Child marriage: Stella Damasus, Sani Yerima clash on Al Jazeera

By Charles Mgbolu

Nollywood actress Stella Damasus and Senator Yerima were both guests on 'The Stream' a programme aired on International News Network Al Jazeera. They went head-to-head on the controversial issue of Child marriage.

[caption id="attachment_412368" align="alignnone" width="412"] *Stella, Yerima[/caption]

Senator Yerima re-affirmed that he married his fourth wife when she was 14 years and they both now have a son together. He said he finds nothing wrong with his actions, claiming that his 14 year-old wife had reciprocated his feelings.

Stella Damascus counter-argued, citing several Child rights charters signed by Nigeria concerning marriage and the rights of the girl-child. She insisted that those breaking the agreements should be labelled criminals and prosecuted.

Watch the rest of their engaging argument here...

 

Jonathan’s 2nd term ’ll ensure stability — Edeoga

By EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR
One-time spokesman of the House of Representatives and currently Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on National Assembly Matters, Hon. Chijioke Edeoga weekend spoke with selected journalists on various national issues. Excerpts:

Some people like Orji Uzor Kalu claim President Goodluck Jonathan will truncate the chances of the Igbo presidency if he contests in 2015. Do you agree?

They are entitled to their opinions so far they fall within the ambit of the law. Orji Kalu and people who share his views can also test their popularity.

Orji Kalu can speak for himself or any platform of his, but not on behalf of Igbo people neither can I speak for the rest of the Igbo people. The Igbo are wise enough to cast their votes where they feel they are best protected.

I sincerely believe that if Jonathan declares an interest to contest for the presidency in 2015, a majority of the Igbo will vote for him based on his scorecard in office and for the sake of continuity. It is also in the strategic interest of Nigeria that Jonathan seeks second term.

How strategic is it?

A convention of rotational presidency is emerging. From 1999, for instance, it started with the South-West, where Olusegun Obasanjo did two tenures. It rotated to the North-West. Unfortunately Musa Yar’Adua died in office. The power automatically by law devolved to Jonathan.

Rotationalpresidency

[caption id="attachment_412116" align="alignright" width="218"] Chijioke Edeoga[/caption]

He completed the tenure and ran on his own and won. The important thing that has happened is that the presidency moved from the South-West to the North-West and then to the South-South.

Rotational presidency is a necessary Nigerian invention to address Nigeria’s differences. It seeks to build a homogenous national entity. If the contest is left for numerical strength as it is claimed, it might not have gone to the South-West.

Obasanjo would not have qualified because he did not even win in his ward as the PDP constitution stipulates. These are sacrifices that we have to make for the national unity. When Yar’adua died, the rotation went to the South-South which is in tandem with the rotational principle.

When Jonathan serves his second term, it will go to any other zone where it has not gone at least in the current democratic dispensation. It can go to the South-East or the North-East. If rotational presidency is adopted, the acrimony that goes with the contest will be eliminated.

Rotational presidency will also address the issue of some people who feel that they are entitled to some political offices in this country. There are also some people who feel alienated from Nigeria because they feel there is a particular limit they can aspire in the Nigerian polity. Rotational presidency will create a conducive atmosphere where every Nigerian can aspire to become president.

You are a lawyer. Can’t rotational presidency be enshrined in the Nigerian constitution?

It is an evolving convention. A convention is also a legal precept. A convention practised overtime becomes not really a law in terms of written, but acceptable by everybody.

Law-making has various stages. If something happens overtime and it is not resisted, it becomes a convention. There are people in this country, mainly from the North-West and the South-West, who want to truncate the emergence of this convention.

The position of the South-West in this matter is understandable but not excusable. The South-West, under Obasanjo, had its turn of eight years. The South-West governors, under the platform of the Alliance for Democracy, created an enabling environment for Obasanjo to complete his second term.

If the rotation endures, it will return to the South-West when other zones had done theirs. There are elements in the South-West who will not allow this scenario to play out. They were the same people who relinquished their gubernatorial positions for Obasanjo.

Today they have evolved from the Action Congress of Nigeria to the All Progressives Congress. They now agitate that the presidency is up for grabs.

They are the same persons who are putting pressures on Rivers state governor Chibuike Amaechi to do unto Jonathan what they refused to do unto Obasanjo.

That is the duplicity in Nigeria’s political situation. But if they help in truncating it, it will create a situation of fluidity. The most important thing for them is that the system has been truncated, then other factors will come into it.

Even the attack of religious politics that the APC levelled against Jonathan is something that is in ACN or the APC as it is now called. The APC is now trying to zone the position of the vice president to either the South-South or the South-East.

Recall also that the days when the Igbo aligned with the North and accepted the position of vice president, the South-West media kept attacking the Igbo as taking the crumbs from the northern table.

Remembering our history

But now it is the same South-West that plans to zone to the South-East or South-West the same position which they derided the Igbo. We must remember our history.

What is your take in the recent deportation of the Igbo by the Lagos state government?

I have a lot of soft spot for Tunde Fashola, so I don’t want to make negative comments about him, more so with some restraints he has shown in this matter. It is evident that he has realised that he has erred.

There is nothing in his history that indicates that he is headed in that direction, so people are entitled to their mistakes once in a while. It is not a reason why we should create loopholes for rabble-rousers to begin to build mountains out of a molehill.

It is not only in the South-West that the Igbo have become migrants, they have become migrants all over the world because the home environment is no longer in consonance with their entrepreneurial abilities and drives.

Where are the cashew industries, Niger Gas, Golden Guinea, Premier Breweries and a host of them? They have been destroyed. Our leaders have failed to move things to the next level.

However, some of them, like Sullivan Chime of Enugu state, are doing well in the provision of infrastructure. We have to build on that. We must thank Jonathan for creating an international airport in the South-East. It will boost the economy once again. The Igbo’s movement outside home is a result of home not being conducive for self-actualisation.

Conducive for self actualisation

Even the entrepreneurs who now throw their resources towards political contests should redirect them. It is not only in Lagos, the Igbo are also being hounded in the North. Where is the home to run to? It is the dilemma of the Igbo people in Nigeria. The South-East region has buried the industries that Azikiwe and Okpara created.

What is your reaction to the declaration of Governor Sullivan Chime that an Nsukka man will succeed him as governor of Enugu State?

There is also in Enugu State an emerging convention about rotation of the gubernatorial position. It started from Chimaroke Nnamani who did two terms for the Enugu-East senatorial district and then Sullivan Chime, who is currently the incumbent, and about to round off his two terms in office. He is from the Enugu-West senatorial zone.

The next place that it has not gone to is Enugu-North. It is also in tandem with what I am saying that we should follow this emerging convention. Things evolve. Personally the Nsukka cultural zone is being short-changed because it constitutes over 50% of the population of the state. Nsukka should be the one to give because they have the numerical strength to determine where the pendulum of the state should swing. It was done in the early 90s during the Babaginda transition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ngige wins Anambra APC primaries

BY VINCENT UJUMADU
AWKA- RESULT of the governorship primaries of the All Progressives Congress, APC, conducted in all the 326 wards in Anambra State Monday for the selection of the party’s candidate for the November 16 election has been announced.

[caption id="attachment_180769" align="alignright" width="288"] Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige[/caption]

Senator Chris Ngige scored 53255 votes to defeat Chief Godwin Ezemo who scored 9554 votes.

The result was announced at the Emmaus House, Awka collation center by the chairman of the primaries committee, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau.

Shekarau commended members of the party in all the wards in the state for their peaceful conduct during and after the exercise.

Gulak says moles in PDP uncovered

Abuja -  Special Adviser to the President on Political Affair, Ahmed Gulak, said on Monday in Abuja that the PDP had uncovered the moles in its fold sent to destabilise the party.

Gulak stated this in an interview with State House correspondents shortly after a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

[caption id="attachment_364348" align="alignnone" width="412"] Gulak[/caption]

He was reacting to the crisis in PDP which deepened on Saturday when some governors walked out of the party’s special national convention to form a splinter group.

Gulak, who did not specifically name the moles, alleged that they were sent by the opposition with the aim of breaking the party.

``The opposition out there wants the party to split and there are moles.

``They sent moles in the cloak of PDP.

``We have discovered them and Insha –Allah (God’s willing), all PDP stakeholders, especially our field commanders who are governors have discovered this, and we are talking,’’ he said.

Gulak said he was surprised that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, whom, he said, had benefitted mostly from PDP could lead the breakaway faction.

``I was surprise because Atiku is supposed to know more than any other person that there is no party like PDP.

``He once left PDP and went to ACN and he came back to PDP because he discovered that outside PDP, there is no other party.

``He had to come back and he was even given the waiver to contest the primaries election in 2011.

``Atiku should be grateful to PDP. Atiku is indebted to PDP and the best way to continue to pay the debt is to protect the party not to destabilise it,’’ he said.

He gave the assurance that the development would not lead to the demise of PDP but would rather make it stronger.

``PDP has been there from 1998. It is only PDP that has still maintained its name and identity.

``The other people you are talking about started as AD, transformed to AC, then to ACN and now APC.

``You know they have lost their identity. It is only PDP that has consistently maintained its identity and name.

Gulak noted that the meeting between the President and some of the breakaway governors Sunday night was part of the urgent reconciliation moves.

