A group of Muslim youths under the aegis of Muslim Youths in Da’wah on Tuesday at the headquarters of the National Youth Service Corps in Abuja protested against the ban on the use of hijab by female Muslim corps members, especially during orientation camps.

But the Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier-General, Johnson Olawumi, insisted on the ban, saying it was “for security reasons.”The national coordinator of LMYiD, Luqman Hassan; and the Deputy Coordinator, Kamarudeen Adefila, had told the NYSC DG that a major protest by Muslims was averted because of the ban on hijab in most orientation camps.

Hassan told the DG, “We are here to discuss with you about the incident that happened recently in various camps across the country. We have a guiding principle which is based on the Holy Q’uran. We are all Nigerians and the principle which guides us is the constitution and the African Charter on Human rights.“Members of the NYSC are Nigerians who have contributed to the development of this country; female corps members deserve protection by the NYSC.

We don’t believe that a female corps member putting on hijab has done any wrong against the Act establishing the NYSC. So they deserve the respect of the NYSC. We have travelled far and wide and visited different camps. Why are the rights of female corps members being infringed upon.

We are here to register our displeasure. Many Muslim organisations wanted to protest, but we said wait a while. In fact, we have to intervene to avoid the situation and if Muslims march on the streets, it will attract a lot of negative comments, but people won’t know why we are protesting,” Adefila had added. In his response, Olawumi said, “Under my leadership, the NYSC will accord respect to every corps member, irrespective of tribe and religion.

The incident in Benue State was caused by the use of long hijab. The security situation in the country is tough. There is the danger of somebody using hijab for other reasons.“There have been cases where young girls put on hijab and eventually turn to suicide bombers. Boko Haram members know how to get at whoever they want as target. That is why we frown at the wearing of long hijab. Please call on all your Muslim youths to be patient and adhere to it, just for a short period during the camp. We frown at long hijab because of the security implication.

The NYSC DG expressed disappointment in the allegation by the visiting youths.“Why are you so particular on your alleged infraction on the rights of youths without mentioning any one of such on Christian youths? Produce your evidence, write to us and I can assure you that we will act fast. When the incident in Benue State was reported to us, I swung into action and ensured that the camp commandant was decamped immediately. We are not magicians; if you have any evidence, write to us and we will not hesitate to act.”The NYSC Legal Adviser, Ahmed Tijani Ibrahim, said the incident in Benue State was under investigation.He said, “I’m a Muslim and in our camps, I know that we have treated everybody equally. You mentioned the fact that you would have proceeded to protest. Very minor issues could trigger off mass protest.“We will see the way forward to this complaint. I can assure you that the issue will not be swept under the carpet. The NYSC is very sensitive to the issue of religion and immediately we heard of it, we swung into action and we are on it because issues of religion are very sensitive.”

Probably the greatest headache the nearly six-month Buhari administration is suffering from right now is the Biafra resurgence, bar, of course the country’s sharp economic downturn arising from the collapse of the price of oil, the country’s single biggest source of public revenue.The administration, of course, suffers from other headaches, several of them very acute, notably Boko Haram insurgency, mostly in the Northeast and violent clashes between Fulani cattle rearers and farmers in most parts of the country. None of these headaches, however, seems of recent to have received as wide a media publicity as the Biafra resurgence.

None certainly is as rooted in the popular imagination – grand delusion, is the more accurate description – of a huge chunk of a section of the country’s youth as the Biafra resurgence. Consequently, it has the greatest potential for defying any quick fix among all the problems with Nigeria.

Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, obviously thinks otherwise. “This,” he told reporters at his Abeokuta Hilltop residence late last month, “is fake agitation. You people make a mountain out of a molehill.” Obasanjo was probably right to say that those spearheading the Biafra resurgence are fake. “The people who are doing this,” he said, “are the same people in the 419 business, they are the same people you will find in drugs all over the world. To them this is another source of making money.”I do not know about 419 and drugs, but it speaks volumes about the motives of the spearheads of the Biafra resurgence that Nnamdi Kanu, the proprietor of the London- based pirate Radio Biafra and the immediate source of the new Biafra headache, would, in effect, dismiss his erstwhile boss, the leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Ralph Uwazuruike, as a carpetbagger. (Kanu, until he became estranged from Uwazuruike, was the London coordinator of MASSOB).

In perhaps the longest news feature on the issue to date, the Saturday Sun (November 14) quoted Kanu as accusing Uwazuruike of deceit and self-enrichment. “I can tell you today,” Kanu reportedly told the newspaper “even MASSOB members are revolting now because they know that their leadership is fraudulent and decaying.” One of such fraudulence, Kanu said, was that whereas Uwazuruike printed and sold Biafran passports to his people, he always travelled abroad with his Nigerian passport.MASSOB was founded in 1999 and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) eight years later by Kanu as a breakaway faction.

