NASS Reconvenes To Adjourn For Senator Kuta

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Teddy Oscar, Abuja

Members of the House of Representatives and Senate on Tuesday returned from a three-week recess, but, however, adjourned plenaries to honour Senator Dahiru Awaisu Kuta, who died in the early hours of Thursday, June 12, 2014 at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).

The two chambers had embarked on the break to mark the end of third legislative session of the 7th National Assembly on Thursday, June 5, 2014.

Addressing the lawmakers in the Green Chambers, speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, explained that members of the House would adjourn sitting in solidarity with members of the Senate, who are mourning one of their colleagues.

At the Red Chambers, however, the senators sat for few minutes to adopt the votes and proceedings of its last sitting, which held on June 5, 2014.

After the adoption, the Senate leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, moved a motion entitled: Demise of Senator Dahiru Awaisu Kuta.

Moving the motion for the Senate adjournment, Ndoma-Egba said: “while we were on break, tragedy befell this chamber with the sudden death of our dear colleague, Senator Dahiru Awaisu Kuta, the chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Character, who died on the 12th of this month in Lagos on his way for medical treatment abroad.

“Distinguished colleagues, may I, in line with our tradition, move that this Senate do adjourn plenary till tomorrow (25th June 2014) in honour of our departed colleague.”

Consequently, the Senate adopted the motion, which was put to it for approval by the President of the Senate, David Mark.

Mark, in his short remark, told the senators that the chamber would devote the day solely for valedictory session in honour of the late senator, who represented Niger East during his life time.

He also hinted that Tuesday’s valedictory session would be attended by  the Niger State governor, Babangida Aliyu, the family members of the late senator and other prominent Nigerians, especially the politicians, who at one time or another served as members of the National Assembly.

Mark also led other senators to sign the condolence register that was opened at the entrance of the Senate chamber, where he spoke to journalists.

“In Kuta, Nigeria and indeed the Senate have lost a very patriotic citizen, who at all times, joined hands with other patriots to move the country forward through whatever national assignment given to him.

“Specifically, the late Senator Kuta made the Senate Committee on Federal Character to be very vibrant and responsive to its legislative responsibilities in terms of making relevant agencies under it to reflect equity in federal appointment and distribution of resources,”Mark stated.

Aside the Senate President, the deputy Senate president, Ike EKweremadu, Ndoma-Egba, minority leader, Senator George Akume, deputy minority whip and many others also made remarks on the late senator, after signing the condolence register.

The Union reports that the death of Kuta is the third to occur in the 7th Senate.

Senator Gyang Datong died in 2012, while attending a funeral of his constituent members, who were allegedly killed during the invasion of some villages in his senatorial district by purported Fulani herdsmen.

Also, in June 2013, the Senate lost another member, Senator Pius Ewherido, who represented Delta Central Senatorial District.

Insecurity: A Manifestation of Our Leaders’ Inability to Institutionalize Discipline – Prof. Olagoke

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Insecurity: A Manifestation of Our Leaders’ Inability to Institutionalize Discipline – Prof. Olagoke
Prof. Olagoke
Prof. Olagoke



As Insecurity, hunger, poverty and unemployment pervades the entire country, the founder and spiritual  head of Shaufaudeen in Islam, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke, in this interview with Solomon Adewunmi, attributes the trend to  indiscipline.

Excerpts:



Q-Insecurity, hunger, poverty and unemployment is the dominant issue of discussion among Nigerians today. Why is this so ?

A-What is reeponsible is the lackaidaisical attitudeof our elites as well as our leadres and rulers, who are managing the material and human resources, on the basis of selfish motives. What they will gain rather than politics for service. In Nigeria, today Mr. President or Mr. Governor are never on their own, they are always inpositions of power at the mercy of contractors, godfathers, who believe that they are the heights of their investments. So under this condition, the pinnacle of administraion in any nation is the political class in power. When these ones are not forthcoming, loosing grip of justice, lossing grip of equity,it means peace will elude us,and the state of insecurity, which we are witnessing, will come in. Under this condition, such an environment will never favour any reasonable development. And that is why, the way I look at it, the beautiful onesare not yet born in Nigeria, for the purpose of salvaging our cause. Unfortunately the
failure of those people governing us and their failure to introduce isntitutional discipline, has really affected other facets of our lives. For example, religion is supposed to unite us, sanitize us and give us, through divine intervention, the leeway to break even. But unfortunately most of the churches and mosques now are mere caricature of themselves. They could be seen as mere business centres. The Bible says we cannot serve God and mammon at the same time. The Holy koran also says that there is no way we cancombine Godliness with the mundane things of life. So, the religion sector has collapsed and ther is no way it can be forthcoming. So, which means the issues of insecurity, hunger, poverty and unemployment would continue to be on the increase, until, perhaps, we are able to have, a set of people that would be patriotic enough to sacrfice themselves, in order of us to witnes an era of good governance. Otherwise the primitive revolution that we
are presently witnessing, through armed robbery, kidnapping, ritual killings and other forms of dastardly acts, untilwe are bale to have organized revolution,which would be articulated through a set of peoplethat would be so much concenrd and be ready to sacrifice their lives, in order that Nigeria is saved.

Q- Ritual killings have assume a dangerous dimension in the country, is it not of worry to you ?