``The President had useful discussions with them and God's willing these things will be things of the past.

``Politics is about interests and whatever somebody says or does is on how his or her interest can be protected.

``They have put on the table what they want and what it should be, and the leader (the President) has carefully listened to and analysed  it and we will keep on talking,’’ he said.


Asked whether the breakaway governors stood their ground on the removal of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as the party’s national chairman, Gulak said the issue was a difficult task for the party.


``You cannot remove the national chairman like that.

``He was elected and you will remember that of all the offices, INEC observed that only the position of the national chairman and the financial secretary were properly done.

``That is why we had do to the special national convention to properly elect the other officers.

``There are processes, there are provisions of the institution, there are electoral acts; we should not act outside the laws.

``We must act between the extant laws of the land because the PDP is a law -abiding party, we must entrench internal democracy,’’ he said.

Gulak pleaded with the party leaders, senior stakeholders and other members to embrace the dialogue in resolving the crisis. (NAN)

Islamic law sanctions marriage based on maturity not age - Ahmad Sani

By Henry Umoru
ABUJA- SENATOR Ahmad Rufai Sani, ANPP, Zamfara West Wednesday said that under the Islamic law, a girl was considered ripe for marriage based on her physical and mental maturity and not necessarily age, just as he stressed that situations could arise where a very big girl was ready for marriage at age 14, 15, 16 as obtained in other countries.

According to him, the 1999 Constitution does not in any way provide for any specific age when a girl could be married, but was quick to add that the same constitution stipulates that any girl aspiring to be married must attain a full age.

Speaking Wednesday in an interview on the ‘Kakaaki’ aired programme by the African Independent Television (AIT), Senator Ahmad Sani who denied backing the child marriages during the clause by clause voting on the report of the Senator Ike Ekweremadu led Constitution review, said insinuations that he supported child marriage during the exercise were untrue, misleading and however attributed that entire criticisms to what he termed, the handiwork of mischief-makers.

According to him, the constitutional provision in the 1999 Constitution was in consonance with the Islamic law which states that for a girl to be married, she must have attained the age of maturity and puberty, adding, “What is the criteria for defining maturity or otherwise of a girl?

‘’The Nigerian constitution didn’t say 18 years. There is no definition in the Nigerian constitution; any woman who is married is of age. You see in Islamic law, once a girl reaches the age of puberty and she is matured she is of full age and she is ready for marriage.

[caption id="attachment_406021" align="alignnone" width="412"] Senator Ahmed Yerima[/caption]

“And once she is married, she is of full age. And that is why the constitution recognises Islamic law and made that provision. So if you say you are going to remove that provision, you are going against and counter to Islamic law.

“So under Sharia law, any country that practices Sharia, age is not a defining factor for marriage.’’

Commenting on international conventions that pegged the age at which a girl can be married at 18 and to which Nigeria was a signatory, the former governor of Zamfara State noted that such international conventions were inferior to the constitutional provisions of the affected country, adding that once a convention was in conflict with the constitution of any country, the constitution naturally must prevail.

Substantiating his argument, the lawmaker  explained that the United Kingdom which is a signatory to the same convention, an age limit of 16 to be eligible to engage in sexual intercourse.

“Today as I am talking to you now let me tell you the consent for girls to have sex is 13 and 14. In Spain it is 13. They all signed these conventions. The conventions are not anything to go by once your constitution makes provisions.

“Under sharia law, you have to be physically and maturely developed.

So if she (a girl) is not the age of 18, Islam does not accept child marriage as you define it. Child marriage is a girl that is not matured, has not reached the age of puberty, she is a minor and it is not age. You can have a very big girl who is ready for marriage at age 14, 15, 16 just as is obtained in other countries. Maturity is defined by her physical appearance, by when a girl starts menstruation for example, she is matured.’’

Senator Sani who also said that under Islamic law, a widow has the right to inherit the property of her late husband no matter her age, declared that “in fact, there is a formula (written); you see as far as Islamic law is concerned Islam has a code of conduct. It has every provision.’’

The Senator who gave an example of his first wife who was 16 years when they got married her at the age of 16 and his second wife, an Egyptian, who was 14 when he married her, said, “It is not the age as far as Islamic law is concerned, it is the maturity and age of puberty.

These issues are all matters of faith. As I said, some people are talking out of ignorance or out of sheer mischief. I am a Muslim and Nigeria is a multi-religious society. That is why our constitution makes ample provision for Sharia law, common law and for customary law.

“So we are expected to live together, appreciate the differences we have and understand ourselves. I should respect the views, aspirations and feelings of Christians and the Christian is expected to respect my own religious faith. If I believe in something and this is the doctrine of Islam, I mean a non-Muslim should not bother to find out why I should believe in that.

“Recently, I saw in Al Jazeera that the present Pope said gays should be allowed freedom in society, whatever it means but the Chairman Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said he was going to march to the Senate if we approve gay marriage. So these are matters of interpretations.

“In Islamic law, we don’t have problem of interpretation, we have a written law and from the inception of this law every item is clearly defined.

“So in Nigeria today, what is lacking is people do not understand their laws. Some people thought that Senator Yerima  decided to introduce new things into the constitution, not knowing that this item is in the constitution. Those who put it there were very sensitive on the issues of our faith – as Muslims and they respect our feelings and  aspirations of Muslims.

‘’If you remove the definition of full age, you remove the woman. Like I said if a Moslem woman marries somebody who is not a Nigerian and you want her to live with him, with his own family with the children they have in his own country and you want her to be a citizen of his country and the country does not accept dual citizenship and she is not a kid and you do not make that provision for women; married women what does she do?

“She should wait in Nigeria until she is 18, even though she is married? So it is not even the issue of marriage, not the age of marriage but people are changing the debate to be talking about the marriage of minors.

“Islamic law does not accept for the marriage of a girl that is not matured, a girl that is not of age. This is where we have problem. Islamic law does not recognise age. We recognise maturity and puberty and you can see this from the physical appearance of the girl.

Maturity of mind, maturity of body, maturity of size, everything put together. It is not because of age.

“When I was looking at the UK law they put the age of consent for a girl to have sex or boyfriends at 16; for a homosexual they started with 21, they reduced it to 18, now they are reducing it to 16.

My argument is that somebody who is not a Muslim would not appreciate what is Islamic law. In Islamic law, we don’t use our sense to say well this is what we have to do. We are all guided by what our creator has said we must do. As far as we Muslims are concerned, we have no option, no choice.

“The Child Rights Act based on the Second schedule, Part 1, Section 61 is unconstitutional in relation to Islamic law and customary law. An Igbo woman who marries based on tradition and culture cannot be

prosecuted under the Child Rights Act because the constitution specifically said the National Assembly can make laws for the formation and annulment of marriages excluding marriages under Islamic law and customary law because Islamic law has some specific rules and regulations.

“The Child Rights Act affects only those who conduct their marriages under common law in Nigeria today. The right is valid, it is constitutionally enacted but it affects only when you go and conduct your marriage in the church.’’

Nigeria’s Amalgamation a celebration of slavery, bad history – Braithwaite

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

ABEOKUTA-Former  Presidential candidate of the defunct Nigeria Advance Party (NAP)  Dr. Tunji Braithwaite on Tuesday, faulted the planned centenary anniversary of Nigeria's amalgamation by the presidency in 2014, describing it as a celebration of slavery and bad history.

The Human Rights Activist and lawyer who wondered why despite the myriad of problems confronting the country, coupled with the level of poverty, the Federal government still plans to celebrate the Centenary anniversary of the amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914, lamented  that the deplorable state of infrastructure in the country and  the precarious security situation are enough reason to halt the celebration.

[caption id="attachment_315014" align="alignnone" width="412"] Dr. Tunji Braithwaite[/caption]

Speaking  as guest Lecturer at the 2013 Jesus Carnival, 37th Diocesan Anniversary and 170th Year of Christianity in Egbaland in Abeokuta, the Ogun State Capital ,Dr. Braithwaite said the  celebration was a disgrace to the present generation of Nigerians.

He however, suggested that the president should celebrate the ‘’founding-fathers’ birth of Nigerian that over the years had blossomed into a strong, cohesive and socio/political vibrant force in the comity of nations.

 ‘’Instead of clinking glasses of champagne celebrating and venerating a bad history of enslavement, this generation, should use the occasion of its centenary to finally destroy its last inglorious relics and simultaneously birth a modern and progressive nation.

‘’The Die is cast!. Thee issue is not about 2015 elections or who becomes president or governor in 2015, there are a whole lot of fundamental and foundational matters to be urgently addressed before 2015’’.

“The  current generation would themselves surely, hopefully in an orderly but firm manner, resolve this core issue of their own destiny,’’ he said.

He however, warned Jonathan to be wary of the serious implication of insecurity saying, the  on-going revolution in Egypt is a classical lesson to Nigerian leaders that any charade and fraudulent elections contrived “will-nilly” is no guarantee of security of tenure of office for any unfit or insensitive government.

“The monster of king corruption and impunity in this country at every level of civil administration has exposed the tenuous and fragile foundation of Nigeria’s brand of democracy to the danger, it portends for the people.


“The  reality today of the amalgamation is that both in legal and political context, the amalgamation bond expires in 2014 by effusion of time, unless the people concerned, now voluntarily agree its terms and or modify them.

