Polls Postponment: Criticisms Mount

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 62337

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015**

Criticisms mount

Mr & Mrs

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POLLS POSTPONEMENT:

BRIEFING—APC Presidential Candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Middle) addressing newsmen on the postponementof the general elections by INEC, yesterday, in Abuja,while National Chairman of APC, Chief John Oyegun (Right) and Nationalleader of APC,Bola Tinubu look on at the briefing. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.

•INEC was ambushed by FG, PDP — Fashola•Conducting polls in a hurry is dangerous –Abba-Gana•It's a disappointment — U.S•It's a coup against the constitution—Festus Okoye

By CliffordNdujihe, Emman

Ovuakporie, DapoAkinrefon, CharlesKumolu, GbengaOke & Johnbosco

Agbakwuru

Wanted: Apresident fornew Nigeria

•P.20

LAGOS—THE politywas awash with

harsh criticisms,yesterday, overweekend’s postponementof the 2015 generalelections by theIndependent NationalElectoral Commission(INEC) over insecurityconcerns and poorarrangements.

The Presidential andNational Assembly pollsinitially fixed for February

•P.44

Economicmismanagementin retrospect

COLUMNISTS

58

Coup againstconstitution bysecurity chiefs— FALANA 8

Presidency shopsfor Jega'sreplacement

May 29 handover datesacrosanct — Jonathan 8

Ivory Coast winsAFCON 2015 64

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POCKET CARTOONVanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015—5

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TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

Happiness and success in life is simply thegratifying combination of liking yourself, likingwhat you do, and liking who you do it with —TakeHeart Quote

There is a beautiful saying that there comes a timein life when you walk away from all the drama,and the people who create it. Surround yourself withpeople who make you laugh, forget the bad, andfocus on the good. Life is too short to be anythingbut happy. Falling down is part of life. Getting backup is living.

Focus on the activities and people that make youhappy, and filter out the avoidable opposites. Forin reality, we often make our lives complicated whenit’s really quite simple: Find what it is that makesyou happy and spend more time doing it. Findwho it is that makes you smile and spend more timewith them.

14 were shifted toMarch 28, while the gov-ernorship and state as-sembly elections meantfor February 28 will nowhold on April 11.

Among those whocriticised the move werethe PresidentialCandidate of the AllProgressives Congress(APC), Major-GeneralMuhammadu Buhari(Ret); APC Senators,Governor BabatundeFashola of Lagos State,the United States ofAmerica and someeminent lawyers amongothers.

However, there werealso eminent persons,who said that the polls’shift was within the lawand would pave the wayfor the conduct of apeaceful and credibleelection.

We must remaincalm but resolute –Buhari

In a statement on thepostponement, Buhariappealed to APCsupporters to remain calm.

He said: "Thispostponement, whichcomes on the heels of thebogey of the NationalSecurity Adviser that halfof the registered voterswere beingdisenfranchised wasexposed as a crude andfraudulent attempt tosubvert the electoralprocess. The PDPadministration has nowengineered apostponement using thethreat that security will notbe guaranteed across thelength and breadth ofNigeria because ofmilitary engagement insome states in the NorthEast. It is important tonote that although INECacted within itsconstitutional powers, it isclear that it has beenboxed into a situationwhere it had to bow topressure. Thus, theindependence of INEC

has been gravely compro-mised.

"As a Nigerian and apresidential candidate inthe elections, I share inthe disappointment andfrustration of this decision.This postponementcoming a week to the firstelection has raised somany questions, many ofwhich shall be asked inthe days ahead. However,we must not allowourselves to be temptedinto taking actions thatcould further endangerthe democratic process.

"Our country is goingthrough a difficult time inthe hands of terrorists.Any act of violence canonly complicate thesecurity challenges in thecountry and providefurther justification tothose who would want toexploit every situation tofrustrate the democraticprocess in the face ofcertain defeat at the polls.

"If anything, thispostponement shouldstrengthen our resolveand commitment to rescueour country from thecurrent economic andsocial collapse from thisdesperate band. Ourdesire for change mustsurpass their desperationto hold on to power at allcost. We are clearlydealing with people whofeel they can get awaywith placing theirpersonal interest overthose of our nation and itscitizens. What is at stakeis the very survival of ourcountry. We must not allowthis temporary delay toabort this greatopportunity. While Ishare the pains andfrustrations of my fellowcitizens over thisdevelopment, my deepfaith in the democraticprocess assures me that

this country, with yoursupport, will overcome.

"We must remainresolute and rise above allprovocations. We mustcontinue to trust in theentire democratic processand in INEC, which hasbeen brought under somuch pressure in the lastfew days. Our trust canonly serve to encouragethe electoral body toremain steadfast andremain committed to therule of law. I wish to statestrongly that our party willnot tolerate any furtherinterference with theelectoral process. Therescheduled elections ofMarch 28th and April11th, 2015 must besacrosanct.

"Nigeria is definitelygreater than any of us,and much more importantthan our individualambitions. Before us therewas Nigeria, and longafter we are gone therewill still be Nigeria. Letus continue to do our partto make it the greatcountry that it should be.We must rescue our dearcountry. God being on ourside, we shall salvageNigeria together."

It’s a sinister plot toderail democracy —APC senators

APC serving senators,yesterday, condemned thepostponement of thepolls, saying it is a‘teleguided plot’ by thePeoples Democratic Party,to derail democracy.

Spokesperson of theAPC Senators Forum,Babafemi Ojudu (EkitiCentral) in a statement inAbuja said: “What we areseeing is a desperate andjittery response to theimminent defeat of thePDP. The postponementhas shown thehelplessness of INEC inthe face of a maliciouscabal bent on destroyingthe fabric of democracy.”

Besides, the APCsenators claimed that thedecision to shift theelections had raised a bigcredibility question onINEC and theforthcoming polls. “Thisdecision is borne out offear of defeat and maliceagainst the people ofNigeria".

INEC wasambushed by FG,PDP – Fashola

Governor BabatundeFashola of Lagos State,yesterday, said the INECwas ambushed by theFederal Government andPDP to postpone thegeneral elections.

Speaking with newsmenafter collecting hisPermanent Voter’s Card,PVC, at a polling unitwithin the premises ofItolo State SeniorGrammar School, off EricMoore, Surulere LocalGovernment Area,Fashola, who collected hisPVC in the presence of

the state Resident Elec-toral Commission, REC,Mr Akin Orebiyi, con-demned the postpone-ment, saying the movewas to achieve PDP Fed-eral Government agenda.

Earlier, at Arewa Com-munity rally in OnikanStadium, Lagos Island, heappealed to them not to beprovoked and to remaincalm.

According to Fashola,“On the postponement ofthe elections, I think thatthe reality is that INECwas ambushed by the PDPand the federalgovernment and I thinkNigerians must bedisappointed. I use thisopportunity to appeal toNigerians to remain calm,especially to supportersand members of the APC."

US expressesdisappointment

The United Statesgovernment has alsoexpressed ‘deep’disappointment by thedecision to postponeNigeria’s presidentialelection, which had beenscheduled for February14.

A statement by U.S.Secretary of State, JohnKerry, shortly after theannouncement of the pollshift by Jega said politicalinterference with INEC isunacceptable.

The U.S. government inits reaction said: “It iscritical that thegovernment does not usesecurity concerns as apretext for impeding thedemocratic process”.

The US said theinternational communitywould be watching closelyas the Nigeriangovernment prepares forelections on the newlyscheduled dates.

According to Mr Kerry,“the United Statesunderscores theimportance of ensuringthat there are no furtherdelays.

“As I reaffirmed when Ivisited Lagos last month,we support a free,transparent, and credibleelectoral process inNigeria and renew ourcalls on all candidates,their supporters, andNigerian citizens tomaintain calm and rejectelection-related violence,”Mr. Kerry said.

Ensure credibleelection—UN

UN Secretary GeneralBan Ki-moon in hisreaction to thepostponement urgedelectoral authorities “totake all necessarymeasures to enable thecitizens exercise theirright to vote in a timelymanner,” including therapid distribution ofvoters’ cards. “This isimperative for ensuring acredible, free andtransparent election,” hisspokesman said in astatement.

It’s a bad omen –Chekwas Okorie

The PresidentialCandidate and NationalChairman of the UnitedProgressive Party, UPP,Chief Chekwas Okoriedescribed the polls’ shiftas a sinister design bymanipulators of theelectoral process, whichhe said is a bad omen forthe growth of democracyin the country.

His words: “Thedevelopment is a badomen for Nigeria’sdemocracy. Thecapitulation of INEC tothe executive pressuredoes not speak well ofINEC’s constitutionalindependence.

“The letter written bythe National SecurityAdviser, NSA, triggeredoff this interference, it isbad. The somersault of theChief of Defence Staff whorecently assured ofreadiness of the militarytowards ensuringadequate security only tochange his statement isscandalous to a General ofhis standing.

“There are securitychallenges in five localgovernment areas of theNorth East and Nigeria ismade up of 774 localgovernment areas. Thiswill be a bad precedenceif because of the five localgovernment areaselections are shifted in theentire 774 council areas.

“I urge Nigerians toremain calm, but to bevigilant. This shift to sixweeks is a prelude of moresinister design by themanipulators of theelectoral process.”

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POLLS POSTPONEMENT:Criticisms mount

ADEBOYE—Pastor E.A. Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church ofGod, cutting the tape during the official handing over of the All ChristiansPraise Centre donated to the Redeemed Christian Church of God by the Ejemufamily in Ila Orangun in Osun State, yesterday. Photo: Dare Fasube.

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APC, PDP trade words over risingwave of violence in Kwara

L A G O S — T W Opersons, Hossein

Jibo and Umaru Haruna,have been arraigned beforean Ikeja Magistrate Courtin Lagos for allegedlyrobbing Biodun Babalola ofhis gold jewellery worthN2.5m.

Jibo and Haruna, both 30years of age, are beingaccused of committing thealleged offence on October27, 2014, at 0300hrs at No.1 Dada-Alaja Street, OkeArin Lagos.

The duo were alsoaccused of robbing one MrsAlebiodu Joy of her N1.3m,while armed with gun,cutlasses and otherdangerous weapons.

They were arraigned ona 4-count charge of armedrobbery brought againstthem by the police.

One of the counts read:“That you Hossein Jibo ‘m’and Umaru Haruna ‘m’,and others still at large, onOctober 27, 2014 at about0300hrs at No 1 Dada-Alakija Street, Oke ArinLagos, in the LagosMagisterial District, did robGold Jewellery worthN2.5m, property of oneBiodun Babalola ‘f’, at No.18 Faruka Apaba Street,Laderi Lagos.”

According to the policeprosecutor, ASP EranusNnamonu, the offence iscontrary to Section 294 andpunishable under Section295 (1) of the Criminal Lawsof Lagos State of Nigeria2011.

However, when thecharge was read to theaccused, they pleaded notguilty.

Magistrate AbimbolaKomolafe granted theaccused bail in the sum ofN250,000 with two suretieswho are to have paid tax fora period of 3 years.

PRESENTATION: From left; Musician, Iyanya; the General Manager, Consumer Marketing, MTNNigeria, Richard Iweanogu; winner of 2014 brand new KIA Car and former Dean, Student Affairs,Prof Harrison Oloruntade Dele Alonge and Dean, Student Affairs, University of Lagos, ProfessorTunde Babawale during MTN’s Surprise Your Professor presentation at the University of Lagos.

Two mencharged withN2.5m goldjewelleryrobbery

Calabar traders count losses as fire guts market

By BartholomewMadukwe

CALABAR—DEALERS in motor spare parts in

Calabar, are counting their lossesfrom the fire that gutted BedwellMarket, Calabar, whichdestroyed goods worth over N200million.

The traders in an interviewwith the News Agency ofNigeria (NAN) in Calabar,described the incident as aset-back to their business.

Mr Anthony Umeojiaku,Chairman, Motor Spare PartsDealers Association in Calabar,said the incident which occurredin Tyre Line section of the markethad rendered the victims helpless.

Umeojiaku who put the totalvalue of the loss at N200 million,said that the affected membersnow depend on contributions fromfriends and sympathisers.

According to him, as I am

speaking to you now, most of thevictims feed on contributions frompeople.

“Moreover, we buy these goodsfrom Lagos on credit and it willnow be difficult for us to pay back.I am afraid that most of ourmembers may not continue withthis business. So I call on all well-meaning Nigerians, organisationsand government agencies to cometo our aid,” he said.

By Demola Akinyemi

OSOGBO—TWELVEpeople yesterday lost

their lives in a ghastly motoraccident involving a ToyotaSienna space bus and a ToyotaHiace bus along Ilesa-IfeExpressway.

It was gathered that theaccident, which happened atabout 4pm, claimed the livesof some of the occupants of thepassenger bus and the Sienna.

Eyewitnesses told ourcorrespondent that officials ofthe Federal Road Safety Corpswere rescuing the injured atthe scene of the accident as ofthe time of filing this report.

According to the source, the driver of the Toyota Hiacebus was said to have left hislane and drove againsttraffic.

Children were said to be inone of the vehicles and an eyewitness said no fewer than

four children were among thedead.

The Siena bus, it wasgathered, left Abuja for Lagosand the accident happenedfew hours before the drivercould reach his destination.

When contacted, FRSCSector Commander in OsunState, Mr. MohammedHussein, confirmed theaccident but said he did nothave the details.

The accident, according tohim was caused heavy trafficon the road which leftmotorists stuck in the area forseveral hours before the road

was eventually cleared. Policemen and other road

users were said to have joinedthe rescue effort to save thelives of some of the victims

12 die in accident along Ife-IlesaExpressway

By Gbenga Olarinoye

ALLEGEDATTEMPT BY BZFTO DECLAREREPUBLIC OFBIAFRA: Bailapplication forhearing today

ILORIN—RULING AllProgressives Congress,

APC, in Kwara State and theopposition, Peoples DemocraticParty ,are at logger heads over theincreasing wave of politicalviolence in the state, which ledto the alleged killing of oneperson.

Aside from the PDP supporterwho was killed in the process, the

violence also resulted in thedestruction of branded APCvehicles at Share, home town ofGovernor Abdulfatah Ahmedyesterday.

Minister of National Planningand Deputy Chairman, NationalPlanning Commission, NPC, DrSuleiman Abubakar, a chieftain ofPDP in the state in a statementissued by his Special Assistanton Media , Alhaji AbdulrahmanAbdulrauf, yesterday, alleged that

one Alfa Saadu deen of Kuntuarea, believed to be a PDPsupporter in Ilorin West localgovernment area of the state, waskilled last Friday.

In a sharp reaction, the AllProgressives Congress in astatement by its PublicitySecretary, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari,denied the party’s involvement inthe killing and reiterated its callon security agencies to investigatethe series of attacks on the party,including the shooting of two ofits members last Wednesday aswell as the attack of its brandedvehicles at Share, GovernorAhmed’s hometown yesterday.

Describing the killing as strangeand alien to Ilorin culture, theminister urged the securityagencies to probe the killing,with a view to bringing theperpetrators of the act to book.

He said: “While wesympathize with the family ofthe deceased, we want toreiterate that politics is not a do-or-die and that God gives powerto whom He so pleases.''

ENUGU—A team oflawyers, led by Mr. Olu

Omotayo, who is also the ZonalDirector of the Civil LibertiesOrganization in the South-Eastwill formally move the bailapplication for the 11 membersof the Biafra Zionists Federation,BZF, currently remanded atEnugu prisons over an allegedattempt to declare Republic ofBiafra.

Omotayo confirmed toVanguard yesterday that “all isnow set for us to move theapplication tomorrow (today).”

The 11 members of the groupare facing a three-count chargeof treason, while their leader, Mr.Benjamin Onwuka, a lawyer, isfacing additional count chargealone, thus bringing the numberof his charge to four.

It will be recalled that sometimein December last year, thenational chairman of BiafraZionist Federation , ComradeCyril Onyia, led othermembers to carry out peacefulprotest in Enugu.

They also forwarded theirprotest letter which theyhanded over to Omotayo toAmnesty International inLondon and United StatesConsular General in Lagosover Federal Government’scontinued, unlawful detentionof Benijamin Onwuka and 10others.

It stated that “When thecriminal charge against themcame up on December 8, 2014, itwas adjourned to December 18,2014, for argument on the bailapplication of the accusedpersons.

“On December 18, 2014, thecourt did not sit but the casewas adjourned to a far date ofFebruary 9, 2015.

“The was a ploy to frustratethe agitation and demands ofthe Zionist Movement and theplan is to keep our leader indetention until after the socalled general elections.”

By Austin Ogwuda

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015 —7

Gunmen kidnap Plateauex-gov's father, Dariye

By Marie-ThereseNanlong

JOS — THE father of aformer governor of Plateau

State, Chief Joshua Dariye, hasbeen kidnapped by gunmen inBokkos Local Government Areaof the state, with the abductorsdemanding $10 million ransom.

Dariye’s father, said to be in his80s, was taken Saturday night in

his residence at his village,Mushere.

It was gathered that thegunmen fired gunshots in theair to scare residents of the areabefore the victim was abducted.

The state police command hasconfirmed the incident as itsPolice spokesperson, DSP AbuhEmmanuel, explained toVanguard in Jos yesterday: “Atabout 8pm on Saturday, armedmen, numbering about nine,

invaded the compound shootingsporadically and took the manaway.

“We do not know the identitiesof the elements but efforts arebeing intensified by the Police toknow the whereabouts of themen with the intention ofrescuing the kidnapped man.”

Neither the victim’s son,Joshua Dariye, now a senatorrepresenting Plateau Central,nor other family members couldnot be reached for comments atpress time.

Group claims responsibility for attackon military formations, piracy in N-Delta

By Samuel Oyadongha

YENAGOA — THEleadership of Ifalibabou

Revolutionary Movement, IRV,has claimed responsibility for therecent attacks on militaryformations and rising piracy onthe waterways along the creeksof Niger Delta.

The group made this known ina statement issued yesterday inYenagoa by its leader, GeneralSese.

The statement said the failureof those in charge of the amnestyprogramme to include membersof IRV in the third phase of theprogramme has forced them backto the creeks to take up armsagainst the society.

He said: "IfalibabouRevolutionary Movement wishes

to express the fact that the baneof the current attacks on militaryformations, sea piracy andgeneral unrest across the creeksof Niger Delta, is as a result ofthe failure of the third phasefederal amnesty and theamnesty process in general.

"The group has identified thefact that the stock of Niger Deltayouths currently marauding thecreeks are its former members.They are everywhere in theNiger Delta, from the part of theregion bordering Cameron andNigeria down to Delta andOndo states.

"The leadership of the groupforsees this circumstance andhad made several protests in thepast on the streets and onpapers to the FederalGovernment, but the system

had been unable to check theexcesses of those leaders in theNiger Delta who are bent onfighting against the inclusion ofthis group in the federal amnestyprocess.

“As expected, the end will bethe killing of our armedpersonnel and the untimelydeath of some of our youths.”

It noted that of about 3,000 ofits followers, only 26 personswere absorbed in the amnestyprogramme.

The group added that when theJTF came to Foropa Town inSouthern Ijaw Local GovernmentArea for a disarmamentprogramme on December 30,2010, over 100 members ofIfalibabou group relinquishedtheir arms, lamenting, however,that only one was absorbed fromthe community.

The group noted: "What doesthe federal authority expect of theremaining population of theyouths from this community?

"We urge President GoodluckJonathan to, as a matter ofurgency, personally initiate aprocess that will lead to theintegration of all former membersof this group to avoid their beingmanipulated by oppositionpoliticians to wreak havoc in oursociety. A stitch in time savesnine."

Manarrestedovercousin’smurder,arson inEnugu

By Francis Igata

ENUGU — MEN ofthe Special Anti-

Robbrey Squad, SARS,Enugu Police Command,yesterday, arrested oneEko Goddey, a.k.aWarrior, who hails fromUyi-Ette in OlamobaraLocal Government Areaof Kogi State overalleged killing of GabrielApula, his cousin.

The deceasedallegedly died followingthe injuries allegedlyinflicted on him by thesuspect over land tusslewhich had claimed livesin border communities ofEnugu and Kogi states.

Police spokesperson,Mr. Ebere Amaraizu,said: “The suspect andhis gang members tiedthe victim's legs, roastedhim and set some housesablaze.

“Our operatives,through intelligencereport, swooped on themat their hideout in Etehand arrested the suspect.

“The Police are on thetrail of other fleeingmembers of the gang.The suspect is largelyresponsible for theburning of 47 housesduring the communalland clash betweenborder communities ofEteh in Enugu and Kogistates.

“Items recovered fromthe suspect’s hideoutinclude a locally madesingle barrel short gunand a locally made singlebarrel rifle with twocartridges.

“The command isappealing to members ofthe public to report anyperson seen with gunshot wound to thenearest Police station.”

Abiapensionersprotestnon-paymentof pensionarrears

By Anayo Okoli

U M U A H I A —PENSIONERS in

Abia State, yesterday,protested non-paymentof arrears of theirpensions and gratuities,lamenting the death ofmost of their colleagues.

The protesters, whomarched peacefully fromthe Sub-Treasury Officeon School Road throughBende Road and AbaRoad, took their protestto Government House,Umuahia.

The retired workers,who were guarded bythe police, carried someplacards which lamentedand condemned thesufferings of theirmembers due to non-payment of theirpensions and gratuity.

Chairman of NationalUnion of Pensioners,NUP, in the state,Comrade ChukwumaUdensi, who led theprotest, said all efforts tosee the governor in thepast proved fruitless.

He said they decidedto carry out the protestbecause they had beenfinding it very difficult tomeet with the governoron the matter.

Udensi, whoaddressed his membersbefore they embarked onthe march, also said twoultimatums they gave thegovernment expiredwithout any persontalking to them.

According to him,instead of meeting withthem, the governmentpaid them only onemonth.

“This kind of treatmenthas caused many of ourmembers to die and if wecontinue to keep quiet, itmeans sending more ofour members to death,”Udensi said.

Addressing theprotesters at GovernmentHouse gate, PermanentSecretary, GovernmentHouse, Mr. NkwaChukwu, thanked themfor their peacefuldisposition andappealed to them toexercise patience. Heassured that thegovernment wouldattend to their needs.

People queuing to buy kerosene at N50.00 per litre at the Nigerian National PetroleumCorporation, NNPC, Mega Station, at the ongoing Kero-correct Programme in Port Har-court.

‘Some politicians plotting to protest in Aba against polls' shift’

U M U A H I A —FOLLOWING the

shift of this month’s polls by theIndependent NationalElectoral Commission, INEC,Abia State Governmentyesterday, claimed that somepoliticians from other stateswere planning to invade to Abato demonstrate against theshift in polls.

It, therefore, warned theunnamed politicians to steer clearof Aba and, indeed, the whole ofAbia State, saying securityagencies had been put on alert.

The government, through astatement signed by the ChiefPress Secretary to GovernorTheodore Orji, Charles Ajunwa,said though the constitutionallowed freedom of speech andassociation, they should beapplied responsibly.

It said: “In as much as the1999 Constitution (as amended)allows for freedom of speech,association and movement,these unpatriotic politiciansshould not use Aba as base forperpetrating their evil intentionsthereby portraying Aba aswhere anything goes.

“These unpatriotic politicians,who don’t have the interest ofthe country at heart, have noright to demonstrate in Aba."

By Anayo Okoli

Demand $10m ransom

CMYK

8—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015

Presidency shops for Jega’s replacementConsiders S-West gov’s brotherLegal war to disqualify Buhari hots up

By Soni Daniel,Regional Editor, North

President not to renew Jega’stenure, which is expected tolapse on June 13 this year.

The forces, it was learnt,felt that Jega was rather too‘difficult’ to deal with,having not allowed himselfto be dictated to by anyonesince assuming office likeother appointees of thegovernment.

It was learnt that in a bidto sweep off Jega from hisseat without raising anydust, he would be asked tocomply with the civil serviceprocedure by proceeding onhis three months terminalleave with effect from March1, this year since he isexpected to retire on June 13.

S-West gov’s brothermay replace Jega

Vanguard gathered that in

his place, the Presidencywas considering bringing inanother academic from theSouth-West, who is currentlyheading a tertiaryinstitution in the country.

The professor of PoliticalScience and InternationalRelations is said to be asibling of a servinggovernor in the South-West,who is a close ally ofPresident GoodluckJonathan and his party.

Competent sources alsotold Vanguard last nightthat although the name ofthe academic had beenmade known in securitycircles, it was not clearwhether the man had beencleared by the forces with aview to sending his name tothe National Assembly for

ABUJA — WITH thes u c c e s s f u l

postponement of theelections by the IndependentNational ElectoralCommission, INEC, thePresidency has launched atwo-pronged war to ensurethat President GoodluckJonathan wins the electionconvincingly.

