B’Haram strikes again in Borno, kills scores

Members of the boko haram sect

Again the outlawed Boko Haram sect attacked Banki, a border town in Bama Local Government Area of Bornu State killing people at will, moment after they sacked the only police station in the town.

Though details of the  number of casualties was not available as of the time of filing this report, the Borno State Commissioner of Police, Lawan Tanko, told journalists that the terrorists killed a policeman and injured many people.

However, some residents who spoke on condition of anonymity, said many people were killed by the sect members, who went from house to house slitting  their victims’ throats in the siege that lasted over an hour in the earlier hours of Wednesday.

This latest attack was not the first on the town, as it has been variously attacked by the sect in similar fashion.

Residents told journalists in Maiduguri on Thursday that the  attackers rode on motorcycles and Hilux Toyota  vehicles into the town from nearby bush.

They added that the attackers, who were armed with sophisticated weapons, attacked the police station first before they started killing residents.

One of the survivors, John Samuel, who spoke to journalists in Maiduguri said, “They drove from the nearby bush using motorcycles and carrying sophisticated weapons around 2am.”

He said that the attackers used rocket propellers to attack the station which caught fire immediately.

“Some of the policemen tried to engage them in a shoot out but they realised that the invaders had superior weapons so they had to run,” he said.

Samuel said that the attackers also raided homes killing and maiming residents before they fled the town through a bush path.

The state Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Lawal Tanko, who confirmed the attack, told journalists that, “I can confirm there was an attack on Banki town by suspected members of the Boko Haram group in the early hours of Wednesday in which my station in Banki was partially affected. I lost an officer and some sustained injuries.”

Meanwhile, the Borno-based vigilance group, the Civilian JTF, has called on the 7 Division, Nigerian Army, to relax the curfew in Maiduguri, to enable it to contribute more in checkmating suspected terrorists.

The forces that sacked Tukur

Politicians are known to be boastful. The former National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, is not an exception. Even when it was clear that the drummers who were playing music for him had since dropped their drums and were no longer ready to sing his praises, Tukur soldiered on. He believed that the tide could still change and he would retain his much-treasured exalted position.

Thus, when he had even dropped his resignation letter, Tukur said he was still in power. He told the unsuspecting journalists at the State House that he had not dropped his resignation letter.

Perhaps, he had thought that the tide could still change and those who wanted his downfall would have a change of heart. How wrong he was.

While he was not sleeping, his enemies were also planning. Just as he set up a panel of eminent persons from his home state to reach out to  Governors Jonah Jang of Plateau State, and Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, his enemies were also plotting how to thwart that move.

The two governors were picked for strategic reasons. Those reasons, according to investigation, included the fact that Jang is heading a faction of the Nigeria Governors Forum, which is recognised by President Goodluck Jonathan while Akpabio is the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum.

The committee was made up of retired Air Commodore Dan Suleiman, General Anthony Haladu Hanaiya, Dr. Umar Ardo and Wilberforce Juta.

Before the committee could reach the two governors, Tukur’s enemies had mobilised the 37 state chairmen of the party, who at an emergency meeting, passed a  vote of no confidence in him.

One of the chairmen, who spoke with our correspondent but asked not to be named, said with this decision, Tukur would have no option but to resign before or at the National Executive Committee meeting that was held in Abuja on Thursday.

He said, “You can see what we have done tonight. The passing of vote of no confidence in Tukur signifies the end of his tenure. We are going to meet with the President tomorrow and tell him our resolution. We won’t allow him to kill the party before asking him to leave. Enough of this rubbish.”

As this was going on, majority of the members of the National Working Committee of the party, which Tukur was heading, were also laying ambush for him. They had refused to be part of the meeting he called on Monday.

Our correspondent, who was at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, observed that majority of the national officers of the party were within the premises but refused to honour the meeting called by Tukur. Tukur was however joined by three other officers namely, National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo; National Treasurer, Bala Buhari; and the National Auditor, Mr.  Adewole Adeyanju.

But the four party officers were unable to deliberate on any issue because they didn’t form the needed quorum as stipulated in the party’s constitution. The NWC consists of 12 people and to form a quorum, eight of them should be in attendance at the meeting.  Part V111 (4) of the constitution says that “The quorum of the National Working Committee meeting shall be two-third of membership drawn from at least two third of the zones in the country and a simple majority shall pass any motion.”

Investigations by our correspondent showed that after waiting till 12.43pm, Tukur  decided to call off the meeting. He drove in his convoy with his security details out of the party secretariat around 12.46pm. The national chairman refused to acknowledge greetings from security men and employees of the party while leaving. However, as soon as the national chairman left, other national officers of the party, apart from the Deputy National Secretary, Mr. Solomon Onwe, called another meeting where they met briefly.

Onwe, who was seen briefly within the party’ secretariat, was said to have “cleverly left” as he was said not be seen to be fraternising with any of the groups. Those in attendance at the second meeting were the Deputy National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus;  National Youth Leader, Abdulahi Mainasira; National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh; National Financial Secretary, Mr. Bolaji Anani; National Organising Secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha; and the National Legal Adviser, Mr. Victor Kwon.

