I've nothing to hide says Jonathan

...towards a better life for the people

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

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VOL. 25: NO. 62393

N150

TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

HATE CAMPAIGN: Buhari fights back, bars AIT from 14 covering activities

NNPC'S MISSING $20BN:

MOU: From left: Mr. Cao Baogang, Chairman CCECC; Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State and Mr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, Secretary to the State Government, during the signing of MOU between the Chinese firm and Ogun State Government in Abeokuta, yesterday.

Photo: Wunmi Akinola

I've nothing to hide, says Jonathan

By Our Reporters

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zOrders release of audit report zDavid-West, Tsav, Etiebet, Reps, others back probe zWe're not afraid of probe —PDP

zPWC forensic audit of NNPC reveals $1.28bn in subsidy scam

54

BUJA — THE Presidency and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, said they were ready for any probe the incoming administration of President-elect, MajorGeneral Muhammadu Buhari (retd) would undertake.

The Presidency was responding to Buhari’s resolve to probe the reported Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) missing $20 billion and allegations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) of last-minute looting of the treasury and rash Continues on Page 5

COLUMNIST:

INDUCTION:

TOP: A cross section of newly elected Senators during the 8th National Assembly Induction Course for new and r e t u r n i n g legislators, in Abuja yesterday.

LEFT: Some newly elected Reps at the event.

Photos: Gbemiga Olamikan.

CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT: Pirates take over See Inside Akwa Ibom waterways C M Y K

FG asks S-Court to stop 9 N-Assembly

Lynch escapes Senate lynching •P.41

Mr & Mrs

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POCKET CARTOON

VISIT: From left: President-elect, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd); Managing Director, Total E and P Nigeria Ltd, Elizabeth Proust; Chief Arthur Eze and Executive General Manager, Total E and P Nigeria Ltd, Mr Chidi Momah, during a visit to the President-elect, in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: NAN.

I've nothing to hide, says Jonathan Continues from page 1 actions by the outgoing government. It said the party would probe activities of the government especially after the March 28 presidential polls.

President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday ordered the immediate release of the report of the forensic audit of the NNPC. This is coming as a host of eminent Nigerians threw their weight behind Buhari’s plan to probe the NNPC. Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor and now Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, was suspended by President Jonathan last year after he alleged that the NNPC failed to remit more than $20 billion of oil revenue to the government.

Addressing State House correspondents, Special Adviser to the President on

Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, said the release of the report was to put to rest any doubt about government’s transparency in the oil sector.

According to Abati, the incoming administration of Buhari is free to review all actions and policies of the President Jonathan administration, including revenues and expenditure on projects.

Abati said the President’s decision to order the release of the audit report was to demonstrate that he had noting to hide.

Abati said since President Jonathan also reviewed policies of his predecessors on assumption of office for better understanding and further actions, General Buhari was free to review the President’s policies.

He explained that President Jonathan was deeply concerned by the continuing suggestions that his administration still

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

T

HE difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people do all the things unsuccessful people don’t want to do —John Paul DeJoria.

A better way to learn about something is to listen to those who have walked that path and learn from their lessons and blessings in their journey.

Most people don’t want to work more than they have to. They do the minimum they are paid to do.

That’s not the way to get ahead. Always do the best you can, not the least you can get away with. When you do your job, even if it’s just cleaning an office, do it as if somebody you want to impress is watching your every step.

Life gives back what we give to it, but if you’ve “made it” and don’t help others out along the way, if you don’t do something to make your presence matter to others by making this world a better place — you’re not successful at all; you are a failure.

But remember that you can’t help everybody out.

You have to focus and contribute in ways that you think are most beneficial. Do what you do best and try to find others who can fill in by doing the things you are not good at.

has anything to hide about the unproven allegation that about $20 billion is unaccounted for by the NNPC during his tenure.

“As Alhaji Lai Mohammed threatened in his statement, the incoming administration will be perfectly within its rights to review all actions of the present government as it may deem fit...To lay the matter to rest, President Jonathan in line with Section 7(2) of the NNPC Act, has directed that the full report of the PWC Forensic Audit of the NNPC accounts be released immediately to the public so that all Nigerians will be properly informed on the matter,” he said.

On allegations by the APC spokesman that looting of the national treasury by Ministries, Department and Agencies, was ongoing, the Presidential spokesman said: “We also consider as most unfortunate and uncharitable, the suggestion by Alhaji Mohammed that the Jonathan Administration is trying to “tie the hands” of the incoming government merely by continuing to discharge its constitutional responsibilities until the end of its tenure.

“The Jonathan Administration which continues to do its best to ensure a smooth and peaceful handover of power to the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, deeply regrets the unfairness and combative frame of mind reflected in Alhaji Mohammed’s statement. President Jonathan has done his best in the past five years to discharge his constitutional responsibilities for good governance and effective leadership of the nation.

“Without any prejudice

whatsoever to the freedom of the incoming administration to do as it pleases, within the confines of extant laws when it assumes office, the Jonathan Administration will continue to discharge its responsibility to govern until May 29, 2015.

President Jonathan will also never authorise any attempt to create any problems for the incoming administration as the APC spokesperson, ought to know that the outcome of the March 28 presidential elections does not imply a cessation of governance, unjustly alleges,” he said.

Eminent Nigerians back probe

The issue elicited support from a host of eminent Nigerians, yesterday, who said that the decision to probe the NNPC is in order.

Probe in order —Etiebet

Former Minister of Petroleum, Chief Don Etiebet said: “I believe the probe will be very much in order. The subject matter has been very controversial in the public domain and a succeeding government, acting in the public interest, has every right to go into it to put the records straight for posterity's sake. If the incoming government refused to probe the NNPC, it can be accused of a cover-up as the subject matter cannot just go away or be forgotten like that.”

We're not afraid of probe —PDP

The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said yesterday that the party was not in any way afraid of the planned probe of alleged missing $20 billion from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC by the Presidentelect, General Muhammadu Buhari, retd.

In a text message to Vanguard yesterday, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh who noted that the probe was a welcome development, however warned that as a party, it would resist any witch-hunt or selective probe, adding that there must be no sacred cows.

He said, “ PDP is not afraid of probe, but we would resist any witch-hunt and any probe that is selective or discriminatory.”

Buhari should be supported on probe —Tsav

Also speaking, a retired Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, said:

‘’The money allegedly missing in NNPC account is not a small money. It is big and should be a matter of concern to responsible and responsive governments, including all patriotic Nigerians. But this seems not to be the case here. The person who reported the alleged missing funds, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was harassed and intimidated.

He was suspended and his passport impounded. He was hounded for arrest, all in attempts to silence him.

I support the Presidentelect’s desire to do so when he assumes office. This move will provide Nigerians the opportunity to know who between the Presidency and Sanusi is saying the truth. I support Buhari on this. I support the probe.’’

Buhari should go beyond probing NNPC —Onyekpere

Executive Director of the Centre for Social Justice, Mr. Eze Onyekpere, described the decision to probe the $20 billion allegation against the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, as a welcome development but urged the incoming President Buhari administration to go beyond the probe to restructure the organization.

According to him, the restructuring of the NNPC remains the only way to genuinely clean up the system and restore public confidence in the oil and gas sector of the nation’s economy.

Onyekpere pointed out that separating the role of the regulator from that of an active industry player was critical to cleaning up the NNPC, in line with the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB. His words, “It is a welcome development that the President-Elect would upon the assumption of office probe the purportedly missing $20 billion. This will help to arrive at the

veracity and truth of the allegation, expose and punish any culprit and restore public confidence in the oil and gas industry.

“However, what the sector needs is beyond a probe; it is about a fundamental restructuring that will separate the regulator from being an active player, introduce private sector efficiency and pave the way for investors to finance big ticket and long term transactions and projects in the oil and gas industry.

“It is a positive process of liberalization that creates opportunities for Nigerians and their friends to be in a win-win situation and this will untie the binding constraints on Nigeria’s development. This will be a PIB type of reform that addresses fundamental issues in the sector without creating new bottlenecks and opportunities for rentseeking by government agencies and functionaries.

David-West, Amao endorse probe

Former Minister of Petroleum, Tam DavidWest, is fully in support of the probe. He is of the opinion that the perpetrators, if caught, should be severely punished.

He said: “I am supportive of the decision by the president-elect to probe the NNPC missing fund, because he will not close his eyes and see corruption go without adequate punishment.

“This fund is supposedly meant for the welfare of the masses and the development of other sectors of the country that would better the lives of ordinary Nigerians. I vote for life imprisonment for those who are found to be part of such mishap to the country’s economy.’’

However, it is to be noted that the initiative by the president-elect to probe the culprits is not an act to witch-hunt anybody, but is to see that evil is rewarded accordingly by Continues on page 57

6—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

Tension over killing of Ekpan community exco member

31-yr-old arraigned for N53.6m theft

By Akpokona Omafuaire

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ARRI—THERE was tension at Ekpan in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State yesterday, as gunmen killed a member of the incoming executives of Ekpan Community Trust.

The killing halted the inauguration of the trust, which would have taken place yesterday.

The deceased, Mr. Abraham Olomu, Financial Secretary-elect, was on his way to Ekpan Community Town Hall, venue of the inauguration, when he was killed.

He was said to have died before he was rushed to a private hospital at Ekpan.

According to sources, Olomu received a phone call to come to an undisclosed location when he was shot by the suspected assailant near Ekpan market.

Meanwhile, one Mr. Sunday Leleji has reportedly died from shock over Olomu’s death.

The deaths caused tension in the community, compelling immediate postponement of the inauguration indefinitely.

Business activities were brought to a halt as angry youths took over the streets.

The timely arrival of security operatives restored normalcy, but residents are still scared for fear of reprisal attacks at night.

At press time, the remains of Olomu had been deposited in the morgue of a private hospital in Ekpan.

By Esther Onyegbula

A

31-year-old year man, Kehinde Lateef, who

served his one year internship with Sterling Bank Plc on Lagos Island, has been arraigned before a Tinubu Magistrates Court for fraudulently withdrawing N53.6 million from the accounts of two customers.

It was learned that the suspect conspired with three others, currently at large, to hack into the bank’s system a few days after he completed his one year service with the bank and withdrew N49.1 million from one account and N4.5 million from another.

Vanguard gathered that

7 dogs attack driver in Lagos

By Esther Onyegbula

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45-year-old commercial driver, Saturday Akpomose, narrowly escaped death last Saturday, after he was attacked by seven dogs at Ajah area of Lagos State. The timely intervention of residents and passers-by saved the driver from the dogs.

Akpomose, who hails from Akwa Ibom State, had gone to the area with his wife to visit his in-law, Mr. Christian Peter, when the dogs pounced on him.

Vanguard gathered that the dogs, owned by a Navy Captain, were being taken out to ease themselves at a nearby uncompleted building, when they saw Akpomose and pounced on him.

The matter was reported at Ogombo Police Division, which referred Akpomose to the General Hospital at Akodo, for immediate treatment due to the severity of his injuries.

His story

When Vanguard visited the victim in the hospital, he said: “My wife and I went to visit my in-law on Sunday. He lives at Okun Ajah Road, in Eti-Osa East Local Council Development Area. Later, on Tuesday morning, I just strolled out of the compound and came

A

BEOKUTA—A five-yearold boy, Abraham Adeyemi, who was reportedly kinapped, has been found in front of Foursquare Gospel Church, Imedu-Nla in Mowe, Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.

Adeyemi, a pupil of New Way Nursery and Primary School in Lagos, was reportedly lured to one of the eateries in Ogun State.

The child, who was brought to the secretariat of Nigeria

Kidnapped Bayelsa council chairman regains freedom

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across the dogs.

“As I stepped out, I saw a security man coming out with several dogs. They were very huge Alsatian dogs. I was terrified when I saw them and as I tried to go back in, they overpowered the man holding them.

“As I bent down to pick a stone

zSays parents're Daddy/Mummy Sarah Union of Journalists, NUJ, Ogun State, by the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Muyiwa Adejobi, could only recognise his parents as Daddy Sarah and Mummy Sarah.

When asked about how he lost contact with his parents, Abraham said he followed his parents and his sister, Sarah, to a church and was lured by an unidentified person to an eatery (name withheld).

He said he was in nursery one and was five years old.

The police prosecutor, ASP Chidi Okoye, said the offence was punishable under Sections 409 and 285 (1) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the alleged crime and Chief Magistrate A. O. Awogboro, admitted the accused to a N2 million bail, with two sureties in like sum.

Awogboro adjourned the case to May 6 for mention, while the defendant was taken to Ikoyi Prisons, pending fulfilment of bail conditions.

By Samuel Oyadongha

Kidnapped 5-yr-old boy found in Ogun

By Daud Olatunji

Lateef was arrested after the management of the bank reported the case to the police at Lion Building Division.

Following the report, a manhunt for the suspects began. A year later, detectives tracked down Kehinde Lateef at his residence on Ishawo Road, Ikorodu, Lagos.

He was arrested, while others escaped.

After investigation, Lateef was arraigned before a Tinubu Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on a three-count charge of felony, to wit stealing.

When asked about the address of his parents’ house, Abraham, who did not know where he was at the moment, said he lived near a canal.

When asked about his school's address, he said his school was close to his house.

Attempts to get vital information from the boy were unsuccessful as he was just staring at newsmen who bombarded him with questions.

He was playing about within the premises of the secretariat.

and scare them away, they pounced on me and that was all I knew. They bit me in almost all parts of my body. As I screamed, some residents came out and tried to scare away the dogs with sticks.

“My screams even woke up my in-law who was asleep in the house. At a time, I became weak and unconscious and it was the people who rushed me to the hospital.”

Dogs’ owner intervenes

When Vanguard visited the residence of the dogs’ owner, the Chief Security Officer attached to the building, who identified himself simply as Victor, said: “Immediately I got back home, I explained his condition to my boss who directed me to see his family and take a decision on how to transfer the victim to his own private hospital for proper medical attention.

“We have bought all the drugs they asked us to buy. We are showing the receipt to you just to let you know that we care about the victim.”

ENAGOA—THE kidnapped Chairman of Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Mr. Enaye Abah, has been released after five days in captivity.

Abah was abducted in the early hours of last Wednesday along the Otuasega-Okarki express road by armed men on his way to a attend a political meeting at the council headquarters at Ogbia main town.

Vanguard learned that the abducted chairman was released Sunday at about 8.45pm by the kidnappers, who took him to their den in the deep mangrove swamp of Abua Odua axis of Rivers State.

Though it could not be immediately ascertained if any ransom was paid to secure his release, the chairman was said to have been abandoned at Ogonoko waterside in Abua Odua Local Government Area of Rivers State by his captors.

Contacted, Bayelsa State Police Command spokesman, Asinim Butswat, said Abah was abandoned by his kidnappers, following attempts by the special task force of the state antikidnapping squad to invade their hide out in the area.

He said though the sister to the victim had informed the police authorities of the ransom demanded by the kidnappers, none was paid.

The police scribe added that he was released in good condition of health.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015—7

Tricycle rider escapes death on Kano bridge that killed 7

By Abdulsalam Muhammad

K

ANO—A man on tricycle, yesterday in Kano, escaped death by the whiskers when a wing of the pedestrian bridge that collapsed on Sunday and killed seven persons, split his Keke NAPEP in two, yesterday.

The incident comes less than

24 hours after the bridge collapsed on a cab, killing seven persons in it.

An eyewitness, Isa Habu, told Vanguard that the incident occurred when, around 9a.m., contractors protected by armed policemen, tried to clear off the remains of the failed structure.

Habu said: “The area was cordoned off but from nowhere

the tricycle rider sneaked through and nearly died.”

The eyewitness revealed that the only occupant in the tricycle escaped with injuries and was rushed to a hospital.

Corroborating the eyewitness’ account, police image-maker in Kano, ASP Magaji Musa Majia, said: “I was at the site when the eastern wing of the

collapsed foot bridge caved in and broke a tricycle into two.

“We called for reinforcement to clear off the site and restore normalcy to the suburb, and we have invited the contractor for questioning.

“We have commenced criminal investigation against the contractor and would face charges if found wanting.”

Truck driver arrested for diverting 60,000ltrs of fuel

By Simon Ebegbulem

B The part of the bridge that fell on a taxi on Sunday being lifted off the car.

Ondo CP masterminded planting of gun in my house— APC lawmaker

By Caleb Ayansina

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BUJA—A lawmaker, representing Owo/Ose Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Eniolorunda Omosule, yesterday, accused the Commissioner of Police in Ondo State, Mr Isaac Eke, of masterminding the planting of locally-made pistol in his residence at Idasen, Owo, in Ondo State.

Omosule, an All Progressives Congress, APC, member, also accused Governor Olusegun Mimiko of conspiracy, saying the whole episode was to keep him out of reach of his supporters in the justconcluded presidential and National Assembly elections.

However, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Isaac Eke, in a swift reaction, said the allegation against him was untrue.

He said the allegation was from Omosule’s imagination, adding that the matter had been transferred to the Zonal Headquarters in Osogbo, Osun State capital.

Eke said: “That is untrue.

There was a case of malicious damage during campaign.

When they were looking for

zHe's imagining things, says CP the suspect, it turned out to be one of his boys and he shielded him.

“He (Omosule) is speaking out of his own imagination.

The matter is still under investigation. Is he an investigator? The matter is under investigation. He is not in the right position to say that.”

Omosule alleged that a team of police officers from the Special Anti-Cultism Squad, Akure, and some political

thugs, invaded his home on Wednesday, March 18, at about 4:25pm, while a political meeting was ongoing in the premises.

Omosule, who spoke to newsmen in Abuja, said the leader of the police team made it known that they were in his house to carry out a search based on Eke’s instruction.

The lawmaker, who described their action as laughable, said the officers neither provided a search warrant nor subjected

themselves to a search before intruding on his privacy.

According to Omosule, they later came up with the falsehood that a locally-made pistol was found on his gate man, Friday Ihezulor.

He gave the names of the police officers, who invaded his house, as Inspector Akinyonu Ola, Inspector Suleiman Sumaila, Sergeant Akinkunmi Temitope, Corporal Friday Sophiwee, Aliyu Jubril and Asebiode Ayodele.

Property agent docked for allegedly stealing N360,000

By Bartholomew Madukwe & Jane Echewodo

A

51-year-old property agent, Taiwo Oluwo, has been charged before an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court in Lagos for allegedly stealing N360,000 belonging to one Pastor Praise Judah, under the guise of renting a land for him.

The accused, whose

residence is unknown, was said to have committed the offence on December 15, 2014 at 8b, Ejigbo Road, Orisunmbare area of Lagos.

Oluwo was arraigned by the police on a two-court charge of stealing.

Police prosecutor, Chinalu Uwadione, informed the court that the offence was contrary to Section 278 and punishable under Section 285(1) of the

criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria.

However, when the charge was read to the accused before Magistrate A. O. Akinde, he pleaded not guilty.

Magistrate Akinde granted the accused bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties that have evidence of tax payment and verifiable addresses.

The matter was adjourned till June 11.

ENIN— THE Edo State Police Command has arrested five persons allegedly involved in the diversion of a tanker loaded with 60,000 litres of petroleum products belonging to Capital Oil and Gas en route Abuja from Lagos.

The state police spokesman, Mr. Onwochei Stephen, said the truck with number plate GDD 246 TE, driven by one Alloy Imoh, a native of Imo State, was diverted at Aviele, close to Auchi.

He said investigation revealed that the said driver and the motor boy connived with some criminals to sell the petroleum product after diverting the truck.

The police scribe said: “The company used tracking device and informed the police through a telephone call.

On receipt of the information, we swung into action and arrested and recovered the said truck near Lokoja town in Kogi State.

“When the motor boy of the truck sighted the police, he took to his heels, while the driver and one Shaibu Abu were arrested.

“During interrogation, Shaibu made a confessional statement, which led to the arrest of one Ibrahim Mohammed, who received the said product, and one Sunday Shaibu.

“The driver of the truck was equally arrested alongside a photographer, because he had arranged with the photographer to take shots of him tied to a tree, pretending that he was attacked by armed robbers.

“However, the driver of the truck, Mr. Imoh, denied conniving with armed robbers to divert the petroleum product, asserting that he was attacked by armed robbers, who dragged him to a vehicle and took him to a bush.”

The suspect had claimed that it was one of the police officers that asked him to go back to the bush and asked the photographer to take shots that will be proof that he was attacked by robbers.

8—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

Radio station bombed in Kogi, 4 dead

By Boluwaji Obahopo

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OKOJA—FOUR persons were killed, while several others sustained serious injuries following a bomb attack on a community radio station, TAO FM in Okene, Kogi State, yesterday night.

A source in the town said that the bomb exploded at the radio station, operating on 101.5 frequency, at about 8pm.

Unconfirmed reports said that those killed were mainly security personnel, who might have confronted the assailants as they were trying to deliver their deadly goods.

The reason for bombing the radio station located at the centre of Okene town, which is the headquarters of Kogi Central Senatorial District, was not known as no group had claimed responsibility for the attack.

Confirming the incident, state Police Public Relations Officer, Shola Collins, said that police detectives had already been mobilized to the scene of the incident.

Collins said the attack affected part of the radio station building, adding that four persons had already been confirmed dead, while many were still in various hospitals in the area.

According to Collins, the police would do anything humanly possible to unravel those behind the act and bring them to book.

UNVEILING: From left— Mr. Ghali Na’aba, former Speaker, House of Representatives; Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, Leader of the Senate; Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy President of the Senate; Senator David Mark, Senate President; and Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker, House of Representatives, at the unveiling of the book, Constitutional Review in an Emerging Democracy: The Nigerian Experience, authored by Senator Ekweremadu and Professor Offornze Amucheazi, in Abuja, yesterday.

Buhari, Odigie-Oyegun to meet as fresh intrigues cloud zoning

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor, & Henry Umoru

T

HE President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) and National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, are to meet today to resolve simmering issues on the zoning of principal offices in the National Assembly and the incoming government, sources close to the party have said.

The meeting is in the wake of fresh intrigues in the party that have led to the realignment of geo-political caucuses within and outside the National Assembly.

South-West’s move

In the most remarkable development over the weekend, the influential South-West caucus of the party, led by an influential opinion moulder, was said to have dumped the Senate presidency aspirations of Senator George Akume from Benue State in favour of Senator Ahmed Lawan from

Yobe State.

The move, it was gathered, was on the premise of safeguarding the South-West’s aspiration of enthroning outgoing Minority Leader of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, as Speaker.

The move to dump Akume, Vanguard learned, was meant to checkmate the speakership aspiration of Yakubu Dogara from Bauchi State in the NorthEast. The move by the SouthWest Caucus, Vanguard learned, was upon the formidable threat of the Northern House caucus to throw up Dogara, a popular member of the House, as the Speaker.

Dogara is said to have received almost a unanimous support from the about 200strong Northern caucus of members-elect.

By siding the North-East to produce the Senate President, South-West caucus would automatically have blocked the region from also producing the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The move leaves the position solely for Gbajabiamila, who according to inside sources, has

already received the endorsement of party leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, for the top job.

the core North always want to use the Northern minorities for political gains,” a source in APC, privy to the development, said.

Edging out North-Central

However, the move by the South-West APC caucus is being resisted within and outside the region by other forces.

Buhari, according to one source, was also said not to be pleased with the development as it could leave the number one and three top positions in the government in the hands of the far north, edging out the North-Central.

A source privy to the ongoing development told Vanguard last night that associates of the President-elect are troubled that having the President and the Senate President from the far north could throw up old assumptions that Buhari and the people of the far north are inconsiderate of the feelings of North-Central.

“This is the first time that Buhari is getting strong support from the NorthCentral and it would throw up old and buried assumptions that Buhari and the people of

Akume, Saraki supporters pleased

Buhari’s consideration of the North-Central for the office of Senate President, it was learned, had thrown a spanner into the works of the South-West to team up with the North-East for the Senate Presidency.

Campaigners for the two leading North-Central senators in the contest, Akume and Bukola Saraki, were said to be pleased with the seeming intervention from Buhari, it was learned last night.

The President-elect and Odigie-Oyegun are also expected to have a few party leaders in the meeting to break the impasse.

Party sources, while trying to play down the gathering tension, are nevertheless eager to resolve the impasse in line with the injunction of the outgoing governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwanso.

NIJ repositioning for efficiency, agent of nat'l devt—Provost

By Charles Kumolu

L

AGOS—PROVOST of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, NIJ, Mr. Gbemiga Ogunleye, has said plans were on to carry out reforms in the institute to improve its capacity and quality as a degreeawarding institution.

He also noted that as the

premier journalism institute in the country, NIJ is contributing immensely to Nigeria’s journey to nationhood.

Ogunleye, who was recently appointed provost of the institution, said this yesterday in Lagos during a courtesy visit to Vanguard corporate headquarters.

He said: “NIJ has been around for a long time. The institution has a vision to be the leading Mass Communication and Journalism training institution in Africa, and that dream is being realized.

“We have witnessed significant improvement in the life of NIJ, particularly since it was elevated to a degree-

awarding institution. Our students have been participating in the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC. “That was not possible when the school was awarding OND certificate. So there is consistent growth at NIJ. “We have had uninterrupted academic session since the NIJ was

made a degree-awarding institution, while our curriculum is of the best academic standards.

“However, there is room for improvement. The support of every stakeholder is needed in this regard. This support is very important given that NIJ is a major contributor to national development.”

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 — 9

CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT: FG asks court to stop N' Assembly

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

A

BUJA—DETERMINED to sideline the proposed amendments to the 1999 constitution, the Federal Government, yesterday, prayed the Supreme Court to issue an order of interlocutory injunction against both chambers of the National Assembly.

The government urged the court to stop the federal lawmakers from taking any further step towards passing the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Fourth Alteration) Act, 2015, into law, until hearing and final determination of the suit pending before the apex court.

It filed the application through the Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, pursuant to Order 3 Rule 14 of the Supreme Court Rules as amended.

Meanwhile, Adoke has already secured the services of another Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a former AGF, Chief Bayo Ojo, to handle the matter on his behalf.

The AGF told the Supreme Court that the National Assembly was determined to proceed with the passing of the constitutional amendments by overriding the veto of same by President Goodluck Jonathan, despite the fundamental nature of the issues raised against the proposed alterations to the constitution.

The AGF argued that it would be in the interest of the whole Nigerian Polity that the issues in the substantive suit are resolved one way or the other by the court, before the National Assembly could proceed further on the proposed alterations to the constitution.

According to the AGF; "Hon. Samson Osagie, Minority Whip of the House of Representative, said to the whole world at a Press Conference purposely called on the issue in this suit that despite any case filed against the said Act (which actually is a Bill); the National Assembly would go ahead to pass it into law. " The AGF contended that the balance? of convenience tilts in favour of resolution of the legal grey areas concerning the proposed constitution amendment, before any further step could be taken on the Bill.

In an affidavit deposed to by one Theophilus Okwute, a lawyer in the chambers of Chief Bayo Ojo, SAN and Co, which was attached to the application, he averred before the apex court thus; "That I listened to Hon. Samson Osagie, the Minority Whip of the House of Representative on the NTA 9 o’clock news on 24/04/ 2015 when he said that the National Assembly would go ahead to pass the (Fourth Alteration) Act (Bill) 2015 into law despite any Court action because no order had been made against the National Assembly to restrain it from doing so.

"That by that very disposition of the said Hon. Samson Osagie who spoke to the press as a Principal Officer of the Defendant/Respondent, it is clear that the Defendant/Respondent is

Boko Haram kills 21 in Yobe S

NIJ TEAM VISITS VANGUARD: From left; Mr Gbemiga Ogunleye, Provost, Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ); Mrs Maureen Popoola, Head of Department, General Studies and Mr Jide Johnson, Deputy Provost , during the NIJ team's courtesy visit to the corporate headquarters of Vanguard Newspapers, Apapa, Lagos, yesterday. Photo by Biodun Ogunleye. determined to proceed to pass the Fourth Alteration Act (sic) into Law despite the pendency of the substantive suit herein.

"That fundamental questions were raised by the Plaintiff/ Applicant on the proposed alterations to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria through the Fourth Alteration Act, 2015 which is in issue in this suit.

"That it will be in the larger interest of Nigeria that those issues be resolved before the Defendant/Respondent takes any further step in giving effect to the proposed alterations to the Constitution.

"That with the utterances of Hon. Samson Osagie at the Press Conference earlier alluded to in this affidavit, it is clear that the Defendant is determined to ignore the proceeding before this Honourable Court on the proposed alteration and proceed to give effect to the alterations to the Constitution."

"That the Defendant/ Respondent will not lose anything or suffer any prejudice if this application is granted.

"That the balance of convenience tilts in favour of granting this application. That the whole Nigerian legal system shall be put into confusion if the Defendant/Respondent proceeds to give effect to the Fourth Alteration Act (Bill) 2015 and this suit succeeds such that the Constitution remain unaltered, meaning that the Act is void and or no effect.

"That the Constitution is the basic law of Nigeria and should only be amended following due process. That it will be in the interest of justice to grant this application", he stated.

FG had asked the apex court to nullify all the proposed amendments to the constitution.

In its originating summons, it

prayed the Supreme Court to declare as unconstitutional, the amendments as proposed by the lawmakers. ''Specifically, FG urged the court to set aside sections 3, 4, 12, 14, 21, 23, 36, 39, 40, 43 and 44 of the Fourth Alteration Act, 2015, purportedly passed by the Defendant.

It contended that the said Fourth Alteration Act 2015, was not passed with the mandatory requirement of four-fifths majority of members of the Defendant (National Assembly), and the mandatory due processes provided for under the relevant sections of the extant Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,

1999, as amended. ''As a follow up. President Jonathan equally wrote separate letters to the Senate President, David Mark and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, asking them to halt moves by members of the National Assembly to go ahead with the constitution amendment process. ''In the letter which was served on them by the AGF, President Jonathan urged them to restrain other federal 'legislators from tampering with the 1999 constitution, as issues regarding its proposed amendments, are already before the Supreme Court.''

