The Presidency, on Tuesday, challenged those who claimed that President Goodluck Jonathan signed an agreement to spend one term, to produce the document.
The Senior Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Mr. Ahmed Gulak, said this on an Africa Independent Television programme, Focus Nigeria, monitored in Abuja.
He said that nobody could intimidate the President away from the 2015 presidential race.
The Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, had on Liberty FM, Kaduna, on Saturday claimed that Jonathan signed an agreement with the Peoples Democratic Party’s governors not to seek re-election in 2015.
Gulak, had in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, said the President did not sign such an agreement.
Reiterating his earlier statement, the presidential adviser said, “I’m telling you without any iota of doubt and with all sense of responsibility that there has never been any agreement or pact signed by the President that he is going to run for only one term. He has never told me about it and I have never heard about it. The governors said they have the agreement, let them bring it. I know as of fact that there is no such agreement.”
He said that Aliyu’s statement was borne out of his ambition in 2015.
Gulak added, “We are all Nigerians and if you want to pursue your own ambition, like I have always said, you have the right. You have the right to pursue your ambition to be the President of Nigeria. But you don’t have to concoct stories to justify your ambition.
“President Jonathan never signed such a pact, but only gave Nigerians the general guarantee of one-man, one- vote and that no one has the political strength to intimidate the President to run away from his constitutional right of contesting the next elections, should he decide to do so.”
He said he hoped that a forged document indicating that Jonathan agreed to spend one term would not be produced.
The presidential adviser also dismissed reports that there was a crisis between Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He said that the sack of some Peoples Democratic Party officials on Friday was not targeted at Obasanjo.
According to him, the party is only abiding by a court judgment.
He said, “Somebody took the party to court challenging the emergence of our officers from the South-West. Unless and until the judgment is upturned, it remains valid.
“If the PDP fails to abide by the judgment, the same Nigerians will accuse the party of being lawless.”
Meanwhile, investigations on Tuesday showed how the purported single-term of four years accord the President had with the PDP governors was reached.
It was learnt that the four-year deal was backed by the leadership of the party on August 13, 2010 at the meeting of the National Executive Committee, which was held at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja.
The PUNCH learnt that the decision to grant Jonathan one more term then was predicated on the tension created in the party after the death of former President Umaru Yar’Adua.
Governors and some prominent leaders from the north were then insisting that the north must be allowed to complete its eight-year rule like Obasanjo did.
In granting the President four more years, the party said this would enable him to complete the joint ticket he had with the late President as his deputy.
The then National Publicity Secretary of the party, Prof. Rufai Alkali, who announced the party’s decision after the NEC meeting, however, said other aspirants would not be disallowed from contesting with the President for the party’s sole ticket.
Alkali had said, “NEC took time to review the origin and essence of the zoning principle as enshrined in the PDP Constitution. In view of historical antecedents and contemporary realities and in order to ensure justice, equity and fairness, NEC unanimously endorsed the retention of the zoning principle in the PDP Constitution.
“NEC also observed that President Goodluck Jonathan is serving out the first four year term of the joint ticket with the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and therefore has the right to contest the remaining four-year term of their joint ticket in 2011.
“NEC however resolved that this will not of course exclude any other Nigerian from any part of the country from contesting the Presidential primaries for the 2011 general elections.”
The NEC was persuaded by the former chairman of the party, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, who canvassed for the understanding of the party to allow the President run for election.
The motion for the adoption of the chairman’s speech in which he marshalled his reason, was moved by the Governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Ibrahim Shema, and seconded by the former chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih.
Before NEC passed the resolution, a former Governor of old Bendel State, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, had also interceded for the President.
The former governor was said to have argued that that he was enlisted in the army based on zoning.
He was also said to have informed his audience that the killing of General Murtala Muhammed in the 1975 coup led to the emergence of General Olusegun Obasanjo as the Head of State.
This action, he said, led to the promotion of Lt. Col. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua to the rank of a Major-General, which enabled him to become the number two citizen.
This argument was said to have swayed the NEC members who then agreed that Jonathan should be allowed to contest in 2011.
Before the closed-door meeting, Nwodo had argued that since both the late President and Jonathan came into power with a joint ticket, he said it was better for the party to allow Jonathan carry on with the ticket in the absence of Yar’Adua.
He had also cited the case of Adamawa State where the former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar was picked as the running mate to Obasanjo; he forfeited his position as the governor-elect to his then running mate, Boni Haruna.
He said that when Haruna completed the tenure of Atiku in 2003, he also contested the governorship election again in 2007 without the party complaining.
Nwodo said that despite the numerous court cases by his traducers, Haruna came out of these cases triumphantly.
However, none of the members of the current NWC was ready to speak on the matter.
Investigations by our correspondents indicated that the members considered it as too delicate to dabble in, especially when the rumblings in the party were already causing problem among its members.
A member of the NWC, who spoke with one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity, said the President was aware that there was a pact between him and the party in 2010.
“There is no way the President would have kept quiet over such a sensitive issue if he had no such pact with the governors,” the member said.
A Federal High Court, sitting in Port Harcourt Tuesday ordered the Federal Government to pay N37.6b compensation to the people of Odi community in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State over the invasion of their community by armed soldiers during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Justice Lambi Akanbi of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, who gave the order while delivering judgment in a N100 billion suit filed by the people of Odi community against the Federal Government also ordered that the compensation should be paid within three weeks.
