28032019 - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY LEADERSHIP:All clear for Lawan; fresh crisis brews over Gbaja

34— Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2019
Enugu elections
exceptional, says INEC
ENUGU—THE national
leadership of the
Independent National
Electoral Commission,
INEC, has commended the
peaceful and successful
conduct of the just
concluded general
elections in Enugu State,
describing it as exceptional,
one of the best in the
country and a
demonstration of “good
electoral behaviour”.
The electoral umpire
added that the exercise in
Enugu State, unlike in
some states, witnessed no
case of “violence, snatching
of ballot boxes or all sorts of
electoral malpractices”.
The INEC commendation
was made by the National
Commissioner in charge of
Information and Voter
Education, Festus Okoye,
during the presentation of
Certificates of Return to
Ugwuanyi the governorelect,
his deputy and the
Deputy Governor-elect,
Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo and the
elected members of the
State Assembly led by the
current Speaker of the
House, Edward Ubosi.
Okoye, who
congratulated the
recipients, on behalf of the
chairman of INEC, Prof.
Mahmood Yakubu, for
their victory at the polls,
explained that the exercise
“is a formal statutory and
confirmatory process that
you have won an election
in accordance with the
constitution and electoral
dictates”.
He also congratulated “in
a very big way, the people
of Enugu State for taking
ownership of the electoral
process and driving it in a
very peaceful and
conducive atmosphere that
fused power and
sovereignty back to them”.
He said: “The sealed
Certificate of Return that
will be presented to you is
not a trophy that marks the
conclusion of your service.
Rather it marks the
beginning of your service
to the people.
"The validity of the
certificate rests with the
people of Enugu State. It
is within their constitutional
mandate to renew,
withdraw and or elevate it.
The key word is service to
the people”.
Earlier in his opening
speech, the INEC State
Resident Electoral
Commissioner, Dr. Emeka
Ononamadu, who rated the
peaceful conduct of the
elections in Enugu State
high, “with all the promises
of fairness, openness and
neutrality intact”,
maintained that the
exercise “was a tortuous
journey that did not come
at zero cost, but it is also a
journey that the entire
nation is poised to learn
from Enugu.”
Rights group queries EFCC’s
arrest of EEDC staff
By Dennis Agbo
ENUGU—A human
rights group, Civil
Rights Realisation and
Advancement Network,
CRRAN, has threatened to
commence legal
proceedings against the
Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission,
EFCC, for wrongful arrest
and detention of a staff of
Enugu Electricity
Distribution Company,
EEDC, Mrs Ifeoma
Igbogbahaka.
Igbogbahaka, an
Engineer with the EEDC
was arrested in a bank in
Enugu where she went to
withdraw money on the
allegation that her
telephone number was
being used by one William
Uchemba who is still at
large, to perpetuate USA
visa fraud.
Whereas no
incriminating evidence has
been pressed on Mrs.
Igbogbahaka, she has
become a regular visitor in
EFCC with her account
frozen and her employer
threatening her with
possible sack.
President of CRRAN, Mr
Olu Omotayo in a
statement yesterday said he
has given the EFCC seven
days to free and restore
Igbogbahaka’s account or
face litigation.
Omotayo contended that
the MTN was supposed to
protect Mrs Igbogbahaka’s
telephone line from
interference, noting also
that the EFCC was
supposed to have diligently
concluded investigation on
the alleged crime before
making arrest of their
female victim.
Omotayo said: “MTN
Nigeria's response to us that
Mrs. Igbogbahaka is the
rightful owner of the phone
line does not in any way
tackle the issue raised via
intelligence report that the
same line is being used by
the said notorious fraudster.
“We submit without
equivocation that the
intelligence report that the
same phone line in
question was being used by
the said fraudster cannot be
lightly waved by MTN
Nigeria as the company
owes this subscriber a duty
to protect her line from the
interference.
“We believe that there is
an infraction on the rights
of Mrs. Igbogbahaka and
somebody must be held
responsible.”
9th NASS leadership: Kalu threatens to
resist marginalisation of S-East by APC
By Lawani
Mikairu
L AGOS—SENATOR-
ELECT for Abia North
senatorial district and
former governor of Abia
State, Chief Orji Uzor
Kalu, yesterday threatened
to defy his party, the All
Progressives Congress,
APC, if the principal
positions of the 9th
National Assembly are not
equitably distributed
among the six geo-political
zones of the country.