USPECTED Boko Haram gunmen shot dead 21 persons in Bultaram village, Yobe state as they were trying to return home to recover abandoned food supplies.

According to an official of Gujba Local Government Area, Mallam Baba Nuhu, "the men, 21 of them, were stopped at Bultaram (village) by gunmen we believe are Boko Haram who shot them dead”.

Nuhu and Haruna Maram, the brother of one of the victims, spoke to AFP from Yobe's capital Damaturu, where many Gujba residents have fled to seek refuge from Boko Haram violence.

"My brother and 20 others wanted to bring back their grains to augment their lean food supplies to feed their families. Unfortunately, they were killed by the same Boko Haram we ran away from", Maram said.

Gujba is one of a handful of districts in Yobe that Boko Haram captured during a sweeping offensive last year.

The area has been hit by waves of attacks including a massacre at a college in 2013 that targeted students sleeping their dormitories.

JUDICIAL CORRUPTION: NJC asks Appeal Court to declare ex-Abuja CJ guilty

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

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BUJA—THE National Judicial Council, NJC, has asked the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja to affirm the guilty verdict it entered against the former Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice Lawal Hassan Gummi, in 2013, after he was found culpable on acts of judicial corruption.

The council, headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, argued that Justice Gummi, who relinquished his post to become an Emir in Zamfara State, abused the oath he took as a judicial officer, before vacating office as the FCT CJ. Gummi, whose tenure as CJ would have ended this year, resigned his position barely three weeks after the NJC commenced

investigation into a petition that sought his sack over alleged judicial impropriety.

His resignation came a day after he was crowned new Emir of Gummi Community in Zamfara State.

Despite his voluntary decision to willingly bow out of the Bench, the NJC still went ahead and constituted a panel that probed the allegation of judicial malpractice that was levelled against him.

In a statement it issued through its Acting Director of Information, Mr Soji Oye, the NJC, on July 18, 2013, said it had, at the end of its 63rd meeting, deliberated on the Report and recommendation of its committee that investigated the petition forwarded to it by Nestello Gateway Group in Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/486/10 against

Hon. Justice Lawal Hassan Gummi, and found him culpable.

The Council said the CJ unduly interfered and perverted the course of justice in the case between Nestello Gateway Group and Governor Abdul’aziz Yari of Zamfara State.

NJC said that findings by its committee revealed that the exCJ interfered in the execution of a judgement delivered by Justice Jude Okeke of the FCT High Court, Abuja.

“Council also found the interference of Gummi in the execution of the judgment as most unethical and highly reprehensible. The former chief judge would have been summarily removed from office as he was guilty of gross misconduct.

His action was contrary to Rule 1 (i) of the Code of Conduct for judicial officers in Nigeria.''

10 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

Airtel boss, Ogunsanya speaks at Businessday’s CEO Forum

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A G O S – MANAGING Director and Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, has been listed among eminent personalities that will lead discourse at this year’s edition of the prestigious Businessday CEO Forum, a foremost platform for CEOs of large corporate entities, investors and decision makers.

Ogunsanya, who has been pencilled down to offer key perspectives and insight on the Nigerian telecoms industry will provide a snapshot of major trends that will dominate the industry in the next five years while charting a pathway to unlocking the potentials of the Nigerian telecoms industry.

The Airtel boss will headline a segment of the forum tagged: ‘CEOs in Conversation: Five years Ahead – Telecoms Industry’ while speaking to the overall theme of the conference: Managing in Nigeria’s Post Election Economy.

According to the organizers of the forum, the event, which will hold tomorrow at Ikoyi, Lagos, will attract other eminent personalities including Prof. Paul Collier, renowned Economist at the University of Oxford, Richard Ingleton, Global CEO of TNS and Christian Wessels, Deputy Managing Director, TGI & Advisory, Bain & Company.

Others are Wale Tinubu, Group CEO, Oando; Phillip Oduoza, CEO, UBA; Peju Adebajo, CEO, LAFARGE, among other industry leaders who will be sharing views on their respective industries.

Also expected to grace the event are Governor Babatunde Fashola, Governor of Lagos State; Nasir el Rufai, governor-elect, Kaduna State and CEOs of leading banks and other multinationals.

‘Why Lagos can’t hold council polls now’

By Olasunkanmi Akoni & Monsur Olowoopejo

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AGOS—THE Lagos State Government, yesterday, explained why the state Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC, is yet to hold election into the 20 Local Government Areas, LGAs and 37 Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs, in the state, putting the blame squarely at the doorsteps of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ademorin Kuye, made the remarks yesterday in Alausa, Ikeja, at the 2015 ministerial press

briefing on the activities of the ministry in the last one year.

Lagos State Chapter of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had berated Governor Babatunde Fashola’s administration and LASIEC for refusing to conduct local council polls.

According to PDP, the composition and existence of the councils as they presently stand is illegal, unconstitutional and an aberration as they are neither recognised nor accommodated in any of the nation’s governing laws.

The party stated that by Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, only democratically elected local government councils are guaranteed.

CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT: Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN); Abimbola Okoya, General Manager, British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF); Tunji Bello, Hon. Commissioner for Environment, Lagos State at the 7th edition of the Lagos State Climate Change Summit held at Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria, Island, Lagos.

S’West APC rejects Ondo Dep Gov’s impeachment

By Olasukanmi Akoni

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AGOS—THE All Progressives Congress, yesterday, rejected the impeachment of Ondo State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, stressing that the process of his removal violated provisions of the impeachment

clause in the 1999 Constitution.

The party added that the decision of the State House of Assembly was a contempt of court that ordered all parties to maintain status quo in a suit the deputy governor filed before he travelled out to challenge the plan to impeach him.

The party’s National Vice

157 Lagosians die in 1932 fire outbreaks

By Olasukanmi Akoni & Monsur Olowoopejo

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AGOS—NO fewer than 157 persons were confirmed dead in 1, 932 fire disasters and other emergencies in Lagos State between January 1st, 2014 and March 31st, 2015.

Also within the period under review, N23.02 billion worth of property were destroyed, while N138.12 billion properties were recovered from fire disasters recorded in the state.

Speaking further on the issue of council polls, Kuye explained: “I cannot say when the election will be conducted. You will agree with me that the total number of Permanent Voters’ Cards, PVCs, for the state has not been released.

“We still have some outstanding left with INEC. There is no way the state electoral commission; LASIEC can conduct any election without having the appropriate voters register for the state. And this register is still in the custody of INEC, it has not been released to the state.

“The moment it is released to the Lagos State Government, then we can start planning about when the local

Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, Mr. Oyinlomo Danmole, disclosed these in Alausa, Ikeja, while rendering the account of activities by the ministry in the last one year.

Danmole explained that out of the 157 persons recovered dead, 137 were recorded in year 2014, while 20 persons died between January 1st and March 31st, 2015 as against 253 persons rescued from fire disaster in the year under review.

The commissioner noted that in

2011, 79 died, 2012, 215 died and in 2013; 99 died in fire disasters saying,”This brings the cumulative lives lost in the fire disasters recorded in four years and three months (January 1st, 2011 and March 31st, 2015) to 550 victims.”

He noted that a total of 1, 932 emergency calls which include; fire disaster calls, were received and responded to by the State Fire Service in the last 15 months, adding “many of which were avoidable.”

Chairman in charge of Southwest, Chief Pius Akinyelure faulted Olanusi’s impeachment in a statement he issued in Lagos, noting that the decision of the state assembly would not stand.

Akinyelure described the impeachment process as a mockery of constitutional order, which he said, Governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko and all members of the State House of Assembly were sworn to uphold.

He lamented that despite the decision of a High Court sitting in Akure that all parties should maintain status quo until substantive suit is determined, the legislative arm of the state went ahead to impeach the deputy governor.

Akinyelure said the House of Assembly committed three different infractions to the 1999 Constitution in the process of the deputy governor, who had travelled out of the country for medical check-up before impeachment procedures started.

government elections will hold.”

Kuye, however, called on the incoming members of the National Assembly on the need to give the creation of the LCDAs needed recognition without any further delay or politicking.

Don tasks African leaders on corruption

By Abdulwahab Abdulah

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AGOS—A former Dean, Faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Professor Ademola Popoola has called on African countries not to only sign the United Nation’s convention on corruption, but put in place robust integrity systems that provide checks and balances on those in power.

Beside, the law teacher advocated that decision and policy makers should possess good knowledge of international law to enable them resolve interstate disputes.

According to him, this will enable the policy makers to make reasonable judgement as well as building an international order on the basis of the rule of law.

Delivering the 2015 Founders Day Lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) at the University of Lagos campus, Professor Popoola, said for any society to embrace the rule of law and build international order it must ensure that nothing but the law form the fulcrum of such society.

The theme of the 2015 Founders’ Day Lecture was: “Africa and International Law in the 21st Century: Something Old and Something New”.

Responding to questions on the topic, Popoola said African countries should depart from mere signing into law the United Nation’s convention on corruption, but ensure that there are possible checks that can curb corruption in the polity.

He added that there is lesson to be learnt for Africans where corruption has become endemic, adding that the people must be ready to pay high price for failing to combat corruption.

Welcoming the guests and participants to the programme, the institute director general, Professor Adedeji Adekunle, acknowledged the close relationship between the institute and the guest lecturer.

He said the vision of the founding fathers of the NIALS was to develop an institute which would metamorphose into a world class institution and the nucleus of legal scholarship in Africa.

Adekunle disclosed that the vision has been instutionalised through statute, which has been nurtured over the years by staff and management of the Institute.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015—11

Ondo Deputy Gov Olanusi impeached, replaced with Oluboyo

By Dayo Johnson

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KURE—ONDO State deputy governor, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, was yesterday impeached by the House of Assembly just as a serving Commissioner, Alhaji Olugbenga Lasisi Oluboyo, was nominated and sworn-in as his replacement.

The new deputy governor hails from Ikare, Akoko North East and was the Agriculture Commissioner before his elevation.

Twenty two lawmakers at plenary supported the impeachment of the deputy governor after the seven-man probe panel inaugurated by the Chief Judge of the state submitted its report to the House.

Two other members who have defected to the opposition All Progressives Party, APC, Hon Gbenga Edema, representing Ilaje 1 and Hon Fola Vincent Ose, were absent at the plenary.

In a swift reaction, the state APC Chairman, Hon Isaac Kekemeke, described the impeachment as a show of shame, adding that the party would challenge the lawfulness of the action in court.

Earlier, the seven-member probe panel headed by Mr Olatunji Stanley Adeniyan, while presenting its report, said that the deputy governor was culpable in all the seven allegations of gross misconduct levelled against him.

Adeniyan declared: “Having found all the seven allegations established against Alhaji Ali Olanusi, the deputy governor of Ondo State, and placing reliance on the meaning of gross misconduct as defined in section 188 (11) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, we hereby find that the allegation of gross misconduct has been proved against Alhaji Ali Olanusi, the holder of the office of the deputy governor of Ondo State of Nigeria."

Following the submission of the report, the Majority Leader of the House, Hon Ifedayo Akinsoyinu, from Ondo West, moved the motion for the consideration of the report and it was seconded by Hon Olatunji Dairo from Owo 11.

After considering the report and relying on the conclusion of the probe panel that the deputy governor was culpable, Hon Akinsoyinu moved the motion for his impeachment and was seconded by Hon Aladetan Oyebo from Ilaje 11.

Aladetan said, based on the recommendation of the probe panel that indicted the deputy governor; “ I am seconding the motion that he be impeached and removed from office forever.”

The Speaker, Rt Hon Jumoke Akindele, therefore, called for a voice vote and the 22 lawmakers present supported the impeachment of the deputy governor.

Rt Hon Akindele ruled that since the deputy governor had been found culpable of all the seven allegations of gross misconduct levelled against him, he stood impeached and removed from office.

She said that the lawmakers had spoken with one voice which was beyond 2/3 majority. She added that 22 members supported Olanusi's impeachment.

The Speaker directed that all government property in the custody of the deputy governor be returned with immediate effect to the Permanent Secretary in the office of the deputy governor.

“The Permanent Secretary in the deputy governor's office is

empowered to retrieve all the property by all lawful means," he said.

The House reconvened some hours later to consider a letter from the state governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, on the nomination of a replacement for the impeached deputy governor to avoid a vacum.

After the letter was read by the Clerk of the House, the Speaker directed the House Committee on Selection to interface with the nominee.

The committee, led by the Deputy Speaker, Hon Emiola Dare, later met with the nominee for about 45 minutes and reported to the plenary that the

nominee was fit mentally and physically to occupy the position.

Emiola added that Oluboyo was academically qualified and should be confirmed by the Assembly.

The speaker said that following the recommendation of the selection Committee the nominee is hereby confirmed and ratified as the deputy governor of the state after being properly and appropriately screened.

Speaking while appearing before the House, Oluboyo promised to give his total and unalloyed loyalty to the governor adding that he would not disappoint the people of the state for the confidence reposed in him.

INAUGURATION: From left: Chief Judge of Ondo State, Hon Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi; Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko; new Deputy Governor, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo and his wife, Alhaja Fatimat, after the inauguration of the new deputy governor, at the Governor's Office, in Akure, yesterday.

Ekiti APC lawmakers chide Babatope over comment

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HE 19 All Progressives Congress, APC, lawmakers in Ekiti State House of Assembly have advised a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain, Ebenezer Babatope, to take a rest after the crushing defeat his party suffered from APC in both his state and the federal level, to enable him contribute positively to the growth of democracy in Nigeria.

They told him to take his heart away from the trauma of his new status to avoid a psychological torture inherent in his hate campaign against APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

They also counselled him to be discrete in his utterances on the illegalities by Governor Ayodele Fayose lest he be labelled a leader with scant sense of good judgment.

Reacting to Babatope’s Monday interview in a national daily (not

Vanguard) where he called them charlatans, the lawmakers, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media to Speaker Adewale Omirin, Wole Olujobi, regretted that at the age of 80, Babatope could sit in court of jealousy running down junior fellows and supporting daily re-writing the nation’s Constitution to the chagrin of the world.

Slamming the PDP leader for calling them charlatans, the lawmakers questioned his integrity as a top Nigerian in crisis management, saying it was regrettable that a supposed statesman could succumb to partisan emotions while his country crumbled under the weight of illegal acts of brigands in government.

They also questioned his integrity in supporting the impeachment of Ondo State Deputy Governor, Ali Olanusi, over trumped-up minor

charges while warning against the impeachment of Governor Fayose.

Amosun signs $3.2 billion light rail contract

By Daud Olatunji

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B E O K U TA — OGUN State Government yesterday, signed a $3.2 billion light rail project contract with China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) for the intercity and intracity rail network in the state.

The state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, while signing the contract at his office, in OkeMosan, Abeokuta, in the presence of consul General, the Peoples Republic of China, Kan Liu, in Lagos, said the project would cover cities such as Abeokuta, Sagamu, Ijebu Ode, IdiIroko among others.

According to Amosun, when completed, the project will take pressure off the roads and open up the cities for further development.

The governor said that within the next three years, the Abeokuta intracity project would have taken shape.

He added that the contractors would be encouraged to ensure that feasible development of the project is witnessed by the time Ogun State celebrates its 40th anniversary next year.

The project has two phases. One is inter-city which will cut across all the cities in the state, while the other phase will be for Abeokuta intracity light rail.

Governor Amosun however, assured that all ongoing roads and bridge projects in the state would be completed with the laying of the final asphalt, before the commencement of new projects.

12—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

PDP drags Amaechi, others to court over Commission of Inquiry on killings

By Jimitota Onoyume

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ORT HARCOURT— THE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers State has dragged the state governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi and others before a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, praying the court to declare as unconstitutional, the recently constituted Commission of Inquiry into politically motivated killings in the state.

The party is also asking the court to declare that by virtue of the provisions of section 214 of the 1999 constitution, as amended, and section 4 of the Police Act, the power to investigate allegations of crime, including inquiring into politically motivated killings in Rivers State, is vested in the Police Respondents in the suit are the Chairman of the commission, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, Governor Amaechi, the state Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police in the state and members of the panel.

The party is further asking the court to restrain the commission or its members from investigating any alleged politically motivated killings, arguing that it was the responsibility of the Police to do so.

Legal Adviser to the party, Mr Benjamin Eke, in the suit, is further contending that Prof.

Odinkalu was not fit to serve as chairman of the panel because he already had foreknowledge of the subject matter of the purported inquiry having reportedly heard allegations and counter allegations of the various parties in the state relating to political violence and killings in his capacity as Chairman of the

National Human Rights Commission.

“He cannot come to the task of presiding as Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry in this case with neutrality and impartiality necessary as an arbiter,” he argued.

According to Eke, Sir Samuel Egbe, a member of the panel, is

not fit to be a member of the commission because he was allegedly appointed Permanent Secretary in the state civil service by Governor Amaechi.

It will be recalled that the panel constituted by Governor Amaechi to look into politically related killings in the state is expected to commence sitting next week.

VISIT: From left: Dr Eugene Juwah, Executive Vice Chairman,Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Rear Admiral Patrick Agholor, Commandant, National Defence College,Abuja, during a courtesy visit to the Executive Vice Chairman NCC, in Abuja.

ASSEMBLY POLLS: Bayelsa LP candidate petitions IG, NHRC

By Samuel Oyadongha

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ENAGOA—THE Labour Party, LP, candidate in the just-concluded House of Assembly election in Bayelsa State, Joseph Ogbe, has dragged

the state Deputy Governor, Rear Admiral John Gboribiogha-Jonah (rtd) before the Inspector-General of Police, IG, and the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, over alleged violence and rigging which he alleged

characterized the Assembly election in Nembe Constituency 1.

In two separate petitions, Ogbe alleged that he was threatened by thugs, and rescued by operatives of the Department of

Five killed in Edo cult clash

By Gabriel Enogholase

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ENIN—A violent clash between rival cult groups in Benin City, Edo State, has left no fewer than five persons dead.

It was learned that the cult war allegedly between members of Eiye confraternity and Manfight group around Second East Circular area of the state capital, claimed five lives.

Vanguard gathered that trouble started, weekend, for the cult groups, which allegedly, provided security cover to some politicians after a disagreement at a polling centre in Benin City during the March 11, 2015 state House of Assembly election in the state.

A member of Manfight group

was said to have been beaten and hacked to death during the incident.

The incident spread to other parts of the city as members of the group (Manfight) vowed to avenge the death of their member.

When contacted, the state police spokesman, Mr Stephen Onwochei, said he was yet to be briefed, promising that he would get in touch with the Divisional Police Officer of the area for details.

Wife of ex-UNIBEN VC emerges new Registrar

By Simon Ebegbulem

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ENIN—THE Governing Council of the University of Benin, UNIBEN, has appointed the wife of the immediate past Vice Chancellor of the University, Mrs Otasowie Oshodin, as the new Registrar of the university.

Vanguard gathered that Mrs Oshodin ought to have been

appointed Registrar during the tenure of her husband Prof.

Osayuki Oshodin, but her appointment was stepped down in order not to have a husband and wife as VC and Registrar of the university at the same time.

Her appointment will take effect from May 7, 2015, when the tenure of the incumbent Registrar, Dr G.O.Ogboghodo must have expired.

State Services, DSS, during the election, and urged the IG and the Human Rights Commission to investigate the deputy governor for allegedly instigating violence in the area.

He alleged that the deputy governor sponsored a candidate he wanted to win at all cost.

In the petition in Yenagoa, Ogbe alleged that the violence was aimed at disenfranchising the people of the area.

According to him, voters ran for their lives, while those who insisted on carrying out their civic duties were brutalized.

Ogbe further alleged that he had received death threats since the election ended, and urged the police boss to urgently investigate the matter.

He said: “I write to inform you of the threat to my life on April 11, 2015, the day the House of Assembly election was held across the country. The incident occurred in Nembe Constituency 1, which seat to the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, I contested under the platform of the Labour Party, LP. The threat came because of my resolve to contest the seat, which did not go down well with some very powerful persons in government.”

Urhobo College old students plan for school’s future

By Jacob Ajom

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EMBERS of Urhobo College Old Students Association, UCOSA, have pledged their commitment to the overall transformation of the school with the aim of restoring its old glory.

National President of the association, Admiral John Kpokpogri (rtd), in his address at the annual general meeting in the palace of the Ovie of Umiaghwa, Abraka Kingdom in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, said it had been challenging and daunting running the association. He added that despite the challenges, on assumption of office, his executive articulated short and long term plans.

He noted that the short term plan was to draw the attention of all stakeholders to the plight of the school and how to sustain its reputation, while the long term vision is the development of the school, its infrastructure and in addition, to register UCOSA as a body with the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC .

Ademola for burial

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M O ’ B A Olukayode Ademola, a retired Chief Technical Officer of FRCN, is dead, aged 75.

Wake keep will hold on April 29, at St. Dominic Catholic Church, 356, Herbert Macaulay Street, Yaba, Lagos.

Funeral service will hold on April 30, at the same venue, followed by interment at Atan Cemetry.

He is survived by children and grandchildren.

Late Omo'ba Ademola

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015—13

KOLO CREEK OIL SPILL: ERA calls for fresh Joint investigation Visit

By Samuel Oyadongha

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E N A G O A — ENVIRONMENTAL Rights Action/Friends of Earth Nigeria, ERA/FoEN, has called for a fresh Joint Investigative Visit, JIV, of the Kolo Creek manifold spill site in Otuasega community in Bayelsa State.

ERA/FoEN, an environmental rights group, in its field report on the spill incident in Yenagoa, said that the JIV did not document all the impacted sites around the facility.

Though Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, in a statement said the JIV report blamed the spill on sabotage, ERA/FoEN in its report by Mr Alagoa Morris, Head of Field Operation in Bayelsa, said several plantain and banana plantations, fish ponds and farmlands damaged by the spill were not captured in the JIV report.

He said: “There is the urgent need for all stakeholders to return to the impacted environment to re-appraise and re-document the JIV Report, especially as it relates to volume of spilt crude, spread and impacts.

“ERA is calling for a fresh JIV. The regulatory agencies, especially the Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment, should take all necessary steps to reinvestigate this matter which is of common communal interest.

“In line with the 'polluter pays principle', Shell should be prepared to compensate victims of this major spill. The time oil companies hiding under the sabotage clause to escape liability is over.

“This should be legally challenged as Shell ought to have a CCTV within the manifold environment to monitor movements around the facility.”

SPDC, in a statement by its Spokesman, Joseph Obari, had said that the leak within the Kolo Creek oil field in Ogbia council, Bayelsa State, discharged 27 barrels of Shell’s crude blend into the environment on April 15, 2015.

ERA/FoEN meanwhile, urged victims of the spill in Otuasega community to maintain a peaceful disposition while

seeking redress from Shell.

Reacting to the development, Mr Iniruo Wills, Bayelsa State Commissioner for Environment, said that the state government would verify the reported exclusion of impacted sites.

He said: “We have to look into the information and verify it and if it is true that the impacted area was larger than what was originally captured, we shall find a way of addressing these concerns."

COMMISSIONING: From left: Mr. Ekemini Amos, Executive Director, Thompson & Grace Investment Ltd; Dr. Isaac Thompson Amos, President/Managing Director, Thompson & Grace Investment Ltd, Dr. Ernest Nwapa, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, and Mr. C.P. Okorie, GM Monitoring, NCDMB, at the commissioning of T&GIL facilities in Port Harcourt.

Group seeks self determination for S-South, S-East

By Jimitota Onoyume

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ORT HARCOURT—A group of people of the South-East and South-South, under the aegis of Lower Niger Congress, has adopted a motion for the two regions to hold a referendum to determine if they will want to remain in the Nigerian federation.

Speaking yesterday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at a forum of the body, former Biafran warlord, Col Joe Achuzia (rtd) and Niger Delta activist, Miss Ann-Kio Briggs, noted that the regions were being marginalised in the nation’s federalism.

“There is great hope ahead for us. Our agitation has never been that we want to produce the president, but to own our resources. What they meant for evil, God has turned it into good. They would not have pushed Dr Goodluck Jonathan out if they knew that the South-Easterners and SouthSoutherners would unite and call for that thing we have always wanted since amalgamation.

“Nigeria is oppressive in outlook and repressive in word. I do not believe that God created Nigeria, because Nigeria is confused. We are too educated to be oppressed.

We are not a conquered people. They have done us a great favour by pushing Jonathan out.”

Achuzia who chaired the event, lamented what he called the way the major tribes had continued to deny the regions the right to self determination.

“The worst is the divisive way they carry out the programme of denying us the right to self-determination.

Everybody should adhere strictly to what we have discussed here.

“The Lower Niger Congress, is a body campaigning for the restoration of the 1885 map of the South-East and SouthSouth, which recognises the right of the people to own their land and resources,” he said.

LAND ALLOCATION: Documentary evidence shocks Delta Assembly

By Festus Ahon

A

SABA—DELTA State House of Assembly ad-hoc committee investigating lands allocation in the state in the last four years, was yesterday shocked after the state Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Urban Development, Mr Missan Ukubeyinje, came up with documentary evidence of lands allocated by the ministry in the core area of Asaba.

Chairman of the committee, Mr Sam Obi, queried why some categories of persons were allotted more than two plots in a situation where millions of Deltans applied.

“The committee wants to know the yardstick used in allocating two, three and four plots of land to some persons, even with many requests on the table,” he added.

Ukubeyinje told the committee that it was only his predecessor, Mr Patrick Ferife, that could explain the criteria used in the allocation of the lands in question, explaining that the lands were allocated by his predecessor who is now in the Directorate of Special Infrastructure.

He said it was only proper and fair for the committee to wait for his predecessor to give further insight into the matter. He,

however, allayed fears that due process was not followed in the allocation of the said lands.

Ukubeyinje said that on assumption of office, he met some issues bordering on land allocation in the state, which he said they were trying to resolve before he was invited by the probe panel.

Asked to provide further information on the matter, the acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Survey and Urban Development, Mr Samuel Dieteke said that he was seeing the documentary evidence for the first time, adding that he resumed as acting Permanent Secretary in November last year.

Oil, gas servicing firm unveils multimillion naira facilities

A

oil and gas servicing company, Thompson & Grace Investment Limited, T&GIL, has unveiled its multi-million naira engineering services facilities before the business communities in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Commissioning the facilities at Km 16 PortHarcourt-Aba Expressway, Executive Secretary of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, Dr Ernest Nwapa, applauded the vision of the indigenous company, for providing services in machining and mechanical maintenance, not only in oil and gas, but also in other sectors of the economy such as aviation, marine and agriculture.

The engineering facilities house newly installed CNC multi-functional turningboring milling machines for the production of complex higher precision machine parts, mega-cranes and other lifting and fabrication equipment and a standard training centre.

Nwapa described the engineering facilities as “a major addition to Nigeria’s capacity for manufacturing equipment.

“As a board, we will ensure that these facilities and others being set up are put to use and sustained for the benefit of Nigerians and the Nigerian economy.”

Nwapa noted that government is a continuum, and pledged that the Board of NCDMB will “continue to create enabling environment for companies like T&GIL to thrive. "With the number of equipment you have here, Thompson & Grace Investment has surpassed the expectations of the Nigerian Content Act.” Earlier in his address, President/Managing Director of Thompson & Grace Investment Limited, Dr. Isaac Amos, said that the company which is 100 percent Nigerian is an engineering, procurement, construction and installation, EPCI, contractor in the oil and gas sector.

"T&GIL acquired WFL M120 machine which is the first of its kind in Sub Saharan Africa to support the company’s innovative strategies,” he said.

N

14—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

HATE CAMPAIGN: Buhari

fights back, bars AIT from covering activities .We're sorting out professional, ethical issues with them —Media Aide

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

A

B U J A — PRESIDENTELECT, General Mohammadu Buhari may have just started a revenge mission on the African Independent Television, AIT when, yesterday, the security men attached to him barred the station’s correspondent, Tinabeso Bebei from covering Buhari’s functions.

Vanguard gathered that the directive was discreetly given to the correspondent by an official at the Defence House where the crew had gone to cover the visit of Cuban ambassador to Buhari.

It was learned that Buhari’s family had raised security issues which

prompted the ban.

Confirming the issue, Buhari’s media aide, Mallam Garba Shehu said that such warning was given and may be revoked when some security and ethical issues were resolved with the station.

He said: “AIT has been asked to stay aside based on security and family concerns. In addition, Buhari has decided that they will have to resolve some issues relating to issues of standard and ethics.

“We will be talking with them to try and resolve the matter, but for now the station has been asked to stay aside, because like I said there are some family and security concerns.

They have been asked to step down their coverage

until we resolve the matter with them on ethics and standards.”

When asked whether he should be quoted, Shehu said, “yes you can quote me that I said we have asked them to step aside and that we are resolving the issues of ethics and standards with them.”

He, however, stated that the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, was not involved in the ban, saying the crew was at liberty to attend any official engagements of the President-elect.

Meanwhile, there were feelings that Buhari’s ban of AIT came against the background of the hate documentaries and campaign messages played on the station’s network during the polls.

MALARIA: End in sight as WHO sets to approve 1st human vaccine

By Sola Ogundipe & Gabriel Olawale

T

HE END to malaria infection is in sight as the first malaria vaccine candidate to reach phase-3 of clinical testing, and found to partially protect children against the disease up to four years after vaccination, is set to be available by October this year, scientists have reported.

Giving the hint about this development yesterday, Brian Greenwood, corresponding author and Professor of Clinical Tropical Medicine at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the UK, explained that results of the tests suggested that the vaccine candidate known as RTS, S/AS01 could prevent a substantial number of cases of clinical malaria, especially in areas of high transmission.