A-We are not safe again! Even when you talk of child abuse, kidnapping of children or babies for sale, the Houses of God are really been used to articulate, in conjunction with some mushroom medical houses, through organized statnice business network. This is why I continue to say that whoever wants to come up, as Mr. President, in Nigeria, is supposed to get set to lay down his life, by pursuing the truth, and by practicaaly pursuing an agenda, which will give us institutional discipline. Environment of discipline will bring about moral revolution, while necessary rebranding or reformation of the people that will cahnge our perception about life, will now become tools that will really salvage our cause. Take for example. education, which we do offer as of now in Nigeria, is not functiona.It is not functional beacuse, in the first place, it is underfunded. For example UNESCO states that, at least 26% of every nation’s budgetmust be put into education.
Till date Nigeria has not attained 10% of the national budget. So, when you experience this kind of situation,Nigeria is now suffering from, one, the headaches of low motivation for Teachers and the brazen level of unemployment and poverty which has rendered most parents to become irresponsible, chasing shadows of the world, rather than caring for their children. This must have in no small measure contributed to the collapse of our value system. This suggests that the future of Nigeria is dicey and our plans of embracing Democracy, in order that we would be able to achieve sustainable development, is equally dicey under this dispensation.  

Q-Do you think the leadership at all levels of governance in the country have met the expectations of the people ?

A-When we study Maslow’s hierachy of needs, we discover that even the peak of it, which is acualization, is centered on self realization. Thus, achieving to this level, may nit necessarily give a political leader, the wherewithal to excellently discharge his duties. The Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has to change to Funnel’s hierarchy of needs, whereby we move up to, that is from the actualization level to mentorship level of development, then as leaders or administrators or political gladiators, we must work form mentorship to altruistic philosophy. Whereby you consider others first, before you consider your own personal needs. This is what is lacking in our political sphere.  And that is why all leaders from Mr. President down to the local government level, have not been able to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the people. They think that human development in the funnel’s hierarchy of needs is attaining the level of total personality. At this level, you are above aid, you are above discrimination and if you are a christian, you assume christ like life, and if you are a muslim you assume the exemplary of the holy prophet, Mohammed. And whatever faith based organization you may find yourself, you assume the peak in the like of the master of  that organization. This must be an area of focus for all  universities, most especially those that are training people on human resource, so that in future we would be able to have credible leaders, whose focus is on legacy, expansion and development of the people and their communities and by extension , the nation. We still have a long way to go.


Q- President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the convening of a national conference, do you support this ?

A-From the antecedents of the Oputa panel we ended up wasting our time and wasting the meagre resources. Unfortunately, when such a confab or reconciliation issue came up in South Africa after apatheid, it yeilde, maximally, a very good result. The question is why is it that nothing laudable comes out of every meaningful confab in Nigeria. Secondly, when you look back at the antecedents of that popular conference under Obasanjo regime, which was marred by the hidden agenda of a third term by Obasanjo, we ended up wasting the meagre resources, although we were able to amke some people to become emergency millionaires in the process, party faithful for that matter. In this case it may end up been another tactic of effecting diversionary measures into the politics of2015. This confab is not new, we have been longing to have it, even when the PRONACO went into fashioning out a laudable constitution for Nigeria that would have been the bedrock of the fourth republic, both under Obasanjo and Jonathan, we ended up again not appreciating the efforts of the Enaharo group, who we could regard as the last of the founding fathers of the nation. The work was rubbished, but this is an advantage for some of the active members of the group that are still living, to now present the collated thoughts that centres on operating true federalism and creating the dawn of a new era for a new nation or new Nigeria.. The majority of Nigerians believe that the confab is going to be another still birth and waste of energy, money and time, because the outcome of it may not necessarily see the light of the day, in terms of implementation. But there is nothing wrong in giving it a trial and monitoring it, letting Jonathan to realise that he will son become part of history. Most especially, when he  would not  have the wherewithal to defend himself.

Q-The slow pace of development at the grassroots is of serious concern, a sizable number of Nigerians in a number of states blame this on  the absence of elected political office holders at the third tier of  government, do you agree with this argument ?

A-I think it does not come as a surprise that the beautiful ones, in terms of governance, are not yet born in Nigeria. If you look at the process that  produced Mr. President, from among the Governors, then you should not be surprised if an emerging President fails perform, because of the wicked orientation, which happens to be the focus of their coming together as Governors’ forum. It is highly embarrassing and very, very disappointing to the masses and well meaning Nigerians, to see since the onset of Democracy in Nigeria, most states have been running the affairs of Local governments through surrogates of the Governors, who they appellate as caretaker chairmen. This is against the principle of natural justice for the people most especially at the grassroots, to be ruled by those people, who will continue to act the scripts of the Governors, most especially at the expense of  the participation of other political parties in those states. Caretaker chairmen are nothing but conduit pipes to siphon the allocation of the local governments, who we believe are always rightly funded directly from the federal purse. In order to satisfy the thinking and logic of the Governors who put them there and since they were not elected, they  are aberrations in the democratic environment. If the level of development is so low, it is naturally expected because of the structure on ground. I think it is high time Nigerians should condemn the idea of governors sidetracking the expected natural mandate of the local government chairmen to come from the people, rather than the Governors.