Kalu made the threat
while fielding questions
from journalists at the
Muritala Muhammed
International Airport,
Lagos. He said it will be
unfair not to give the
position of Deputy Senate
President to the South East
zone since the party has
decided to zone the Senate
President position to the
North East. While
signifying his interest to
contest for the position of
Deputy Senate President,
he however threatened to
go for the Senate President
position and defy his party
that has already zoned the
position to North East.
He said: “Well, I am a
very loyal party member,
the party has zoned the
senate president position
to the North-East and I am
bound to respect the party’s
will .The second position is
what we are not going to
allow for the party. As far
as I am concerned, in the
south east, I am going to
run openly on the floor of
the House for the Deputy
Senate President. I am not
going to listen to the party,
neither will I listen to
anybody. Nobody who is
going to be the Deputy
Senate President is more
loyal than I am to the party.
I have suffered for the party
and I want the party to
respect the will of every
other person and I am
committed to democracy.
“We are going to be
seeing votes on the floor of
the House because Section
50 of the constitution made
it very clear that the
members of the national
assembly will elect their
leadership and I am going
to use that section of the
constitution to vie for the
position. I learnt they ceded
the DSP to the North West,
but it is not right to do
anything like that. We are
going to contest this
vehemently on the floor of
the House. I have the
backing of my colleagues.
I am going to be
withdrawing from the
senate presidency to run for
DSP because the party is
supreme.
“ Whether they gave it to
an individual, that is left for
the party at the national
assembly to decide, but for
the DSP, I will contest with
any candidate on the floor
of the House”.
When asked if he has
made his intention known
to the party, he said: “ I just
told you that the party is
supreme. I know our
chairman, Comrade
Adams Oshiomhole is a
listening chairman and
President Muhammadu
Buhari is a man of justice.
So, if justice must prevail,
you bring the Senate
President to the North East
and DSP to the South East."
CELEBRATION: From left—Head of Operations, Emmanuel Musa; Team Lead, Strategic
Communications, Mukhtar Oyewo; Landscape Architect, Maimuna Suleiman; CEO, Olayinka
Braimoh; and Head of Architecture, all of Hall 7 Real Estate, Ibrahim Ashafa, during the
company’s tree planting exercise for International Day of Forests celebration, yesterday.
Deproscribe IPOB now, HURIWA tells Buhari
H
U
By Emmanuel
Elebeke
M A N
RightsWriters
Association of Nigeria,
HURIWA, has asked
President Muhammadu
Buhari to adopt measures
to calm the tensed
atmosphere in Nigeria and
bridge the divides created
by many of his policies and
pronouncements in his first
tenure.
The policies, according to
HURIWA, include his
proscription of the
unarmed self
determination group,
Indigenous People of
Biafra, IPOB, and its
labelling as a terror group;
his heavily lopsided top
level security appointments
skewed to favour his
Hausa/Fulani Muslim
kinsmen and his failure to
rein in armed herdsmen
who have destroyed many
largely Christian
communities in the North
Central and have
slaughtered women,
children and old men
including youths in their
thousands, with none of
these killers being
prosecuted and sanctioned
in accordance with the law.
In a statement by the
group yesterday, HURIWA
said it has always faulted
the misuse of state power
by the Federal Government
officials, including Mr.
President, which resulted
in the illegal proscription of
an unarmed group, such
as IPOB and its labelling
as a terror group, even as
the same administration
went about dialoguing with
the violent armed
herdsmen killer gangs and
failing to declare their
leaders known as Miyetti
Allah Cattle Owners
Association, a terror
organisation.
HURIWA also
condemned the killings of
unarmed demonstrators in
Onitsha, Aba and Umuahia
prior to and during the illfated
Operation Python
Dance II, which targeted
the destruction of the
civilians and members of
IPOB.
The group said the
government encouraged
impunity and lawlessness
by not charging indicted
operatives of armed security
forces to court for unlawful
killings of IPOB members
as recorded in a science
and evidence based reports
by such credible groups
like the Amnesty
International.
HURIWA recalled that a
statement signed by
the Director of Defence
Information, DDI, (as he
then was) Major General
John Enenche in Abuja,
listed reasons the group
was declared a terrorist
organisation to include the
formation of a Biafra Secret
Service; formation of Biafra
National Guard;
unauthorised blocking of
public access roads; and
extortion of money from
innocent civilians at illegal
road blocks.
HURIWA contended that
the claims by the Army
were absolutely untrue,
spurious, unconstitutional
and had demonstrated a
plot to demonise the group
only because the members
are mostly from the Igbo
speaking South-East of
Nigeria that has in the last
four years of President
Muhammadu Buhari’s
administration suffered
systemic marginalisation
and has not been given her
due place in terms of
appointments at the top
most security level to depict
the federal character
principles.