Since MASSOB, among other fraudulent activities Kanu spoke at some length about in the Sun interview, had always printed and sold Biafran passports, while Uwazuruike used Nigerian passport, one must wonder why it took Kanu all the intervening years to realise that his former boss was fake. Chances are, it wasn’t any moral principle, high or not.So, I agree with Obasanjo and many like him who believe the leadership of the Biafra resurgence is fake.

Even then I disagree with him that expressing concern about the resurgence is making a mountain out of a molehill. That was what many of us thought of Boko Haram in its early days – and look where it has landed us since 2009 when we thought we could quickly despatch its headache with military sledgehammer. Uwazuruike and Kanu, like many in the leadership of Boko Haram who denounced science and modernism, but relished in their fruits, may be fake. But then we now live in a world where “verisimilitude matters more than veracity,” to quote The Economist in an article it published in its edition of December 18, 2010 on global public relations, entitled: “Rise of the image men.”

To rephrase the magazine, we live today in a world where the appearance of truth matters more than the reality of truth itself.Uwazuruike, and even more so Kanu, are clearly good students and disciples of Edward Barnes, a nephew of the famous 19th Century German psychologist, Sigmund Freud, and widely regarded as the father of modern public relations. Barnes, like his uncle, believed people responded best to images and emotional appeals, rather than to rational arguments. Hence Uwazuruike’s and Kanu’s appeals to the effective emotion, but grand delusion, of a Biafran El Dorado that never was and is unlikely to ever be even if Biafra is to become a reality.

The Senate on Tuesday rejected calls to invite President Muhammadu Buhari to address the Senate in his capacity as Petroleum Minister over the lingering problem of petroleum scarcity.It, however, decried the persistent untold hardship inflicted on Nigerians by the scarcity of petrol and directed it’s committee on Petroleum (Downstream) to ‎examine issues militarily against efforts put in place to resolve the problems associated with the scarcity of fuel.

Some Senators belonging to the opposition PDP had argued that the Senate should summon the substantive petroleum minister to explain the steps being taken to address the key issues in the petroleum sector but was successfully overruled by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who cautioned Senators against introducing partisan politics into national development issues.

Senate spokesman, Saabi Abdullahi, declared at a press conference shortly after the Senate session provides explanation on why the President could not be invited: “That Mr President chose to oversee the Petroleum Ministry does not make him cede his authority of being the Commander-in-Chief. If we have explanation to be made by a minister and in this case petroleum, the Minister of State (Petroleum), is the person that will definitely come forward to make this explanation”.

“What is new in Governor Udom Emmanuel’s building in ONNA. I attended the funeral of the Governor’s mother at that compound. The hall has always been there. I have been there before he became the Governor. If there is a renovation work being carried out in order to enable him receive the calibre of people that are running after him as the governor, what is wrong about that? There’s always high rise building there. It’s a family compound,” Akwa Ibom Information Commissioner, Aniekan Umanah #PlanetFM Uyo.

Umanah was reacting to a caller on the radio programme who sought to question his earlier statement that the ongoing Governor Udom Emmanuel’s Building project in Awa, ONNA LGA was a “mere renovation. That the building had been there for over 50years now.”

Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Kogi East Senatorial District, have nominated Mohammed, 43, first son of Abubakar Audu, to replace his father as the party’s governorship candidate.The senior Audu died on Sunday just as it became clear he was leading in the Kogi governorship election held Saturday.

The APC is to conduct a fresh primary to choose a replacement.The Kogi leaders, who made their decision known in Lokoja on Thursday after a meeting, said they chose Mohammed Audu after due consultations.Their spokesman, Daniel Isah, who is the vice chairman of APC in Kogi East, said they had resolved and were determined to back Mohammed Audu to replace his father when the National Working Committee orders fresh primaries.

Mr. Isah thanked the Independent National Electoral Commission and the national leadership of the party for the opportunity given to them to find a replacement for Mr. Audu who died at Ogbonicha, Ofu Local Government.He appealed to the national leadership of the party to give their decision utmost consideration and approval in the overall interest of the party and the state. Present at the meeting were Lincho Ocheje, Hassan Omale, Benjamin Ikhani, and Emmanuel Dangana, among others.

INEC has fixed supplementary elections in the 91 polling units across the state which results of last Saturday’s polls were cancelled leading to the overall outcome of the Kogi governorship election to be declared inconclusive by INEC.

Culled from Premiumtimes

The running mate to late Abubakar Audu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Saturday’s governorship election in Kogi State, has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to declare him governor elect.

James Faleke, in a November 26 letter to INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, insisted that under Section 187 of the 1999 Constitution, he was duly elected as deputy governor of Kogi State. While expressing sadness over the demise of his principal, Abubakar Audu, the deputy governorship candidate said INEC had no right under the law to declare the election inconclusive.