Greenwood noted that the European Medicines Agency, EMA, will "assess the quality, safety, and efficacy of the vaccine based on these final data. There is currently no licensed vaccine against malaria anywhere in the world.”

If the EMA gives a favourable opinion, the World Health Organisation could recommend the use of RTS,S/AS01 as early as October this year. If licensed, RTS,S/ AS01 would be the first licensed human vaccine against a parasitic disease,” Greenwood added.

The findings, published in the journal, The Lancet, revealed that vaccine efficacy against clinical and severe malaria was better in children than in young infants, but waned over time in both groups.

However, protection was prolonged by a booster dose, increasing the average number of cases prevented in both children

and young infants.

Further, Greenwood argued that despite the falling efficacy over time, there is still a clear benefit from RTS,S/AS01.

“An average of 1,363 cases of clinical malaria were prevented over four years of follow-up for every 1,000 children vaccinated, and 1,774 cases in those who also received a booster shot. Over three years of follow-up, an average 558 cases were averted for every 1,000 infants vaccinated, and 983 cases in those also given a booster dose.

“Given that there were an estimated 198 million malaria cases in 2013, this level of efficacy potentially translates into millions of cases of malaria in children being prevented,” he said.

The RTS,S/AS01 vaccine was developed for use in sub-Saharan Africa where malaria still kills around 1,300 children every day. The phase-3 randomised trial enrolled 15,459 young infants (aged six to 12 weeks at first vaccination) and children (five to 17 months at first vaccination) from 11 sites across seven sub-Saharan African countries (Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and United Republic of Tanzania) with varying levels of malaria transmission.

In 2014, initial phase-3 results at 18 months showed vaccine efficacy of about 46 per cent against clinical malaria in children and around 27 per cent among young infants.

In this study, members of the RTS, S/ AS01 Clinical Trials Partnership followed up the infants and children for a further 20 to 30 months, respectively, and assessed the impact of a fourth booster dose.

Participants were each vaccinated three times with RTS,S/AS01 with or without a booster dose 18 months later, or given four doses of a comparator vaccine (control group).

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 — 15

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16—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

Swiss govt ready to help Nigeria reclaim Abacha $370m in Luxembourg —Ambassador

Again, cholera claims 4 in Ebonyi

By Peter Okutu

A

BAKALIKI—SINCE the outbreak of cholera in Ebonyi State last month, statistics of victims resulting from the disease

have continued to rise in different communities across the state.

Four persons (names withheld) were last weekend reported to have again died at Okposhi and Ukwagba Ngbo in Ohaukwu local

government areas of the state from the deadly disease.

Vanguard investigation revealed that one of the victims was an apprentice with a tailoring outfit and that the victims died

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

A

BUJA—SWISS Ambassador to Nigeria, Hans Rodulf Hodel, Monday, revealed that a new loot of $370 million traced to the former Military Head of State, late Sani Abacha has been discovered in Luxembourg, saying that his country would be eager to help Nigeria reclaim the money if the authorities make a formal request for it.

Hodel also said that Swiss government has strengthened the country ’s monetary policies to discourage deposits of ill-gotten money from foreign countries in its banks.

The ambassador spoke to Journalists yesterday when he paid a congratulatory visit to Nigeria’s president-elect, General Mohammadu Buhari in Abuja.

He added that Swiss laws would help Nigeria and other countries fight corruption.

He said, “This is a long standing issue. Our laws are there to help all countries which are fighting corruption. We will help this government.

If you remember, many years ago we gave back the Abacha money to Nigeria. The situation in Switzerland has changed.

The policy is no longer the same. In the past, people came to deposit money in Switzerland without too much controversy.

“Now, it is not possible to deposit money in Switzerland because of legal origin. Before the bank has to prove that the money is illegal. But now, before you deposit money in Swiss bank, you have to prove that you have earned that money legally.

“If you are a wealthy businessman, you have money in billions legally, but if, for example as a Journalist, you come to Switzerland with two million dollars and say you earned it because you did a very good job, nobody will believe you."

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CONGRATULATION: From left, Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano congratulates three newly ordained bishops; Bishop of Ijesha North, Venerable Isaac Oluyamo; Bishop of Niger West, Venerable Nwaohalama Ekwe, and Bishop of Gwagwalada, Venerable Moses Bukpe-Tabwaye, after their consecration, at All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha.

because due to lack of knowledge of symptoms of the disease.

Members of the community who spoke to Vanguard, blamed the Public Health and Disease Control Department of the State Ministry of Health for its inability to sufficiently enlighten the rural dwellers of the nature of the disease.

Contacted, the Director of Public Health in the state Ministry of Health, Dr. Chris Achi, who expressed shock and disappointment over the level of death resulting from the outbreak, advised rural dwellers not to keep any person suspected to be ill at home but to rush to the hospital as quickly as possible.

Achi regretted that despite warnings from the state Ministry of Health concerning the disease, most rural dwellers were still bent on doing only what was on their minds.

He warned the people of the state to desist from travelling to areas identified by the Ministry as cholera endemic zones to avoid falling victims to the deadly disease.

FG names Abuja streets after Jonathan, Sambo, Muazu, Atiku, Dangote, others

By Henry Umoru

A

BUJA—IN what appeared as parting gifts ahead of the official handover date of May 29 to another government, the Federal Government, yesterday, named the yet to be commissioned Inner Southern Expressway which dissects Abuja city centre after President Goodluck Jonathan.

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, Senator Bala Mohammed disclosed that the FCT Administration has honoured eminent Nigerians and other Africans by naming major streets in Asokoro Extension, Guzape, Wupa, Wuye and Maitama Extension districts as well as expressways and roads after them.

According to him, a major road in Wuye district was named after Vice President Namadi Sambo, and the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Adamu Muazu. Bala Mohammed also named a street after himself.

While the yet to be commissioned Inner Southern Expressway which dissects Abuja city centre was named after President Jonathan, the longest Wuye district boulevard express road measuring 1,730 metres was named after former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Other beneficiaries were

former Senate President, late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, former Speaker of House of Representatives and Katsina State Governor-elect, Hon. Aminu Bello Masari, former Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Dahiru Musdapha, business moguls, Femi

Otedola and Aliko Dangote.

Other prominent personalities also honoured by naming streets after them in Asokoro district extension include former Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Anan, South African anti-Apartheid

activist, late Walter Sisulu, former President of Sudan, Gaafar al-Nimeiry, former Minister of State for FCT, late Prof. Miriam Ikejiani-Clark, former Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, and 16 others.

Police arrest 12 suspected murderers of vigilante operative in Onitsha

By Nwabueze Okonkwo

O

NITSHA—TWELVE persons have been arrested by the police at Okpoko, near Onitsha, Anambra State, for their alleged involvement in killing a vigilante operative in the area.

Their arrests, according to sources, followed an investigations carried out by police detectives barely 24 hours after the vigilante operative was hacked to death with clubs and machetes by some hoodlums suspected to have formed the habit of smoking Indian hemp (marijuana) at a particular joint around Ogbuagu area of Okpoko layout.

According to the source, the suspects have had a bitter confrontation with the victim who was not comfortable with their wayward attitude in the

area.

The source hinted that the victim was passing along the marijuana joint when some of the suspects who had already laid ambush, identified him and alerted other members of the group who were armed with clubs and machetes.

It was learned that as soon as they saw him pass by, they allegedly pounced on him and dealt a deadly blow on him until he became unconscious.

However, on suspecting that the victim had become unconscious and unable to speak, the hoodlums abandoned him half-dead and allegedly took to their heels.

Unknown to them that a report had been lodged at the police station to that effect, some of the hoodlums identified by some residents as accomplices in the crime, disappeared.

However, luck ran out on

them when some policemen attached to Okpoko Police Station swung into action and arrested some of the suspects in various parts of the suburb, while one of the suspects reportedly living with his mother was said to have vacated their premises the previous day before the police visited his home.

When Vanguard visited Okpoko Police Station, mother of one of the arrested suspects was seen weeping, rolling on the floor and urging a police patrol vehicle to crush her, claiming that her son was innocent of the alleged crime..

The Divisional Police Officer, DPO of the station, Mr. Emeka Ugwu (CSP), who simply confirmed the arrest, declined further comments.

He said the suspects had been transferred to the state Criminal Investigations Department, CID, Awka, for further investigations.

Vanguard, TUESDAY TUESDAY,, APRIL 28, 2015 — 17

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18 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 WE expect the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, should know the importance of its business of managing airports. Why is it unconcerned over incidents that make airports unavailable for use because either its workers are on strike, or they are taking the laws into their hands by stopping airlines from operating?

Last Thursday, FAAN disrupted Arik’s flight operations at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. FAAN denied the airline’s staff access to their duty posts. The airline could not board its passengers for departures out of Abuja. Stranded passengers were caught in the midst of a mindless bickering over debts that should have been resolved in a more civilised manner.

Arik maintains that it was not owing FAAN. “Arik Air insists that it does not owe FAAN any money since the agency’s charg-

FAAN Should Be Serious es are paid in advance. This has been the practice for over two years when all the aviation agencies introduced pay-as-you-go for their services. The bogus debt claim by FAAN is therefore unacceptable to Arik Air,” its spokesperson Banji Ola said.

FAAN claims Arik has not been paying its obligations to aviation agencies. It said the money runs into “N1 billions”. Arik Air said it paid FAAN about N4 billion in 2014 as follows: “In January, 2014, Arik paid N335,562,212.50; paid N318,575,002.50 in Feb; N327,359,180 in March;

N370,417,622.50 in April; N349,471,655 in June; N315,530,737.50 in July; N344,486,305 in Sept; and N447,232,602.50 in December.”

Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, according to Arik had intervened in the lingering debt issue. He directed that a firm of auditors be engaged to reconcile the books. According to Arik, the process was on when FAAN struck again. Who would explain these to the passengers who bore the brunt of the clamp down? What compensations are

available to Arik, if at the end of the day it was not owing? Could FAAN had used another method in recovering the debt without disruption of flights?

FAAN’s response indicated its loose operations and the unimportance it attaches to its decisions. Henrientta Yakubu, its spokesperson, said it was FAAN workers’ union that disrupted Arik’s flights over the N1 billion debt the airline owes FAAN. Its unimaginable that FAAN workers, who should be busy with various aspects of airport safety and services were now involved in debt recovery. Were they acting on their behalf? Was FAAN unaware of their activities until the flights were disrupted? Who oversaw their regular duties during the interlude?

Were the workers the ones who lifted the siege on Arik? We must find ways, better ways of doing things. If Arik is owing, it should pay, we guess, to FAAN, and not to the workers’ union.

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OPINION Off-loading

the

By Eric Teniola

U

NTIL 1999, the Presidential fleet was under the control and supervision of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

Before 1999, senior air force officers in their grey upon blue well ironed uniforms were seen on the eleventh floor of Federal Secretariat which was then the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, hanging around.

But in June 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo transferred the fleet to be part of the schedule of the Chief of Staff to the President.

The argument was that since the Chief of Staff was the head of the staff attached to the President and since he was aware of the hourly movement of the President, he was in a better position to control the fleet adequately. I understand that the fleet is now under Col. Sabo Dasuki (rtd.) the National security adviser whose loyalty and patriotism are never in doubt. Before 1999 the fleet was almost dormant for lack of use.

General Ibrahim Babangida (72) hardly travels outside the country except to visit some states and Chief Earnest Oladeinde Adegunle Shonekan (79) whose tenure lasted less than 100days made use of the fleet only once when he attended the Commonwealth conference outside Nigeria. The second time he used the fleet

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presidential was when he was overthrown and brought down to Lagos in company of Chief Dapo Sarumi.

General Sani Abacha hardly travelled outside Abuja. In fact, during his era, Pilots attached to the Presidential Fleet complained of under utilisation, raising fears that they might lose their licenses for not flying enough. In 1997, he made only five trips outside Abuja, in 1998, he made three trips, the fourth would have taken him to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso on June 8, 1998 for the African Union Conference, the very day he died.

General Abdusalam Abubakar who spent less than eleven months in office was too busy with his transition programme that he hardly travelled. He made four trips during his era, two to Niger Delta to inspect the oil spillage in that area.

The Fleet has one of the largest Aircrafts in the world in comparison to other countries

fleet As for President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Jagunmolu of Egbaland, he was a flying President. Even till date, when the Presidential fleet is outside his control, he is still flying around the world. He loves to fly. That is the way he is. And the Pilots attached to the Presidential Fleet loved him for that.

The Presidential fleet still remains today the most important posting in the Nigerian Air force. For example, the present Chief of Defence Staff, Marshall Alex Sabundu Badeh was a product of the Presidential fleet, as he flew former VicePresident Atiku Abubakar between 1999 and 2007 severally.

Even the present Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Nunayun Amosu was a product of the Nigeria Presidential Air fleet too. The Fleet has one of the largest Aircrafts in the world in comparison to other countries.

The British Prime Minister has no Presidential Aircraft. Members of the British Government charters either British Airways or Virgin Atlantic most times.

The government of Tunisia operates a Boeing 737 BBJ. An Airbus A340-500 has also been purchased and VIP configured, but was never used for travel and has been stored since 2011 revolution that ousted former dictator Ben Ali. The Tunisian government is reportedly trying to sell both aircraft.

The government of Algeria operates an Airbus A340-500.

The Chief Executive of Hong Kong travels on commercial aircraft, usually operated by Cathay Pacific. He travels on helicopters operated by the Government Flying Service.

The Ivorian government uses a Gulf IV as a VIP aircraft. Further they also use a government Boeing 727-200WGL. The State of Israel does not currently possess a specific jet for use of its Head of State. Wherever the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flies long distances (out of the country), the Government leases an airliner from the state airline El Al. Meanwhile, the President Reuvin Rivlin and other high ranking dignitaries are relegated to El Al first class commercial service. As of 2014, the Knesset is considering the purchase of such an airplane, dubbed “Israeli Air Force One” Kenya’s President has a Fokker 70 for use as the presidential jet. Fokker executive plane was purchased at a cost of $50 million. The 70-seater jet was reconfigured into telecommunication facilities. Prior to the purchase of the Fokker, the Kenya President primarily used Airways for his international travel.

The Saudi Arabian Royal Flight operates a Boeing 747-300 and a Boeing 747-400 for use by the King of Saudi Arabia.

Continues tomorrow on pg 18 *Mr.Teniola, a former director at the presidency, wrote from Lagos.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015— —19

Delta guber: Great Ogboru's debacle

By Sunny Ikhioya

I

WAS in Warri, Delta state, during the ember months of 2014 and observed the enthusiasm shown by the folks in the streets for the candidacy of Chief Great Ogboru. As a result, I sent a text message to my friend Sir Richard Odibo, a top promoter of Ogboru. The content of the text read thus: “Your candidate seem to have the popularity but will you be able to defend your vote?”. The election has now come and gone, all that transpired are now stories for the gods – apology to musician Olamide.

The story of governorship elections in Delta state has always been one of the perceived winner and the actual winner. Ask the man on the street, he will tell you Great Ogboru won but, each time INEC declares another party's candidate as winner and every time, Ogboru heads to court and each time the court turns down his prayers.

Will this year be different?

He has already given indication to that effect, according to reports coming from his camp, we have to wait and see what happens. Some have said that Ogboru is not destined to be governor of Delta state after so many attempts but with Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as president, they have to do a rethink. The age difference

between Buhari and Ogboru cannot be less than fifteen years, so, if he still wants to try after this attempt, he is free to do so. After all, Abraham Lincoln clinched the most coveted prize after so many failed attempts. Long suffering is indeed a virtue when faith is applied. I hope such will be the case of Great Ogboru.

Like Buhari, the opportunity to clinch the Delta state governorship seat was there begging, at no time has the PDP been so messed up. At every level, there was confusion. The governor's ambition to be a senator was truncated and his supporters were aggrieved. His nominee as the party's flag bearer was turned down. There were crises at the ward, senatorial and state levels of the party.

So bad was the situation that even the state chairman was involved in a public fisticuff with a rival contestant. Party faithful – both big and small left the party in droves.

Disloyalty became the name of the game for those who remained.

So, how did Ogboru miss this opportunity? If what we heard from INEC about the 2015 elections is anything to go by, I posit then that if there were no re-alignment of forces between Sen.Bola Tinubu, Buhari and others, the Buhari presidential attempt of 2015 would have been another mirage. As Buhari is much loved in the north, so is

Ogboru in Delta state, especially in Delta central and south regions. He is the only candidate that will bring supporters to full capacity, at the Warri township stadium without spending a kobo to do so at very short notice. He has charisma and is trusted by the people but, winning election, as all of us have noticed, goes beyond that. While you target the masses, you must also seek out the ones I call “musclemen”, the ones who have the structures, resources and capacity to withstand the opposition, even if it comes to the use of force. Usually in Delta state elections, it is he who has dominant control of the official and unofficial force, that determines the outcome, especially of votes from remote and riverside areas.

Unlike Buhari, Ogboru chose to go it alone with his Labour party, and when push comes to shove – as they say- there was no counter force to the dominant PDP machinery.

The APC won the presidency because, from the on set, their

In fact, it became a case of Omo Agege, using the Ogboru brand to achieve his purpose

Senate Presidency: The case for North central

By Gbenga Alaba

T

RUTH be said, it is in the interest of national inclusiveness and pragmatic politics that the number three position in the country remains in the North Central as the jostle for the Senate Presidency ramps up. Let me explain.

Nigeria braces for a change of guard at the centre following General Mohammed Buhari’s victory at the presidential elections ending the PDP’s 16 year run at Aso Rock Villa. Focus is equally on the National Assembly where APC’s tsunami in the March 28th polls also compels a change of baton in the leadership of both Houses since the PDP has been knocked off its perch as majority party in the Upper chamber.

Expectedly, the run up has witnessed extensive political horse trading with APC top brass holding marathon meetings to decide where to zone the leadership of the National Assembly, especially Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

However, it is with the leadership of the Senate that I am concerned in this piece. As a concerned Nigerian who joined millions in voting in GMB and other APC representatives, I remain confident that the new ruling party will ensure justice, equity and inclusive as its mantra states.

However, I am concerned by speculatios that the APC is considering zoning the position of Senate President to the North East as opposed to the North Central, which currently holds the position but is favoured. In the unlikely event that the APC does this, it will be shooting itself in the foot and

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disappointing millions of Nigerians including myself.

The APC touted inclusive politics is one of the reasons Nigerians should choose it over the foundering PDP. It was positioned as the party that will give all Nigerians a sense of belonging. The party will therefore be going against this claim if it takes the number three position out of the North central and cedes it to the North East. Doing that will not only be against geopolitical equity, knocking the North central from the power equation, it will also concentrate power in the hands of the core North. With the President elect from the North West, giving the Senate Presidency to another zone from the core North risks re-igniting the North Central’s history of relegation in the geopolitics of the country.

Ideally, the position should have gone

Nigerians trust the APC leadership will do well to let national interest trump narrow sentiments or individual aspirations for party control and dominance

body language and activities made it clear that they will go to any length to challenge the PDP. They dictated the pace and their monitoring was complete, to the extent of imposing fifth columnists amongst the PDP ranks. It was difficult for the PDP to use force, as the consequences will be too much for the country to bear. If Ogboru had pitched tent with Tinubu’s APC and Oshiomhole in Edo state, coupled with his grassroots support, the outcome of the election would probably be different.

Even amongst his fellow Urhobo ethnic group, there were pockets of resistance, the Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU), tried to bring its weight to bear in his support but by then, the UPU has been so battered, bruised and discredited that they added little or no value to the whole exercise. Ogboru chose to go it alone, there was no strong political heavy weight in his camp and that affected his ability to take control of situation. Omo Agege joined him but, he has already been identified with too much carpet crossing. In fact, it became a case of Omo Agege, using the Ogboru brand to achieve his purpose.

Also, the structure that Ogboru used in the 2011 election has been dismantled.

After Senator Ewherido’s death, the DPP became moribund and did not recover from the crisis that followed the senatorial election held to replace him. All of the party's legislators crossed over to

to the South East or South-south if the argument is that the North Central has held it for many years. However, with the South-East shooting itself in the foot and refusing to re-elect any ranking Senator and the South-South doing the same out of fidelity to outgoing president Goodluck Jonathan in the March 28 polls, the North Central zone remains the most pragmatic first choice zone to provide the Senate President. Anything short of zoning the position to the North central means the APC leadership will be sacrificing equity on the altar of selfish political interests of a few.

Besides, with the North central states of Plateau, Niger, Kwara, Benue and Nassarawa all delivering overwhelming victories to the APC, which gave General Buhari and the party unprecedented victory in the Zone at all levels of the just concluded elections, it will be politically unwise and certainly inequitable to rob the region of this position that has over the years given it a sense of belonging after years of relegation to the wings of national politics by the core north. It is also important to note that keeping the Senate Presidency in the North central over the years is not an act of political charity. It is rather an act of political equity an inclusion, especially for the North and for the country as a whole.

Excluding the North Central by the APC will therefore be an act of suicidal unwisdom as the disenchantment that would follow will definitely set the grounds for the current Senate President, Davide Mark to rally other PDP Senators as well as other ranking Senators from the North central to stage a legislative coup against the now majority APC in the Senate.

It is also important to note that North central states are also home to a heterogeneous people who will otherwise not get a sense of inclusiveness in national affairs if the position is zoned out of the North central. Those who

other parties. Ogboru had to start all over again with a new structure in the Labour party and time was not on his side to put in place a formidable structure and this also affected the outcome. Chief Ogboru dilly-dallied for too long. He did not declare his interest on time, many thought that he will not contest and will instead, serve as a king maker to a fresh candidate.

It was also rumoured that Ogboru had the backing of President Jonathan and as soon as Jonathan’s reelection bid failed, the whole plan crumbled like a pack of cards.

Finally, when the time comes for change, there is nothing anyone can do about it. The sentiment this time is for the governorship to move to the north, the Igbo speaking part of the state. If you know Delta like I do, the balance of power in terms of influence and resources is tilting towards that direction, so, it was a matter of time before they achieve their dream of a son as governor.

It is not certain what the outcome of the election tribunal will be. Is Chief Great Ogboru jinxed? One cannot tell but, if he decides to take a shot at the guber race again, he must take note of the observations made in this piece.

*Mr. Ikhioya, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Lagos.

make the case that the North central has controlled the Senate Leadership for too long miss the point that only Benue and Plateau have tended to provide these officers, leaving states like Niger, Kwara, Kogi and Nassarawa in the shadows.

Just as it is in the interest of extant geopolitical considerations to retain the position in the North central, internal dynamics of the region dictate that other states in the region be given a shot at the position given their contribution to the APC’s victories and in the interest of the justice, equity and inclusiveness that the APC championed in the run-up to the elections.

Finally, those who make the case that the North East be given a shot at the position as compensation for the ravages it has suffered due to the Boko Haram insurgency miss the point. Boko Haram is a national malaise that has affected all of Nigeria. The APC Presidency is poised to tackle the problem just as it has promised to tackle the problem of the region's economic stagnation due to insurgency. That should suffice.

Otherwise, regions like the Southeast that have suffered from rampant cases of kidnapping or the South-South which is only gradually recovering from NigerDelta militancy will be justified in making a grab for the Senate presidency.

The most tenable position therefore remains the APC leadership’s zoning of the Senate presidency to the North central. That is not only the politically wise thing to do by the APC, considering that the next election is only a mere four years away, but is also in the interest of equity and fairness. Nigerians trust the APC leadership will do well to let national interest, trump narrow sentiments or individual aspirations for party control and dominance.

•Mr. Alaba, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Minna, Niger State.

20 — Vanguard, TUESDAY TUESDAY,, APRIL 28, 2015

Suspicion trails Ogbe-Ijoh market fire •Traders, govt officials shocked by havoc

Dr. Tony Nwaka consoling the affected traders during his visit to the market

By Egufe Yafugborhi, Warri

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ATURDAY, April 18 was a day of lamentation in Warri, Delta State. On that fateful day, a fire which started at night had destroyed property and trading wares worth millions of Naira at Ogbe-Ijoh Market. It was an incident that left several victims and community leaders attributing the frequent destructive infernos at the busy market to acts of sabotage.

Their suspicion may not be far-fetched. In January, last year, a similar incident left several traders bankrupt. In the latest case, fish sellers were the hardest hit as the fire, first noticed at about 7.30pm that day, started from the market wing where women fish sellers dry (roast) their stock.

Razing of the fish section It was also gathered that this is the third time in three years the fish section would be razed.

Impact: Charred remains of fish, onions, crayfish and other products littered the fire scene when Vanguard Metro, VM, visited the following Sunday, with the fire still blazing.

Beverages, baby products and other trade wares were not spared as the fire destroyed over 300 shops. A victim who gave her name simply as Patience, said she lost over 150 bags of crayfish at N50,000 per bag. Another trader, Madam Maria, claimed she lost fish valued at N3 million.

Some traders were seen salvaging wares from shops partially affected as smoke and smell of burnt fish products pervaded the atmosphere. The cause of the fire could not be C M Y K

assertained, but traders attributed the outbreak to the activities of hoodlums who also cashed in on the attendant pandemonium to loot the market.

Mixed suspicions on cause of fire: Some victims whose baskets of fish were consumed spoke anonymously thus: “We don’t have electricity in the market and none of our colleagues left any fire unquenched. So, it can only mean that the fire was an act of sabotage. We suspect that the inferno must have been caused by some hoodlums because immediately it started they began to break into shops, carting away loots through the adjourning river.”

The victims added that policemen and soldiers drafted to the scene could do little to prevent the looting of stores by desperate criminals in the area.

Chief Samson Mamamu, a community leader in the host Ogbe-Ijoh community, said: “Each time there

Aside relief materials, government will assist in rebuilding this market

*Fire fighters battling the raging fire is fire in that place, I suspect foul play” .

Lucky Oromoni, Chairman, Ogbe-Ijo community, had a contrary view. While lamenting that fire outbreaks have become common every four months at the market, he said: “That Saturday’s fire, which is the worst in the history of this market, was caused by carelessness on the part of traders, especially those that smoke fish.”

It was gathered that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan personally contacted the local fire service to put out the fire.

But many told VM that the intervention came too late, too insignificant as much damage had been done before the arrival of fire fighters.

Many of the traders, however, expressed profuse gratitude to fearless fellow traders and residents whose efforts, it was gathered, prevented the fire from spreading farther and causing more damage.

“The situation could have been better managed and the impact far minimal if the fire fighters had made prompt intervention. They came too late and, hence, could only do little”, one of the victims lamented.

Meanwhile, the traumatised traders had appealed to the state government to assist in rebuilding their razed stores as well as availing them some financial lifeline to resuscitate their businesses.

Oromoni, Ogbe-Ijoh community chairman, appealed to the “state government to help us rebuild the market. This incident occurred because the market is not properly organised and

*Section of the market after the inferno

*Some traders trying to salvage wares unaffected by the fire completed. Ogbe-Ijoh people tal loss told the victims: “Aside appeal to the incoming relief materials, government administration in the state to will assist in rebuilding this build and properly organise the market. Our officials will go market to forestall future round with the market occurrence.” committee for the assessment of Delta State Commissioner for your loss. It is a major disaster Special Duties, Dr. Tony Nwa- and we will give it immediate ka, during a post incidence vis- attention. it, said the State Emergency “The government will also try Management body would as- to resolve any lingering issues sess the level of damage with and move on to rebuild the a view to assisting victims market. We cannot console you bounce back to business. enough as you have lost your Nwaka who described the sources of livelihood.” development as a monumen-

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 — 21

Binatone launches two-year warranty in Nigeria

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AGREEMENT: From left: Charles Osezua, Chairman, Gastrain Nigeria Ltd; Emeka Okonkwo, Executive Director, Corporate Banking, Union Bank; Emmanuel Konyebagu, Chairman PNG Gas Ltd and Gabriel Ilenreh, MD PNG Gas Ltd at the sgning agreement ceremony of facility for PNG Gas Ltd at Union Bank head office, Lagos.

Indigenous ship operators move to annex 1.6bn litre of product movement

By Godwin Oritse

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N a move to get local shipping firms to participate in the movement of 1.6billion litre of petroleum products within the nation’s coastal water, the Nigerian Indigenous Ship owners Association, NISA, has called on its members to begin preparation to position their vessels for loading.

Speaking at the weekend, President of the group, Capt Niyi Labinjo said that all is now set for indigenous shipowners to commence movement of petroleum products from the sea to ports and jetties across the country.

Capt Labinjo however warned that caveat for members of NISA to be allowed to participate in the movement of products which falls within the Cabotage trade was that their vessels must be up to date.

He told members to ensure that their vessels are in first class condition with all the necessary papers, registration, and permit so as not to be rejected.

The former Naval top brass also warned that anybody that

C M Y K

reject vessels belonging to Nigerians will not be allowed to discharge.

He told members to begin to make plans to acquire new vessels as the group was prepared to back up such

We calculated and we discovered that we need about 100 – 150 vessels to move this volume of cargoes within the country and by the time you do two or three trips a month, your bank will call you to assist you to buy more vessels

transaction with corporate guarantee.

He said “ we fall into the category of people that heads of state will want to meet when they visit our country.

“That is not happening that we have failed to do what we need to do and it must stop.

“We have 1.6 billion litre of petroleum products to carry and I have told them on your behalf that we have the human capacity and the equipment.

“We must organise ourselves, anybody that reject our vessels henceforth will not discharge that product let the person take the product away.

“I however have a charge for you, you must make sure that your ship is sea worthy that is the minimum, you must make sure your ship has insurance, you must make sure your ship has Protection and Indemnity Insurance, ( P & I) and of course you must make sure that you ship is manned by competent crew.”

