

at the club. 

If Bale doesn't speak any 

Spanish, then it's easy to see 

why he would not mesh 

with some of his teammates. 

The salary catapults 

Ramsey into the top-10 

best-paid players in the 

world and above fellow 

Welshman Gareth Bale to 

earn the biggest wage of his 

British player. 

Ramsey will now be 

earning a cool £54,142 a 

day, a handy £2,380 per 

hour, a useful £39.60 a 

minute and some pocket 

change of 66p per second. 

In the longer term, that 

equates to £1.6million a 

month and £20.8m per year. 

Over the course of his fouryear 

deal, Ramsey will earn 

£83.2m. 

Uzoho medical 

card scandal : 

36-year-old 

woman arrested 

T 

he Cypriot Police 

arrested a 36-year-old 

yesterday in connection 

with the disputed medical 

card issued to Nigeria 

international Francis 

Uzoho prior to his maiden 

appearance for Anorthosis 

Famagusta. 

Sigma Live revealed that 

the individual arrested is a 

woman and new 

developments cannot be 

ruled out before the end of 

the day. 

The Cypriot Police 

confirmed the arrest 

yesterday afternoon in a 

tweet and stated that the 

individual was arrested for 

conspiracy offences and 

interference in court 

proceedings.


Man Utd to break 

transfer record 

for Neymar 

MANCHESTER United are 

reportedly ready to break their 

transfer record with a move for 

Paris Saint-Germain attacker 

Neymar in this summer’s 

transfer window. 

United will prioritise a new 

central defender this summer, 

but it is thought that a new wide 

attacker will also arrive ahead 

of the 2019-2020 campaign. 

Real Madrid have long been 

linked with a move for Neymar, 

but according to the Daily 

Record, United will battle for the 

European champions for the 

Brazil international’s signature 

at the end of the season. 

Indeed, the report has 

claimed that the Red Devils are 

prepared to spend as much as 

Super Eagles have 

no super stars — Rohr 

NIGERIA manager Gernot 

Rohr has posited that there are 

no big players in the current 

Super Eagles squad ahead of 

the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, 

adding that they must play as a 

unit to be successful at the 

tournament in Egypt. 

The former Bayern Munich 

defender argued his point by 

declaring that no Nigeria 

international was included in 

Africa’s finest XI at the 2018 CAF 

Awards. 

‘’Since the World Cup the 

team changed, we invited some 

new young players who did 

very well, we have players who 

are playing in Europe, we have 

players who are playing in big 

teams,’’ Rohr told TV 

Continental. 

‘’We don’t have big stars in our 

team, you see none of our 

players was in the African Team 

of the Year, we don’t have these 

players who Nigeria had in the 

past. 

£230m in order to bring the 

former Barcelona attacker to 

Old Trafford. 

Neymar has scored 20 times 

and registered 11 assists in 23 

appearances for PSG this 

season. 

The 27-year-old scored 105 

goals in 186 appearances for 

Barcelona between 2013 and 

2017 before completing a 

world-record move to PSG 

in the summer of 2017. 

The Brazilian has netted 

48 times in 53 appearances 

for PSG since his arrival, 

but suggestions that the 

attacker is unsettled in 

France have gathered pace 

in recent months. 

‘’Our strength is playing 

collective football with good 

spirit. Let’s work with this kind of 

spirit all the time and we’ll be 

ready by the 15th of June.’’ 

Ahmed Musa, Obi Mikel, 

Emmanuel Emenike, Junior 

Ajayi, Joseph Yobo, Taye Taiwo 

and Vincent Enyeama have 

been included in CAF Team of 

the Year in the past. 

•Rohr 

Dybala closer to £105m move to R/Madrid 

PAULO Dybala is getting closer 

to a move to Real Madrid this 

summer after becoming frustrated 

at his peripheral role with 

Juventus. 

The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo 

from Madrid last summer altered 

the make-up of the Italian 

•Paulo Dybala 

champions’ attack and Dybala has 

had to adapt to coming in and out 

of the side, often finding himself 

frustrated on the bench. 

With just seven minutes of action 

in the recent 3-0 win over 

Sassuolo, Spanish publication AS 

report that Dybala is being courted 

by Ronaldo’s previous employer 

as they look to revitalise an 

ageing side. The report says that 

Madrid chief Florentino Perez is 

a huge admirer of Dybala ever 

since the attacker dismantled 

Barcelona a couple of seasons ago. 

‘It is even considered that the 

club could make an offer for him 

this summer of about 120 million 

euros,’ AS continue 

Madrid are looking to rival 

Juventus in the Champions 

League this season as they look to 

win it for a fourth consecutive year. 

But change is afoot with Los 

Blancos and potential summer 

departures for Isco and Gareth 

Bale would see 25-year-old 

BELGIAN First Division A team 

Gent will have to pay a penalty to 

Premier League side Liverpool for 

not naming Taiwo Awoniyi in the 

starting line-up in at least seventy 

percent of their matches during 

his loan spell at De Buffalo’s. 

The former Nigeria U20 

international started 35.7 percent 

of the matches contested by Gent 

before sealing a move to Royal 

Excel Mouscron in the January 

transfer window. 

