I took Otedola’s N96m bribe to expose him –Lawan

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CONTRARY to his insistence on Sunday that he did not meet with or receive any bribe from anybody, documents in possession of The PUNCH showed that Chairman of the House of Representatives probe panel on fuel subsidy mismanagement, Farouk Lawal, indeed accepted $500,000 from billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola. Clerk of the committee, Boniface Emenalo, also received $100,000 from the businessman.The sums added up to the $600,000 bribery scandal rocking the House committee which recently exposed how some subsidy thieves robbed the nation of whopping N1.7trn.

Farouk and Emenalo, as the documents, mostly correspondence, indicated, however let in the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, into the “attempt” by Otedola to bribe them.

Also, there were indications in the correspondence that Lawan intimated the House committee chairman on Drugs/Narcotics and Financial Crimes, Adams Jagaba.

Sundry documents

In one of the documents sourced by our correspondents in Abuja on Monday, Lawan, in a letter to Jagaba, wrote, “Attached (to the letter) is the sum of five hundred thousand dollars only offered to me with another promise of two million, five hundred thousand dollars.” Another letter written by Emenalo to Lawan read, “I wish to inform you that I was on his invitation, at the residence of their Chairman, Mr. Femi Otedola, in Maitama (Aso Drive) this morning and he offered me the sum of one hundred thousand US dollars in two bundles of $50,000 each. The money is herewith forwarded as evidence.”

Another letter, reference number,CR:3000/IGP.SEC/STF/FHQ/ABJ/VOL 2/309 indicated that the IG directed “a discreet investigation into the matter.” The letter was signed by Commissioner of Police, Special Task Force, Ali Amodu.

Both Jagaba and the police on Monday declined comments on their involvement in the matter.While Jagaba told our correspondent that he could not comment on the matter on the telephone, spokesman for the police, Frank Mba, said he had yet to get an update on the probe.

“I was unable to reach CP Ali Amodu who is handling the investigation but I will get back to you once I get an update on the matter,” he said on the telephone on Monday.

Obasanjo, Mark view video

The fresh insight into the bribery scandal came as The PUNCH learnt on Monday how the video recording of the transaction between Lawan and Otedola had been shown to President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice-President Namadi Sambo, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Senate President David Mark and House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal. Otedola had revealed in an interview with THIS DAY newspaper how he involved the security agents to supervise Lawan’s persistent demand for a bribe from him. He also narrated how he released a total sum of $620,000 to Lawan and Emenalo in three tranches, all monitored and recorded by the security agents.

 

The ad hoc committee chairman said in another letter that he did not raise the issue of Otedola’s pressure on him on the floor of the House because it would overshadow the essence of the fuel subsidy probe. Lawan stated in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The PUNCH on Monday that, “I had considered bringing this issue as a matter of privilege on the floor of the House later today (April 24), but I am concerned that the controversy it will generate will dwarf the contents of the report, which needs public attention so that necessary reforms in the sector could be affected.”

The ad hoc committee chairman added that Otedola issued veiled verbal threats against him. He said, “Given the desperation of Mr. Otedola, handling this matter, in a firm but diplomatic manner is necessary as he has also made some veiled threats which put me and members of the committee in a delicate situation.”The ad hoc committee chairman also disclosed that the clerk of the committee, Emenalo, had in a letter written to him on April 24, 2012, said Otedola offered him $100,000.

Threat allegation

Lawan also stated that the police were aware of the offer of a bribe as the Acting Inspector-General in a letter dated, May 9, 2012, directed the task force on investigation to meet him.Lawan explained that in a letter dated May 31, 2012, he told the IGP that the matter (bribe offer) had been referred to the relevant committee of the House for legislative action. He said that he promised that the House would inform him about the outcome of the legislative action. According to him, the IGP in a letter to the Speaker of the House, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, dated June 4, 2012, stated that a detailed criminal investigation had been ordered into the matter.In the letter titled, “Investigation activities: Letter of invitation in a case of criminal conspiracy and attempt to pervert the course of justice by offering gratification,” the office of the IGP stated that “the Inspector General of Police has directed a detailed criminal investigation into the matter.”

Calls for investigation

The President of the Campaign for Democracy, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, has however called on the EFCC to investigate the bribery allegation against Lawan. Okei-Odumakin, in an interview with one of our correspondents on Monday berated the EFCC for not prosecuting those indicted by the committee.She said that while the anti-graft agency had found it convenient to prosecute the Chairman of the House Committee on the Capital Market, it had found it difficult to prosecute oil thieves.