He also told members to forward the names of their vessels that are prepared to start loading from today adding that the group has also concluded plans with Diamond Bank to provide bank

INATONE has launched “two-year Warranty” on all its products sold in Nigeria and other West African countries.

A household brand best known for its consumer appliances, cooling technologies and power solutions, Binatone was amongst the first few brands to provide product warranties to its customers in Africa.

Now this assurance has been doubled as the British brand has decided to provide a standard two-year Warranty on all its products, with Nigeria being amongst its first African markets to launch this new warranty.

“Binatone came into existence in 1958 in the United Kingdom as a result of our desire to meet the modern lifestyle needs of customers”, says Mr. Sunil Lalvani, the Group Managing Director and Global CEO of Binatone.

“Over the past 40 years, Binatone has been actively present in Africa, especially in Nigeria, and through this experience, it understands how much African customers value a product-warranty.

By doubling our warranty period, we are paying heed to our customer ’s needs, all the while demonstrating the faith we have in our products”, Mr. Lalvani added.

guarantee.

Labinjo explained that he is currently in discussion with the necessary government agencies and departments to ensure the move by indigenous shipowners is fully integrated in the Cabotage movement of products imported into Nigeria.

He disclosed that about 100 – 150 vessels were needed $135.00 -6.15 to move the 1.6billion of product. $2,888.00 1.00 “We calculated and we discovered that we 1312 -0.11 need about 100 – 150 . vessels to move this volume of cargoes within the country and $64.59 -0.33 by the time you do two or three trips a month, 57.44 0.29 your bank will call you to assist you to buy CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL more vessels.”

He further DOLLAR 196 196.5 197 disclosed that when a POUNDS 297.0576 297.8154 298.5732 100 Nigerian owned EURO 212.5816 213.1239 213.6662 FRANC 205.3431 205.8669 206.3908 vessels are fully YEN 1.6422 1.6464 1.6506 engaged in Cabotage CFA 0.3027 0.3127 0.3227 trade, it will could WAUA 270.1357 270.8248 271.5139 generate employment RENMINBI 31.6426 31.7238 31.805 for more 500,000 RIYAL 52.2611 52.3944 52.5277 young Nigerian KRONA 28.4971 28.5698 28.6425 seafarers SDR 271.754 272.4473 273.1405 CBN Exchange Rate as at 27/4/15

22 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

A senior management staff in one of the top three banks agreed that banks ought not to charge for SMS notification for transactions they conduct on their customers’ account

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TOP 10 PERFORMING STOCKS

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

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n the top 10 performing stocks last week were the shares of R.T Briscoe Plc, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc, NPF Microfinance Bank Plc, P.Z Cussons Plc, Portland Paints and Products Plc, and A.G Leventis Plc. Others were Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Oando Plc, Wapic Insurance Plc and Associated Bus Company, ABC Plc. R.T Briscoe, dealers in heavy machinery, and Toyota range of vehicles, led the pack with 20.24 percent or N1.01 price increase, closing at N1.01 from N0.84 at the beginning of the week. Following unimpressive financial performance of the company that resulted in losses for the group in 2013 financial year, the company took steps to raise N10 billion from the capital market last year in order to enhance its performance. The company had indicated through its Managing Director, Mr. Oluseyi Onajide, that despite improved management of working capital and judicious use of resources, R.T Briscoe had continued to be heavily unde-rcapitalised and operated mostly on borrowed funds and hence the need for additional capital injection. The company during 2013 financial year accumulated total borrowings of N10.2 billion, which was up 14 per cent from N8.9 billion in 2012, while its finance costs increased from N1.3 billion to N1.5 billion, leading to interest expenses of 64 per cent of value added by the company in 2013.

Also, the available financial statement of the company for the first and second quarter showed increased losses despite the fund raising. The financial statements showed that first quarter earnings dropped, while the half-year result was in loss position.

Analysis of the second quarter result for the period ended June 30, 2014, showed N77.436 million loss as against N27.379 million profit in 2013.

Negative earnings per share stood at 7 kobo as against 2 kobo in 2013. The 2014 halfyear revenue declined to N10.065 billion, which is below N10.591 billion recorded in 2013.

Neimeth Pharmaceutical followed as the second most attractive stock for the week, rising by 18.95 percent or N0.18 to close at N1.13 from N0.95. The company recently commenced construction of a

N5 billion Pharma Complex in Anambra State.

The company's full year financial result for 2014 was below expectation as it recorded loss before tax (LBT) of N198 million, loss after tax (LAT) of N228.5 million and eight percent decline in shareholders’ fund. According to the company, production difficulties arising from replacement of obsolete/ nonGMP(Good Manufacturing Practice) compliant machines jointly contributed to the bad financial position in 2014. The company is, however, optimistic that it will return to profitability following investments it made in 2014.

For instance, during the year under review, it upgraded its manufacturing plant to meet World Health Organisation specification, a development that could increase its visibility and position it for international contracts. The company said it is poised to launch a new product every quarter for the next 10 quarters N P F Microfinance Bank came third with 18.80 percent or N0.22 appreciation, closing at N1.39 from N1.17 at the begining of the week.

Investors’ interest in the Police bank seems to be increasing following an impressive 2014 full year financial performance just released to the investing public. The result showed that earnings per share, EPS, rose by 28 percent to 23 kobo per share. This was also followed with a 15 kobo dividend yield which has set the pace for the current rally being experienced on the shares. It recorded 28 percent growth in profit after tax to N478 milllion, while a gross dividend of N342million, translating to 15 kobo per 50 kobo ordinary shares is being proposed by the Board for investors’ approval at the next AGM. Portland Paints advanced by 15.67 percent or N0.51 to close at N3.84 from N3.33; A.G Leventis appreciated by 9.15 percent or N0.13 to close at N1.55 from N1.42; Flour Mills went up by 8.79 percent or N2.99 to close at N36.99 from N34.00; Oando was the next with 7.93 percent or N1.44 price increase, closing at N19.60 from the initial N18.16 it opened at; Wapic Insurance rose by 7.84 percent or N0.04 to close at N0.55 from N0.51, while ABC advanced by 7.41 percent or N0.04 to close at n0.58 from N0.54 per share.

INVESTOR

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Banking without mercy

By Babajide Komolafe

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OME years ago, a couple opened a savings account for their children, twins, with one of the big banks, where they deposited all the monetary gifts received during the naming of the boy and girl.

They expected that as the children were growing, the money would also grow, via interest payment by the bank.

But to their astonishment, the money in the savings account, instead of growing was reducing, and they had not withdrawn a kobo. What made

this painful for the husband was that his wife was a staff of the bank. Upon enquiries, he discovered the savings account was subjected to nothing less than three types of charges, which cumulatively were more than the meagre interest the bank pays on the savings.

The experience of this couple is an example of what the staff of an old generation bank, called, Banking without Mercy.

It describes the tendency for banks to exploit customers through sundry charges and fees, so as to enhance their revenue and profitability. It used to be prevalent among

new generation banks, but it is now an industry practice.

Although, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in an attempt to check these excesses publishes the Guide to Bank Charges, wherein it articulates what type and limits of bank charges, there are still incidences of this exploitation.

An example of banking without mercy is charges for SMS alerts. Ordinarily, this should be limited to non-bank transactions on customers account. But because of the greed of banks, the customer is charged even for transactions conducted by the

MARKET NEWS

UBA shareholders approve payment of 10 kobo dividend

By Nkiruka Nnorom

S

hareholders of United Bank for Africa, UBA Plc, have approved dividend payment of 10 kobo per as recommended by the Board of Directors of the bank.

Giving the approval at the rd bank’s 53 Annual General Meeting, AGM, in Lagos, the shareholders also commended the Board and management over the 2014 performance.

Speaking on behalf of other shareholders, Alhaji Mukhtar Mukhtar, said: “I commend the appointment of Tony Elumelu as the Chairman. He has proven to be a business leader. I am also happy with the bank’s performance, I have no doubt that it will continue to improve with Elumelu as chairman.”

Another shareholder, Alhaji Kabiru Tambari, commended the management for focusing on both the short and long term growth of the bank, saying that shareholders are not only interested in the profit the bank made this year, but also in the ability of the bank to sustain its leadership position over the long term.

Addressing shareholders at the meeting, Mr. Tony Elumelu, reaffirmed the bank’s

commitment to strict adherence to the best practice in corporate governance, saying that the bank’s dividend policy during the year was guided by the need to be prudent.

“Though UBA is adequately capitalized with capital adequacy ratios in excess of regulatory requirement, we proactively raised additional capital during the year to further boost our capital base and it would not have been prudent to pay so many dividends after raising capital from the market. Shareholders should, however, expect higher dividend in future” said Elumelu.

The headline performance reflects the simultaneous growth in interest and non-interest income

Laying the financial result for the year ended December 31, 2014 before the shareholders, Elumelu said the bank’s gross earnings of N290 billion within the year, which represent a 10 percent growth over the figure achieved in 2013 reinforced its resilience amidst macroeconomic and regulatory volatilities across the markets during the year, “The headline performance reflects the simultaneous growth in interest and noninterest income, which grew by six percent and 18 percent respectively despite the impact of higher Cash Reserve Ratio, CRR, on interest income and net effect of lower COT charges, which was regulated at N2/ mile in 2014 on fee income,” Elumelu said.

He further stated that the bank’s profit before tax stabilized at N52.6 billion, while the profit after tax grew modestly by three percent to N47.9 billion, translating to N1.56 earnings per share.

In his comment, Mr. Philip Oduzua, the GMD/CEO of the bank, said the bank is gaining critical mass across the African continent and the benefit is fast reflecting in the contribution of the African subsidiaries to the Group’s profit.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 — 23

bank itself. Hence, the customer is charged for SMS notification for CoT deductions, VAT on CoT deductions, and even SMS Alerts deductions. Furthermore, when you do a transfer from your account, the bank will send SMS notification for the transfer, SMS notification for the transfer fee, and another SMS notification of the VAT on SMS notification. Thus, the bank generates three separate SMS notification on one transactions and SMS charge of N12 naira.

Multiply this figure by the millions of bank transfers conducted everyday across the industry, and you would be surprised at how staggering the

An example of banking without mercy is charges for SMS alerts.

Ordinarily, this should be limited to non-bank transactions on customers account

figure might be.

When confronted with this development, a senior management staff of one of the top three banks agreed that banks ought not to charge for SMS notification for transactions they conduct on the customers’ account. Yet they all do it, simply because it enhances their income.

It, however, goes beyond this, sometimes, the customer is overcharged or charged twice for SMS notification, and because the amount is usually small, a lot of customers don’t take time to relate the amount charged for SMS notification for the month, to the number of SMS notification received. A corporate customer of a top three bank made this discovery and confronted the bank.

The reply from the bank was that the SMS notification charges occurred twice due to system error, and the charges were reversed. If the system would not make the error of omitting charges, while should it make mistake of double charging the customer. It is Banking Without Mercy and many customers have been victims due to ignorance. To be continued next week. (Send comments and enquiries to vanguardinvestorsforum@gmail.com)

Stanbic IBTC records 54% growth in post-tax profit

S

tanbic IBTC Holdings Plc has announced a 54 percent growth in its post-tax profit to N32.1 billion for the year ended December 31, 2014 from N20.8 billion posted in 2013.

Similarly, profit before tax recorded an increase of 63 to N40.1 billion in the 2014 financial year, up from N24.6 billion recorded in 2013, while the gross earnings grew by 17 percent to N130.6 billion from N111.2 billion in the corresponding period of 2013.

The Group also made other significant gains during the period under review. Total assets increased to N944.5 last year, a 24 percent increase compared to the recorded in December 2013. The growth in

the balance sheet size was driven by significant increases in loans and advances to customers and other financial investments. Gross loans and advances grew by 36 percent toN413.4 , compared to .3 recorded in December 2013, while customer deposits rose to N.9 from N.4 in the corresponding period of 2013, representing an increase of 19 percent.

Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Mrs. Sola David-Borha, stated that the strong performance, despite the effect of declining crude oil prices on the operating environment, is evidence of the positive outcome of the group’s strategy of growing the client base across target and key market segments while maintaining a principled credit process.

From left: Brand Manager, Goldberg, Mfon Bassey; Yoruba actor, Afonja Olaniyi aka Sanyeri and a Yoruba producer/ actor, Odunlade Adekola at the Goldberg Fuji T'o Bam audition in Ogun State.

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S FORUM

Those that need money to do certain development project or to invest in manufacturing do not have access to those loans but the bank directors have easy access to loans which they spend on frivolities

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INVESTORS SPEAK

Publication of bank debtors: Pointer to future reforms in industry In order to strengthen the soundness of the banking industry, the Bankers Committee at its last meeting agreed to publish in newspapers names of its chronic debtors. The Committe also agreed to deny such debtors access to foreign exchange. Shareholders in this interview commended this decision saying the incoming government should do a lot in the area of banking reform.

By Providence Obuh

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We come to meetings to sing their praises at the detriment of other shareholders and our investment and that should stop

hairman, Nigeria P r o f e s s i o n a l Shareholders Association, Mr. Godwin Anono: How are you sure they are not going to do selective publishing. It is a very good idea, because when you borrow, you must learn how to pay back. But in Nigeria when people borrow they don't want to repay because they believe it is government money •Godwin Anono There are many companies whose names are pronounced that they Western Icon Shareholders Association of actually owe the bank. The banks have Nigeria, Mr. Segun Owolabi: It is going to even delayed in doing the needful, it be a pointer to a good reform in the banking should not be until the Central Bank of industry, a lot of people believe that taking Nigeria (CBN) tells them, because at the credit from the bank is their right which I think end of the day CBN and other regulators to some extent it is, but when it comes to would be asking them to make provision servicing and paying up and they don’t care, for the debt and this will also reduce the then the needful should be done. We are on income of the banks and it also affects the neck of the boards of banks as regards to the dividend payable to shareholders. non-performing loans and in most cases some Basically, there are some loans they of the beneficiaries of this NPL are directors call Performing and there are some- Nonof the bank and they will still come to the Performing Loan NPL, and there is a meeting telling us stories, we want to know reason for it. There are some for 80 and them, we don’t want them to be covered. some 90 days but this time around many Most of us that are leaders of shareholders of them have run into debt but the entity groups, we come to meetings to sing their and the borrower are still alive and the praises at the detriment of other borrower is not showing any interest in shareholders and our investment and that paying. CBN and banks have delayed should stop, we don’t want praise singing because some of them have this money again. The incoming government should do but they want to pay and after using the a lot in the area of banking reform. money on and on at the end they will Those that need money to do certain come back to the bank and say give us development project or to invest in concession and at the end they will not manufacturing do not have access to those be able to pay. loans but the bank directors have easy When you look at the whole situation, access to loans which they spend on it is a good idea. But the question is, will frivolities, so their names should be they publish all the names of the published. Anytime I go to debtors? Some of these AGM’s, as a Professional debtors will even threaten to Accountant, they don’t give go to court if their names are people like us chance to speak published, they use court to at the AGM because they know In most cases threaten a man whom they that we know what is going on came to beg for loan. It is not some of the and we are going to expose only publishing their names them but they will rather call that matters, some of them beneficiaries of people that are sycophants don’t have integrity, they this NPL are that sing their praises in order don’t mind if their names are to collect money from them published. So it is for the directors of the either before or at the end of a CBN to move against these bank and they meeting. I don’t want to debtors via EFCC or other mention names, but we want will still come to anti-corruption agencies of banking reform. the CBN to ensure they pay the meeting to the last kobo and arrest telling us stories all the people that guaranteed the loan to serve as deterrent to others.

National

President,

24 — Vanguard, TUESDAY,

APRIL 28, 2015

Energy firms borrow N548bn from UBA •Analysts fear loan impairment

By Michael Eboh

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NITED Bank for Africa Plc’s (UBA) exposure to the energy sector stood at N548.35 billion for two years, 2013 and 2014.

According to the information obtained from bank’s Annual Report and Accounts for the 2014 financial year, the energy sector accounted for 27.26 per cent of its total loans and advances to customers in the two year period.

Specifically, in 2014, energy firms borrowed N287.88 billion from the bank, while in 2013, they borrowed N260.479 billion.

Further breakdown revealed that oil and gas firms borrowed N192.784 billion from the bank in 2013, rising by 5.84 per cent to N204.045 billion in 2014, while power and other energy firms borrowed 67.695 billion in 2013, compared to N83.834 billion recorded in 2014.

In addition to these and other transactions, UBA’s total loans and advances to customers for its 2014 financial years stood at

…As NLNG pays $1.3bn tax to FG

By Sebastine Obasi

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PRESENTATON: Managing Director, NLNG, Babs Omotowa (middle) flanked bhy Deputy Managing Director, Isa Inuwa (right) and General Manager, External Relations, NLNG at the presentation of The Facts And Figures On NLNG 2015 publication, in Lagos.

N1.072 trillion, appreciating by 14.29 per cent from total loans and advances of N937.62 billion recorded in 2013.

The banks’ exposure to the energy sector among others was irrespective of its N19.656 billion impairment loss on loans and receivables for the

two years, broken down into N13.078 billion in 2013 and N6.578 billion in 2014.

Analysts have expressed concern over the ability of the energy firms to repay their indebtedness to the banks, especially in the face of low oil price in the international market. The analysts are of

the view that of the loans might be impaired as the oil firms might be unable to repay.

Former Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Mr. Aigbojie Aig-Imoukhuede, had expressed concern over the viability of the recently privatised power sector.

Oil crash: Indigenous companies lay off workers •Task Buhari on favourable policies

By Clara Nwachukwu

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NDIGENOUS companies have begun to lay off workers and cut salaries as a way of coping with the challenges of the crude price crash at the international market.

Those who cannot cope with the downturn in the industry have also had to close shop, pending when the fortunes of the petroleum industry improves.

Dropping the hint in an exclusive chart with Vanguard, the Chairman, Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria, PETAN, Mr. Emeka Ene, argued that indigenous companies are the most affected in the current crises facing the industry.

According to him, “The situation is beginning to take a toll on the industry as a number of our members who cannot cope with the situation are now laying off staff, others are slashing salaries, no new employments are generated because there are no new jobs to execute.”

He decried that rather than calling for collective measures

NLNG Train 7 to wait for two years, says Omotowa

to tackle the challenges, he said the Federal Government had heaped the responsibility on operators and even ordered them to prune costs by 30 per cent if they wanted to remain in business.

He said, What I expected to have happened is that everybody should have been brought to a round table to discuss the issues and the

Specifically, in 2014, energy firms borrowed N287.88 billion from the bank, while in 2013, they borrowed N260.479 billion

challenges and threats they pose, and collaborate on the way forward “But it has been very tough and it has been so because what the government did was to pass the baton and heap the sole responsibility on Nigerian companies and the operators.

They told companies to cut costs by 30percent in order to remain competitive.

“But the service companies can’t afford to cut such costs, because of their peculiar circumstances so they will suffer and eventually die off.”

In view of the negative impact these would have on the economy, Ene urged the incoming government to be led

by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to come up with proactive policies that will salvage the industry and the economy at large.

“Our expectation is for the new government to continue to sustain the growth of the industry through favorable policies because the industry right now is undergoing some challenges. We are facing oil prices of about 50 percent of

what they were last year and this is impacting on investments.

“If the situation is not properly handled, all the gains that have been realised over the past years would be lost.

As a result, we expect that long term investments will be sustained, let the PIB be passed, let the Nigerian Content Act be strengthened to such an extent that we grow the industry capacity beyond mere services to developing skills, establishing manufacturing plants.”

To achieve this, the PETAN chair argued that this required wide ranging collaboration between the industry and the government, saying, “We all need to work together to get through this very difficult path. We need to collaborate more; we need to communicate more; we need more engagements if we must face these challenges. Above all, we need to make more sacrifices and act in a manner that will uphold our national interests the more.” (Full interview in Sweetcrude, next Tuesday).

HE Managing Director of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, Mr. Babs Omotowa said that the much awaited final investment decision, FID of Train 7 will not be taken earlier than two years from now.

Omotowa who gave the hint during the facts and figures session with journalists in Lagos also said that the NLNG paid $1.3 billion tax for 2013 financial year to the federal government.

Though he did not state reasons for the delay in taken the final investment decision for Train 7, Omotowa explained that there are ready buyers, just as the memorandum of understanding is renewed annually owing to the delays.

He however said that NLNG will continue to work with stakeholders to bring Train 7 to fruition. Vanguard however learnt from dependable sources that lack of political will on the part of the government has contributed to the delay in the take off of Train 7.

According to Omotowa, “Significant back end work is ongoing targeted at adding a 7th LNG train to our current six train structure which at a point in time was the fastest growing such facility in the world.

“Beyond growing our production from 22 to 30 million tonnes per annum, Train 7 will definitely increase our capacity to become a more important global energy supplier as well as to deliver enhanced value to Nigeria and Nigerians.”

The MD also said that the NLNG is committed to delivering 250,000 tonnes of LPG into the Nigerian market annually and has signed sales and purchase agreements with 15 off-takers (All Nigerian companies) for the lifting of LPG for the domestic market.

He said: “The intervention, which is in line with the company’s vision of helping to build a better Nigeria, has significantly contributed to the stimulation and development of the domestic LPG market in Nigeria.”

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 — 25

Seven Energy begins gas supply to Calabar

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EVEN Energy International Limited, the indigenous Nigerian integrated gas Company has commenced the supply of gas to the 560 MW Calabar National Integrated Power Project (“NIPP”).

The commercial delivery of gas to Calabar NIPP commenced on March 2015, and is being executed through Accugas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seven Energy. When operating at full capacity Calabar NIPP will increase national power generation by over 10 percent.

Gas is being supplied to the power plant from Seven Energy’s Uquo Gas Processing Facility in Akwa Ibom State through the Seven Energy pipeline network. The gas supply will enable the power plant to complete commissioning and start delivering electricity into the national grid.

Commenting on the achievement, Phillip Iheanacho, Chief Executive Officer, Seven Energy, said; “Delivering a cost effective and reliable gas supply is critical to providing sustainable power supply into the national grid to meet the government’s reform objectives and to facilitate industrial development. I am delighted that our ability to deliver an indigenous gas solution, from end to end is now being recognised by a broad range of industrial and power sector customers. Not only will the gas we supply drive enhanced power generation, but when combined with improvements in transmission and distribution it will also facilitate industrial and commercial developments which will have a far reaching impact throughout the community, stimulating industry and generating employment as a result.”

Steve Tierney, Managing Director, Accugas said “The Calabar NIPP is a major power plant and a further endorsement of the quality and reliability of our services. Our strong capability across the region with ownership of gas reserves and pipeline infrastructure has enabled us to commercialise our gas assets, delivering a solution that the market has been demanding for many years. We are ready and look forward to adding more customers to our network across the South East of Nigeria, bringing affordable and reliable gas to a wider audience.”

Seven Energy has continued to champion an industrial gas revolution through the development and production of natural gas.

Nigeria spends N612bn on JV operators —NEITI report …Pays $3.1bn cash calls

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By Sebastine Obasi

HE Federal Government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC and the National Petroleum Investment and Management Services, NAPIMS, spent N612 billion, while it paid $3.1 billion as cash calls for its joint venture operations, according to the 2012 audit report of the nation’s oil and gas industry just released by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI. The report stated that there was an increase of N196.356 billion in Naira cash calls paid in 2012 compared to 2011. This is an increase of 47.14 percent, while there was an increase of $506.697 million in Dollar cash call payments in 2012 when compared to the figure for 2011, indicating an increase of 19.47 percent.

The increases in cash call payments (Naira and Dollar) in 2012 was said to be attributable to increased Joint Venture operations (especially in SHELL and EXONMOBIL JVs) and payment of cash call arrears.

A breakdown of the Naira cash calls to JV operators shows that the highest amount, N157.1 billion was paid to Shell Petroleum Development Corporation, SPDC, Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, TEPNG and Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NAOC, joint venture, followed by the NNPC/Chevron, JV, which gulped N115.7 billion.

NNPC/EXXONMOBIL, NNPC/TEPNG and NNPC/

. Power line NAOC/PHILIPS JVs got cash calls of N101.5 billion, N68.5 billion and N67.6 billion respectively, while NNPC/ POOC, NDPC/SDPC and NDPC/CNL JVs were given cash calls of N12.6 billion, N1.2 billion and N367 billion respectively. Also, prior cash

A recent research showed that Nigerians spend about N150 billion on a yearly basis to generate power for use at homes and offices

calls paid by NNPC to JV operators within the period under review amounted to N81 billion, while credit transfer to OB3 gas pipeline was N6.9 billion.

For the dollar cash calls, NNPC/SPDC/TEPNG/NAC, Joint Venture got the highest, which was $836.2 million, followed by NNPC/Chevron, $634 million, NNPC/ EXXONMOBIL, $503.7 million, NNPC/TEPNG, NNPC/NAOC/PHILIPS, NNPC/POOC, NDPC/SPDC and NDPC/CNL got cash calls of $458.6 million, $276.6 million, $115.7 million, $1.3 million and $1 million respectively. Within the year under review, prior cash call paid was $281.6 million.

According to the NEITI report, other specific financial flows in 2012 increased by two percent from $25.136 billion in 2011 to $25.712 billion. There was an increase of 61 percent

in company income tax (CIT), from $273.481 million in 2011 to $441.048 million in 2012.

The huge increase was said to be partly due to CIT payment relating to 2011 in the sum of $127.506 million paid by SPDC in 2012. The SPDC payment represents 28.91 percent of the total CIT payments in 2012.

The Financial Flows in the form of loan repayments and dividend from NLNG in 2012 was $2.796 billion, up by 10 percent from the 2011 figure of $2.538 billion.

Also, Pay As you Earn (PAYE) tax flows was said to have increased by 570 percent, from $13.120 million in 2011 to $87.918 million in 2012.

This is due to the amendment of the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) 2011 which significantly increased the tax rates.

Conversely, PAYE to States declined by 66 percent during

GGI boss tasks Buhari on steady energy supply

By Vera Samuel Anyagafu

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HE Founder and President, Good Governance Initiative (GGI), Mr. Festus Mbisiogu has expressed the need for the incoming government of Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that Nigeria enjoys uninterrupted power supply to enable progressive economic growth.

Mbisiogu, who stated that a recent research showed that Nigerians spend about N150 billion on a yearly basis to generate power for use both at homes and offices, also said that the situation is not benefiting the poor masses. He explained that the unavailability of electricity in the country is the major drawback to industrialization, saying that, “It is unimaginable that at this time in the history of our great country, we are losing focus on issues most imperative to economic growth”.

He told Vanguard that it is disappointing to know that a good number of industries in Nigeria have collapsed either as a result of insufficient power generation or the

inability to conveniently maintain the high cost of servicing generating sets.

According to Mbisiogu, the use of generating sets in the country has contributed to avoidable deaths, “It is unimaginable that at this time in the history of our great country, we are losing some of our brightest of our generation to avoidable accidents such as this. Every day, we read stories in the newspapers, listen to radio and watch television where are we are being bombarded with gory stories of tragic events in the energy sector.

“It is the urge to avoid such tragic incidents that I decided to champion the course of steady power supply in the country under the aegis of Good Governance Initiative (GGI) a NonGovernmental Organisation dedicated to achieving sustainable energy in Nigeria.”

He further explained that GCI is more committed to advocating and ensuring that policies and directions of government in respect of steady electricity in the country is not overlooked, in addition to educating Nigerians on how best to manage the

prevailing energy situation in the country.

“In August-September 2013, when the unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) was completed and 10 Distribution Companies (DISCOs) and five Generation Companies (GENCOs) effectively took over the defunct PHCN, some of us heaved a sigh of relief. It was very thoughtful on the part of President Goodluck Jonathan who heeded to the cries of many of us in unbundling that government authority, which had been bogged down by officialdom, bureaucracy, and inefficiency.

“We regard the development as a great milestone in the Power Sector Reform Roadmap, intended to give hope to Nigerians and inspire confidence in government’s power reform programme and President Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda.” ” We are still lagging behind. It is evident that the beneficiaries of this new paradigm in the energy sector are the government and the investors whose interests are being protected. The interests of the citizens are left unprotected.

26 — Vanguard, TUESDAY,

APRIL 28, 2015

Power: Nigeria to expect tougher times head …as Egbin delivers 300MW Stories by Ediri Ejoh

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OLLOWING the signifi cant decline in power supply witnessed across the country in the last couple of days and the untold hardship it has brought upon Nigerians, there are indications that the power situation is far from improvement.

Vanguard learnt that power generation had dropped from 3,000 megawatts to about 2,988.72MW. In a telephone interview with Vanguard, Chief Executive Officer, Egbin Power Plc, Mr. Mike Uzoigwe, said Egbin plant produced 300 megawatts, as against the expected 1000 megawatts it needs to deliver to Nigerians.

“For some time now, there has not been much supply of gas to us at Egbin, and as such we are limited to 300 megawatts by the limited gas supply we now receive. What would other power stations across Lagos state receive to drive power supply?” he asked.

Speaking also, the Assistant General Manager, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, Mr. Peku Adeyanju, said that what it receives for distribution is not sufficient to service its numerous customers seeking steady power supply.

He said, “Within the last one week, what we are been giving to distribute is not close to what is needed and that is

PARTNERSHIP: From left: Vice-Chancellor of UNIPORT, Professor Joseph Ajienka (left) and Michael Hunt (right), Country Manager, FMC Technologies at the signing ceremony. hampering our efficiency to satisfy our covering areas.

Specifically, in the last one week we have been receiving between 350 megawatts down from its expectation of 1250 megawatts, with the difference of 900 megawatts.

“In our own way, we have tried to manage the situation by rationalizing the distribution of power so that it can go round to our customers.” Also, a source in the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, attributed the drop in the megawatts to distorted supply of gas, which according to him has been a major challenge for

the company.