Interrogating Micah  Y.  Jiba  Developmental Effort In AMAC – By Emeka Oraetoka

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Abuja-FCT

The six [6] area councils in the Federal Capital Territory [FCT] could be said to be among the few local government areas in Nigeria that enjoy full autonomy in terms of allocation of funds on monthly basis from the federation account. Every Nigerian is aware of interference by sitting governors on the funds of local government authorities. Even in some states governors cronies are at the saddle as caretaker Local Government Chairmen. The meddling of sitting governors in the management of local government funds has ensured that development at local level in so many States in Nigeria is at best, stunted

According to watchers of events in the council, since 2010 when the current Chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council [AMAC] Honourable  Micah Yohanna Jiba came to the power, rapid development has taken place in twelve [12] wards that make up the council. They attributed the developmental feat recorded by Jiba so far in the twelve wards to two factors. In the first place, the honest and prompt release of funds meant for AMAC development to the Chairman on monthly basis by the Minister of the FCT Senator Bala Mohammed. Secondly, the burning hunger to serve the people of AMAC on the part of Honourable Micah Jiba, and his religious adherence to the principle of accountability in the management of public funds in his care. Micah’s prudence in fund management is perhaps the greatest reason Nigerians in AMAC have seen giant strides in the council, with respect to the twelve wards that constitute AMAC.

The list of Micah Jiba’s developmental efforts in the municipality in the first term of his chairmanship is contained in a document called “The Footprint of Micah Jiba in AMAC”.  One fact about the document in question is that it was heavily interrogated by stakeholders in AMAC development and found to be genuine; though critics are of the view that they are yet to see updated copy of the Footprint Magazine under Micah’s second term in office.  Among those that cross-examined the document are the Press and Opposition political parties in the Federal Capital Territory [FCT]. The cross-examination of Jiba’s developmental effort by the press in particular did not end with book presentation; there were sites visitation for confirmation. What transpired later in the primary election that brought Micah back to power for a second term in office; proved that the contents in the Footprint document was not a mere Photoshop as Hon. Jiba was returned unopposed in the primary election of his party, PDP.

Before the documentation of Hon. Micah Jiba’s developmental efforts in AMAC, there was plethora of testimonials by witnesses to his works. Few of these testimonies will suffice here. Former Acting National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bello Haliru has this to say on Micah Jiba’s effort: “I wish to commend the Hon. Chairman, for providing social infrastructure for the grass root people .In-fact I cannot believe that this road [new Jikwoyi Township/ access road] was constructed by a local government. This is a project most state governments do and invite us to commission. I am proud that this is done by a PDP government and the people are happy”. Here are remarks by the Hon. Minister of FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed on Jiba’s achievements in office: “our gathering here today is to rejoice and celebrate an achiever who has come to serve his people, who has something to show within first 100 days in office, especially, those who voted for him, that their trust was not in vain after all”…….  “Hon. Jibas achievements have cut across the nook and crannies of AMAC. As a leader who has the fear of God, no community will be neglected irrespective of political differences. I am meant to understand that the list of projects Hon. Jiba has completed are capable of developing the Area Council and making the people have a better life”….

On his part, the former Minister of State for FCT, Group Captain Caleb Olubolade has this testimony to make on Jiba’s developmental efforts in AMAC: …I will commission these projects today, so that we can achieve environmental cleanliness in FCT, in AMAC in particular.  …everybody should maintain the market so that it will not be an eye sore”—. On the other hand, Senator Philip Aduda representing FCT has this to say on Micah Jiba’s developmental effort in the council: “… we found out within 100 days of the chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council in office , he has been able to carry out these laudable projects we can all see them ourselves. This is what is called dividends of democracy. By the grace of God, we can look at him after one or two years and say we are giving him more support to carry on with the good work that he is doing”….

Just recently the Honorable member representing AMAC and Bwari Federal constituency in FCT at the National Assembly [NASS] Mr. Zephaniah Jisalo, expressed readiness to vacate his position for Micah Jiba to take over. Jisalo premised his call on Jiba to take over from him, on the laudable achievements Micah has recorded in AMAC.  Jisalo believed that the way Micah is going about his developmental activities in AMAC; he would have left an indelible mark in the council in 2016, when he would have completed his second term in office. This, according to Jisalo would have made Jiba an undisputed material for House of Representative seat for AMAC/Bwari area councils, which he, Jisalo is ever ready to vacate for Senatorial contest. Hon. Jisalo’s willingness to abdicate his current office for Jiba is probably the first time such scenario is playing in Nigeria since 1999 when democratic regime resumed.

With about two years to the end of his second term in office, Hon. Micah Jiba appeared to have prepared himself for bigger political challenges ahead. The eloquent testimonials on his developmental strides in AMAC from critical stakeholders in the council have inevitably made a powerful point here; only Hon. Micah Jiba can constitute an obstacle to himself from moving FORWARD TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

 

Emeka Oraetoka.

Information Management Consultant & Political Researcher

Wrote in from Garki Abuja.

E-mail: oramekllis@lycos.com

Stop playing politics with oil subsidy theft, ANEEJ tells Jonathan

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Stop playing politics with oil subsidy theft, ANEEJ tells Jonathan

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AN ADDRESS BY THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF AFRICA NETWORK FOR ENVIRONEMENT AND ECONOMIC JUSTIC (ANEEJ) REV. DAVID UGOLOR  AT A WORLD PRESS CONFERENCE IN ANEEJ ADVOCACY OFFICE, ABUJA ON MONITORING OIL SUBSIDY CASES IN NIGERIA, JUNE 24, 2014.