They prayed the court to award them the amount as damages for the destruction of lives and property in Odi. The judge however awarded a total sum of N37.618 billion compensation in favour of the community for the wanton destruction of the place by Nigeria soldiers.
The community asked for N17.618billion as general damages and N20billion for special damages. They also demanded public apology and the re-building of Odi community by the FG.
The Judge however granted two of their prayers and rejected the other two.
Delivering the judgement; which lasted for two hours, Akanbi held that the Federal Government was economical with the truth by pleading in their counter affidavits that no inhabitant of the community was killed apart from some armed militant youths who engaged the military in gun battle; and that no property was destroyed by the soldiers.
Relying on various statements by the government, National Assembly, and inscriptions left on the soils of Odi by the Soldiers, as well as video clips on the invasion which was watched in the open court at the January 17th, 2013 session, the judge described their claims and counter affidavits ‘as worthless’.
Said he: “The destruction of Odi was comprehensive and complete; no aspect of the community was spared by what I saw in the pictures showed here. The respondents violated the fundamental Human Rights of the People of Odi, by the massacre. The people are entitled to fundamental rights to life, dignity and fair play, the destruction of Odi was not as a result of gun battle but clear bombardment, the destruction was malicious.
The judge also quoted President Goodluck Jonathan as saying in a media chat on the National Television Authority (NTA), on November 18, 2010 that “only innocent people, including women, children and the very weak that could not run escape were killed in Odi”.
According to him, the then Senate President, late Chuka Okadigbo was also quoted to have said, the facts speaks for themselves, no need to speak again, as there are nobody to speak.”
He equally reviewed the exhibit tendered quoting the soldiers who carried out the destruction as saying “we go kill all the Ijaw people with our guns, come to Odi and learn a lesson, Ijaw face, Monkey face, Government has given us power to kill, Odi is for Soldiers not for Ijaws, Bayelsa will remain sorrowful for ever.” among others.
The 1st and 2nd respondents (FG and Attorney General of the Federation) were represented by Mrs. Nkoli Awa Esq. The 2nd and 3rd respondents (Minister of Defence and Chief of Defence staff), did not make any formal appearance throughout the proceedings.
They however showed up yesterday, through one Mallam Jimoh Abdukadreen Adamu, with an application to delay judgement until they state their case.
They denied receiving any of the court invitations urging them to come and defend the allegation against them, including the hearing notice and the originating process.
The court records however showed that they received all the invitations but ignored them.
The records showed that they were served through substituted service via the office of the Attorney- General of the Federation as directed by the former judge in the case, Justice Abdullahi Mustapha.
Awarding the cost against the Federal Government, the judge held that no amount could be adequate enough to compensate for the pains and trauma of the people of the community, but said the cost for the damages given them was as valued by their valuers.
Reacting on the judgement the lead Lawyer for the community, Mr. Lucius Nwosu (SAN), described the judgement as “a victory for an aggressive Nigerian Bar, and more a victory for Nigerian Judiciary, particularly the Federal High Court. It’s a reflection of courage, erudition and consideration for justice governed by conscience, truth and good faith.”
On the two other prayers that were rejected he said, “it would have been double compensation if the prayer for re-building of the community was granted, having already granted them general damages. “The judgement was very sound and considered with truth and common sense.” He said.
Three Senior Advocates of Nigeria including, Ayo Adedipe, and Rafin.Lawal Rabana,(SANS), and seven other lawyers appeared for the applicants.
Former President Obasanjo in November 20 1999 deployed troops in Odi and authorised the use of force to deal with militants who were accused of killing some soldiers the state.
After the Odi invasion, the indigenes brought a N100 billion suit against the President, the Chief of Army Staff and the Chief of Defence Staff.
When the matter came up on Thursday, January 17, 2013 in the suit, during the proceedings, DVD and projectors were used to show military operations in Odi, and how the various machine guns, bombs and helicopter gunships were used to destroy lives and property in Odi.
The lead counsel to the plaintiffs, Nwosu (SAN), said: “The President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, had responsibly stated that no militant was killed in the military invasion.
“It was only old men, women and children, who could not run, that were massacred in that military operation.
“A situation where you turn guns and artillery purchased with taxpayers’ money against the taxpayers, is a call for sober reflection and a matter of serious concern.
“It calls for atonement for the dead and compensation for the living, for the trauma and loss they have been made to suffer as refugees and loss of their precious homes, loved ones, friends and objects of reverence.”
The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, to arrest the embattled chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, Alhaji Abdulrasheed Maina dead or alive and produce him before the Senate as earlier directed by the red chamber of the National Assembly.
The order was sequel to a motion by the House seeking concurrence with the Senate resolution on dismissal of Alhaji Maina over his refusal to appear before the Senate to defend the alleged mismanagement of pension funds moved by House Chairman on Rules and Business, Honourable Albert Sam-Tsokwa.
The Senate had last Wednesday, called for Maina’s dismissal for allegedly misappropriating and mismanaging about N295 billion pension funds and for his refusal to honour several invitations to him to appear before the Senate Committee on Establishment and Local Government to defend himself.