The two strategies are tostop Muhammadu Buhari,the All ProgressivesCongress candidate fromcontesting the election withJonathan and thereplacement of the INECChairman, Prof AttahiruJega, with a lessindependent-minded person.

Jega, it was gathered, hadbeen described by hawksaround the president of beingtoo independent-minded and‘uncooperative’ despite beinggiven the job on a platter ofgold by the president’s men.

Vanguard learnt that Jegamight have unwittinglyplayed into the hands of theforces arrayed against him byagreeing to shift theelections.

Legal war todisqualify Buhari

Competent sources saidlast night that the move toremove Jega and the legalfireworks against Buhari,would be taken upsimultaneously with effectfrom this week given thetimeframe made possible bythe shift.

The retired general is to beprosecuted by a team of legalluminaries for ‘lying on oath’that he had a schoolcertificate with the NigerianArmy when he knew that itwas untrue.

The plaintiffs are said tohave settled for trying Buharifor alleged ‘perjury’ insteadof outright non-possession ofcertificate following legaladvice that the latter wouldbe more difficult to provewithin the time at theirdisposal.

Vanguard learnt thatalthough Jega reluctantlysuccumbed to pressure fromthe Presidency and itssecurity chiefs to shift thepolls, he might still not beallowed by the forces toconduct the rescheduledelections between March 28and April 11.

Vanguard gathered fromcompetent sources that thePresidency was no longercomfortable with Jega andwas, therefore, workingtirelessly to get him out of thecommission to pave the wayfor a more ‘trusted hand’ toconduct the rescheduledelections.

It was learnt that the forcesarrayed against the INECboss had convinced the

possible confirmation, asrequired by law.

Working againstJonathan's interest

As a prelude to removingJega from office, someclose allies of thePresident had startedaccusing him of takingside with the opposition toundermine the success ofJonathan and his party inthe next election.

Earlier last week,Jonathan’s godfather,Chief Edwin Clark andother prominent politiciansfrom the Southern part ofthe country had accusedJega of working againstthe interest of thepresident and the PDP and

asked him to resign from thecommission.

Although no evidence wasadduced by Clark and hisgroup to support theirallegation, they nonethelesscalled for the arrest of Jega.

Similarly, Senior SpecialAssistant to the President onPublic Affairs, Dr. DoyinOkupe, on Saturday, said Jegahad lied about the state of thecommission’s preparednessfor the conduct of the election.

In the same vein, theNational Publicity Secretary ofthe PDP, Mr. Olisa Metuh,accused INEC of working withthe opposition to deny itsmembers of permanent votercards in some states. He calledon the security agents toprobe the commission over thedevelopment.

May 29 handover date sacrosanct — JonathanCalls for international community, CSOs' support

RETREAT: From left: Managing Director, Arik Air, Chris Ndulue; Jerry Weller, GlobalDevelopment Officer, VIP TV; Prof. Pat Utomi, Founder, Values in Leadership (CVL); CEO,Arik Air, Dr. Michael Arumemi-Ikhide, and Deputy Managing Director, Arik Air, Capt. AdoSanusi during Arik Air senior management retreat, in Lagos.

By Ben Agande

ABUJA — PresidentGoodluck Jonathan has

assured Nigerians that theMay 29 handover dateremains sacrosanct as it isthe terminal date of his firstterm in office.

In a statement yesterday,Special Adviser to thePresident on Media andPublicity, Dr Reuben Abati,quoted the president assaying that the adjustmentby the Independent NationalElectoral Commission,INEC, should be acceptedby Nigerians as necessarydecision to ensure thatNigerians are notdisenfranchised.

While calling for supportfrom the internationalcommunity and civil societyorganisations, PresidentJonathan noted: “This is nota time to trade blames ormake statements that mayoverheat the polity, but atime to show understandingand support the electoralcommission to conduct theelections successfully.”

The statement

The statement read:“Following the adjustment ofthe dates for the 2015general elections by theIndependent NationalElectoral Commission(INEC) from February 14and 28 to March 28 and April

11, yesterday (Saturday),President GoodluckJonathan has reassured thenation of his commitment tothe sanctity of May 29, 2015as the terminal date of hisfirst term in office.

“He strongly reaffirmsthat May 29 is, has been,and will remain sacrosanct.

“The President appeals toall stakeholders to acceptthe adjustment of theelection dates by INEC ingood faith, as the electoralbody has a responsibility to

conduct credible electionsin which every Nigerian ofvoting age is afforded theopportunity to exercisetheir civic right withoutany form of hindrance.

“President Jonathanbelieves that this is not atime to trade blames ormake statements that mayoverheat the polity, but atime to showunderstanding andsupport the electoralcommission to conduct theelections successfully.

“It is the President’sunderstanding that INEC’sdecision ought not to generateacrimony since it acted withinits powers under the law andin consultation with allrelevant stakeholders.

“He calls on theinternational community, civilsociety and the electorate tocontinue to support theadministration’s commitmentto a free, fair, credible, andnon-violent electoralprocess.”


French firms to invest 240bn Euros inNigeria, others No serious investor can ignore Nigeria —Sapin

As Okonjo-Iweala suggests innovative financing

By Emma Ujah, in Paris

FORUM: From left: Mrs Ibiye Ekong, Executive Director, South-South/South-East, SkyeBank Plc; Mr. Sam Ndata, Doyen of the Nigerian stockbrokers, and Mr. Timothy Oguntayo,Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Skye Bank, at a stockbrokers forumorganised by Skye Bank, in Lagos.

PARIS — FRANCE has setaside 240 billion Euros for

investment in Nigeria andother African countries in amove aimed at re-invigorating the Europeancountry’s presence on thecontinent, the FrenchPresident, Mr. FrancoisHolland, has announced.

Speaking at the secondFrench-African EconomicForum in Paris, weekend, hesaid the initiative was alreadya success and marked thebeginning of a rejuvenatedpartnership between hiscountry and the Africanregion.

He said: “France is ready tobring development andinvestment to Africa. InAfrica, there is a convergenceof interests between Frenchinvestors and Africans. Wewill and must fund Africabetter in its projectsdevelopment. The main risksare not in Africa and we mustlook at Africa like we do forother regions.”

The president told the largegathering of over 500 Frenchand African investors that alarge portion of the resourceswould be channelled into theprovision of infrastructure,especially electricity powergeneration and distribution.

His words: “Access of Africais key to the future of theworld and we are here to forma forum community of likeminds. Africa has a beautifulfuture and France has a lot ofproducts that would benefitboth France and the Africanregion.

“Africa is our future,therefore, we must work outa strategic growth frameworkin which Africa has thecapacity to ensure its owndevelopment because theregion is full of resources thatare yet to be developed.”

According to thePresident,the French Export-Import Bank has beenestablished and wouldbecome operational from nextmonth as part the strategy toboost economic activities ofFrench companies in theregion.

Nigeria as investmentdestination—Sapin

Earlier, the French Ministerof Finance, Mr. MichaelSapin, said Nigeria would bemajor beneficiary of hiscountry ’s new push forgreater investment in Africa,saying: “If you are not inNigeria, you are not inAfrica.”

Sapin said with a hugemarket and investment

potentials, “no serious investorcan ignore Nigeria, given thelarge population, highly skilledhuman capital and massiveuntapped natural resources.”

He added that already, acontact group had been formedto ensure that French investorstook the front roll of businessactivities in Nigeria and othercountries of the African region.

According to Sapin,“perception about Africa ischanging rapidly, especiallyafter over a decade of steadyimpressive economic growth,even when most regions of theworld were experiencingretarded growth or evenrecession.

"French investors have toknow this, that French needsAfrica. With a budding young

population who are highlyskilled and entrepreneurial,we must give impetus to thisneeded collaboration betweenAfrica and France."

Okonjo-Iwealasuggests innovativefinancing

In her presentation, theCoordinating Minister for theEconomy and Minister ofFinance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, suggested what shedescribed as “innovativefinancing, in the quest tomobilise more public funds onthe African continent.

According to her, “it isnecessary to try innovativefinancing because of the gapbetween the current publicfunds and the development

BroadbandPlan: Councilcalls foracceleratedimplementation

By Emeka Aginam

LAGOS — THEBroadband Council has

called for acceleratedimplementation of NigerianNational Broadband Plan2013- 2018 to ensure thatNigeria achieves a five-foldincrease in broadbandpenetration by 2017/2018.

The council chaired bythe Minister ofC o m m u n i c a t i o nTechnology, Dr OmobolaJohnson, took the decisionat its regular quarterlymeeting, in Abuja

The council, among otherthings, acknowledged theprogress made on theimplementation of theBroadband Plan in the last18 months, especially theincreased capacity rolledout by telcos and otherinfrastructure providerswhich had resulted in a twoper cent increase inbroadband penetration in2014.

The council also noted thesuccessful auction of the2.3GHz spectrum, licensingof the first two Infracos formetro fibre rollout and calledon successful bidders toquickly rollout to improve thepace of implementation.

It commended the trial ofTV White Spaces approvedby the NigerianC o m m u n i c a t i o n sCommission, NCC, andNational BroadcastingCommission, NBC, to reducecost of internet access andexpressed concern on theneed to increase the landingpoints of internationalsubmarine cables beyondLagos to other coastal states.

The council alsocommended the telecomsoperators for their leadershipin the area of base stationinfrastructure sharing anddeployment and resolvedthat this needed to beextended to fibre.

Additional landing pointsin the country, according tothe council, would not onlyreduce vulnerability andrisks associated with a singlepoint of failure but wouldmake it faster and cheaper tolay terrestrial cable fromthese points to other parts ofthe country.

Calling on NCC and theUniversal Service ProvisionFund (USPF) to providefinancial incentives toaccelerate theimlementation, the councilacknowledged that somemilestones were missed dueto schedule delays.

needs of African nations.”She urged development

partners to put more fundsinto tax administration, notingthat $1 funding of taxadministration could generateas much as $30 in tax.

The minister added that thestrategy of Public PrivatePartnership, PPP, should bedeveloped across thecontinent, given the realitythat public funds could notmeet development needs.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala alsocalled for innovating theremittances of the Africans inthe Diaspora by creatinginstruments to enable Africansoutside the region to playgreater roles in thedevelopment efforts of theirhome countries.

NSITF assures adequate treatment,rehabilitation of injured workers

By JohnboscoAgbakwuru

ABUJA — THE managementof the Nigeria Social

Insurance Trust Scheme, NSITF,has renewed its commitmenttowards rendering adequatetreatment and rehabilitation ofinjured workers.

Managing Director of NSITF,Umar Abubakar, who gave theassurance, weekend, when hevisited the management of theNational Teachers’ Institute, NTI,in Kaduna said NSITF does notstop at paying compensation toinjured works, but treat andrehabilitate them wherenecessary.

He explained that NSITF had

also created an atmospherewhere injured workers do notbecome a burden to familymembers after treatment in acase where the injury did notallow such an employee performhis previous duties.

According to him, “once anemployee is covered, theemployer does not need tobother with any treatment orpayment. NSITF takes care ofeverything from medicaltreatment to rehabilitation ifthere is need for it.

“It also pays handsomebenefits to a deceasedemployee’s spouse for the lifeof that spouse as long as he/shedoes not remarry, or to the childtill age 21 or when the child

graduates from a tertiaryinstitution.”

The NSITF boss furtheremphasized the need forteachers in the country to benefitfrom the ECS especially in theface of the insurgencies in someparts of the country, adding thatthe trust fund has the backing ofthe law to ensure employerscomply with the scheme and thatNSITF management under hiswatch was using dialogueapproach as the first option.

Responding, Director Generalof the institute, Dr. AminuSharehu, commended NSITFfor its interest in teachers,expressing willingness topartner with the fund inensuring compliance to theECS.

CMYK


Postponing 2015 elections will help addressissues — Southern ethnic group

BRIEFING: From left, Publicity Secretary All Progressives Congress (APC), Lagos State,Mr. Joe Igbokwe; Media Strategist, Akin Ambode Camping Organisation, Mr. IdowuAjanaku and member of APC Publicity Committee, Mrs. Yinka Babalola, at a pressconference on destruction of APC billboards and posters by thugs suspected to be sponsoredby the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP at the APC secretariat, Lagos, yesterday.

Lagos Policecommandcreates newUnit tocounter crime

POLLS: Navy expresses preparedness, trainspersonnel on human rights violation

By Evelyn Usman

By MonsuruOlowoopejo

APC, PDP bicker over billboard vandalismBy Dapo Akinrefon ...APC claim untrue — PDP

LAGOS—THE Lagos Statechapters of the All

Progressives Congress (APC)and the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) yesterday engaged in warof words over vandalisism of itsposters, billboards and banners allover Lagos by thugs andhoodlums.

While the APC accused the PDPof sponsoring thugs to vandaliseits billboards, the PDP faulted theclaim, saying it was untrue.

Addressing a press conferenceyesterday, Lagos APC PublicitySecretary, Engr. Joe Igbokwe,alleged that some thugsmasquerading as members of theillegal Federal Task Force inLagos pulled down the postersand billboards of APC candidatesall over Lagos, even on Lagos Stateroads.

The party, however, called on theLagos State Police Commissionerand his command to act quickly

and decisively to stop thebrigandage of the PDP in thestate.

Mr Igbokwe accused the PDPof “inciting and inviting a war inLagos by the reckless way andmanner they have beendestroying APC banners, postersand billboards all over Lagos”.

He said: “It is clear that the PDPthinks it can overwhelm Lagoswith brute force and statesponsored criminality and if it is

so sure that it will win Lagos, as ithas been lousily boasting, why isit precipitating a war in Lagos?Does it also have the capacity tomanage the war in the unlikelyevent that it wins a state where itis not welcome?

“We want to state that ourmembers are running out ofpatience in this continuedprovocation. While we are tryingour utmost best to restrain ourmembers from being drawn intoany war that will undermine ourwell oiled wheel of change, wewarn that there is a limit totolerance and that our membersmay be forced to react even if todefend themselves and theirinterests.

“We warn that the PDP shouldnot mistake our resolve to keepthe peace as a necessary conditionfor the long desired changeNigerians are longing for, as asign of submission and docility.We warn that we may be forced toreact if pushed to the wall and theperpetrators of this ongoingdeliberate brigandage will be heldresponsible for this.

“We call on the Lagos StatePolice Commissioner and hiscommand to act quickly anddecisively to stop this brigandagefor we cannot continue to complainwhile the PDP is deliberatelyallowed to breach the security andpeace of Lagos. We warn thatLagosians will not tolerate thiscriminality any longer. We leavethis as a last warning.”

APC’s claim untrue — PDP In its defense, Lagos State PDP

tackled the APC over its claim.Speaking with Vanguard, state

Publicity Secretary of the party, MrTaofik Gani said: “We know thatthe true intent behind thefalsehood now employed by theLagos APC publicity is simply tolay the foundation to claim thatthere was no level playing groundin the process leading to theelections. Obviously they arelosing in the coming elections.”

“They are also notorious forraising accusations in area theyhave committed default or plan tocommit default.”

While he dismissed theassertion made by the APC overremoval of its posters, the party’sspokesperson said it was theirposters that are being torn andsubsequently removed by APCsupporters.

“It is our posters that are beingtorn. The police have theirintelligence report and that is whythey want to protect all parties, notPDP in particular. My call at thistime is for the Police to arrest andprosecute the APC leaders whomay have said this to come andshow why he should not be jailedfor maligning the Police in orderto obstruct their powers tomaintain law and order.

''The APC is always quick tocondemn or blackmail anygovernment official, agency orsystem which they cannotcompromise to support theirinordinate cause,” he said.

LAGOS—THE LagosState Police Command

weekend, disclosed that ithad created a TacticalOperational Unit,TOU, thatwould support the RapidResponse Squad in the fightagainst criminality in thestate.

Making the disclosureduring the donation of fourpatrol vans by Heritage bankand EtisalatTe l e c o m m u n i c a t i o ncompany, the commandboss, Kayode Aderanti, saidthat part of the aims of theunit would be to carry outsurveillance on vulnerableareas within the command.

Appreciating the privatecompanies for the gesturewhich he said was a step inthe right direction towardsensuring a peacefulenvironment for business tothrive in the state, Aderanticalled on other corporatebodies within the state toborrow a leaf from thedonors.

“ We have a tacticaloperation unit that wascreated in order to lay outsecurity to support RRS. Wewill deploy these vehicles tovulnerable points so thatwhen people are leavingand returning from theiroffices, there will be Policepresence, to ensure thatmiscreants who usuallyharras them , don’t have aspace. We intend to closethe space that is remaining ,by way of ensuring criticalvisibility,” he said.

In her remark, theExecutive Director, HeritageBank, Gloria Okpoboma,stated that the donation oftwo Hilux vans, walkietalkies, ballistic vests andhelmets, was part of thebank’s support tocomplement what shedescribed as the good workthe command was doing.

LAGOS—SOUTHERNNigeria Ethnic

Nationalities have saidpostponing the 2015 generalelections would afford the countrythe opportunity to address issuesthat could impede achieving afree and fair polls.

They argued that security of lifeand property must be addressedbefore the chairman ofIndependent National ElectoralCommission, INEC, Prof.Attahiru Jega, organized theelections earlier scheduled forFebruary 14 and 28, 2015.

They spoke at a Town Hallmeeting at the MUSON centre,Lagos, deliberating on the theme“Nigeria at Crossroad:

restructuring and election.”Lamenting the country’s lax

security, they noted that its officersdid not have the capabilities toprevent a breakdown of law andorder should there be one in anyof the geo-political zones of thecountry.

Convener of the meeting, Mr.Timi Kaiser-Wilhelm, said ethnicnationalities were not against theelections but noted that there wasneed to consider other factors thatwould ensure free and fairelections in the country.

He said: “For instance security,going into the elections withoutaddressing it could affect theoutcome of the elections. So thereis need for us to restructure thecountry.

“Even the ongoing distributionsof PVCs have been structured ina manner to favour the north notminding other regions in thecountry.”

Timi Kaiser-Wilhelm addedthat the number of PVCsallocated to the regions furtherattest to plans by the electoralcommission to favour the North.

LAGOS—AS the 2015elections draw nearer, the

Nigerian Navy, weekendexpressed its readiness todischarge its duties wherenecessary, with a warning tomiscreants to have a rethink ontheir excesses

As first step to achieving this

mandate, it disclosed that itspersonnel had been undergoingtraining in the last one year onhuman rights violation, assuringthat there would be nobrutalization of civilians in thecourse of discharging its duties.

The Flag OfficerCommanding, Naval TrainingCommand ,NAVTRAC RearAdmiral Babatunde Egbedina,

made this disclosure at the endof the route march by ratingsand officers of the Western andNaval training commands inLagos.

The route march, as explainedby the FOC, was to reposeconfidence in members of thepublic on the preparedness of theservice lateing to internal securityoperations.

By Evelyn Usman

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015—11

Fayemi, Rep condemn poll shift

CMYK

By Gbenga Ariyibi

Adeyeye to APC: Take your audio clipon Fayose to tribunal as evidence

By Gbenga Ariyibi

ADO EKITI—F O R M E R

governor of Ekiti State,Dr Kayode Fayemi and amember of the House ofR e p r e s e n t a t i v e s ,Bamidele Faparusi, havecondemned the shift ofthe February generalelections by theIndependent NationalElectoral Commission,INEC, describing sameas a coup against theelectoral process in thecountry.

Fayemi, who blamedthe Presidency and themilitary for the shift, saidthat INEC Chairman,Prof. Atahiru Jega,succumbed to pressureby the powers that be bypostponing the elections.

Speaking in Isan Ekiti,his country home,yesterday, shortly after achurch service to markhis 50th birthday at SaintMartins CatholicChurch, Fayemi vowedthat he, along with other

pro-democracy activistsand all lovers ofdemocracy would resistattempts by those hebranded as anti-democratic forces, toderail the country ’sc o n s t i t u t i o n a ldemocracy.

Commenting on analleged audio clip,where the state governor,Mr Ayo Fayose, had analleged secret meetingwith a group of peopleaimed at rigging theJune 21 governorshipelection in his (Fayose)favour, Fayemi assuredthat more revelationswould soon be releasedto complement the audiotape.

The former governorexpressed shock that asacred institution like themilitary, could have gotenmeshed in acts thatcould subvert thedemocratic process,noting that such trendwas dangerous to thesurvival of thedemocracy.

“It was apparent thatthe military and thePresidency boxed INECto a tight corner to getthe postponement toachieve their devilishmotives. I believe thatwhat we are expected todo as democrats must bethose things that wouldstrengthen democracy.For military to be sayingthat it would overcomeinsurgency, what it hadfailed to curtail in fiveyears is standing logic onits head? You could seethat Nigerians are veryunhappy."

Also speaking, amember of the House ofR e p r e s e n t a t i v e s ,Faparusi, described thepoll shift as “provocative,unjustifiable andsuspicious,” adding thatit would be difficult forthe military to overcomethe Boko Haram it hadfailed to exterminate infive years within sixweeks, urging Nigeriansto be vigilant about thenew development.

ADO EKITI—MINISTER of State

for Works, Prince DayoAdeyeye, has challengedthe All ProgressivesCongress, APC, to tenderthe newly released audioclip at the tribunal as anevidence if it was so sureof its facts.

The minister, whodescribed the allegedaudio clip as at e c h n o l o g i c a lmanipulation whichcannot stand the test oftime, said in a statementin Ado Ekiti, yesterday,that Governor AyodeleFayose did not holdmeetings on how tomanipulate the electionwith anyone.

He said: “The APCpeople know where to goif they have evidence thatthe election was rigged.

“It is foolish for anyoneto be crying that anelection was rigged eightmonths after the electionwas held. This is more sothat there was an electionpetition tribunal where theevidence ought to havebeen presented.

“No amount ofcampaign of calumny andblackmail can erase thefact that Ekiti peoplewillingly electedGovernor Fayose. APC isonly chasing shadowshaving admitted earlier

that Ekiti people indeedvoted for Fayose but theydid so because he gavethem rice.”

Adeyeye said it wasamusing that the samepeople who castigatedEkiti people for votingFayose because of“stomach infrastructure,”are now saying that theelection was rigged.

He said it was the APCthat actually plotted tomanipulate the election,using InformationTechnology and thuggery,but the heavy presence ofthe military foiled theplans.

Faulting the audio clip,Adeyeye said: “In thisage of InformationTechnology, it is possible

to even manipulate videosnot to talk of audio. It ispossible to make someonewho cannot speak Frenchto appear on videospeaking French.

“It is also possible for thevoice of someone whodied 10 years ago to bemanipulated such that hewill appear as speakingon current issues. GSMproviders are doing it bymaking one's voice toappear like that of acelebrity.

“Therefore, APC shouldtake their so-called audioclip to court where it willbe subjected to properscrutiny both legally andtechnologically ratherthan using the media topromote a dead issue.”

By Daud Olatunji

UPN gov candidate tacklesINEC over postponement

A B E O K U T A —G O V E R N -

ORSHIP candidate of theUnity Party of Nigeria,UPN, in Ogun State,Prince Rotimi Paseda,has berated theIndependent NationalElectoral Commission,INEC, for postponing thegeneral elections, earlierfixed for this month,saying that the actionwill give room for

insinuations.Paseda spoke at Sabo,

in Sagamu LocalGovernment Area of thestate shortly after he wasinstalled as the GarkwaHausawa by the Councilof Hausa Chiefs in OgunState.

According to him,INEC should haveallowed the elections tohold as earlierscheduled, whateverlapses noticed wouldthen be corrected infuture elections.


PDP, APC agree on peaceful polls in RiversBy Jimitota Onoyume

ALLEGED N1.5BN LARGESS: Okunbor urges Edo PDPyouths to remain calm

By Simon Ebegbulem

Urhobo nation expels officers from UPUBy Godwin Oghre

Edo PDPwarns againstremoval ofJonathan’sposters inBenin

PORT HARCOURT—THEPeoples Democratic Party,

PDP and the All ProgressivesCongress, APC, havepromised to work for crisis-freeelections in Rivers State.

Governorship candidate ofthe PDP, Chief Nyesom Wike,and his counterpart in theAPC, Dr. Dakuku Peterside,gave the assurance, weekend,during a meeting with thenewly appointed AssistantInspector-General of Police,AIG, Zone 6, Mr. TundeOgunsakin.

Peterside also appealed tothe Police to step up their effortto secure lives and property ofmembers of his party, sayingthat they had suffered severalpolitically motivated attacks inthe state.

Mr. Ogunsakin said he calleda meeting of politicalstakeholders in the state toagree on peaceful elections,adding that the Police wereready to effectively police thestate during the elections.

He said: “I have a mandatefrom the Inspector General ofPolice, Mr Suleiman Abba, toensure that elections arepeaceful in my zone.