Gentlemen of the press,

I welcome you all to this important press briefing to reflect on a major issue that drew the attention of all Nigerians in January 2012-Oil subsidy fraud and corruption cases of unimaginable proportion . We would also reflect on the current political  impunity in Nigeria which is threatening both our hard earned democracy and the unity of our dear nation.

As you may all recall, the Federal Government of Nigeria, on January 1, 2012 announced the removal of subsidy on petroleum products. The announcement led to widespread protests by  Civil Society Organisations, organised  labour and ordinary citizens who felt the economic policy was too harsh as it would obviously have multiplier consequences and wreak untold hardship on ordinary citizens of our dear nation.

You also recall that the House of Representatives immediately waded into the mass protests and set up a committee of the House led by Hon. Farouk Lawal to investigate oil subsidy regime in terms of licensing and actual procurements.  The report of the House was mind boggling as several billions of dollars were said to have been collected through fraudulent and corrupt  means by several contractors, including those whose primary work is not in the area of oil and gas.

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, equally set up the Nuhu Ribadu-led Committee to investigate alleged  massive fraud and corruption in the oil subsidy business in the country. The report was also very revealing of the several billions of dollars lost to suspected criminals who collected subsidy funds but never supplied products.

Piqued by the huge revelations from both committees, our President, who at the wake of the protests said the removal of subsidy was to check corruption in the subsidy regime, equally set up the Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede Committee which also worked with the reports of both House of Representatives and the Nuhu Ribadu Report and confirmed the massive fraud and corruption. Its harmonized report provided that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police were empowered to investigate and prosecute all suspects connected to the subsidy fraud and corruption. The Presidential Committee had identified about fifty (50) organizations for investigation and arraignment. There were high profile names listed for investigations and prosecution, some of them are well known to you members of the fourth estate of the realm.

Sadly, two and a half years down the road, not a single suspect has been fully prosecuted and brought to justice. The protests,  cries and wishes of Nigerians for government to get it right with fuel subsidy crimes stands  too slow and unresolved.

The Federal Attorney General, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as well as the Special Fraud Units (SFU) of the Nigeria Police Force  and the nation’s judiciary have very crucial roles to play. But we are concerned that the agencies are not adequately enabled to play their roles as some of the agencies are under -funded  to investigate persons who are in custody of billions of dollars oil subsidy funds, while there appears to be high tech politicking to make the big fishes get off the hook.

We are equally disturbed about some current trends in the political firmament in the country. Last week, the country was jolted with news that the Army ambushed Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi  and prevented him from attending a political rally organised by his party in Ado-Ekiti . Also, the Edo State Governor was prevented from attending the same rally as the helicopter which was to convey him from Benin City to Ado-Ekiti was prevented from taking off by the military authorities at the Airport. Same was the fate of the Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

We view the action of the Federal Government as a violation of the fundamental rights of the affected governors . The rights to movement and freedom of association was brazenly violated by the federal authorities with impunity.

In our consideration, the action of government is a threat to democracy and capable of throwing the nation into anarchy.

In the light of the above, we wish to call on :

President Goodluck Azikiwe Ebele Jonathan to:

1.Demonstrate sufficient political will to bring ALL oil subsidy fraud/corruption suspects , irrespective of their political parties, colour , religion and creed  to justice.

2. Adequately fund the EFCC and SFU to discharge their duties creditably without fear or favour. Also provide with trainings to equip them with latest skills and knowledge to investigate and prosecute financial crime cases in the oil and gas sector.

3. Call the Nigerian Armed Forces and other security agencies  involved in the flagrant violation of the rights of citizens to order to forestall anarchy in the country.

4. Halt the intimidation and harassment of political opponents and the media  by the military and his agents as such actions were capable of undermining the nation’s fledgling democracy.

5. Investigate the grounding of the aircrafts of the opposition party governors and bring all those responsible to book

The Judiciary and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to:

6. Ensure all cases of oil subsidy fraud and corruption are expeditiously adjudicated upon and concluded to ensure that justice is not only done, but seen to have been done to all suspects regardless of their political or ethnic affiliations.

7. Stop the politicization of the Rivers State Judiciary and ensure a bad precedence is not laid in the nation’s judicial history because of its dire consequences on our democracy. Governor Rotimi Amaechi should be allowed to appoint the Chief Judge of the State without any intimidation from any quarters.

Civil Society and Nigerians at large should:

8. Be vigilant and at alert to resist emerging attempts at truncating Nigeria’s democracy

9. Stand to be counted in resisting  impunity in oil  subsidy fraud/ corruption  in Nigeria.

10. Ensure that the country is governed by the rule of law, and rule of force.



Thank you and God bless.