The CD president said, “The EFCC is prosecuting Hembe with N600,000 estacode, yet it has not done anything to the subsidy thieves who stole the country broke.

“If there is any allegation, it should be investigated. The EFCC should work rather than play media shield.” Also, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre on Monday called for probe of the bribery scandal.

This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja and signed by executive director of CISLAC, Mallam Auwal Ibrahim.

 

The statement called on the National Assembly and the executive arm of government “not to let the current scandal serve as a straw to bury the probe report under the carpet”.It advised the leadership of the House to urgently institute a thorough investigation into the alleged bribery and involve anti-graft agencies to also probe the circumstances and reality of all claims.

“Those indicted by the report may go to their wits’ end in order to rubbish an exercise that is widely applauded by Nigerians in view of the nasty dealings it uncovered”, CISLAC said.

A lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, also on Monday expressed shock over the bribery allegation levelled against Lawan. Sagay, who spoke with one of our correspondents on Monday said the development was saddening, describing it as a tragedy which spelled doom for the future of Nigeria. The Save Nigeria Group asked security operatives to invite both Otedola and Lawan for interrogation.

Spokesman for the group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said such an invitation was necessary to clear the air about the allegation that Lawan collected $600,000 bribe from the oil marketer.Odumakin said if it was ascertained that money actually changed hands, the giver and the taker must be punished. He, however, advised Nigerians not to allow the issue to distract them from demanding the prosecution of the subsidy thieves.

Odumakin said, “Both Otedola and Lawan should be invited by security agencies to ascertain the veracity of this allegation. If it is true that money changed hands, the giver and the taker must be punished. Nigerians must not allow this to distract them from the demand for the prosecution of the subsidy thieves which this latest video production by the Presidency clearly wants to achieve.”Meanwhile, our correspondents learnt on Monday that the EFCC was planning to use Otedola as a prosecution witness against Lawan. Sources within the commission said though Otedola had not been officially queried over the role he played in the bribery saga, it was said that since he carried the security agencies along, he might be used to nail the lawmakers.

“Yes, we may use Otedola as a prosecuting witness in the case. But we are still carrying out our discreet investigation. When that has been sufficiently done, then we will swing into action,” the source added.

Source (The Punch)

Uduaghan Recieves Obodo, Mikel Obi In Asaba, Says Government Was Determined To Check Kidnapping, Other Crimes

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Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has stated his administration’s commitment in reducing Kidnapping and other criminal activities in the state to the barest minimum.

Dr. Uduaghan who stated this while introducing Nigeria internationals, Mikel Obi of Chelsea FC and Christian Obodo of Lecce FC, a second division club in Italy to stakeholders in the Agricultural Sector during a Town Hall meeting in Asaba frowned at youths involving in kidnapping.

He explained that his administration was making frantic efforts to engage youths in the state and charged them to co-operate with government in order to curb criminal activities in the state.

The governor said government has made several efforts to tackle the issue of kidnapping and arm robbery in the state and called on Deltans to co-operate with security agencies by furnishing them with adequate information.

He noted that his administration has purchased enough equipment to help security operatives fish out these kidnappers adding that intelligence gathering was very important in this aspect.

Governor Uduaghan advised Deltans not to pay ransom on kidnap victims as it would encourage those involved in the act to continue with the criminal activities.

“Obodo was a victim of youth kidnap… we did not pay any ransom for his release. The government has made several efforts to clamp down on kidnappers. If you know them tell them to leave this state, it will no longer be conducive for them to operate”, he stated.

He continued “I call on Deltans whose family members have been kidnapped not to pay ransom to these kidnappers again, our security operatives are working hard, that is why we are stressing on the importance of intelligence gathering. Most of the victims released were as a result of information from people.”

Explaining further, he advised Deltans to have knowledge of those leaving in their neighbourhood saying “it is important that we know about our neighbours, if you have a neighbour who stays at home all through the day and goes out only at night and live an expensive life, it is mandatory that you report such person to security operatives.”

In a brief response, Mr. Christian Obodo thanked God for his release and appreciated the state government and security operatives for the effort made in effecting his release.