The House, however, concurred “that Mr Abdulrasheed Maina be dismissed from the Public Service of the Federal Republic of Nigeria immediately and be disengaged from all acts relating to public duty; that the Inspector General of Police appears before the Senate to give reasons he did not act on the warrant issued by the President of the Senate” and “that Mr Abdulrasheed Maina should be immediately arrested, investigated and prosecuted.”
Speaking before the motion was passed, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila said that, “we are not seeking to perform the function of the executive, we are only asking the executive to dismiss him”.
Most speakers, who spoke on the motion, supported the concurrence except Honourable Kingsley Chinda, who cautioned his colleagues on concurring with the Senate resolution, saying the Presidency had already come out to deny supporting Maina and had equally ordered the Head of Service of the Federation, Alhaji Isa Sali to take necessary action against him.
But in his ruling, the Speaker, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, called on “the IGP to use every available means, including Interpol to arrest Maina. We cannot be fighting corruption in isolation through selective processes. Though Maina has not been pronounced guilty by any court of law but all facts available are against him”.
Meanwhile, the House has resolved to probe the revelation of the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Ngama, that 45,000 ghost workers were discovered through Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System, (IPPIS) and over N100 billion saved through the exercise.
French soldiers drive an armoured vehicle outside Hombori February 18, 2013. REUTERS/Joe Penney
(Reuters) – A French soldier and more than 20 Islamist rebels were killed during what appeared to be the first clashes in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountain range where militants have taken refuge in northern Mali, French officials said on Tuesday.
Speaking on a visit to Athens, French President Francois Hollande said serious fighting had broken out and was continuing in the remote area that straddles the Mali-Algeria border, resulting in several casualties among the rebels and one French legionnaire.
“At this moment we have special forces that are in an extremely precarious zone of the Ifoghas,” Hollande said. “It’s where the terrorist groups that we stopped before have pulled back to.”
The soldier is the second French casualty since Paris intervened in Mali last month when Islamist rebels, after hijacking a rebellion by ethnic Tuareg MNLA separatists to seize control of the north in the confusion following a military coup, pushed south towards the capital Bamako.
Highlighting the risk of attacks on French nationals and interests in Africa since the intervention in its former colony, a French family of seven was kidnapped in northern Cameroon on Tuesday by suspected Nigerian militants.
After driving the bulk of the insurgents from northern towns such as Timbuktu and Gao, France has been focusing its operations on Mali’s remote northeast mountains, where French special forces and Chadian troops are hunting rebel bases.
They believe the rebels are holding some of the eight French hostages, previously seized in region, in hideouts in the Adrar des Ifoghas range.
“We are now in the last phase of the operation,” Hollande said. “That means arresting the last leaders of these groups that are in the extreme north of Mali.”
The French defense ministry said that a parachute regiment of 150 soldiers supported by a heavy vehicle patrol and Mirage fighter jets had come under fire on Tuesday morning.
The French raid was aimed at disrupting the militants and dismantling their camps, the ministry said.
“The French troops was able to locate terrorist elements in their hideout, to chase them and to kill more than 20 of them,” it said.
ROCKET LAUNCHERS FOUND
French leaders have said they intend to start pulling out the 4,000 French troops in Mali in March to hand over security to the Malian army and to the U.N.-backed AFISMA force, which is expected to exceed 8,000 soldiers and is drawn mainly from Mali’s West African neighbors.
French and Malian troops secured the north Mali town of Bourem on Sunday, tightening their control over areas where Islamist insurgents have been launching guerrilla attacks to harass the French-led military operation.
But showing just how well-armed the insurgents are, the French defense ministry said earlier on Tuesday it had found three abandoned Russian-made rocket launchers left behind by Islamists near Bourem.
The BM-21 launch vehicles add to a collection of rockets, boxes of ammunition and accessories previously found in other towns and in all likelihood seized from Libya after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi and after Malian forces retreated last year.
“You have the full spectrum,” James Bevan, head of Conflict Armament Research, a group that identifies and tracks weapons, told Reuters after viewing photos of an abandoned cache in Diabaly earlier this month.
“This is pretty heavy ordnance – a level that would achieve parity with or even out gun most West African militaries.”
–
(Additional reporting by Bate Felix in Dakar, Jean-Baptiste Vey in Athens and Alexandria Sage in Paris; Writing by John Irish; Editing by Michael Roddy)
The National Working Committee (NWC) of ACF met on the 19th February, 2013, in its Conference Hall, Kaduna. The meeting was well attended and chaired by Alh. Aliko Mohammed, the Dan Iyan Misau.
After some lengthy deliberations on issues of nation importance, and of real concern to the people, it was resolved that the following statement be issued.
2). NWC considered the controversies surrounding the exercises of recruitment and promotions in some security agencies as they affect northerners with serious sense of concern. It was against such back-drop that the Forum called on northern governors to use their commissioners in the Federal Character Commission to investigate the allegations with a view to ensuring that the North is not short changed.
3). The meeting also viewed with serious sense of concern and sadness the recent attacks on the convoy of the Emir of Kano and the killings and kidnapping of some foreigners in some part of the North. The Forum, therefore, called on those who derive pleasure in killing other people to lay down their arms and embrace peaceful means of addressing perceived grievances, lest the whole world decides not to do business with Nigeria as a result of the emerging violent culture that had hitherto been alien to the North.
The long-standing war between Kano state governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and a popular private radio station in the state, Cool FM Wazobia Radio, has finally ended with the former emerging victorious. The radio house is now about to become the new mouth-piece of his government as, upon his demand, one of his protégés has now been appointed to head the station.