Tukur had stepped on so many toes in his short stay in office. Apart from the numerous grudges by the NWC members over his leadership style which they silently described as being high-handed, he was also accused of not holding meetings regularly and not carrying them along while taking major decisions like the sacking of state executives, equating his (Tukur’s) personal assistants with them and others.

Before then, the five governors that defected from the party had also complained about his leadership. The governors, Rotimi Amaechi(Rivers); Rabiu Kwankwanso (Kano); Murtala Nyako(Adamawa); Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara); and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) had defected to the All Progressives Congress, claiming that the leadership of the PDP was autocratic. Few weeks ago, 37 members of the House of Representatives also left the PDP to join the APC while 27 out of the 30 members of the Sokoto State House of Assembly also left the ruling party.

Even with this, the governors of the party and the Presidency were not moved. However, it was learnt that Tukur incurred the wrath of the governors when he started courting the enemies of some of the serving governors with the hope of giving them the party’s governorship ticket in 2015.

The governors became apprehensive, thinking that they might not be allowed to have a say in who succeeds them. That was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. The governors met, took a decision that it would be suicidal for them if they would not have any say on who succeeds them.

That was why they joined hands with Tukur’s enemies and supported those clamouring for his removal. When they did, the pleas by his supporters led by the wife of the President, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, were ignored. Now, Tukur has joined the league of former national chairmen of the party who left office unceremoniously.

PDP’s problems beyond Tukur’s resignation – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday said that the problems of the Peoples Democratic Party were beyond the resignation of Dr. Bamanga Tukur, as the party’s national chairman.

The media aide to the former President, Mr. Tunde Oladunjoye, in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja, said Obasanjo had nothing personal against Tukur.

But he said Obasanjo would not comment on Tukur’s resignation, arguing that the issues earlier raised by the former President had not been addressed with Tukur’s exit.

“Baba (Obasanjo) has no comment on the resignation of  Tukur. He has nothing personal against Tukur. His last letter to Tukur was very clear. The issues raised are beyond Tukur’s resignation and they are yet to be addressed,” Oladunjoye said.

Obasanjo had, in his letter to Tukur, a copy of which was sent to President Goodluck Jonathan as the national leader of the party, accused the PDP of negating the principles of morality, decency and discipline in its decisions, especially as they affected the South- West.

Jonathan formally announced Tukur’s resignation at the PDP National Executive Council meeting in Abuja on Thursday.

When contacted to comment on Obasanjo’s view that Tukur’s resignation had not resolved the issues raised in his letter, the  PDP National Publicity, Chief Olisa Metuh, said Obasanjo should have written directly to the party if he wanted the issues he raised to be addressed.

Metuh said, “The former President was a Chairman of the Board of Trustees of our party and he knows very well that we do not administer the party on the pages of newspapers. If he has written a letter to the party, it shall be addressed through the proper channel not on the pages of newspapers.”

Meanwhile, many have continued to react to Tukur’s resignation with many of them describing it as a welcome development.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Dr. Bukola Saraki, said in a statement on Thursday, that Tukur’s resignation had vindicated him and others who had opposed Tukur before defecting to the All Progressives Congress.

“I received the news that Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has officially resigned as chairman after damaging PDP beyond repair. This has vindicated me and other progressives that had to leave the party at a point when some of the issues we clamoured  for are now coming to light,” he said.

The Publicity Secretary of PDP in the Osun State, Mr. Bola Ajao, in a statement  that the sacrifice would help to sustain the transformation agenda.

“This is vintage democracy, “The PDP will continue to wax stronger and stronger in its transformation agenda for Nigeria and democratic prosperity of her people,” he said.

Governorship aspirant in Osun State, Senator  Iyiola Omisore,  told the News Agency of Nigeria that  Tukur’s exit was a  sacrifice to ensure the  transformation of the party.

“If Tukur’s resignation as National Chairman of the PDP would be a remedy to the crisis in the party, then we congratulate him for taking such a bold step,’’ he said.

APC Harmonisation: Talk is cheap

The crystallization of the merger plans of the country’s major opposition parties into the All Progressives Congress, APC last year, was regarded as a serious threat to the electoral invincibility of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. However, the perfection of the merger has been another issue. All over the country, the harmonization of the structures of the legacy parties that formed the APC is stirring serious disharmony.

Governors of the new mega party, APC in Lagos last week

AFTER scaling the major hurdle of sinking their political differences to merge as a party last February, leaders of the nascent All Progressives Congress (APC) had assured that sharing of official positions and nomination of flag bearers for elective slots would not constitute a stumbling block to their onerous goal of rescuing Nigeria by kicking the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) out of power in 2015.

Indeed, both individually and jointly, leaders of the merged parties – Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and some stalwarts of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) following APC’s registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on July 31, 2013, said they would have a seamless sharing of positions by ensuring equity and justice in the process.