He also commended Deltans for their prayers for him during the period of his kidnap especially his church members and promised to be more committed to the service Of God.

“I thank all Deltans for their effort in ensuring my release from the kidnappers den. I sincerely thank the state government, the Commissioner for youth and above all l thank God almighty for my release. I will continue to serve God.”

Mr. Obodo advised youths in the state to fully embrace the empowerment programs of the state government and be productive rather than involving in criminal activities.

 

Christian Obodo Visits Uduaghan

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Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State (right) and Christian Obodo of Udinese FC, Italy (left) when he visited the governor in Government House, Asaba following his rescue from the hands of kidnappers.

 

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State (middle) Christian Obodo of Udinese FC, Italy (left) and Mikel Obi of Chelsea FC (right) when Obodo visited the governor in Government House, Asaba following his rescue from the hands of the kidnappers.
Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State (left) with Mikel Obi of Chelsea FC (right) when Christian Obodo visited the governor in Government House, Asaba following his rescue from the hands of kidnappers, yesterday.

 

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State (middle), Christian Obodo of Udinese Football Club, Italy (left) and Mikel Obi of Chelsea FC (right) when Obodo visited the governor Government House, Asaba following his rescue from the hands of the kidnappers, yesterday

Bauchi State Governor Inspects Projects Valued N11.6billion

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The controversy surrounding some of the recently awarded contracts in Bauchi State appears to finally be on the receding end – as the Governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda has began a tour of assessment of the project sites. As 247ureports.com learnt, the Governor will tour selected project sites in the State today [June 11, 2012].

Primarily on the list of project sites to tour include the Bauchi International Airport awarded for the contract sum of N7.98billion – and the Federal Teaching Hospital awarded for the contract sum of N2.6billion. The federal teaching hospital had caused some uproar due to the site selection. One of the campuses of the Abubakar Tatar Ali Polytechnic was selected at the site for the hospital. The campus was thus earmarked for demolition. Following mild protests by the staff and the students, the State administration managed to reach an understanding that enabled for the contract work to continue – while the staff and the students are placated.

Gov Isa Yuguda on Site Inspection - International Airport

As understood, both contracts which the state has embarked on will be reimbursed upon completion by the federal government. The contract award had raised eyebrows within the Bauchi State government and within informed spectators of the activities at the government over the price tag of the projects – summing nearly N11.6billion – occurring concurrently. Others raised concerns over the customary 70% mobilization fee disbursed to the contractors – before the start of the projects.

It is for this reason, as 247ureports.com gathered that Governor Isa Yuguda took particular interest in assuring the aforementioned projects are carried to completion without hitches. The Governor had promise the people of Bauchi State the completion of the international airport within 18months – to be ready in time to serve the pilgrims of 2013 hajj.

 

Imo Government, Artisans In Partnership On Security

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As part of the strategies mapped out to fight crime and insecurity in
Imo, the state government has struck an agreement with artisans to
fish out the bad eggs in their midst.
It was also agreed that to restore sanity in Owerri capital city,
artisans would relocate immediately to the designated clusters and
markets.
Gov. Okorocha who stated this in a meeting with artisans in Owerri,
said having declared total war on kidnapping and other forms of
criminality, artisans should equally join in the collective fight to
make Imo safer for more investments.
He said “It is a known fact that there are some bad elements in your
midst. Government has resolved henceforth to partner with you in the
fight against crime which will definitely lead to the fishing out of
those suspected criminals. We must collectively fight crime to ensure
that our state is safer for more investment.”
The governor directed the immediate set up of a Joint Task-Force
Committee that will liaise with relevant government agencies to drive
the task of relocating those operating in unauthorized locations in
Owerri city as well as keep the city clean.
Governor Okorocha however, promised to provide additional locations
and the essential basic amenities like electricity, water and access
roads to boost their businesses.
He added that his administration would not relent in providing a
friendly and conducive atmosphere for small scale enterprises to
thrive in the state, adding that further steps would also be taken to
attract direct foreign investments that will boost trade and tourism
in the state.
Gov. Okorocha, who also expressed gratitude to the group for their
support, disclosed that arrangements are being perfected to ensure
that artisans undergo advanced skill acquisition programme in the
newly established Imo College of Advanced Professional Studies
(ICAPS).