He accused INEC of deliberately creating what he called “legal conundrum” and urged the APC not to be a party to the action.“In law and logic, no new candidate can inherit or be a beneficiary of the votes already cast, counted and declared by INEC before that candidate was nominated and purportedly sponsored,” Mr. Faleke wrote through his counsel, Wole Olanipekun.

“Assuming without conceding that INEC is even right to order a supplementary election, the votes already cast, counted and declared on Saturday, 25th November 2015, were votes for the joint constitutional ticket of Prince Abubakar Audu and our client.“Therefore, no new or ‘supplementary’ candidate can hijack, aggregate, appropriate or inherit the said votes.

In another letter to APC Chairman, John Oyegun, Mr. Faleke urged his party to distance itself from the “Greek Gift” being offered to it to nominate a new candidate for a planned supplementary election in 91 polling units. He said the election had already being won and lost, and that the party should rather support him in actualizing the mandate already given to APC and its candidates.

More to come….

Culled from premiumtimes

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has fixed December 3 for the hearing of the motion filed by the Federal Government seeking to revoke the bail granted to the former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki.

At the resumed hearing of the suit, lawyer to the federal government, Mr Mohammed Diri, told the court that a notice of appeal has been lodged at the Court of Appeal challenging the judgment of the court granting bail to the former National Security Adviser.

Ruling on another application seeking to ensure the presence of Colonel Dasuki in court, Justice Adeniyi Ademola said that it is not compulsory for a defendant to be present in court when interlocutory applications are being heard.

He added that, in line with Section 266b of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, accused persons are mandated to be in court during trial for criminal cases.Colonel Sambo Dasuki, who pleaded not guilty to a one-count charge of alleged illegal possession of firearms, preferred against him by the federal government had earlier been granted bail by a Federal High Court to enable him seek medical attention abroad.

Source: Channels Television. 

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has carpeted President Muhammadu Buhari’s claim that many of those who looted public treasury in the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan had started returning the stolen funds to the government, saying the president should rather stay at home to govern the country instead of junketing around the globe and “acting like a saint” before the international community.

The governor challenged the president to tell Nigerians how much was returned and the looters who returned the stolen funds, adding that “since the purported looted funds belong to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it ought to have been paid into the Federation Account and shared by the Federal, State and Local Government”.

The Ekiti governor’s spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, said in a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday that Governor Fayose advised President Buhari to tackle the collapsed economy of the country headlong instead of going from one country to another, casting aspersion on Nigerians with his “sing-song of fighting corruption”.

He said the president’s attitude was yet to change from that of 1984 when he was military Head of State.“Buhari’s statement in Tehran, Iran that it was easier for him as a military Head of State in 1984 to arrest corrupt individuals and put them in protective custody was a pointer to the fact that he has not changed from the dictator that he was then,” Mr. Fayose said.

“The truth is that Buhari did not fight corruption in 1984. Rather, he persecuted great Nigerians, especially the likes Chief Adekunle Ajasin, Chief Ambrose Ali, Chief Bisi Onabanjo, Alhaji Lateef Jakande and Chief Bola Ige, who served the people meritoriously.

“Is Buhari justifying the imprisonment of Dr Alex Ekwueme, who was only the Vice President or All Progressives Congress (APC) leader like Chief Bisi Akande, who only served as a Deputy Governor?”While urging the president to stop acting like the sole administrator of Nigeria and the only honest man among Nigerians, Governor Fayose said “Nigerians are desirous of concrete developments, not rhetoric about fight against corruption that is only being used to persecute perceived political enemies of the president both in the Peoples Democratic Party , PDP, and within the APC”.“As at today, Nigerians are faced with serious hardship occasioned by prolonged fuel scarcity that the Federal Government does not have any solution to.

Multinational companies are laying-off thousands of workers while contractors working for the Federal Government have left their sites. Yet, what we get to hear from the president is noise in foreign lands about non-existing fight against corruption.“Honestly, this president should get to work and stop lying to Nigerians and the international community,” he said.

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, has commended the players and technical crew of Akwa United for their victory in the just concluded Federation Cup competition.Governor Emmanuel lauded the champions for writing Akwa Ibom State’s name in gold, after winning their first Federation Cup in the 70 years of the competition.

The Governor, who received the team on their return from Lagos where they won the trophy, described the victory as a testimony to the philosophy which seeks to promote unity and greatness among Akwa Ibom people.

The Captain of the team, Otobong Akpan, attributed their success to the motivation from fans and Governor Emmanuel.Akwa United had lifted their first ever trophy in Nigeria’s oldest club competition at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos on Sunday. Zachary Baraje’s men put up a fine display to beat Lobi Stars of Makurdi for their first Federation Cup title in Nigeria’s commercial city.