Against this backdrop, the APC hierarchy set up harmonisation committees to drive the process. However, the exercise has been riddled by complaints and protests across the country. As it were, the APC is faced with another major hurdle that may hurt its main goal of capturing power in 2015 even in some of its current strongholds.
The fissures and cracks arising from the harmonisation process were further exacerbated by the defection of five PDP governors, 37 House of Representatives members and leaders of the New PDP to the APC on November 26, 2013.

Governors’ defection
The five governors are Alhaji Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Alhaji Magatakarda Wamakko (Sokoto), Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Alhaji Abdulfatai Ahmed (Kwara).
Before the nPDP leaders and governors’ defection, slots were to be shared across board among the defunct merged parties according to their political footholds.

This is a tough nut to crack on its own. Therefore, sharing positions in the bigger APC will not be a tea party.
Thus, APC has been locked in leadership crisis in Kano, Sokoto and Adamawa states, ever since the defection of the five PDP governors to the party.

Govs are leaders in their states — Masari
Speaking on the challenge, Deputy National Chairman of the APC, Aminu Bello Masari reportedly said that the 16 APC governors should remain the party leaders in their states.
In an interview with BBC Hausa service, Masari said this was the position as stipulated by the constitution of the party.

He said the harmonisation committees in the states had been tasked to share positions and produce party leaderships in states where APC is the opposition party. “What I know is that any APC governor is the leader of the party in his state.
Other positions would then go to the party members. But when we come out with proper arrangement about the problems, it will surely solve over 70 per cent of the crises. APC governors are leaders in our 16 states.

However, our harmonisation committees in states are to share positions in states where we don’t have governors,” he said.
He said in Gombe State, for example, party leaders have reached a consensus that former governor Danjuma Goje is the party leader.
Masari appealed to party members to be patient as membership registration will commence on January 28. “Then in February, we are going to begin states’ congresses and by March, the national congress to elect leaders will come up.”

Stakeholders reject interim exco in Ondo
In Ondo State, the party is embroiled in crisis with some stakeholders and members rejecting the interim executive put in place for the state and accused the National Vice Chairman (South-West), Otunba Niyi Adebayo, of attempting to impose unpopular executive members on them.

Rising from a meeting, held in Akure, the stakeholders, including chairmen and secretaries of the merged parties, their governorship candidates and deputies, called on the national leadership of the party to intervene before it is too late.

In a statement by the state secretaries of the defunct parties, Gboyega Adedipe (ACN), Bala Umaru (ANPP) and Olufisayo Falarungbon (CPC) and read by chairman of the defunct CPC, Lekan Obolo, said the harmonisation committee of the party was not properly constituted before the interim executive was put in place.
They stated that out of the 31 people that were supposed to be members of the harmonisation committee, only 11 were present, adding that the 11 were from the defunct ACN and that the ANPP and the CPC were not accommodated.

The challenge in Kwara

Some of the faces at the merger includes Ogbonaya Onu, nPDP chairman, Kawu Baraje, Senator Bukola Saraki, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, former Lagos Governor, Bola Tinubu, chair of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande,

Although, APC, which mainly arose from the nucleus of the defunct ACN has been having crisis in Kwara, the recent teaming up with the nPDP and Senator Bukola Saraki’s election winning machines appears to be complicating the problems of party in the state.

Vanguard checks revealed that the party will have its hands full regarding who flies its flag in the 2015 election. Alhaji Muhammed Dele Belgore (SAN), the ACN’s gubernatorial candidate in the 2011 election, is said to be angling to repeat the feat in the next election, banking on his last experience to defeat the Saraki dynasty.

Will Governor Ahmed and Senator Saraki, who are now in APC, allow him? Will the Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who is also from Kwara and a former governorship hopeful accept the unfolding events? How will the party handle the interests of these major stakeholders and their supporters?

This development has polarised the opposition party in Kwara along two divides but before now there has been pretences about the political squabbles between the duo of Lai Mohammed and Dele Belgore until Saraki’s entrance into the APC which blew the face-off into the open.

Another core issue about the APC crisis in Kwara has to do with those who would never be comfortable with the political leadership of Senator Saraki which they believe would hurt their political ambition. There is also the alleged issue of the nPDP destroying APC and returning to the PDP.

APC camp oppose enthronement of Saraki, Ahmed as leaders
To the chagrin of the APC national leadership who vanguard gathered have already completed the merger process with the interim state executives which would be announced anytime from now, some members of APC believed to be sympathetic to the cause of Belgore, last Thursday at the APC factional state headquarters along Asa Dam Road, Ilorin threw a spanner into the political leadership of Senator Saraki and Alhaji Lai Mohammed in the state.

According to one Bashir Bolarinwa and a former minister for state Aviation, Alhaji Aremu Yahaya, who addressed the press conference, they particularly said their group opposed alleged allocation of the party’s leadership to Senator Saraki and Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed in the state.

Arbitrary sharing of party offices
Their words: “We are not against the Sarakis or any other group joining our party as democracy is a game of number. We reject arbitrary sharing of party offices between us and the Saraki group. The registration process and election of party officials from the wards to the state should provide the desired confidence to all members of the party. We reject any rule that arrogates the leadership of the party in the state to his group either through the state governor or Saraki himself. The election of party officers must be free and transparent.”