Nigeria:The Necessity For New State(s)

Quotes:
1) “I wish to quickly state that our political journey as a nation has tended to play the ostrich over a few issues that have continued to resurface as thorns in our flesh in our efforts at peace building.
“These issues are constitutional in nature and we have the opportunity to address them now that the Justice Belgore Committee is set to look into the issues requiring constitutional amendment.” ….. General Yakubu Gowon (Rtd) in a lecture at Bayero University, November 2011.

2) “. …..the nation’s federating Units must be such as not to give any one unit or group of units, dominance over others.” …… Sanusi Lamido Sanusi in “ISSUES IN RESTRUCTURING COPORATE NIGERIA.”

We may hit the roads with talk of national conference – sovereign or not – to construct a better political system for the country; we may romanticise a scenario of return to regional administrative structures, or tinker with the idea of resorting to a six-zone administrative arrangement with some semblance of fiscal federalism through constitutional amendment, but a gaze into the crystal ball shows that states are most likely to remain Nigeria’s federating units and development organs, at least, in the immediate future. Unless there comes a political aberration from somewhere, the country’s unitary system of government is not going away too soon, not until most of our federating groups are politically developed enough to understand the import of true and fiscal federalism, more so, in a peculiar country like Nigeria.

Political restructuring to address unfolding realities in the configuration of any nation’s administrative structure is a given; no lids placed, as apparently did the military sponsors of the 1999 constitution; a constitution that legalises an unworkable political structure backed by a unitary government system in a multi- cultural/ethnic/religious country.

The political leadership class in a democracy has no excuse for not undoing the political structure/system the military leaders created in their times of emergency military rule, more so, when such creations of military leaders portend political instability for the country.

The only thing constant in most country’s political structure is change in the political structure itself. For example, Italy of 110 provinces is more than 150 years old, but it created new provinces (similar to Nigeria’s states) just before the last decade; and in recent times, it has gradually conceded to demands for true and fiscal federalism from its restive northerners. Until it was considerably appeased, north of Italy was on the verge of breaking away from the country mid last decade for absence of true and fiscal federalism and other structural imbalances in the country’s polity.

Nigeria’s extant political structure was apparently engineered by military leaders for pecuniary and hyper-political representation purposes that benefit some favoured Nigerian groups – at the expense of others. The effect of state creation today is that infrastructural development has remained nearly arrested in pre-1967 once thriving provinces in the south of Nigeria, mostly in the south-east, as those provinces remain merged two or three in one state. Outside the south-east, many pre-1967 provinces were divided to form states and that fuelled development in those areas.

South-east area’s (zone’s) population is under-represented in any representative political gathering of Nigerians, more so, in the country’s legislative circles. Anywhere else in Nigeria, the population of people of south-east origin normally comes second after the indigenous population. At any turn, this south-east population everywhere must resort to the five-states-only structure in the south-east area for participation in Nigeria’s political process. For political representation, three senators are drawn from each state for the country’s senate.
School enrolment is a very reliable index for population estimation anywhere in the world. Imo state registered 125,865 candidates in the last universities matriculation examination, but the total registration figures in the same examination for some six other states could not equal or surpass Imo state’s enrolment figures. People of Imo state are the most seriously short-hanged considering that development in every state is largely dependent on the dole it receives from the federal government. If we accept an excuse that people in the states that registered very small numbers in the matriculation examination pay little attention to Western education, it then punctures the whole idea of “One Nigeria,” because nationhood is cemented only by commonly shared value systems.

How then can the south-east effect meaningful capital development when its leaders must also support its high school enrolment figures from the comparatively meagre allocations it receives from the federal government? For example, oil and gas revenues from Imo state go to the coffers of Nigeria, but since the state was created in 1976, its hinterlands have known little or no modernity;even the most banal of government’s obligations to its people – pipe-borne water – hardly exists. A vast population of people short-changed by Nigeria’s political structure and its attendant revenue allocation formula is behind the state’s retarded infrastructural development. Governing Imo state seems to be a thankless job since the return to democracy, a gamut of complex and contending variables had left anybody that took the job bruised. All the governors of the state since 1999 had called for a new state in the area; not left out is the state’s new governor who in the last three months had literally begged Nigerians for a new state in the south-east.