“The  single evil corruption has done to us manifests on cultism, examination malpractices among many others and it now appears as nothing is a taboo in Nigeria anymore. We prayed and worked for democracy but what type of democracy do we have now, do the people’s votes count? Are we getting the benefits of the abundance natural resources God gave us?.

“If you go to government offices, you will see huge generating sets but what about the poor who can’t afford it?, adding “If you know the huge amount this country generates, the question you will ask yourself is why should Nigerians suffer?”, Braithwaite said.

END.

UNDERAGE MARRIAGE: SENATORS WHO VOTED YES

SENATORS WHO VOTED YES

1. Sen. Abdulmumin M. Hassan (Jigawa SouthWest, PDP)

2. Sen. Abdullahi Danladi (Jigawa NorthWest, PDP)

3. Sen. Adamu Abdullahi (Nasarawa West, PDP)

4. Sen. Ahmed Barata (Adamawa South, PDP)

5. Sen. Akinyelure Ayo (Ondo Central, Labour Party)

[caption id="attachment_406253" align="alignnone" width="412"] UNDERAGE MARRIAGE: SENATORS WHO VOTED YES[/caption]

6. Sen. Alkali Saidu A. (Gombe North, PDP)

7. Sen. Bagudu Abubakar A. (Kebbi Central, PDP)

8. Sen. Dahiru Umaru (Sokoto South, PDP)

9. Sen. Galaudu Isa (Kebbi North, PDP)

10. Sen. Garba Gamawa (Bauchi North, PDP)

11. Sen. Danjuma Goje Mohammed (Gombe Central, PDP)

12. Sen. Gobir Ibrahim (Sokoto East, PDP)

13. Sen. Gumba Adamu Ibrahim (Bauchi South, PDP)

14. Sen. Hadi Sirika (Katsina North, CPC)

15. Sen. Ibrahim Bukar Abba (Yobe East, ANPP)

[caption id="attachment_406243" align="alignnone" width="412"] UNDERAGE MARRIAGE: SENATORS WHO VOTED YES[/caption]

16. Sen. Jajere Alkali (Yobe South, ANPP)

17. Sen. Jibrilla Mohammed (Adamawa North, PDP)

18. Sen. Kabiru Gaya (Kano South, ANPP)

19. Sen. Lafiagi Mohammed (Kwara North, PDP)

20. Sen. Lawan Ahmad (Yobe North, ANPP)

21. Sen. Maccido Mohammed (Sokoto North, PDP)

22. Sen. Musa Ibrahim (Niger North, CPC)

23. Sen. Ndume Mohammed Ali (Borno South, PDP)

24. Sen. Sadiq A. Yaradua (Katsina Central, CPC)

25. Sen. Saleh Mohammed (Kaduna Central, CPC)

26. Sen. Tukur Bello (Adamawa Central, PDP)

27. Sen. Ugbesia Odion (Edo Central, PDP)

28. Sen. Umar Abubakar (Taraba Central, PDP)

29. Sen. Usman Abdulaziz (Jigawa NorthEast, PDP)

30. Sen. Ya’au Sahabi (Zamfara North, PDP)

31. Sen. Zannah Ahmed (Borno Central, PDP)

32. Sen. Ahmad Rufai Sani (Zamfara West, ANPP)

33. Sen. Ahmad Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central, PDP)

34. Sen. Bello Hayatu Gwano (Kano North, PDP)

35. Sen. Ibrahim Abu (Katsina South, CPC).

How did they ever get to office as senators?

Anambra election: Okwu faction disowns Umeh’s timetable

By Chris Ochayi

ABUJA - The Barrister Maxi Okwu’s led faction of All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, yesterday said that the timetable released by the National Secretary of the party, Alhjai Sani Shinkafi for the November 16,  2013 Governorship election in Anambra State was fake.

Barrister Okwu, who claimed in a statement issued in Abuja that his faction was the authentic, therefore, warned aspirants against picking the N2 million for expression of interest announced by Alhaji shinkafi.

According to him, “the attention of the All Progressives Grand Alliance has been drawn to a purported party timetable released by one Alhaji Sani Shinkafi demanding N2 million for expression of interest form from aspirants wishing to contest the 16th November, 2013 Governorship election in Anambra State.

“The authentic APGA leadership with Barr. Maxi Okwu as National Chairman dissociates itself from the fake timetable and N2million fee imposed on aspirants and warn party members to be wary of the antics of Shinkafi and Chief Victor Umeh, who are yet to account for over N400 million sales of nomination forms for the 2011 general election.

“The real reason for the hasty release of the fake timetable is to hoodwink unsuspecting aspirants to pay the N2 million non-refundable expression of interest form when INEC is yet to decide on the authentic APGA leadership following two contradictory Court of Appeal judgments, one upholding the 8th April, 2013 popular national convention which produced the Okwu-led executive while the other purportedly restored Umeh as chairman.

“It is unfortunate that Shinkafi who was elected APGA National Secretary on 10th January, 2003 National convention is still parading himself in that position for over 10 years contrary to the party constitution which stipulates four-year renewable tenure for its officers.

“Chief Victor Umeh assumed the position of National Chairman on 15th December 2004, and has been parading himself as chairman for nine years. No genuine democrat will stay in office beyond the stipulated four-year tenure. It is a big step backward for our frail democracy.

“This is unacceptable to majority members of the party as demonstrated in the popular 8th April, 2013 convention at Awka duly monitored by INEC.

“We enjoin APGA members particularly aspirants for the forthcoming Local Government and Governorship elections in Anambra State to remain calm while we wait for INEC’s decision on the leadership disagreement.

“At the appropriate time the authentic timetable will be released for aspirants who intend to contest elections on APGA platform,” Okwu said.

2015: Northern elders, youths endorse Jonathan

By Henry Umoru
ABUJA- AHEAD the 2015 Presidential election, Northern elders and youths yesterday stormed the National Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Abuja to endorse President Goodluck Jonathan for the exalted position, just as they pleaded with him to make himself available and vie.

The elders and youths came under the aegis of three groups, Northern Elders Forum,  North/South New Nigeria Forum, Fresh Air Continuity Group of North West and Northern PDP Youth.

The groups - led by a former Education Minister under the  late Gen Abacha's regime and former Presidential Aspirant of All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, Dr Dauda Birmah,  on a solidarity visit to the PDP national Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur - declared that the North would ever be grateful to the PDP led Government of President Jonathan for creating a conducive atmosphere that made the release of the former Chief Security Adviser to late Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha possible after over 14 years of incarceration.

They however hailed Jonathan over the release from prison of Major Hamza al-Mustapha, just as they promised to get most voters in the north, especially North West to support and vote for him.

Dauda Birma, said "Goodluck Jonathan's leadership has been rated as the best administration so far. With what Jonathan has done in Maiduguri, I can affirm that the city is now safer than most parts of the country".

According to him, Major Mustapha's release would not have been possible by the ordinary fiat of the court if not for the underground work of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and the consent of the executive of the President Jonathan led administration, adding that the Groups decided to come out openly to appreciate the exemplary leadership qualities of the President Jonathan since assumption of office which had been unprecedented in the anal of Nigeria.

He said they were also at the PDP National Secretariat to correct insinuations that the People of the  North especially the North- West Zone were against his  Presidential ambition come 2015, adding that the release of Major Al-Mustapha had further fuelled the supports of the North for the re election of President Jonathan come 2015.

The leaders of the three Groups, Hajia Nana Abdulkadri, Mallam Mohammed Omeri and Ibrahim Mohammed in their remarks expressed their appreciation for the release of the former CSO and acknowledged the roles of the leadership of the Party and the President and as  well dismissed the wrong notion that the  North in general was against the Presidential ambition of Dr Jonathan come 2015.

Responding, Alhaji Tukur said that it was a thing of joy for him for three different Groups to come at the same time to appreciate openly the achievements of the PDP led administration of President Jonathan at this point in time when wrong impressions were being created that all was not well in the country.

According to him, "to me, this is democracy in action, people will agree with you,people will also  disagree with you, we can not see things the same way at all times, when we see good things we should celebrate like these groups are doing now, celebrate good things, celebrate democracy, celebrate justice, don't be intimidated by others, this is your country, hold it firmly".

Suspension of Fayose: Insultive,it can't stand - Tukur

By Henry Umoru
ABUJA- NATIONAL chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has described the alleged suspension of former governor of Ekiti State, Chief Ayodele Fayose from the party by a faction of the PDP as a violation of  laid down procedures and cannot stand.

According to Tukur, the move was an affront on the national leadership of the party without the consent of Tukur led National Working Committee, NWC, just as he  expressed surprise that such a far reaching decision involving a former Governor and a Gubernatorial Aspirant of the Party can be taken by the State Chapter without  due consultations and consent of the National Leadership of the Party.

[caption id="attachment_210325" align="alignnone" width="412"] Former Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, outside the Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti, after yesterday's sitting.[/caption]

In a statement by his Special Assistant, Media, Prince Oliver Okpala Special Assistant,  the PDP National Chairman  made these statements when he received some members of the Ekiti State Executive of the Party, accompanied by some Elders and led by the former Governor who was at the National secretariat  to complain to Tukur  over the unilateral suspension of the former Governor of the State by the State Chairman of the Party.

