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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2013
NEWS Crackdown likely Continued from page 1
•Deputy Managing Director, UBA Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, flanked by officials of UBA Academy and matriculating Executive Trainees during the fifth matriculation of the UBA Academy Banking School in Lagos…on Monday
that as far as the PDP-led government is concerned, getting him out of the way is the best way to ruin the merger plans.” ‘’For the Jonathan-led Administration, and not minding its deceptive aloofness from it all, the race for 2015 has started in earnest and it is a do-ordie affair, and all means foul and unfair are on the table to cripple the opposition, by ensuring that nothing will be left of the integrity of its key leaders even if they are fortunate to make it to 2015. ‘’These opposition leaders are considered as constituting a clear and present danger to the electoral fortunes of the PDP in 2015, hence must be stopped at all costs and by whatever means,’’ the ACN said. The party said a fortune had Continued on page 63
Governors meet on Constitution amendment
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OVERNORS will meet today in Abuja to begin the consideration of knotty issues in the report of their 10-man panel on constitution amendment. The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) will also hold talks on other national matters, including the controversy trailing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which is assuming a North-South problem, and the new Revenue Allocation Formula. Besides, the governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will hold a crucial session on the crisis rocking the Adamawa State Chapter of the party. The PDP governors are angry with the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, on his handling of the crisis in Adamawa. It was gathered that the PDP governors had protested to President Goodluck Jonathan on how Tukur was allegedly contemptuous of them by going ahead to allow the conduct of congresses at the ward, local government and state lev-
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•PDP governors to meet Jonathan on Adamawa crisis From Yusuf Alli, Abuja
els. According to sources, the 36 governors will start discussion on knotty issues in the Amaechi Committee’s report and matters arising in the ongoing constitution amendment. The panel, headed by Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, submitted the report last year but the forum was unable to discuss the recommendations. Some of the issues in the template are single tenure of five, six or seven years; state police; true federalism; rotation of the presidency between the North and the South; creation of one new state from each of the nation’s six geopolitical zones; inclusion of the six geopolitical zones in the constitution, tenure for local government chairmen, 50 per cent control of resources by states; and abolition of State Joint Local Government Account and State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC). A source, who spoke in con-
fidence, said: “If we form quorum, we hope to use the session to start considering the report and draw conclusion on knotty issues. We had set aside this document to avoid anything that could cause a crack in the Forum. “It is not a day exercise, but we want to start early in the year so that at the appropriate time, we will submit a memorandum to the Constitution Review Committee of the National Assembly. “While we are considering our own report, we will also pay attention to the ongoing review by the National Assembly to fine-tune our position paper or memorandum to the Constitution Review Committee.” Asked if the governors have any timeframe to complete the consideration of the Amaechi Committee’s report, the source said: “We have not fixed any deadline but we will work in such a way that we will make our own input at the right or strategic time.”
PDP governors are said to be angry with Tukur and the National Working Committee (NWC) for allegedly ignoring their advice not to conduct congresses in Adamawa State . President Goodluck Jonathan has accepted to meet with the governors, Tukur and a few party officials tomorrow. A member of the PDP Governors Forum said: “When we noticed that there was crisis in Adamawa, we raised a committee, headed by Governor Sule Lamido, to look into the problems. “The committee recommended that the status quo should be maintained, pending the time the President and other leaders of the PDP would find an amicable solution to the crisis. “We passed this resolution to the party leadership but the National Chairman of the party went ahead to approve the conduct of congresses. “All the governors are memContinued on page 63
Govt has will to fight terrorism, RESIDENT Goodluck says Jonathan
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Jonathan yesterday said the government has the political will to fight terrorism, adding that efforts so far have yielded the desired result. He spoke yesterday at a summit on security jointly organised by the Police and Vanguard. Former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Gambo-Jimeta blamed neglect of police funding by successive governments and general poor administration as responsible for the insecurity in Nigeria. Gambo –Jimeta, who chaired yesterday’s session, described the insecurity in the country as “self-inflicted”. President Jonathan, who was represented by Minister of Police Affairs Caleb Olubolade, said: “A lot of emphasis is being placed on training and retraining, improving the sophistication of weaponry and equipment, improved welfare of officers and men and the image of the police. “I am optimistic that the political will being demonstrated by this administration will yield the desired result in the