Before now the radio station was perceived to be sympathetic to the opposition parties as it allowed their supporters to air their views, unlike other government-owned media outfits. Shortly after the appointment of his man, Kwankwaso was reported to have triumphantly said: “Nakaryasandan! ” which means “I’ve broken the stick!”
“The stick” here refers to a program by the radio station titled SandanGirma (i.e. Prestigious Walking Stick) which analyzed political and sundry issues of the day, often used by those who wanted to forward their complaints to the state government and those who criticized its policies and programs.
The government’s dislike for the radio station, because of what it regarded as undue criticisms, took a turn for the worse recently when the presenter of the program aired an episode a day or two before the murder by unknown gunmen of nine women and a man who were engaged in the dispensation of polio vaccines to children in the state.
The state government viewed the killing of the women on Friday, February 8, 2013, as having been incited by the program and ordered that the concerned reporter, presenter and head of programs be prosecuted at a Magistrate’s court. Actually, Governor Kwankwaso was said to have insisted that they be charged with ‘culpable homicide’ punishable with death.
In point of fact, the linkage of the offensive program with the polio issue was both circumstantial and political. As the story goes, in the course of their assignment on February 4, 2013 the polio workers visited the home of a man in Tarauni quarters, but he refused to allow his children to be vaccinated. The polio officials insisted on vaccinating the children and a heated argument ensued.
Consequently, the officials reported the matter to the District Head, a hot-headed and short-tempered old man. And as the man in question turned out to be a former aide to the immediate past governor of the state, considered by the government of the day as its foremost adversary, the matter instantly assumed political dimension.
The District Head, a stalwart of the PDP before his appointment not too long ago, apparently thought this was an opportunity for him to curry favor with the government. He therefore organized a formidable ‘squadron’ on February 5, comprising of the local government’s Interim Management Officer and some party thugs with redcaps (symbol of Kwankwasiyya), to visit the home of the man and force him to submit.
The man, who under the previous government was the controversial Director-General of the state’s Films Censorship Board, unaware of what was in store for him was at that time meeting a reporter from Wazobia Radio. When the District Head’s team arrived they banged violently on the door and demanded that the children be brought out for the vaccination.
Angered by the effrontery, the man refused again and a new altercation began and the reporter on site began to record the proceedings. Before you could say “goruba” or “guiguya,” the District Head ordered that the reporter be beaten up and he even allegedly personally struck the boy with his “sandangirma” – prestigious walking stick!
This unprovoked ferocious attack on the reporter and seizure of his tape recorder, which was taken to the governor’s residence and all contents deleted, was what angered his superiors and prompted airing of the program that was equally ferocious on the District Head.
As the two journalists were being prosecuted (the head of programs was subsequently let off the hook), it was a big surprise in town when it was reported that the presenter had been suspended by the Lagos-based management of the radio station, said to be owned by some Lebanese.
In sympathy, the head of station, head of programs and a few other journalists also tendered their resignations, citing mounting pressures and interference by the state government. He said the management unfortunately caved in to the pressures because they were threatened that their Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) would be revoked if they did not take drastic action against the journalists. But the most unacceptable thing to them, he added, was the management’s acceptance of the proposal by government that its representative be appointed to censor the programs of the radio station.
What was even more surprising to the public was the immediate acceptance of the resignations of the two senior staff by the cowed management and its prompt replacement of the head of station with a nominee of the state governor who was his director of press.
In effect, the men managing Wazobia Radio station have shown to the world that they are lily-livered and naive, who could not stand up for their employees in their most-trying moment, the type of labor employers that no one prays to work for. What they did not know is that Kwankwaso ( gatsorogabantsoro!) is himself cowardly. He did not mean it; if they had exerted a little resistance or shown that they could not be cowed by him, he would back up.
This kind of thing happened during his first term (1999-2003) when Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the current governor of the Central Bank, criticized his government for its reckless expenditure on the construction of the Kano liaison office in Abuja. The governor threatened his employers, as Sanusi was then the risk manager of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), that he would withdraw government’s accounts from the bank if they did not sack him.
The bank’s courageous management, obviously protector of its workers’ dignity better than that of Wazobia, did nothing of the sort and dared him to do his worse. It was then that Kwankwaso realized that he did not look before he leapt and that he was such a toothless bulldog. That is how employers should be seen to stand up for those who work for them.
Certainly, there is not an iota of doubt whatsoever that the culprit presenter and the head of programs are among the most hardworking journalists that have made the station what it is today. The said program, now shelved, was definitely one of the most sought-after by listeners in Kano who gathered around their radio sets every night to listen to it.
Now that the station has been handed over to the state government on a platter of gold, its lily-livered management may realize, perhaps when it is too late, that it has lost thousands of listeners to other stations as the people dislike listening to government bulletins, which are mostly propaganda and tissues of lies that are they are typically averse to.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) youths under the aegis of the PDP Youths Congress (PDPYC) has called on President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP governors to intervene in the crisis rocking the party, saying; “The PDP house is crumbling and if urgent corrective steps are not taken, the Dr Bamanga Tukur-led National Working Committee (NWC) would kill the party.”