The APC stalwarts urged that the state harmonising committee set up to midwife the party through registration process, ward congresses and election of officials must not be skewed in favour of the Saraki group but be composed of equal number of members from the legacy parties and the nPDP.

Fears over Saraki, Ahmed unnecessary — Afolayan
In a swift reaction, former Secretary of the PDP in Kwara State, Prince Yemi Afolayan, described the apprehension and fear of some prospective members of the APC in the state of possible marginalisation as unnecessary and misplaced.

Afolayan in an interview with Vanguard said for claiming that Senator Saraki lacked the potential to lead APC in the state that Bolarinwa and Yahaya had displayed their ignorance of the political barometer of Kwara.
Afolayan, who reiterated that Senator Saraki and other members of nPDP who merged with the APC had used every occasion to assure that there was no bifurcation between old and new members, said it was surprising that both men were fanning the embers of disunity in their quest for recognition.

He affirmed that Senator Saraki and other members of defunct nPDP were ready to partner with men and women of good will and good conscience to advance the ideals of APC in the state and Nigeria at large.

Press conference
Also, some other APC stakeholders, same day, at another press conference berated what they described as pockets of crisis being perpetrated by some members of their party opposing the leadership of Senator Saraki and Lai Mohammed.

The stakeholders, who included former Kwara State Chairmen of the CPC, Alhaji Suleiman Buhari and that of the ANPP, Alhaji Taye Eleja, two APC members in the state House of Assembly, Hon. Tope Olayonu and Hon. Hassan Oyeleke among others,    urged those they described as dissidents to leave the party instead of trying to cause disharmony among members.

“The agitation of the dissidents is not in the interest of the APC but a craving to continue to massage their ego when they knew that they cannot survive the competition”.

Categories of dissidents in Kwara APC
The APC leaders listed three categories of the dissidents, saying they include those who were aggrieved in the PDP when they were in the same party with Senator Saraki and later escaped to ACN stressing that, “it is just logical that they must keep on running”.

They listed other categories of the dissidents as those that enjoy the smallest of the legacy parties and always used the platform to negotiate during election while the third category are the over ambitious clique citing, Muhammed Dele Belgore, the former gubernatorial candidate of ACN among others whom they said believed that they cannot achieve their personal aspirations under the present arrangement.

The scenario in Kwara is a tip of what the APC is witnessing in many states. Whether the party will put its house in order ahead of the 2015 election is a question that time will answer.

2015 election will be better than 2011 —Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has given a firm commitment to the international community that the 2015 elections will be freer and fairer than the 2011 general elections.

Speaking at a reception for the diplomatic corps in Nigeria, President Jonathan called for international support for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to realize the goal of surpassing the benchmark attained in 2011.

The cocktail reception on the lawns of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, is an annual ritual during which the president interacts with the diplomatic corps in Nigeria.

The president used the occasion to intimate the diplomats on preparations towards the 2015 general elections and to assure them on his determination to set a benchmark for free and fair elections.

“The general elections will take place early next year but the processes that will lead to the elections will commence this year. Parties will select their candidates through primaries this year, campaigns will commence this year, so this year will be full of activities. And I know that there is some apprehension with the elections.

“Let me reassure you that the general election that will come up next year will be better than the elections you witnessed in 2011. As we progress into the year, some of these tensions will come down.

“At the beginning of the electoral processes in most countries, especially developing nations, tensions use to be quite high even in developed countries. That is what we are witnessing now, but all these will come down. We will make sure that we maintain peace and security and that elections are conducted in the manner that will be seen as free and fair by everybody”, he said.

He told the diplomats that “I am placing before you to communicate to your organisations and countries that we still need your assistance to make sure that the INEC conducts elections that are even better than the ones they did in 2011.”

On global terrorism, the President said national and global development was being hampered by the menace of terrorism, adding that in 2014, sustained efforts through dialogue and other means must be mounted against terrorism.

On the forthcoming national confab, Jonathan said it was imperative since Nigerians feel that the 1999 Constitution that was midwifed by the military and still in place today, was not properly and fully deliberated upon or screened by the people.

MOSOP flays alleged attack on Abe

MOVEMENT for the Survival of Ogoni, MOSOP, has called on the Police and other federal agencies to ensure that those found wanting in the alleged attack on Senator Magnus Abe, were prosecuted.

A statement by the United State’s chapter of the apex Ogoni body, signed by the President, Dumka Baabel and others, condemned the alleged attack, saying that the National Assembly should also insist that a thorough investigation be carried out by relevant security agencies on the issue.

MOSOP USA said: “We join MOSOP Nigeria, all well-meaning Ogoni people and supporters of justice and equity to condemn the reported assassination attempt on our illustrious son, Senator Abe, the Senator representing Rivers South-East senatorial district on Sunday.

“As a people that have sacrificed so much in blood and treasure for the unity and viability of Nigeria, such incidence evokes in us bitter memories of the not too distant past. We will no longer watch helplessly as mayhem is unleashed on us. We will respond by any means necessary.