Many have comfortably accommodated the existing 36 states structure all along but apparently woke up from slumber yesterday to realise that there are already too many states, and according to them, most of the states are not viable, and the states waste development funds on recurrent expenditure; hence they decry creation of any new state. Fact is that such people are indifferent to the plight of those in the south-east short-changed by the extant political structure. Often times, the foxy ones rehash such choruses in order to debase the south-east’s justifiable demand for a sixth state; a demand that in a just and egalitarian society needs to be sieved from the other 45 or so demands for new states, and granted for what it is – national interests. After all, states like Akwa Ibom and Katsina came to be owing to known political necessities of the time.

Nigeria needs to create a new state in the south-east now; but if to effect this gives rise to a need to carry other parts of Nigeria along during the exercise, four other states can be created in each of the other four geopolitical areas (zones) except the north-west; and two states instead created in the south-east. To save costs in running the country’s states, we may bring forth legislations to put a limit to the number of political appointees and civil servants a state government must have. It is political expediency that endorses the need to create a sixth state in the south-east. It is deceptive and counterproductive to wish the need away based on the country’s cash balance books. It pays all for existing states to fore-go a few Naira from their monthly allocations to support a sixth state in the south-east – or six other new states – than to have the country mired in controversy arising from its lopsided political structure.

Since the return to democracy in 1999, well-informed leaders of various sectors in the south-east have calmly and patiently called on Nigeria to create a new state in the area. The farthest that could be reached toward that objective was in 2006 when the senator Ibrahim Mantu-led constitution amendment committee achieved an apparent nation-wide consensus to create a new state in the area. “Third Term” problems, and the rest is history. Enter President Umaru Yar’Adua. His earliest official visits to states included with Imo state. There he acknowledged the import of a sixth state in the south-east but asked the elders who then renewed their requests for that to table it before the national assembly. But no sooner had those leaders from Imo and Anambra states dropped the demand for a sixth state on the floors of both chambers of the national assembly than demand for new states proliferated from the rest of Nigeria.

For some of us that feign ignorance of the import of equity and justice in a country: if the injustice of Nigeria’s political structure is not addressed, the deep-seated grievances against Nigeria from many people of south-east origin primed by the country’s unjust political structure must weigh down on the country’s political stability and attendant development. Aggrieved people may not need to carry bombs and guns to express their grievances. All these years, an international source has been citing “group grievances against the State” as one of the primary reasons for which it has consistently grouped Nigeria among the failing states of the world.

Senate President, David Mark, insists – and rightly too – that states serve to extend development to Nigeria’s hinterlands; but from all sides, those who find themselves in comfort zone with Nigeria’s extant 36 states political structure would traduce him for taking such a stance in order to realise a new state on demand in his constituency. Truth is that every local government area must not be made a state for grass roots development to take place, but if not for state creation, the best we could have today are perhaps, about 6 or so regional mega cities, and the rest of Nigeria remaining more or less rural squalors with little or no modernity. Another senator, Ayogu Eze, aptly said that it is the political system and many of those that run it that are non-viable, not the states.

II
In the south-east itself, reality checks show that on a clean negotiating table between the representatives of the rest of Nigeria and those representing the south-east new state agitation groups, so long as the known parameters of viability, contiguity, kinship, population, etc., for conveying state status to any area are scored on for each of the group’s proposal for state, there must not remain any unresolvable squabbles among the groups regarding where a sixth south-east state can be located. The one that comes tops on the scoreboard is it; there is no evidence that others cannot concede to it.

For short, there are three solid and well-articulated state agitation groups in the south-east namely: Aba(8LGAs) from Abia state, Adada(7LGAs) from Enugu state and Njaba(14LGAs) from Imo and Anambra states. All the three, in varying degrees, merit state status in contemporary south-east area and Nigeria.

However, a few individuals from the south-east whose area benefited most from all the three state creation exercises in the area wear false toga of pacifists and randomly appear on the scene to ask for a “central state” cut out from the existing five states in the south-east area. During the last three state creation exercises, the varying groups in the “central area” were meticulously rejoined to their various kins in the three states of Ebonyi, Imo and Abia states. The mantra for each of these individuals who apparently have one agenda or the other different from the others is spreading false impression that people of south-east can never agree on a location for a sixth state they crave, hence a pacifist “central state.”
But sociometric realities show that the diverse kins these individuals wanted to coerce into a proposed state cut from the five south-east states can never come together in contemporary south-east to ask for such a state. The diverse interests that may emanate from such a state must make it implode shortly after its creation, possibly, with more demands for new states coming from the area. Compared to the three areas of Aba, Adada and Njaba, the “central area” state proposal has serious viability and kinship questions hanging above it.