The PDPYC, which said it was worried at the rate due process of law was being jetitioned by the NWC for crude and retrogressive actions, added that; “the last week Friday’s decision of the NWC sacking the South-West Zonal Working Committee and recognising the Buruji Kasamu-led faction of the party in Ogun State is a total affront on the rule of law.”
In a release issued today by its Convener, Mr. Oluwole Durojaiye, copy of which was made available to journalists online, PDPYC said it was clear that the Bamanga Tukur-led NWC does not mean well for the party and it should be given the red card that it deserved.”
Queried PDPYC; “if a judgment of a lower court had been appealed against and the Appeal Court had already granted a stay of execution of the judgment, what interest does the NWC has to have directed the withdrawal of the appeal?
“And if a notice of withdrawal of an appeal was filed and other parties to the case have also notified the court that they are not parties to the notice of withdrawal, shouldn’t the NWC have waited for the Court of Appeal to adjudicate on the notice of withdrawal before going ahead to give effect to the already stayed judgment of the lower court?
“Then, why hasn’t the NWC acted on the order of Justice O. E. Abang in Suit Number FHC/L/CS/282/2012, which nullified the National Convention that produced the entire members of the NWC?
“Why is the Bamanga Tukur-led NWC chosing which court order to obey and which one it should not obey, and in the process acting in contempt of the Appeal Court?”
The youths said further; “From all intent and purposes, there must be a certain interest being protected by the NWC and it is painful that this is being done at the expense of our great party, the PDP.
“If not, what made the issue of the Ogun State and the South-West Zonal Excos so urgent that an emergency meeting had to be held to address it? Was there a valid court judgment or order that would have been contravened had the NWC not acted as it did last Friday?
“All these are questions our president and governors must ask the Bamanga Tukur-led NWC before they destroy our party and jeopardise the chances of we, the youths that are desirous of using the party platform to achieve political greatness like our president and governors.”
The Vatican has recently disclosed that Pope Benedict XVI has needed and used a pacemaker for at least 10 years, and that the Pope underwent a secret heart surgery about three months ago. As reported, the Pope, in an operation that had remained a secret until last Tuesday, had a pacemaker fitted less than three months before the announcement of his resignation. Father Federico Lombardi ,the Vatican’s chief spokesman confirmed the report, saying: “It is correct that (the pace-maker) was substituted …” The pacemaker was a re-placement for one which had been fitted about 10 years ago, before Pope Benedict XVI was elected to succeed Pope John Paul II. The fitting of the new pace-maker was carried out by heart surgeons at the Pius XI medical clinic in Rome. The operation went well and the Pope recovered speedily. He did not even miss his weekly Angelus address, which is held every Sunday. Subsequently Pope Benedict commissioned three of his most loyal cardinals to write a report into the affair. The Pope reportedly shelved the report immediately. Notably that announcement by the Vatican last Tuesday was the first time that Pope Benedict’s need for, and use of the pacemaker had been disclosed to the public by the Vatican (albeit that the pacemaker had been fitted about ten years ago). See “Vatican admits Pope Benedict had secret heart surgery”, February 16, 2013, by Sam Eyoboka & Olayinka Latona with Agency Reports, Vanguard Newspaper. http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/02/vatican-admits-pope-benedict-had-secret-heart-surgery/ .
By this disclosure, therefore, the matter is invariably underscored for us all, of the importance of privacy, and the importance of the need for privacy, and the importance of the right to privacy to the very essence of human nature itself. Clearly privacy and the need for privacy are primal and integral to human nature. This is why almost all modern Constitutions recognize this need for privacy and codify it as a legal right for all persons. In my thinking it is this primal and natural need for privacy that rightly explains why even the Holy Father, the Pope rightly withheld from the public the recently-disclosed information regarding his medical condition and the heart surgery that he underwent about three months ago.
Before I proceed any further, however, I want to implore the reader to, please, not misconstrue my intentions in my mentions of the Pope, as indeed, I make these mentions with the utmost trepidation and as these mentions are not and will never be a criticism of the Holy Father! Quite to the contrary, as I write this piece, I remain in awe and adulation, and adoration of Pope Benedict XVI, as I revere him, and I, actually and honestly, believe that even Pope Benedict XVI and all Popes have certain natural inalienable needs and rights (including the natural need for privacy, and the moral right to privacy), thus that the Holy Father was well within this inalienable need and right to withhold his medical condition information for the ten or so years that he apparently did; or to withhold his medical procedure (heart surgery) information for the three months or so that he reportedly did; or even to withhold such information forever if he so wished. Again I honestly believe that even Popes have an inalienable primal need for privacy (in many cases), and a moral right to such privacy that ought to be recognized and respected by all. So in short, I have no problem with this recent announcement by the Vatican.
My only concern, however, is about Governor Sullivan Chime. Why not Governor Chime? How come Governor Chime cannot assert his own need for privacy and exercise his own right to privacy regarding his own medical condition and/or medical procedure? Does Governor Chime not have the same primal need for privacy and the same moral right to privacy as well as other public figures and leaders, as well as the Holy Father? What about the fact that in addition to this primal need for privacy, and moral right to privacy, Governor Chime additionally has a legal right to privacy that is protected by the Nigerian Constitution? Is it not unfair, therefore, to summarily strip Governor Chime of his need for privacy and his moral and legal right to privacy?