Assemblies of God Church:  N150 million looted within 6 weeks – Rev Paul Emeka cries out

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Assemblies of God Church:  N150 million looted within 6 weeks – Rev Paul Emeka cries out
AGimage
From Obinna Akukwe
·        Cheque of N9 million forged, intercepted
The embattled General Superintendent of Assemblies of God Church, Rev Prof Paul Emeka had alleged  that  over N150 million naira was looted by the Rev Chidi Okoroafor led illegal executives  just within six weeks of his purported suspension and that by now it is clocking close to half a billion naira. Speaking with Rev Obinna Akukwe, a church leader and Director of Media of General Assembly of all Igbo Christian Organizations and Ministers (GAAICOM) who led a team of gospel ministers on a mediatory mission to resolve the crisis in the once prestigious Assemblies of God Church, the cleric said that he is ready for dialogue with those who wanted to remove him at all costs. He also said that he is ready to forgive those who dragged his name to the mud in the interest of peace in the body of Christ.
GAAICOM officials also obtained a copy of his official reply to the allegations of administrative and financial misconduct which led to his controversial suspension in March 2014.  Rev Paul Emeka claimed that within six weeks of his purported suspension, the usurpers have already looted about N150 million naira and even went as far as forging his signature on a cheque of N9million naira. According to the cleric “these illegal men have looted and spent more than N150 million of the General Council funds. They keep holding these illegal meetings with the District Superintendents and Treasurers from zone to zone, telling them how they would remit money to them. They have opened new accounts because I keep blocking any existing accounts I discover. They are mercilessly dealing with the General Council funds with which they service their numerous lawyers and members of their think-tank whom they quarter in various places to keep manipulating the church and the court with lies. They even forged my signature on a cheque of N9 million on March 18. Thank God that the bank alerted me promptly”.
Rev Emeka dismissed his suspension as illegal and unconstitutional. Implying vindictive motive behind his purported removal, he said that “Suspension as a form of discipline in the Assemblies of God is designed to serve a spiritual and holy purpose and not to achieve political and vindictive purpose. The purported suspension pronounced on me on March 6, 2014 was the meanest exercise of discipline. It was motivated by hatred, god-fatherism, envy and opportunism. It fell short of a legal General Committee.”. Going further the embattled General Superintendent told Rev Akukwe and other clerics  that his suspension followed the usual unconstitutional means whereby Nigerian politicians remove people from office without recourse to laid down procedures and believes that there is “ a moral duty on me to resist this type of imposition so that it does not become a custom in the Assemblies of God Church whereby a few persons can just gang up and use force to remove an elected church leader without following the laid down procedure“.
Rev Emeka believes that there was no quorum for the meetings neither were the right participants in attendance implying that the committee that suspended him was an illegal one. According to him “The body that pronounced that suspension was a wrong one. The so-called General Committee did not have up to twenty unit heads out of about 105 unit heads. In other words, it didn’t have a quorum. In the roll call, according to the video, majority of the Districts were absent. Observers were used as voting members. This was in addition to the fact that the process was wrong. The GS is the only one authorized by the constitution to call for a General Committee.”. Clarifying further the cleric said that “The Ambassadors of the Kingdom filled the hall. The Ambassadors were to participate only if their Districts delegated them to come. But being Ambassadors did not automatically qualify them to be there and do business. Rather, they were supposed to be there as a party having a case with the GS. Unfortunately, it was the Ambassadors who wrote petitions against me, they judged me, convicted me, condemned me and punished me. They moved the motions to nail me, These were the same people who signed the petition against me.”
Rev Emeka decried the unholy involvement of the immediate past General Superintendent, Rev Dr Charles Osueke in the plot to unseat him and described the entire plot as “the unholiest plot of the century. It was anything but holy. It was driven by hate, a long-held desire to revenge a perceived a personal wrong. It was driven by a passionate desire to make good his plot to enthrone his god-son Chidi Okoroafor.”
Clarifying further on his claims the cleric said that “It is necessary to inform you, according to their video tape, that even before coming to the meeting, they had decided what to do to me, and the least of these evil plots was to step me down. This they decided to do even when they had not heard from me. During the meeting, they used votes to decide whether I would be stepped down or be suspended. In Assemblies of God, we do not use votes to decide the suspension of a person. You cannot decide the punishment of an adulterer, a thief, etc. with votes. Therefore, if I really had sinned and they knew it, there wouldn’t have been any need to vote to decide which discipline to mete out on me.”
Rev Paul Emeka alleged that his travails began when he decided to introduce financial propriety into the system. He decried a situation whereby in Evangel University, within the first month of operation brought a salary bill of N6 million naira and in the second month the salary was jerked to N9 million while by the third month it escalated to N13 million even when a student population of 73 does not justify such increment. He claimed to have complained that they were employing staff for the university without due consultation to the point that 135 staff were serving 73 students within a few months of operation and his complaints was misinterpreted as disloyalty to the status quo.
Rev Paul Emeka also believed that his proposal to increase the pension of retired pastors of the church brought him in conflict with an interest that wants their retired pastors to continue to suffer. He wondered why they preferred to use pastor’s fund to run offices rather than increase pension to pastors. According to him “As at last year, the pastors fund generated N2.5 billion from the time that scheme started, all that had been paid to the pastors was only N123million in 16 years, up to N300 million and more was spent on office.
The purpose of that scheme was not to run office or other things but to help our pastors in retirement but many of them are suffering and we felt free to our conscience to allow them in that state and pay lip service to our holiness. “
Meanwhile a senior cleric in the church who is part of the arrowhead of the suspension of General Superintendent, have claimed that the  main issues against Rev Paul Emeka has to do with introduction of strange practices in the church. Speaking to Rev Akukwe and GAAICOM officials on condition of anonymity, the cleric claimed that “Rev Paul Emeka introduced the wearing of rings, worldly dancing and singings into the church and is on a mission to radicalize the spiritual structure of the church. He is giving prominence to some Evangelists in the church who are preaching prosperity at the expense of holiness and the Ambassadors have to salvage the church before the devil takes over”.
He described Rev Dr Chidi Okoroafor as the man that will take the church to the next levels and expressed optimism that the meeting of the General Council scheduled for the 26th of June will finally “throw Rev Emeka out of the place for sanity to prevail”.