“Most of the country’s thermal and hydro-power plants

For some time now, there has not been much supply of gas to us at Egbin, and as such we are limited to 300 megawatts by the limited gas supply we now receive

are dependent on gas for optimum performance to meet the demands of Nigerians desiring for robust power supply,” he said. Development of gas infrastructure has been seen as a major roadmap to stable power supply in Nigeria. Investors in gas had for a long time complained of unattractive price mechanism. For them, it has not been competitive enough to incentivise them to supply the domestic market. The government has gone some way towards tackling that by increasing the price of gas-to-power from $1.50/million cubic feet to $2.50, but private investors say that will have to rise still further to make their business viable.

“Nigeria is well endowed when it comes to natural gas, which is the logical way to generate the bulk of its power needs, but there is a shortage of infrastructure for gas,” says Seven Energy ’s Mr Iheanacho, pointing to opportunities in gas supply through pipelines and road.

Seven Energy recently invested $100m in gas-to-power infrastructure, in partnership with the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA. Deteriorating transmission networks can lose up to 30 percent of generated electricity, and are preventing Nigeria from being lit up, even if more electricity is generated, Vanguard learnt.

Oil prices ‘will hit optimum level’ as demand grows

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NDUSTRY leaders at the World Economic Forum on East Asia have said they expect oil prices to rise further.

The leaders, meeting in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, said the long-term view was that demand for oil is growing.

Oil prices are around their highest levels for the year.

The price of Brent crude was at $63 a barrel on Tuesday, up 40% from its January low of $45 a barrel and near its high for the year of $65.

Oil prices more than halved in the second half of last year, as falling demand and high levels of output caused a glut in supply.

Melody Boone Meyer, president of Asia-Pacific exploration and production at US energy giant Chevron, said that dramatic falls were not an uncommon feature of the oil market.

“The price of oil in the last 30 years has fallen five times by 50%,” she said at the forum. “There’s a surplus of supply right now, and inevi-

tably the decline will occur.”

It was important to continue with projects that were in development, she added, emphasising that Chevron had a lot of projects that are well supported at these price levels.

To develop our economy, we have to secure our energy supply and demand

Shahril Shamsuddin, group chief executive at Malaysia’s SapuraKencana Petroleum, backed that view: “The light at the end of the tunnel is that, in the long term, demand is growing and over the next two to three years we will see prices come to an optimum level.”

But the chief executive of GE Indonesia, Handry Satriago, said that a lot of its customers in the country were delaying projects because of the slump in prices.

“Since last year we experienced some delay, but last year was because of the political situation of the country,” he said. “We were having the election, and a new government, but now that delay has became more delayed due to the current situation.”

The company has been trying to work with partners to “keep projects warm” and not to cancel them.

“We show our commitment to them [oil partners], that we are here and we continue to

support and work together,” he said. “We also lobby to the government to make sure that the project can continue.”

With Asia expected to become a net importer of oil in the next decade as consumption booms, government officials said it was necessary to secure energy supplies, even with falling prices.

Natig Aliyev, minister of energy of Azerbaijan, said energy was the main factor in the stability and development of each country.

“To develop our economy, we have to secure our energy supply and demand,” he said, adding that Indonesia was the country ’s second-biggest export market.

Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, lost its position as South East Asia’s sole nation in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) in 2008 after it became a net oil importer.

NCP pays N373bn to ex-PHCN workers HE National Council on T Privatisation (NCP) said that 46,744 out of the 47,913

bonafide staff, representing 98 percent of the workforce of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) have been paid their entitlements amounting to N373, 170, 291,200.38.

The NCP noted the commendable progress achieved by the Implementation Committee on the payment of the severance, pension and gratuity of the workers and retirees of PHCN and directed that the Implementation Committee should handover to BPE all information and documents concerning outstanding active staff and pensioners verifications and payments. The Council also directed that the process of verification and payment of all the outstanding cases should continue until the final resolution of the exercise.

China Loses Dominance of Nigerian Rig Activity

By Sebastine Obasi, with agency reports

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HINA appears to have lost its dominance of the Nigerian rig activity as some of its rigs are out of production due to non payment of cash call arrears by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC to its joint venture operations.

Vanguard learnt that by the end of March 2015, Hilong -27, was the only Chinese owned and constructed rig active in Nigeria, out of seven such rigs on duty exactly a year to that date. Hilong -27 is a special rig: the High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) equipment has been slightly more than a year on duty on Gbaran-26, Shell’s deep, high pressure test in the south central Niger Delta.

The Nigerian rig count itself, in March, had plunged from 39 in March 2014 to 23 in March 2015.

Seven rigs from China out of a count of 39 is a high number, considering the diversity in the country. There were rigs by Pacific Drilling, British Oil and Gas Exploration Limited (BOGEL) Durga, Shelf Drilling, KC Deutag, Saipem, Cardinal Drilling, as well as Oando’s and Seawolf’s.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 — 27

Conoil plays big in Nigeria’s N250bn lube market

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NE of the country ’s major oil marketers, Conoil Plc has reeled out plans to play big in the nation’s lubricant market which is projected to hit the N250 billion marks by the end of 2015.

The projected all-time high revenue from lubricant business is predicated on the expected upsurge in the demand for lubricants by the automobile and industrial sub-sectors of the economy.

According to a statement issued by Conoil Management over the weekend, the company will invest over N5 billion to build a new lubricant manufacturing plant and filling lines, in addition to its state-of-the-art lubricant plant in Apapa, Lagos, to significantly increase its engine oil production capacity.

This will put the company in good stead to take huge advantage of the projected growth in the domestic lubricant market and invariably skyrocket its lubricant contribution to its overall turnover.

Japan unveils floating solar power plants

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OR those interested in clean, renewable energy, we’re living in exciting times. Recent news that we’re adding more green energy capacity every year than that of oil, coal, and gas combined was heralded as “the beginning of the end” for fossil fuels, and every day it seems there are new advances in the field of clean, sustainable power. But, in terms of sheer scale, it’s hard not to be particularly impressed with these massive, solar energy plants unveiled this week in Japan. But it’s not just the staggering size of the solar fields that have observers so excited; It’s the fact that plants this large, and this powerful are, in fact, entirely aquatic.

Built by the Kyocera corporation, the two solar power plants currently float in the Higashihira and Nishihira water reservoirs located in the Japanese city of Katô. There, they will provide clean, renewable solar power, without devouring large swathes of Japan’s limited, and costly, land space.

Ex-BP CEO says oil prices will rocket T

ONY Hayward, the former BP chief executive who runs Iraqi Kurdistan-focused Genel Energy, said oil prices are set to soar as OPEC has taken just six-months to stop the US shale oil boom in its tracks.

Speaking at the FT Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland, Mr Hayward said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries had shown itself to be “the most successful cartel in history ”, predicting oil prices would soon return to near $80 a barrel.

Mr Hayward said of OPEC’s decision to hold production steady in the face of fast-growing US shale output: The supply base is shrinking, they (OPEC) are maintaining their market share. It seems like it’s been a big success.

Mr Hayward, who said he will take a less active role in the day-to-day running of Genel by the end of this year, said the rapid fall in drilling rigs in the United States would soon see US oil output slow or fall.

While Mr Hayward acknowledged some OPEC members had been hurt by the price crash, he said longer-term OPEC’s decision to maintain production had been justified:

Over a 1-2 year time period, in terms of defending your market share, it’s been a success... ...I would expect them to continue on the course they set. It’s having exactly the consequences they envisaged.

Mr Hayward added that oil exports from the north of Iraq have risen to 650,000 barrels per day, as the Kurdistan Re-

gional Government has expanded its pipeline infrastructure to allow more oil to flow to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Following a deal between the KRG and Baghdad in December, both federal government-produced barrels from Kirkuk and Iraqi Kurdistan crude have been exported from the north of the country.

Mr Hayward said: At the moment they’re working with Baghdad and it is all peace and harmony. If the deal fails then the Kurds have the ability to go on their own. **The headline on this had incorrectly described Mr Hayward as the current chief executive of BP.

World’s biggest oil trader sees $50 floor for crude prices

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ITOL Group, the world’s biggest independent oil trader, said crude prices won’t drop below $50 a barrel for sustained periods because that’s a level some producers need in order to invest in new supply.

Gunvor Group said a rout is over.

“We still subscribe to the likelihood that over time prices still have to go back up again because you still need to invest,” Vitol Chief Executive Officer Ian Taylor said in an interview at the F T Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland on Tuesday.

“People won’t invest unless they can make the upstream business work and it’s not just U.S. shale; at $50 a barrel it doesn’t work.”

Oil prices collapsed almost 50 percent last year as OPEC kept its output ceiling at about 30 million barrels a day, insisting producers outside the 12-nation group help tackle a surplus. While the U.S. pumped 9.38 million barrels a day last week, the most for the time of year in at least three decades, its output slid 0.4 percent in the past month.

Prices will trade from $50 to $70 a barrel in the second half of this year, Taylor said.

Brent, the global benchmark,

ended at $62.08 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange Tuesday.

West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. grade, was at $55.26.

“U.S. production growth is beginning to slow down and demand is looking quite good for the year, so the combination of all of that means that probably price, if anything, moves up a little bit,” Taylor said.

Prices “overreacted to the downside” and the slump is now “behind us,” Torbjorn Tornqvist, the chief executive officer of Gunvor, said at the same Lausanne event. The company handles more than

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries had shown itself to be “the most successful cartel in history”, predicting oil prices would soon return to near $80 a barrel

2.5 million barrels of crude and fuels each day, meaning it’s among the world’s five largest independent traders, according to data compiled

by Bloomberg.

Prices need to rise to about $80 a barrel in order to attract investment and replace lost production, Marco Dunand, chief executive officer of Mercuria said. Field depletion means markets are losing as much as 5 million barrels a day from supply that needs to be replaced each year, he said.

Taylor said in an interview in Cape Town on March 17 that prices could rise by the end of the year. Brent jumped by 16 percent since then.

Still, an expansion of supply from shale deposits is working as an “automatic price stabilizer ” in oil markets, he said Tuesday.

The completion of refinery maintenance, which normally boosts demand for crude and adds to the supply of fuels, may hurt processing profits, Taylor said. The firm plans to run its own plants at full capacity but could alter the strategy if margins turn negative, he said.

Northwest European margins will peak this year in the second quarter at $6.09 a barrel, before retreating again, Wood

Mackenzie Ltd. estimated April 9.

Storing oil at sea, a trade that was profitable in the 2008-09 recession, isn’t proving viable, Taylor said.

Future crude prices aren’t trading at enough of a premium to near-term ones to cover the cost of hiring tankers to keep barrels on ships, he said. Such an oilprice structure is called contango.

“The crude oil market remains in contango and I know we have a lot of physical oil we need to place,” Taylor said. “Freight is nowhere cheap enough, so you need to see spreads drop significantly to make it work.”

There appears to be a surplus of liquefied natural gas globally that will persist while projects in Australia and the U.S. come online, Taylor said. While sugar markets have been “tough,” Vitol will retain the ability trade the commodity, he said.

Vitol trades more than 5 million barrels a day of crude and oil products, a January presentation on the company’s website showed.

That’s more than any other independent oil trader, according to data compiled

by Bloomberg.

28 — VANGUARD, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

Quantity surveyors write Buhari on how to stem corruption in construction projects

By Jude Njoku

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ARELY one month to his inauguration, President-elect, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) has been given the antidote to stem the rising scourge of corruption in the construction sector of the nation's economy.

In a congratulatory message to Gen. Buhari, the construction cost experts specifically tasked him to review the current envelop system of national budgeting because it is inefficient and allows corruption to fester.

The message which was sent to the president-elect by the President, Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria, QSRBN, Mallam Hussaini Adamu Dikko, enjoined him to use the services of quantity surveyors to guarantee value for money and efficient allocation of national resources.

"Cost of construction in Nigeria is one of the highest in the world. Construction projects in Nigeria have become one of the bastions of corruption and conduit pipes for siphoning away public funds. This is particularly prominent in roads, bridges and other civil engineering infrastructure projects. Quantity surveyors are always side-lined so that this can thrive. The use of quantity surveyors on such projects will promote value-for-money and efficient allocation and management of our national resources," the constfuction cost experts said.

National budgetary reforms The quantity surveyors asserted that the current envelop system of national budgeting is inefficient and allows for corruption to fester.

"It gives room for areas of need

A road under construction ethics in all areas of our national life. This will discourage corrupt practices among Nigerians.

Ethics among professionals, employers, employees, businessmen, traders and artisans should be an important component of our social ethics,"

•Buhari to be starved of funds while some other areas are awash with fund which they do not need and these unused funds ultimately go into private pockets. Budgets should also capture funds which ministries and MDA's receive from foreign donors and multi-lateral agencies to avoid instances where such funds are not accounted to government.

There should be realistic and

•Hussaini Dikko professional estimate for capital projects before they are included kn the budget to prevent the current practice of wild guessing. Quantity surveyors are professionally trained to provide professionally realistic estimates of capital projects for budgetary purposes," the QSRBN boss posited.

Promotion of ethics "There is need to promote

"Cost of construction in Nigeria is one of the highest in the world; construction projects in Nigeria have become one of the bastions of corruption

Lagos explains delays in issuing electronic C of O

By Kingsley Adegboye

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HE Lagos State Government last week disclosed that no fewer than 1,767 Certificates of Occupancy were processed in the last one year out of the 2,802 applications received.

The Permanent Secretary of Lands Bureau, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola who gave the figure at the 2015 ministerial press briefing, added that the state government had changed the yellow paper Certificate of Occupancy to a more secure electronic format known as the Electronic Certificate of

Occupancy (E-C of O).

According to him, the E-C of O is a gradual process that will eventually culminate in the phasing out of the yellow paper certificate of occupancy, which is still a valid land title for the time being.

Mr. Muri-Okunola who noted that the electronic certificate of occupancy project commenced in January 2014, revealed that till date, 2,230 E-C of O have so far been processed.

The Lands Bureau boss stated that in its commitment to improving the ease of doing business, minimising

transactional costs and stimulating private investments in real estate development, the government has approved the adoption of the fair market value for all land and landed property transactions in the state by reducing the charges payable from 13 per cent to 3 per cent.

The new rates, he said, will help to reduce the percentage chargeable to an internationally acceptable standard without any adverse effect on revenue, enhance transparency in all land transactions and assessment and eliminate delay and corruption.

The permanent secretary who disclosed that six title revocations on land were carried out in the last one year to pave way for development projects, said some of the affected landed property include the land behind General Hospital at Ajeromi Ifelodun General Hospital and land at Isalegangan, Lagos Island.

Reiterating that the government was committed to improving land administration services in the state, Lands Bureau boss said the bureau had been strengthened to achieve this goal.

he said.

In a related development, the QSRBN has appealed to governments at all levels to involve quantity surveyors at the budget development stage of all construction projects as this would enable appropriate funds to be allocated to the different aspects of the economy as per construction.

The appeal was contained in a communique issued at the end of the 2015 NATIONAL Project Cost Reduction Summit put together by the quantity surveyors regulatory body.

Quantity surveyors The communique which was signed by QSRBN President, Mallam Dikko and Registrar, Mr Godson Moneke, observed that cost auditing is not integrated into the construction control matrix and this impededs the objective of achieving value for money in construction project delivery.

"The non-inclusion of quantity surveyors in the inception stage of projects development in the construction industry is antithetical to the concept of value for money in national development," they alleged.

The cost experts further regretted that extant procurement laws are often violated in the award of most contracts while materials management on construction projects are usually poor.

They recommended benchmarking as a cost control and planning tool for increased efficiency of firms in the construction industry. "There should be adequate involvement of quantity surveyors in road construction to reduce the current bloated cost in that area," they posited.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015—29

Pinnock Beach Estate redefines luxury in Lekki waterfront

By Paul Ojenagbon

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HE James Pinnock Place, Lekki, Lagos offers an exceptional lifestyle living and doubles as an excellent investment opportunity as the Lekki axis continues its phenomenal development.

It is located approximately at the 4th Roundabout on the LekkiEpe Expressway within the neighbourhood of Mobil Filling Station and Femi Okunnu Housing Estate. Pinnock is coming in the stable of the property subsidiary of the UACN Development and Property Company, UPDC Plc. The project is the third phase of a comprehensive scheme of the developer. It is seated on threehectares of land where the water front of the estate directly faces

the Lagos Lagoon, thereby ensuring a cool and airy atmosphere for the exclusive residents. The estate comprises 79 housing units, made up of 11 units of five-bedroom detached houses with boys’ quarter, 28 units of four- bedroom semidetached house with BQ, eight units of four- bedroom semidetached and 32 units of three bedroom apartments with BQ respectively.

Pinnock Beach Estate will be brought to the market hopefully any moment from now. However, land can be acquired for individual development at the rate of one hundred thousand naira per square meter subject to a minimum of 2000 square meter size. The estate is covered with a certificate of occupancy C of O issued by the Lagos State

•Five-bedroom House at Pinnock estate, Lekki

Pinnock Beach Estate will be brought to the market hopefully any moment from now

Government. Each five bedroom houses occupies a total floor area of 293square metres.

The four- bedroom semidetached type A measures 267 square metres, type B 250.7 square metres and type C 244.9 square metres while each bedroom flat covers a floor area of 198.4 square metres..

The residents would be treated to a string of recreational facilities including swimming pool, gymnasium and children’s

playground. Other facilities put in place are sewage treatment plant, borehole and water treatment plant to issue potable water. There is a fire Alarm system to check fire out break and burglar Alarm system to nick theft attempts. Power supply is from both PHCN and standby generator. Ample parking is provided for both residents and visitors alike. The estate is located in a well secure and excellent neighbourhood confined within a perimeter wall fence

Estate agents explore ways of restoring integrity to practice

By Kingsley Adegboye

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HE urgent need to restore estate agency practice on the path of integrity, accountability and professionalism was the subject of discussion at the weekend at the 1st Annual Conference of Association of Estate Agents in Nigeria (AEAN) held in Lagos in collaboration with the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) tagged “Estate Agency 2015”. The theme of the one-day conference was “Branding and the Public Perception of Estate Agency Practice in Nigeria”.

Speaking in their turns, stakeholders who lamented the bastardized image of estate agency in the country because the practice is an all comers' affair, unanimously resolved that there is urgent need to reposition estate agency practice in Nigeria in order to change the perception of the general public towards estate agents.

Estate agents In his paper entitled “Stand Your Watch as ESVARBON Regulates the Practice of Estate Agency in Nigeria”, Elder William Odudu, Chairman, Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON), said the practice of estate agency by estate agents, estate brokers, property firms, home finders etc had been haphazard, tasteless and fraught with all shades of unethical conducts and unhealthy rivalries, because there was no form of regulation or control.

According to him, estate agency business became an open field for the 'floatsan and jetsan' of the society with poor public esteem, informing that the urgent need restore the practice on the path of glory spurred his board to build upon the collaborative efforts of NIESV and the umbrella body of estate agents.

He stated that board has drawn up code of conduct for estate agents which they must adhere to, stressing that the board has equally made estate agency regulations which will C M Y K

•FRONT ROW (from left): Azuidike Unigwe; Tunji Olugbodi; Patumola Ajayi, NIESV 1st Vice President; Mrs Ajayi, AGM, LASTRETAD; William Odudu, ESVARBON Chairman and Thomas Audu, Registrar. BACK ROW (from left): Kayode Ogunnubi, GM, LASRETAO; Kunle Adedeji, AEAN Vice Chairman and Chudi Ubosi, AEAN Chairman at the annual conference of estate agents in Lagos.

guide and regulate persons and firms involved in the business of estate agency in the country.

He noted that failure to comply with the regulations and code of conduct will be deemed as misconduct with penal consequences in accordance with the law of the board.

ESVARBON boss who disclosed that the board is currently working in close relationship with NIESV and AEAN to ensure that registered estate agents attend Mandatory Continuing Professional Development workshops, trainings, seminars and conferences to develop and maintain capabilities to perform competently within a professional environment, said credit points will awarded for attendance and participation of estate agents in the approved MCPD which will form part of the prerequisites for yearly licence renewal of registered estate agents.

“The practice of estate agency in Nigeria is no more business as usual. The board has risen to sanitise the practice, and by so doing, alter public perception of the practitioners and engender public confidence in the profession.

The board will maintain a data bank of estate agency practice in Nigeria and agents will be

entitled to be paid adequate remuneration for their services to their clients.

“To whom much is given, much is expected.

AEAN in Nigeria must curb itself of nefarious conducts of its members, imbibe professional values, ethics and operate according to law and regulation stipulated by ESVARBON”, Odudu said.

The immediate past president of NIESV, Mr. Emeka Eleh in his paper entitled “Professionalising Estate Agency Practice in Nigeria disclosed that the need to professionalise the practice of estate agency nowinthecountrycannotbeoveremphasised, pointing out that as the wave of globalisation continues to blow, while foreign firms and corporations keep coming into the country, there is urgent need for estate agency practitioners to fine-tune their practices and procedures to be in line with international best practices.

According to him, this may seem very difficult task, but it can be done and the time to do so is now. He said “The practice of estate agency is a professional discipline and our agents must have the right training,

qualification and certification to hold their heads high as worthy ambassadors of a profession that has a huge impact on the life of the average Nigerian.

“Professionalising estate agency in Nigeria will benefit not only just the consuming public but also the practitioners. While the public will benefit through improved or quality agency services from reliable and well referenced estate agents, the practitioners will benefit through proper regualtion of the practice which will ensure that only qualified and certified persons practice the trade and that the practitioners are appropriately trained, equipped and remunerated”, Eleh noted.

In his remark, Jimoh Ajao, Special Adviser to governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state who was represented at the conference, said the state has made it mandatory for estate agency practitioners in the state to register with it for the purpose of regulating the practice, following the abuse of the practice which he described as general practice which allows everyone to come into it.

Ajao who said there must be standard and regulation in the practice, pointed out that there is a circular from the Head of Service in the state now that without estate agents registering with the state, such estate agents cannot practice in the state.

Welcoming participants, earlier, Mr. Chudi Ubosi, Chairman, AEAN, said “Our poor public perception is not something that will go away on its own.

We must work on it. It is the hope of the organisers of this conference that by the deliberations to be held today, we would have taken that first important step towards creating a good public image for ourselves and our profession”, Ubosi stated.

30—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

It's never too expensive to secure your property — Komolafe

BY Jacob Ajom

M

RICS survey paints bleak prospect for property buyers in UK Brian Murphy, head of lend-

A

GROWING supply versus demand imbalance in the UK has led to an increase in house prices, while the number of properties coming onto the market fell, the latest Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors RICS survey has found.

According to the UK Residential Market Survey, in most parts of the country, the supply versus demand imbalance led to 21 per

cent of participants reporting a rise in house prices in March, up from 15 per cent in February.

In London, a lack of prospective buyers saw enquiries and the number of agreed sales both fall for the 11th consecutive month and 24 per cent more participants reported a decline in the number of new properties coming onto the market for sale.

Adviser view

ing for national advisory firm the Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “There is a severe lack of fresh properties coming onto the market, with current housebuilding levels failing to keep up with demand. If the imbalance between supply and demand is not addressed as a matter of priority, prices may be driven to levels that could see some first-time buyers with smaller deposits priced out of the housing market.”

OST Nigerians take the is sue of personal security for granted. As a result, they invest little or nothing to ensure the security of their homes and to some extent, their lives. But a security expert, Kunle Komolafe said no amount of money is too much to invest in securing one's life and property.

“Noamountofmoneyistoomuch to invest in your life and property.

Unfortunately, Nigerians are not security conscious. People take a lot of things for granted as anything here goes,” he said.

Kunle Komolafe is the Chief Executive Officer of K Square Security, an outfit originally set out to provide security at events venues.

With the growing security chal-

There are a lot of gadgets that can help guard the home in your absence

Lagos Project design firm listed for Global Architecture Award

By Kingsley Adegboye

T

HE architectural design of the National Information Technology Centre, owned by Galaxy Backbone Plc has been short listed as one of the project designs for the 2014 World Architecture News Award in the commercial category.

The building developed from conception by DesignGenre Consultants, a Lagos-based firm of architects, planners, urban and interior design consultants is among the 57 entries received in the commercial category of the yearly award, with the Information Technology Centre project selected among the best six from 17 entries under the ‘Future Projects’ group.

Mr. Anthony Okoye, Managing Director of DesignGenre Consultants while commenting on his company's nomination for the prestigious award said, “In designing the National Information Technology Centre, Abuja, the company desired to create a purpose-built edifice to function as the technological and business hub as well as provide suitable offices for the National Information Technology Centre”.

According to Okoye, the World Architecture News commercial Award (WAN), is regarded as the largest international Architecture awards programme as well as a major international competition that celebrates and promotes the best in international architecture for commercial use including offices, retails structure, hotels or C M Y K

tourism resorts among others. He added that it attracts entries from all over the world, pointing out that his firm to be short listed among many great designs is indeed a great achievement for the project.

The building which is located along Kur Mohammed Way in the Central Business District of Abuja on a 18,962.73sqm rectangular site is where the Network Operating Centre (NOC) of Galaxy Backbone Plc including a dish farm is situated.

Minimum disruption DesignGenre Consultants boss who disclosed that the building was meant to be designed around the NOC with minimum disruption to the existing facilities, noted that part of the requirements of the project was to make provision for rental offices, offices for Galaxy Backbone staff, data storage centre among other facilities.

Mr. John-Cross Okafor, Project Architect, DesignGenre, explained that his firm was able to blend the intricate project into a seamless flow of structures which impressed the World Architecture News Award panel.

“The building with a total area of 18,962.73sqm comprises three arms. That is, the rental offices comprising seven floors including the ground floor plus two levels of basement, offices for Galaxy Backbone made up of eight

floors including the ground floor plus two levels of basement and the data centre which has six floors comprising four floors of data storage plus the ground floor for offices while the 6th floor is for restaurant, relaxation spot and two levels of basement below.

“The Galaxy Backbone offices are connected to the rental offices via a link bridge on two levels at the fourth and fifth floors supported by steel beams within a span of approximately 18.6m while the data centre and Galaxy Backbone offices are connected with link bridges which serve as the conference /meeting rooms on the fifth and sixth floors and are being separated by a courtyard of approximately 215sqm to allow for stack effect”, Okafor said.

The design also includes the creation of courtyard to enhance stack effect and provide shade, aluminum louvres to act as sun breakers

A critical challenge for the project was to have the existing structure built without interfering with the existing Network Operating centre and Dish farm, Okafor said, adding that the firm had to develop a form for the building and the road network that will wrap around the structures with walkways connecting them to the proposed building.

“A series of helical rings was designed around the Centre to give it a 'techish' feel and the Dish farm reorganized both of which now serve as landscaping elements within the site. He further explained that the form was inspired by the site’s rectangular form and slope and the need to express inter-connectivity as a critical component of network which represents part of the Centre’s image.

Part of the sustainability principles adopted for the project, according to him, includes deep roof overhang to provide shade, solar panels over the roof to supply energy to offices and to power pumps for water circulation, emergency, external and night lights, and water heating system.

“The design also includes the creation of courtyard to enhance stack effect and provide shade, aluminum louvres to act as sun breakers, recessed windows for solar shading while also incorporating green building elements such that green roof was provided over the link bridges to act as aesthetic improvement and cool the interior spaces among others”, the project architect

lenges in the country, K Square Security now provides diverse services to a large clientele which includes blue chip companies, seminars, workshops, weddings, even sporting events.

The company which opened its newly completed corporate headquarters in Mushin, Lagos at the weekend is yet again adding personal and home security to its growing profile. “We are going into this with a view to transferring our success in events management to the homes of our various clients,” he said.

At a media briefing last week in his office, he held his listeners spell bound with lectures on how to secure the home even in owner's absence. “There are a lot of gadgets that can help guard the home in your absence,” he started. “The latest form of security is technology based and you don't need the physical presence of a security personnel to secure your home. You have the access control gadget, burglary alarm, the CCTV among other gadgets that can be installed in a home. These are not very expensive gadgets. And they are very effective mechanisms of checking intruders into one's properties.”

Komolafe who said his company has been operating for over a decade advised Nigerians to help the police by helping themselves. “Personal security starts with the individual. If you are security conscious, you will ensure your doors are locked before you go to bed or before you go out. If you leave them open, then you are inviting a thief and when it happens you call the police.”

He said his company not only provides service but also provides training to personnel of other organisations. “We have highly trained personnel who train and retrain security operatives. This is an area we don't joke with. When one is employed here, he undergoes a lot of orientation and training. We also have a well equipped gym which our personnel use to build up their physical appearances and enhance their fitness level.”

It was hard to understand why a securitycompanyshouldbelocated in Mushin, a volatile, hot bed for criminals. Komolafe has an explanation.

Komolafe

Vanguard, TUESDAY TUESDAY,, APRIL 28, 2015 — 31

C M Y K

32—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

Chinese envoy thumbs up for CIG on GAC cars T

HE GAC brand of automobiles, distributed in Nigeria by CIG Motors has been described as high quality automobiles, which can stand the test of time anywhere in the world.

Kan Liu, Consul General, Chinese Embassy in Lagos made this known when he paid a visit to the CIG Motors office in Victoria Island, Lagos. He was received by the Executive Director CIG Motors, Mr George Ejike Francis, Administrative Director of CIG Motors, Mr Felix Lee, and GAC Regional Sales Manager, Africa International Business Division, Mr. Simon He. According to the Consul General, Nigerians will enjoy the high technology and other feature offered by the GAC brand, which is among the leading auto brands in China. He explained that the brand is very known in China because of its quality and beautiful designs, adding that it will offer Nigeria a

From left: Mr. George Ejike Francis, Executive Director CIG Motors; Kan Liu, Consul General of the People Republic of China in Lagos, and Mr. Felix Lee, Administrative Director, CIG Motor at CIG Motors, Victoria Island, Lagos. wide range of choice of cars to select from.