“The law is no respecter ofanybody, no matter how highly

placed. As such, politicalactivities must effectivelyaccommodate the interests ofall without undermining thefundamental human rights ofthe citizens and without alsocompromising the peace,order, security and safety oflives and property in RiversState.

“This is very essential as Iwill not compromise anything

that will cause a breach ofpublic peace, riotous conductand any other act likely tocause a breakdown of law andorder in any of the four statesunder my control.

“As part of a wider strategyto ensure that electoraloffenders are dealt withdecisively, upon assumptionof office as the AssistantInspector General of Police,

Zone 6, Calabar, I set up aSpecial Investigation Team onElectoral Offences to dealwith electoral complaints andoffences. I have directed allmy Commissioners of Policeto also constitute SpecialSquads on Electoral Offencesand transfer all electoraloffenders to my office inCalabar during and after theelections.”

BENIN—SOME leadersof the Peoples Democratic

Party, PDP, in Edo State, led by,Capt. Hosa Okunbor, weekend,waded into the crisis ragingbetween the leadership of theparty and youths of the partyover an alleged N1.5 billionpresidential largess meant forthe youths, which they allegedwas diverted by the stateCoordinator of Goodluck/SamboCampaign Organisation, PastorOsagie Ize-Iyamu.

The youths, under the aegisof Grassroot Youths Initiative,GYI, during a protest lastFriday, barricaded the gates ofthe party's secretariat in BeninCity and vowed to unleashmayhem on the party leadershipif the money was not madeavailable to them.

But Pastor Ize-Iyamu, in hisreaction, described theallegation as unfounded, sayingthat no such amount of moneywas provided for thepresidential rally. He allegedthat the crisis was being fuelledby the All ProgressivesCongress, APC administrationin the state “so as to createdivision in the PDP before theelections.”

Also, the state chairman of thePDP, Chief Dan Orbih, said theprotest was unnecessary since

no such money existed,alleging, that the crisis wasbeing instigated by the stateAPC government in order todestabilise the PDP which,according to him, was strongerin the state now.

However, when the youths

attempted to embarked onanother protest, Saturday, Capt.Okunbor, E. J. Agbonayinmaand the President of One LoveFoundation, Patrick Eholor, metwith them and appealed to themthat no such money came fromthe Presidency.

They urged the youths not tojeopardise the chances of theparty ahead the elections, asOkunbor assured that the youthswill continue to receive whateverwas meant for them, insistingthat the allegation as Ize-Iyamusaid, was untrue.

MOSOGAR—A CONGRESS ofthe working organs of the

Urhobo nation, consisting ofexecutives of Urhobo Progress Union,UPU, Elders Wing, Women Wing andthe Youths (Ighele) Wing, which held,weekend, in Mosogar, Ethiope WestLocal Government Area of the state,has expelled some erring members ofUPU executive committee.

Those expelled were, Chief T. A.Onoge (2nd Deputy PresidentGeneral), Mr O. I. Ojevwe (AssistantLegal Adviser), Chief N. Odogu(National Auditor, non-electiveposition), Alhaji A. A. Mumakai-Unagha (Assistant National PublicitySecretary) and Mr Efeduma (Ex-Officio member), all of who wereassistants to other major office holdersin UPU.

They were accused of workingagainst Urhobo agenda in the 2015general elections, allegedly incitingmembers of the public against thecurrent UPU leadership,

unconstitutionally arrogatingpowers to themselves as well asblackmailing prominent Urhobosons and daughters.

The motion for their expulsion wasmoved by the Secretary General ofForum of Presidents General of the24 kingdoms of Urhobo nation,Chief Kenneth Iwhewhe, andseconded by the President of UrhoboYouths Council, Ovie Igho Anthony.The motion was adopted by aunanimousous ‘yes’ vote.

Thereafter, the Chairman ofUrhobo Elders/Leaders Forum,Justice T. Dugbo, called on UPU toratify their expulsion, to give it alegal backing, which it did throughits President General, Chief JosephOmene.

Earlier, Urhobo nation had,through the UPU, called onpoliticians to be wary of a handfulof sycophants who, it said, were benton destroying its unity, culture andcommon political agenda, for theirselfish interest, particularly therecent Uvwiamughe Declaration.

By GabrielEnogholase

BENIN—EDO StatePeoples Democratic

Party, PDP, has warnedthose responsible for thedefacing and removal ofits presidential candidate'sposters, PresidentGoodluck Jonathan fromthe streets of Benin todesist forthwith,describing their action asundemocratic andunnecessary.

“We received reportsthat certain people weredefacing and removingposters of PDP and thoseof President Jonathanfrom the streets of Benin.I appeal to thoseresponsible to desist fromdoing so. Whether theposters are removed ornot, the people of EdoState will vote accordingto their conscience.

“You can see that as aresponsible anddemocratic party, weplaced our posters alongwith those of thepresidential candidates ofother parties and thatshows how liberal weare,” said state Chairmanof the party, Chief DanOrbih, while addressingjournalists in Benin,yesterday.

The party also denied astatement allegedlycredited to GovernorAdams Oshiomhole that ithired crowds from theneigbouring states ofAnambra, Ondo and Kogito its presidential rally inthe state.

INSPECTION: From left: Group Accountant, ATCO, Mr. Daramola Solomon; MD, ATCO,Mrs. Derin Talabi and MD, Food, Agro & Allied Industries, Mr. Sudhansu Sinha, during aninspection tour by ATCO executive to Food, Agro & Allied Industries Limited’s new factoryfacilities.


Use polls shift interlude to perform EPZ ground-breaking, NAIG urges Jonathan

CMYK

By Daniel Gumm

Wike'll empower market traders with business grants —BANIGO

IDU drums support for Ogboru, ErebiBy Festus Ahon

By Gbenga Oke

Peterside, the way to go in Rivers —FEYII

Vote PDP, LGboss urgestraders inDelta

Edo flags offN5.7bn Auchierosioncontrolproject

By SimonEbegbulem

THE deputy governorshipcandidate of the Peoples

Democratic Party, PDP, in RiversState, Dr. Ipalibo Harry-Banigo,has said that the incomingNyesom Wike administrationwill empower traders withbusiness grants to lift theircommercial activities.

Mrs. Banigo, who spokeduring visits to six majormarkets in Port Harcourt, notedthat the new PDPadministration will encourageentrepreneurship and selfreliance across the state.

Decrying the conditions of themarkets, Dr Banigo, said thatthe Wike administration willreinvent all markets in the statethrough targeted rehabilitation.

She particularly called onmarket women to support theWike/Banigo ticket as it was thefirst time that a woman wasbeing given the opportunity tocontribute to decision making atthe highest level in RiversState.

She said: “I call on all womentraders backed by their malecounterparts to vote massivelyfor the Wike/Banigo ticket. Thisis the first time since thecreation of Rivers State in 1960,that a woman will have theopportunity to serve as deputy

governor. I am pleased to alsoinform you that our incomingadministration will ensure thattraders get business grants toimprove their businesses.”

In all the markets visited, DrBanigo explained in pidginEnglish, the party’s blueprintfor Rivers State and also shared

PDP flyers and souvenirs.She was accompanied on the

visit by Nigeria’s Ambassadorto South Korea, AmbassadorDesmond Akawor, twomembers of the House ofRepresentatives, Mrs BlessingNsiegbe and Mr Ken Chikere.Also on her entourage werefemale Federal Commissioners

in the state.Dr Banigo also received in

audience, lawyers under theauspices of New Rivers LawyersInitiative.

She commended the lawyersfor endorsing Mr Wike andherself, saying that the incomingadministration will ensure theindependence of the judiciary.

SECRETARY to RiversState Government, Mr

George Feyii, has described thegovernorship candidate of AllProgressives Congress, APC, inthe state, Dr Dakuku Peterside,as the best candidate to governthe state and called for his electionat the coming polls.

Feyii also said that Petersidewas the only competentcandidate among his contenders.

Speaking to a crowd ofsupporters at a rally in Khana, hecalled on the people of the areanot to waste their votes because avote for Peterside was a vote forcompetence.

He said: “Rivers people havealready resolved to vote forcompetence, track record, fear ofGod, background, fairness,

courage, justice and equity andonly the APC candidate satisfiesthese requirements. This massivecrowd has presented us anopportunity to show that Khanais for APC because Peterside isthe only way to go.

“I had the opportunity ofworking with the two major

people in this contest. I followedthe two men at the ExecutiveCouncil and having workedclosely with them, I am in a betterposition to speak on theircharacter. In terms of quality ofbeing, Peterside is the way to goand we must encourage ourpeople to go the right way."

BENIN CITY—G O V E R N O R

Adams Oshiomhole ofEdo State has flagged offthe N5.7 billion AuchiErosion project to tacklethe menacing gullyerosion threatening thecommunity. He describedthe project as a historicintervention that willchange the fortunes of thekingdom.

Speaking at the flag-offof the World Bank-assisted project, weekend,Oshiomhole, said: “Wehave borrowed N5.7billion to protect this greatkingdom of Auchi, torestore hope and toremove the fear and thepain the people sufferwhen it rains because thatis the primary purpose ofgovernment.

“The loan is at aninterest rate of less thanone percent and it wasspread so thinly that wepay painlessly. So, it takesa sensible, competent andtransparent governmentto access this World Bankfacility for the people."

A S A B A — P O R T -HARCOURT branch of

Isoko Development Union,IDU, has called on the peopleof Delta State to vote enmassefor the governorship candidateof Labour Party, Chief GreatOgboru in the Aprilgovernorship election,describing him as the most

capable hand to govern thestate in the next dispensation.

Endorsing Ogboru and hisrunning mate, Elder PeterErebi, former President Generalof the IDU as their candidate,the union, in a statement, saidit was the first time in theannals of Isoko history that anillustrious Isoko son willfeature in the governorshipcontest of a political party.

U G H E L L I —CHAIRMAN of

Ughelli North LocalGovernment Area, DeltaState, Mr. Kenneth Ibru,has called on traders at theUghelli Market to supportall candidates of PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, inthe forthcoming generalelections.

Making the appealduring the commissioningof eight lock-up stalls inthe market, the councilboss described the party’scandidates for the variouspositions as tested andtrusted leaders, who haveall it takes to take DeltaState to greater heights.

He urged the traders tosensitise all eligible votersin the areas to support theruling party, saying thatPDP has all it takes to meetthe yearning andaspiration of the peoplethrough purposefulleadership andgovernance.

RECLAMATION: From left: Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State; HRH HaliruMomoh, Ikelebe III, Otaru of Auchi, Mr. Hassan Kadiri, Chairman, Etsako West LocalGovernment Area and Mr. Clem Agba, Commissioner for Environment and Public Utilities,at the flag-off of the reclamation works at the Auchi Gully Erosion project, in Auchi.

WARRI—THE NationalAssociation of Itsekiri

Graduates, NAIG, has calledon President GoodluckJonathan to use the interludeprovided by the six weekspostponement of the generalelections, originally billed forFebruary 14 and 28, to performthe groundbreaking of theExport Processing Zone, EPZ,in Delta State.

NAIG, led by AleroTenumah, in a statement inWarri, Delta State, noted that"in as much as the polls’postponement came as asurprise despite earlier claimsby the Independent NationalElectoral Commission, INEC,that it was ready for theconduct of the elections,Itsekiri graduates across theglobe would be delighted tosee President Jonathan fulfillhis promise to the Olu of Warriby coming to perform the EPZground-breaking early Marchbefore the eagerly anticipatedpolls."

According to NAIG,"postponement of the polls byINEC has created enough timefor the Minister of Petroleumand the Delta StateGovernment, in concert withthe Presidency, to work out afeasible date between now and

early March for the ground-breaking which has sufferedtwo postponements."

NAIG, in the statement, alsoappealed to Itsekiri leaders topick a credible candidateamong the four Itsekiri sonsvying for the Delta Southsenatorial district seat, so asto boost the chances of Itsekiri

producing the next senator torepresent Delta South at theNational Assembly, insistingthat it was the turn of Itsekirination to produce the nextsenator based on the rotationalagreement of single tenureeach among Itsekiri, Ijaw andIsoko of Delta South.

Jonathan had told the Olu of

Warri and members of the WarriCouncil of Chiefs during aprivate visit in Warri, that hewould perform the EPZground-breaking early Marchafter the polls earlier fixed forFebruary would have beenconcluded, hinging hispromise on hectic campaignschedule.


CMYK


POLLS SHIFT: We're unperturbed, readyfor victory — CHIME

By Austin Ogwuda &Peter Okutu

ENUGU—ENUGU Stategovernor, Sullivan Chime,

said, yesterday, that his partywas not perturbed by the shift inelection dates by the IndependentNational Electoral Commission,INEC, as it had already preparedfor victory anytime the poll wouldhold in the state and at thenational level.

This came as the shift in pollhas continued to elicit reactionsfrom stakeholders in EbonyiState.

Chime, who spoke during aPDP campaign rally at theheadquarters of Enugu NorthLocal Government Area,weekend, made it clear that inspite of the postponement of theelection, the PDP would surelywin at the state and nationallevels.

“PDP is the only viable politicalparty that will guarantee thesustenance of democraticdividends in Nigeria havingdelivered on its promises,” hesaid.

While frowning at the attitudeof some members of the PDP inthe state that decamped to otherpolitical parties to contest theforthcoming elections, havingfailed to secure tickets at theprimaries, Chime also dismissed

insinuations that PDP hadentered into an alliance withother political parties to achieveelectoral victory.

He said: “Everybody in politicsof Enugu State today is one timeor the other a member of the PDP.

“Because they could not realizetheir personal ambitions; theyjoined other parties and startedgoing about deceiving people tovote for their new parties, that

they are in agreement with thePDP. Anybody saying that iswasting his or her time.

“Anytime we have the elections,we will vote for the PDP, we willvote for President Jonathan, HonIfeanyi Ugwuanyi and our othercandidates.”

Also addressing the rally, thePDP governorship candidate, Mr.Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, called on thepeople to vote for the candidates

of the PDP both in the state andat the national level.

Meanwhile, candidate of PDPfor Ezza North/Ishielu federalconstituency in Ebonyi State,Anayo Edwin, noted that thepostponement of the electionwould further assist the militaryin its fight against insurgency,especially in North Eastgeopolitical zone of the country.

Ekweremadu canvasses Ndigbo support forJonathan, Ugwuanyi

By JohnboscoAgbakwuru & Joseph

Erunke

ENUGU—DEPUTY SenatePresident, Senator Ike

Ekweremadu, has appealed toNdigbo to give support to there-election of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan andgovernorship candidate ofPeoples Democratic Party, PDP,in Enugu State, IfeanyiUgwuanyi.

According to him, the duowill never forget the supportby Ndigbo and Enugu peoplerespectively if elected in theforthcoming general elections.

Senator Ekweremadu gavethe assurances whileaddressing communities inEzeagu Local GovernmentArea of Enugu State in

continuation of his re-electioncampaign and inspection andcommissioning of projects heattracted to the area underPresident Jonathan’sadministration.

Ekweremadu, who inspectedthe 17 km Obuofia-Imeziowa-Amokwe road project, alsocommissioned a classroomblock at Unity SecondarySchool Ihuonyia, Amansiodo-

Oghe and three primaryschool blocks at Umumba-Ndeagu and also promised torenovate dilapidated primaryschool blocks in Umumba-Ndeagu and donatetransformers to severalcommunities in the Council.

He said: “You would observethat there have been positivedevelopments in Ezeagusince the inception of the

current democratic era. Manyroads have been built inEzeagu and somecommunities now have waterand electricity.

“But the truth is that thesehave not gone round and it isour belief that everycommunity in Enugu West isentitled to good road, water,electricity, good schools, andother essentials of life."

SENATE: Anambra South must get it right—NWAFOR ORIZU, ELENDU

AWKA—ANAMBRA South Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, Senatorial Candidate, Senator Andy Uba, has

received the backing of Prince Orji Nwafor Orizu andChief Nobis Elendu for the March 28 National Assembly

President of the Senate and formeracting President of Nigeria), PrinceNwafor Orizu, made the call inOzubulu during Senator Uba’scampaign in the town. Uba’s motherand paternal grandmother werefrom Ozubulu.

Elendu spoke at Oko, OrumbaNorth Local Council during Uba’scampaign rally in the town.

He reminded the crowd that Sen.Uba in his first term in the Senatewas made the Chairman of a veryimportant Senate committee and thatif they voted for him and he got tothe Senate again, he would becomea ranking member of the apex law-making body and could not get anyposition less than what he got in hisfirst term.

I'm notcontestingagainstanybody inImo— OKOROCHA

By EmmanuelElebeke

O W E R R I — I M OSTATE governor,

Owelle RochasOkoroocha, has claimedhe has no seriouschallenger in the statefor his re-election bid inthe forthcoming election.

Governor Okorochamade the declarationduring a town hallmeeting organized byImo State liaison office,Abuja, weekend.

He said his rescuemission in Imo was oncourse and could not seeany challenger thatwould stop his secondterm bid in the state.

The governorchallenged the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,led Federal Governmentto name projectsinitiated in the state byPresident GoodluckJonathan that wouldsway voters in the statefor the PDP candidate.

'APGA'llestablishgoodgovernancein Lagos'

LAGOS—THE ALLProgressives Grand

Alliance, APGA, haspromised to establishgood governance inLagos State by givingdividends of democracyto the people if votedinto power in the cominggovernorship election.

The governorshipcanditate of APGA inLagos State, PrinceAdeshina Olayokonwhile addressing partyfaithful in Lagos,yesterday, affirmed thathis party had a wellentrenched grassrootspresence that wouldmake it spring suprisesin the coming electionsas it was fieldingcandidates in thenational and stateassemblies elections.

He stated that APGAwas set to use its existingp r i m o r d i a linfrastructure, highpopulation density andhigh talented humanresources to establishgood governance inLagos State.

election, saying the zone cannotafford to get it wrong this time.

While Prince Nwafor Orizu israllying the people of EkwusigoLocal Government Area of AnambraState for Uba, Chief Elendu, alawyer and a member of the AllProgressives Grand Alliance(APGA), said the senatorial zonewould reap from Uba’s experience,if elected.

A lawyer and son of Dr. AbyssiniaAkwaeke Nwafor Orizu (former

OUT-REACH: From left, Pastor Iyabo Ladipo, member, Arise Women; Pastor Siju Iluyomade,Convener; Mrs. Uche Nwandison, and Pastor Funke Henshaw, sensitising the people tovote, during the Arise Women free medical out-reach to Itedo Community, Lekki Phase 1,Lagos, weekend. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele

CMYK

16 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JFEBRUARY 9, 2015

Plots to alter candidates' list thicken as NLC confab beginsBy Victor Ahiuma-Young

AS the NationalD e l e g a t e s

Conference, NDC, wherenew leaders of NigeriaLabour Congress, NLC,would emerge, beginstoday in Abuja, indicationshave emerged of plots toalter or dump the list ofcleared candidates by theCredentials Committee,CC, to pave way for someannointed candidates.

Findings revealed thatone the targets is acandidate who was earlierschemed out, but by divineprovidence, today he is adeputy president inwaiting. According toVanguard investigations,the plotters and theiragents would raise thematter on the floor of theconference, preferablytomorrow, the second dayof the conference.

A senior secretariat stafftold Vanguard that “thepressures to reopen thenomination list areoverwhelming. I can betyou, it will not happen. Weare going to resist everyattempt to reopen, alter or

even dump the nominationlist. It is unheard of in thehistory of NLC. Thosemounting the pressurescertainly have otheragenda. We are waiting forthem. I am convinced thatmost delegates will notallow it.”

Clearedcandidates

Recall that Vanguard hadon January 19, 2015,reported that since the listof cleared candidates wasreleased by the credentialscommittee on TuesdayJanuary 6, 2015, NLC hadbeen under intensepressure to abandon or alterthe list.

It was gathered that sameday after the committeereleased the list ofcontestants duly cleared forthe conference asmandated by the NLC'sConstitution, the NationalUnion of Road TransportWorkers in a letter to theGeneral Secretary of NLCprotested the perceivedexclusion of its Presidentwho submitted NominationForm to contest for the post

of Deputy President due tothe fact that the Nominationform was not appropriatelyfiled as stated in the Memoof December 12, 2014.

The publication of thelist of duly certifiedcontestants by theCredentials Committeewas part of the SecretariatReport to the NationalExecutive Council, NEC,meeting of NLC held,January 20, 2015 at LabourHouse Abuja. Vanguardlearned that the letter fromthe NURTW was raised atthe National ExecutiveCouncil, NEC, meetingand the NationalAdministrative Council,NAC, meeting and both

meetings rejected theprotest. Investigationrevealed that plans havebeen perfected to raise thecomplaint of NURTW as aconstitutional issue at theconference during theCongress-in-Session atwhich time the election intovarious positions would beconducted.

However it is beingargued that raising suchcomplaint during theelection is unconstitutionalas the work of theConference CredentialsCommittee is covered byArticle 29 of the NLCConstitution. Also, raisingthe issue of re-opening

nominations for electiveoffices during the electionbesides beingunconstitutional could leadto chaos of unimaginableproportions and capable ofundermining theDelegates Conference.

According to a labourveteran, "the plannedhearing of any appeals atthe Congress-in-Session forpurposes of re-openingnominations for electiveoffices at the 11th DelegatesConference whennominations have beenduly closed is ultra vires

and, therefore, null andvoid. The List ofContestants duly clearedfor NLC DelegatesConference Electionsreleased by the ConferenceCredentials Committee isthe appropriate and only listof contestants for electiveoffices for NLC DelegatesConference Elections at the11th Delegates Conferenceof NLC. If NLC Secretariatis allowed to raise thecomplaint at the Congress-in-Session during theelection, such wouldamount to an affront toArticle 29 of the NLCConstitution."

PDP 'll consolidate onachievement since 1999—DELTA ASSEMBLY SPEAKER

SPEAKER of DeltaState House of

Assembly, Mr. PeterOnwusanya, weekendsaid the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,administration in the

state, would consolidateon the achievementsrecorded since 1999 witha fresh focus onemployment, generationand enhancement of sociopolitical lives of youthsand women, if elected inthe coming election.

The speaker who gavethe assurance during theflag off of his ward to wardelection campaign for asecond tenure in Asaba,Oshimili South LocalGovernment area, saidempowerment and skillsacquisition for youths andwomen would be in thefront burner to enhancethe standard of living ofthe people.

Onwusanya said duringthe campaign in whichthe Delta North Senatorialand House ofR e p r e s e n t a t i v e scandidates, PeterNwaoboshi andOnyemaechi Mrakpor,respectively, alsopromised effectiverepresentation, that hissecond tenure in officewould touch the lives ofhis constituents in manyways.

According to him, “itwill be rewarding for allpeople of Anioma andDelta State in general tovote PDP for all positionsfrom president, governor,Senate, House ofRepresentatives to Houseof Assembly because theincoming administrationwill continue to giveattention toempowerment of youthsand women.”

Earlier, the chairman ofPDP in Oshimili SouthLocal Government area,Mr. Ebielim Madueme-zie, assured that theconstituents would “votePDP all the way”.


CMYK

OPINION


By Peter Obi

OPINIONTaking on the youth development challengeTHE youth constitute critical elements

in societal development. Whatever thehuman and material resourceendowments of any geo-political entity, noserious government can afford to neglector overlook the youth, who indeed are thefoundation for the future.

For a long period in the Nigerianexperience, the youths [18-35 years agebracket] did not received a fair deal in thedevelopmental scheme of things. Fromacts of omission and commission, theysuffered neglect, marginalization,discrimination and even persecution.

This sorry state of our youths clearlyposes threats to national security, stabilityand sustainable development, which noleadership worth its salt would treat withlevity. In deference to these realities, theJonathan administration incorporatedthat critical element into its programmeof action.

The [Nigerian] National Policy on Youthconforms to the United Nations’ guidelinesand extends to Nigerian youths in theDiaspora. It succinctly rates the youthamong “the greatest assets that any nationcan have ... They serve as a good measureof the extent to which a country canreproduce as well as sustain itself ...”.

Under the present dispensation, quite anumber of initiatives and activities havecome on-stream towards giving Nigerianyouths deserved places in the economy,polity and society.

The National Youth Employment ActionPlan [NYEAP] is anchored on

diversification of the nation’s economicbase [particularly into agriculture andagro-business]; operation of vocational/entrepreneurial/skills developmentcentres for tertiary level students andyouth service members by the State andFCT administrations; audit-evaluation/restructuring/strengthening of such jobcreation agencies as the NationalDirectorate of Employment, NationalPoverty Eradication Programme andIndustrial Training Fund; and enhancingthe enabling environment for enterprisedevelopment.