Culled from ChannelsTV

The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Augustine Alegeh (SAN), on Wednesday apologised to the Supreme Court on behalf of some lawyers who criticised the apex court for halting the trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki on charges of false assets declaration before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

Alegeh tendered the apology during his address at the valedictory court session held at the Supreme Court complex in Abuja in honour of retiring Justice John Fabiyi, who attained the mandatory retirement age of 70 on Wednesday. “We apologise on behalf of our colleagues who have been criticising this court in the media. We have written letters to the lawyers concerned to say it is unacceptable,” Alegeh said while ending his address at the occasion.

Some prominent Senior Advocates of Nigeria, including Prof. Itse Sagay, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo and Mr. Femi Falana, as well as another Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Jiti Ogunye, had led the debate on the ruling of the Supreme Court granting an order of stay of proceedings of Saraki’s trial before the CCT, describing the apex court’s ruling as illegal.

They faulted the ruling of the Supreme Court panel, which was led by retiring Justice Fabiyi, on the grounds that it contravened the provisions of sections 306 and 396 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, which abolished granting an order of stay of proceedings in criminal matters.

In their reaction to the apology tendered on their behalf by the NBA president, Sagay, Falana and Ogunye, said the apology was not for them as they had done nothing wrong to the Supreme Court.

Sagay said, “I have not got any letter from him. I don’t know what he himself has done. Definitely, I have not done anything for which to apologise. Again, I don’t want to be unfair to him, since you are reporting it.“If he actually said he apologised on my behalf, I’m saying that may be he is making a mistake, he is apologising on behalf of himself.

I have done nothing for him to apologise on my behalf.”Also, Falana expressed surprise at the apology tendered on behalf of the lawyers by Alegeh, saying it was baseless.

He said, “I am flabbergasted to learn that the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Austin Alegeh, SAN, has apologised on behalf of those of us who have had cause to criticise the ruling of the Supreme Court on stay of proceedings. There was no basis whatsoever for the apology. I never offended the Supreme Court or any of its individual members for whom I have my profound respect.

“Instead of bellyaching over this matter, Mr. Aleghe ought to have tendered the apology on behalf of his friends who recently walked out of the Code of Conduct Tribunal after they had openly accused its members of engaging in “judicial rascality” for rightly dismissing the illegal application for the indefinite suspension of the trial of the defendant in the case of FRN v Dr. Bukola Saraki. Even though he is not a member of the Disciplinary Committee of the legal profession, Mr. Aleghe gave them a clean bill of health.

“Mr. Alegeh has never written any letter to me, either as the President of the NBA or in his personal capacity. If he eventually does I shall let him realise that in criticising the revered members of the Supreme Court I drew inspiration from the epochal words of Fabiyi J.C.A. (as he then was) in the case of   Ekwenugo v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2001) 6 NWLR (PT 708) 171 where his lordship observed inter alia:“Nigerian judges do not operate in utopia. We operate in Nigeria. And no Nigerian judge can rightly claim he has not heard that Transparency International rates our nation-state as the most corrupt in the whole universe in the year 2000. This is ear-aching.”Also, Ogunye described Alegeh’s apology as rather unfortunate.He said, “The apology credited to the NBA president on this matter is rather unfortunate in so far as I am one of the lawyers that commented on the ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of Saraki and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“I want to believe that he didn’t have me in mind. Maybe he was talking about other lawyers and if he did have me in mind, the apology is for him and not me. And if I knew the other persons too well, I will also say that that the apology will not apply to them.”Meanwhile, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim, who spoke on behalf of the Body of SANs at the valedictory court session, charged judges to report lawyers who tried to unduly influence them to appropriate authorities, saying such erring lawyers would be kicked out of the legal profession.He said the body rejected any plan for the establishment of special courts to try corruption cases, saying that it would not solve the problems unless “judges who know the law and are conscious of their public functions” were in place.Abdullahi said, “There are stories of counsel going around trying to influence the bench. I think the time has come for the judiciary and its members to stand up and be counted in the fight against corruption.

The day Stella Omorodion, a Batch B National Youth Service Corps member left her parents and other family members for the NYSC programme in Delta State, her community and friends were aware.

Her pictures, right from when she left home, with luggage, arrived motor park and finally, the orientation camp, at Issele Uku, near Asaba, flooded social media platforms, especially Facebook.

Her parents were excited that after toiling day and night to sponsor their daughter in a university, she has graduated and was embarking on a one-year youth service, after which, she will get a good job and they reap the fruits of their labour.

But, this is not to be. Their daughter, Stella, abandoned the national assignment and engaged in sexual relationships with two male corps members.

But, that’s not the news. The news is that she’s now lying in a critical condition in a hospital, after one of her lovers, choked her almost to death.

Before coming to the orientation camp, she is said to have had a boyfriend, who was unknown to her another boyfriend at the camp.

Sources said trouble started when Stella’s former boyfriend was redeployed from Zamfara State to Delta State, and after making enquiries, discovered that Stella was in the camp at Issele-Uku.

And like bluetooth, which has received signal, Stella connected her relationship with the guy again.