Kan, who commended the Nigerian government on its new auto policy, said though he does not know the details of the policy, it would help develop the Nigerian auto industry.

China, he said, would like to be part of the development of the Nigerian auto industry by sharing its technology with the Nigerian people. He also advised CIG motors representative of GAC in Nigeria to be good

ambassadors of China with its products and services.

The envoy noted “CIG is very famous and well known in China with its excellent products and services. There is no doubt they will abide by the laws of the land. CIG will

develop the Chinese spirit and get along well with Nigerians to develop the Nigerian auto sector.,”.

Also speaking on their brand, Mr. Ejike assured that CIG will make the GAC brand a household name in Nigeria by

offering excellent after sales services to customers.

According to him, part of their plan to take the brand to the next level, is the setting up of an auto assembly plant in the country to produce both the saloon and sport utility vehicles models of GAC vehicles. CIG Motors market the GAC motor, Trumpchi GS5 Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) which looks like the Lexus RX 350 SUV and the GA3 sport saloon car with outstanding design.

Also speaking at the occasion, Mr Lee said GAC position as a leading Chinese brand was demonstrated at the North America Auto show where the GAC was the only Chinese brand to take part in the show. He disclosed that the commendations at the show, where it competed with other world class products from Europe, Japan, Korea and America sent a signal to the world that GAC is the brand to watch.

Fashola to flag off 10th Lagos Motor Show, auto parts expo, Thursday •Over 100 participants showcase

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OVERNOR Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, of Lagos State is expected to lead other dignitaries from the public and private sectors to declare open the 10th edition of the Lagos Motor Fair & 4th Autoparts Expo Nigeria. The Fair which kicks off on Thursday, at the Federal Palace Hotel, Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos, will parade over 100 companies from Nigeria and abroad.

Disclosing this during a media briefing, Mr. Ifeanyichukwu AgwuChairman of the Organising Committee of the Fair said that the event, which is organized by BKG Exhibitions Limited and SENEXPO International Fairs Inc of Istanbul, Turkey underscores the seriousness of the Lagos State Government in encouraging and supporting all good efforts geared towards developing the automotive industry in Nigeria.

Mr. Agwu, who is also the Managing Director of BKG Exhibitions Limited, C M Y K

noted that the presence of the State government will go a long way in reinforcing the aims and objectives of the show which is fast tracking the development of the automotive sector of in Nigeria. His presence according to the Managing Director would give the needed encouragement and boost to existing and potential investors in the industry.

According to the head of the organizing committee, the Lagos Motor Fair remains the unparalleled gathering of established auto brands as well as new entrants, ranging from passenger, cars, trucks, buses, spare parts, accessories, lubricants, to financials. He added that the importance of continuously staging the show cannot be overemphasized as all hands must be on deck to promote and support investments in the sector, as it occupies a strategic position in enhancing the economic development of Nigeria” Mr. Agwu revealed, “As part of our efforts in

•Gov. Fashola promoting investment into the automotive sector, all strategies have been deployed to ensure that the fair, more than ever before, receives the needed attention from participants, institutional, trade, professional and individual buyers as well as visitors. Continuing, he said, we have packaged a show that could effectively be used by the participants and visitors to maximize the benefits derivable from the fair. This edition will bring out all the potentials and investment opportunities that abound

in the Nigerian automobile industry, which we know are very attractive so that the existing and potential stakeholders will utilise the opportunities offered by Lagos Motor Fair to get the best”.

Strategically, just like in the past three editions, we are laying emphasis on the Spare Parts sector in this edition.

This is as a result of our

Strategically, just like in the past three editions, we are laying emphasis on the Spare Parts sector in this edition

guided intention to enhance the development of cottage industries in the spare parts sub-sector of the automotive business sector of the economy with the attendant multiplier effects on the economy of the nation. Our target is to attract many reputable Original Equipment Manufacturers of Spare Parts from across the globe to participate in this edition as well as in subsequent ones.

“In conjunction with our foreign partners: SENEXPO International Fairs Inc of Turkey, we have reached out to many of such companies and happily the response has been tremendous and we are expecting over 60 of them. Our intention in bringing them to Lagos which is the hub of automotive business in West Africa is to enable Nigerians and neighbouring West Africans engaged in auto spare business work out rewarding and lasting business relationships with the main companies engaged in the manufacture of auto spare

parts,”he said.

These relationships which can come in the form of sole agencies, distributorship, manufacturers’ representatives amongst others will ultimately boost their businesses. It would save them the troubles of going abroad to seal such business deals and most importantly it will bring these foreign companies into the country, resulting in increased activities in the sector, more productions and increased products lines and qualities; which will in both the short and long runs rub off positively on the sector.

Virtually all the major brands of automobiles, spare parts, accessories, lubricants, banking, insurance, regulatory and policy making agencies and bodies are taking part.

Feelers from most of the participating firms indicate that visitors to the various stands will enjoy lots of goodies. Some have packaged gift items, lucky dips and many other forms of entertainments which according to sources will last all through the fair.

AGEND A GENDA A MISSING LINK ROAD: 11 villages abandoned by gov, reps, minister

PAGES 6

PODIUM… MAY 29 HANDOVER When kidney patients lament Uduaghan’s exit PAGE 8

VOL. 1: NO. 447 7

TUESD AY, APRIL 28, 20 15 TUESDA 201

Pirates take over Akwa Ibom waterways *Demand N300,000 to N350,000 protection fees *Marine Police protect only Mobil installations, says fisherman

Fishing settlement, Ibeno.

By Chioma Onuegbu

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Seashore at Iwuokpom village.

C M Y K

WUOKPOM—FOR seven months running, sea bandits have been on the prowl in the waterways of Ibeno Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, attacking fishermen, impounding their equipment, including speedboats and collecting huge ransoms for the release of the confiscated items with Police and Navy unable to come to their rescue.

While the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Gabriel Achong, said there was a limit policemen could go on the high sea, a top Navy official said the personnel were not equipped to fight sea robbers.

Investigations revealed that the incessant attacks have forced many fishermen to quit fishing in the area.

The embattled fishermen, who spoke to Niger Delta Voice at Iwuokpom and other affected communities, appealed to

government and relevant security agencies to come to their rescue, saying the attacks have brought untold suffering on them and their families for the last eight months.

Fishermen now idle One of them, Mr. Udeme Okon, said: “We have met with our community heads and have reported the matter to government. They said they will do something, but nothing has been done.

No reply from them.

“The pirates do not allow us to go into the water to fish and if you go, they will attack you and collect your engine. This has been going on since September, last year. ”You can see so many people here staying idle; their boats are there lying idle because they are afraid to go to the high sea. Fishing is what we do to earn a living, but we cannot do anything because of the pirates.

“Because government is not doing anything to stop this, the pirates keep worrying us. They not only seize our speedboat engines and other fishing equipment, they also ask for money.

“You can see that we are not happy because we cannot fish to get money with which we can feed our family. And it is getting worse every day.”

Another fisherman, who declined to reveal his identity, said: “Since they (pirates) seized my fishing boat and equipment, I have been broke and suffering too much. I do not have money to give to them. The Maritime Police are here, but they are only protecting Mobil installations.”

He disclosed that the pirates usually attack in the morning when they know that fishermen would go fishing, adding, “we do not really know which particular place they come from because some of them speak Ijaw, some Yoruba and even Ibo. “They always go with 70 horse power, double engine speed boats, and sometimes five of them will be inside one boat, all equipped with weapons.”

The Village Head of Iwuokpom, Obong Sunday Akpanowong, explained that the lingering situation had affected the prize of fish in the area, even as he expressed disappointment over failure of government and relevant security agencies to address the lingering

Continues on Page 7

2 — Niger Delta Voice, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

AKWA IBOM...

LAND OF PROMISE

By Tom Moses

I

KOT EKWERE ITAM—THE people of Ikot Ekwere Itam, an agrarian and business community in Itu Local Government Area of Akwa-Ibom State have cried out over the lack of access road and appalling road network in the community.

Community leader, Chief Enang Udo, who spoke with the Niger Delta Voice, lamented that during the rains, the community was always waterlogged, thereby impairing mobility.

Govt snub appeals Chief Udo said the neglect of the community in the provision of road infrastructure and even the repair of the existing roads were becoming perennial, as previous and successive administrations at the state and local government levels, ignored the appeals to come to the aid of the community.

He said the village council had sent Save Our Souls (SOS) to the state government and other relevant agencies, but got no response from them. ”As a consequence of the perceived neglect of the area by the government and the relevant agencies, the lives of the indigenes and the residents alike have become gloomy.

“Churches population and enrolment in schools in the community have been on a steady decline because of inaccessibility and poor state of the existing roads.

“More so, businesses in our community have been seriously hampered due to the inability of vehicles to access the community with goods or come in and purchase farm produce from the community.”

Urgent call to Akpabio Even as the administration of Governor Godswill Akpabio is winding down, Chief Udoh implored him to take remedial action to ameliorate the sufferings of the people before full rain sets in.

Pastor Aniete Ukpe, Chief Press Secretary and Special Assistant to Governor Godswill Akpabio of Media, expressed the impracticality of one administration fixing all the roads in a state and equally addressing other developmental challenges of the people “The fact is that man thinks in comparative terms. You are tall if everybody around you is shorter than you and you are short if everybody around you is taller than you.

“For you to understand the road situation in Akwa-Ibom State, you need to compare what is happening in Akwa-Ibom State with what is happening in other states, then, you will understand that what is happening in Akwa-Ibom state is exceptional.”

C M Y K

IKOT EKWERE ITAM: Rainy seasons scare this Akwa Ibom community Record-breaking performance Ukpe said, “You need to also find out how many roads were tarred before the present administration came in and how many have been tarred by the present administration.

You also need to know that one

government cannot tar all the roads in a particular state.

“So, government does what it can, given available resources and in this particular case, the administration of Chief Godswill Akpabio has broken records in the tarring of roads in Akwa-Ibom State

and if we have one or two roads that are not good, that is what the next administration can handle.

“That is why we are concerned about the succeeding administrations sustaining the momentum of development so that if they

keep doing what the present administration has done, then, we will have fewer bad roads in the state.

“Within Uyo, the state’s capital, it is rare to see bad roads, not that they do not exist but there are few, very, very few.”

A section of Ikot Ekwere Itam Road.

Toxicologists raise alarm over pollutants in N-Delta communities RIVERS… THE TREASURE BASE OF THE NATION

By Davies Iheamnachor

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ORT HARCOURT— TOXICOLOGISTS have advised residents of oil-bearing communities in the Niger-Delta to live with caution to ward off strange deaths and sicknesses caused by dangerous toxins deposited in their environment by oil companies in the course of oil exploration activities.

Some of the toxicologists, who spoke to Niger-Delta Voice at the 4th International Conference of the West African Society of Toxicology, said many Niger Delta communities were prone to unsafe toxins.

Toxicologist and a senior lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt, Prof Roseline Konya, said Ogoni communities were very susceptible to the precarious toxins.

Ogoni very vulnerable Konya, a former Commissioner in Rivers state, said, “There are several toxins that come from oil exploration activities that devastate the environment.

“The chemicals inappropriately disposed into the environment have an irreversible effect and Ogoni communities are disposed to this.

“There is lack of sound chemical management in Rivers state, especially Ogoniland. Oil management is taken for granted. As oil creates jobs, so also it has caused pollution by throwing toxic material into the environment.”

How to win pollution battle “The fight against of oil pollution cannot be won except toxicologists are actively involved, they develop safer chemicals that will control pollution,” she added.

According to her, “Toxicologists are not supposed to come into work when the

damage has been done to the environment, rather they should be actively involved to work alongside the oil explorers so that all chemical wastes would be handled appropriately.”

“Several harmful chemical go into the environment on exploration. I encourage the toxicologists to be proactive. If we do not do something now, soon our waters may become lifeless.”

Plant more trees “I advice the people of the state and Ogoni to plant more trees in the environment, it helps in redeeming the environment. I also propose a collaboration of the scientists and toxicologists,” she said.

Buhari should implement UNEP report Mr. Cletus Lee from Gokhana local government in Ogoni, said the oil deposits have done a lot of harm to the ecosystem in the area, adding, “Ogoni is highly polluted, our stream

water and fish are no longer safe for consumption.”

He called on the Presidentelect, Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to give quick attention to the implementation of the long abandoned UNEP report to enable the people have a better living and get rid of the dangerous toxins in the area.

THE TEAM Emma Amaize, Editor Jimitota Onoyume Samuel Oyadongha Simon Ebegbulem Gabriel Enogholase Festus Ahon Egufe Yafugborhi Emmanuel Una Akpokona Omafuaire Godwin Oghre Tom Moses Chioma Onuegbu Ike Uche Davies Iheamnachor Emem Idio Brisibe Perez Barnabas Uzosike Nath Onajoke Chijioke Nwankpa

Niger Delta Voice, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015—3

Delta monarch, ex-militant leaders counsel Okowa DELTA...

FINGER OF GOD

A

KWUKWU-IGBO— THE traditional ruler of Akwukwu-Igbo, Oshimili North Local Government Area, Delta State, HRM, Obi David Azuka, has charged the Governor-elect of the state, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, to integrate the Urhobo ethnic nationality in his government despite the voting pattern.

“He should ensure even spread of development projects in the three senatorial districts, it does not matter if he is from Anioma,” Obi Azuka told Niger Delta Voice.

The monarch said, “God has given Okowa victory, he is the choice of Anioma, he should be governor for all, he should show good example and not be partial. He should also

identify patriotic Urhobo leaders work with, not greedy ones.”

Meanwhile, some exmilitant leaders, among them, ”General” Augustine Ogedegbe, “General” Ezekiel Akpasibewei and “General” Aroni Oputu, all members of the Delta Waterways Security Committee, DWSC, Warri, have congratulated Senator Okowa and the deputy governor-elect, Barrister Kingsley Otuaro, on their victory.

Ogedegbe, one of the Urhobo politicians that stood behind Okowa before the polls said he was confident his tenure would benefit his people and urged him to lead by example.

Akpasibewei and Oputu prayed God to give the new governor and his deputy wisdom to discharge their duties effectively and take Delta to higher heights.

AKWA IBOM...

LAND OF PROMISE

By Tom Moses

O

Obi David Azuka.

Indigenous oil firm builds health centres, school in A-Ibom

One of the renovated schools.

AKWA IBOM...

LAND OF PROMISE

A

NAKPA—AN indigenous exploration and production company, Moni Pulo Limited, Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, has built and equipped two ultra-modern health centers at Anakpa and Adadia communities in Uruan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

The company also renovated and furnished a Comprehensive Secondary School in Idu community, where it has its OPL 231 concession, operated under a Product Sharing Contract, PSC, agreement with Nigeria National Production

Corporation, NNPC. Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, which held in Anakpa, Commissioner of Health in the state, Dr. Emem Bassey, commended Moni Pulo’s efforts in providing access to better healthcare and educational facilities to rural communities in the area.

He enjoined the chairman of Uruan local government to ensure that the facilities were staffed and put into good use immediately to alleviate the health concerns of the people of the area.

It’s part of our basic operations, says Lulu-Briggs Executive Vice Chairman of Moni Pulo Limited, Mrs. Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, said at the ceremony, “Corporate Social Responsibility is an integral part of operations in

LOW VOLTAGE We can't charge phones— Obong Itam residents

Moni Pulo Limited, the company always strives, in consultation with her host

communities to carry out identified sustainable development programmes that will leave positive impact on the lives of people in the community.”

Present at the commissioning ceremony were representatives of the Akwa Ibom State Ministries of Education, Environment & Mineral Resources, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), paramount ruler of Uruan.

Moni Pulo Limited is a national independent player in the upstream sector of the national oil and gas industry.

From inception, the company has been committed to leaving positive footprints in the communities in which it operates. This has motivated Moni Pulo to make significant,

BONG ITAM— RESIDENTS of Obong Itam in Itu Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, have complained of epileptic power supply to the community by Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHED. They said for the past three months, nobody could operate a fan or even charge a phone handset due to the low voltage supplied to the community.

Youth leader, Mr. Sylvester Effiong said: “We have complied with the payment of our electricity tariffs but we do not enjoy power in commensurate terms with our payments and not even our petitions to the authorities of the PHED have paid off.”

He urged PHED to restore full power supply to make the lives of the people more meaningful.

A worried native, Mr. Ini Ekpedeme, said: “The power supply to this community has been regular but the low voltage has made it completely inconsequential and in fact, useless.

“There has been improvement in electricity supply to Urua Ekpa Junction, Ntak Inyang, Odiok, Akon and the neighbouring communities but that of Obong Itam is embarrassing and very disturbing”, he noted.

Given the scenario, Ekpedeme said the business and economic lives of the people have nose-dived and dangerously skewed.

Efforts to speak with the officials of the PHED as at the time of filing this report were

Delta community alleges plot to kill leader

B

U R U T U — YAYOROGBENE, an Ijaw community in Burutu Local Government Area, Delta State, has petitioned the Commissioner of Police in the state over a purported plan by some leaders from a neighbouring community to murder its community leader, Comrade Austin Ozobo, over a land dispute.

The community in a letter, dated March 19, by its solicitor, Omemiroro Ogedegbe Esq, said Yayorogbene community was having a disagreement over the host rights of the operational area of Ten Oil Petroleum and Energy Services

in crude oil well, OPL 281, in Burutu local government area.

He said as soon as Ozobo, the national president of Ijaw People’s Development Initiative, IPDI, brought to public knowledge the fact that the land allegedly in dispute between Yayorogbene and Ekroogbene had long been settled by Burutu Customary Court, the suspects issued him a death threat on February 27.

The community said it thought the threat could be ignored, but its leader continued to get persistent calls from a MTN number, threatening to murder Ozobo because of his resolve to

defend his community.

According to the lawyer, the caller who had refused to disclose his identity vowed to locate the activist with a view of eliminating him wherever he could be found and that has prompted him to go into hiding.

He said that thugs and hired assassins have at the behest of the suspects have continued to trail his client so as to assassinate him.

Ogedegbe asserted the court dismissed suit number, BACC/ 02/2013, instituted by Ekorogbene community against Yayorogbene community and ordered the former to pay a damage of N20, 000 to the latter.

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4—Niger Delta Voice, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

DELTA...

FINGER OF GOD

By Emma Amaize

W

ARRI—OIL communities in Delta State are at “ war ” over a bill by the governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, to the Delta State House of Assembly, to streamline the operations of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC. The bill for a law to provide for the establishment of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Commission, Five Ethnic Nationalities Oil Producing Development Agencies, Five Ethnic Nationalities Producing Areas Investment Corporations and Other Matters Connected Therewith, will go for a second reading today.

However, the national leadership of Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas, HOSTCOM, led by Prince Maikpobi Okareme, is strongly opposed to the passage of the bill, which it described as a move to scrap DESOPADEC. Its position is sharply opposed by the state chapter of HOSTCOM, headed by Hon Benjamin Iwetan, which described Uduaghan’s move as patriotic.

DESOPADEC Bill splits Delta oil communities

Bill not scrap DESOPADEC—Ogeah Commissioner for Information in the state, Mr. Chike Ogeah, denied in an interview that Governor Uduaghan was planning to scrap DESOPADEC as insinuated by the national leadership of HOSTCOM, but a lawmaker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, asserted, “the governor wants to decentralize the operations of DESOPADEC with the bill, I see it as a selfish bill.”

We support the bill, Delta HOSTCOM Dismissing the allegation of selfish motive against the governor, Iwetan said in an April 24 letter to the Speaker, “ we have thoroughly studied the 29-page bill and hereby state that it is in consonance with our objectives, hopes and aspirations of the Oil and Gas Producing ethnic nationalities in the state.”

He said the Ika and Aniocha ethnic nationalities should be incorporated into DESOPADEC , its agencies and corporations, as envisioned by the governor since significant exploration and exploitation of oil and gas have begun in these areas “We also sue for proper and accurate assessment of oil and gas producing quantities in these areas.

“The above facts adumbrated, we are desirous of expeditious passage of the bill before the terminal date of the present administration so as to fast-track the C M Y K

Egbemene community.

development communities.”

of

the

National HOSTCOM kicks But, the national leadership of HOSTCOM, which first raised the alarm over the bill at a meeting in Effurun, Uvwie local government area, maintained that the plan of the state government was to collapse DESOPADEC. National Coordinator, Prince Okareme, told Niger Delta Voice shortly after the meeting that the action reportedly coming from Governor Uduaghan was borne out of ulterior motive against the common interests of DESOPADEC communities.

He said: “Even the sponsor of the bill knows that it is illconceived and so they are being very secretive about it just like they did with the political office holders’ pension bill. The bill has passed first reading and it is

not in public domain.

“For us, we can pre-empt that it aims at covering the dirty deals of DESOPADEC over the years.

“The new arrangement as contained in the bill takes funds accrued to the agency to reward a bloated board membership leaving peanuts for the core objective of developing the host communities.”

He said the body also presumed from the tone of the bill that it was aimed at preempting the judgement of the court in the suit by HOSTCOM against the state government in respect of outstanding N230 billion accrued to communities through DESOPADEC in the past eight years of the current administration.

According to him, ”the funds

being appropriated by DESOPADEC as commission belong to the oil producing/ impacted communities and not the Delta State Government, hence it cannot be scrapped without their consent.

“The present action of the state government could be likened to someone that wants to shave another person’s hair in his absence.”

Don’t disrupt peace in N-Delta, Bishop Okah tells ex-agitators

W

ARRI—BISHOP of Flock of Christ Mission International, Enerhen, War ri, Delta State, Rev Simeon Okah, has called on the people of Niger-Delta, especially ex-agitators, not to destroy the existing peace in the region.

Bishop Okah in a

congratulatory message to the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) said his election was the will of God and urged Nigerians to cooperate with him.

His words: “To our people in Delta state and all NigerDelta people, let us consolidate on the gains we

have made, let us not destroy what we have achieved.

“Let us follow the good example of President Goodluck Jonathan, let us accept and cooperate with the new administration and accept the will of God as Christians and law abiding citizens of the country.”

Niger Delta Voice, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015—5

In Edo, the dead are sent off in style

By Simon Ebegbulem

I

LULEHA—AT Iluleha community, Uzebba, Owan West Local Government, Niger Delta Voice found out, last week, that the villagers have a unique tradition of shepherding a deceased kinsman to the land of the dead.

It was at the interment ceremony of 98-year-old Odionwere (oldest man) of Aghoenlokhua, High Chief John Ihonvbere, father of the Secretary to State Government, SSG, Edo State, Professor Julius Ihonvbere.

In his lifetime, the elder Ihonvbere was supposed to be in-charge of the community’s deity, but because of his Christian faith, he saddled someone else with the responsibility.

Circle around corpse After the lying-in-state in his compound at Ukhuse-Osi, it was observed that a ring was formed around him by his children and other kinsmen.

Prof Ihonvbere, the Iyasele (Prime Minister of Iluleha), who sat with others around the corpse gisting animatedly throughout the night, told Niger Delta Voice that it was the tradition: “We do not want our father to be without a friend where he is, particularly when he was a High Chief.”

Isolation in the land of the dead On why they sat so close to the casket as if guarding the remains from intruders, he said: “The children and I have to keep him company; making a lot of noise just to keep him company so he will not be lonely.

“And one of the reasons we are burying him in the house is because my mother insisted that going to build a tomb outside no matter how well decorated is still outside his house— he will be lonely.

“But when he is inside the house, he will feel the aura and the presence of people around him. It may be superstition but I saw reason with her when she insisted.

“We had space so we did it inside the house. I was close to my father, all the children were close to him and whether alive or in death, we remain close to him.”

Bead for the dead On the bead he put round his deceased father neck, he said: “When we went to the mortuary, his bead was not there, they

Map of Edo State

did not bring it from the house.

So after we laid him in state, I had to get the bead, opened the casket and put it on his head because he is a High Chief and will be so recognized.”

Christianity vs tradition ”My father was a devoted Christian; he was a foundation member of Saint Paul’s Anglican Church, lluleha.

“Though a High Chief and the Odionwere, which puts him in-charge of the community deity, he had somebody who took charge of that for him, so he was not the one going there to do the sacrifice. He could not have done that because he was the oldest man in the community.” Professor Ihonvbere explained that the chiefs and

Families come together and gather round the coffin of the deceased to show love. Apart from that, the deceased is a man of the people and somebody you will not wish death on at all

elders of the community granted him a special permission to give his father a full Christian burial and there was no fetish practice attached to it.

His words: “Now the chiefs and elders have agreed that I should give him a full Christian burial, there is no traditional thing so far. May be when we are through with the Christian burial, we will then host the chiefs and they will give their own special prayers for the repose of his soul.

“It became easy for me to get the permission because the Okumagbe (King) is a full Christian so it was a very easy thing to sync into his own system.

“He has directed all the chiefs to be there. The Chiefs in Uzebba here insisted we must bring him home, which we did and thereafter they told us to take him for burial.”

Explaining how his Christian father was able to cope being a traditionalist and a Christian, he said: “It is a very difficult mixture.

“My father was able to play the two because he was a very quiet and well-liked person. He did not go out to seek for the Odionwereship. It was imposed on him by age.

“I do believe that if you are a Christian, it is very difficult for you at the same time to hold a deep traditional title. If it is this regular chieftaincy they give people, that means nothing.

But when you are a traditional chief, sometimes it is very complicated.

“It is not as if they do human sacrifices. They can just say ‘oh,

Professor Ihonvbere circling his father's corpse. bring a goat, chicken and few things for the gods.’

“But beyond that, nothing serious. But they have not asked me for any of those things, but I know it will come.

I think they just want to allow me finish with the Christian burial, and later, that can be done. “But it is not like a cult.

It does not need any human parts. They will do what they need to do according to tradition.”

It’s our tradition—Okun Acting Chairman of Owan West Local Government Area, Mr. Reginald Aideloje Okun, who spoke to Niger Delta Voice during the burial, noted that it is the tradition of the community to show love to the deceased before the actual burial, so that the spirit of the departed would be happy where he or she is.

According to him, “families come together and gather round the coffin of the deceased to show love. Apart from that, the deceased is a man of the people and somebody you will not wish death on at all.

“He was a very calm and happy person. As a high chief he carried people along. He brought the people together

and brought peace to the community.

“Nothing bothered him; he was just like the professor, his son: very calm and intelligent.

So when the family members stayed around his coffins till midnight, it is our tradition.

“The only thing that changed a bit was the church burial given to him. Though, I am aware that chiefs have their own style of burial, but professor preferred the church burial, which was approved by the chiefs. “You know that Christianity has changed a lot of things in our society, particularly when the high chief himself was a devoted Christian.

“But one good thing is that no tribe forgets its tradition. But the issue of making rituals has been eliminated in many ways and that was why the high chief was able to handle the responsibility given to him before he departed despite his Christian background.

“You could see that even the elders, who are supposed to oppose the Christian burial, have all converted to Christianity and it is good for us to avoid unnecessary rancour when burying a high profile chief like this.”

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6—Niger Delta Voice, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

AGENDA

A MISSING LINK ROAD: 11 villages abandoned by gov, reps, minister

By Ike Uchechukwu

I

KOT EDEM UDO—THE people of Ikot Edem Odo community, comprising 11 villages in Akpabuyo Local Government Area, Cross River State, routinely cut off from other parts of the state by flood and bad road, during the rainy season, are sad that Governor Liyel Imoke failed to construct a link road to the agricultural area, a month to his exit from power.

They also regretted that their elected representatives and prominent indigenes, including a minister, did little to alleviate the plight of the people.

The Village Head, Chief Patrick Eyo, who spoke with Niger Delta Voice, said the community wrote several times to the state government to come to their aid by building a link road to enable them go about their daily business, even in the rainy season, but their request was ignored.

He said: “We are just lucky and fortunate that the rain has been inconsistent this year, otherwise life would have been really difficult for my people.

“This road (College Road) that you are looking at is the only road that we have apart from the stretch that was constructed to the link community from the junction.

“In spite of prominent people from this community, nothing has changed.

We even have a minister and other top people, yet it looks like the government has forgotten us totally.”

Abandone borehole house..

College Road, the only road.

Abandoned by contractor.

Filling potholes, clearing bush paths

He told Niger Delta Voice that the people set every Tuesday of the week aside for sanitation and maintenance day, as their contribution in making sure that they fill the pot holes on the road and also clears the bush paths.

He said: “It will interest you to know that every village also works for three days of the week to ensure this routine is sustained.

“This means that out of five working days in a week, we only have two for ourselves because the remaining three is for our community and village, and despite this, the road is still as bad as it is.”

Chief Patrick Eyo.

‘Contractor collected money, vamoosed’

His words: “We have three public boreholes in this community but only one is functional. The second one attracted by Essien Ayi developed fault for more than six years and the amount needed to fix it is very huge and the community cannot afford to handle it alone.

“Despite our prayers to some of our representatives to help us, nothing has been done. All the politicians that came kept making promises, but the place has been overgrown by weed.”

Chief Eyo further revealed to Niger Delta Voice that the third one, which was supposed to serve the maternity, was never commissioned.

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Taps that never completed.

He added: “What you see there is just a monument that has never worked for one day. The contractor just collected all his money and abandoned the project because they feel we are bush people who cannot do anything.”

H e , h o w e v e r, appealed to government at all levels to come to their aid by constructing a link road this year, to make life easy for the people.

Another indigene, Chief Chris Effiom, explained that almost all the basic amenities in the community were not functional.