The Jonathan administration steppedup gear on youth engagement withintensified collaboration with the privatesector. Strategic areas of focus include

Small & Growing Businesses andEntrepreneurship; Vocational Education& Job Centres; Graduate Employment &Business Process Out-sourcing [IT-enhanced Services]; Public WorksProgramme [PWP]; Agriculture & Agro-Processing; Local Content Development &Innovation; and Housing & Construction.Under these schemes, concrete support isbeing given to the organized privatesector, informal sector, women and youthsto lead the way in building a more-inclusive democratic and economically-stable Nigeria and hence, enable thecountry attain a pride of place as theeconomic Giant of Africa.

Entrepreneurship Development Centres[EDCs] have been set up in the six geo-political zones of the Federation to bridgegaps in various elements of youthentrepreneurship development. To date,over 200,000 youths have benefited fromthe programme. The Federal Governmentis also setting up Comprehensive YouthCentres in those zones to be operated andmanaged under Public PrivatePartnership [PPP] arrangements.Included in their schedules aredemonstration farms; standardizedvocational training programmes; smallbusiness bureaux for entrepreneurshiptraining; referral and counsellingprogrammes for youth in conflictsituations, those afflicted with disease andthe traumatized; and sporting & leisure

facilities. Such is the attractiveness of theyouth centre initiative that some of the StateGovernments are setting up similar facilitiesto engage their youths constructively.

The Subsidy Re-investment andEmpowerment Programme [SURE-P] wasinaugurated in the wake of the FederalGovernment’s partial removal of oilsubsidy in early 2012. Co-ordinated by theFederal Ministry of Finance and managedby a team of proven integrity, SURE-P iscomplementing other developmentprogrammes of the three tiers ofgovernance. Its mandate [which activelyinvolves the youths] covers developmentof a National Safety Net programmetargeted at the poor and most vulnerablemembers of the community on acontinuous basis; rehabilitation &restoration of abandoned railwayinfrastructure; construction of 3,430kilometres of standard gauge railway linesacross the country; rehabilitation ofabandoned road and bridge projects;creation & maintenance of a stable masstransit system; promotion of vocationaltraining, maternal & child health careand women & youth empowermentprogrammes.

*Mr. Obi, former governor ofAnambra State, is Deputy General ofthe PDP National Campaign council.

Continues tomorrow

EntrepreneurshipDevelopment Centreshave been set up in thesix geo-political zonesto bridge gaps invarious elements ofyouthentrepreneurshipdevelopment. To date,over 200,000 youthshave benefited

ANY number of reasons could be givenfor the postponement of the elections billedfor February 14 and 28, but none wouldameliorate the disappointment of Nigeriansthat the numerous experiments theIndependent National Electoral Commis-sion, INEC, has performed since 2011 cameto such sorry conclusion. INEC neverindicated it was not ready for the elections.

Suggestions that the elections bepostponed on two critical points – securityand the slow distribution of the permanentvoter’s cards, PVCs, were rejected by INECwhich often responded that it was ready.

INEC was so ready that it repeatedly saidit had plans for displaced voters in the crisis-ridden North East to vote. It said everyregistered voter would get the PVC.

While it was making these promises, somecards were not ready, some of its cardreaders had not arrived, and it wasuncertain if they would arrive and bedistributed before the elections, the first ofwhich was to hold on February 14. Only45, 829, 808, or 66.58 per cent of registeredvoters had collected their PVCs by February5, nine days to the earlier date proposedfor the presidential election.

INEC’s PostponementOf 2015 Elections

INEC said it was ready for the electionsuntil a letter from the National SecurityAdviser which stated that security could notbe guaranteed during the elections. Thesecurity agencies had asked for “at leastsix weeks to conclude a major militaryoperation against the insurgency in theNorth East,” according to INEC ChairmanProfessor Attahiru Jega. The position of themilitary was that a concentration of itsattention in the operations would leave it

without enough resources to participate inthe elections.

The tie between the elections and thesuccess of military operations in the NorthEast is bound to “at least” disturbNigerians. Suppose the military does notattain the anticipated level of security insix weeks, would the elections suffer furtherpostponement? Should the military decidethe date of elections?

INEC is hiding behind Section 26(1) ofthe Electoral Act 2010 (as amended). Itstates, “Where a date has been appointedfor the holding of an election, and there isreason to believe that a serious breach ofthe peace is likely to occur if the electionis proceeded with on that date…, theCommission may postpone the election andshall in respect of the area, or areasconcerned, appoint another date for theholding of the postponed election, providedthat such reason for the postponement iscogent and verifiable”. The section neverenvisaged the total postponement ofelections; the measure was to deal withspecific areas.

Our democracy is on trial. We should allrescue it from feigned concerns.

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015—————1919191919

CMYK

By Patrick Dele Cole

•Mr. Shuaib, a commentator on nation-al issues, wrote from Abuja.

By Yushau Shuaib

INEC and worrisome statistics on voters

•Dr. Cole, a former ambassa-dor, wrote from Lagos.

THERE is anxiety in the land over thismonth’s general elections. To be

sure, the presidential and nationalassembly elections will hold on February14, 2015 while those of governors and stateassemblies have been scheduled forFebruary 28. Some of the fears though,especially about security and logisticschallenges, have been allayed by recentpronouncements and disclosures fromsecurity agencies and the IndependentNational Electoral Commission, INEC.

The Forum of Spokespersons of Securityand Response Agencies, FOSSRA, whichhas membership drawn from military,security, intelligence and responseagencies, has pledged to remainprofessional, non-partisan and apoliticalat all times while promising to ensureadequate security and fairness before,during and after the February elections.

The assurance from the August body isvery crucial because membership includerepresentatives from DefenceHeadquarters, Army, Air force, Navy,Police, Department of State Services, DSS;Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps,NSCDC; National Intelligence Agency,NIA; Office of the National SecurityAdviser, NSA; Economic and FinancialCrimes Commission, EFCC; NigeriaImmigration Service, NIS; NigeriaCustoms Service, NCS; Nigeria PrisonService, NPS; Federal Fire Service, FFS;Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSCand National Emergency ManagementAgency, NEMA.

In its communiqué, which was signedby Major Gen. Chris Olukolade andEmmanuel Okeh, Chairman and Secretaryrespectively, FOSSRA members resolved

that, through efficient and effective inter-agency collaboration, their respectiveagencies would ensure maximum securitycover during the election period.

On its part, the Independent NationalElectoral Commission, INEC, has also saidthat it has received all the necessarylogistics and funding for the elections.Speaking at a one-day lecture organisedby the African Policy Research Institute,APRI, on the forthcoming elections, theINEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jegasaid that the Federal Government hadapproved and released funds required bythe Commission to conduct the elections.

The INEC boss was quoted to have said:“Funding is always an issue, but I can saythat for INEC in terms of our preparation,it is no longer an issue, anybody will alwayswant to have more money but we believethat we have sufficient resources to be ableto conduct the 2015 general elections. So,we can say that funding isno longer an issue for usas far as the election isconcerned.”

What may jeopardise theelection, which mostpeople insist must hold asscheduled, is the inabilityof a significant number ofprospective voters to obtaintheir permanent voter'scard, PVC.

The statistics released byINEC to justify its level ofpreparedness calls formore concerted efforts,mobilisation and massivesensitisation campaigns toensure that nothing iscompromised towardsfruitful elections.

In its official analysis of the nationwidevoter registration database, INEC hadconfirmed the registration of 73,528,040 ofvoters during the 2011 registration.Because of some defect in the totalregistration, the electoral body officiallyregistered 68,833,476 voters for theelections in February 2015. The figure wasarrived at after removing over four millionvoters that were allegedly engaged induplicate registration. The removal wasdone through the Commission’s AFIX andBusiness Rules for the printing of PVCs.

There is also the relocation of all PollingUnits, PUs, from churches, mosques,private compounds and even veranda ofschools so that all PUs would be insideenclosures in line with international bestpractices. Nigeria now has 119, 973 pollingunits nationwide for the elections.

With the introduction of 145,000 SmartReader Cards, SRCs, to check rigging or

manipulation, INEC hasinsisted that it wouldn’t allowthose with temporary votercards to vote in the election.These Smart Reader Cardswill authenticate the holderof any PVC, confirm his orher finger print and detectfake or cloned PVC.

Most worrisome of thestatistics is the data onregistered voters andnumber of cards distributedto voters. While theconfirmed registered votersare 68,833,476, the numberof cards distributed as atFebruary 1, 2015 is42,779,339 which gives62.15% of the distribution.

It is alarming that some

states with larger population of voters, andcuriously strongholds of the opposition areindeed backwards in distribution. Forinstance, states that are governed by theAll Progressives Congress, APC, likeLagos, Kano and Rivers merely recorded38%, 52%, 49% of distribution of voters cardswhile those under the ruling PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, like Taraba, AkwaIbom, Kaduna states have high distributionrates of at least 80% each.

On the relocations of poling units, INECshould as matter of urgency, educate andannounce addresses of the new locationsto voters to avoid confusion on electiondays.

While adopting its Business Rule inremoving over four million registeredvoters, INEC should realise that there islikelihood that some genuine names mighthave been removed by the AFTEXtechnology. It is therefore essential thatthose innocent potential voters that mighthave been affected should have theopportunity of redress. If necessary, theyshould be re-registered just like the Sultanof Sokoto was treated when he complainedthat his name was missing.

While most of the major stakeholdershave insisted on the conduct of electionson the stipulated dates, INEC shouldextend distribution of PVCs to the eve ofelections rather than February 8, 2015 toallow more potential voters to receive theircards and avoid disenfranchisement ofelectorates. Though it could becumbersome to combine the logisticsinvolved in preparing for the real electionwith card distribution, INEC must ensurethat every voter receives his/her card. Asituation where an average Nigerian, whois not a politician, complains of notreceiving PVC is quite worrisome.

The Yorubas

THE Yoruba town of Ibadan islargest native market in

Africa. The Yorubas engage inthe business of planting andtrading in Cocoa, Palm produce,timber, rubber, and kola nuts,apart from their normal foodcrops. They are goodbusinessmen and women, someof whom dealt in timber, cocoa,kola nuts, trading from Lagos toBathurst (now Banjul), in TheGambia, and South Congo; whistthe Ijebus, Ijesha and the Oyospeaking Yorubas deal in generalmerchandise.

They have highentrepreneurial ability; andthey are also the leaders in theprofessions, such as Law,Insurance, Banking, Medicine,Accountancy, Architecture,Engineering, etc. The Yorubasare in International Businesses –Ogunlesi, Doherty, Odutola,Bank – Anthony, Harry Akande,Adenuga, Otudeko etc.

They again equally excel in Artsand Drama. Wole Soyinka, BobbyBenson, Victor Olaiya, HubertOgunde, Ojo Ladipo, Titiola, DapoAdelugba, Ola Rotimi, tomention just a few, are of theYoruba stock. They were alsofront runners in the News andEntertainment Media in Nigeria.Examples abound in thePublications of the Akede Eko,Daily Times, Punch, NigerianTribune, Daily Sketch, etc.;whilst the Western NigerianTelevision (WNTV) was the firstTelevision Service in Africa;,which was supplemented by theWestern Nigeria BroadcastingService (WNBS), with the RadioService.

They are, yet again, trendsetters in fashion; and are wellahead in Education; havingstarted with Free PrimaryEducation in 1955 underWestern Region Government ofChief Obafemi Awolowo, whichgave them an edge as regardsmass education, therebycreating a gap between Yorubasand the rest of Nigeria, that isstill yet to be bridged.

The Ph.Ds of Ekitis are wellknown, and they far outstripother Nigerian groups in highereducation, and their rate offemale education far outstripsthe respective rates of the othergroups, particularly at thattertiary level.

Large scale prosperity hadmade it possible for Yorubas tohave a major say in thedevelopment of Nigeria. Theyhave abundance in politicalwillingness, political astuteness,and incredibly ambitious/enterprising. The combinationof the above qualities has ledthem three times to theLeadership/Presidency ofNigeria, and the 4th MKOMoshood Abiola’s presidency wasaborted by the Babangidamilitary administration, whichdeclared its annulment. TheYorubas have managed to livemore harmoniously with theother groups, as well as amongthemselves. In fact, religion-wise, the Yorubas areheterogeneous, as one Yorubasfamily may have all the threereligions within the same onefamily fold, namely,Christianity, Islam, andTraditional Religion.

The Yorubas seem to have adeeper social life than others,regardless of the degree ofoutward manifestation ofWesternization. They are cultureenthusiasts. Yorubas are wellcultured people, and even, thoseof them who do not speak thelanguage, just like the majoritywho speak the language,understand the custom, etc,learning at an early age how tokneel down, prostrate, etc., at alllevels. The Yorubas have agreeting for all occasions : Forexample, for walking, standing,selling, travelling, working,resting, etc.

The Lagos Yorubas (theLagosians), who were the leasteducated of the Yoruba race,missed out on the 1956 AwolowoFree Universal PrimaryEducation (FUPE). I had a friend,Mr. Lamikanran, who was myboss in BP. He told me a story

which reinforces the wisdomthat the best form of defence isattack. The office had 10Yorubas. One retired and wasreplaced by an Ibo. Theremaining nine held a meetingto complain about the onslaughtof tribalism in BP!! The Yorubashave no fear of succeeding inNigeria; are prepared to go italone – so confident are they thatwill make it. No other ethnicgroup in Nigeria, are preparedto accept a break up, the Yorubaswould be happy to go it alone, andare confident of success. Thereare some who was argue thatparagraph is clearly amisrepresentation of the Yorubacharacter and nationalaspirations. As regards the firstissue, the BP tale, certainly doescorrectly portray the trueYoruba trait. They are not anexclusive/selfish people, likesome of the other ethnic groupsof Nigeria. As regards the secondissue, of the three (3) majorethnic groups of Nigeria, only theYorubas have not threatened thecorporate existence of Nigeria. Atits inception, the Second MilitaryCoup Leader declared that: Therewas no basis for unity; whilstanother ethnic group attemptedto secede from Nigeria, which ledto the Biafrian War. Despite allthe vicissitudes the Yorubassuffered during the NADECOperiod of the Abacha Regime, itis on record that the Yorubasnever expressed any secessionistview. Rather, they kept ondemanding for a SovereignNational Conference whichwould enable the Nigerian peopletruly determine the form andnature of their association withone another within the Nigeriannational entity. Where then is

the evidence of the Yorubaswanting to go it alone apart fromthe other ether ethnic groups?They remain, as of today, theonly one of the three major ethnicgroups that has not threatenedthe unity and corporateexistence of Nigeria.

The Yorubas have their ownTraditional clothing Industry, atwhich they produce the Adireand Aso Oke cloths, etc

Awolowo’s Yorubas legacyremains enduring. He pushed theethnic group forward, to becomesecond to none in all areas ofhuman endeavour. ChiefAwolowo was not universallyliked by all Yorubas, and severalfought him to the death. But hisinfluence on them remainspervasive.The Yorubas in the Diaspora

The Yorubas in London tookearly advantage to buy housesoriginally allocated to them forhaving children in the U.K.Margaret Thatcher in the 1980stightened the regulationsallowing people born in Englandor of English parentage to claimdomiciliary status andcitizenship. She also introducedselling of Council accommodationto those who occupied them.

Nigerians in the U.K. boughtthe Council flats they lived in;and since then have been able totransport members of theirfamilies to the U.K. on the basisof house ownership and Britishcitizenship. Moreover, theYorubas are the majority of thosehaving houses in the U.K., theywere serious minded and workedhard.

Continues tomorrow

The Yorubasremain, as oftoday, the onlyone of the threemajor ethnicgroups that hasnot threatened theunity andcorporateexistence ofNigeria

INEC shouldextenddistribution ofPVCs to the eveof electionsrather thanFebruary 8, 2015to allow morepotential votersto receive theircards


OPINIONBy Ebuka Emenike

*Mr. Emenike, a public affairs analyst, wrote fromEkwulobia, Aguata LGA of Anambra State.

Wanted: a president for newNigeria (2)

Ndukwe for Senate: Challenge of Uba brothersNdukwe for Senate: Challenge of Uba brothersNdukwe for Senate: Challenge of Uba brothersNdukwe for Senate: Challenge of Uba brothersNdukwe for Senate: Challenge of Uba brothers

AFTER what looked like aprevarication, Ohanaeze Ndigbo

has finally endorsed the second termbid of President Goodluck Jonathan.This much was made known last weekwhen its President, Chief Gary Enwo-Igariwey, led a delegation to present adocument to that effect to the Governorof Abia State, Chief Theodore Orji, whois the Chairman of the South EastGovernors Forum.

He gave two main reasons for theIgbos deciding that Jonathan is “theirmain candidate”: to ward off thepossibility of another insurgency, thistime from the South-South should thepresident lose, and the need for him tocomplete the good work he started. Headded that Igbos have decided toconsolidate the bridge they built to theSouth-South.

I believe Ohanaeze has portrayed thecorrect opinion and wishes of the Igbopeople by choosing Jonathan as their“main candidate”. What it means is thatJonathan is not necessarily the onlyone. Igbos should feel free to vote forany presidential candidates of theirchoice. No one will be called a“saboteur” for doing so, but the chosencandidate of the Igbo for thepresidency of Nigeria from 2015 to2019 is Dr Goodluck Ebele AzikiweJonathan.

Where I want to differ a bit is the talkabout the need to support Jonathan toavoid another insurgency from theSouth-South. I don’t believe that weshould succumb to such threats. Thisis democracy, and there is no suchthing as gunpoint democracy. If youwant votes you go out and ask for them.You beg and lobby for them. You sellyour candidacy as a salesman goesabout persuading people to part withtheir money to buy their goods. Thevote is the sovereign power of thecitizen which, in a democracy, you areseeking to enable you assume power toserve. When you threaten the countrywith violence unless you win, myprimary instinct is to deny you thevote, and the heavens won’t fall.

When Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and hisNorthern Leaders Political Forum(NPLF) in 2010 threatened Jonathanthat “those who make peaceful changeimpossible make violent changeinevitable”, and went on to say theywould make the country ungovernable,Nigerians reacted to the threat with aresounding, landslide victory forJonathan. Yes indeed, Boko Haram wasarmed to make governance difficult forJonathan, but who suffered the bruises?Whose communities were seized andtemporarily Islamised by Boko Haram?Who were being daily massacred byBoko Haram? Who are in the internally

displaced camps? Whose localeconomies were devastated? Where isthe theatre of the current war on terror?

There is abundant evidence that whena group starts an insurgency, it is thepeople of their locality that bear the fullbrunt of it. During the Niger Deltamilitancy crises, the entire Niger Deltacreek communities were on the runboth from the army and the militants,just as North Eastern communities aretoday. The waterways and creeks weredrenched with oil spills and theecological disasters that were createdhave yet to be quantified. The nationaleconomy faltered, but it was mainly theIjaw common person that bore thepain. Threats have a very stupid placein a democracy!There is no substitutefor peaceful electioneering. Whoever

wins should lead with the full supportof all Nigerians. That is the only wayforward.

Ohanaeze was right in saying thatIgbos need to complete the bridge theybuilt in 2011. In spite of their diversityin language, they and the people ofSouth-South belong to the same generalcultural pattern, even though theMinorities have their own distinctidentity and strategic interests.

In 2011, the Igbo, after assessing thepolitical equation of the time, decidednot to sponsor presidential or vicepresidential candidates but to throwtheir weight fully behind Jonathan,based on the primordial sentiments ofcontiguity and consanguinity. Thepolitical equation for 2015 has notchanged much. The only change thathas taken place is that the MuhammaduBuhari and Bola Tinubu camps that wentit alone, have now merged into onecamp and received a greatreinforcement from the camp of PDPdeserters. The truth is that the Buharicandidacy was put together with verylittle Igbo input, and if he comes topower, Igbos will remain fringeelements, just as they were when Buhariwas a military head of state in 1984/85. There is nothing about Buhari thatsuggests he has become a large-heartednationalist who will forget about thecivil war and the fact that Igbos havenever looked in his direction since hestarted running for president.

That is exactly the problem of goingback to the dark past to exhumeindividuals whose time has expired tocome and lead contemporary Nigeriathat is now the largest economy inAfrica; the number one choice ofinvestors in Africa and the biggestmoney-spinning environment forinvestors in the world. All these thingsdid not happen by chance. They areproducts of the efforts of PresidentJonathan’s economic team led by Dr.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the CoordinatingMinister for the Economy. The public/private partnership model of capitaldevelopment championed by theJonathan administration has openedup the economy in a way never seenbefore in this country. That is why, inspite of the insurgency in the NorthEast, the economy is thriving.

Moreover, President Jonathan’sadministration has embarked on alarge-scale restoration of publicamenities like roads, railways, thepower sector, agriculture andeducational facilities, which collapsedunder the military era, particularlyduring the regime of MuhammaduBuhari, when not a single project wasinitiated or completed. Jonathan’smajor problem is that his governmentlacks the skills and strategy tocommunicate his programmes to thepublic. This made it easier for hisopponents to use propaganda to makehim look like a non-performer.

The president Nigeria needs at thisjuncture is not one who will come andstop the various national renewalprogrammes going on and leave thiscountry with another junkyard ofabandoned projects and revokedcommitments, such as the Second NigerBridge. For us to be able to conclusivelyjudge Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’scontributions to the development ofNigeria, he needs eight years in officelike former President Obasanjo. I amconvinced that the next four years willbe a moment of harvest of seeds plantedin the last four years which are nowgerminating right before our eyes. I amalso convinced that the defeat of BokoHaram is in sight, and that unless theenemies of the nation open up anotherfront, Nigeria will have a more peacefulatmosphere to build her economy fromnow to 2019.

If Buhari takes over power at thisjuncture, we are likely to experience alot of discontinuities. In the first place,the government may take two years toresolve the internal contradictions ofpower tussle between a putativepresident Buhari and the NationalLeader of the APC, Alhaji Ahmed BolaTinubu. I am not sure how far Buhariwill go in sharing power with Tinubu.Tinubu will make demands that couldget him rapidly put away from theregime’s centre of gravity – or worse.He will remind Buhari’s boys of hissacrifices to make him president. Then,Buhari’s boys will, in turn, show himthat they have now reclaimed theirpower, and two captains cannot be inone boat.

If tomorrow comes, you willremember I said so. If you don’tremember I will remind you.

I am not sure how farBuhari will go insharing power withTinubu. Tinubu willmake demands thatcould get him rapidlyput away from theregime’s centre ofgravity – or worse. Hewill remind Buhari’sboys of his sacrifices tomake him president

ENGR. Ernest Ndukwe, former chief executive of theNigerian Communications Commission requires no

much of introduction here. He steered the ship of Nigeria’stelecom revolution, and sign-posted Nigeria’s imageacross the globe with his transparent management ofthe nation’s telecom resources. He democratized mobilephone services and put mobile phones in the hands ofevery Nigerian after decades of lack.

In advanced societies where performance, integrity,commitment to selfless service and other sterling virtuesguide people’s choice for effective representation in the upperchamber of parliament, Engr. Ndukwe’s aspiration torepresent Anambra South Senatorial Zone under APGA,would have been declared a no-contest in his favour!

Even in a clear contest where citizens of this senatorialzone are allowed to vote in an open, fair and transparentmanner, the Ndukwe personae towers above any contestantto the senate, irrespective of party affiliation. But electionsin this zone are always mired in controversies with majorallegations being that results of elections come from theblues even when ballots are not cast.

But the trio of Uba brothers, Senators Ugochukwu andAndy, and now Chief Chris Uba, propped up by thenPresident Olusegun Obasanjo ahead of former VicePresident of Nigeria, Chief Alex Ekwueme, has made itclear that the senate seat belongs to the family. Chief

Chris Ubah at a recent press conference asserted that theelder duo has taken their turns, and 2015 is his turn. Therefusal of Senator Andy to let him is now a subject in courtwhile both are currently in the field campaigning for theseat under the PDP.

It may sound ridiculous but it is widely believed thatthe disposition, whims and caprices of the Ubah brothershave become the rule about who gets elected to any officein the zone. Even in most unusual circumstances, theUbah brothers have prevailed against any opposition beit at inter or intra-partylevels. At the Senate, SenatorAndy Ubah is the currentChairman of the SenateCommittee on INEC. Hisaides believe that thisposition is strategic to hisfuture political ambitions.Chief Chris Ubah, on hispart, is a member of the BOTof the PDP. The self acclaimedgodfather of Anambra StatePDP, plays court as allaspirants pay homage and

queue for tickets to contest any electoral seat in the PDP.The fear about the political connections of the Ubah

brothers to the Presidency, and INEC, appears to be thebiggest threat to Ndukwe’s aspiration. Notwithstandingthat for all the years that the Ubah brothers have heldsway, dividends of democracy for the people in the zone hasbeen a mirage and never been a subject of discussions. Forall their connections, the two Federal Roads within the zone- Nnewi – Ekwulobia – Oko-Umunze road, and Nnewi –Uga– Okigwe road passing the front of their residences, havenot received any government’s attention. Their presenceat the corridors of power is read in the newspapers like fictionstories. The electorate in the zone are only privileged to seethe Ubah brothers once in four years – during electioneeringcampaigns when they engage in salutary interactions withpolitical and opinion leaders in the zone.