Report says she was sighted with her former lover boy at the popular Mammy Market in the community, by the enraged corps member who was alleged to have mobilised his friends to the scene.

On getting to the scene, it was gathered that the angry corps member grabbed the neck of the victim and started squeezing it, till she almost died before fellow corps members rushed to the scene and took her to hospital.

Confirming the incident, Delta State NYSC Coordinator, Mrs. Esther Etukudo, “We got the report of what transpired between two NYSC members and our findings revealed that it was a rival love relationship; the girl was almost strangled to death by the angry corps member who claimed to be her boyfriend after what would have been a bloodbath. They took the girl to the hospital for treatment and the boy was sanctioned for indiscipline.”

Story credited to Harrison ESSIEN’s Facebook Timeline.

“You look sleepy” “My brother, let’s just say I slept at a fuel station, looking for fuel.” “For which of the women in your life, because I hear these days, to please a woman in Nigeria, you must be ready to supply the three major things lacking in the land: money, fuel, and happiness.” “Leave that matter, please. My condolences on the death of your man, Governor Abubakar Audu.” “We thank God for his life. He played his part.” “To be so close to breasting the tape and then fall.” “I know. I know. May be if he had not insisted on running again for the office of Governor in Kogi State, he would still be alive today.” “The man drove himself too hard, publicly and privately. He ran for every gubernatorial election in Kogi State since 1991. There must be something special in being governor for him.” “Don’t speak ill of the dead, I beg you. Simple etiquette.” “But you know now?” “I don’t know nothing.” “Then the man went and married a young, 23-year old. If the election had been concluded and the man had won, the First Lady of Kogi State would have been a 23-year old lady! Those who seek public office should always weigh their lifestyle and their health against their ambition, but politicians act as if they are superhuman.” “Can you stop?” “A 74-year old man, with a 23-year old wife. That alone is enough to give anybody hypertension.” “He was 68.” “Official age. He was 74, somebody told me.” “Excuse me! Respect the dead, please. Abubakar Audu was a democrat extraordinary, a courageous politician, a visionary, selfless, man of the people, and his party’s popular choice.” “My view is that it is not the election in Kogi that is inconclusive per se, a supplementary election will be organised, a winner will emerge; it is Audu’s death that is inconclusive considering the many issues it has thrown up.” “What kind of talk is that? Death is final. It is the cessation of all things, a necessary end.” “Nothing has ended with Abubakar Audu’s death oh. Did you not see the desperate efforts made to get some Prophets to resurrect him? And some people actually believed that he could be the Lazarus of our time! They started jubilating.” “That is concrete proof of his popularity. But I was shocked seeing Nigerians will believe anything, and being so superstitious. Even the grave diggers stopped digging, waiting for the prophets to perform a miracle.” “I hear there was a meeting of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the Kogi election but the moment the prophets waded in, even INEC suspended its meeting and did not reconvene until the prophets failed.” “Only in Africa!” “When the Prophets didn’t deliver, people got angry. They could have lynched those Prophets.” “Well, at least, some people will now know that the prophets are not always right in the age of biology and science. Who could have been behind such a hare-brained scheme?” “The man’s in-laws, for example.“Oh, come on.” “Or persons who may have been promised appointments and contracts. Or it could be persons who invested in his candidacy. Elections in Nigeria are business investments. The investors must have thought of a last minute strategy to reverse the situation. Simple economics.” “You and your theories. The same people will do business with whoever eventually wins the election, anyway.” “There is also the inconclusive matter of the 23-year old wife. When the death was announced, many commentators on social media were more concerned about the young widow. Comments about how she will cope, what she would do next. One guy asked for her phone numbers.” “Stupid, callous fellow.” “Another fellow actually said he was ready to inherit all of Audu’s assets and liabilities in that regard.” “Let him go ahead. Ole!” “Besides, Audu’s death has turned everybody into a Constitutional expert. What happens if a candidate dies in the course of an inconclusive election? Who becomes the new candidate?” “Simple. The APC will field another candidate, appeal to whoever is aggrieved within the party to step down until an