The  National Chairman however promised that the National Leadership of the Party will  create a conducive and enabling environment for every member  to contest for  election to any office, adding  that even where it becomes necessary that there should be a consensus arrangement, everybody within the party must be carried along so that nobody at the end will feel short-changed or isolated.

"The National Chairman wondered why such a decision should be taken in a hurry when he has received the complaint of the state Executive led by the Chairman few days ago and assured that he is going to handle the issue at National level with a view to finding a final solution to the problem.

It is the view of the National Chairman that the State Executive having brought the matter would have allowed the National Leadership look into the matter and take a decision before the hurried suspension.

"He said that such a decision violated lay down procedures and cannot stand. He  remarked that the National Leadership of the Party will not condone any act of imposition of candidate in the party under his leadership.

Tukur assured the delegation that the National Working Committee will soon look into the matter critically and come out with a decision.

Responding, Fayose  who led the delegation said  he was pleased when he heard from the media that the National leadership of the Party will handle the matter and was waiting to be invited to present his own side of the story only to also read in the papers of his hurried suspension from the Party.

He denied having any hand in the catastrophic actions that took place in the Party's  State Secretariat, adding  that as a man of honour and as a Former Governor of the State who believe in the rule of law, there was no way he can encourage any act of lawlessness, thuggery brigandage.

Governor Fayose pledged that he and his supporters will abide by any decision of the National Leadership of the Party as a true Party man and democrat

Child marriage supporters blackmailed us to have their way - Mark

By SAM EYOBOKA, SOLA OGUNDIPE, HENRY UMORU & JOSEPH ERUNKE
ABUJA— SENATE President, David Mark, yesterday, said proponents of Section 29 (4)(b) in the constitution hid under religious guise to get the section sail through during last week’s clause-by-clause voting in the on-going constitution amendment process.

He said it was time Nigerians shunned religion when dealing with sensitive issues if the country must forge ahead.

Already, the Christian Association of Nigerian, CAN, has concluded plans to mobilize Nigerians to protest the non-amendment of provisions of the Constitution, just as the Paediatric Association of Nigeria, PAN, has called for immediate reinstatement of the age of marriage to 18 years.

Religious sentiment

Mark, who said but for religious sentiment that was injected into the voting period, the section in question which tends to give support to underage marriage, would have been completely deleted from the nation’s constitution.

[caption id="attachment_405725" align="alignnone" width="412"] David Mark[/caption]

He regretted that rather than being praised, the upper legislative chamber was being vilified over its bold attempt to have the controversial clause removed from the country’s law book.

Speaking yesterday, while hosting the leadership of some women groups, under the aegis of Gender and Constitution Reform Network, GECORN, which stormed the National Assembly in protest over the controversial section, the Senate President lamented non-appreciation of the Senate for attempting to delete the said portion which he noted had been in the Nigerian Constitution since 1979.

“The good of the country is for everybody and not for a particular religious sect. Let me also talk to my own brothers and sisters who are senators, who were probably blackmailed. That is the fact, because it is in the open that I cannot also hide it and nobody can hide it. They were simply blackmailed, and on that day, if they didn’t do what they did, nobody knows the outcome or how the consequences will be today, because the people outside can say this man, you are Muslim and didn’t vote for something that is of Islamic interest, because if we don’t hit the nail squarely on the head, we may never get it right,” he insisted.

Even as he regretted that the Red Chamber could not secure the 73 votes required to delete it, he, nonetheless, assured that it was not yet over with the controversial clause, saying in no time, the Senate would revisit the issue with a view to getting it expunged from the constitution.

Mark stated: “It didn’t go through because of other tangential issues that were brought in on the floor of the Senate, total inconsequential issues, unconnected issues that were brought in. We wanted to remove it but it failed, we were a total of 101 and 85 voted and I think about six or so abstained. There was hardly any dissenting votes but once it got mixed up with so many other issues, it didn’t get the required 73 votes anymore”.

Noting that the public was castigating the Senate over the issue based on ignorance, he said: “So, first of all, I think the castigation outside is done out of misunderstanding. Because a religious connotation was brought into it, which is a very sensitive issue and you must agree with me that in this country, we try as much as possible not to bring issues that involves faith to the floor of the Senate and indeed the chamber, we keep religion completely out of it because what is good for a Christian is also good for a Muslim.

Earlier, leader of the spokesperson of the group and Executive Secretary of Women’s Right Advancement and Protection Alternative, WRAPA, Mrs. Saudautu Shehu Mahdi, said they were in the Senate not only to register their displeasure over last Tuesday’s Senate’s voting supporting the retention of Section 29 (4)(b), but to call on the National Assembly, as a whole to revisit the issue with a view to deleting it completely from the constitution.

Sandwiched between Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajia Zainab Maina, and the former Minister of Education, Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili, Mrs Mahdi said “citizenship is and must remain gender-neutral and safeguarded from any cultural, religious or social interpretations or connotations”. She added: “The harm of maintaining Section 29(4)(b),which is open to manipulation arising from its ambiguity, far outweighs any arguable benefits a few females might arguably obtain”.

CAN plans national protest

Meanwhile, attempts by the Senate to placate Nigerians notwithstanding, the Christian Association of Nigerian, CAN, is planning to call out Nigerians to protest the non-amendment of the controversial provisions of Section 29 (4b) of the 1999 Constitution, just as the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos describes the endorsement of child marriage as inhuman.

National President, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, who spoke to Vanguard in Lagos before he jetted out of the country, described the Senate’s endorsement of child marriage as a shame, adding “the only solution is for Nigerians to cry out.”

He wondered whether Nigerians had been too brutalized “that we have no voice anymore to cry out, because it’s like we are so used to wrong things that everybody just accepts it when it comes. So is this the way we are going to accept this again? I hope not, honestly. It’s a great disappointment. It’s totally against normal human justice. Children don’t know anything; they can’t fight for themselves. So we’ll fight for them. If the National Assembly of a country can vote for adults to sleep with children, your own children; it just reflects and shows the condition of the nation.

“If it is true that the Senate first voted to say that only girls above 18 should be married; and then that vote was turned down by Mr. Yerima, and that was overturned; and later they now voted that even children should be married…if it is true, I think it is one of the greatest shames of the century for Nigeria as a nation. Not just the National Assembly because the National Assembly is a reflection of Nigeria; it is a shame. It’s a disgrace. I feel ashamed to call myself a Nigerian. There are places I will go into right now and I don’t know what I’m going to do, especially those of us that travel around the world."

Also speaking through the Director of Social Communications, Very Rev. Msgr. Gabriel Osu, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins, called on the law makers to quickly rethink and rescind their decision and show some respect for the wishes of the people. He said: “Failure to do this would lend credence to the popular belief that their junketing around the nation under the guise of receiving grassroots opinion on constitutional amendment was another ruse for wasting time and the nation’s resources.”

Archbishop Martins added that any attempt by the Senate to hold on to its present position would mean giving consent to an obnoxious provision that found its way into a military-engineered constitution which deprive many a girl-child the right to grow into healthy and productive adults. Retaining that provision of the 1999 constitution would amount to endorsing a provision that robs children of their childhood.

Leave  marriage age at 18, PAN pleads

In a related development, the Paediatric Association of Nigeria, PAN, has called for called for immediate reinstatement of the age of marriage at 18 years in the country.

Expressing shock over the retention of the controversial Section 29 (4b) of the 1999 Constitution, in the new Federal constitution proposal, to the effect that the age of marriage which has been traditionally put at 18 years has been expunged, PAN National President, Professor Adebiyi Olowu and the National Secretary, Dr. Jerome Elusiyan, argued that  the according to the United Nations convention to which Nigeria is a signatory, 18 years remained the age of maturity.

“It is no surprise that the age of 18 years is also the age that adulthood begins and the age at which an individual is allowed to vote, drive and own bank account among others,” the duo noted in a signed statement..

PAN stated: “Our Association takes this as an abuse of the right of the child to which our country Nigeria is a signatory and expresses its readiness to join forces with well meaning Nigerians and other interest groups to see to the reinstatement of 18 years as the age of marriage in Nigeria. This amendment in the marriage act if allowed will make Nigeria a laughing stock in the comity of nations.”

It warned that the medical consequences of Girl Child Marriage which includes development of Vesico-Vaginal Fistula,VVF, low birth weight, birth asphyxia among others should strongly be a deterrent to this act that is universally condemnable.

Rivers crisis: Perspectives beyond warring factions

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI
Penultimate Tuesday’s life threatening mace attack on Michael Chinda by a colleague at the Rivers State House of Assembly (RVHA) which heralded the current crisis in Rivers State is still on the front burner of public debate.

While that violent episode of the fractured Rivers Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) saga is still simmering, this week recorded fresh episodes in the diary of the crisis, coincidentally on another Tuesday.

[caption id="attachment_399663" align="alignnone" width="412"] Patience, Amaechi and Jonathan[/caption]

Four Northern governors on a solidarity visit to Governor Rotimi Amaechi in Port Harcourt were allegedly waylaid and stoned by placard-carrying youths, and their welcome party was not left out of the melee which occurred at the Port Harcourt International Airport.