“It is, therefore, in an overwhelming condition of anxiety and palpitation that MOSOP USA hereby, calls on the Government of Nigeria, the Inspector General of Police, and all relevant agencies to conduct a full scale investigation into the incident and to ensure that the perpetrators are prosecuted.”

At last, Tukur resigns

Governors and lawmakers who left the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, welcomed the removal of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as the national chairman of the ruling party, saying though vindicated, they would not return to the party.

While lauding the removal of Tukur, the governors and lawmakers said the destruction wrought on the party was beyond redemption, saying that the PDP was not destined to survive harder times.

Tukur Resigns: From left, former National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur; President Goodluck Jonathan with Tukur’s resignation letter and Vice President Namadi Sambo at 63rd National Executive Committee meeting of PDP held in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, however, removed himself from the agitation for Tukur’s resignation, saying that he did not begrudge the former national chairman.

The insistence of the defectors nonetheless, one of the leading pro-Goodluck Jonathan advocacy groups, Movement for National Transformation, MNT, called for reconciliation with the defectors as he called on the new leadership to learn from the mistakes of the Tukur leadership.

The reactions followed Tukur’s formal resignation at the National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting of the party yesterday.

President Goodluck Jonathan who led Vice-President Namadi Sambo, principal officers of the National Assembly and other high government officials to the meeting said he would offer Tukur tougher responsibilities even as he called on the new leadership to be more consistent in procedures for meetings.

Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State spoke yesterday on behalf of the Group of five governors who left the PDP last November following persistent conflicts with the Tukur leadership of the party.

In a statement made available to Vanguard, Nyako said that the five governors had proved to the world that they had a genuine reason to abandon the PDP under Tukur and pitch tent with the APC.

But the governors were quick to warn that they would not return to the PDP even with the removal of Tukur since the party had become synonymous with impunity and lawlessness.

Nyako who spoke through his director of press, Ahmad Sajoh, said:  “We want it known that the main reason the G5 governors and their supporters left the PDP was the regime of impunity and lawlessness instituted in the party, and the deafness with which genuine agitations were ignored by the national leadership of the party.

“This was particularly more manifest in the manner in which properly constituted State executives of the party were wantonly dissolved and members suspended.

“Also, the G5 governors and other office holders in the party who went to the APC had objected to the erosion of all tenets and principles of democratic practice in the PDP particularly the imposition of candidates from Abuja on the electorate in their states contrary to outcomes of nomination processes, and the extreme regimentation of views and opinions in the party to the effect that when one holds an opposing view political aides are sent to insult and threaten such persons.”

The governors called on those asking them to return to the PDP to note that at the time they had been trying to obtain listening ears to their agitations most of those talking today had ignored them and at times even called them names.

“It should also be noted that on their part they had done everything possible to attract some understanding but no one cared.

“At times we even bent over backward to achieve results but we were spurned by both the PDP leadership and those calling them back today.”

The governors made it clear that the resignation of Tukur was not a sufficient reason to believe that the problems that necessitated their departure from the party had been addressed.

According to them, the only thing the resignation has done is to vindicate the G5 Governors that their agitations were after all genuine and that the steps they took are justified.

The governors said, “Our movement to the APC is therefore conclusive and the only option available to us under the circumstances is to remain there, save democracy in Nigeria, safeguard our honour and ensure that fairness and justice prevail in the country.”

Obasanjo who spoke through his media aide, Tunde Oladunjoye, on phone, said the former president did not begrudge Tukur.

I hold no grudge against Tukur — OBJ

Oladunjoye, who made a reference to Obasanjo’s recent letter to Tukur noted that the former president never called for Tukur’s resignation, saying that the issues raised in the letter were purely on personal principle.

“I want you to note that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has nothing personal against Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. If you look at Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s last letter to the former National Chairman, the issues he raised in that letter are much more than Tukur’s resignation. If you have a copy of the letter, you will agree with me that those issues are yet to be addressed,” he added.

The former Chairman of the Board of Trustees, BoT, of PDP had written a letter dated January 7, to Tukur in which he announced his withdrawal from activities of the party at local, state, zonal and national levels.

Obasanjo had hinged his distance from the party on the fact that the party had been negating the principle of morality, decency and discipline in its decisions and enthronement of its leadership.

Senator Bukola Saraki, the former governor of Kwara State also welcomed the exit of Tukur and said it was a vindication of the governors’ agitation against the former national chairman.

He, however, regretted that Tukur had torn the PDP umbrella to tatters with no prospect of repair in sight.

“Earlier today, I received the news that Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has officially resigned as chairman after damaging PDP beyond repair. This has vindicated me and other progressives’ that had to leave the party at a point when some of the issues we clamoured for are now coming to light.

”Over the last seven months, we were blackmailed and called names ranging from rebels, dissidents, ingrates and that we were self centered,” Senator Saraki said.

“Unfortunately, it has become obvious today that PDP under the leadership of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur was a failure and a big tumor that was allowed to become a cancerous one.”

Members of the House of Representatives who also defected from the PDP to the APC also rebuffed the new entreaties on them to return to the fold.