If Gov Sullivan Chime were the Pope instead of the Governor of Enugu State would you still hold the opinion that he has committed the gravest of crimes just because he chose to exercise his right to privacy and withhold information concerning his medical condition and/or medical procedure for approximately three or four months ? Just as the Vatican withheld information about the Pope’s heart surgery for approximately three months, was it not also within Gov Chime’s inalienable right to privacy to withhold information about his cancer treatment for the three or four months that he did, or even forever if he so wishes? Or is there a different standard for political leaders as opposed to religious leaders? Or is it because it is Gov Sullivan Iheanacho Chime?
As we may recall Governor Chime left Enugu State on or about 19th September, 2013 for his accumulated annual leave. His absence was explainable and publicly explained because prior to proceeding on vacation, he transmitted a letter to the Speaker of Enugu State House of Assembly (ENSHA) informing him that he was proceeding on vacation, and Enugu government officials subsequently and repeatedly explained to the people of Enugu State that Governor Chime had left Enugu State on account of his accumulated leave. So the people of Enugu State knew that Governor Chime was away from the state on accumulated leave.
And Governor Chime’s whereabouts was also public knowledge. It was a well-known fact that Governor Chime was spending his accumulated leave in London. Governors Amaechi, Akpabio, and Suswam paid Governor Chime a visit in London and actually took a group photograph with him in London. Also, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu travelled to London to visit Governor Chime. Also Governor Peter Obi visited Governor Chime in London. Besides, Gov Chime himself had also reported that he was vacationing in London and that it was while undergoing a medical checkup in London that certain medical issues were discovered that required medical follow-up. The Guardian Newspaper also reported that they saw Governor Chime in London. So this to say that the fact that Governor Chime was in London during his accumulated leave was not in dispute. That information was well known to the public. The people of Enugu State knew this, and at a point even the whole world knew it also.
And that Gov Chime fully complied with the law prior to proceeding on his accumulated leave is also not in dispute. Gov Chime (as a matter of fact) properly transmitted the letter required under Section 190 of the Nigerian Constitution, to the Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly thereby transferring full powers of the office of the Governor to the Deputy Governor, as Acting Governor. The Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Eugene Odo, and the former Acting Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency Sunday Onyebuchi, and Governor Sullivan Chime, himself have all confirmed this, and also confirmed that Governor Chime even urged the lawmakers to give the Acting Governor the needed support and cooperation in the period that he (Governor Chime) would be away.
To be noted also is the fact that Gov Chime’s absence while on his accumulated leave never caused any governance problems in Enugu State. Prior to proceeding on leave, Governor Chime left Enugu State with an alternate head of government in the person of the former Acting Governor Sunday Onyebuchi on whom he had transferred the full powers of the office of the Governor via his (Gov Chime’s) Section 190(1) letter to the Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly. So Enugu State had a competent and effective head of government in the person of the former Acting Governor, His Excellency Sunday Onyebuchi. And Enugu State also had an Executive Council (EXCO) that continued to meet to consider matters of State administration.
It is important to acknowledge that the former Acting Governor (who was the chairman of the Enugu State Executive Council) had himself confirmed that Enugu State (in Governor Chime’s absence) had no problem with governance at all. He confirmed that all that needed to be done was being properly attended to. Work was going on. Workers and contractors were being paid. Despite Governor Chime’s absence, governance powered on and numerous developmental projects worth billions of naira in the area of roads, water supply, electricity, education, health, and housing among others were all in progress, all over Enugu state. In fact the Enugu State Executive Council under the chairmanship of the former Acting Governor Onyebuchi had awarded several contracts running into billions of naira during that period and such projects were and are still ongoing. Government services were being delivered promptly and efficiently in Enugu State, despite Governor Chime’s absence.
Many had wondered how it was possible that governance ran so smoothly in Enugu State in the period of Governor Chime’s absence. It is an important observation and the reason needs to be noted. The reason is that what Governor Sullivan Chime has done in Enugu State is that he has built up, and shored up systems, processes, and institutions of governance along with their requisite checks and balances such that effective and efficient governance would and could still operate flawlessly, regardless of the absence of particular persons. It is a triumph of the system over the individual and not vice versa. So the period of Governor Chime’s absence was actually an opportunity to test and evaluate this arrangement. It was set into motion and tested, and it was very successful as governance indeed lost no step in Governor Chime’s absence, proving that Governor Chime has successfully recast governance once more as a collective and a collaborative assignment, not a personal fiefdom. This is the reason why there was never any problem with governance in Enugu State during Gov Chime’s absence.
So in light of all the above what was the justification for the hullabaloo that followed Governor Chime’s decision to withhold his medical condition/ procedure information for the three to four months that he did before he finally disclosed that information to the public on 11thFebruary, 2013? Was the contrived and engineered uproar justified? Was the public not repeatedly told that Governor Chime was on accumulated leave, and was he, in fact not, on accumulated leave? Was the public not repeatedly told that Gov Chime was in London as, in fact, he was in London? Did Governor Chime then have any legal obligation to immediately publicly disclose that he was undergoing cancer treatment on out-patient basis while on his accumulated leave in London? Did the public have a legal “right to know” this information as some have claimed?