As with penultimate Tuesday’s chaos, the reported stoning of the governors fuelled another round of accusations and counter-accusations by both warring factions and their supporters. The visiting Northern governors, including Rabiu Kwankwanso of Kano, Sule Lamido of Jigawa, Babangida Aliyu of Niger and Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, after a closed-door meeting with Amaechi, issued a statement accusing the police of “partisanship in the show of shame at the RVHA.”

The governors, who did not make much noise over the alleged stoning at the airport, however, joined calls for the redeployment of Police Commissioner Joseph Mbu from Rivers State to the extent of threatening to “reconsider our position on financial contribution by states towards funding of the Nigeria Police.”

Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Ibim Semenitari who witnessed all the fuss at the airport, said “what happened was worrisome. Amaechi waited for all his colleagues. They were not held hostage. The bus carrying the commissioners was damaged and some other vehicles smashed by the protesters.”

Expectedly,Nyesom Wike’s faction in the crisis, reacting through Felix Obuah, the state PDP Chairman, denied that the protesters were mobilised on the platform of Wike’s political interest group, Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI). Obuah concluded that the protesters were Rivers people, expressing disappointment at the Amaechi government.“You should understand that the visitors who have failed to deal with the menace of Boko Haram up North have no substance to add to resolving the Rivers crisis and could only have come to heat up the polity.”

Layman’s perspective

Beyond the hard lines by both warring factions, the Rivers populace hardly classified the raging saga as right or wrong when Saturday Vanguard measured the street conscience on the crisis in the State Capital.

Celestine Akpobari of Social Action believes “the PDP is confused. It is no question of one party being a saint and the other a villain. Nyesom Wike is part of Amaechi and both of them are products of Odili.

Wike professed he was the Commander-in-Chief and took responsibility for the good, the bad and ugly that trailed the Amaechi struggle while he muscled himself into power. It does not benefit the ordinary man on the street if the relationship has suddenly gone awry between the two.

“The other way to look at it is that the wife of the President, Patience Jonathan who is from Okrika, wants to produce the next governor of the state and no governor, particularly Amaechi, would allow that in the way we do politics in Nigeria.

And the President thinks Amaechi’s 2015 ambition stands in the way of his own 2015 interests. The worry for Rivers indigenes is that if PDP members want to kill one another, they are very free to do so. But they should not allow it swallow the businesses and social lives of the people. Already, people are worried.”

Like Akpobari, Frank Anwusonye of the Nigerian Democratic Awareness Forum said “I don’t side anybody. What is happening is a welcome development to the extent that it exposes the slavery Rivers people have been under, given the lawless and imperious posturing of its leaders.

The PDP has a culture of vindictiveness and lawlessness. While they were united, the warring factions had enjoyed taming the institutions and resources of government to repress the opposition and critical populace. Pitted against themselves, they are finding it difficult having business as usual.

“I give you a glaring instance of the slavery we have been through. The ruling PDP in Rivers is so zealous in sustaining a 100% PDP state from the local government to state level to the extent that in Oyigbo, an All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) councillor-elect has been subdued from occupying the office after winning the council election in 2011, including two emanating re-runs against the PDP opponent in the first quarter of this year.

“In the last re-run, the state Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) issued Sunny Williams, the APGA candidate, a return certificate. No electoral law denies the councillor-elect the occupation of the office - even in the face of repeated litigations by the PDP opponent. He must exercise his mandate until a court proves him unfit.

“So the stage was set recently in May  for him to be sworn in. With impunity, the Oyigbo Council boss, Felic Uche Uwaeke, invited expectant Sunny Williams with his supporters to the council hall, only to tell them he could not swear the councillor-elect in because PDP stakeholders were contesting his third successive election victory in court.

Like the Amaechi faction is pointing fingers at President Jonathan for instigating the crisis in Rivers, Sunny Williams is convinced the governor has a hand in his denied mandate which may well elapse without anyone occupying the office. This is what we have been faced with in the PDP-controlled Rivers State.”

Ifeke Imoh, an engineer said, “Much has been said about government institutions, particularly the police compromising their role in the matter. This is a political crisis. Who isn’t compromising on the issue really? Who is not partisan?

The National Assembly is partisan.Tambuwal is an ally of Amaechi, so Reps spontaneously took over the Rivers Assembly. I read about a Rivers Senator cheering the Lower House on its position. But Mark is the President’s confidant so the Senate preferred restraint. I wonder why the cheering Senator didn’t see any oddity in his Senate’s restraint.

“Politicians think they reserve the liberty to be partisan. Granted, they are fighting a self-serving political war, but they are fighting as government, as political office-holders using government resources. As government, they are not supposed to do so. Government is for the Rivers people and not for PDP politicians.

“Last time I checked, the police remains a federal organ. In Nigeria, the police don’t settle political quarrels. Politicians just fight and resolve on self-determined political solutions. Joseph Mbu didn’t bring himself here. He reports to authority.

So, he is just playing along. There is nothing to suggest a new Police Commissioner will not be partisan if Mbu is removed. Mbu is just a symptom of the ailment. Removing him does not cure the disease when the President is an interested party.”

Measuring consequences

The Rivers people are not divided as to whether the raging crisis is unsettling the state socially and economically. All who spoke noted  apprehension is already high enough to depress commerce and investments in the state.

Akpobari, for one, projected that “with the involvement of thugs and cults gradually gaining momentum, the situation stands to degenerate. The minute the politicians mobilise the cults to fight for their interests in the crisis, we are back to the dark days in Rivers.”

Beyond what the common man fears for Rivers over the crisis, even Governor Amaechi has admitted the situation is distracting him from running the wheel of government  properly.

“Look at what we want to do in the Rivers State University of Science and Technology. We have plans for phase II of the school. I met them (those in charge of driving it), and they say they are  still working on the modalities.

But you know me, I would have since pushed them and the contract would have been on. I am not able to do that now because of the crisis in the state,” a disenchanted Amaechi told a forum of development stakeholders in Port Harcourt.

The way out

Akpobari proffered: “The PDP should begin to think about development and the people and leave 2015  to decide for itself. They should take advantage of the prime offices they have rigged themselves into and show responsibility.

“They are all opportunists. Jonathan was in Abuja for the PDP Convention towards 2007 to vote for Odili over whoever wanted to be President. He was not in contention, but he became Vice President and now President.

“Amaechi did not contest for election. He ran to Ghana, leaving Wike to do all the dirty jobs. He returned to be Governor. Each one of them should leave 2015 for now and deliver genuine governance to the people.”

Forty hours after four governors visited Amaechi in Port Harcourt to affirm their support and call for Mbu’s removal, five more governors and three deputy governors from eight states paid a similar visit to the embattled Rivers helmsman on Thursday.

The Governors include: Babatunde Fashola of Lagos, Rauf Aregbesola of Osun, Abiola Ajumobi (Oyo), Ibinkunle Amosun (Ogun) and Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti; while the governors of Taraba, Zamfara and Imo States were represented by their deputies.

On their departure, Thursday’s visiting governors appealed to their host to find the courage to approach President Jonathan and present his case towards resolving the crisis.

Governor Fayemi who led remarks for the visitors at about 1.35pm at the Government House, Port Harcourt, noted that “we have come to see our colleague, the Chairman of the Governors’Forum, in solidarity over the situation in the state.

“We are supposed to be in Abuja for a National Executive Council meeting, but we have come not because we consider our responsibilities in Abuja less important, but because we owe it a duty to be involved in seeing that a critical issue at hand in one of the states needs to be resolved in the interest of our country.

“What is happening here is not just about Rivers state. It is something that has implications for all of us, for our entire country. We have met and spoken with the governor and collectively advised him to see that he goes to Abuja to brief the President on what is happening here.

“We believe in him. We hope he would take our advice and that it is expedient he meets the President to present his case.

“ We also know the President is well meaning. He is our President. We are all the President’s men; we are all the President’s governors. We are also saying that he ensures nobody uses  him as subterfuge  to create chaos or destabilise the state.

“We are very sure the problem we have here is avoidable. We trust he can be on top of the situation. And we know the governor here is in touch with the people, and by meeting with the President, he can resolve the issue.”

On the role of the police, Governor Fayemi said, “We equally believe the Inspector General of Police should help in restoring the image and confidence of the police in the governor and the Rivers people, taking all the necessary steps it would take to do so.”

Meanwhile, a Port Harcourt-based media consultant, Chukwuemeka Eze, believes much progress could be made if leading Christian leaders intervene.

Eze said: “Even as I congratulate Pastor Ayodele Oritsejafor on his well deserved re-election as CAN President, let me appeal to him to intervene and find a way out of  this madness in Rivers State, seeing that the two political leaders (Jonathan and Amaechi) have much respect for him and may listen to him as other pleas in this regard seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

“Also, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, needs to intervene   in this matter as the present face-off between the two is already threatening Nigeria’ s democracy. Hence, these respected men of God should not watch from the sidelines.”

Anwusonye said, “The ball is still in the governor’s court. The President’s hand may be in the crisis, but the governor remains the commander of the once united house  now crumbling. The President will not come to Rivers to throw stones and break a lawmaker’s head with a mace. If the Rivers people say “no” in one voice to the President and his wife, there won’t be any crisis.