appropriate candidate who definitely must be Igala, is identified. I don’t see the APC fielding any candidate who will automatically make them lose the election.” “You think the APC candidate must still be Igala? But nothing is ever that straightforward in Nigerian politics.” “Of course, otherwise, it will be a walk-over for Governor Idris Wada. The Igalas have the numbers. Politics is a game of numbers. The stakes are high. I foresee many court cases.” “Let them field Audu’s young widow then.” “Are you out of your mind? Why are you so obsessed with this lady?” “Or may be his son. Does he have any son who is qualified? Let them make it a family affair. If he had supported his son as a candidate…But people just don’t know when to quit and hand over to the next generation.” “With a 23-year old wife, he was definitely committed to the next generation.” “Some people are of the view that his running mate should just run with the mandate, but I don’t think the circumstances favour him. He is from a minority group in Kogi state. He is a Christian, and the party may not back him.” “Poor James Faleke.” “Yeah, he must be troubled. What if he and Audu had won. And they had been sworn in. But now, there are no guarantees.” “God’s will is supreme. That is one lesson we all must learn from all this. Remember Abacha? When it was time, God intervened. We are all pencils in God’s hands. You can amass all the wealth in the world, marry all the young women, misapply the people’s money, get so close to Cannan, but you can then fall sick and die. In life, things happen and all you have left is six feet, rich or poor, six feet.” “Six feet.” “I hope Robert Mugabe knows this. I hope Grace Mugabe knows.” “Why Robert Mugabe?” “Didn’t you read that story about 50-year old Grace Mugabe, First Lady of Zimbabwe, buying her Robert, a special wheelchair?” “The way you pronounced Robert, you make it sound like Robot.” “Isn’t that what the 91-year old President of Zimbabwe has become, a Robot? Grace Mugabe’s Robot.” “Sad. In his days, Robert Mugabe, multiple degrees holder, was a shining star. And now, his wife is pushing him around.” “She actually has a PhD, awarded in two months, without examination or dissertation, by her Robert in his capacity as Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe!” “Mugabe! A Pan-Africanist, who stood up to the British and neo-colonial imperialism; today, he is falling down at public functions, he reads the wrong speech in parliament, he is old and tired, and yet he won’t quit.” “He should. Zimbabwe already has the oldest president in the world, and he has been in power since 1980- 35 years!” “With a wife like “Dis Grace” Mugabe, he won’t. She says she is ready to push the wheelchair herself, just in case anybody is in any doubt.” “I won’t put anything past that woman. Didn’t she once proclaim that any woman who wears mini-skirt and gets raped should not complain? Is that not the same woman who punched a journalist in the face during a foreign visit?” “Mugabe has stayed too long and has allowed a woman to destroy his legacy. He is so smitten with “Dis-Grace”, he allegedly fired his Chief of Defence Staff last year for staring at her derriere!” “That’s madness.” “But the woman get am oh. The thing dey; very seriously. And you know in that part of Africa, the women don’t need to buy it and enhance it like Kim Kardashian, the thing just dey and you can lose your head.” “I think someday in Africa, we’d have to start voting for these First Ladies too. Voters should be given the right to choose the President’s wife, or at least they should be screened by parliament. In Africa, the wives wield so much influence.” “They do in other places too. It is the man that matters.” “When Mugabe sits in that wheelchair, Zimbabwe is finished!” “For democracy to work, we need to worry about the leadership recruitment process in Africa. How do we free democracy from a debilitating sense and culture of entitlement. How do we get persons who are still up to it, and who will not aspire to rule till they are on wheelchair or life-long medication.” ““All men who play God and who aspire to be God, let them be reminded, it is just six feet. In Cameroon, Paul Biya has been sitting tight for 33 years, in Congo, Nguesso has been in power for 36 years, in Equitorial Guinea, Mbasogo is almost a god in human form. And you have dos Santos in Angola (36 years) Bashir in Sudan (22 years) Museveni in Uganda (29 years), Idris Deby in Chad (25 years) and Jammeh in Gambia (21 years).” “Six feet. Just six feet in the grave.” “I hope they all know.” “It is also a lesson for the poor, including those young ones who play God with their talents.” “Absolutely. There are people these days who play God with their laptops, their pens and I-pads. Imagine some people jubilating over other people’s misfortune.” “Six feet, my brother, not an inch more nor less. In the grave, all men are equal.”