Leader of the defunct nPDP, Rep Andrew Uchendu, from Rivers State said yesterday: “Our decision to leave PDP is irreversible and not regrettable in any way. We tried all necessary avenues to reconcile our differences with the leaders of the party but all our efforts failed.

“There is a new platform for Nigerians to express their electoral powers and that is the APC. The PDP now has a major challenge because there is no way we will return to PDP.”

Speaking in the same vein, Chairman House Committee on Petroleum Resources, Rep Dakuku Peterside from Rivers State said the removal of Tukur vindicated their agitation against the erstwhile national chairman, but ruled out any return to the ruling party.

“No! Never! We have been justified that the leadership of the crumbling PDP while we were there was rudderless and had no programme for Nigeria and Nigerians,” Peterside said.

Rep Ahmad Ali, APC, Kwara, and Rep  Ogbonna Nwuke, Etche/Omumu Federal Constituency, Rivers State also spoke in the same light.

The Mass Mobilisation for Transformation, MMT, begrudged Tukur for the recent spate of crises in the party and called on aggrieved individuals to return to the mainstream of the party.

The group in a statement issued by its national chairman, Joseph Ambakederimo said: “We received the news of the resignation of the PDP National Chairman Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, with jubilation.”

The Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Demcoratic Party, PDP, has hailed the resignation of its former national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, saying it was a wise decision.

In a statement by the state publicity secretary, Mr Taofik Gani said “We have absolute confidence and belief in the capability of our leaders to forge ahead under any circumstances. The decision to ease out Dr Bamanga Tukur must have been well considered by these wise men.”

The Chief Maxi Okwu – led All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, saluted the PDP on the resolution of the lingering internal crisis in the party.

Okwu, in a statement by his Senior Media Assistant, Victor Chigozie Eneh, said Alhaji  Tukur had shown rare statesmanship by bowing out peacefully so as not to put himself as a stumbling block to party unity and progress.

NEC MEETING

Soon after President Jonathan told members of NEC that Tukur had agreed to step aside and tendered a letter of resignation which he, President Jonathan then presented to the National Secretary, Professor Wale Oladipo, the hall erupted as members stood for a standing ovation at exactly 1.55 pm.

I can’t stop PDP members from defecting to APC —Tambuwal

Speaker of  the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal has said that he cannot stop Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, members in the House from defecting to All Progressives Congress, APC.
Tambuwal spoke as the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Alfa Belgore said that Nigeria made a costly mistake by adopting the American presidential system of government.

Belgore speaks
Belgore who was the Chairman at the 11th Daily Trust Dialogue yesterday in Abuja in his remarks also deplored high level of impunity and corruption in the country.

He said: “We made a great mistake by trying to copy the United States of America, when culturally and fundamentally we are different from USA citizens. A lot of anomalies exist in our constitution.

“Our country is known as Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is an anomaly. We have Igwes, Obas, Alafins, and Emirs, who are very relevant to our peaceful co-existence. We do not need to copy America to grow as a country.
“Nigeria can have a constitution that can survive, if we look inwards, culture, manner and way of life. We must have a re-look at our past, liaise it with the present so that we can build a powerful future.

Impunity and corruption
“Due to constant changes in governance, Nigeria has never experienced stability to allow it move rapidly forward. There is impunity and corruption in high places, which have led to instability.” He pointed out that “no two democracies are the same, whether presidential or parliamentary.’’

Belgore said the problem with Nigeria was corruption, saying some chief judges were now romancing with their governors.

*Tambuwal

“Some chief judges don’t even sit at all. They follow the governors all about. The governor will be opening a clinic in a village and you will read in the newspapers the next day that he was ‘accompanied by the Chief Judge’. These things should not be happening at all.

“People who should not be lawyers are now made Senior Advocate, it is disastrous.

“Nigeria is richly blessed with natural resources and highly populated with very literate people but are constrained by constant attempts by some foreign powerful countries to destabilise it and make it very difficult to govern,” he lamented.

Tambuwal

Defection: PDP asks court to sack 27 Sokoto lawmakers

The Sokoto State House of Assembly may soon implode as the Peoples Democratic Party in the state has asked a Federal High Court to nullify the seats of 27 members of the House, who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The two remaining PDP lawmakers in the House of Assembly, Messrs Ibrahim Magaji Gusau and Al-mustapha Isa Wurno and the PDP are suing the defendants for breaching the rules of the House with their defection to the opposition party.

The suit, which was filed by the plaintiffs yesterday, listed the 27 defecting members, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the Inspector General of Police and the National Assembly as defendants.
Beyond the filing of the court processes, the plaintiffs also called on the National Assembly to take over the running of the Sokoto State House of Assembly until law and order prevailed.

According to the Originating Summons filed by counsel to the plaintiffs, Chukwuka Ugwu, the plaintiffs want  the court to determine whether the 27 lawmakers can continue to remain as members of Sokoto House of Assembly, having willingly left the PDP which sponsored them to their positions during the 2011 general elections.