Perhaps, Engr. Ndukwe’s emergence under APGA maybe the break to the cycle of inaccessible, ineffective, andindeed, non-performing representation of the people of theSouth Senatorial zone of Anambra State. Bu the questionis: Will Professor Jega’s men in INEC muster the courageto conduct free, fair and transparent election in the zoneand let the people decide who would represent them?

Ndukwe’semergence underAPGA may be thebreak to the cycleof inaccessible,non-performingrepresentation ofthe people

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Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015 —A1

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A2 — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015

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Vanguard, MONDAY Vanguard, MONDAY Vanguard, MONDAY Vanguard, MONDAY Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, , FEBRUARY 9, , FEBRUARY 9, , FEBRUARY 9, , FEBRUARY 9, 2015 — 452015 — 452015 — 452015 — 452015 — 45

Aftermath of fire outbreak:

By Esther Onyegbula

LIFE has become a livinghell for residents of Pako

in Ajegunle whose houseswere recently consumed by amid-day inferno. The firewhich, according to reports,began at about 12 noon, wasallegedly caused by powersurge and affected about 10houses on Deliverance Streetand Akinyo Lanre Street,rendering over 400 personshomeless.

Although no life was lost,properties worth millions ofnaira were reportedly lost asmost residents had gone to theirrespective places of work andbusinesses when the incidentoccurred.

When Vanguard Metro, VM,visited the scene, familiesaffected by the incident wereseen squatting with relativesand friends, either discussingor lamenting their losses to theinferno.

Speaking to VM, one of thelandlords of the affectedbuildings, Chief HakeemAkinyo, said: “At about 11.30am to 12 noon I was mobilisingpeople to the venue of the PVCcollection centre because I amone of the executive membersin the local government councilarea. All of a sudden we justheard people shouting fire!fire!! I was within thecommunity but not in my house,

so I ran back to my house.Behold when I got there thewhole place was on fire. Wetried to rescue people. Whenwe called the fire service theysaid we should give themabout 12 hours for them tomobilise and come;unfortunately they didn’t come.We tried all we could to put offthe fire to no avail. The DPOAjeromi was around andhelped in his own littlecapacity. By the time we wereable to finally put off the fireabout 10 houses has beendestroyed. We thank Godbecause no life was lost, but welost properties worth millions

of Naira”.Lamenting, he informed that

the problem started with apower surge, adding: “Wenoticed that the voltage wasvery high. This was whatcaused the fire outbreak. Wedon’t have shanties here; all thebuildings are brick because thearea is well developed. Amongthe buildings destroyed by thefire are a church and a mosque.

About 400 people are nowhomeless on account of theirhouses being burnt.

“We need governmentassistance to help us rebuild ourlives; we lost everything to thefire outbreak, and governmentshould put in place a financingsystem for victims of fireoutbreak. Families affected bythe incident are currentlysquatting with relatives andfriends because they lost all

they had in the inferno. This iswhy we are calling on theGovernor of Lagos State, andall politicians in the area tocome to our aid. What we needis government assistance tohelp us rebuild the houses.Members of my family are justscattered, we have written toLagos State government aswell.”

For Apostle Jesse Dele ofChrist Deliverance PentecostalBible Church Incorporated:“That day the light wasfluctuating and the voltage wasvery high and then there wasan electrical spark. This led tothe outbreak. We had to rescuethe school children from thebuildings.

Smokeeverywhere

By the time we finishedrescuing the children there wassmoke everywhere and wecould not go into the burningbuildings; so everything waslost to the fire. If the firefighters had come to our rescuemaybe we would haverecovered some of ourbelongings. But all the same wethank God that we are alive.

On her part, Mrs Esther Delenoted thus: “The incident didnot just render me and myfamily homeless, but it hasaffected my life severely. Theonly thing I have left is thisdress I’m wearing; all mybelongings and valuables wereconsumed in the fire. I andmembers of my family havebeen living from hand to mouthsince the incident. We havebeen surviving on the goodwillof neighbours and friends. Atthe moment my children sleepin the church.

“I went to work that day andbefore I came back everythingwas gone. It was like a dream.But it is the reality staring usin the face.”

Lagos: Violence mars election campaigns

IN spite of the stern warningby police authorities to residents

to shun violence in the build up tothe February 2015 general elec-tions, it has been a reign of terror insome parts of Lagos as politiciansintensify their campaigns. One ofthe most recent clashes involvingpoliticians of the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP and the All ProgressivesCongress, APC, was recorded inOke Odo Local Council Develop-ment Area and Agege Local Gov-ernment Area of the state.

At the end of hostilities, fourpeople sustained various degreesof injury and are lying critically illin hospitals awaiting surgery to ex-tract pellets and bullets shot at themby rampaging thugs in the garb ofpolitical opponents.

They were identified as Messrs,Tunde Solaja, Mr. NurudeenOlukowi, A. Tobi and Jenrola.

Mr. Aderemi Adeyemo, APCcampaign committee chairman inOke-Odo LCDA, narrowlyescaped being shot. According toAdeyemo while speaking withnewsmen: “We call the attention ofthe Nigerian security agencies and,in fact, the entire peace-lovingmembers of the global communityto a series calculated peace breach-es that are being perpetrated in ourcommunities by terror gangs of thePDP to harass and intimidate mem-bers of our party as well as otherinnocent citizens in the course oftheir daily lives.”

It was gathered that prior to theattack, there have been incidents ofclashes over the defacing and tear-ing of campaign posters, destruc-

tion and vandalization of bannersand billboards of candidates. It as-sumed a more dangerous dimen-sion on the morning of Thursday,January 22, 2015 when APC mem-bers flagged off the LCDA cam-paigns at the party’s headquarterslocated along Ekoro Road in AbuleEgba Area of Lagos State.

Adeyemo narrated thus: “As lawabiding citizens, on the day pre-ceding the event, we had put thevarious police formations in ourlocality on notice that we shall beholding a walk-through in thecouncil area to commence our cam-paigns and we were assured ofadequate protection.

“Unknown to us however, anarmed gang stationed at Old Ota/Ekoro Road Junction began to mo-lest and harass our members, men

and women on their way to the APCparty secretariat. In the process eightof our members were physically as-saulted, two of whom were hospit-alised.”

According to another eyewitness,Mr. Deacon Isaac Omoregie, theDivisional Police Officer, DPO, ofOke-Odo Police Station who re-sponded swiftly by leading his teamto the scene of the infraction couldnot do much to restrain the terrorgang which had already mobilizedmore of their members and werebrazenly brandishing differentweapons. No arrest was made.

Apparently, in an attempt to avoidwhat could have degenerated intoa gang war, the APC membersreportedly left the scene to contin-ue their road tour programme inother parts of the local government.

•Appeal to govt, politicians for assistance

•Chief Hakeem Akinyo•Apostle Jesse Dele

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

•One of the burnt buildings.

The only thing Ihave left is thisdress I’m wearing;all my belongingsand valuables wereconsumed in thefire

400 displacedPako residentscry out

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From left, Professor Anya O. Anya, Chairman of the occasion; Mrs. Ekaete UnomaAkpabio, First Lady of Akwa Ibom State, representing Governor Godswill Akpabio; Mr.Sam Amuka, Publisher Vanguard Newspapers; Mrs. Rita Amuka, Mr. Adeola Ipaye, representingGovernor Raji Fashola of Lagos State, and Erelu Abiola Dosunmu, at the Vanguard Personality of theYear Award 2014. Photos: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor; Kehinde Gbadamosi, Lamidi Bamidele, BunmiAzeez & Akeem Salau

From left, Mr. Ben Murray Bruce, Chairman, SilverbirdGroup; Mr. Bisi Olatilo, and Professor Olu Akinyanju, Chairman,Sicle Cell Foundation Nigeria.

Mr Gbenga Adefaye, General Manager/Editor in Chief, Vanguard,receiving Vanguard Personality Award 2014 on behalf of Governor RabiuKwankwaso of Kano State from Professor Olu Akinyanju, Chairman,Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria.From left: Mr. Charles Black, Alh. Ahmed Maiyaya and Alhaji Kawu Aliu

From left: Malam Ibrahim Ismail and Mr.Sunmi Smart Cole.

Amb Dele Cole (left) and Alhaji Sule Lamido,Jigawa State Governor.

From left, Mr. Raymond Esiri, Dr. MatthewEstralomi, and Professor Egerton Uvieghara. Chief Andrew Oru (left), and Mr. Peter Arigbe

From left: Emeka Nkwocha, AdvertManager, Vanguard newspaper and Mr.Tunji Olugbodi. Managing Director/ CEO atVerdant Zeal Communications Ltd

From left, Funke Adeshina; Tola Omole, andTomike Ibikunle

VANGUARD PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR AWARD 2014

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Mr Albert Okumagba (left), receiving Vanguard AfricanBusiness Personality of the Year on behalf of Mr TonyElumelu from Erelu Abiola Dosumu.

From left Ibrahim Ismail; Adamu Waziri and Amb. IbrahimKazaure

From left: Alh. Senatu Dalha-Danzomo, Prof. Abdullahi Ribaduand Prof. Jibrila Amin

from left Ahmad Hassan; Umaru Hadejia and Bashir Dalhatu,Walin Dutse from Jigawa State

From left: HRH. Olu Olanrewaju, Jenifer Okey Nussy, of Key mediaNig Ltd, Okey Nwosu, MD Key Media Nig Ltd and Dubem Ngwuluka, Businessmanager Diamod bank Plc

From left, Dr. Abiodun Adebiyi, Dr. OwolabiBabatunde, and Dr. Remi Agboola.

From Left; Mr Sam Omotseye, Chairman, EditoralBoard, The Nation Newspapers; Mr. Oma Djebah,Mr. Ikeddy Isiguzo, and Mrs. Chioma Isiguzo.

From left, Wilfred Usani, Special Adviser, Tourism Development,Cross Rivers state; Mr Christian Ita, Chief Press secretary and EtimCaiafas, Commissioner for Finance, representing Governor Liyel Imoke ofCross River State.

Ibrahim Musa, Kano Liaison Office, Lagos and Alhaji Umar ShehuMinjibir, Head of Service, Kano state representing Kano StateGovernor, Rabiu Kwakwanso

VANGUARD PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR AWARD 2014

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Continues on page 52

•Babatope: I am Awolowo’s Afenifere

THERE were complaintsthat when the PDP and

the APC started, the campaignswere not quite issue based. Havewe moved from insults to issuesnow?

The PDP has always ensuredthat its campaigns are purelyissue based. You hardly can seeus throwing insults to people orjiving at them. No! We carry outthe messages of the party to thepeople. And it is the other party,the opposition party, the APC thatis involving itself in throwinginsults upon people and insigning peace treaty which theydon’t believe in and in ensuringthat they cause confusion.

By Henry Umoru

CHIEF Ebenezer Babatope, 72 came to national limelight as the fiery director oforganisation of the Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN in the Second Republic. Babatope was ashinning light among Nigeria’s progressives. An unrepentant Awosit till date, his ideologicalbearing, however, became an issue among some during and after his years of service in theGeneral Sani Abacha regime where he held the transport portfolio. Such concern alsoshadows his prominent standing in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Even when many question his present ideological leanings, however, none has as of datequestioned his morals in the midst of the morass that is depicted of his party, where he servesas a member of the Board of Trustees, BoT.

In this interview with Vanguard, Babatope bares his mind on the campaigns so far, chancesof President Goodluck Jonathan and the place of PDP in the South West among other issues.

But we thank God that the PDPhas not played the game as theyare playing it because if we hadplayed the game as they areplaying it, there would have beenchaos and catastrophe in thesociety. We are very interested inensuring that we mobilize thegreatest number of Nigerianpeople to see the side beingpresented by the PDP and to bewith us at the campaigns and theelection victory.

Does that mean that the peacetreaty will not work since youare saying that the APC does notbelieve in that?

When they signed the treaty,honestly I was not into selfseeking about it because I knowthat the APC boys are naturally

belligerent, they are naturallyrepulsive to anything which infact can move for amity in politicalrelationship. I know they cannever be anything supportive ofany action of my people to ensurethat we don’t have violence. So Ididn’t give it a chance.

So when they now decided tothrow stones at the president inKatsina, also in Bauchi and alsomade an attempt at bombthrowing in Gombe, I just feltwell, this country is greater thanall of us and God Almighty lovesNigeria and will never allow ourcountry to disintegrate. It is theAPC that is responsible for thebreakdown of the Abuja PeaceAccord that was signed, in thepresence of Kofi Annan and some

other United Nations top officials.But that notwithstanding, what

is important to us now is how toconsolidate on the gains we havehad in the campaigns and toensure that we win the elections.

What are the chances of yourparty in your zone that is theSouthwest, considering the factthat you have only Ondo andEkiti as PDP states?

Let me be firm in telling youthat there is no way APC andBuhari will defeat Jonathan andthe PDP in the Southwest. I amnot talking in terms ofgovernorship contest. No, I amtalking about presidentialcontest.

Despite the noise being madeby the APC, there is no wayBuhari and the APC will beat thePDP in the Southwest becauseall we are doing in the Southwestare all rooted in the tradition andculture of our people in Yorubaland.

Awolowo said that before youcan be a good Nigerian citizen,you must first and foremost be agood Yoruba man, a good Hausaman, a good Igbo man and therest of them. So we believe thatbefore we can chest out in theSouthwest to say we are goodNigerians, we must be very goodand acceptable Yoruba patriotsand this is what we are doing.

Yorubapatriots

And when the results come out,it will surprise everyone the votesthat Jonathan will score in theSouthwest. We beat them the lasttime; we are going to beat themthis time again.

What is your take on theendorsement of PresidentJonathan by the Afenifere?

It is a very good development.I am not in that Afenifere group.I am Awolowo’s Afenifere. But Ihave tremendous respect andregard for the leaders of theAfenifere group that declaredsupport for Jonathan because

they were my leaders in the UnityParty of Nigeria when I was theirdirector of organisation and Ireally respect their intelligenceand I respect the way they viewthe future and the way theyresponded to issues to ensurethat the Yorubas are wellprepared for the future.

There are things they wouldhave seen because they are agroup of elders: Chief ReubenFasoranti, Chief Adebanjo, ChiefOlaniwun Ajayi, all of them inthe Afenifere. They are peoplewho are not frivolous, who arenever sentimental or emotionalabout issues, they are people whoview matters constructively andobjectively.

Growingstrength

When they made theirpronouncement, I know that theYoruba people because we don’tjoke with maturity, age asexpressed in Yoruba land, wouldhave picked something thatthese elderly people know whatthey are talking about.

So it is a good thing they havedone for the PDP and honestlyspeaking I am very happy aboutit and Nigerians are happy aboutit and the Yoruba people are verydelighted about thatdevelopment because they willadd fillip to the growing strengthof the PDP for Jonathan’spresidency in the Southwest.

How would you look at the twomajor presidential candidates,Jonathan and MuhammaduBuhari?

Even while sleeping it isobvious. You must forgive me,while sleeping I will pickJonathan. Any human being thatinvests heavily in individualfreedom is the human being thatshould be supported to run thedemocratic experiment that weare having in Nigeria.

The past of Buhari shows thathe is not a man that can bedescribed as a democrat. A lot ofpeople perished under his firstcoming. I was one of his victims.I was in jail for 21 months. I wasnot in government. I was just aparty official, director oforganisation of the banned UnityParty of Nigeria led by the greatObafemi Awolowo. I spent sometime in Kirikiri prison, from therethey took me to Jos prison, fromthere they took me to Yola prison.So I know what I am talkingabout. And many innocentpeople were killed.

Three innocent young menwere executed on back datedlaws because they said theyfound them with cocaine. Whatis cocaine? Cocaine is criminal,but it is attended in civilizedcountries with imprisonment.

So why you are asking me topick between Jonathan andBuhari, I will pick Jonathanbecause since Jonathan came topower in 2011, not one singleNigerian has suffered executive

Yoruba elders have seensomething good in Jonathan— Babatope

I am Awolowo’sAfenifere. But Ihave tremendousrespect and regardfor the leaders ofthe Afenifere groupthat declaredsupport forJonathan


YOU were the PrincipalStaff Officer to Buhari

when he was the GOC of the4th Division of the NigerianArmy. What do you make ofthe controversy over hismissing certificate?

Honestly, the certificateissue is very embarrassing tosome of us because here weare talking about the survivalof Nigeria. We know thatNigeria is at the brink ofcollapse and here we are,with one of our best Generals,who have trained in the bestinstitutions in Europe andAmerica, including the UnitedStates War College, which byall standards is a PostGraduate institution, and youare talking about schoolcertificate.

I find it ridiculous andunbelievable how ourpolitical class could be sopetty and mundane at thisparticular crucial time. It isunnecessary to go that lowbecause we must win at allcost.

The certificate saga issomething that they shouldrealise that they aredenigrating the image ofNigeria and not just GeneralBuhari.

Genderequality

That is one of your bestGenerals and you aredenigrating him. If you arethe one trying to use a non-issue to disparage Buhari,what should outsiders thinkof us? We must be careful ofwhat we do and not take it thatfar.

How do you rate the twomajor contenders in theforthcoming presidentialelections?

Jonathan has tried his best.I doff my hat for him forholding the Constitutional

It 'll be a disaster if we don’tchange Jonathan— Gen. MomahGENERAL Sam Momah (retd) , a former member ofthe Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council andMinister of Science and Technology, Gen. SamMomah, hold s PhD in Strategic studies and is aFellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineer. He onceserved as a Principal Staff Officer to GeneralMuhammadu Buhari, (retd) the presidentialcandidate of the All Progressives Congress. Momah,in this interview dismisses the furore over Buhari’scertificate as a dent on Nigeria and not the formerhead of state. Excerpts:

Continues on page 52

By SONI DANIEL,Regional Editor, North

Conference; he has given thewomen 35% Affirmative Actionon gender equality and hastried to tinker with agriculture,the cassava bread issue,which has now virtually diedand now he is trying to bringup a rice issue.

I know that he voted about100 billion Naira to revive thetextile industry and all that.Indeed, I can say that he hastried his best for Nigeria.

But the point is that whenyou have a president who saysthat stealing is not corruptionand treats corruption with kidsgloves, then most of thatmoney released, justdisappears. There is nosystem that will progress ifthere is no accountability.Jonathan has tried, but he hasleft the core issues which aresecurity and corruptionhanging loose.

If you cannot secure thelives of Nigerians, then I donot see why you are there asthe Commander-in-Chief ofthe country. You are keepingsome of us sleepless.

Right now, we have acountry where kidnapping is

the order of the day; a countrywhere unemployment is offthe roof, about 80 millionNigerians unemployed; wehave a country that God hasblessed with petroleum, butwe are importing oil andrefineries are left unutilised.We have a country where theindex of growth which ispower, is virtually non-existent.

Nigeria is 187 out of 189 onthe global index, so we arealmost the last on the list ofcountries in terms ofavailability of power. Wegenerate less than 4000megawatts of electricity for170 million people; whileSouth Africans are 50millionpeople and they generateabout 40,000 megawatts ofelectricity.

The president has not dealtwith the core issues that wouldhave made Nigeria what itought to be. We know whatour foreign reserve was whenhe came in. It was $48 billion;now we know what it is. Nairais going down the drain withover N200 to the dollar; ourmoney is almost gettingvalueless. So when you askme to compare the two, I thinkthat we do not have acomparison to make.

How convinced are you thatGeneral Buhari can performbetter than Jonathan if hewins the next election?

Everybody has antecedents;I have worked under Buhari

as his Principal Staff Officerwhen he was a GOC. Weknow him as incorruptible, weknow him as being a man ofSpartan life, one who isdisciplined. We know him asa man of his words; his wordis his bond, so he can betrusted. He has been patriotic,he is an achiever, one that yougive a task to, and he gets itdone.

To us in the army, we knowthat there is no doubt thatGeneral Buhari is vying tobecome the president ofNigeria virtually for onlypatriotic reasons. I wasprivileged to visit him inDaura when I went there toattend an event; I was amazedto find out that Buhari hasonly a bungalow in his villageand nothing more. There wereno luxury leather chairs therebut simple wooden chairs. Helives a Spartan life because hedoes not believe in tamperingwith money that is not his.

But many have describedBuhari as a religious fanatic?Aren’t you worried aboutthat?

To be an effectivecommander, you have to beseen as being neutral. So inthe army we do not toleratesuch.

Playing ofnaked politics

The troops are made up ofChristians, Muslims and

other religions, and you haveto command them. So, ifanybody is trying to input thatBuhari is a religious bigot, justknow that the person isplaying naked politics, farfrom the truth.

What can you say about thequality of the electioncampaigns?

The campaigns have beenvery poor in quality. It hasbeen very disgraceful becausethey have not been issue-based. It has been praise-singing and mud-slinging.

Obama became re-electedbased on two issues. Theyasked him, ‘if you are elected,what will you do about OsamaBin Laden,’ and he replied,‘I will kill him.’ Journalistswere shocked that Obamacould be that brutal and blunt.

When he became president,he quietly planned and killedOsama Bin Laden. Based onthat, he was re-elected.Americans like someonekeeping his words.

Again during Storm Katrina,it was towards the election,Obama left his campaignpreparation to go and lookafter the people that wereaffected by the storm. He usedhis incumbent opportunity toprove that he is a caringperson. That is what Iexpected the incumbentNigerian president to havedone. All the displaced

•Momah: I have worked under Buhari as his Principal Staff Officer

To us in thearmy, we knowthat there is nodoubt thatGeneral Buhariis vying tobecome thepresident ofNigeria virtuallyfor only patrioticreasons


Continues from page 50

Yoruba elders have seen somethinggood in Jonathan — Babatope

murder in his hands.No one single Nigerian has gone

abroad to Britian, to America, toParis, to Italy, to Germany to say thathe is being witch hunted at homeand he is looking for politicalasylum. If anybody says that he isdeceiving himself, not underJonathan. And Jonathan is a manwho allows everybody to air hisopinion. So with that it is Jonathanall the way.

Many people left the party afterthe primaries under Mu'azu, whatis your take on this?

Muazu has been trying his bestand he is leading us in this battle,for this great electoral war we arefighting and I think that we of thePDP should give him all the support.

I am not telling you thateverything about our secretariat isrosy, I won’t tell you that.

But we will first of all finish theelections and win the electionsbefore we come down. But Mu'azuhas been doing very well and he issomebody who is in fact veryversatile in political matters. He is aperson who respects the people andhe is a gifted orator.

When he speaks Hausa languageor he speaks Fulfude, you will findout that he is a gifted orator.

Mapping outof strategies

So he is going to lead us in thebattle and we are going to come outvictorious and when we come outvictorious, then we will then settledown and map out strategies bywhich we are going to push ourparty forward, with total reformation,total reorganization, so that at theend of the day the PDP will standhead and shoulder above all theother competitors.

As campaigns continue and willend in the next couple of days, whatdo you think your party should beconcentrating on now?

We must not relent in our efforts,we must continue to campaign veryhard and when the presidentfinishes all the tours he is makingto all the 36 states of the country andthe FCT, the grass root members ofthe party must ensure that theysustain the campaigns with thepeople.

And not only that, we mustensure that our messages are gotby the people of Nigeria. We mustuse the radio stations in all the states.We must use all the media available,we must use the social media toensure that our messages are sentto the people, within the time framethat we have now.

We will give the opposition norespite. We must continue to sustainwhat we have gained and what infact we believe we can still gain bymoving to the people. So we arevery well set and when we are setand we keep the enthusiasm of our

people very well mobilized then weare home and dry and we will behome and dry.

So you see the PDP winning?Oh, the PDP is going to win. I

am not a magician neither am I asoothsayer, but I think that we aregoing to win the presidentialelection and when we winpresidential election, all otherthings will follow, but we are goingto win. It may not be with such agap. Don’t forget that they are nowhaving a coalition of parties. Butdespite that the PDP will still win.

persons should havebeen taken care of andBoko Haram crushed. Ifhe had done that, hewouldn’t need tocampaign; people wouldvote for him. So theseissues are clear andstraight forward.

We can’t go on thisway, we need a change.We are toying withsomething that can spelldisaster if we fail to effecta change now: May Godforbid such disasterupon us.

Are you not worriedthat militants havethreatened war if theelection does not favourtheir own candidate?