“The governor should be less vindictive against those who helped him to the height he is currently enjoying. Most of the people around him enjoying the political offices today weren’t in the picture fighting to enthrone  him. When he cowed the State Assembly to sack the entire elected cabinet of Obia/Akpor Council including all 17 councillors over Wike’s dethronement of his state party Exco, he didn’t appeal to the sensibility of the ordinary man.”

Ogoni advances  ethnic tone to crisis

Advancing an ethnic tone to the crisis, Akpobari, who doubles as Coordinator of the Ogoni Solidarity Forum, contended that the entire situation is being orchestrated to deny Ogoniland the governorship in 2015.

“Check the history of the state since the creation of Rivers. An Ogoni has never been governor, never been deputy. We have not been Speaker of the Rivers State Assembly, ever. But we have sacrificed so much, losing lives and natural resources while contributing so much and gaining so little in the bargain.

“2015 is the set time we have resolved, and other zones must appreciate it, to take the reins of power in Rivers. Now, we have Amaechi and the ruling PDP trying to throw spanners in the works. And Wike is saying there is no more zoning. Ogonis think this crisis is a conspiracy to deny us the governorship. We are monitoring the situation. MOSOP is on top of it and nothing shall by any means stop us from producing the governor.

Chinda’s attack sways police, public impression of chaos in Assembly

When news of five lawmakers allegedly mobilising thugs to the Assembly chambers to fight 27 pro-Amaechi lawmakers and impeach Speaker Otelemaba Amachree first broke, much of the  public sympathy fell for the majority lawmakers. This position was further boosted by early video footage of the fracas which zeroed in on the initial aggression put up by acclaimed new Speaker, Evans Bipi, who was said to have started the brawl with a fisticuff against the House Leader, Chidi Lloyd.

But that position changed spontaneously for most residents and watchers when more videos of the crisis, particularly that of Lloyd’s vicious mace attack on Chinda Michael of  Obia Akpor II, also went viral. At present, the unlucky lawmaker is having critical health problems and has been allegedly flown abroad for medical attention.

Appraising the dreadful scene, Akpobari said Chinda should be prosecuted because “what he did was animalistic. No human being should exhibit such cruelty towards a fellow human, no matter the level of provocation. If the victim dies, the story will turn more tragic. “

Akpobari spoke hours before the Police, through the state Police Public Relations Officer, Angela Agaba, declared the suspected attacker wanted for “a case of conspiracy, attempted murder, wounding and wilful damage.”

Expressing his disgust at the conduct of the lawmaker who is still at large, Engr. Imoh queried: “Is this the manner of evil the government is accusing Mbu of not aiding and abetting? The media has been awash with claims that the anti-Amaechi Five brought thugs to fight lawmakers at the chambers.

“I don’t support five aiming to impeach a Speaker, but there has not been any report of any of the thugs laying a finger on a lawmaker, let alone shooting the governor. It was shocking for  a leader of the Hallowed Chamber to club a fellow lawmaker with a mace. Mbu might have compromised, but the warring factions are the ones in the habit of playing into his hands. Rivers thugs are thus far more decent and law abiding than some honourable members.”

 

We’ll not pander to public sentiments in governance - Afegbua

PRINCE KASSIM AFEGBUA is the Special Adviser to Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on Media Affairs and ex-image maker for former Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (Rtd).

In this off-the-cuff interview with GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE in Benin City, he explained the rationale behind the state government’s recent ban on  commercial motorcycles ‘Okada’, ongoing construction of the Airport Road in the state, succession planning for 2016 and more. Excerpt

There appears to be a slowdown in governmental activities in the state compared to the zeal of the Governor during his first tenure in office. What is your take on this?

We journalists have a way of  throwing up questions and insinuations just to create the news. You see, the Comrade Governor has not slowed down.

[caption id="attachment_404819" align="alignright" width="252"] PRINCE KASSIM AFEGBUA[/caption]

If you listened to him about two or three weeks ago, he told his audience that he is going to complete the projects he commenced in the first year of his administration - that is, those that are not completed. And there is another phase of projects taking off. Look at Benin City. You know that there is no shopping mall, no international conference centre. What you have here are conference rooms of hotels.

There are no housing estates owned by government and what have you apart from individual efforts. Now, he has created a Ministry of Rural and Urban Housing to ensure that we create new satellite towns so that the average Edo person would have a good and affordable home. With a little savings over the period of 10 or 15 years, he will be able to acquire such houses.

We will create new towns so that Benin City itself can be decongested,  bring out the beauty of the ancient city of Benin, enrich its cultural heritage and also make infrastructure that have been put in place durable. Edo State is not getting the kind of money that states like Lagos, Akwa-Ibom, Delta, Bayelsa and others get. I am telling you that if you come to this state in two or three years, you wouldn’t know it.

But even at that, the man is not resting on his oars; he has repeatedly said he will ensure that when he is leaving office, nothing would be left uncompleted. A lot of the projects are over 90 percent completed, some are ongoing.

With the Internally Generated Revenue of the government dwindling as against when the administration took off, some say taxation remains the only avenue to generate funds and this is not being exploited?

Again, it boils down to political will, courage, boldness and a strong commitment to deliver on promises by the Comrade Governor. Even on the tax issue, when we started to implement the PAYE which is a Federal Law, opposition parties in this state took arms against us.

They were saying ‘don’t do this, don’t do that.’ Meanwhile, they forgot that the law was made by a Federal Government controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). We just said, comply with the tax payment because it was the practice before pre-independence, at independence and post-independence. But now we have tax evaders rather than taxpayers.

We tried to ensure compliance irrespective of status in the society. But some families and persons tried to take arms against us as if it was a personal vendetta. Far from it. We will continue to implement that tax law without fear or favour, without equivocation to the extent that every Edo person of taxable age with taxable income will be taxed.

The Comrade Governor wants to be held accountable, and that  is why he is very prudent, magnanimous and pro-people so that when he leaves office, his legacies will speak for him. We are going to implement the tax law, and we have commenced the process of implementing the Property Law. Even though there are litigation processes, there are ways we are going to approach it so that we will not be seen to be prejudicial to the litigation going on.

The sack of the former Commissioner for Higher, Technical and Secondary Education,  Ekpenisi Omonriotomwan, was said by the opposition parties to be the fall-out of an alleged frittering away of money meant for SUBEB. What is the true position?

The explanation of the Governor on the issue is the final position. If there was money stolen or money vanished, it will not be under the leadership of the Comrade Governor or an ACN government; it was only possible during the PDP days that money will just develop wings and vanish or fly through the window. So, money cannot miss and if it is missing just as the Governor said, we will find it.

The  Governor should be commended for having the courage to sack a Commissioner that he appointed barely two months.

That is to tell you the man has nothing to hide. If he had not sacked the Commissioner, the same people raising alarm in the PDP would say the Governor is a beneficiary of whatever money that is stolen, missing or whatever. If things are not done properly, we believe it is our responsibility to do them properly because we place so much emphasis on public education, on government intervention in education, that is why we don’t want anything to slow down in that direction.

And so, whatever is happening including the arson on the building in the Ministry of Education, we are looking into that. Investigations are ongoing and once those investigations are concluded, we will have a better view of what actually transpired and take appropriate measures to forestall a future occurrence.

Can you react to the allegation that the construction of the Airport Road, Benin may have gulped over N11billion, yet it has not been completed?

It is very ridiculous when we hear comments like this from the PDP chieftains about the Airport Road contract. When they talk about the contract, they see it as one stretch of road covering certain kilometers. The Airport Road on its own is about eight kilometres’ stretch.

The walkways and drains are about 20 kilometres’ stretch, there are streets lights along the road, there are 26 road networks connecting the Airport Road..., there is a primary underground drain of 1.8 diameters to 1.8 kilometres’ length, there is a secondary underground drain of 1.2 metres by 1.2 metres rectangle - 83 meters long, there are six kilometres of drainage on appreciated roads that are joining the Airport Road....

All these are components of that road. So when they talk about the road, they don’t take into cognisance the fact that all the streets adjoining the road are receiving adequate attention. You can go and take your count, all the roads are here: Esogaban, Ezote, Reservation, Boundary, Akenzua, Ihama, Oni Street, Airport entrance, Adesuwa, Giwa-Amu, Igiebor, Benoni Hospital Junction and so many of them.

These roads are part of the contract. I don’t know the exact figure for the contract, but it is not in the region that they are mentioning. At any rate, road construction is not the re-asphalting of roads like they are doing on Ugbowo Road. No, road construction gulps money based on the quality you want for it.

What is your reaction to the issue of who succeeds the governor in 2016?

The politics of succession is another ball game altogether, but we would not want to be distracted by thinking about 2016 when we do not know tomorrow.

Anything can happen. Today it is ACN and tomorrow it may be APC. So, the dynamics of political evolution and the interplay of political forces in the state and the nation at large will also take its toll on Edo State. But we are committed to the delivery of those promises we made to the people.

The mandate that the Comrade Governor is enjoying now has to be fully transformed and translated to meaningful dividends of democracy for the people so that on performance, whoever emerges the party’s flagbearer in the state in the final analysis will also be appreciated by the people as a continuation of the Comrade Governor’s intervention in the politics and governance of the state.

The recent ban on motorcycle operators from plying local governments in the Benin metropolis has continued to receive mixed reactions. What is your reaction?