The two lawmakers also prayed the court to determine whether by the combined operation of the provisions of Sections 106 (1) (d) and 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the 27 lawmakers seats could  be declared vacant.

They also asked the court to determine whether the defection of the 27 lawmakers to the APC did not amount to willful vacation of their seats when there was no division in the PDP, which gave them the platform to contest election and when the party had not merged with any other in the country.

The plaintiffs also asked the court to declare that the tenure of the 27 lawmakers in  Sokoto House of Assembly ended with their defection to the APC and that their salaries should be stopped forthwith.

Why Jonathan fired service chiefs

Indications emerged, yesterday, why President Goodluck Jonathan sacked the service chiefs and appointed new ones. The sack of the service chiefs, Vanguard gathered, was to prevent an implosion in the Armed Forces that was capable of threatening the country’s democracy.

Their sack came less than seven months after a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, declared the appointments of the Service Chiefs in the country by the President  without recourse to the National Assembly as unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, in a statement, said that President  Jonathan “has in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria approved the following changes in the nation’s Military High Command:

“Air Marshal Alex Badeh takes over from Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim as Chief of Defence Staff; Major-General Kenneth Minimah takes over from Lt.-General Azubike Ihejirika as Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin takes over from Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba as Chief of Naval Staff; and Air Vice Marshal Adesola Amosu takes over from Air Marshal Badeh as Chief of Air Staff.

“All the changes are with immediate effect.”

According to him, “President Jonathan has briefed the leadership of the National Assembly on the appointment of the new service chiefs and will, in keeping with the provisions of the law, request the National Assembly to formally confirm the appointments when it reconvenes.”

Badeh, Defence Chief; Minimah, Army Chief; Amosu, Airforce Chief and Jibrin, Naval Chief

Earlier court order on service chiefs

It will be recalled that Justice Adamu Bello of the Federal High Court, Lagos, had on June 1, 2013 in his judgment in a suit by Lagos lawyer, Mr Festus Keyamo, filed in 2008 challenging the non-confirmation by the Senate of the service chiefs appointed by the President, maintained that it was unconstitutional, illegal, null and void for the President to single-handedly okay persons for appointment as service chiefs.

Justice Bello held that Section 18 (1) & (2) of the Armed Forces Act, Cap. A.20, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, is in conformity with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and do not fall within the category of existing laws under Section 315 (2) of the constitution which any sitting President may by an order, modify its text to bring it into conformity with the provisions of the constitution.
Meanwhile, Keyamo said, that he had been “absolutely vindicated.”

I’ve been vindicated — Keyamo

Speaking to AFP, he said: “My appeal to all Nigerians is not to be afraid to approach the courts to ventilate your grievance if government has committed any illegality.”

Similarly, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, while reacting to the sack of the service chiefs, said it has nothing against President Jonathan’s decision to replace the service chiefs as it was his prerogative to reorganise the nation’s security whenever it was necessary.

Secretary-General of the organisation, Dr Joe Nwaorgu, said that only the President could explain the rationale behind the removal of the top military officers and the choice of those officers appointed to take over from them as it is purely a security issue.
One of the removed service chiefs, Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Ihejirika, is from the South East zone.

Igbo youths kick

But the Youth Wing of Ohaneze Ndigbo, sees the sack of  Ihejirika, differently, as it condemned same, saying that it was calculated to marginalize Ndigbo in the appointment of new service chiefs. It called on the National Assembly to reject the appointment as it lacked federal character.

Also, the Federated Council of Igbo Youths, FCIY, frowned at what it described as a planned attempt to put the Igbo nation in the back seat by the current administration and called on Ndigbo to resist the ongoing alienation of the race.
Reacting to the new appointments, the National Publicity Secretary of Ohaneze Ndigbo Youth, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, wondered why in all the new positions shared, there was no person from the South-East considered worthy by President Jonathan to occupy any of the positions.

Why service chiefs were sacked

Indications emerged, yesterday that the retirement of the service chiefs was effected by President Jonathan with a view to preventing an implosion in the Armed Forces that was capable of threatening the nation’s democracy.

Before now, Admiral O.S. Ibrahim, who was the oldest serving military officer in the land was a Course 17 regular intake of the Nigerian Defence Academy; General Onyeabor Ihejirika was a Course 18 regular intake of the Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA while Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba was a Course 22 intake of the NDA.

Ordinarily, the officers by virtue of their years in service or age, ought to have been retired in consonance with the terms and conditions of service of the armed forces (TACOS), but the challenges brought about by the war on terrorism occasioned by the Boko Haram insurgency and President Jonathan’s belief in their capabilities to tame the monster made him sustain the officers in office.

However, the sustenance of the very senior officers was causing underground murmuring, disaffection and grumbling among officers because it meant more junior officers, who would have gained promotion or risen to the top echelon of their services may never get there because they would be caught by age on rank or shortage of vacancies for postings, which may lead to early retirement.

For instance, while Admiral  Ibrahim was a Course 17 intake, next to him in the Navy, Vice Admiral Ezeoba was a Course 22 intake while their subordinates’ were courses 24 and above with implications that the next looming retirements of officers would have consumed up to Courses 25 and 26, who are the future of the Navy.