Well I am not surprisedthat this is coming upbecause, for long or toolong we have treatedmilitants and all sorts of

It 'll be a disaster if wedon’t change Jonathan— Gen. Momah

•Momah

law-breakers in thiscountry with kid’sgloves. We have eventalked of negotiatingwith Boko Haram,people who do not justshoot but also slitthroats. They have beenkilling people like goats.It is hard to believe thatthe government spendsN24 b annually on themilitants for them toguard our pipelines. Yetthey do not guard thepipelines. They break itand scoop oil making usto lose about $1m everyday. So if an individualnow goes to buy warship,you can imagine what ison the ground. A warship is never switchedoff; it is always on 24hours of the day. It isexpensive to maintain it.And that is what anindividual has. We havegiven them too muchlatitude and too muchmoney. It has come to apoint where we mustassert our sovereignty asa people because thecountry belongs to everyone of us.

They buy war ships,build universities abroadand live in luxury whilethe majority wallows inabject poverty. Thisimpunity must stop elseNigeria will go down thedrain.

It’s unfortunate thatmany Nigerians do notknow that Nigeria issinking. It must beprevented. When peoplemake such statements,you can imagine thestate of madness that weare in.


We can’t goon this way,we need achange. Weare toyingwithsomethingthat can spelldisaster if wefail to effect achange now

witnessed some of thesefundamentalist religious groups.I mean we had at one timeMatatsine.

I was in prison with some ofthe Maitatsine people in Yolaprison during the Buhari time.And I could remember very well,one day one of the Maitatsinepeople just used a razor blade tocut off the hands of one of hiscolleagues and decided to suckthe blood. I was there andimmediately the military peoplewere called in and they quelledthe riot.

Have you forgiven Buhari?The question of forgiving

Buhari or not forgiving Buharidoes not come in. It is a difficultthing to say forget. But thequestion remains, has even Gen.Buhari, has he ever said sorryfor what happened during hisreign? He has not said sorry. Aman has not said sorry to you andyou are asking me if I haveforgiven him. If the man says Iam sorry, it is a simple Englishterm, I am sorry. Do you want meto go and cut off his head? Hehas not said it and that man thatI know very well, will not say sobecause those who vote for himand who are jumping up nowcampaigning for him will soonjump down and will feel sorry forthemselves and they may besorry for themselves until theirdying days.

We will give theopposition norespite. We mustcontinue to sustainwhat we havegained and what infact we believe wecan still gain bymoving to thepeople

of the elections.We are still battling with

insurgency in some parts of theCountry. What is the way forward?

We must continue with the appealthat President Jonathan has beenmaking to the Boko Haram people,let them drop the guns, let themembrace peace, let them know thatthey have a lot to gain with us, therest of the country in investing inthe unity, progress and stability ofNigeria. Nobody will gain anythingby all these shootings. Nigeria hasbeen a country that has really

I have done some graphs and Iam not going to sketch it out now.There will be a battle in some states.I give the PDP an edge in 15 states;I give the APC an edge in 9 statesand I give the two parties toughbattle in about 12 states and those12 states are states that the twoparties could conveniently make 25per cent. So at the end of the day,the PDP will win. But like I said Iam not going to disclose ouroperational strategies which aredrawn up or organizational planwhich are drawn up, but I will relyon it and work on it until we get tothe elections and we have the results

•Babatope


PRECISELY 14 years ago,Alfred Ohiami, a Pastor of the

Fountain of Life Church Ilupeju,had a personal encounter withcancer when his 33-year- old wifedied of the disease as a result oflate detection. Ohiami, who is currently theDeputy Director, Department ofPetroleum Resources, DPR,Lagos, said he learned a hardlesson from the experience.

In an encounter with FeaturesHealth & Living during a forumheld by the CommitteeEncouraging CorporatePhilanthropy, CECP-Nigeria ,toraise awareness about cancer andto encourage its prevention,detection and treatment, he tolda heart-rending tale of his travails.

He recalled that the delay inseeking a doctor’s consultationcaused his wife’s situation to gofrom bad to worse and by the timeshe went for consultation andobtained diagnosis of cancer of theoral cavity, it was too late.

“I lost my wife in 2000 to cancerand 10 years later I almost lostmy life as well. If not for earlydetection, it would have been adifferent story today. In my wife’scase, initially she complained ofpain in her wisdom tooth. Shekept postponing going to thehospital. We thought it was justnormal pain that she would onlyneed to remove the affected teeth,

‘10 years after my wife died of cancer,early diagnosis saved me’

THE Acting Chief MedicalDirector, Lagos University Teaching

Hospital, LUTH, Idi Araba, Lagos,Professor Chris Bode, said that only theenactment of a policy that will outlawstrikes by unions or groups of workers inpublic health sectors can put a stop toincessant strike in the country.

Bode, who gave the recommendationduring a situation update of the currenthealth worker;s strike embarked uponby the Joint Health Sector Union,JOHESU, said except such policy is putin place and rigorously implemented, thespate of persistence health sector strikeswould continue unabated.

In his view, the season of strikeswitnessed in the sector has persistedbecause those meant to cater for the sickare not identifying with the sensitivenature of their profession which has todo with life and death.

"Appropriate legislation is the only thingthat can mitigate against all thisunnecessary strike action by one uniontoday another one tomorrow. If we as aNigerians say from now on healthcarewhich is an essential service should onlybe a sector where those employed bygovernment cannot go on strike, if we

Appropriate legislation is answer tostrikes — Prof Chris Bode, CMD LUTH

By Sola Ogundipemake such legislation only those thathave interest in that will remain, but itis for us as Nigerians to make suchlegislation, to form ourselves intopressure group, until we get suchlegislation and it become binding oneverybody.

"How will you feel if your house catchesa fire and you call the fire brigade or Policeand they tell you they are on strike? It isthe same thing with healthcare even if notbigger because we are dealing with savinghumans," Bode stated.

Appealing to JOHESU to call off thestrike, the CMD noted that some of theirdemands have been taken care bygovernment and would be implementedsoon.

"The striking workers should pleaseconsider things that have suffered set backas a result of the strike. The good thingabout what is happening is thatgovernment has responded to most ofthose things they requested for; the YayaleAhmed Committee Report was meant tosolve the problem in the sector.

“Every Teaching Hospital and FederalInstitution was instructed to submit namesof those due for promotion and allowancesyet to be paid have been captured in 2015budget. We are just appealing to them toresume work and wait because thingscannot be done in hurry.”

Health workers should end strike now— Dr Rahman Lawal, MD, Yaba Psychiatric Hospital

THE Management Board,Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital,

Yaba, Lagos has urged healthworkers toreturn to work immediately in the interestof the patients who are the centre ofhealthcare in the sector.

Expressing mixed feelings of joy andsadness over the development, MedicalDirector, Federal Neuro-PsychiatricHospital, Yaba-Lagos, Dr. Rahman A.Lawal, said the strike action which startedabout three months ago is getting too longand has affected patients who desperatelyneeded our professional services.

JOHESU embarked on indefinite strikeaction on November 12, 2014 to protestamong other issues what they called non-implementation of memorandum ofunderstanding with the FederalGovernment and the release of circularwhich contains adjustments of salary sinceJanuary 2014.

He noted that a presidential committeeof experts on inter-professionalrelationships in the public health sectorled by Alhaji Yayale Ahmed was constitutedby Federal Government to take a holisticlook at the crisis which is well over fouryears now with a view of finding a lastingsolution. Appreciable progress has been

By Gabriel Olawale

• Pastor Alfred Ohiami.

Alas, 10 years after the death ofhis wife, Ohiami began to noticestrange signs in his own body. Itwas also cancer. But he hadlearned his lesson that earlydetection is key. He wasted notime getting a consultation andtoday is alive to tell

“My own case would have beenthe same, I noticed that I wasvisiting the toilet frequently to theextent that within an hour, I

but when we decided to a visithospital it was already late.

“The doctor observed that theaffected tooth was beyond painand recommended biopsy. Theresult of that test revealed to usthat it was cancer. We travelled tothe United Kingdom to seekmedical help but by the time theyremoved the tumour, it had gotinto the blood stream. Despiteseries of chemotherapy, she diedat the age of 33.”

made and the task of the Committee hasbeen concluded. Efforts are underway forthe release of government white paper onthe Committee's report.

Lawal said it is noteworthy to mentionthat some of the issues which the union isagitating for its members are important.The Union is however advised not beconfrontational or physical in the way theypress home their demands for improvedwelfare for their members and to refrainfrom acts that may be inimical to theservices rendered by other workers whoare not on strike.

At a meeting rcecently HODs andManagement of the hospital passionatelyappealed to the Union to suspend thestrike in the interest of the patients. TheHODs were also enjoined to encouragetheir subordinates to return to work andensure that all service windows in thehospital are well manned at all times.

All through the strike, Lawal said thehospital is still operating skeletal servicesin the out-patient and emergency clinics,

“I therefore wish to plead withJOHESU to show good understandingand return to work in the overall interestof our numerous patients who bear thebrunt and whose care, survival andcontinued existence lies basically in ourhands.”

usually visited the toilet two orthree times.

I went for test and discoveredthat my PS was high and whenthey carried out biopsy theyobserved that certain levels ofcancerous cells had beendeveloping. Luckily for mebecause it was early stage I wasflown to India where the cancerwas removed.

Further, Ohiaeri recalled that itwas early detection that savedhim. “Many people out there areyet to know their status. It is notas if we have no doctors that areknowledgeable about cancer inthe country, it is just that thefacilities are not always there.

“Since I came back from India,I have discovered the rightequipment here are not relatively

available, even the boost scanis only available at the UniversityCollege Hospital, Ibadan andsome few places. One is boundto ask why Nigeria does not haveall this equipment.”

With cancer being the leadingcause of morbidity and mortalityworldwide, and the likelihood toworsen in developing countriessuch as Nigeria over the next twodecades, experts worry over theneed to early diagnosis andtreatment.

Management of cancer remainslargely conservative and withlittle or no funding for high-quality research and facilities fortreatment, millions of thoseaffected in Nigeria continuallyremain at risk.

The Executive Secretary, CECP-Nigeria, Dr Abia Nzelu, calls forcommitment of resources towardsthe acquisition of Mobile CancerCentres, MCCs across thecountry to facilitate cancerprevention through screeningand early treatment at thegrassroots.

Nzelu notes that thousands ofNigerians do not survive canceras a result of late detection.

“At CECP our focus is to takecancer prevention to the grassroots through the acquisition of37 Mobile Cancer Centres,MCCs at the cost of N95 millioneach for all states in the countryincluding FCT.

According to the WHO, over100,000 Nigerians are diagnosedwith cancer annually, and about80,000 die from the disease; thiscomes to 240 Nigerians every dayor 10 Nigerians every hour, dyingfrom cancer.

By Gabriel Olawale

When they carriedout a biopsy theyobserved thatcertain levels ofcancerous cellshad beendeveloping

CMYK


By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

By Caleb Ayansina

APC in Osundecries shiftin polls date

Shift of election date’s bad omen— Okorie

Former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Nsima Ekere(left), with his successor, Lady Valerie Ebe (right), and Senator EmeEkaette during the funeral service of Lady Grace Udoma, at IkotAbasi

From left: Chief Raymond Ihyembe, former Managing Director of Afrib-ank PLC; Senator Udoma Udo Udoma and Senator (Mrs) Stella Omu atthe funeral service of Lady Grace Mayen Udoma, the matriarch ofthe Udo Udoma family, at Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State, weekend.

•It’s dangerous and reckless to conduct elections in a hurry—Abba-Gana

ABUJA—REACTIONS havecontinued to trail the shift

in start of election date fromFebruary 14 to March 28, 2015,with the presidential candidateand national chairman of UnitedProgressive Party, UPP, ChiefChekwas Okorie, describing theshift as a bad omen for the growthof democracy in the country.

According to him, thepostponement is a sinister motivedesigned by manipulators of theelectoral process.

But former Minister of theFederal Capital Territory, FCT,and member of Board of Trusteesof Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,Engr. Mohammadu Abba-Gana,

said it would be dangerous andreckless by the IndependentNational Electoral Commission,INEC, to conduct elections in ahurry without tackling all thechallenges before thecommission.

Chief Okorie said it was “a badomen for Nigeria democracy. Thecapitulation of INEC to theexecutive pressure does not speakwell to the INEC constitutionalindependence. The letter writtenby the National Security Adviser,NSA, triggered off thisinterference, it is bad. Thesomersault of the Chief of DefenceStaff who recently assured ofreadiness of the military towardsensuring adequate security only

to change his statement isscandalous to a General of hisstanding.

“There are security challengesin five local government areasof the North East and Nigeria ismade up of 774 localgovernment areas. This will bea bad precedence if because ofthe five local government areaselections are shifted in the entire774 council areas. As a patriot, Iurge Nigerians to remain calm,but to be vigilant. This shift tosix weeks is a prelude of moresinister design by themanipulators of the electoralprocess.”

But the former Minister of theFCT, and BoT member of the

PDP, Engr. Abba-Gana, saidthere was no need for INEC toconduct elections in a hurrywhen the commission was facingsome challenges, saying that itwould be dangerous and recklessto do so.

Abba-Gana had advised theINEC to listen to wise counselduring the presentation of a book,titled, “Why President GoodluckJonathan should be re-elected in2015” written by Odiche MondayOdiche and sponsored byChange Initiative Forum, CIF, inAbuja. The former FCT Ministersaid: “Since about two millionPermanent Voters Card, PVC,are yet to be distributed and sinceit is legal to conduct the electionsnot earlier than 90 days and notlater than one month (30 days),so it is legal now to within theconstitution and Electoral Act, tosay that the election can be shiftedto April this year so that INECwill have the whole of Februaryand March to conclude all thechallenges which they aregrappling with.

“Anything worth doing, mustbe done very well and I am surethat is the reason why theCouncil of States, very wiselyadvised INEC to consult verywidely and inform the nationsince they are the only institutionempowered by the constitution toconduct elections.

“Now there is a problem aboutlogistics, a problem aboutshortages and about other things,still there is clear two months, ifthey want the election can bedone in April.

THE All ProgressivesCongress in Osun

State, yesterday, describedthe shift in election datesfrom February 14 and 28 toMarch 28 and April 11 as awanton conspiracy againstdemocracy in the country.

A statement by the party'sspokesman, Kunle Oyato-mi, said ''no matter the in-tention of the conspiratorsin effecting the changes, itwill only strengthen the re-solve of Nigerians to voteout the PDP from office.''

While describing the shiftas 'disgraceful', Oyatomisaid the action has furtherdampened the imagewhich the PDP had givenNigerians in the comity ofnations as 'an incompetent,disorganised and unseri-ous group of people, thatcannot manage their polit-ical, social and economicaffairs.''

The party further said itdid not know how far ''thisjoke on our collective intel-ligence as a nation will go.But certainly, what is not incontention is that theJonathan administrationhas further ridiculed all ofus in the estimation of theentire world.''

PVCs DISTRIBUTION: We’re being marginalised byINEC —PWDs

ABUJA - PEOPLE LivingWith Disability, PWDs,

weekend, alleged that they werebeing marginalised by theIndependent National ElectoralCommission, INEC, in theongoing distribution of thePermanent Voter’s Cards, PVCs.

Consequently, theyunanimously threw their weightbehind the recent postponementof the election to March by INEC,while endorsing PresidentGoodluck Jonathan for a secondterm.

“Majority of persons withdisabilities cannot access centresto get their PVC. Each centre yougo to there is a rush, we are about27 million and the voting age isabout eight million, that kind ofnumber cannot bedisenfranchised in this country,”the PWDs said.

Briefing newsmen in Abuja, thegroup said it had approachedINEC to have a better way thatwill make it conducive for them tocollect their PVCs, but lamentedthat INEC refused. This,according to the group, putspeople with disabilities at themercy of the people.

Specifically, Bar. IhekwoabaPaul, a PWDs, said by INEC’s

A B U J A — M A S SMovement for

Goodluck, MMG, a groupcanvassing support for there-election of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan hasdumped him for thepresidential candidate ofAll Progressives Candidate,General MuhamaduBuhari.

At a ceremony held,weekend, in Abuja toformally receive itsmembers into the fold ofAPC, the group whichchanged its name to MassMovement for Buhari,MMB, said it would nowchannel its resources andstructures to realize theambition of APCpresidential candidate.

Giving reasons fordumping both Jonathanand the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, the group’sNational Coordinator, Mr.Kenneth Ibe-Kalu, saidPDP had barricaded itselfagainst the people, adding“It is evident that PDP hasbarricaded itself against thepeople. It intends to leadand has no answers to theirsurvival and futurelivelihood. Leadership canonly be effective when it isaccessible and the led isalso catered for”.

Jonathan’sgroup declaressupport forBuhari

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

action, they had been tacticallydenied their rights to vote in theforthcoming general election. Hesaid: “Over a million personswith disabilities have been ableto collect but lamented that theblind have been completelymarginalised. I monitored thePVC distribution in the south eastand many of my people arecompletely disenfranchised, theydon’t have access.

“I went to the commissioner in

Imo state, and I said Madam, whatprovision do you have, she toldme INEC has no provision forpersons with disabilities at thispoint. With respect to them havingprivilege to vote, that they we haveto be at the mercy of Nigerians, ifthey allow them to come first, fine,if they don’t allow them, they willhave to go home. I said that it isnot right, I sent text to Jega that,please give two days and he saidno we don’t have time for that.”

NSITF assures on treatment of injured workersBy Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA—THE NigeriaSocial Insurance Trust

Scheme, NSITF, has renewed itscommitment towards renderingadequate treatment andrehabilitation of injured workers.

Managing Director of NSITF,Umar Abubakar, who gave theassurance, weekend, when hevisited the management of theNational Teachers’ Institute, NTI,in Kaduna, noted that the trustfund does not stop at payingcompensation to injured workers,but also treat and rehabilitate themwhere necessary.

He explained that NSITF hadalso created an atmospherewhere injured workers would not

become a burden to familymembers after treatment in a casewhere the injury did not allowsuch an employee perform hisprevious duties.

He said: “Once an employee iscovered, the employer does notneed to bother with any treatmentor payment. NSITF takes care ofeverything from medical treatmentto rehabilitation if there is needfor it. It also pays handsomebenefits to a deceased employee’sspouse for the life of that spouseas long as he/she does notremarry, or to the child till age 21or when the child graduates froma tertiary institution.”

The NSITF boss furtheremphasized the need for teachersin the country to benefit from the

ECS, especially in the face of theinsurgencies in some parts of thecountry, adding that the trust fundhad the backing of the law toensure employers complied withthe scheme.

He also noted that NSITFmanagement under his watch,was using dialogue approach asthe first option. Assuring themanagement of NTI that theywere already covered by thescheme as the FederalGovernment had paid for all itsemployees, Abubakar called onthe Institute to compel otheremployers in the education sectorto key into the programme. “Wewant to collaborate with yourInstitute to reach every employerof teachers,” he stressed.

CMYK


RECEPTION CEREMONY: New Knights of St. Mulumba, Lekki Sub-Council at the receptionceremony at the Catholic Church of Transfiguration, Victoria Garden City, VGC, Lekki, Lagos.

Knights of St Mulumba task Nigerians on carefor less-privileged

A B U J A — S P E C I A LAdviser to Governor

Theodore Orji of Abia State onPublic Communication, Mr.Ben Onyechere, has said thatImo indigenes residing in AbiaState will vote for thegovernorship candidate of thePeoples Democratic Party, PDP,in Abia State, Dr OkezieIkpeazu and the PDP in thecoming general elections.

According to him, in thechoice of candidates, Imopeople cannot make themistake of trusting ormortgaging their future in thehands of Igbo haters, nor canthey afford to give their votesto parties that are owned byindividuals.

His words: “At this point inNigerian political history, weknow where to pitch ourpolitical tents, which is thereason we must subscribe toa truly national party whichhas no religious or ethnicconnotation.

' 'In Nigerian politics,Governor Theodore Orji hascrafted a name for Igbosbecause of his acceptabilityand the only way to build onthe foundation he has laid isto give Dr lkpeazu anunflinching support in thegovernorship election.

“As the special adviser to thegovernor on public affairs formany years now, l remain thehighest ranking lmo indigenein Abia and the only way topay Governor Orji back forrecalling Imo indigenes,paying salaries of Imo PDPstaff as well as re-instating ITCin Abia is to vote for PDPcandidates, because I am hereto attest to these facts andstand as guarantee for therequirements of Imoindigenes in Abia.

“I can assure that we arebetter off with Dr Ikpeazubecause he is a God fearingman, who will run a people-oriented government.''

ABIA GOV POLLS: lmo Indigenes'llvote lkpeazu, PDP — Orji’s aide

CONVOCATION: Dr. Musa Babayo, Chairman Board of Trustee, Tertiary Education Trust Fund,TETFUND, (right) receiving Honorary Doctorate Degree of Public Administration from Prof. BenjaminOzumba, Vice Chancellor, University of Nigeria, Nsukka during the school's 44th Convocation with thetheme; Rebuilding the Nigeria Dream: Mapping the Building Blocks, at the Main Hall of the school.

By Ifeyinwa Obi

LAGOS—THE inability ofthe Nigerian Inland

Waterways Authority (NIWA) tocheck activities of illegaldredgers may have begun toadversely affect the well beingof members of the DredgersAssociation of Nigeria (DAN).

The body which specifically,laments their dwindlingprospects of paying back loanfacilities obtained from bankshas therefore, called on NIWAto urgently intervene and stopillegal dredging of sand inwaterways across the country.

Executive Secretary of theassociation, Richard Ntang,made the call in an interviewwith newsmen in Lagos, notingthat not only do the illegaldredgers recklessly excavatesand, making the depth of waterways irregular and dangerousfor transportation and aquaticactivities, they also sold the sandbelow agreed price, therebyunder cutting profit margins.

Ntang who noted that only theNIWA and the Federal Ministryof Solid Minerals couldeffectively tackle the problem,especially in Lagos State alsoPosited that un-restrainingthem could lead to boat and ferryaccidents.

“Wages have increased andthe cost of diesel is still high.Most of us are working withbank loans which are becomingdifficult to service due to recentdevelopment.

“Sand now sells for N1,500 percubic metre from the N2,300 itsold some years ago, but the

Registered dredgers decries NIWAinability to curb illegal dredging

unlicensed dredgers sell belowN1,500 per cubic metre of sand.“This has made breaking evendifficult,” he said.

He spoke further: Unlicensedoperators have caused havoc tothe even depth of nation’swaterways.

“Unsafe dredging activitiespose threat to the safety of livesand the environment because itcan cause a canoe or boat tocapsize at will”.

He stressed that sanddredging business had becomemore challenging as mostoperators find it difficult to paytheir bank loans due toproliferation of unlicenseddredgers.

According to Ntang, sanddredging is capital intensive asthe equipment required arecostly and spare parts have tobe imported.

When the NIWA Image maker,Mr. Fadile was contacted, heinsisted that the Lagos AreaManager, Mr Muazu Sambowas on top of the situation andshould be contacted.

When contacted, Mr MuazuSambo, however assured thatthe agency would tackle the issueappropriately, a claim theregistered dredgers doubted, asthey maintained that if NIWA wasup and doing, their associationwould have fared better.

“We will not support illegality,we will work in conjunctionwith other regulatory agenciesto control the activities of theoperators.

“The authority will ensure theissues are tackled within theconfines of the law,” Sambo said.

LAGOS—THE Knights of St Mulumba, Lekki Sub-

council, Lagos has advisedNigerians to support the care forthe less privileged, promotepositive values that wouldengender a better society andbelieve in good cause forcommon good.

Speaking during an outdoorfunction of the group, Arch.Jonny Ngonadi, Grand Knight,Lekki Sub council revealed thatKSM, which is a group ofdedicated Catholics, whosemain concern is to live life ofholiness and use their resourcesin furthering the missionarymandate in their homes and in thelarger society, seeks to make thesociety a better place by helpingthe needy and the poor and givingsuccour to the destitute, thedisadvantaged and the oppressedin the society.

According to Arch. Ngonadi;“As a group, we work towards ahigh sense of order and disciplinewithin society, work for justice

always and everywhere for thebenefit of mankind, live anexemplary catholic life anddefend the faith as well as supportother intentions and actions thatare good, noble, sacred, holy andbeautiful. These virtues, membersare encouraged to live out in theirlives, in order to make the societythat radiates love and peace.”

Chief Tony Idigbe, DeputyGrand Knight, Lekki Sub-council,explained that KSM, whosemembership spans all cadres ofprofessionals such as governmentadministrative officers, teachers,lawyers, businessmen, professors,engineers, bankers, doctors andother professionals in all strata ofthe economy are called to agreater call of service by mirroringthe faith, hope and charity of theChristian tradition in intentionand actions.

Idigbe, a Senior Advocate ofNigeria, said; “From the structureof the Order, the Church carriesout the missionary mandatethrough the efforts of the clergy,

religious and laity of the peopleof God. In all, every member ofthe Church through unity and lovestrives to accomplish the Lord’ssacred instructions.