He said: ”Our major problem here is link road. It is almost impossible to come out from this community when it rains because of flood and bad road.

Taking our farm produce to the market is very difficult.

“Please, they should come and help us. The people of Ikot Edem Odo

voted during the elections; we are law abiding and we carry out our civic responsibilities at all times. So we should also benefit from government.”

Chief Effiom noted that from Ikot Edem Udo to Ikon, Ikot Obot, Ikot Effiom Essien, Idere and Esuk Mba, there is no link road anymore and that it was telling on the the people and effecting farmers negatively, who could not transport their farm produce because of impassable roads.

Niger Delta Voice, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015—7

Pirates take over Akwa Ibom waterways Continues from Page 1 problem despite several appeals from the community.

*Fishermen protest; Police, Navy helpless

Cost of fish soars

He said: “Before now, fish was sold for N800 per kilogramme, but presently it has gone up to N1,400 per kilogramme. So we are very worried with the situation we are facing here. Our major occupation in this area as a community is fishing.

“Any other tribe that comes to Ibeno is for fishing because apart from ExxonMobil jobs, which are white collar work for professionals, fishing business is the only job in Ibeno.”

“It is one business that has really benefited the poor. It is the last hope of the common man here, so when fishing is good the people are happy. If you come here, they will dash you fish.

“However, today, I am sad to tell the whole world that the people here are not happy because there is no peace here due to the pirate attacks.

“The entire life of the fishermen lies on the fishing business. It is the only source of money to train their children, to feed, to build house, and to clothe themselves.”

Pirates collect protection fee

Obong Akpanowong revealed that “today they are not happy because for you to go to sea you must pay up to N300,000 to the pirates.

“In fact, they will send a letter to you, that if you do not send N300,000 or N350,000 to them, you are sure of losing up to eight outboard engines of 40 horsepower, which cost almost one million naira.

“They will seize every other engine that they will come across. They will call you, if it suits them, to come with a ransom of N300,000 to N500,000 to collect it.

“Some times, you will not see the engines again. And this money has to be paid monthly to them.”

Fishing equipment lying idle. hands of pirates.

“Mobil has gunboats all over but will never allow their security to move out from their field to rescue any community over this issue of pirates.”

Navy, police can’t help

I abandoned fishing

According to him, “after experiencing it, when they collected my own engine in 2002, right from then, I refused going to fish because it means fishing for people that cannot tell you thank you. So the life here is ridiculous to fishermen.

We are not at peace.

“They are at the high sea with all sorts of ammunition to attack you and seize your property and if you argue with them, what they do is to cut you down.

“If you go to the coast, you will see the number of abandoned boats, because nobody wants to go to sea

Obong Okon Akpanowong, Village Head. again.

“Akwa Ibom State government has not said anything about that. I mean putting this appeal into action, so that this people can stay away from attacking innocent fishermen.”

Fishermen protest

According to him, “on the

23rd of last month, the entire community came to my house: all the fishermen numbering 200.

“They planned to block Mobil, cause traffic gridlock, asking why government should be protecting the property and interest of Mobil only and leave the people living in the surroundings to suffer in the

He added: “The Navy is here at the jetty, as well as the Marine Police and they said they cannot do anything because they are not equipped.

So with this situation, we do not know what to do next; that is why we are appealing.

“Last December, one gunboat came in and stayed only about two days and went away. They said that they could not continue because they do not have logistics to stay.

“I am not happy seeing this kind of thing happen in my own time as a Village Head. I am, on behalf of the entire communities in Ibeno, calling on government to take action because if no action is taken to drive these people away, the number of criminals will increase in this area.

“For the past seven months, we have not had rest over this.

As a community, we have continued to ensure peace.

“We make sure nobody vandalize pipelines and even when the community has grievance with ExxonMobil, our approach is usually peaceful, and so, why is it that government cannot appreciate us? It is not fair.

“We are telling the government to do something to secure the lives of the people, to encourage the fishermen.

“Unfortunately, our representatives in government are not doing anything to draw government attention to the situation here.”

We’ve limitation —Police Chief

Contacted, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Gabriel Achong, said: “The Marine Police have a limitation to where they can go into the high sea.

“The rests is for the Navy and I assure you that we are working hand in hand with the Navy to see how we can curb the situation.”

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8—Niger Delta Voice, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

PODIUM…

MAY 29 HANDOVER When kidney patients lament Uduaghan’s exit O

GHARA—PATIENTS at various stages of dialysis and kidney transplant in Delta State are finding it difficult to hold back their emotions, as their chief source of hope and sponsor, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, prepares to vacate office next month.

The cause of their expression of grief is not far-fetched. Uduaghan, a medical doctor, has been subsidizing whatever amount it was costing them in their battle for survival from kidney failure by 75 percent. They have actually been undergoing dialysis every two or three days or weekly, depending on the gravity of the deadly ailment because of the governor’s support.

By the extraordinary gesture, most of the kidney/dialysis patients, who could not have afforded the heavy cost of treatment and probably might have died, are still very alive and kicking fine.

Because of this, they believe they owe the governor a million thanks and would want him to continue in office.

Whether the incoming government, also to be piloted by a medical doctor, Dr Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, will continue the epoch-making gesture of his predecessor, the patients do not know.

Uduaghan has led operations for kidney transplant at Delta State University Teaching Hospital, DESUTH, Oghara, which has become a reference hospital for dialysis and kidney patients in the state and beyond because of its sophisticated equipment.

The hospital is said to have welltrained medical doctors and personnel shepherded by the Medical Director and expert in kidney treatment, Dr. Leslie Akporaye. Uduaghan has also ensured that experts from Dallas in the United States are occasionally on ground to assist the medical crew of the hospital.

In this way, intellectual property is transferred from the developed world to Nigeria for the treatment of the deadly disease.

He really touched lives—Mrs. Uhawha

50-year-old Mrs Martha Uhawha, a mother of five children, who recently donated one of her kidneys to her first son, Joseph Oghenetega Uhawha, told Niger Delta Voice at the premises of the hospital: “The governor has really touched the lives of Deltans, particularly mothers of child-bearing age and kidney/dialysis patients.

“He is subsidizing their medical care by 75 percent, making them to easily access the health care facilities in the state. I pray for the governor every morning; he is my role model. I even pray for him first before praying for myself and members of my family. I do that every morning.”

I would have died —Joseph

Joseph, who corroborated his mother’s statement, said: “There are no words to describe Governor Uduaghan. He is a humanitarian by all standards. He has helped many people with his maternal care and kidney disease treatment policies.

“So many people would have been dead if not for the good gesture of the governor. I would have probably been

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*But for Gov Uduaghan, I would be dead— JOSEPH UHAWHA *He put laughter in my mouths; husband refused to donate kidney—MRS ALERO DUVIE

Dr. Rekevwe Ugwumba, Special Adviser to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan on Health Monitoring (middle), flanked by Mrs Alero Duvie (left) and Mr. Joseph Uhawha, beneficiaries of kidney transplant.

Dr. Leslie Akporaye, DESUTH MD. dead if not for the governor.

“He has tried for me and my family. If it were possible, we would request that he remains in office for life. When I was receiving treatment, he personally gave me injections.”

Joseph, however, implored the governor to continue to support those who have been treated and are now healthy, but still have to be taking their drugs throughout their life time.

His words: “Those of us who have been discharged from the hospital still have to be taking our drugs. These drugs cost so much money, about seven thousand naira everyday and that is approximately N200, 000 every month.

“If you fail to take your drug for a short space of time, the disease which you have just been treated of can return. So you cannot avoid your drugs, as you can still die if you do.”

Delta, lucky to have him—Mrs. Duvie

Another kidney patient, Mrs Alero Duvie, aged 55, said she was diagnosed of the deadly ailment sometime in May, 2013. In her case, she initially found it difficult to get a donor.

Mr. Uhawha (right) and his mother, who donated a kidney for him.

Her husband, whose kidneys were in a state of perfect match and who earlier accepted to donate for her, later refused when his extended family advised him against donating his kidney to his wife.

Mrs Duvie was left to her fate till her last born, a male child, aged 20 years, offered to donate his kidney to her, adding.

“After the transplanting, my son is still hale hearty and I am now hale and hearty. Both of us are alive, hale and hearty.”

Mrs Duvie, who frequents DESUTH for her medication, said: “Delta State is lucky to have someone like Uduaghan, a surgeon, as its governor. He has put smiles on our faces. He is subsidizing our treatments and even the drugs at 75 percent.”

It all make Gov Uduaghan happy— Ugwunba

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Health Monitoring, Dr. (Mrs) Rukevwe Ugwunba, who spoke in an interactive session with newsmen, said: “The governor and the doctors will ever be grateful to God, who has used them to sustain the lives of the patients.

“Attending to all the patients at the same time is actually tasking. However, since we know we are saving the lives we have to go to extra miles. ”Sometimes, we are called upon during odd hours; we just have to make ourselves available. Ours is to ensure that the health care programme of the governor reaches everyone without discrimination. The governor is happy doing this.”

Intellectual property transfer

She said: “His Excellency, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, has gone further into transferring intellectual property from Dallas, in America, to this hospital and you can see that certain medical treatment and surgical operations, which were initially referred to Appollo Hospital in India are now been handled here in Oghara.”

Medical Director, Dr. Akporaye, said Dr. Uduaghan, indeed, transformed the facility to a model comparable to what obtains in the developed world.

He said: “Oghara Teaching Hospital is a place to reckon with. It has the stateof-the-art facility. Delta State is a lucky state.”

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 — 33

By Theodore Opara

All new Ford F-150 truck has it all T

HE all-new 2015 Ford F-150 delivers an impressive combination of power, capability and efficiency.

“F-150 is well-known for being Built Ford Tough.

Now, it is both tough and smart,” said Mark Fields, Ford Motor Company President and CEO. “The all-new F-150 redefines the future of trucks, and it is yet another example of our One Ford plan to produce vehicles that serve customers with a commitment to the very best quality, fuel efficiency, safety, smart design and value.”

F-150 is part of the Ford F-Series truck lineup, America’s best-selling truck for 37 consecutive years and America’s bestselling vehicle for 32 years.

“We have a unique connection with our customers,” said Rob Johnston, Regional Manager Sales and AfterSales, Ford Sub-Saharan Africa. “Time and again, F150 has delivered the tougher, smarter features they want, along with the capabilities they need for work or play. We build our trucks to their high standards.”

Design of backbone In designing the backbone of the F-150, Ford engineers improved the truck’s signature fully boxed ladder frame. It is all-new with more highstrength steel than ever – making it stronger and lighter. High-strength, military-grade, aluminum alloys – already used in aerospace – are used throughout the F-150 body for the first time, improving dent and ding resistance and saving weight.

Overall, up to 318kg of weight has been saved, helping F-150 tow more, haul more, accelerate quicker and stop shorter, and contributing to efficiency.

“More than ever before, customers want a truck that is a dependable partner, mobile office and a goanywhere workshop,” said Raj Nair, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development. “To meet the needs of our truck customers, we created smart new features and a C M Y K

whole new approach to using advanced materials and engines to improve capability and efficiency.”

Even tougher The all-new F-150 has been torture-tested in labs, at Ford proving grounds and in the hands of some of Ford’s most demanding truck customers for more than 16-million kilometres.

The grueling testing simulates the demands Ford customers will subject the truck to throughout its average lifetime. These include crisscrossing the country pulling heavy trailers and hefty loads through desert valleys and over high-altitude mountain passes – in temperatures from 29 degrees below zero to 49 degrees Celsius.

Customers using the F150 for construction, mining and utility work have tested and helped prove its high-strength, aluminum-alloy cargo box.

A disguised new Ford F150 even raced in the Baja 1000, where it earned the distinction of completing the grueling 1 400km of the event, while other purpose-built race vehicles could not.

To perform in these challenging conditions, the frame uses high-strength steel rated up to 70,000 psi – stronger than the steel found in some competitors’ heavy-duty pickup truck frames. Eight throughwelded cross-members provide increased stiffness, while staggered rear outboard shocks help provide stability.

Even smarter Several groundbreaking new productivity features debut in the 2015 F-150. Some of the smart new features that are available on the F-150 (depending on model) include: 360-degree camera view uses exterior cameras to create a bird’s-eye view of the truck to help the driver park, maneuver in tight spots and navigate down narrow trails, Integrated loading ramps enable easy loading of ATVs, motorcycles and mowers BoxLink™ is a combination of metal brackets and custom cleats used to secure a variety of accessories in the cargo box – from ramps to storage bins to bed

dividers, Quad-beam LED headlamps (first in this segment) and LED taillamps provide excellent nighttime visibility, use 63percent less energy than halogen bulbs and last five times longer, and Blind

Spot Information System with cross-traffic alert to warn the driver of vehicles or pedestrians that may be out of their direct line of sight.

Others are, Adaptive Cruise Control and collision warning with

brake support Trailer hitch assist is a new rear view camera feature that adds a dynamic line based on steering wheel angle in the display to help customers line up truck and trailer without requiring a spotter or having to get out of the

vehicle, Smart trailer tow module uses an all-new wiring harness that helps identify and inform the driver of potential trailer connectivity issues.

Land Rover hits six millionth mark

L

AND Rover is celebrating the production of its landmark 6,000,000th vehicle by giving it a unique design feature. The completion of a Yulong White Range Rover LWB Vogue SE on April 2, saw Land Rover hit the manufacturing milestone and the 6,000,000th vehicle has been fitted with a bespoke puddle lamp graphic to signify its unique status.

The luxury SUV takes centre stage at the 2015 Shanghai Auto Show showcasing its one-off motif, which replaces the standard Range Rover silhouette projected by the vehicle’s puddle lamps.

The image is created by an inscribed lens within the door mirror-mounted downlight and displaying the Land Rover logo and

The completion of a Yulong White Range Rover LWB Vogue SE on 2 April saw Land Rover hit the manufacturing milestone and the 6,000,000th vehicle

landmark figure.

The illuminated graphic, which is the width of a grain of rice, is projected through a magnifying lens onto the ground every time the vehicle is unlocked in an image which is 80cm in diameter.This same graphic was projected on to the wall of the Solihull manufacturing facility to mark the moment when the 6,000,000th vehicle rolled off the production line.

Andy Goss, Director, Group Sales Operations, Jaguar Land Rover, said: “For 67 years Land Rover has been building the world’s most capable allpurpose vehicles. Over this period, a range of ground-breaking innovations and technologies have blended great design, refinement and unmatched all-terrain capability.

“It’s fitting that the 6,000,000th Land Rover to be produced is a Range Rover, since this year marks the 45thanniversary of the original Range Rover’s launch and even today, the vehicle remains peerless.

With the growth of sales in China since the latest version of the Range Rover was introduced in 2012, it is entirely appropriate that this landmark vehicle is destined for a Chinese customer.”

The 6,000,000th Land Rover debuts on the Land Rover stand at the Shanghai Auto Show, and will subsequently feature in a number of celebration events being staged in China to mark Range Rover’s 45th anniversary.

Ultimately this special Range Rover will be sold in the region and its specially commissioned puddle lamps will serve as a

permanent reminder of the significance of this unique model in Land Rover’s history.

Range Rover sits at the pinnacle of the Land Rover brand. The latest model was introduced in 2012 and matches class-leading axle articulation of 597mm, wading capability of 900mm and the ability to tow up to 3,500kg, with a range of state of-the-art petrol, diesel and hybrid powertrains that successfully harness advanced technologies to deliver exceptional refinement, performance and efficiency.

In addition, the luxury SUV combines sophisticated exterior design and exquisite interior detailing with the exceptional luxury, comfort and fine attention to detail that are established Range Rover hallmarks.

34—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

THIS WEEK April 26-30, 2015 National Infant Immunization Week, established to raise the profile of the infant immunisation programme.

April 17, 2015 World Hemophilia Day to raise awareness about bleeding disorders and the need to build a family of support for those living with them.

April 29, 2015 UNICEF launches UReport, an innovative SMS-based platform that empowers Nigerians to participate and engage in policy-making and governance in real time information on key social issues. The event is billed holds at Federal Palace Hotel, VI, Lagos.

Science World

•Mariam, a patient of Retinoblastoma (cancer of the eye) lying on her sick bed with her mother, Balikis by her side.

Worsening condition

Children living with cancer:

Researchers ‘disarm’ HIV

H

IV/AIDS kills around 1.8 million people a year, and ranks as the third leading cause of death in low-income countries. But a recent study in journal Blood presents a potentially new way to combat the disease: instead of killing the virus, make the body resistant to it.

When a person is infected, the body's innate immune system provides an immediate but flawed defense; HIV takes its membrane or "skin" from the cell that it infects.

Researchers led by scientists at Imperial College London and Johns Hopkins University exposed HIV by removing cholesterol from this cellular wall, producing a large hole in the virus's membrane and making it permeable, which in turn led to a stronger adaptive response, orchestrated by immune cells. While researchers have lengths to go before they can even think to announce a cure for HIV, this breakthrough could drastically reduce the amount of resources devoted to treating and combating the disease and provide insight into fighting similarly complex diseases in the future.

Alive today, dead tomorrow?

By Chioma Obinna

M

ARIAM Yusuf, Ebuka Agu, Timothy Ola Onipekun and Oluwatofunmi Adebayo- ordinary Nigerian children are bound by a common destiny under an extraordinary situation.

Born with cancer, they are living with cancer, but not hoping to die with cancer.

In their own words, and unlike other Nigerian children whose birth brings joy and laughter, theirs have brought nothing but sadness and tears.

“We do not know why we were born with cancer. Did we or our ancestors wrong the gods? Even scientists have no acceptable explanation,” they ask.

“Thousands of us are born every day. Right now, we have no idea how many we are. Our plight is overshadowed, perhaps because no one understands what we go through.

“We have suffered much and for long, and now, we wish to let the society know what it is like to be a child living with cancer in the hope that this will bring us attention and succour.”

The cancers that affect these children vary from leukaemia (cancer of the blood), lymphoma, and brain cancer. Teenagers among them suffer from osteosarcoma (bone

cancer).Others are Retinoblastoma and Burkitt’s' lymphoma.

Doctors say the causes of childhood cancers are usually not the same as in adults. Genetic conditions such as Down Syndrome, can sometimes increase the risk. More pathetic is the fact that childhood cancer spreads and kills faster.

Sometimes symptoms come up as fever, swollen glands, frequent infections, anaemia, or bruises. To give deeper insight their plight, each gives account of his or her personal experiences.

For Mariam Yusuf, the journey has not been palatable. Just as this paper went to bed, news of her demise was circulated. Before her death, she had been lying helplessly for weeks at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, not knowing what tomorrow had in store for her.

Marian was once quoted as saying: “Every minute, I cry not

father few months after my diagnosis. I cannot go to school anymore,” she laments.

Mariam’s mother, Ballikis Yusuf, said it all started in 2001 when Mariam’s school mate hit above the eyelid and the eye bled a little. “We took her to the hospital and doctor requested further test. A month later diagnosis of cancer was confirmed. We were in shock because we never knew that a child like her could have cancer.

Her treatment started at the University College Hospital, UCH Ibadan from where we were referred to LUTH. “The family has practically lived from hand to mouth to see her through with the treatment.

Unfortunately, my husband who actually started with me after spending close to N2 million ran away and abandoned us. Since then, through the help of my family and good spirited Nigerians we have been able to attend 38 courses of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, when we were on the verge of defeating the cancer, we ran out of money between January and March and her condition has worsened.

only because of the pains but for my young and confused mother who has been abandoned by my

For Mariam Yusuf, the journey has not been palatable.

Just as this paper went to bed, news of her demise was circulated. Before her death, she had been lying helplessly for weeks at the LUTH

“I feel helpless watching my daughter writhe in pains. Now, she is starting the chemotherapy all over again but Mariam is not feeling any better. The growth has covered her face. All she can take is water through a straw.”

Mariam’s Uncle, Idris Azeez said although she has been transfused with five pints of blood, two pints of the blood came out from the bad eye.

“We have spent more than N6 million but it’s not even near enough. One of the required drugs called GCSF, costs N27,000 per dose. At times she uses up to five doses in addition to other drugs. At no time have we been to LUTH without spending almost N500,000. The wife of the Governor of Kwara State sent N220, 000 once, but we require much more. I’m appealing to Nigerians to come to our aid.”

Timothy - Living with Leukaemia

Timothy ’s story is just as heartbreaking. His mother died almost the same time he was

Continues on Page 35

3yr-old blinded by cancer Page Page 36 35

Page 59

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015—35

• From left: Children living with cancer - Ebuka Agu, Oluwatofunmi Adebayo and Timothy Olanipekun

Alive today, dead tomorrow?

Continues from Page 34 diagnosed of cancer, then his father, who lost his job, now begs to keep him alive. Living with Leukaemia has shattered the family’s dreams. They want Nigerians to rescue them from the financial, emotional and psychological burden of childhood cancer in Nigeria.

Timothy is currently at LUTH and even though has been discharged after the last chemotherapy, but his parents cannot settle the N170.000 bill.

Muyiwa Ola Onikpekun, Timothy’s father practically begs for alms to ensure his son’s survival. “Many pharmaceutical outlets around LUTH know me because when I don’t have money to bhuy the prescribed drugs,I go from shop to shop begging for credit which I settle as sonn as I can.

“I never knew children also had cancer. When I was told in Abeokuta that my son had cancer, I thought it was not serious. It was when I met the consultant at LUTH and was told I needed close to N4 million that the truth dawned on me. I was weeping before the consultant. I had only N12, 000.00 but a friend sent N30, 000 with which he was admitted.

Friends have been supporting with any amount they can afford.

That is how we have survived till date.

“Three months after we lost his mother, we discovered he was having fever, cold, swellings. He was on TB treatment for about 10 weeks before it was discovered he had swellings in the armpits and groin area. The laboratory test showed that it was cancer of the blood (Leukemia). We were referred to LUTH. That was November 15, 2012.We were there three months.

We are now on the last phase of chemotherapy. Each cycle is 12 weeks and total of 120 weeks. By the grace of God we are on the sixth course but the challenge

now is the finance for the maintenance which is the last phase.

“He is on daily drugs. One of the drugs is sold for N6, 000 and within 40 days that expires and you move to another one. Each course contains about 84 days.

Another costs N2, 500, weekly and the food he eats everyday must contain fruits and others.

“Sometimes a session of treatment costs about N50,000.

Blood donation is a challenge and you have to pay for N5, 000 for the screening. We have spent over N4 million to date.

Muyiwa laments that his son’s condition has affected the care of his siblings. Two of his other children that are undergraduates are forced to make sacrifices on their brother’s behalf.

“Having a child with cancer, you cannot keep a job because sometimes you end up spending four months in the hospital at a stretch. I have quit my job and now run a rental service. Even now, nobody is taking care of my business as I am always here.

“We have tried our best to do bone marrow transplant. I have written my State government but nothing is coming out. It is unfortunate that future leaders of Nigeria are suffering this way,” he remarked.

Oluwatofunmi uncertain future

-

An

Oluwatofunmi Adebayo, once the pride of his parents, now has an uncertain future. His hope is to rescue his future from the clutches of cancer.

“Every day, I watch my parents go through emotional torture and I feel bad. My sister cannot sit for her exams because my parents sacrificed her education for my health. Lymphoma has stolen the joy in my home. My mother who initially thought that being an enrolee under the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, programme would reduce our

financial burden received the shock of her life when she was told NHIS does not cover cancer.

So what does NHIS cover?

In the views of his mother, Omolara Adebayo, the nightmare began early 2013 when her son presented with consistent high temperature and a swollen neck.

“I felt it was just ordinary malaria I treated him and everything subsided. It came back again with high fever on January 15, 2014 and swollen neck.

“We were almost misled as people were telling us it was not hospital thing. But at the medical centre where we first treated him they were suspecting Lymphoma.

After series of tests they were able to eliminate TB and confirmed it was Lymphoma. Treatment began February 2015.

“I weep every day in my closet.

Financially, it has not been easy.

At a point I had to run to my school to raise money.

It was the greatest shock of my life, a four month old child with cancer? Being told by doctors that the eye was to be removed further compounded my confusion. I left with my wife and child because the cost of surgery and treatment was out of reach

Fortunately, I met the founder of Children Living with Cancer Foundation, Dr. Nneka Nwaobbi who has been buying chemo drugs for us.

Omolara recalled that the last time at the hospital, her husband had to sign an undertaking because they had no money for the test.

“He has now taken two courses and half of chemotherapy. He needs six courses. The situation has affected everybody in the family. We can’t pay his sister’s school fees and still owe N61, 000 and she will soon be writing the Basic Education Examination and NECO.”

Ebuka - Blinded by cancer

Only a 3-year-old, Ebuka Agu has no guarantee what the future holds or if he would see his fifth birthday. At four months, he was diagnosed of cancer of the Retinoblastoma (cancer of the eye). Today, he has no eyes, is not in school and cannot play with toys like other children. His treatment has stopped because there is no money to continue.

Christopher Agu, Ebuka’s father could not take it when he was told that Ebuka, at four months had Retinoblastoma.

“It was the greatest shock of my life, a four month old child with cancer? Being told by doctors that the eye was to be removed further compounded my confusion. I left with my wife and child because the surgery and treatment cost were out of reach.”

Christopher who lamented that the challenges have been enormous, regrets being forced to neglect his older children.

“It all began when we noticed his eye was shining so much like a cat’s eye. We abandoned treatment at LUTH then because of high cost and moved to Owerri where the scan was done for N1, 050.00 but here it was N16, 000.

Afterwards, we were also referred

to Teaching Hospital in Enugu.

We were there for three months but could not do the surgery because each time the surgery is scheduled, the baby would begin running temperature.

The surgery could not be carried out. We asked for referral back to LUTH where the operation was carried out. But by then, the second eye was already affected. The doctors wanted to remove the eye but I refused and we went home with the boy.”

But two years later, Ebuka was brought back after the eye ruptured and actually fell out.

Further, Christopher stated that what the family is facing now is the challenge of blood transfusion and chemotherapy.

“God has been using Dr. Nneka Nwaobbi and we are now on the 6th course of the chemo and they said we need nine courses. My worry is that the boy cannot see, he is not in school, and we have other children to cater for.

On this particular admission we have spent almost N170, 000 and I could not pay. The doctors have discharged me but no money to pay for my clearance.

“We are not coping. Here in the hospital you see many children with various infirmities if their families have no money they will die. If I had money when Ebuka was four months old, he would not be blind now. To take care of a blind person is not easy.

Government is not doing well for children here. I am not happy. “

Parents can’t cope - Dr Nneka Nwaobbi Founder, Children Living with Cancer Foundation, CLWCF, Dr. Nneka Nwaobbi, laments that many children living with cancer have died because their parents could not cope with the treatment cost.

“Overseas we have up to 80 to 90 percent cure rates. In Nigeria we have less than 20 percent cure rate. Why? It is not because of man power or facilities but ignorance. Many people do not know that children can have cancer. By the time they come in nothing much can be done only palliative treatment. The only thing we do here is to ensure that these children do not die in pains.

“Cancer drugs are not made in Nigeria. The cost of bringing the drugs remains a challenge.

Treating a cancer patient in Nigeria is more costly than treating it in a place like India.

India pharmaceutical companies are licensed to make oncology drugs we are not. They fought hard for that. They fought had to manufacture their generic drugs and manufacture in their country.

Why can’t the government give us that tool to be able to manufacture the drugs here in Nigeria?

“Another reason why we see high death rates in childhood cancer is the fact that most government hospitals do not treat children free of charge. For Federal government hospitals,

Continues on Page 36

36—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

Alive today, dead tomorrow?

Continues from Page 35 the minimum amount the children aged 12 and below pay for admission is about N13, 000 a week. How many families can afford it? The minimum wage is N18, 000. By the time you are removing N13, 000 from N18, 000, that is just for a week. If the child is above 13, the child pays adult fee of almost N75, 000. If we can actually take away these admission fees and the treatment costs, it will help get more Nigerian children seek help early.

It is very sad. If we treat our future leaders this way what will be the fate of this nation?

Most deaths are caused by parents’ negligence. Some don’t come for check -ups.

“Child cancer does not only affect the child but the whole family because a parent or older person must stay with the child in the hospital while receiving treatment. It is not a day off thing.

Especially at the beginning when to make diagnosis will take up to a month or two. During that period a parent absence at home will cause havoc and other siblings will be wondering why the child is not eating what they are eating or do other domestic chores,” she added.

Families of these children are exposed to a lot of danger. There is this particular family, the husband is a long distance driver and when the child is with the mother in the hospital, some of

•Dr. Edamisan Temiye.

•Dr. Nneka Nwaobbi.

their neighbours were trying to rape the oldest daughter at home because nobody to protect them.

Some of these families break up because the stress and the strain the mother is not always there and the father will start looking elsewhere for companionship or blaming the woman for bringing a child that has cancer.

Sometimes the woman blames the for not being able to cater for the family.

Also in his contribution, Consultant Paediatric Haematology Oncologist, LUTH, Govt isn’t

Oncologist and Lecturer, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, said childhood cancer spreads rapidly and kills faster than adult cancer..

supporting enough - Dr Edamisan, Temiye

Prof Edamisan Temiye, a Consultant Paediadric

It was the greatest shock of my life, a four month old child with cancer? Being told by doctors that the eye was to be removed further compounded my confusion

Re-echoing the challenges in Nigeria, Temiye said the first is the denial and the ignorance that children do have cancer.

“Sometimes they look at the doctor as if he or she is possessed.

And because cancer in children grows very fast they go for one or two months by the time they come back it become incurable.

“Sometimes you see a family running around treating a child the parents lose their jobs. Maybe at the end of the day, the child may be dead and the family will be impoverished.”

Temiye pointed out that government has not been supporting childhood cancer.