The truth and stark reality of the matter is that Governor Chime was legally and properly away on accumulated leave and whatever he may have legally done during his accumulated leave (including attending to any medical issues) was entirely his affair. There was no LEGAL obligation mandating Gov Chime to tell anyone what he was doing during his vacation to the extent that such activity was legal. Quite to the contrary, Gov Chime’s LEGAL right to privacy as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution empowers him to keep this information to himself (if he chooses). So it was entirely up to him to keep the information to himself or to disclose it to the public if he so chooses, and in the event that he wished to disclose the information to the public, that he had the right to do so at a time and place that was entirely up to him. Suffice it to mention at this juncture that Governor Chime has eventually disclosed the information to the public on 11th February, 2013, in Enugu, Nigeria.
In other words the much trumpeted “public right to know”, in this instance, is nonexistent in Nigerian law. Where does it say in any Nigerian law or in the Nigerian Constitution that the public has a right to know what a Governor is doing (that is otherwise legal) during his vacation; or even where the Governor is spending that vacation for that matter? Where does any Nigerian law or the Nigerian Constitution say that a Governor on vacation must inform the public if he decides to use that vacation period to attend to medical issues? The stark reality is that this “public right to know” (in these circumstances) is misplaced and mistaken. In fact in these circumstances, it is not a cognizable legal right at all! If anything it is actually and more aptly a “demand to know” (and the emphasis is on ‘demand’); an insistent inquisitiveness that information to which one has no legal right whatsoever be disclosed to one, in brazen disregard of the countervailing rights of the owner and possessor of that information. The other inner truth is that for the most part this unfounded “demand to know” in this case was clearly politically motivated and propelled by an anti-Chime opposition that saw political capital in the situation. But regardless of how insistent and strident this “demand to know” had been, it was ultimately null and void because it has no foundation in law.
It is also noted that upon recognizing the lack of legal foundation for this “demand to know”, the anti-Chime opposition re-dress their unfounded “demand to know” as a moral argument so it could be minimally tenable. That is to say that they began to argue that Governor Chime has a moral obligation (as opposed to a legal obligation) to disclose the information. But even this arguable moral obligation to disclose Is not wholly persuasive or dispositive of the issue because in considering it, it must be juxtaposed to, and considered along with Governor Chime’s own moral right to privacy (same as was exercised by the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, same as is possessed by all humans whether public figure or not). And of course, this is in addition to Governor Chime’s legal right to privacy! So in these circumstances even the moral argument equally fails. The question then follows whether this “demand to know” crowd had a moral obligation to recognize and respect Governor Chime’s legal and moral rights to privacy in this instance and whether their failure to recognize and respect these rights is immoral in itself, in these circumstances?
In sum, the truth is that Governor Chime had no legal obligation, and no automatic moral obligation to disclose his medical information as some demanded that he disclose to them immediately, at the time that they did. Quite to the contrary, Governor Chime has a legal and moral right to privacy over the matter which was not vitiated under the circumstances. Thus it was entirely up to Governor Chime to disclose or not to disclose to the public, information regarding what he had been doing (legally) during his accumulated leave. And that in the event he chooses to disclose that information, then, the time and place of such disclosure would be entirely up to him (not you). That was the whole point. And again, at this juncture, it is worthy to note that Gov Chime has eventually (on his own volition) disclosed the information to the public on 11th February, 2013, in Enugu, upon his return from accumulated leave.
So I ask again, if Gov Sullivan Chime were the Pope instead of the Governor of Enugu State would you still hold the opinion that he has committed the gravest of crimes just because he chose to exercise his legal and moral right to privacy and not disclose his medical condition information for the three or four months that he did? And just as the Vatican rightly withheld information about the Pope’s need and use of a pacemaker for about ten years, and rightly withheld information about the Pope’s heart surgery for about three months before disclosure, was it not also within Gov Chime’s inalienable right to privacy to withhold information about his cancer treatment for the three or four months that he did? Or is there a different standard for political leaders as opposed to religious leaders? Are there even any standards at all in Nigeria regarding this type of matter?
If you belong to the school of thought that believes that a public’s need to know could in certain circumstances trounce a public official’s right to privacy, then show me the standards of application of such in this country! Are these standards clear cut? How do we navigate them? Where are the historical precedents and guidelines for these standards in Nigerian public life? Which body is the final arbiter of these standards? Do we even have such a body? Or was all this dust not raised for political reasons just because it is Gov Sullivan Iheanacho Chime?
Of course the “demand to know” crowd is quick to cite Hugo Chavez and Hillary Clinton as two modern-day examples of public figures who voluntarily, publicly disclosed information regarding their medical conditions/procedures. But as I had noted earlier it is their right and their choice which of course was determined by their own individual circumstances, therefore we must recognize and respect their right and choice to publicly disclose their information as at the time and place that they did. But certainly one can now equally cite Pope Benedict XVI (based on the recent announcement), and, yes, Governor Sullivan Chime as two modern-day examples of public figures who chose not to publicly disclose (for some time, at least) information regarding their medical conditions/procedures. Of course it is noted that this is also equally their right and their choice as determined by their own individual circumstances, therefore we must equally recognize and respect their right and their choice not to publicly disclose their information until such a time that they wish to do so, if at all they do so. By the way, it should be noted that while both camps may have exercised inapposite choices, the determinant is usually circumstantial, but the common denominator remains the same, which is that the choice to disclose or not disclose is firmly rooted in the individual’s inalienable right to privacy.