I think that government takes decisions based on the factors and issues on ground.  And don’t forget that government also has enormous avenues to collate information, particularly security information at the disposal of government from time to time and it tries to analyse before arriving at any decision. The issue of the ban on Okada was a painful decision taken by government.

But for a man like Oshiomhole who has courage and boldness, we would not have gotten that kind of courage to take such a decision. And our reasons are not farfetched.  One, the Comrade Governor shares a lot of sentiments for Okada riders; he loves them so much that he feels his coming to power in Edo State was predominantly because of the support he received from them.

He reflected on the kind of support that they gave to him when he was pursuing his case in the law court. But when you juxtapose that with the kind of security challenges we are facing in the state - not essentially by our own Okada riders, but by those who infiltrate the system from other states - it becomes a problem of trying to sift the wheat from the chaff.

So, in order for us to carry out a holistic policy pronouncement, we just had to place a blanket ban on Okada riders in Benin. Painful, but it is better to take a painful decision than not to take a decision that would thereafter take its toll on the generality of the people.

It is not our business to tell the public the kind of information we have at our disposal, but it is our responsibility to protect the average Edo person so they can sleep well in their homes.

Since the ban, there has been a very noticeable calm in Benin  City. The beauty of the city is coming to bear and we are not stopping there, we are going a step further to see how we can use cooperative societies to create palliative measures.

Apart from increasing the number of the ‘Comrade Buses’, we are also looking for how Okada riders can form cooperative societies where taxies and cabs can be purchased for them at certain percentages or discounted rates and they will be paying instalmentally.

But some feel the ban came too late. Why did it take so long for the government to take the decision?

Again, it was because the Comrade Governor shares in the aspiration of the average Edo person, their struggles, their everyday living.

The central thrust of Oshiomhole’s second term agenda or even his agenda in government is to improve on the well-being of the people by ensuring that those basic amenities that help life go on are provided.

That is, water, electricity, good roads, healthcare delivery system, qualitative education, shelter and what have you. You see, if he had taken the decision before now, the same persons who are alarmists would still complain. However, when you are taking a social decision, a decision that will affect you and me and the generality of interests or the aggregate interests of the people, you need to take the bull by the horns.

The Comrade Governor is not going to pander to public sentiments and hysteria in the governance of the state.  This decision was the right decision and that is why even the opposition appears handicapped.

Would you say the ban has brought about urban-rural migration - thus speeding up the economic development of rural areas?

Thank you for thinking along with us. You see, since we banned Okada, along Auchi and Agbor roads a lot of Okada riders have been travelling far north, others going to villages. This will in itself add economic value to the rural areas. Again, people must realise that a lot of the Okada riders we have in Benin did not actually originate from Benin City.

They were from all over the country and some were moving up north. We took video footage of them and it is on record. It is not that we do not recognise the average Edo person who is an Okada rider.  But we say that he can do better. There are Okada riders that own vehicles, and they can use the vehicles to earn money. So we want to look at the economic values of this ban rather than the politics of it that people are trying to play based on sentiments.

Thank you for thinking in this direction because it also means there is a connection between us and the people.

Why PDP has never produced a governor in Lagos - Doherty

Adedeji Doherty is a chairmanship aspirant for the Lagos State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and organising Secretary for the South-West.

A professional engineer who doubles as   Chairman of Dain Group, he recently spoke with Olasunkanmi Akoni on a number of burning national issues such as the PDP’s internal problems, its chances in Lagos ahead of 2015 and more. Excerpts:

How would  you assess the current political terrain in the country?

I think the political terrain in the country right now is something that everybody can see. Good enough, the democracy in the country is developing. It is reaching a point where the electorate have a good idea of what good governance is supposed to mean and what it is supposed to give them. I believe that if one looks at the political terrain, a lot of things have to change as democracy is evolving.

[caption id="attachment_404801" align="alignright" width="221"] Adedeji Doherty[/caption]

First, the politicians’ mindset needs to change. Whichever party one belongs to, we all know what the dividends of democracy are all about. The dividends of democracy in London, Africa, Europe and any other continent are the same.

Affordable houses and quality healthcare, good roads, quality education, youth employment, transport and others are the things that  people living in a democratised country should benefit from. I believe that what Nigerians should now learn is to vote based on what they get, what they can achieve from their various candidates rather than what comes into their pocket.

You see Governor Ameachi, Governor of Jigawa and others that are performing excellently. In contrast, we also see some that are not performing as expected. They are a disappointment to the party and the citizens of the state. The same thing in Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, APGA and others. However, when a party is in opposition, one has the propensity to make the electorate feel happy and that, I believe, is what is happening in ACN. It is something that I can conclusively say they have at least done well.

As PDP chieftain in Lagos, are you comfortable with the running of your party and how prepared is PDP for the 2015 election in Lagos?

I do not believe that we are prepared at this particular time. I think we are just preparing. And I believe that once the leaders of the party come together, they will be able to get ready as a unified force to achieve a good outing in the 2015 elections.

Are you satisfied with governance and party administration?

Well as far as party administration is concerned, one thing we always understand is that the party is the one that wins the election and not the individual, because the party is the platform the individual uses to achieve his goals towards governing his people.

The party has a constitution and manifesto. So once one wins on the party platform, one is expected to be a representative of the party to the people by executing what is in the manifesto of the party. If construction of roads was listed in the party manifesto, it is the duty of  the candidate who has won an election with the party platform to construct roads. If good healthcare was also listed, it is his responsibility to provide such a facility to the citizens. It is the party that creates the manifesto. So when one is talking about the party as an institution in the PDP, and I am supposed to raise it in terms of the party being supreme at this time, it is about 40 percent. That, I believe, is what is being addressed now in the party.

Whether in PDP, ACN, APGA and others, the party should have a way of funding themselves to make them independent from individuals. With this, the issue of democracy can crystallise to favour the electorate whom we represent.

How do you expect parties that are not in control of any state to raise funds?

They have to be able to raise their funds somehow. Those that have created the party need to invest in businesses. If you do not do that, there is no need to float a party that cannot fund itself.

Then we are not through with godfatherism in politics?

Exactly. If you have a party and that party doesn’t know how to generate money and members have to subdue themselves to pay party dues, then the founding fathers should come together, create businesses like hotels, invest in transportation and others that can bring in funds daily to run the party. The party members have to get themselves involved in empowerment that will create jobs. That is what a viable party should be like. That is what we expect in the PDP. If we are to invest in different businesses, we should create those businesses and let our members be either the GM or the MD, and the business will yield money to fund the party so that the national chairman of the party will also be the chairman of the entire group and will not be subject to anyone, including the president.

The Lagos PDP has all the

 wherewithal to run the party but it seems the funds are not well utilised?

In Lagos State, we the PDP do not even have anything. All the ministers that were appointed from Lagos State are not from the state. At the same time they call themselves technocrats, we do not really have any funding. The Lagos State PDP has never had a governor because we do not have anyone funding the party. It is left in the hands of those leaders that have the passion for the party at heart and can donate to the party for the PDP to make any meaningful impact in the state. They play quality roles, they get affordable healthcare. Development of the rural areas is happening everyday but the people of Lagos have been subjected to multi-taxation. These aren’t what the people of Lagos bargained for. Lagos should be an industrial-friendly state, but right now, it is not. And the land mass of the state is not changing; it is constant. What are the agricultural prospects of the state? There are none. We need to be able to convey this and merge it with the ideals of governance to create a vibrant society in Lagos State.

My own mission is the delivery of good governance. It is good that the Lagos State government has built a flyover in the state. But how does that affect the life of the people in the state? The bridge from Bourdillon to Lekki is a good edifice. If you look at some newspaper publications in the country, they showed a bridge in Ayobo-Ipaja LCDA made out of wood. The majority of the people in Lagos State live in the Ayobo axis of the state. It is the rich people that will use the Cable bridge in the Lekki axis of the state. The state government has succeeded in using that bridge to increase the property value in Lekki. But what happens to the poor people in Lagos? What happens to the remaining 13 million people of the state?  Why are we getting it wrong? We need to take ourselves back and look at whether it is the choice of candidate or whatever else is making the state look the way it is now. But this is not the PDP I bargained for.

Before 2007, the PDP was controlling almost all the southwest states except Lagos. But suddenly, things changed. What actually went wrong?

Well, I cannot say. But many things went wrong. For instance, Oyo State was lost due to the disagreement between Ladoja, Akala, Adedibu and Obasanjo. Unfortunately, we lost Adedibu and that excluded the PDP immediately. In Ogun State, Obasanjo again and the then incumbent Governor, Gbenga Daniel. This created an avenue for an ACN candidate to win the governorship election, and that is Governor Ibikunle Amosun. In Ekiti State, it is almost the same thing. We had a lukewarm attitude. What happened in Ekiti was that Obasanjo succeeded in removing Fayose from Office for whatever reason and that boomeranged to a weak PDP in Ekiti State.