Awoniyi made only five starts 

from a possible 21 in the Belgian 

topflight, four out of four in the 

Europa League qualifying rounds 

Dybala become a key target if a 

disharmony continues in Turin. 

Dybala has not been shy in 

expressing his frustrations at his 

situation at the Allianz Stadium 

having left the bench before the 

final whistle during the 3-3 home 

draw against Parma recently. 

Madrid are world’s biggest club 

REAL Madrid have been named as the world’s 

biggest football club by France Football. 

In their February edition, the publication listed their 

top 30 clubs around the world and Spain’s top two 

found themselves leading the way. 

The editorial team took into account the analysis of 

players, television audiences, social media following, 

average attendances, income, expenses, market value 

of the team and the historical importance of the club - 

the latter being something the magazine themselves 

acknowledged as being subjective. 

Eighty-five clubs were looked at under these criteria, 

with the final list standing at 30. Real Madrid edged 

Barcelona to first, with some distance then splitting 

them from Manchester United in third. 

U20 AFCON: 

F/Eagles wear armband for 

Ogunjobi as they tackle Mali 

NIGERIA’s Flying Eagles will wear 

armbands in honour of late former Nigeria 

Football Federation secretary-general, Taiwo 

Ogunjobi as they take on Mali in today’s U20 

Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Niamey, 

Niger Republic. 

CAF gave the approval for the team to mourn 

Ogunjobi after the NFF made the request to pay 

respect to Ogunjobi a former national team player 

and astute football administrator who passed on 

early Monday at the University of Ibadan Teaching 

Hospital. NFF’s director of competitions, Bola 

Oyeyode said: “We have received a go-ahead from 

CAF that the Flying Eagles can use the black 

armbands. 

“It is the least honour that we can accord such an 

accomplished man who was a football person 

through and through.” 

•Ogunjobi 

Gent to pay penalty to Liverpool 

for not playing Awoniyi 

and started once in the Belgian 

Cup. 

‘’We have given him enough 

chances. He started eight times 

with us,’’ Gent manager Michel 

Louwagie told VISTA! 

‘’There was also a ‘penalty’ in the 

agreement: if he did not start in 

70% of the matches, we had to pay 

that penalty, so we have to pay for 

it. ‘’We have done everything to 

make him succeed. I think Taiwo 

works better in a system with two 

strikers. That was the case in the 

cup match against Virton and 

things went better’’. 

LAMPARD 

Banks, England legendary keeper dies 

*Banks with Pele 

England’s 1966 World Cup winning 

goalkeeper Gordon Banks has died at the age 

of 81, his family confirmed on Tuesday. 

In a statement released by Banks’ former club 

Stoke City, they said: “It is with great sadness 

that we announce that Gordon passed away 

peacefully overnight. “We are devastated to lose 

him but we have so many happy memories and 

could not have been more proud of him.” 

Banks made 73 appearances for England 

between 1963-72, playing every game in 1966 

as England claimed their only World Cup 

triumph to date with victory over West Germany 

at the old Wembley Stadium. 

•Awoniyi 

Lampard distances 

himself from Chelsea job 

Supporters were split over whether Chelsea 

should sack Sarri or not following Sunday’s 

6-0 defeat to Manchester City. 

If the Italian chief, 60, is given the boot then 

the Blues faithful want Lampard or Zinedine 

Zidane to replace him. 

But Chelsea’s record goalscorer, 40, has 

distanced himself from the job following his 

impressive spell with the Rams. 

Speaking at a press 

conference, he said: “It’s 

certainly a club I respect and 

a manager that I respect so it 

wouldn’t make me smile or 

anything different because my 

job is here. 

“I’m working very hard and 

my whole thoughts are with 

Ipswich Town away on 

Wednesday, and travelling 

down to Brighton in the FA 

Cup [fifth round] at the 

weekend.” 

Chelsea have slipped to 

sixth in the Premier League 

table and are without a win in 

their last four away games.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 

TODAY’S PUZZLE 

Sudoku 

FRIDAY’S ANSWER 

TODAY’S CROSSWORD 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

THURSDAY’S SOLUTION 

How to Play Sudoku 

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. 

ACROSS 

7 Suitable (11) 

8 Small crustacean (6) 

9 Garden hedge plant (6) 

10 Be unsteady on one’s 

feet (6) 

12 Heavenly spirits (6) 

13 Dolt (3) 

14 Motor fuel (6) 

16 More courageous (6) 

18 Patron saint of Scotland (6) 

20 Frightened (6) 

22 Star-gazers (11) 

DOWN 

1 Impetuous (4) 

2 Short fast race (6) 

3 Non-commissioned officer (8) 

4 Let fall (4) 

5 Manufacturing (6) 

6 Wake-up signal (8) 

11 Eastern (8) 

12 Fire-resistant mineral (8) 

15 Layers (6) 

17 Astounded (6) 

19 Timber (4) 

21 Gaelic (4) 

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Road. Benin City: 4E, Arusa Street. Port Harcourt: 50, Ikwerre Road; Warri: 102, Efurun-Sapele Road. Advert: advertproduction@yahoo.com; E-mail: editor@vanguardngr.com, 

news@vanguardngr.com, letters@vanguardngr.com. Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: EZE ANABA. Phone: 01-4548355. All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

13022019 - Ex-SGF Lawal docked, remanded in EFCC custody

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