According to him “Since theestablishment of KSM, theAssociation has continued towitness men with their wivescontributing their quota to thespiritual/temporal growth of theChurch. They bind themselvesinto fraternal organizations withthe general objectives of fightingevil and promoting good. Inparticular, they set themselves thenecessary task of uprooting thesystematic and structural evil inthe society. That was the spirit ofthe early Catholic knighthood andthat is ours today.

“We are called to embrace theculture of life through pro-lifeprogrammes, take advantage ofKSM’s spiritual resources,sponsor vocation and educationof indigent persons, witness toChrist’s gospel as well as loveand care for all human persons.”

56 — VANGUARD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9 , 2015

INDONESIAN crewspulled out more

bodies following lastyear’s crash of an AirAsiajet, raising the total to100 so far, authorities saidyesterday.

Of the 100 bodiesrecovered, 72 have beenidentified, police said.Efforts are underway toidentify the remainingvictims.

AirAsia Flight 8501plunged into the sea onDecember 28 as it flewfrom the Indonesian cityof Surabaya towardSingapore. It had 162people on board.

Divers resumed theirattempt to lift up thefuselage of the Airbus jetyesterday, after earlierattempts failed.

Before the planecrashed, the co-pilot wasflying the jet as the moreexperienced pilotmonitored the flight.

Things may have gonewrong in a span of threeminutes and 20 seconds,triggering a stall warningthat sounded until itcrashed into the JavaSea, according toI n d o n e s i a ’ stransportation officials.

AirAsia jet crash: Divers recovermore bodies

•Indonesian crews have recovered more bodies following last year’s crash ofan AirAsia jet, bringing the total to 100 so far, authorities say.

EFFORTS to brokera peace deal in

Ukraine gainedmomentum yesterdaywith leaders of Germany,France, Russia andUkraine announcingthey aim to hold four-way talks this week, evenas fighting rages on.

The plan for a meetingWednesday in theBelarusian capital ofMinsk emerged from aphone call betweenGerman ChancellorAngela Merkel, FrenchPresident FrancoisHollande, RussianPresident Vladimir Putinand Ukrainian PresidentPetro Poroshenko.

The aim is to draw upa package of measuresthat revives a much-violated Septemberpeace plan. Preparationsfor the summit will takeplace Monday in Berlinwith talks between senior

Ukraine crisis: World leaders tobroker peace in Minsk Wednesday

•U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, center, speaks,as French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, left, andGerman Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeierlisten on the last day of the 51. Security Conferencein Munich, Germany, yesterday.

diplomats from the fourcountries.

Ukraine’s Poroshenkoraised the possibilitythat the meetingWednesday could proveto be a breakthroughafter months of futilediplomacy.“They (theleaders) expect that theirefforts during the Minskmeeting will lead to theswift and unconditional

cessation of fire by bothsides,” his office said ina statement.

But Putin cautionedthat the summit mightnot come about. “We willbe aiming forWednesday, if by thattime we are able to agreeon a number of thepositions that werecently have beendiscussing intensely,”

SECRETARY of StateJohn Kerry says the

U.S.-led coalition is “onthe road” to degradingand destroying theIslamic State militantgroup in Iraq and Syria.

“I believe we are on theroad to [degrading anddestroying IS],” Kerrysaid on NBC’s “Meet thePress” in an interviewthat aired Sunday. “Yes,I absolutely do.”

The coalition, Kerrysaid, has regained morethan 20 percent ofterritory that had beenunder IS control andkilled “a significant

Kerry: ‘We are on the road’ to defeating ISproportion” of its topleadership.

“We believe everything— including thegoverning process inIraq itself — is movingin the right direction,”the secretary said.

erry’s comments comefollowing airstrikeslaunched by Jordanagainst the militantgroup last week after anIS video showed one ofits captured pilots beingburned alive in a cage.

“The coalition isstrong, more committedthan ever, particularly inthe aftermath of theburning of the Jordanian

pilot,” Kerry said.Retired Gen. John

Allen, specialpresidential envoy forthe Global Coalition toCounter IS, said onABC’s “This Week” thatthe pilot’s killing“galvanized thecoalition.”

Kerry also reiteratedthe administration’sposition that the UnitedStates is not willing toput “boots on theground” in its fightagainst IS, relying onground troops from Iraqand other members ofthe coalition instead.

GREECE cannotservice its huge

debt and will seek abridge loan rather thanan extension of itsbailout, Prime MinisterAlexis Tsipras has said.

In an address toparliament, he alsopromised measures tocut bureaucraticspending and said hisgovernment would stickto all its pre-electionpledges.

Mr Tsipras’s far-leftSyriza party wonelections last month ona promise to endausterity measures.

Meanwhile, the EUofficials have rejectedhis efforts to renegotiateGreece’s bailout terms.

“The bailout failed,”Mr Tsipras said toldparliament on Sunday.“The new government isnot justified in asking foran extension ... becauseit cannot ask for anextension of mistakes.”

He said that Greecewanted to service itsdebt.

Greece needsbridge loan,not bailout— PM Tsipras

CMYK

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VANGUARD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9 , 2015 — 57

NIGER’s armyrepelled the

second attack in threedays by Boko Haram onthe border town of Diffaon Sunday, a day beforeits parliament votes onwhether to join aregional offensiveagainst the NigerianIslamist group.

Several people werekilled in fierce earlymorning fighting whenBoko Haram gunmenattempted to advancetoward the town butwere pushed back by thearmy, military sourcessaid. Residents reportedhearing heavy weaponsfire.

Hours later, anexplosion in Diffa’smarket killed at least oneperson and left 20injured, six of them in aserious condition,according to a doctor inthe town hospital.

Residents had initiallysaid the explosion wascaused by a suicidebomber. However,Defense MinisterMahamadou Karijo -visiting Diffa to pay

Niger army repels fresh Boko Haram attackon border town

homage to soldiers killedin Friday’s attack - saidthe detonation was due

to a stray shell. “This morning, there

was shelling by the

terrorists andunfortunately a shell fellon the market. Therewas one person killedand six wounded,” hetold state television.

“The situation is undercontrol and we hope thattomorrow parliament willauthorize us to go on theoffensive,” the ministeradded, accompanied byhis Chadian counterpart.

An emergencyservices worker hadearlier told Reuters atleast five people died inthe attack.

Authorities imposed acurfew in the town from8 p.m. to 6 a.m. (1400 ETto 0000 ET).

THE retrial of two AlJazeera journalists

detained in Egypt willbegin on 12 February,judicial sources say.

Mohamed Fahmy andBaher Mohamed weresentenced to seven and10 years respectively lastJune. A court ordered aretrial last month.

They were arrested in2013 along with

Al Jazeera journalists get Egypt retrial dateAustralian colleaguePeter Greste after beingaccused of collaboratingwith the banned MuslimBrotherhood.

Mr Greste was freed aweek ago.

A decree issued byPresident Abdel Fatah al-Sisi last November allowsthe deportation of foreignprisoners. Mr Fahmy,who held dual Canadian

and Egyptiancitizenship, renouncedhis Egyptian nationalitythis week in an attemptto secure his release.

Egyptian andCanadian officials hadindicated that he wouldbe deported to Canada.

Mr Mohamed is anEgyptian who holds nodual nationality.

SOUTH Africanwriter Andre Brink,

one of the mostoutspoken critics of theapartheid regime, hasdied.

Brink, 79, died onFriday night on board aflight to Cape Town aftervisiting Belgium wherehe had received anhonorary doctorate, localmedia say.

Brink wrote inAfrikaans as well asEnglish. His novels havebeen translated intomore than 30 languages.

Some of his books,including A Dry White

Anti-apartheidwriter AndreBrink diesSeason which wasturned into a film, werebanned in South Africa.

Other novels includeLooking on Darknessand Philida for which hewas shortlisted for theMan Booker Prize in2012.

Andre Brink was aliterature professor atthe University of CapeTown at the time of hisdeath.

SOUTH Africanpolice said Sunday

they have discovered thefrozen corpses of fournewborn babies infreezers at a house in thesouthern city of Mthatha.

Acting on a tip-off,police raided a house onSaturday and made thegrim discovery of theinfants estimated to beaged between just oneand two months.

“The babies werefound in two freezers,”police spokesman

Bodies of four newborn babiesfound in freezers in S/Africa

Mzukisi Fatyela toldAFP.

Police are looking forthe owner of the house,a woman, who was awayin Johannesburg at thetime of the search.

Investigations havebeen launched and thebodies have been sentfor post mortems.

Mthatha is one of themain towns in EasternCape province and liesnear Qunu, the finalresting place of formerpresident NelsonMandela.

•Boko Haram sect


AT a public lecturedelivered at the

Chatham House in London lastmonth, the National SecurityAdviser, Colonel SamboDasuki, (retd), disclosed thathe had “advised” theIndependent NationalElectoral Commission topostpone the election.

The reason adduced then forthe unsolicited advice was thatthe INEC needed time todistribute permanent voterscards to all registered voters.As an adviser to the Presidenton national security, the NSAhas no powers whatsoever togive directives or advice to theINEC.

Statutorynexus

Indeed, there is no statutorynexus between the INEC andthe NSA to warrant thepurported demand for thepostponement of the GeneralElection. To that extent, theNSA acted illegally. The INECrightly rejected theunwarranted interference fromthe NSA. But as soon as theINEC announced that allarrangements had been put inplace for the distribution of theremaining permanent voterscards in readiness for theFebruary 14 election, the NSA

The Presidency had wantedthe advisory body to usurp theconstitutional duty of INEC bytaking a “decision” on thepostponement of the election.In a desperate bid to blackmailthe INEC to postpone theelection the NSA wrote a letterto the INEC to the effect thatthe armed forces could notprovide security for the electionbecause of the operations in thenorth east region.

By writing directly to theINEC on the security situationin the north east region, theNSA usurped the functions ofthe National Security Council.That is the only body that hasthe constitutional duty to“advise the President onmatters relating to publicsecurity including mattersrelating to any organization oragency established by law forensuring the security of theFederation.”

The Council which isestablished under section 153of the Constitution iscomprised of the President,Vice-President, the a DefenceMinister, Chief of defence staff,minister of interior, minister offoreign affairs, inspector-General of police and nationalsecurity adviser.

Securitychiefs

It is pertinent to point out thatthe security chiefs are not

there is violence or actualthreat of a breakdown of lawand order.

Since the reason for thepostponement of any electionmust be “cogent and verifiable”it is crystal clear from the pressconference addressed byProfessor Jega last night thatthe INEC did not verify thebogus claim of the NSA and thesecurity chiefs as required by

began to sing a different tune.At that juncture, PresidentGoodluk Jonathan convened ameeting of the Council of State.

The NSA and the securitychiefs were curiously invited tothe meeting with a view toconvincing the Councilmembers to endorse thepostponement of the election.To their utter dismay, theyfailed to achieve the illegalobjective as the Councildeclined to support thepostponement of the election.

Coup against theConstitutionby security chiefs

By Femi Falana, SAN

FEMI FALANA, SAN

the law.By saying that they would not

provide security in aid of civilauthorities pursuant to section217 of the Constitution thesecurity chiefs have committedthe offence of mutiny contraryto section 52 of the armedForces Act. Contrary to themistaken belief of the INECleadership the armed forceshave no role to play in theelectoral process.

Since it is the exclusiveconstitutional responsibility ofthe Nigeria Police Force tomaintain law and order duringelections the INEC should havecalled off the bluff of thesecurity chiefs. More so, thatthe Inspector-General of Policehad confirmed the readiness ofthe Police to provide security forthe election. Just last week, thefederal high court sitting inSokoto declared illegal andunconstitutional theinvolvement of soldiers inelection duties. That judgmentis binding on all authoritiesand persons in Nigeria.

Tenureelongation

It is pertinent to point out thatthe postponement of a GeneralElection throughout the countryis provided for under section135(3) of the Constitutionwhere it is stated that “If theFederation is at war in whichthe territory of Nigeria isphysically involved and thePresident considers that it isnot practicable to hold elections,the National Assembly may byresolution extend the period offour years mentioned insubsection (2) of this sectionfrom time to time, but no suchextension shall exceed a periodof six months at any one time.”

By causing theelection to bepostponed theNSA and thesecurity chiefshave staged acoup against theConstitution

members of the NationalSecurity Council.Neither are theymembers of the NigeriaPolice Council.Therefore, they lack theconstitutional power tomake any authoritativepronouncement on thesecurity of the nation.

Even though the NSAis a member of theNational SecurityCouncil he cannot usurpthe constitutionalresponsibilities of thebody with the connivanceof the service chiefs.Since the NSA and the

service chiefs acted illegallyand mala fide the INEC oughtto have rejected theirpolitically motivated request forthe postponement of theElection.

The reliance on section 25 ofthe Electoral Act by ProfessorAttahiru Jega, the INECchairman is totally misleading.The provision does not supportthe postponement of a generalelection in the entire countrybut “in the area or areas” where

Since the President could notpersuade the NationalAssembly to pass a resolutionfor tenure elongation onspurious grounds the servicechiefs allowed themselves to bemanipulated to subvert thedemocratic process.Thus, bycausing the election to bepostponed the NSA and thesecurity chiefs have staged acoup against the Constitution.

They are liable to beprosecuted for the graveoffence of treason at theappropriate time.

Democraticprocess

If the satanic Boko Haramsect is not defeated by thearmed forces of of the republicsof Chad, Cameroon and Nigerin the next six weeks thesecurity chiefs are likely to askfor another postponement ofthe General Election on theground that the operations inthe north east region have notbeen successfully concluded.

As such extension cannot beaccommodated under theElectoral Act and theConstitution, the democraticprocess may be terminated bythe security chiefs to pave wayfor the much touted interimnational government.

Since some of the Colonelswho played a dominant role inthe criminal annulment of theJune 12, 1993 presidentialelection have taken over thesecurity of the country thedemocratic forces in Nigeriashould be prepared for a longdrawn out battle for therestoration of civil rule.

In the circumstance, I amcompelled to urge Nigerians tobeware of the “Ides of March”.

•INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega•Chief of Defence Staff, Badeh

•Map ofNigeria

CMYK


IT was a warm afternoon atthe OR Tambo International

Airport, Johannesburg, SouthAfrica, sometime in March2013. Dr Kayode Fayemi and Iwere returning to Lagos afterreceiving the Samsung Awardfor Best State Government inICT Education at an impressiveceremony in Cape Town. Mr.Governor, as he is fondlycalled, had sought to spendsome time at the business classlounge of the South AfricanAirline, and because I wasengrossed in a discussion withhim and another official of theadministration, MuyiwaOgunmilade, he had urged meto come along.

After going through myboarding pass and discoveringthat I was billed to fly theeconomy class, the female SAAofficial politely stopped me fromentering the lounge. JKF’sattempt to convince her to allowme in, in order for us toconclude our discussion wasmet with a straight face by theofficial.

Futileprotest

The waitress, however, said Icould be allowed in if thegovernor and Ogunmiladecould present their gold cards.Pronto, they both brought outtheir gold cards. Havingconfirmed the cards the officialwas about giving anothercondition when the activist inJKF came out. He politely askedthat his card be returned to himand told the officials that hewould rather take a walkaround the airport with merather than being denied mycompany at the lounge.

I made a futile protest againsthis decision to abandon thelounge because of me,knowing he needed to catchsome rest. Alas, it was too late.“No, Yinka, it's not worth it.What is the big deal about thelounge. Don’t worry, let’s justtake a walk around beforeboarding time”.

Thus we left the lounge andspent about half an hourbuying books at a particularbook store at the airport and theremaining time was spentstrolling around beforeboarding time.

That South Africanexperience was for me perhapsthe most humbling experienceI have had as an adult. It wasa lesson in simplicity andleadership taught in thesimplest manner imaginable. Italso typifies the experiences ofmany who have come in contact

FAYEMI: Celebrating achange agent at 50

By Olayinka Oyebode

•Fayemi

with Dr Fayemi whether in theclassroom, newsroom, lectureroom, political rallies, in thetrenches or in the hallowedchambers of the Ekiti StateExecutive council where hepresided over the affairs of thestate, together with hiscarefully selected team for fourimpactful years.

Fayemi in and out of officebelieves in two things - serviceand justice. He believes life isworthless without service -service to mankind. On justice,Fayemi is a firm believer in thattimeless Latin legal phrase: Fiatjustitia ruat caelum (Let justicebe done though the heavensfall). He remains today one ofthe few Nigerian politiciansthat have really tested thecountry’s legal system in thebid to determine some knottyissues.

It is no longer news how hefought from one court toanother for three and a halfyears to retrieve his mandatewhich he eventually got via thedeclaration of the Court ofAppeal sitting in Ilorin onOctober 15, 2010. It is also onrecord that his administrationlost some cases in the statecourts and that put paid tosome actions of the governmentincluding the conduct of thelocal government electionwhich the Peoples DemocraticParty stopped through aninjunction from the state highcourt in January 2012.

He believes that servicedoes not end with thecompletion of one’s tenure inoffice. To him, service continuesfor as long as one still has hisbreath. He was recently askedhow he has been coping withlife after service during alecture he delivered at theAfenifere Renewal Groupannual lecture inAbeokuta,Ogun State lastmonth. His response: “I am stillin service. My idea of servicedoes not end with occupyingan executive position. Evenattending party meetings,executing some assignmentson behalf of my party, or townunion amount to service.”

Many believe that JKF’sheadship of the hugelysuccessful national conventionand presidential primaries ofthe All Progressives Congress(APC) in December last yearand his current assignment asthe head of Policy, Research andStrategy Directorate of theparty’s presidential campaignhave kept him even busier thanhis former assignment asgovernor of Ekiti State.

Perhaps what they do not

know is that such excellentorganisational touch hebrought to bear on the APCconvention- regarded as thebest organised in the country’shistory- is simply the JKFsignature that distinguishes hisfour year tenure in Ekiti andmakes it a reference point. Hebelieves that when a leaderprovides the right leadership,the followers would embraceexcellence and make it a habit.

For those who have followedhis trajectory from his studentdays through pro democracyagitation and the currentpolitical participation, JKF isguided by the social democraticprinciple of lifting the weakand vulnerable in the society.His four years stint as governorof Ekiti State witnessed asincere and consistent effort atbanishing poverty andsickness. This was because heknows too well that a poorsociety is a sick and sickly one.His genuine concern includeshow transactional politics canbe replaced withtransformational leadership.Whereas his critics wouldreadily fault these ideas,describing them as lacking inimmediate political gains, yetJKF earns their respect for hiscommitment to these ideals.

Weak andvulnerable

His penchant fordevelopment and insatiabledesire to get the governmentto provide for the weak andvulnerable in the society led tosome policies including thesocial security scheme whichpays N5,000 monthly stipendsto elderly indigent citizensabove 65 years; free andcompulsory primary andsecondary education; computerper child initiative in publicsecondary schools;comprehensive renovation ofall public schools and hospitals;free healthcare for thephysically challenged,children under five, pregnantwomen and elderly citizensamong others. The need tospread development across thenooks and crannies of the statealso led to the introduction offive kilometres road projectimplemented yearly in all thecouncil areas. When thestructured empowermentprogrammes for youths andwomen is added, you have agovernment that put somethingfor everybody under the JKFadministration.

As Fayemi attains the goldenage today, it is obvious that theenergy and wisdom to runeven a more impactful race in

the second half of the centuryare bubbling in him like anhyper-active volcano.

He was born on February 9,1965 into the family of the lateChief and Mrs. Francis FaladeFayemi and is a native of Isan-Ekiti in Oye Local GovernmentArea.

John Kayode Fayemi receivedhis first degree in History fromthe University of Lagos in 1985,a Master ’s degree inInternational Relations from theUniversity of Ife, Ile-Ife (nowObafemi Awolowo University),in 1987 and a doctorate in WarStudies from the King’sCollege, University of London,England in 1993, specializingin civilian-military relationsand defence planning.

Prior to joining partisanpolitics, Dr Fayemi was thepioneer Director, Centre forDemocracy and Development(CDD). He was a GeorgetownUniversity Leadership Fellowin 2000 and a Senior VisitingFellow in African Studies,North Western University,Evanston, USA in 2004.

Associatefellow

He is also an Associate Fellowof the Centre for Peace andConflict Studies, University ofIbadan and was on the AdjunctFaculty of the African Centrefor Strategic Studies, NationalDefence University, USA,between 2001 and 2005. Hewas a member of the GoverningBoard of the Open SocietyJustice Institute, New York andAfrican Security SectorNetwork.

Fayemi has written andlectured extensively ongovernance anddemocratization. He is also arecipient of several awards,fellowships and grantsincluding the Ford Foundationgrant on Special Initiative onAfrica and the MacarthurFoundation research grant. Hewas honoured with theLeadership Newspaper ’sGovernor of the year award,2012; the Zik’s Prize inLeadership (GoodGovernance) Award in 2013;Champion NewspapersGovernor of the Year award in2014.

Even with what some mightconsider as his foibles, there isno doubt that in JKF theresearcher, the teacher, theactivist, administrator andstrategist come together toyeild ideas that can helpchange the way we think andact about leadership,scholarship, political tolerance,social justice and humancapital development.

From the four corners of thecountry and beyond come fiftygbosas for this innovator, democrat and change agent-above all, an Omoluabi - as hejoins the golden club today.

•Oyebode, a journalist, isformer Chief Press Secretaryto the Governor, Ekiti State.

As Fayemi attainsthe golden agetoday, it is obviousthat the energy andwisdom to run evena more impactfulrace in the secondhalf of the centuryare bubbling in himlike an hyper-activevolcano

CMYK


POLLS POSTPONEMENT:Criticisms mount


Conducting pollsin a hurry isdangerous

–Abba-GanaHowever, former

Minister of the FederalCapital Territory, FCT, anda member of the Board ofTrustees of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,Engr. Mohammadu Abba-Gana, said the it would bedangerous and reckless ifthe INEC conductedelections in a hurrywithout tackling all thechallenges before it.

Abba-Gana advised theINEC to listen to wisecounsel during thepresentation of a booktitled, “Why PresidentGoodluck Jonathanshould be re-elected in2015” written by OdicheMonday Odiche andsponsored by ChangeInitiative Forum, CIF, inAbuja.

“Since about 20 millionPermanent Voters Card,PVC, are yet to bedistributed and since it islegal to conduct theelections not earlier than90 days and not later thanone month (30 days), it islegal now within theconstitution and ElectoralAct, to say that theelection can be shifted toApril this year so thatINEC will have the wholeof February and March toconclude all thechallenges which they aregrappling with."

Postponement isunfortunate,unpatriotic—Tsav

Former Lagos StateCommissioner Police,Alhaji Abubakar Tsavpicked holes in thepostponement, saying: "If

the polls shift is to trulyenable the military carryout the final onslaughtagainst Boko Haram, thisis quite reasonable. But ifit is to prepare ground forthe PDP to perfect itsrigging machinery asthey did in Ekiti State,then it is tragicallyunfortunate andunpatriotic. But did themilitary not think of thisonslaught five years ago?Why wait until a few daysto the scheduledpresidential election?"

It is a coup againstthe constitution—Festus Okoye

Also speaking, NationalCoordinator of theIndependent ElectionMonitoring Group,IEMG, Mr. FestusOkoye, said: ‘’The IEMGis not convinced and willnot accept thepostponement of theFebruary 2015 elections asthe reasons given for thesaid postponement arenot cogent and verifiable.

"We view thepostponement asunwarranted and a coupagainst the Constitutionof the Federal Republic ofNigeria and the Nigerianpeople and thereforeunacceptable.

"We condemn thedecision by the securityagencies and forces not toprovide security for theFebruary 2015. The saiddecision is a coup againstdemocracy, theconstitutional order, theelectoral process and theNigerian people."

Postponement isconstitutional –Agbaje

However, Lagos StateGovernorship Candidateof the PDP, Mr. Jimi

Agbaje, said that thepostponement of the elec-tions fell in line with theNigerian constitution.

Agbaje spoke,yesterday, when hiscampaign train stopped atEti-Osa. According to him,the postponement wouldfacilitate the holding ofmore credible and betterinclusive elections byINEC.

He said that a slightdelay in the polls shouldraise no eyebrows so longas the May 29 handoverdate remained sacrosanct.

“It is apparent toeveryone now that thepostponement is withinthe confines of theConstitution and theelectoral guidelines,” hesaid. “As long as May 29remains sacrosanct,everything is in order. Andit is obvious that May 29remains sacrosanct.”

Nyiam, Odumakin,Opara hail move,want Jega probed

Former delegates to the2014 NationalConference, Messrs TonyNyiam and YinkaOdumakin have called onthe Inspector-General ofPolice, Mr SuliemanAbba, to investigateallegations levelledagainst the Chairman ofthe INEC, ProfessorAttahiru Jega, that he iscolluding with theNorthern Elders Forum tomanipulate the generalelections in favour of aparticular presidentialcandidate.