fight against terrorism, improve crime investigation and enhance public order policing. “This will guarantee the ultimate protection of lives and property and law enforcement in our society,’’ he said. Gambo-Jimeta said successive administrations neglected the security agencies, the “organ of stability’’, in terms of funding. “Our current situation is really self-inflicted; you cannot have a state and fail to provide for the institutions of the state that are supposed to support the well-being of the state and the citizens. “Whenever you see a country running into security problem, it is when it starts to neglect this all-important foundation for the wellbeing of the nation. “There is nowhere in Nigeria today where you can sleep with your eyes closed. Let’s put our priorities right, build a robust defence and internal security system,’’ Gambo-Jimeta said. He decried a situation where criminal gangs were more Continued on page 63
Ex-President’s position contradictory, says Presidency Jonathan, Obasanjo clash again on Boko Haram
RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has described as contradictory, former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Boko Haram comment in his CNN interview. Presidential spokesman Reuben Abati wondered where the former president stands on the issue, because according to him, Obasanjo had earlier accused the government of being too soft on the insurgents. Abati also recalled a recent comment attributed to the former president in which he called for the Odi option in handling the issue, an option the presidency said did not yield any meaningful result. He noted that it was surprising that the same Obasanjo could turn around to accuse the government of applying only the “stick approach” as against the “carrot and stick approach.” “It is surprising. That means the former President contradicted himself. Were you not in this country recently when Obasanjo said that when he was confronted with a similar issue in Odi, he applied force? Where exactly does he stand on this matter? He added: “You will recollect that a few months ago,
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with Boko Haram if its leaders are ready to identify themselves. The Islamist militants, who operate chiefly in the North, have carried out numerous deadly attacks on mosques, churches and businesses and are suspected of having links to al Qaeda, the international terrorist group. Obasanjo, who recently said the government was slow in tackling Boko Haram, recalled that he acted swiftly and decisively when security personnel were killed in Odi” The government replied that the Odi expedition was a disaster as it trampled on the people’s human rights. The former President said he had tried to reach out to Boko Haram about a year and a half ago through a lawyer who was acting as the group’s proxy, and had asked if they had external backing. The lawyer told him that the group was receiving support from other NiFrom Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja
former President Obasanjo made a comment about the federal government’s handling of Boko Haram. What he said at that time, he was more or less recommending the way he handled the situation when he was the presi-
gerians who have resources overseas or “other organisations from abroad”, Obasanjo said. “If they had 25 per cent support a year and a half ago, today that support has doubled,” the former president said. Analysts suggest that reaching out to Boko Haram may be increasingly difficult because the group has split into various factions, some with a domestic focus and others with a more pan-jihadi approach. Resolving the issue is key to Nigeria’s progress, according to Obasanjo, who now heads an eponymous foundation that is working to promote human security across Africa. “Boko Haram undermines security, and anything that undermines security undermines development, undermines education, undermines health, undermines agriculture and food and nutrition security,” he said. International rights group Human Rights Watch says Boko Haram has killed more than 2,800 people. In a report published late last year, Amnesty International condemned the increasingly
dent. That was purely a stick approach, now you claimed he said there should be carrot and stick, that dialogue should be adopted. It sounds contradictory to me. “So, I really don’t want to believe that. I really think that there is a contradiction.
brutal attacks carried out by Boko Haram since 2009, but said Nigeria’s security forces “have perpetrated serious human rights violations” in response. A military spokesman rejected the allegations. The militant group, whose name means “Western education is forbidden”, is fighting to impose a strict version of Sharia law in the northern part of the country. In the past, the group attacked other Muslims it felt were on an immoral path, but it has increasingly killed Christians. The U.S. State Department has accused Boko Haram of attacking mosques and churches to incite tensions between the two religious groups, hoping to drive a wedge between them. It has condemned some of the group’s leaders for alleged ties to al Qaeda. However, despite the ongoing challenges the country faces, Obasanjo said he does not foresee Nigeria ever splitting in two, into north and south. “We in Nigeria now know that it would cost us much more to break up than it will cost us to come together,” Obasanjo said.
Abati insisted that a lot of progress has been made by the government in its handling of the issue, likewise other issues contrary to what Obasanjo wanted the world to believe. He said: “ But what we can say is that government’s ap-
proach in handling of the situation has been purposeful and result-oriented. Everybody can see that the federal government has really developed the capability in dealing with the problem and the evidence is really large in the progress that has been made.
•Obasanjo
Not just in relation to Boko Haram, also in redefining the security architecture in the country, and ensuring better productivity on the part of the security agencies. “
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