This led to the assumption of office of Governor Segun Oni which the court later nullified. In Ondo State, everyone knew that Olusegun Mimiko was a PDP member and he later ended up in the Labour Party. This was due to the quarrel between Obasanjo, Olusegun Agagu and Mimiko. I see, basically, that our leaders in the Yoruba land, especially in the PDP, have failed the party and our own generation in their mismanagement of things. Even in the Presidency, the management of what has been zoned to the South-West members of the party has grossly been mismanaged. And that is why we have recorded a negative position in the hierarchy of running the nation. Right from the Speaker of the House of Representatives downwards, if one looks at the position of the first five citizens of the country today, the Yoruba extraction is not represented. There is no one speaking on our behalf and the reason for this was that our leaders failed to look at handing over to their next generation. When I was in CMS Grammar School, Bariga, Obasanjo was my President. When I became a father, Obasanjo still came back to be my President. My son has gone to school and graduated, Obasanjo was still his president. At this time in the PDP in the South-West, Obasanjo still calls the shots; whereas Gowon, Danjuma, Akinrinade, Banjo and other military men including Bode George were all Heads of State, Chief of General Staff and Governors respectively, and they all ruled this country in their 30s. What has created this? I do not know why our leaders cannot hand over to the next generation.

Someone asked me  if  President Goodluck Jonathan is about 52 years old. But will anyone from the Yoruba extraction be allowed to rule this country at that age? Will any of our fathers allow a man of that age to be the president of this country? In politics, one has to develop his thinking and look at what is on ground and how it benefits your people. What is on ground now does not benefit the South-West people of this country.
How will you rate governance in the Southwest now?

Governance in the Southwest today is developing. I believe that there should be a symposium of Southwest leaders, and this symposium should cut across all parties’ affiliation in the country, where a common agenda must be adopted as the agenda of the Southwest people. The first thing on the agenda should be total integration of the various Southwestern states. A common body that must look into the development of political parties in the Southwest and what they are delivering to the people vis-a-vis what the mandate of that people is. Our agenda as a people is the integration of the entire people of the Southwestern states in terms of road network in all the states, integrating in terms of rail network so that people can live in any state and work in any Southwestern state; in agriculture through buying and selling within ourselves. There has to be a mandate on housing policy, infrastructural development for the people, health requirement for the people. There has to be leadership and vision for the Southwest region in the country between the years 2013 and 2050.

Who do you think will champion this call?

I haven’t thought about it but it has to be something that has to be created by our people.

 

What’s your take on the suspension of Amaechi and others?

Wammako has been recalled. The only person left on the suspension list is Amaechi, and this was based on obvious reasons. In the PDP, suspension can be described as ‘go home and come back.’ It isn’t as weighty as it was reported in the media. If one is suspended from the party, the person will be the one who will call for the next PDP party. It isn’t a very strong thing at this time in the party. In contrast, that doesn’t mean that if one commits  anti-party activities and one is caught, he or she will not be sanctioned. I believe that suspending Amaechi or Wammako is in the hands of NWC and they are looking at it very seriously. I am sure that there might have been miscommunication or misrepresentation in a lot of things that have created the suspension in the first place.

On the NGF election, ACN has been pointing accusing fingers at the PDP  as the cause  of the problems

Well, the creation of the NGF is to execute what I am explaining to you, which is integration, looking at different problems like security and others and proffering solutions to them. This should be the job of the NGF. Where I have a problem with the NGF was that it began to overstep its boundary when it got involved in the upcoming 2015 presidential election, an issue still in its incubation stage whereby the sitting president is being questioned whether he will be vying for the next election or not. And out of these governors, they are whipping up the electorate and bringing up new agenda as far as their own candidacy is concerned. I don’t think that it was right for the NGF to start whipping up political discourse concerning the presidency and I wouldn’t have suggested the election at that time. I don’t know if the president has veto power on the forum, but the NGF should have been disbanded. Let each political party have its own Governors’ Forum. And the reason was that all the governors didn’t contest for their post on the same platform. Definitely, their ideology is not the same. So what happened was bound to occur.

When you merge people with different views, definitely the minority will strive to woo some of the members of the majority into its own circle. And then cross-carpeting starts. That is the psychological attitude of human beings and that in itself has created a problem within the group.

For me, I will advise that the NGF should be disbanded. All the governors should go back to their states and deliver the dividends of democracy to their electorate. When each party organises their governors’ forum, we will have peace in the country and we will be able to rate the governors based on what they delivered to the people.

Will you consider any offer considering the crisis in the PDP?

I am open to the advancement and progress of our people. It doesn’t matter who calls. Once I am called upon, I will answer because it is for the benefit of the people. Definitely, there are issues that need to be addressed urgently in the Southwest; I can foresee it coming. We have to throw away party affiliations and differences and come together as a single body for the progress of the Southwest region.

How would you assess  Fashola’s  administration ?

The Lagos government has worked considerably over the years. During the time of Tinubu, we saw him in his first tenure battling with the leaders in his party. We saw in his second term, a situation whereby we had to condemn him. And I am one of those who criticised him for not doing much. Later, he handed over to the executioner, Governor Babatunde Fashola, who was then his Chief of Staff in his second term. Fashola used three years from his first term to execute projects that were already put in place by his predecessor. For instance, the expansion of the various roads-Allen Avenue, Alausa, Lekki, Ozumba Mbadiwe, Adeola Odeku, the Bar Beach and others, all these roads were funded from the taxes paid by the residents of the state. And the tax payers are paying for the road today. This will continue until the next 25 years in terms of toll. If one looks at these projects that were started by Tinubu and executed by Fashola, apart from these, which other project has been created? I mean, which new road has been built in the last 12 years in the state?

2015: Only Nigerians, not ACF can stop Jonathan

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

BENIN— Former Edo State representative on the Board of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Mr. Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, yesterday, said that only Nigerians can stop President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting for a second term and not Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF.

Iduoriyekemwen, who also ran for the governorship primaries of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2012 in Edo State, said it would be unfair to judge the President’s performance with just two years in office.



He added that those accusing the President of not performing were those no longer benefitting from a corrupt system.

He accused the North of sponsoring Boko Haram so as to distract President Jonathan and also denied that the Presidency had anything to do Rivers State political crisis.

The PDP chieftain said: “The war is between the political gladiators in Rivers State and not the presidency. They are fighting for their selfish interests and people should stop accusing the President of involvement.

“I honestly believe that Mr. President is a focused person. He knows what he is doing.
“I feel that majority of Nigerians appreciate the efforts Jonathan is making to turn things around.”

ACF, NEF resolve to reclaim power in 2015

*Say North williingly conceded power to the South in 2011

*Condemn Rivers crisis

By Luka Binniyat

KADUNA—AREWA Consultative Forum, ACF, and the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, have unanimously resolved to ensure that power returned to the  Northern part of Nigeria in 2015.

The groups also said the North willingly conceded power to the south in 2011, to give the zone a feeling of belonging.

Briefing newsmen yesterday in Kaduna, spokesman of the groups, Prof. Ango Abdullahi called on President Goodluck Jonathan to order an immediate cessation of hostilities in Rivers State and stop using the Nigeria Police to settle  political disputes.

His words: ‘’The fact that we don’t  come out in shouting matches and in abusive languages styles and so on sometimes gives the wrong impression that we do not have deep rooted  concern  for ourselves about 2015. This is not truth.  The South South is a tiny enclave of a few people, perhaps not bigger than Kaduna state.

‘’The north is determined and is insistent that  the leadership of the country will rotate to it in 2015. And I am making that very clear to you. On behalf of all of us, ACF in front because they have been the oldest group and the Middle Belt Forum and our other groups that  have been very active and strong. All of us are likely to have this very tough and common agenda. Not that the north and power blind. No! it will be argued on  the rational agreement that are on ground today.

[caption id="attachment_387510" align="alignnone" width="412"] *Prof Ango Abdullahi[/caption]

“The north on the basis of one-man-one-vote can keep  power indefinitely in the present Nigeria state.  If it is on the basis of one man, one vote, the demography shows that the north can keep power as long as  it wants because it will always win elections

“ If we didn’t have eight years because of truncation, at least we have six but they said no. But I don’t want to go into how this no were translated into yes. Because it must have been the fault of northerners as  far as I am concern they allowed this because it was their turn. But they allowed it. So, then , it was Jonathan came 2011. I thought   he should be the first, purely on moral grounds, knowing that there is rotation arrangement in place and that there was  an agreement and all of them were signatory  but they came out in the public  to say that they don’t know about rotation. Obasanjo started it, he said he didn’t know about rotation. Jonathan himself said  it that he didn’t’ know about rotation”

In addition, Abdullahi said: ‘’The shameful and disturbing abuse of power and rule of law in River State, are signs that Nigeria is descending into anarchy and lawlessness rarely seen in our history.

“The hands of the presidency are clearly visible in all these events that appear to draw inspiration from the ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan to stay in power in 2015. The most recent development in River State represents a new low in the shameful conduct of political office holders at the highest levels, and they should be condemned by all Nigerians.

“The crisis in River State is a sad reminder of our experience in the western Nigeria crisis of 1963. We call on President Goodluck Jonathan to order an immediate cessation of hostilities in Rivers State and stop using the Nigeria Police to settle his political disputes. The Police must not be dragged into the internal crisis of the President’s party. The governor and people of River State and indeed, all citizens of Nigeria, deserve the full protection of the law and their rights to live in peace under the state-guaranteed security.

“There are ominous signs that the new leadership of the NPC is out to create sensation and plunge Nigeria into avoidable crisis. Instead of settling down to understand the complex demographic dynamics of the country, the new leadership has so far only engaged in spurious pedestrian and unsupported allegation to discredit the 2006 national population census.”