But the south-east is asking for a sixth state based on the need for a semblance of equity and justice in the creation and distribution of states in the various areas of the country. Even if so many demands for new states crop up in the south-east, there remains an unmistakable delineation pattern based primarily on kinship through which the existing five south-east states created from the old East Central state emerged:
Old East Central state was divided into Anambra and Imo states in the 1976 state creation exercise. In the next state creation exercise in 1991, Anambra state was divided into Enugu and Anambra states; the same time, Imo state was divided into Abia and Imo states. In the last state creation exercise in 1996, Ebonyi state was created from Abia and Enugu states. Based on that long-established delineation pattern and the need to entrench equity and justice in our system, as well as taking into consideration the parameters of viability, contiguity, kinship and population, a sixth state in the south-east ought to be created from the entire Imo West and parts of Anambra South senatorial zones.

Whatever amendments are made today in the constitution to either revert to the old four regional structures, or obtain some 6-zones’ administrative structures, even with a semblance of true and fiscal federalism, there shall be no level playing turf if the south-east area should enter the new field with its five-states-only structure. Rejection must still stare such an amended constitution in the face, more so, when the document was not a product derived from equitable representations during the amendment debates. In a situation like that, Nigeria must still remain a victim of the unjust actions and inaction of its political leadership class. We must not wish to continue to have a country mired in its man-made controversies.

Benedict Okereke.
obenok@hotmail.com

Alleged bribery must not stop implementation of report on fuel subsidy management, ACN warns

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has warned that the allegation of
bribery involving the chair of the

House of Representatives ad hoc committee on fuel subsidy management,
Hon. Farouk Lawan, must not

be allowed to scuttle the implementation of the committee’s report.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Tuesday by its National Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party

expressed deep concern at the timing of the allegation to coincide
with the period that Nigerians expect the

government to be dealing with the issues raised in the report.

It said Nigerians generally believe, going by published reactions to
the report, that the committee carried out a

thorough job in exposing the massive mismanagement and the sleaze
involved in the fuel subsidy issue.

”Therefore, the allegation of bribery making the rounds should not be
used as a reason not to allow all those

indicted by the report to have their day in court,” ACN said.

The party said while the bribery allegation must be thoroughly
investigated and anyone found culpable dealt with

according to the laws of the land, any attempt to cast aspersion on
the report, to say it has been tainted by the
bribery allegation, should be resisted by the House of Representatives.

”We are concerned that this case is eerily similar to what happened
after the House’s probe into the $16 billion

reportedly spent in the power sector during the Obasanjo regime.
Instead of implementing the report of the committee,

the man who presided over the probe was slammed with corruption
charges. Till today, that report was never

implemented and Nigeria remains in darkness,” it said.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed

National Publicity Secretary

Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)

Lagos, Nigeria

Hosni Mubarak ‘defibrillated after heart stops’

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Opposition activists are suspicious of the claims of Mr Mubarak's fast decline

Hosni Mubarak, who has been in critical condition since the ousted Egyptian president was moved to prison, was defibrillated twice after his heart stopped on Monday, according to a prison hospital source.

Mubarak’s “heart stopped twice. Doctors had to use a defibrillator. He   has been in and out of consciousness and has been refusing food,” the   source said.

Earlier, an Egyptian   interior ministry source told the AFP news agency his condition was “critical   but stable”, as officials weigh transferring him to a Cairo hospital.

The 84-year-old former president was sentenced to life for suppressing a   revolt against his rule in early 2011 during which nearly 850 protesters   were killed.

His medical condition deteriorated and he suffered an emotional breakdown   after being moved to Tora prison on the outskirts of Cairo on June 2, where   he remains in intensive care in the prison hospital.

He has suffered from acute depression since his transfer, as well as periodic   increases in blood pressure and shortness of breath, the interior ministry   source said.

Prison authorities last week agreed to move Mubarak’s son Gamal, who is in the   same prison awaiting trial on corruption charges, closer to his father.

Mubarak asked that his other son Alaa, also in Tora awaiting trial on the same   charges as Gamal, be allowed to stay with him.

“He wants both his sons by his side,” a security official said.

Mubarak’s wife Suzanne and his two daughters-in-law were given special   permission to visit him on Sunday following rumours that he had died in   prison, state media reported.