“…the INEC has to review its position in the light of the claim that the number of disenfranchised voters in the state who have PVCs and are qualified to vote is less than 41,300. If the claim is confirmed, then INEC should not hesitate to declare the APC the winner of the election. In that case the Boni Haruna’s case will apply. However, if the number of the disenfranchised voters is higher than 41,300 the INEC should proceed and conclude the election which may be won by either of the two parties. If the APC wins the election, the deputy governor-elect will become the governor, while a new deputy governor will be nominated by him and approved by the Kogi State House of Assembly.”

Last Saturday, the INEC conducted the governorship election in Kogi State. At the end of the polls the Returning Officer, Professor Emmanuel Kucha, Vice-chancellor, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue state declared that Mr. Abubakar Audu of the All Progressives Congress scored 240, 867 votes while Governor Idris Wada of the People’s Democratic Party polled 199, 514 votes. Although the All Progressives Congress led the People’s Democratic Party by 41,300 votes in about 90 percent of the areas where the election held, the INEC decided that a supplementary election would be held for 49,953 voters in areas where votes were cancelled.

The controversy surrounding the announcement of the INEC that the governorship election was inconclusive was compounded by the political crisis thrown up as a result of the sudden death of the governorship candidate of the APC, Abubakar Audu, as the death of a candidate during election was neither envisaged by the Constitution nor the Electoral Act. However, the provisions of the relevant laws and decided cases on assumption of office by co-owners of joint tickets, as well as the experience of the United States with respect to the death of candidates during elections should guide the INEC in resolving the legal quagmire.

While Section 36 of the Electoral Act allows the INEC to countermand and postpone an election if a validly nominated candidate dies before the commencement of poll, Section 181 of the Constitution allows a deputy governor-elect to become governor if the governor-elect dies before inauguration.

In PDP v INEC the Supreme Court held that although the governor-elect, Alhaji Atku Abubakar who had resigned to become the vice presidential candidate of the PDP had not clinically died he was deemed to have died in law. The apex court therefore directed that the deputy governor-elect, Mr. Boni Haruna be sworn as the governor of Adamawa state. In the instant case, the conclusion remains inconclusive.

Notwithstanding that there is no provision in the law for the death of a candidate in the middle of an election, the INEC is not totally helpless in the circumstance. Having declared the election inconclusive, the INEC is duty bound to conclude the election within seven days in line with Section 179 of the Constitution. It is submitted that once the results of an election have been declared, whether conclusive or not, the INEC has no power to cancel same as the power to cancel any result so declared is vested exclusively in the governorship election petition tribunal.

As the APC cannot be allowed to substitute or replace the nomination of Mr. Audu at this stage of the electoral process, the INEC is legally bound to conclude the exercise. The question of falling back on the results of the primary election conducted by the APC does not arise as it conflict with Section 179 of the Constitution.The 20th amendment to the United States’ Constitution is in pari materia with section 181 of the Nigerian Constitution as it allows a vice president-elect to become President if the president-elect dies before inauguration.

Before the amendment was effected in 1933, the names of the two candidates who died during elections were not removed from the ballot. First, in the presidential election of 1872, Horace Greeley was the Democratic nominee for President while Ulysses Grant was the presidential candidate of the Republican Party. After the popular vote, but before the Electoral College vote, Greeley died. The election went ahead and Grant of the Republican party won the election.

Second, in 1912, James Sherman, the Republican candidate for vice president (and the incumbent vice president under William Howard Taft) died on October 30 of kidney disease, a few days before the general election on November five. There was no replacement as Sherman’s name remained on the ticket for the general election. The Republicans lost the election to the Democratic ticket of Woodrow Wilson and Thomas Marshall.

The National Agency for the Control of Aids (NACA) says there are 3, 500 male sex workers in the nation capital spreading the dreaded disease to unsuspecting women around…

The National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has issued license to the Ibom Power Company (IPC), for it to expand from 190MW to 685MW.

These are interesting times in the life of the fallen former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In the heady days of its power drunkenness and odious triumphalism, Akwa Ibom branch of the PDP, through its political potentate, ex-governor Godswill Akpabio, waved off as “expired politicians” a group of elders who had dissented over lack of internal democracy in the party. Akpabio rubbed in the sacrilege by adding that the elders were even rejected by their children. In other words, they were worthless. This unprecedented dressing down happened less than a year ago. Memory is still fresh.

But the PDP has a congenitally short memory. It has forgotten all its outrages on the sensibilities of the youth, women and elders of Akwa Ibom State. Now, the PDP is begging for the return of the very politicians it so gleefully dismissed as “expired.” PDP is shameless.

They are trying to find use for that which had come to the end of its usefulness. Abracadabra! They are not even discreetly wooing those they once rejected, they are making it a signboard issue, celebrating from the rooftop the very thought that they want to beg them to come back.

Poetic justice! They got a good rebuff. The elders have asked PDP to get lost. Of course, it will soon get lost. Akwa Ibom PDP will soon be part of the unfortunate chapter of Akwa Ibom history. The momentum is building, after Rivers, Taraba, now Kogi, and soon, very soon Bayelsa will join the league of champions. That is precisely what is driving the despair in PDP. They feel under siege, swarmed on all sides, as the number of states under the control of the party dwindles…and may soon be just as few as six, just six states, a mighty Humpty Dumpty fall from 27 states at the height of its gaudy glory.

Just yesterday, a PDP fanatic called Ace asked me, “How market?” I was beside myself with laughter, that a simpleton had missed the irony of his question. Now tell me, Whose market is in the doldrums, APC or PDP? They can’t read the situation. These guys are square!!! And that is why they have crashed in a Humpty Dumpty fall.

They never read the history of the empires and couldn’t profit from it. Giddy empires—look through history—tipped over sooner than they ever imagined. And so it is in the instant case of the PDP: 16 is a far cry from 60! About eight years ago, Ogbulafor had declaimed rather like Nebuchadnezzar or the French Emperor, We would rule for 60 years. A few years after, impunity and all that comes from hubris cut sixty to sixteen. Will they learn? The damnation of George Santayana awaits them.