Anyanwu Vows To Stop Drains On Imo Treasury If Elected

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Anyanwu Vows To Stop Drains On Imo Treasury If Elected
Senator Chris ND Anyanwu
Senator Chris ND Anyanwu
…says being a woman aspirant is added advantage
The member representing Owerri Senaorial Zone in the Senate, Senator Chris ND Anyanwu has vowed to stop the brazen drain on the treasury of Imo State by Governor Rochas Okorocha, saying the state is bleeding with reckless spending.
She accused Governor Okorocha of spending the state’s money on projects that add no value to lives of the people of the state.
Senator Anyanwu made these comments today when she led a team of her supporters to seek for the blessing of frontline politician and member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Board of Trustees, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, for her 2015 governorship ambition at Atta in Ikeduru Local Government Area of the state.
She said she wept any time she saw money being abused in the state by Governor Okorocha, adding that most of the projects done by the Okorocha administration were very unnecessary and added no value to the lives of the people of the state.
According to her, the building of 27 general hospitals across the state was a height of financial recklessness as according to her, no right-thinking man would think of building such structures and abandoning the existing ones.
“Why should any right-thinking governor construct a civic centre on Assumpta Avenue when we have government house near-by and the Ahiajioku Centre and other centres like that?”, she queried.
The governorship hopeful lamented that Imo had consistently made very wrong choices in selecting and electing their governors in the recent past despite the caliber of human resources available to them, vowing to stop the drain on the state’s treasury and stop unemployment which she added had been ravaging the state.
She said her administration would organize Imo into a more modern state because she knows the problem of the state as someone who had been around governance for decades.
“I’m not coming out just to be counted as one of the contestants. I want to transform Imo. I want to touch lives here because I know the problems of the people. I’m coming out to open Imo State to the outside world so that real investors could come in because there has not been enough effort to open up Imo for industries to thrive. There will be massive skills acquisition to take care of our youths”, she said.
Anyanwu lamented that many people were interested in opening their companies in the state but nobody wanted to make land available for them. “You can imagine that an oil company wanted to site its operational base in Imo but nobody thought it wise to avail a land to them to do that. You can imagine what we would have gained by having such a company around. This was the same thing that happened when Festus Odimegwu wanted to build Nigeria Breweries here. But because of no available land he had to take it to Enugu who had to make land available for such a gigantic project. Today, that company is offering Enugu people over 500 real jobs”.
She said she remained the most qualified for the post of Imo governorship not because of her senatorial position but because of her past involvement in governance.
She added that many people contesting the position with her did not know what they were coming to do as according to her many of her colleagues thought governorship was showmanship business.
The senator, who admitted it would take some hard work to unseat the incumbent governor, told her host that she had the muscle to push Okorocha out of the office.
On her being a woman, she said it is an added advantage for her aspiration considering the fact that all over the world including Moslem countries, there had been female presidents and governors giving their people good governance
Reacting, Chief Iwuanyanwu commended her for her efforts at trying to develop every corner of Owerri Zone, saying she united the people of the zone in many ways.
He described her as a very honest man woman who had been working very hard in the Senate.
Iwuanyanwu said Owerri people would want get a quality candidate that would not only win election, but deliver dividends to the people

IWD: FG Urged To Ameliorate Widows Plight…As Foundation Empowers 276 Widows With Over N7m

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Gift Emmanuel, Abuja

AS Nigeria joined the world in marking the 4th International Widows Day (IWD), Federal Government has been urged to consider the plight of widows in the country and to initiate programmes/projects that are aimed at ameliorating their plights.

This is even as a Non-Governmental Organisation, Rock of Ages Empowerment Foundation (RAEF), gave out over N7million to 276 widows in FCT.

The Founder of the Foundation, Evangelist Ignatius Newman Ezeigbo while speaking at the IWD celebration in Abuja, urged the Federal Government to enact policies and programmes that will take care of the overall welfare of widows and other vulnerable groups in the society.

According to him, “There should be enlightenment programmes on issues relating to the widows’ health, as most of these women die of diseases that could have been averted assuming that those diseases were detected early. The federal ministry of health should take up the primary health care services to where these women can have easy access to them at a highly subsidised rate.

“The Federal Government should as well set up skill acquisition centres where these women would undergo various training with a view to making them self-reliant.

Government should equally ensure that these programmes/services actually get to the targeted audience (the very poor)”.

The foundation which marked the day with over 1200 widows in attendance gave out 140 units of sewing machines to 140 widows and another set of 136 widows received N20, 000. 00 cash each to start small scale catering services and also distributed over 1200 bags of rice to them.

The widows who gathered at the main auditorium of the National Centre for Women Development as early as 7:am received free medical treatments provided by the foundation.

Evangelist Newman Ezeigbo said the foundation is planning to provide housing units to accommodate some of these widows who have no place to call their own and also to build skill acquisition cum training centre where they could be trained for various skill acquisitions.

He said before now, the Foundation had been sponsoring some of these widow’s children in various government (primary & secondary) schools on a relatively small scale but as part of their future plans, the Foundation has resolved to continue with the same on a larger scale adding that the mode of operation will be made clear to the widows during their monthly meetings.

In his words, “Our reasons for taking up these widows’ children education are to ameliorate the burden on these women and to ensure that the children are not deprived of their fundamental rights to education.