His family has formally requested a transfer to a Cairo hospital but such a   move could unleash the anger of activists and protesters at a particularly   sensitive time in the country.

Elections for Mubarak’s successor are just days away, a polarising contest   between the ousted president’s last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq and the   Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohammed Mursi.

Authorities have neither accepted nor declined the request to transfer   Mubarak, saying only that he will be “treated like all prisoners.”

“Moving him now is very sensitive, with the threat of protests in Tahrir   and the elections coming up,” a security official said.

Mubarak’s lawyer Farid al-Deeb said he “will hold the interior ministry   and the state prosecutor responsible should Mubarak die in prison” due   to lack of appropriate medical care.

“His condition is not stable… He needs to be under observation 24 hours   a day,” Deeb told the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Since his ouster in February last year, there have been contradictory reports   about Mubarak’s health, with some saying he was suffering from cancer, heart   ailments or depression.

Iran ‘designing nuclear submarine’

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submarine Iran

Iran has begun to design its first nuclear submarine, according to a report in the country’s semiofficial Fars news agency.

“Initial steps to design and build nuclear submarine propulsion systems have   begun,” Admiral Abbas Zamini, the technical deputy navy chief, told the   agency.

“All countries have the right to use peaceful nuclear technology, including   for the propulsion system of its vessels,” he said.

Iran’s navy “needs the (nuclear-powered) propulsion system to succeed in   realising very long-distance operations.”

He did not provide further details.

Iran regularly boasts about advances in military and scientific fields, but in   most cases fails to provide proof they were ever carried out. Western   military experts regularly cast doubt on its claims.

Just a handful of nations – the United States, Russia, France, Britain and   China – have the technology to make their own nuclear-powered submarines.   India has a model under development.

The navy official’s announcement comes as the P5+1 group of world powers are   preparing for a new round of crunch talks with Iran in Moscow on June 18 and   19 over Tehran’s disputed nuclear activities.

Iran is pushing forward with an ambitious nuclear programme despite UN   Security Council resolutions demanding a halt to uranium enrichment.

The nuclear programme is at the heart of a decade-long standoff between a   defiant Tehran and Western powers that fear the Islamic regime is covertly   conducting research for atomic weapons capability.

SEC Probe: Arunma Oteh Sent On Compulsory Leave

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The board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sent its Director General, Ms. Arunma Oteh, on compulsory leave, pending the investigation of allegations into her stewardship, it has been learnt.

Ms. Daisy Ekineh, Executive Commissioner, Operations, will act in her absence. The board is expected to make the announcement of Oteh’s leave Tuesday.
Confirming the decision to send her on leave Monday night, a source in the presidency said it was taken by the board in order to carry out its investigation into some of the initiatives under Oteh’s stewardship such as Project 50, which is a programme packaged by the DG to celebrate 50 years of capital market regulation in Nigeria.
The source added that the SEC board might have also been influenced by a lot of the revelations that emerged during the capital market probe by the House of Representatives in March and later in April to May this year.
The board was said to have been dismayed by the level of disharmony within the organisation that was displayed by Oteh and her executive commissioners and the toll and loss of confidence her administrative style had taken on SEC.
Oteh has been under fire for the past three months when the House Committee of Capital Markets and Institutions commenced its public hearing into the factors that led to the collapse of the equities market.
But the probe turned out to be a slanging match between her and its chairman, Hon. Herman Hembe, as they accused each other of sundry issues, culminating in her allegation that he had asked for a N39 million bribe to influence the outcome of the probe.
She also accused him of collecting a ticket and estacode to attend a capacity building workshop in the Dominican Republic, which he never attended and yet he failed to retire the money plus ticket.
The bitter exchange of words between them and allegation of bribe compelled Hembe to step down from the probe committee, while the House reconstituted an ad hoc committee headed by Hon. Ibrahim El-Sudi to conduct a fresh probe of the capital market.
The ad hoc committee, which sat between April and early last month, threw up a lot of revelations, chief of which was the rancour and disharmony between Oteh and her commissioners.
When the issue of Project 50 was brought up at the public hearing, all the executive commissioners of SEC distanced themselves from the project, insisting that Oteh was fond of taking decisions unilaterally.
They also alleged that Project 50 had been outsourced to an external company which had collected funds from sponsors for the celebrations.