In the Army, Ihejirika as Course 18 and still serving meant that many of his juniors have gone on retirement and more would still have gone as the army had become top-heavy and there must be weeding out for the triangle to maintain its shape.

Need to avert implosion

Consequently, an internal explosion was imminent and the question arose, as to whether President Jonathan was unaware of the terms and conditions of service which stipulates 56 years of age and 35 years in service.

Moreover, many junior generals, Rear Admirals and Air Vice Marshals were being retired in compliance with the TACOS to the detriment of the armed forces.

Vanguard gathered that many of the retiring officers petitioned the National Assembly to bring to the notice of their representatives, the fate that may befall their junior colleagues if nothing was done about the anomaly, though they acknowledged that Jonathan has the prerogative to keep a service chief as long as he wanted.

Aside these reasons, Vanguard was told that the President was convinced that the dangers posed by the Boko Haram menace had been sufficiently curtailed by the service chiefs especially with the innovations brought about by Lt. General Ihejirika.

Minimah: New Army Chief

Regarding the new appointments, Major General Minimah, who hails from Rivers State and is a Course 24 intake of the NDA, was until his appointment, the Commander, Infantry Corps.

He was at several times, Brigade Commander 1 Brigade, Sokoto, and General officer Commanding 81 divisions, Lagos. He was redeployed to Jaji as the Commander of Infantry Corps after the unfortunate bombing of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College by Boko Haram terrorists last year. Minimah was born on July 27, 1959.

Jibrin: New  Naval Chief
Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin was at the Defence Headquarters before his appointment. He was at several times, the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Naval Command, Chief of Logistics at Naval Headquarters and Commandant, Defence Intelligence School. He hails from Kogi State.

Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin was born on September 16, 1959 and joined the Navy as a member of the Nigerian Defence Academy’s 24 Regular Course.

Amosu: New Air Force Chief

Air Vice Marshal Amosu, the new Chief of Air Staff, hails from Lagos State. At several times, he was the Commander, Presidential Air Fleet, Director of Operations at NAF Headquarters and Air Officer Commanding Tactical Air Command, Makurdi.
Air Vice Marshal Amosu was born on August 1, 1958 and joined the Air Force as a member of the Nigerian Defence Academy’s 25 Regular Course.

Badeh: Defence Chief

Air Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh, formerly the Chief of Air Staff and now Chief of Defence Staff, hails from Adamawa state.
Badeh was born on January 10, 1957 and joined the Air Force as a member of the Nigerian Defence Academy’s  21 Regular Course.

Amaechi-led NGF asks N-Assembly to probe missing N8.5trn oil money

GOVERNOR  Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State-led Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, has asked the National Assembly, to as a matter of urgency, appoint a reputable accounting firm to carry out a forensic investigation over the alleged missing $49.8 billion (about N8.5 trillion) oil money.

*Governor, Rotimi Amaechi

The alleged missing money is equivalent to two years of the country’s annual budgets.

The demand was contained in a communiqué issued after the NGF’s meeting at Rivers State Governors’ Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja, yesterday.

The governors said that the recent decline in revenue accruing from the Federation Account to the 36 states and Abuja was occasioned by alleged diversion of oil money just as they accused President Goodluck Jonathan of clear breach of constitutional provisions in his presentation of the 2014 budget.

The communiqué was read by the NGF Chairman, Amaechi.

He said, “we members of the NGF, at our meeting today (yesterday), at the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge, Abuja deliberated on a number of issues and resolved as follows: On the issue of the missing $49.8 billion (N8.5 trillion) or equivalent of two years of the national budget, there is no evidence that this amount was paid into the Federation Account or duly appropriated.

“We, accordingly, call on the National Assembly to institute a comprehensive independent forensic audit by an international reputable firm. We fear that the recent decline of states’ revenues is not unconnected with the financial diversion.

“In clear breach of the provision of Section 11, Part II of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 which requires the Federal Government to hold consultations with states before the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, is laid before the National Assembly; consultation with states on the MTEF and Fiscal Strategy Paper (2014-2016) did not hold. The National Economic Council, NEC, meeting where issues of this nature would have been discussed last held four months ago.

“We note with total dismay the recent violent attacks and killings that have taken place in Borno State as well as the attack on the father of the Kano State Governor, Alhaji Rabiu Kwakwanso. We also condemn the flagrant violation of the rights of citizens to freely assemble in Rivers State by the Nigerian Police; the excessive use of force against unarmed citizens in the exercise of their fundamental rights and the shooting of Senator Magnus Abe.

“The financial irregularities relating to public accounting, the lack of compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, and the recent security breaches are not unconnected with the refusal of the Federal Government to convene meetings of statutory institutions created in the Constitution such as the National Economic Council, NEC, the Council of State, the Nigeria Police Council and meetings of the Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC. We urge a return to the path of constitutionalism.”

Present at the meeting were the governors of Edo, Ekiti, Rivers, Lagos and Imo States. They also included the deputy governors of Nasarawa, Kwara, Zamfara, Kano and Jigawa States.