By Itoro OTONGARAN, Lagos, Nigeria.

Court of Appeal sitting in Benue state has sacked the former senate president, David Mark, and ordered iNEC to conduct a re-run in his sentorial district.

“APC condemns the attack and assault meted out to the Publisher of the Guide Newspaper, Emmanuel Sam, yesterday, by a group of hired thugs working for the PDP state government. They have also gone for the Global Concord Publishers. This is an attempt to cage the freedom of press and the APC condemns it. We are in democracy. The state government should not intimidate the press,” APC spokesman, Ita Awak, #PlanetFM Uyo.

Today, Sunday, November 29, 2015, makes Governor Udom Gabriel Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom state six months in office. He was sworn into office on May 29, 2015.

It is time for his Master, in this case, the people of his state to present his scorecard of performance in these areas:

1) Governance Style (GS); 2) Leadership Ability (LA); 3) Accountability (A); and 4) Achievement Recorded (AR).

Please, feel very free to express yourself. TYPE the Category’s Code and RATE him according to your assessment starting from 1% to 100%.

No abusive words. No insults and no political campaigns. Just be honest in your assessment with figures of Percentage ONLY. In democracy, the people hold those in governance accountable.

Note that your name and assessment shall be published on Newspapers, Online and Print and on several social media platforms afterwards.

***Chief Franklyn Isong is a journalist, newspaper publisher, public affairs analyst and socio critic based in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state.

On behalf of my grandpa and members of my community, I join all Akwa Ibomites today to celebrate with the Governor and people of Akwa Ibom state on this occasion of the six months of this administration office.

I woke up early this Sunday morning by the disturbing and non-stopping barking of my dogs. When I stood up from my little six inches bed to call my gateman to find out what the matter was, I remembered, I hadn’t tuned on my little one-finger battery’s radio to my delight and favourite station, PlanetFM 101.1, Uyo, and immediately, I did just that.

And guess what? National anthem was being sang. It reminded me of the dark days of the military junta. When you tuned on your radio, and national anthem was being sang, you know that there was a coup d’etat. And a new military government has emerged. The voice after the anthem, would be an address from the new military Head of State.

But, here on PlanetFM was my dear and humble civilian Governor, Udom Emmanuel, a man after God’s heart. He addressed the people of the state on his six months of stewardship as governor. I listened vividly with keen interest, especially, just yesterday, the same trouble (sorry radio) station played host to the Akwa Ibom APC “trouble” spokesman, Ita Awak, who raised several questions for the governor to answer in his address.

I even forgot about the barking of my dogs, though, they barked louder, I couldn’t hear them anymore, because, my attention was captured by important state matter, the Governor’s state address. I wanted to hear the response of my beloved Governor to the many issues raised in recent times by his “critics”, including the immediate past Eket council chairman, who is a top PDP chieftain (same political party with my governor) in Akwa Ibom, Aniekan Willie Akpan. And most of these issues were again, re-echoed by way of reminder by the troubled, Ita Awak of APC.

In case you forgot, these are some of the issues trending public discourse in Akwa Ibom:

1) N2 billion Security Vote allegedly being “pocketed” monthly by the governor; 2) Alleged building of another Government House in his countryhome, Awak, ONNA LGA; 3) Alleged commissioning of Godswill Akpabio Housing Estate in Shelter Afrique Estate, for use by Ibom Specialist Hospital’s personnel; among others.

Obviously, I started recording the Governor’s address, becuase I thought the Governor’s Speech Writters would attempt these simple “Common Entrance” questions. It is not sufficiently enough for anyone in government to dismiss such weighty allegations as aforementioned with a mere name-calling, castigating the integrity of those who raised the issues, at least, the people of the state deserve a better response, if we have a people’s governor, irrespective of who made the allegations.

“The Governor should come out clean in these ones,” Ita Awak repeatedly and confidently declared yesterday during his PlanetFM radio interview.

But, all of a sudden, I started hearing the barking of my dogs even more louder than before, when it became obvious, that the governor ignored these issues in his address. I don’t know whether it was a deliberate attempt to push these issues like others away from public discourse by government, but one thing was sure, I abandoned the Governor’s address disappointedly to attend to a very important state matter, the barking of my dogs.

The moment my dogs heard my voice calling, they became calmed. It has been their usual way of waking me up from bed. But when I returned, the station was playing gospel music. And I remembered: “Which Way Nigeria” a song by Chief Sunny Okosun. I thought humorously, Sunny Okosun had Akwa Ibom state in mind, but he mistakenly put “Nigeria” in his song. I rephrased it to sound “Which Way Akwa Ibom!?”

Congratulations my beloved Governor, Udom Emmanuel, on your six months of stewardship in Akwa Ibom.

Long live Akwa Ibom people!

Ami mma DAKKANDA o!!

Otuekong Franklyn Isong
(Public affairs commentator-cum-socio critic)