Speaking, yesterday, inLagos under the aegis ofthe Transition ResurgentGroup, they said Jega hadcontinued to gloss overthe allegation madeagainst him by theSouthern Nigeria PeoplesAssembly where he was

said to have met withleaders of the NEF.

Mr Odumakin, whoread the communique ofthe group said: “They(SNPA) accused Jegaamong others of attendingmeetings with leaders ofNorthern Elders Forumwhere plots were hatchedto compromise theintegrity of the electoralprocess in Nigeria. Thegroup claimed further thatthe INEC boss accepted adonation of 150 laptops foreach state of the Northfrom the Northern Elderswhich were given to youthactivists to compromisethe registration processamong legion of othercharges.”

Accusing the INECchairman of having ahidden agenda,Odumakin said: “We arecalling on the Inspector-General of Police toinvestigate the allegationsagainst Jega and if Jegadoes not admit that thereare lapses, then he shouldstep aside.”

On the postponement,Odumakin said it offeredan “opportunity to beam asearchlight on Jega andINEC.”

In his remarks, Col TonyNyiam (Ret) chided theINEC boss for failing toensure even distributionof the Permanent Voter’sCards (PVCs) wonderingwhy more PVCs weredistributed in the NorthEast that is contendingwith serious securitychallenges than the Souththat is relatively calm.

Nyiam said “there aresome communities thathave been battling to gettheir PVCs in the Southand this raises someconcern. It is left forNigerians to decidewhether Jega shouldresign or not but we haveno confidence in Jega.Also, if the allegationsagainst Jega are notcleared, he should stepaside.”

Reps dividedMembers of the House

of Representatives shareddivergent views on thedevelopment. Some of thelawmakers who spoke toVanguard were of the viewthat INEC must havebeen influenced by theruling Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP.

Others argued that theapex electoral body tookthe right decision in theright direction and that nolaw was violated due tothe shift by INEC.

INEC did notviolate any law–Ogor

Deputy MajorityLeader, Leo Ogor (PDP,Isoko Federalconstituency), in hisreaction said: “I thinkINEC did the right thingby shifting the pollsbecause it has no right todisenchafranchise anyNigerian as many till datedo not have their

Permanent Voters Card,PVCs. Since no law wasviolated, I think INEC didthe right thing to moveNigeria forward and thatI fervently support it”.

It’s the proverbialhand of Esau, voiceof Jacob– Gbajabiamila

Minority Leader, FemiGbajabiamila (APC,Surulere FederalConstituency, Lagos), onhis part said: “We mustconcede INEC’s generalpowers to fix and cancelelection dates. INEC’sreason for postponementalso seems logical on thesurface. However a deeperanalysis and closerscrutiny reveals a lot more.It reveals perhaps theproverbial hand of Esauand voice of Jacob. Acomplete about turn barely24 hours after INEC’sclear ready to go topresentation to thecouncil of state says a lot.

“The independence ofINEC has been put toquestion because the sumof what we heard fromINEC now is that itspowers to determineelection dates have beenusurped and the militarynow determines when wehave elections in thiscountry simply by theirsaying so. That is adangerous precedent."

It is a step in the rightdirection – Gujbawu

Hon Kyari Gujbawu(PDP, Maiduguri FederalMetropolis), in hiscontribution said: “Ibelieve, it’s the right stepin the right direction.Democracy is all aboutparticipation through theright to exercise voting forone’s choice in a free andfair election, and of courseunder a fearlessatmosphere.

“So, for me it’s onlynatural that INECconsidered all thesevariables as germane forthem to conduct theelection for it to be acredible one. I don’tunderstand the wholeanti-attitude to shifting adate within the ambit ofour law so as to have acredible election."

Akintola,Ozekhome offerlegal perspectives

Speaking on thedevelopment, someleading lawyers andsenior advocatesincluding Niyi Akintyola(SAN) Mike Ozekhome(SAN) offered some legalinsights.

Things can’t besame again— Akintola

Commenting on theissue, Akintola said: "Theprevailing developmenthas upset the calculationsof many political pundits.The shifting of the polls

may upset the apple catin spite of the politicalarithmetic that favours ordisfavours the majorcandidates. Things cancertainly not be the sameagain."

There’ll beconstitutional crisis if...—Ozekhome

On his part, Ozekhomesaid: "My initial reactionhad been that theelections must go on asscheduled because of thehopes, aspirations andexpectations thatNigerians had investedin the electoral process.However, INEC is theonly electoral umpirethat we have in thiscountry and it had saidthat the situation it founditself is such that it couldnot go on with theelection. Jega said thathe had consulted widelywith the civil society, allstakeholders, securityagencies and even theDirector General of theNYSC which INEC relieson for adhoc staff andthat he had come to theconclusion withoutpressure that it was betterto shift the election.

"The constitutionalprovision and theelectoral act provisionsare that the election mustnot be earlier than 150days before May 29 andnot later than 30 daysbefore swearing in. Whatthe electoral act demandsof INEC is that thereason for shifting theelection has to be cogentand verifiable and it isnow left for Nigerians todecide whether the issueof insurgency is notcogent and verifiable.

"There is aconstitutional crisis thatmay arise if electionholds in 32 states out of36 because the entirecountry is theconstituency of thepresident, he must (apartfrom having majority ofvotes) score 25 per centof the votes in two thirdof the states of thefederation and Abuja.

"So, if the election isconducted in 32 stateswithout fulfilling thec o n s t i t u t i o n a lrequirement, there willbe a constitutional crisis.This is what INECconsidered andpostponed the elections.There may be anger anddisappointment over thepostponement but myappeal to Nigerians isthat it is better late thannever. We should notsacrifice the unity andcohesion of Nigeriabecause of a little delayin the conduct of theelection."

BRIEFING—The supreme head of the Cherubim and Seraphim (C&S)Unification Church of Nigeria, Most Reverend Solomon Adegboyega(2nd r);Host spiritual father, Ebaho Erebi (3rd left ) and other spiritual heads of thechurch, during a briefing on the 2015 annual general conference, yesterday,at the Eternal Sacred Order of C&S, Orimolade close, Agodo-Egbe,Lagos.

CMYK

L E I S U R ETHOUGHT FOR TODAY

VIRGINIA

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Pretty Lunatic’ By Andy Akman

[email protected]

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Lanre Kehinde

HOME & ABROAD By Lawrence Akapa

By Richard Eromosele

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGSend ySend ySend ySend ySend your datour datour datour datour date and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bir th tth tth tth tth to the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Astrtrtrtrtrologicalologicalologicalologicalological

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YOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAY

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

VVVVVanguard, MONDanguard, MONDanguard, MONDanguard, MONDanguard, MONDAAAAAYYYYY, , , , , FEBRUFEBRUFEBRUFEBRUFEBRUARY 9,ARY 9,ARY 9,ARY 9,ARY 9, 2015 — 61 2015 — 61 2015 — 61 2015 — 61 2015 — 61

ARIES: Monetary Venus makes an ingress into yourStar sign with good luck to you. Financial success iscloser to you than you can imagine. Give it a bigpush.

TAURUS: Here is a good day when influential per-sonalities around you will be willing to assist youbut you will need to take the initiative. Take goodadvice.

GEMINI: This is your day. The more ambitious youare along your career line the better for you. Andfriends are willing to give the needed supports.

CANCER: Your mind is truly active and if you’remore practical about it success’ll crown your ef-forts. Reason with your tried and trusted friends.

LEO: Coming of monetary and loving into a posi-tive angle to your Star sign is a big plus. On a daylike this the more ambitious you are the better. It’sgood to be loving.

VIRGO: The more willing you are to listen to yourpartners and/or spouse the better for you today.Friends are trying to convince you that the are reli-able.

LIBRA: The more push-full you are along your ca-reer/business lines the better. Embrace new methodat work. Don’t neglect your love life.

SCORPIO: Here is a day you are not meant to ig-nore new ideas that come suddenly. It’s good to takematters of the heart more seriously. Listen to yourspouse please.

SAGITTARIUS: Monetary and romantic Venus isjoining mighty Sun at positive angle to your Starand bringing you good influence. Be more ambi-tious.

CAPRICORN: Although your being co-operative canenhance your scope, your personal ideas and ini-tiative are guarantee for a bigger do.

AQUARIUS: Those of you who are more consistentwill have more to gain. Good ideas on monetary is-sues will enhance your finances. Be more familyminded.

PISCES: Entrance of monetary and romantic Venusinto a positive angle is meant to enhance your fi-nances. The more willing you are to take good ad-

Dear Joshua,On your lucky dates try to maximise yourgains on one hand and or the other hand, tryyour best possible to avoid trouble and/or lossduring those dates to beware of. But take notethat there is nothing to worry about concern-ing dates to beware of because, they are merewarnings. However the lucky dates are forreal.

IMPORTANT DAYS DAYS FOR YOU IN 2015

YOUR LUCKY DATESMarch 8 & 17.April 14, 19 & 28.July 2, 11 & 16August 3, 8, 13* & 22.September 3/4, 9, 23 & 27*.October 2*, 7*, 16* 20, 25 & 30.November 4, 11, 13***, 17, 21** & 26.December 1***, 10, 14, 23 & 28.

DATES TO BEWARE OFMay – 6 & 27June – 16* & 30July – 21Aug – 10 & 24Sept – 7Oct – 18Nov – 1Dec – 6

Prince Joshua Adeyemo

How Do You SeeThings?HOW do you

see things? Imean how do youinterpret what yousee? What colora-tion do you giveevents in your life

and in the life ofother individuals?How you see whathappens is more

important thanwhat actually hap-pens whether toyou or to another

person. One thingis certain – no mat-ter what happens,someone, some-where, will surelybenefit from it. Ifthis is so, why notyou?Think about it!


CMYK

CAF president Issa Hayatou has

slammed the globalnews media for focusingtoo much on the violencethat occurred at the endof the African NationsCup semi-final betweenGhana and EquatorialGuinea.

The Black Stars sup-porters were evacuatedand play stopped forover 30 minutes afterhome fans threw objectson the pitch and in thestands, leading to riotpolice firing teargas intothe stadium. EquatorialGuinea were fined$100,000 and ordered topay for the treatment ofGhana supporters whowere injured, but Haya-tou said western mediadramatised the eventson Thursday, going sofar to say outlets werethere to “perpetuate col-onisation.” “The pressalways dramatise, par-ticularly the westernpress,” he said.

"When something badhappens in Europe, theysay it’s an error. Whensomething happens inAfrica, they begin talk-ing about corruption.

“What happened inthat [abandoned 2012]match between Serbiaand Italy? It’s the sameas what happened here,but when it’s Africa it’sdifferent. It’s irrelevantthat it’s a semi-final. It’sa football match. Thewestern media are sim-ply here to perpetuatecolonisation.”

AFCON 2015: Hayatou slams western media

Kidiaba happy with final bowDEMOCRATIC Re-

public of Congogoalkeeper Robert Kidi-aba admits he was de-lighted to bring downthe curtain on his inter-national career by claim-ing bronze at the 2015Africa Cup of Nations.

The Leopards captainannounced earlier thisweek that Saturday’sthird-place play-offagainst host nationEquatorial Guineawould be his last in-volvement in interna-

tional football before heretires. And, the 39-year-old was able to bid fare-well to the DRC nation-al team by helping themsee off National Thun-der 4-2 on penalties af-ter 120 minutes of AF-CON action finishedgoalless this weekend.

“I am really happyabout my last interna-tional appearance. Idon’t really know whatto say, but I will demon-strate my joy back inCongo,” said Kidiaba.

MIDFIELDER El- long Doualla

says his Africa Cup feelsincomplete after Equato-rial Guinea failed toeven finish as third best.

The 2015 Africa Cuphosts lost 4-2 on post-match penalties to DRCongo in their third andfourth play-off tie follow-ing a scoreless draw inMalabo on Saturday.

Doualla laments fourth place finishDoualla scored one of

Equatorial Guinea’s twosuccessful spot-kicks inthe shoot-out to decidethe tournaments bronzemedalist.

“I feel some dissatis-faction. I would haveliked to go back with amedal,” Doualla saidwho came on as a 45th

minute substitute forIvan Esono.

“But I must be happywith the fourth placewhich means a lot for myteammates and I.”

Equatorial Guinea’sfourth place finish istheir best placing fromtwo Africa cup appear-ances.

DR Congo coachFlorent Ibenge

has admitted that histeam was not motivateddespite winning the2015 AFCON bronzemedal. DR Congo beathosts Equatorial Guinea4-2 on post match pen-alties after a scorelessdraw in Malabo on Sat-urday to pick up bronzein a game that did notexplode but had its fairshare of sparks.

The Leopards pickedup bronze when theyconverted all their firstfour penalties.

Equatorial Guinea onthe other hand missedtheir initial spot kick byJavier Balboa beforeRobert Kidiaba savedRaul Bosio’s penalty.

DR Congo settled forthird best after failing toreach the Africa Cup fi-nal for the first timesince 1974 when theytumbled at the semifinalstage lost 3-1 to Coted’Ivoire on Thursday.

“It was not our bestgame. Equatorial Guin-ea and our team weredisappointed not toreach the final,” Ibengesaid. When things hap-pen this way, it doesn’tlead to a great game. Wewanted to put somerhythm into the match asthey had one day less ofrest. But we didn’t man-age it and it led to thisdifficult game.”

However, Ibenge saidhe was taking some pos-itives from the tourna-ment and that DR Con-go now had a greatfoundation to mount achallenge for the 2017Africa Cup title.

Ibenge:We wonbut notmotivated

Burkina Faso fire coachBURKINA Faso

have fired Bel-gian coach Paul Put af-ter he failed to guide theStallions past the groupphase of the Africa Cupof Nations in EquatorialGuinea.

Burkina Faso, whowere beaten finalists atthe 2013 tournament inSouth Africa under Put,

only managed a drawand a goal to be eliminat-ed from Group A of the2015 edition of the com-petition. In a communi-qué sighted byAfricanFootball.com, theFederation Burkinabe deFootball (FBF) said theyhave terminated the con-tract of the coach, whichwas to run till 2016, as a

result of “poor results”and after they studiedthe Equatorial Guinea2015 report of the coach.

The FBF thanked thecoach for qualifying thecountry to the final ofthe 2013 AFCON andthe final playoffs of the2014 World Cup wherethey lost to Algeria.They also announcedthat they will immedi-ately begin the searchfor a new coach.

PANDEMONIUM . . . Policemen evacuate a tribune during a riot when missiles were thrown on thepitch in the 2015 African Cup of Nations semi-final match between Equatorial Guinea and Ghana inMalabo. Photo: AFP

TOP MAN... Democratic Republic of Congo’s goal-keeper Robert Kidiaba Muteba (R) punches the ballaway during their AFCON third place play-off footballmatch against Equatorial Guinea in Malabo. Photo: AFP

Ibenge*Put

Doualla

CMYK


CMYK

It was the attacker’ssecond league goal ofthe season. He scoredagainst the champions,Manchester City on De-cember 26, 2014.

Soon after the match,Ideye twitted the follow-

Continues from BPing message: “Fromdown and out to Brownand in. Difficult gametoday but thank God wecame back strong, greatjob from all the lads.”

Ideye is the club’srecord signing after hejoined for £10 million inJuly, 2014.

ZamalekContinues from BP

Omeruo shines in Middlesbrough winSuper Eagles

defender KennethOmeruo returned to theMiddlesbrough startingeleven and played all 90minutes as his clubdefeated Charlton 3-1 tokeep up with theirpromotion chase.

The 21-year old wasimpressive at the backfor ‘Boro, and stayed offthe referees book for theentire duration of thematch, even thoughmanager Aitor Karankawasn’t very pleased withtheir first half display.

‘’Boro went ahead in

•Omeruo

the first half through anearly lead by PatrickBamford in the 6thminute, but conceded a37th minute equalizer,and went into the breakat 1-1.

And Karanka believesthe goal they concededhelped his team get inthe game.

“The worst thing wasto score and the bestthing was to concedebecause we needed towake up and play theway we can and we didthat in the end,” he saidafter the game.

Players' unity a must – Erico

NIGERIAN playershave been challenged tocome together in orderto chart a united front fortheir own good.

The advise was givenby a former Nigeriagoalkeeper and one timeSuper Eagles goalkeep-er trainer, coach Joe Eri-co in Lagos while pre-siding over a peacemeeting between twoplayers unions; the Na-tional Association of Ni-gerian Footballers andthe Association of Profes-sional Footballers of Ni-geria.

Erico said there wasstrength in unity hence,the two players’ unionsmust come together.“Football is team work,coming together as ateam will do a lot moregood for Nigerian foot-ballers that what obtainspresently,” Erico said.

At the meeting whichwas attended by ex-foot-ballers, coaches, footballsupporters club Presi-

dent General, Rafiu Lad-ipo, football enthusiasts,journalists and NANFPresident Harrison Jal-la, the conveners whocalled themselves asconcerned footballerssubmitted a blueprint forthe unification of the twounions.

Presenting the ‘ roadmap’ for the coming to-gether of the two bodies,chairman of the con-cerned group, a formerNigeria international,Clement Temile said,“we are determined toensure that the two play-ers bodies become one.We have had a lot of ran-cour and it is not givingfootballers any good im-age.”

All those who spokeemphasised the need forunity among the playersso that together, theycould face challengesfacing their members.“Today, a lot of us(ex-footballers) are dying inpoverty, some on theirsick beds but because weare divided, the unions

have not been able to doanything for them.”

The absence of AustinPopo, Secretary Generalof APFON raised a lot ofeyebrows. However, theconveners of the unifica-tion meeting were quickto point out that his ab-sence would not takeaway anything from whathad been achievedachieved. “No one mancan hold the rest of thecountry to ransom,” Se-gun Oguns said.

Erico

IBB calls for adequate funding oflesser Sports

FORMER militarypresident, Gen.

Ibrahim Babangida has

BY WOLEMOSADOMI, Minna

called on government atall levels to fund othersports being regarded aslesser sports in order tobring more laurels to thecountry through sports.

General Babangida ina message to the closingceremony of the maidenedition of the IBBannual open Badmitonc h a m p i o n s h i porganised by the stateBadminton Associationsaid if such attentionaccorded football wasbeing given to othersports in the country,Nigeria would havebeen a country to be

beaten even at theOlympics Games.

Represented by formerMinister of Interior,Alhaji Abubakar Tanko,Gen. Babangida said thecountry has thepotentials to excel inother sports and thatwhat is needed to bedone is to explore thepotentials and groomthem for National andI n t e r n a t i o n a lcompetitions.

The former Presidentpromised that thechampionship will goNational from next yearto further promote thegame and also hunt formore talents.

Kalu Uche on targetfor Levante

•Kalu

N I G E R I A Na t t a c k i n g

midfielder, Kalu Uche, wasamong the goals scorers asLevante coasted to a 4-1win over Malaga at theCiutat de Valencia onSaturday.

Playing in only hissecond league match forLes Granotes since joiningthe Spanish La Liga clubin the January transferwindow, netted the fourthgoal though it was DavidBarral who stole the showwith a hat-trick.

In the 12th minute, Ucheturned provided for JoseLuis Morales whose right-footed shot from outside thebox was saved by Malagagoalkeeper, Carlos Kameni.

But it was Malaga thatwent into the lead after 24minutes through Juanmi’sfinish from inside the sixyard box.

Barral would score thefirst of his three goals twominutes later to even thescore.

On the half hour mark,Uche nearly gave Levantethe lead with a thumpingheader from close rangebut kameni made a big savebefore Barral scored fromthe spot to put Les Granotesin front for the first timewith eight minutes to thebreak.

Eaglets tackle Fasbir FootballAcademy Wednesday

THE Golden Eaglets would en-

gage Fasbir FootballAcademy at the GiginyaMemorial Stadium inSokoto in their last do-mestic friendly match before travelling to Ni-amey for the 2015 Afri-can U-17 Championshipto be held between Feb-ruary 15 and March.

Coach EmmanuelAmuneke said here thatit was imperative to playa local club partly as atoken of appreciation fortheir hospitality to theteam by fans and foot-

ball stakeholders sincetheir arrival on Friday.

“ We are going to giveour best against FasbirFC on Wednesday andapart from the fact thatthis match would be anopportunity for us to seethe readiness of the play-ers, we want to also ap-preciate the people ofSokoto for their supportto us since we arrivehere,” said Amuneke. •Amuneke

tigation.What caused the vio-

lence wasn’t immediate-ly clear. Security officialssaid Zamalek fans triedto force their way into thematch without tickets,

sparking clashes. Fanshave only recently beenallowed back at matchesand the Interior Minis-try planned to let only10,000 fans into the sta-dium, which has a ca-pacity of about 30,000,the officials said.

Ideye

BY JACOB AJOM

Ivory Coast win Afcon 2015

AFTER 120 minutes of exhilarating

and a breath-taking pen-alty shootout, IvoryCoast pipped Ghana 9-8 on penalties to clinchtheir 2nd Africa Cup ofNations title in Equato-rial Guinea last night.

The Ivorians soaked allthe pressure mounted bythe Black Stars, particu-larly in the pulsatingsecond half of the extra

time to clinch their sec-ond African title since1992. The penalty shoot-out was not devoid ofdrama as the Elephantsmissed their first twokicks before overtakingthe Ghanians whomissed their third andfourth kicks. It became ading dong affair untilIvory Coast keeper tookthe decisive kick whichgave them the trophy.

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-4548355. Advert Dept Hotline: 01-4544821; Abuja: 09-2341102, 09-2342704. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Advert:[email protected]

Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

How to Play Sudoku

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line canhave two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (alsonine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within abold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1through 9. This means that no number can appear twicein any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, divisionor multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

FRIFRIFRIFRIFRIDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

CMYK

ACROSS: 1, Shells 5, Climbs 8, Blizzard 9,Laid 10, Use 12, Entry 15, Off 17, Vex 18, Elf19, Ski 20, Usual 21, Tea 22, Cod 23, Pie 24,Tot 26, Ewers 29, Nod 33, Pole 34, Ailments35, Revere 36, Dancer.

ACROSS1 Prank (4)4 Flap (3)6 Groups (4)9 Spoil (3)10 Masculinity (8)11 Press (4)14 Meadow (3)16 Animal (5)19 Renew (8)21 Relinquish (5)23 Lifts (8)24 Assembles (5)27 Before (3)31 Grasp (4)33 Ceremonies (8)34 Sphere (3)35 Force (4)36 Carefree (3)37 Gentle (4)

DOWN2 Mineral (4)3 Repeat (4)4 Tiles (8)5 Kick (4)6 Grin (5)7 Organ (3)8 Hurries (5)12 Besom (5)13 View (5)14 Rule (3)15 Nimble (5)17 Sharp (5)18 Rendezvous (5)20 Commonplace (8)22 Evening (3)25 Mistake (5)26 Cat (5)28 Shoot (4)29 Movie (4)30 Giant (4)32 Limb (3)

DOWN: 2, Holes 3, Lazy 4, Stain 5, Cider 6,Idle 7, Brief 10, Upset 11, Evict 12, Exude 13,Taupe 14, Yelps 15, Often 16, Fraud 25,Ozone 27, Whale 28, Riled 30, Outre 31,Mere 32, Bean.

Continues on Page 63

Ideye inspires West Brom escapeBROWN Ideye scored

for West Bromwich Albi-on on Sunday as theBaggies came from be-hind to draw 2-2 withBurnley in a Barclays

•Ideye

English Premier Leaguegame at Turf Moore.

Ideye started the gameas a second half substi-tute as he replacedChris Baird on 46 min-utes.

Nineteen minutes afterhe was introduced, hewas making the head-lines for the wrong rea-sons as he received ayellow card for dissent.

The former DynamoKyiv man however sentWBA into delirium as henetted in the 67thminute.

Ideye rose highest ina crowded penalty areato plant an emphaticheader past the Burnleygoalkeeper, Tom Heatonfollowing an expert cor-ner from Chris Brunt.Continues on Page 63

A riot broke out nightoutside of a major soc-cer game in Egypt, witha stampede and fightingbetween police and fanskilling at least 22 peo-ple, authorities said.

The riot, only threeyears after similar vio-lence killed 74 people,began ahead of a matchbetween Egyptian Pre-mier League clubsZamalek and ENPPI atAir Defense Stadium

22 die as Police,Zamalek fans clash

east of Cairo. Such at-tacks in the past havesparked days of violentprotests pitting the coun-try ’s hard-core fansagainst police officers ina nation already on edgeafter years of revolt andturmoil.

A statement fromEgypt’s public prosecu-tor said the violencekilled 22 people and thatit had ordered an inves

Ivory Coast winAfcon 2015*Beat Ghana 9-8 on penalties

—P.63

*CHAMPIONS: Ivory Coast captain, Yaya Toure with the AFCON trophy.

Polls Postponment: Criticisms Mount

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