“There should be concerted efforts in this regards as it is obvious that government cannot do it all alone. Nigerians should join hands in ensuring that these women are given their place in the society”.

On her part, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajia Zainab Maina commended Rock of Ages Empowerment Foundation who took it upon themselves to recognise and celebrate the widows whom she said are an integral part of every society yet, “little is known about them and the challenges they face”.

The Minister regretted that “The widows are seldom captured in statistics, unnoticed by researchers, often neglected by laws and development strategies making their situation invisible.

“What the foundation is doing today is so remarkable, especially in this era when the population of widows is steadily increasing as a result of the recent spate of terror attacks unleashed on the society by some violent groups in various parts of the country.

These women have seen most of their husbands lose their lives and at times their children. These ugly incidents have forced women to cater for themselves and their children lone; sometimes without the appropriate knowledge and skills needed to take over the role that faith has bestowed on them.

“It is pertinent to point out that such events as this have potentials of not just recognising and bringing to limelight the challenges these women pass through, but also to identify, sensitize, train and empower them in order to enhance their income”.

Kwankwaso Probes Shekarau Over Verbal N7bn Contracts

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The Kano State House of Assembly has commenced probing Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankawso’s predecessor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, over alleged verbal award of N7billion road contracts, a deviation from due process.

The probe, which commenced by the summoning of Mallam Shekarau’s two key commissioners, those of Rural Development and Works and Housing, Musa Illiyasu Kwankawso and Alhaji Sarki Labaran respectively, has already generated a lot of tension between the two camps.

The House, which brought before it the two former commissioners as well as their former permanent secretaries, alleged that Shekarau, through the Ministry of Rural Development and Works, awarded the over N7 billion road projects and the jobs had not been done to this day.

Reading the motion of the House, the deputy majority leader Yusuf Babangida alleged that money was paid to the contractors for the jobs even before they mobilised to site, and that most of the roads are still undone.

The roads, according to the House, are Tattarawa-Jalli which was allegedly awarded at the cost of N1.5 billion, and Konar Kira-Ungogo-Fanisau road at the cost of N3.5 billion. The projects were allegedly inflated by over N350 million.

The other road according to the House is Takai-Rimi-Magami which was said to have been awarded at the cost of N2.5 billion and the work is still ongoing while the contract sum was said to have been duly paid to the contractor.

The House accused Shekarau of awarding the contracts verbally without the consent of the relevant bodies, who are staffers of the ministries involved, adding that all the job for which monies were paid had not been done and all the contract sums of over N7billion had been paid.

However, the summoned former commissioner of Rural Development, Musa Kwankawso, told newsmen as he stepped out of the Legislative Chamber that “what is happening is nothing but politics; they are not happy that Shekarau is getting a ministerial post, but they cannot do otherwise.”

“All they are asking are nothing but speculative issues and we are fully ready for them; they should come with concrete evidence, then we know they are serious. All the jobs we did followed diligent due process and we did them with the due sense of humility and law.”

Musa Illiyasu Kwankawso noted that, ‘ you can see they are not even comprehensive in their actions because they are horridly asked to tarnished Shekarau names, but they have failed and the greatest failure will come in 2015 when we will chased away red caps’.

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Source: Leadership

Gunmen Kill Abia Vigilante Member

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Gunmen Kill Abia Vigilante Member
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Unknown gunmen have killed a member of the Abia State Vigilante Services (AVS) popularly known as Bakassi Boys in Aba.

 

247ureports.com gathered that the gunmen who invaded No. 66 Item road, Aba robbed the occupants of the building of their cash as well as other valuables.

 

When they got into one of the rooms and found out that one Isreal Njoku was a member of the Abia State Vigilante Services, the gunmen riddled his body with several gunshots.

 

Appeals made by the dead Vigilante member to the gunmen to spare his life was not heeded as the gunmen ensured he died before they left the building.

 

As at the time of filing this report, Njoku’s corpse was said to have been taken away by his members and deposited at an undisclosed morgue in the city.

 

Abia state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Geoffrey Ogbonna said he has not been briefed about the sad incident.-

Ekiti Elections: Take It On The Chin And Move On – By Ola’ Idowu

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oba sir oluwole ademolaju the oloye of oye ekiti, gov kayode fayemi and ndlea dg femi ajayi

The elections in Ekiti has come and peacefully gone, but there are some certain reverberations from it and possibly lessons to learn from the elections. But one thing you want to do as the losing party from the polls in Ekiti, is to just take it on the chin and quickly move on to the next set of elections.

 

Make no mistake about it, Ekiti has gone backwards with their choice of Ayo Fayose of the PDP as their Governor-elect and I’m not anyway partisan in saying so, as the facts about the man chosen and his party attest so much to my claims. The people of Ekiti have always being prided as been very educated and producing a large array of graduates from Bachelors degree all the way to Ph.D. degree holders and lots of Professors but from their choice in the Guber elections held penultimate weekend, I have reasons to fully come to the conclusion that education is not the singular determinant of how forward thinking a man can be, as no matter how educated a man is he can still appear backward in certain things.