Anyway, as I end this piece, I again underscore and plead with you the reader to understand that this piece is not, and must never be misconstrued as a criticism of the Holy Father or the Vatican. God forbid! Quite to the contrary, this piece is indeed, in reverence, adoration, and support of these two great institutions, from which this great lesson on privacy emanates.
Adeyemi Ikuforiji Allegedly Misappropriated Over N36 Million.
The trial of the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, began on Tuesday with the commission detailing how the accused funnelled over N36 million legislature’s money into his personal accounts.
Mr. Ikuforiji and his aide, Oyebode Atoyebi, are facing a 20-count charge of money laundering, and conspiring and accepting cash payments to the tune of N500 million from the House without going through a financial institution.
An EFCC investigator, Adeniyi Adebayo, being led in evidence by the anti graft agency’s counsel, Godwin Obla, narrated how various sums of money was paid into Mr. Ikuforiji’s bank account in one year.
Between July 2010 and August 2011, N36.52 million from the House of Assembly’s Cash Office were deposited into the Lagos Speaker’s private bank accounts, according to Mr. Adebayo.
The sum of N6 million was deposited on July 2, 2010; N5 million on August 1, 2010; N5 million on July 9, 2011; N4 million on July 27, 2011; N10.52 million on August 31, 2011; and N6 million on October 8, 2011; the EFCC said.
“Part of the cash received from the cash office of the Accounts Department of the Lagos House of Assembly by the second accused (Mr. Atoyebi) was used to run errand for the first accused (Mr. Ikuforiji),” Mr. Adebayo told the court.
“I cannot remember what specifically the errands were,” he added.
‘Jamboree payments’
Both accused sat in the dock of the overcrowded court room, Mr. Ikuforiji, in dark sun glasses, focusing his attention on the trial judge.
The EFCC counsel tendered an exhibit before the court, a statement purportedly made by Mr. Atoyebi in October 12, 2012, in which he admitted to have collected the various cash payments from the Assembly’ s Cash Office and how he deposited the N36.52 million into Mr. Ikuforiji’s bank accounts.
In addition to allegedly converting state funds to private use, Mr. Ikuforiji was further accused by the EFCC of signing off various sums of money under shady circumstances.
The commission said that they possess statements by other members of the House of Assembly and civil servants in the state legislature detailing such jamboree payments.
For instance, Bolaji Ayinla, a member representing Mushin Constituency 11, stated how, with the speaker’s approval, he collected N22 million in cash for members of the House of Assembly and the staff of the legislature for the 2011 Ramadan celebration.
Lambo Abosede, a civil servant, stated how she paid N7 million to Tell magazine in April 7, 2011.
Another civil servant, Toyin Atekoja, who works at the House’s Accounts Section stated that “various cash payments were made to various persons.”
According to the EFCC, Ms. Atekoja said that 14 members of the House each received N1,128,859, in cash, for the second conference and annual general meeting of Commonwealth Parliament Association held in Kigali, Rwanda.
Mr. Atoyebi allegedly collected, in cash, N3,313,721.90 on behalf of the speaker for the same purpose.
Okechukwu Okeke, the trial judge, fixed March 19, 20 and 21 for continuation of trial.
A lengthy trial
Mr. Ikuforiji and his aide were arraigned in March last year but the trial had witnessed several frustrating delays leading to opposition parties questioning the seriousness of the EFCC to prosecute the Lagos Speaker.
The prosecution failed to attend court proceedings twice in November, last year, forcing the court to adjourn.
The speaker, who had declared an interest to run for governor in the state, in 2015, was initially arraigned before Justice John Tsoho in December 2011.
Mr. Tsoho chose to opt out of the case for undisclosed reasons.
Although Mr. Okechukwu, the current judge is due for retirement in May; he turned down the EFCC’s application to stay the trial proceedings and re-assign the case to another judge.
The EFCC had stated that Mr. Adebayo is the first of the “numerous” witnesses it would produce to testify before the court.
If the trial does not end before Mr. Okechukwu’s retirement, it would be transferred to another judge who would begin afresh.
There was gnashing of teeth as shop owners watched helplessly today as their means of livelihood were leveled to the ground by rampaging bulldozers.
Over a thousand illegal structures were demolished at the area popularlyknown as ‘Maraba Market’ along Abuja-Keffi road by the Nassarawa State Urban Development Board, NUDB.
Nassarawa State Governor, Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura had warned residents of the impending demolition when he visited Nasarawa State Urban Development Board, Karu Local Government and the Nasarawa Geographic Information System, NAGIS, to intensify plans on new development control policies in the state.
The governor said that the exercise was to bring some sanity to traffic and social life in the area which is close to Abuja, the federal capital city, FCT. Many civil servants and others who work in the FCT live in the now overcrowded Mararaba axis.
There were mixed reactions from residents of Aso Area of the Market While some commended the state government on the action as it will reduce traffic congestion in the area some decry the action as being callous.
One of the shop owners, Akpan Joseph said that he just renewed his rent for one shop and newly bought another with N120,000.00 last week and lamented that he has lost all in the demolition.
He equally complained that so – called landlords that allocated the place to him are nowhere to be found for compensation.
However, another trader, James Audu, confirmed that series of campaigns on demolition had been carried out even since last year on the media and in the market. He urged the government to open the Karu International Market which he said was built more than 10 years but totally abandoned and left to waste.
The exercise was devoid of any incident as several security operatives were at hand to ensure the smooth execution of the demolition.