 

I recall many years back when I had a discussion with an indigene of Ekiti state who then was an undergraduate in one the universities back home. He was a young man from humble backgrounds and we got talking about Ekiti politics and their governor then Niyi Adebayo. He told me the people of the state couldn’t wait to vote him out as they didn’t know he was the son of General Adeyinka Adebayo (Rtd.). He said everyone thought he was a young, unknown, educated man just like them all when they voted him into office in 1999, but later found out who is father is. I reminded him the governor was performing, and his father was the former governor of defunct Western Nigeria, he calmly told me Ekiti people don’t care about all that and would vote him out when the time comes. In 2003, they did just that and elected Fayose in a free but not totally fair elections.

 

I had to recall this discussion with my Ekiti friend then to better understand what happened in the 2014 elections, and I have come to the conclusion that Ekiti people are anti-elites and their struggle is a class war against any form of educated elites that would come ‘dictate’ to the many poor but educated men and women in the state. Theirs is a struggle based on fear and a lack of understanding, which makes people of the state look backward in their choices despite their level of education. As an African living in the diaspora I have personally come across lots of educated Africans who have lived abroad for decades and are still backward in their thought process and mentality. Many of them still believe in sangomas, na’angas, witch-doctors and herbalists, as well as stereotypes about other people despite living in a mentally developed nation. My conclusion with such people has always been their lack of wisdom and in cases where they appear wise, definitely their lack of understanding, sophistication and what they choose to expose themselves too (e.g people, places and things). Lots of poor, educated people in Ekiti state unfortunately fall into that category, as a large chunk of them despite their education live in rural communities in Emure-Ekiti, Afao-Ekiti amongst others.

 

They travel all over the country to get educated through the help of their families, uncles, aunties and cooperative societies but still come home on holidays to live in their villages in Emure and Afao and thus their mentality and level of sophistication stays the same despite their education. The few ones who get to live in Akure, Ibadan and Lagos are possibly the ones who go on and change their mentality, sophistication and deepen their understanding due to the people and things they get exposed too. In essence, the ones back home would see such people as elitists anyway, and a typical Ekiti in my estimation prefers a grass to grace story. They see themselves in a Fayose who would eat a cob of corn while dancing with them on the roadside. They see his hardship in ‘making’ it, even if he did so by dubious means, as what can happen to them if they struggle to get an education and eventually make it too.

 

Maybe Kayode Fayemi was the unknown, young educated man like them all when they voted for him and stood by him during his travails to reclaim his mandate, but they might have started seeing him as elitist when for example he rightly asked teachers in the state to come write an Educational Needs Assessment Test and wrongly insisted students (majority of them poor) in the state university to pay their tuition fees in full before they could sit exams, when they were initially allowed to pay install-mentally. They may also wrongly have decided Fayemi was elitist when his fellow APC governors descended on the state in their private jets and helicopters to attend his final rally, and the PDP acted like the saviour of the masses in stopping them from gaining entrance, a tactic by Fayose and the PDP that might have resonated with Ekiti people who for me I believe are anti-elites.

 

Also, to compound matters you have people like Musiliu Obanikoro (a Lagosian) coming to them and playing on their fears that a good man like Bola Tinubu was coming to use their state as an investment. Tinubu surely isn’t perfect but he is a humane and likeable person (from what those who know him say and from my reading of his behaviour and disposition) and far better a person than what people who envy him say, and there is no way he would use a poor state like Ekiti as an investment. What would you then say of PDP’s South-West Chairman Buruji Kasamu who allegedly donated N1 billion naira to Fayose’s campaign?. This is a man from Ijebu-Igbo in Ogun State and resides in Lagos state, so what connection does he have with the people of Ekiti to donate such a large sum to Fayose’s campaign? Also, would the money donated be for charity and not some kind of investment he wishes to recoup later? Whatever anyone says, Ekiti has retrogressed with Fayose’s election and they have proven to everyone that being educated is not what matters but your level of understanding, sophistication, awareness and exposure is what really counts in making right decisions.

 

Lessons from Ekiti also shows that President Goodluck Jonathan can also be unseated by the APC and there’s nothing like the power of incumbency in a free and fair election where the police and bastardised military are not used to intimidate voters. If the APC get their strategy and tactics right, Jonathan would be history come 2015 as Ekiti elections has shown. Its also nice to see Fayemi concede victory within hours of the result being announced, and probably makes him the first Nigerian politician in my immediate memory to have ever done so. It helps to strengthen democracy and serves as a precedent for other politicians and shows he truly belongs to a democratic party. Its time for APC and indeed Tinubu to take the Ekiti result on the chin and move on. It was just a one-off and could be blamed on the party for not doing its research properly about the Ekiti masses. In Osun state, the reverse is the case as they people of that state are richer than the people of Ekiti and more elitist in their outlook.

 

Governor Rauf Aregbesola understands that, hence the modern touch he gave his campaign many years back including the massive electronic TV he installed outside his Gbongan road campaign office in Osogbo back in 2007 which was the first of its kind in the state. He understood how modern and elitist his people are, and also matched it with some cultural understanding by tagging his movement Oranmiyan. Its time for Tinubu and all the top notch of the APC to descend on Osun in full force and campaign round the clock, not leaving it till some days before the elections. Time to reach out to all the elites in Osun state and get them on board as the PDP understands this much hence their choice of a crooked, ex-convict, yet Osun elite in Iyiola Omisore. The people of Osun state are more sophisticated and have better understanding than that of Ekiti even without their level of education. As for Ekiti who have gone backward again, the APC should take it on the chin and just move on like they seem to have done.

 

Ola’ Idowu a Management Consultant and Researcher writes in from the UK.

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