“What we have all over the place is breast cancer, prostate and cervical cancer and these children die quietly with their families impoverished.

“The facilities are also not available. To diagnose is a problem. You need to make quick diagnosis of these cancers. To get better result, you need to properly classify those cancers, doing genetic mapping etc which is not available in the country and when you try to do them abroad, the cost is enormous. And this is what has improved care of cancers in developed countries.

“In LUTH alone, we see an average of 70 to 80 new cases of children with various cancers annually.

Success rates are just marginally improving because they are presenting late and some of them will start treatment and they are getting better, they will just disappear because the patient cannot afford the cost of next chemotherapy. I remember one child she was doing well. And the mother said the chemo that time cost her N400,000 and that the next one will cost her about the same amount she had no money.

They never came back.

The cheapest cancer is if the child has cancer of the eye of the kidney. By the time we finish the treatment in about six months, the parents will be spending about N1 million. That is a lot in a country where the minimum wage is N18, 000.00 per month. If you go to blood cancer by the time we are finishing treatment in two and half years, if it’s a girl or three years if it is boy, you must have spent N8 to N10 million.

“Unfortunately, Nigeria has no national statistics for cancer. Efforts have not met the required successes and that makes it difficult for us. We should have a national database from infancy to adults for us to see how we are doing,” he stated.

Despite the sorry state of cancer treatment in the country, the government is yet to take cancer as a serious business as it is done in developed countries. Experts say that as we are eliminating preventable causes of illness and deaths, and improving in saving more lives from preventable diseases and infectious diseases cancer will become more prominent.

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Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015—37

PSN tasks FG on commercialisation of phamacies in FHIs

By Sola Ogundipe

T

HE Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, has reaffirmed its call to the Federal Ministry of Health to halt the commercialisation of pharmacy facilities in Federal Health Institutions once and for all in the interest of national health.

Making the call, in a petition to the Minister of Health, Dr. Khaliru Alhassan, the PSN President, Pharm. Olumide Akintayo, said rather than abate, the tendencies and flair for vindictive actions targeted against pharmacists and the profession of pharmacy has continued unchecked at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin and Federal Medical Centre, Owerri.

Akintayo, in the petition entitled “A Plea For Intervention to Stop Commercialisation of Pharmacy Facilities in Federal Health Institutions, FHIs, urged the Health Minister to direct management of the FHIs to adopt the guidelines the Federal Ministry of Health, FMOH issued in the past on procurement of medicines.

“This is the pact with organized labour as symbolized

In his plea, the PSN boss prayed the FMOH to as a matter of urgency, direct all FHIs to adopt only lawful versions of the PPP initiative which does not inculcate use of private profiteers

by JOHESU that the management of these FHIs seek to violate in contemporary times.

It is pertinent to draw the attention of FMOH to its letter of 2/7/2010 to all FHIs on condition precedent to procurement of drugs (copy attached). The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) which regulates & controls pharmacy practice in Nigeria has also come up with specific guidelines on lawful models of PPP in pharmacy practice in Nigeria.

“Our appraisal of the legal imperatives in procurement of medicines suggests that only pharmacists can supply, dispense, deliver and take custody of medicines albeit legitimately in Nigeria.”

In his plea, the PSN boss prayed the FMOH to as a matter of urgency, direct all FHIs to adopt only lawful versions of the PPP initiative which does not inculcate use of private profiteers.

“Honourable Minister, we thank you as you address the obvious vindictive purposelessness playing out in some of the FHIs.”

Private profiteers “I find it necessary to put the FMOH on notice with regards to recent attempts by some FHIs to commercialise pharmacy facilities in their domain through sourcing of drugs by engaging private profiteers.”

Akintayo said a semblance of this is, currently being contemplated by the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri as reported by Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Imo State branch.

“In some other instances some of the hospital managements are attempting to exploit loopholes in the procurement act by mandating procurement officers to source drugs for use in the hospital system. The Nigeria Association of Hospital and Administrative Pharmacists (NAHAP) Edo State branch puts on record the effrontery of the C-MAC, UBTH in entrenching this model at UBTH, Benin.

Our investigation reveals that these acts are vengeful and discriminatory to punish pharmacists for participating in the last JOHESU strike.

Akintayo urged the Minister to recall the many promises of the government to avoid discriminatory or punitive measure against persons, associations and professions that participated in the aforementioned strike.

Mortein partners Lagos Govt to tackle malaria

A

By Etop Ekanem

S part of activities marking this year’s World Malaria Day, Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of anti-malaria powerbrand, Mortein has joined forces with the Lagos State Government to up scale action for the elimination of malaria in Nigeria through community engagement.

Specifically, the community engagement which held at Palm Avenue, saw officials from the state Ministry of Health and Reckitt Benckiser carry out the clearing of wastes and drainages in the area. They also went round the community to sensitise and educate residents on the immense benefits of maintaining clean environment as one of the most cost effective ways to reduce mosquitoes which are the major carriers of malaria parasite.

Speaking at the event, Category Manager, Pest care, Health care, Air care, RB West Africa, Qaiser Rashid, said the community engagement was part of numerous corporate social responsibility initiatives by the company to stem the prevalence of malaria scourge in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. He said the partnership with the Lagos State Government, which has been ongoing for years, also demonstrates the company’s commitment to the anti-malaria fight in the state.

Anti-malaria fight

•To mark World Malaria day, 2015, Total Group in Nigeria partnered Ibafon Community, Olodi Apapa, Lagos, in the “Net It Out” Project to provide and educate residents of the community on use of Long Lasting Insecticide Nets, LLINs. A management staff of Total Nigeria presenting a LLIN to a nursing mother during the exercise last week.

IoD preaches healthy living with ‘walk for life’

By Providence Obuh

T

HE Institute of Directors, IoD, Nigeria, penultimate week, embarked on a health walk tagged "Walk For Life" (WFL) to ensure healthy living among directors and participants.

The fitness exercise which lasted for about 1hr, 45minutes took off from IoD's office at 53 Glover Road, Ikoyi-Lekki, with participants going through Malverton and Alexander roads, across Lekki/Ikoyi Bridge.

Speaking at the health awareness programme, President, IoD, Mrs. Eniola Fadayomi, explained that WFL is a wake up call to a realization that exercise should form a very important part of daily activities.

Fadayomi said "The importance of this walk is the development of our directors. You see some people slump and die or that their heart is congested with cholesterol, full of fat because they don't exercise. You don't necessarily need to do rally race, just generally moving the body all the time.

Director-General, IOD, Mr. Victor Banjo, said that the exercise was targeted at ensuring that directors, senior managers and chief executive officers who rarely have time for exercise are encouraged to do so in order to keep their bodies fit, adding that fitness is not about how you look but a measure of what you are like internally. "Your physical outlook does not give a full indication of your health."

"WFL is a way of promoting good lifestyle and health for Nigerians and not just our members or directors. Directors spend too much time seating in the office and when you do this, your body suffers and we believe that to have a healthy life you need to actually get up and give your heart, legs and muscles some exercise, when you exercise very well your heart pumps up and it remains healthy," he said.

Chairman, Health Committee of the institute, Mr Ebun Sonaya, said that the fitness exercise was not about promoting competition or rivalry among the participants but to encourage all directors to learn to stay healthy, urging participants to cultivate the habit of walking for leisure.

He said: “We have come out again today on the occasion of the 2015 World Malaria Day to demonstrate our commitment to making Nigerians live healthier and happier life. The community engagement is another innovative ways we have chosen to educate residents of Mushin on the importance of hygiene, and how simple habit of maintaining clean surroundings and drainages can significantly help to reduce malaria. ‘‘Mosquitoes are carriers of malaria parasite and they breed in dirty environment. Keeping the environment clean means that mosquitoes have no breeding place, if we can stop the life circle of the insect through constant cleaning of our environment and application of the insecticide that have the ability to kill mosquitoes 100 percent, that means we have succeeded in killing the disease,” he said.

Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Dr. Olajide Idris who was represented by Deputy Director, Disease control, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Rotimi Agbolagorite in his address said this year’s event aims at drawing significant attention to the additional effort required in achieving the targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015.

38— Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

place, any government that really loves its citizens must ensure that they move those things by rail.

Moving the cargoes on road is bad economics because the Apapa road had been reconstructed several times and after few months, the road gave way again. Those who have travelled out of this country know that other countries do not move their heavy cargoes on the road.”

Tanker drivers break promises

Oshodi-Apapa gridlock

OSHODI – APAPA EXPRESSWAY GRIDLOCK:

Residents task incoming govts on permanent solution

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

W

ILL there ever be an end to the perennial ApapaOshodi Expressway traffic gridlock? This is one question that Lagosians, especially those who live, work or have reasons to visit the Apapa axis of Lagos want the incoming governments of Mr Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State and Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) to urgently answer when they take over power, next month.

The 27.5 kilometre highway, constructed between 1975 and 1978, is arguably the busiest road in Lagos. The Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, which is the gateway to Nigeria’s busiest seaports in Apapa, used to be free of traffic until six years ago when the traffic situation started deteriorating and took a turn for the worse four years ago due to lifting of petroleum products.

There are over 15 tank farms around the Coconut area alone where tankers come from different parts of the country to lift petroleum products.

In recent times, the road has become totally inaccessible, especially during week days leading to recklessness on the part of commercial buses, who drive against traffic (one-way) from Cele Bus stop to Trinity Bus stop. The development, apart from constituting danger to pedestrians, motorists and other road users often times cause

avoidable accidents.

Now, tankers, trailers and other articulated vehicles have taken over the stretch from Rainbow to the Berger/Kirikiri axis of the road, leaving other motorists and road users in confusion. The tankers have also taken over the Kirikiri Bridge that leads to the Kirikiri Maximum and Minimum Prisons as well as Navy Town.

The total shut down of the road has now spilled over to Sunday which used to be a day of respite.

Traffic managers, especially men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, seemed to have thrown in the towel as their efforts are no longer effective.

There are over 15 tank farms around the Coconut area alone. Our members have to drive long distances from different parts of the country to Apapa in Lagos to lift products. This shouldn’t be so.

Why can’t we have depots in other places to free Apapa?

Why Lagos is handicapped –Fashola

Governor Babatunde Fashola had on several occasions criticized the Federal Government over total neglect of the area.

Fashola, with some stakeholders, have visited Mile Two and Apapa environs many times to assess the traffic snarl with a view to finding a solution.

Speaking at an interactive session with media executives, recently, in his Alausa, Ikeja office, the governor attributed the problem to the Federal Government’s policy on distribution of petroleum products.

His words: “The first thing to understand is that the responsibility of the state government is traffic management. But the problem on that road comes from the tankers and containerized trucks which come to the ports to lift fuel and others. I don’t manage the port and I don’t discharge fuel.

So it is inaccurate to say that we are not doing enough to solve the challenge faced on that road or we have lost the battle.

“The problem from the port was that vehicles that used to park inside the port have been driven out by the concessionaires and they have no option than to park on the road in order to gain access into the port. The information from within the ports was that there was inadequate cargo handling equipment inside the port. So the turnaround time per

vehicle is longer. Anyone who puts that burden on us is doing that inappropriately.

“It is the Federal Government responsibility. The Tin-Can Island road that would have helped reduce the traffic belongs to the apex government. If they finish fixing it, it will bring relief.

But we need to understand that the relief will only last for a short time. No nation delivers that kind of cargo by road. With the huge load transported on that road, there is no construction that will be done on that road that will last until we move those cargoes through rail. The rail tracks are available in that axis.

“The European built them. With minimum effort, coordinated plan, political will and clarity of purpose we can move all these huge cargoes on rail. If you visit that axis today, you will still find the Agip, NNPC and other fuel wagons in the yard. So, we can do it if there was political will.

But the rail the current administration embarked upon was for political demonstration.”

Giving a statistical breakdown of the usage of the ports, Fashola disclosed that no less than 3, 000 tankers and atleast 1, 000 articulated vehicles, otherwise called trailers enter the ports daily, adding their only mission is to lift fuel, diesel and Kerosene, while the trailers visit the port to transport fish, rice, vegetable oil and others.

The governor continued: “That is not a bad thing. If you have 4,000 trucks daily visiting a

In spite of pledges made to the governor, members of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, and drivers of articulated vehicles, have not changed their operational style.

Comrade Tayo Aboyeji, the Zonal Public Relations Officer of PTD, who met with the governor had pleaded for time to change their ways with a pledge to free the roads.

Aboyeji, told Vanguard that the trailer park built for heavy duty vehicles would not accommodate petroleum tankers as it is meant only for dry cargoes.

He lamented the difficulty and the hostile environment the tanker drivers are operating in the absence of a convenient place to park their vehicles despite the essential services they are rendering to the citizenry. He blamed the development on the failure of the Federal Government to properly manage the ports and granting licenses to private business concerns to site tank farms indiscriminately in Apapa.

“There are over 15 tank farms around the Coconut area alone.

Our members have to drive long distances from different parts of the country to Apapa in Lagos to lift products. This shouldn’t be so. Why can’t we have depots in other places to free Apapa?’’ he wondered.

Aboyeji, however, said that PTD is currently discussing with private investors to jointly build a parking lot in Amuwo-Odofin area for petroleum tankers to reduce the pressure on Apapa axis.

Lagos Traffic Law failure

The Lagos State Road Traffic Law 2012 has been flagrantly flouted by the tankers and other articulated vehicles on the Apapa road. The law have provisions that can ease traffic flow if implemented.

These provisions include: That; without prejudice to the provisions of Section 11 of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority Law, LASTMA, the law stipulates that the authority’s control and management of vehicular traffic in the state shall include: A prohibition or restriction of the use of any

Continues on page 39

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 — 39

By Monsuru Olowoopejo

Lagos rescues 62 abandoned babies a year

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orried by the outcry generated by the deportation of some beggars and destitutes to their states of origin, Lagos State Government has adopted new strategy of inviting relatives and releasing rehabilitated destitutes to them for onward movement to their states of origin.

Sources said that the threat posed by the beggars to the Megacity status of the state compelled the government to intensify enforcement of forceful removals last year, not minding the consequence it would have on its relationship with sister states.

In spite of the government’s effort to end street begging in the metropolis, more beggars troop into the state daily, leading to the evacuation of 940 beggars from the streets last year, according to a document released, last week, by the Office of Youths and Social Development, OYSD, Alausa last week

910 beggars re-unite with relatives

Permanent Secretary of OYSD, Dr Adesegun Oshinyimika said: “910 (beggars and destitutes) were released to their relations with the intent of taking them back to their states of origin for further care.”

He however lamented that the number of beggars and destitute raided and kept in government custody increases daily.

On destitute, Oshinyimika said 37 able-bodied persons parading as destitute on the streets of Lagos who are suspected to be criminals were handed over to the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) unit for prosecution.

He continued: “12 cases were referred by the Child Protection Unit for further social investigation. And 34 others referred from the Special Correction Centre for Boys, Oregun, 53 destitute are

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

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Beggars: Lagos deports destitutes through relatives currently undergoing rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation and Vocational Training Centre, Isheri while 75 are at the Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for persons with disabilities, Owutu in Ikorodu. “ And1486 were taken to the rehabilitation and training centre, Majidun in Ikorodu, where the State Government has made provisions to turn their lives around, while the mentally unstable are also being given medical attention.’’

The permanent secretary added that rescuing of beggars from the streets of Lagos is a continuous exercise and the Office is liaising with other security agencies in the state to rid Lagos of beggars, destitutes and the mentallychallenged.”

On the new strategy

Once rescued, the government would refer them to any of the rehabilitation centres in the state for care. Later when they are stable, they would be interrogated to have their Biodata especially their name, age, state of origin and relatives to be contacted Instead of transporting them home, the permanent secretary explained “the government will contact their relatives and hand them over, with the intention to return them to their state of origin.”

Though he didn’t disclose why the government adopted the new strategy, Vanguard gathered that the state government changed its strategy of transporting the beggars to their states of origin following public outcry and court cases between the deportees and the state government.

Lagosians urged to stop giving alms to beggars

To discourage destitution and begging in the state, Oshinyimika appealed to members of the public to desist from giving alms to beggars/ destitutes on the streets as they constitute nuisance to the society. ‘’I also enjoin members of the Public who may wish to help the less privileged in the society to donate their widow’s mite to any church, mosque, the motherless babies homes or any social welfare institutions and r e g i s t e r e d orphanages.”

Residents task incoming govts on permanent solution Continued from page 38 specified highway by vehicles of specified class or description; (b) prohibition of driving or propelling of vehicles on any specified highway otherwise than in a specified direction and

Prohibition of vehicles parking or waiting on any specified highway That; Under the schedule I of the law, it stipulates the offences and fine as; Abandoned vehicle on highway shall attract payment of N50, 000.00; fine or imprisonment for a term of six

months, or both fine and imprisonment.

Any person who fails to comply with any of the provisions of this Section commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to (i)Imprisonment for a term of three (3) years or to render community service in accordance with the provisions of Section 347 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State; and (ii) have his vehicle forfeited to the State.

Control of vehicular traffic on bridges;

6 (1) The Ministry shall cause to be placed in a conspicuous place at vehicular both ends or

near the bridge a notice to the effect that; a, The bridge is not designed to carry more than a certain weight; (b) a vehicle exceeding a certain breadth or height cannot with safety be driven on or over such bridge; (c) vehicles may not exceed a specified speed limit when crossing the bridge and thereafter any person who contravenes or fails to comply with the terms of such notice shall be guilty of an offence.

5(2) When any bridge is damaged by reason of any vehicle passing over it in contravention of the provisions of this section; or (b) by reason of

any vehicle when passing over the bridge coming into contact with any portion thereof other than the surface of the roadway, the owner of the vehicle and the person driving or propelling the same shall, without prejudice to any other penalty stipulated by this Law for that offence, be jointly and severally liable to the Government for any damage done thereto.

No solution is presently in sight from any quarter.

he Lagos State Government in the last one year rescued 62 babies abandoned in various parts of the state Permanent Secretary, Youth and Social Development, Dr. Adesegun Oshinyimika, disclosed this while giving account of the activities of the ministry in the last one year.

A breakdown of the figure shows that 34 of the rescued babies were healthy females, while 28 were lively males.

A further breakdown shows that eight of them were liberated in June 2014, eight in July, six in August, eight in September, seven in October, four in November, four in December while six were freed in January 2015. Four of others were liberated in February while seven were saved in March this year.

Oshinyimika said that the state government is committed to ensuring that adequate care and protection are provided for vulnerable children, abandoned, homeless, abused and other children whose rights and privileges are trampled upon.

He said the child protection unit of the ministry is responsible for rescue and referral of all abandoned babies, lost but found and children in registered orphanages.

“It also carried out child audit on the registered orphanages in order to conduct a case review of the children in their homes with a view to de-congesting the homes and discouraging institutionalisation”, he said.

Oshinyimika said that 111 applications were received for adoption but that only 85 babies were released for implementation while 76 adoptions were legalized through the family courts.

According to him, 51 of the cases were local, 18 were international, four were relative international adoption while one fostering order was extended at the family courts.

He said that in the last one year, 940 children who were either beggars, destitute or mentally challenged were rescued from the streets.

“Operation rescue is a continuous exercise and in the process of enforcement 37 persons suspected to be criminals were handed over to task force for prosecution while 910 were released to their relatives with the intent of taking them back to states of origin.” He said.

Oshinyimika added that 12 were referred by child protection units for further investigation, 34 were referred by special correctional centres for boys in Oregun while 53 are currently, undergoing rehabilitation in Isheri.

He said that another 75 are at the Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for Persons with disabilities, Owutu in Ikorodu.

40—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

Senate Presidency: A case for equity and competence

Advice on fighting corruption

By Ladipo Adamolekun WE shall strongly battle another form of evil that is even worse than terrorism – the evil of corruption. Corruption attacks and seeks to destroy our national institutions and character… corruption will not be tolerated by this administration; and it shall no longer be allowed to stand as if it is a respected monument in this nation —Muhammadu Buhari’s Acceptance Speech, March 31, 2015

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HIS short essay is focused on the significance of having a president who has pledged to be the country’s anti-corruption champion. I also make some comments on the anti-corruption strategy that president-elect Buhari has pledged to present to the public during his first 100 days.

President as anti-corruption champion: As the examples of countries that have succeeded in significantly reducing corruption in developing countries across the continents demonstrate (for example, Botswana in Africa and Singapore in Asia), having a president with unquestioned integrity as the anti-corruption champion is a necessary condition. Yes, it is not a sufficient condition, but without it almost all anti-corruption efforts tend to have only limited impact on reducing corruption, at best; and at worst, anticorruption efforts end up as mere sloganeering or tools for harassing and punishing political opponents, or a combination of these negative outcomes.

Having a president who is the head of government as the anti-corruption champion is important because, as the saying goes, the fish rots from the head. Effective from May 29, 2015, all Nigerians, non-nationals who live in Nigeria, and all those within and outside Nigeria who do business with the country, will have to begin to adjust to the reality that Nigeria has a president who will strictly enforce the commitment he has made to his countrymen and women: “corruption will not be tolerated by this administration”.

Strikingly, Buhari’s commitment is no more than announcing his determination to uphold Section 15 (5) of the 1999 Constitution: “The State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power”. If his predecessors had taken their oath to uphold the Constitution seriously with particular reference to the provision on anticorruption, Buhari’s commitment would not appear as a radical new development.

A related anticorruption provision in the Constitution that Buhari should enforce is the “Prohibition of f o r e i g n accounts” (Fifth Schedule, Code LADIPO AD AMOLEKUN ADAMOLEKUN of Conduct for Public Officers): “The President, Vice-President, Governor, Deputy Governor, Ministers of the Government of the Federation and Commissioners of the Governments of States, members of the National Assembly and of the Houses of Assembly of the States, and such other public officers or persons as the National Assembly may by law prescribe shall not maintain or operate a bank account in any country outside Nigeria”. To ensure effective enforcement, any of the officers who has an existing account should be required to freeze it for the period of his/her service with public declaration of the amount in the account at the time of assumption of office.

However, Buhari’s determination to require his vice-president, ministers and other political appointees to publicly declare their assets is unprecedented and is not a requirement in any extant law in the land. When President Yar’Adua publicly declared his assets and those of his wife, he failed to require his vice-president, ministers and other political appointees to do the same.

And we saw that Mr. “Clean” President failed to

make a dent on fighting corruption. Buhari’s commitment to public declaration of assets will promote transparency which is an enemy of corruption that thrives in opacity and secrecy.

And I would recommend that the list of public officials to publicly declare their assets be extended to include the top executives in the civil services (permanent secretaries and directors) and chief executives of government agencies and parastatals. The implications of this radical approach for the toothless Code of Conduct Bureau and the grossly under-utilized Code of Conduct Tribunal will need to be addressed in the Anticorruption Strategy.

Even when allowance is made for possible aspirational p u b l i c President elect Buhari declaration of assets by some of the concerned public officials, strict enforcement of public declaration of assets would still be a crucial step in the fight against corruption.

Specifically, investigative reporters in the media would be free to expose aspirational declarations that should lead to sanctions against the public officials concerned. Buhari’s pledge to work with the National Assembly for a rapid enactment of a Whistle Blower Protection Act is a critical accompaniment to the public declaration of assets: public servants, professionals such as accountants and lawyers, media practitioners, anti-C activists in civil society,will feel protected to expose corrupt practices.

Public declaration of assets Besides public declaration of assets, the impact of the president as the country’s anticorruption champion can be felt within his first corruption agencies (notably ICPC and EFCC) and a small coordinating secretariat in the presidency. The secretariat should be responsible for producing quarterly or biannual and annual reports on the results achieved in the fight against corruption, using benchmarks articulated in the strategy. And for obvious reasons, the financial resources and human capacities for assuring effective implementation should be addressed in the plan.

Last word: President-elect Buhari correctly regards corruption as an evil that is “worse than terrorism”. As in the case of terrorism, there will be no quick fix. But reducing corruption drastically within a four-year timeframe is not impossible.

Hong Kong first demonstrated that this could Tackling be done. Singapore in Asia and Botswana in Africa are the two countries that have challenge drastically reduced corruption within a short would timeframe. Sadly, Nigerians’ require entrenched tolerance of corrupt practices by fairness, townsmen/women and firmness “sisters”/”brothers” from their respective ethnic groups and a big challenge. transparency poses Tackling the challenge would require fairness, firmness in the transparency in the punishment and punishment of corrupt of corrupt officials.

Prof. Adamolekun lives in Iju, officials Akure North, Ondo State

By Abdulwahaab Oba

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S Nigeria awaits the inauguration of the eighth National Assembly, the political space has understandably become awash with speculation about who will be Senate president and, therefore, chairman of the National Assembly. The speculation is understandable. The Senate president will not only be the number three man in the country, he will play a pivotal role in governance and the political direction of the country’s post May 29. However, much of the speculation about who the cap best fits has focused on geopolitical issues especially the zoning formula of the in-coming governing party.

Most Nigerians expect, and expectedly so, the position to be zoned to the North Central geopolitical zone of the country. The North Central not only delivered over whelming votes to the APC, it is the minority north with a convergence of ethnic nationalities.

Ethnic nationalities If the position is truly, as speculated to come from the North, it is generally hoped to come from the North central since the core north, North west already produced the President.

Therefore, zoning the Senate presidency outside the North central will be tantamount to

Senator Bukola Saraki deepening alienation of the zone.

More importantly, given the sensitive times the country is going through, the Senate needs a competent, respected and accomplished president who can command the respect of his colleagues, provide effective leadership at the national assembly and work well with the other arms in the interest of democracy and good governance.

Therefore, if it is about equity, fairness and competence, Senator Bukola Saraki deserves our support. To say that Senator (Dr) Bukola Saraki, has made Kwara State the envy of many, including the leadership of his former party so much so that he became a target of political persecution is to say the obvious. Though rough and tough as it were, Bukola Saraki’s influence did not wane as he insisted on pushing for the deepening of democratic tenets and today, he has emerged as the undisputed political heavyweight in Kwara State.

Driven by a high sense of accountability and respect for the

rule of law, Senator Saraki abandoned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where he was apparently comfortable, to pitch his tent with the APC and thus began the task of cleaning the mess he discovered in the PDP from the position of weakness as a member of the opposition party, using the broom. This, he did fearlessly, not minding threats of witch-hunting using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Special Fraud Unit (SFU); the two agencies that trailed him for nearly four years and found nothing to charge him with.

International award This was a governor poised to instill accountability, established the Price Intelligence Unit, (PIU), in Kwara State to checkmate over invoicing, through which he saved millions of naira for the state for which he got an international award. For a state with a meagre resource a little above N3b, he established the Shonga farm, health insurance policy, aviation college and Harmony diagnostic centre, which till date, remain models in prudence financial management.

Without doubt, these explain why Saraki’s emergence as a strong contender for the office of Senate President was greeted with joy, particularly as the new government is expected to usher in government of prudence management of national resources. All over the world, the ability of the Senate president to organize and lead, as well as ensure a smooth and cordial relationship between its members and the presidency or otherwise, has been known to largely affect the running of the country and the delivery of electioneering promises.

With the sensitive and strategic position of the Senate president, it requires that the man or woman who will lead the senate must be one t h a t understands the leadership intricacies, operation, b o d y language of m o s t If it is members and h a s about negotiating equity, powers, as well as the fairness ability to rally and support for competence, the president with little or Senator no difficulties.

Bukola Indeed, these qualities Saraki cannot be deserves compromised if the party at our the centre or support by extension, the president, Continues on page 41

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015—41

Senate Presidency: A case for equity and competence Continues from page 40 must redeem and execute party manifesto, and maintain law and order, while grappling with the task of governance and delivering on people-focused policies.

While most names on the table for the exalted position qualify to lead being senior members of the National Assembly and of sound intellectual judgment, Senator (Dr) Bukola, however, fits well and has the administrative exposure needed for a stable senate that will assist the new Buhari presidency to quickly settle down to work, particularly as he was a former chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), a period that saw the governors’ forum witness relative peace and the governors enjoy true friendship.

Interestingly, the new Senate will be peopled by a good number of some former governors most of whom were part of the NGF when Dr Saraki was chairman.

Traversing the chairmanship of various committees in the senate such as chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Food Security, Education and later Environment and Ecology, debates were robust and deliberations ideal and people-based. The high-point of his quality committee leadership was the championing of bills to sanitise the environment, such as the Gas Flaring Bill and the Noses Amendment Act on oil spillage.

Saraki’s passion to formulate laws to ensure total eradication of oil spillage in oil bearing communities as well as ensure timely clean-up, remediation of impacted areas and payment of adequate compensation to affected communities remains unrivaled.

Environmental activities As the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ecology, he proposed the Nigeria Oil Spill Detection and Regulatory Agency (NOSDRA) Amendment Bill which aims to ensure that oil companies responsible for Oil Spillage and other harmful environmental activities do not go scotfree. It is on record that Saraki’s effort resulted in the $83.3million compensation paid by Shell to communities in Ogoniland that were victims of oil spillage for decades.

Dr Saraki as a first term senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is credited with raising the motion considered as the most important motion of the 7th Assembly. His motion on “Transparency And Accountability In The Management Of Fuel Subsidy Scheme” has been referred to as the singular legislative act that exposed the monumental fraud in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) where officials illegally diverted over N1trillion in the name of fuel and kerosene subsidy in 2012 alone.

There is no doubt that Saraki’s intellectual weight, good nature and friendship contributed in no small measure to the success of the current republic. This played out during the

party convention in which the leaders of APC led by Asiwaju wanted Odigie Oyegun as party chairman, while most of the governors wanted former governor of Bayelsa, Timipre Silva.

Saraki played a stabilising role by insisting that the wish of the leaders and legacy members of the Party must be respected. Saraki also eschewed primordial sentiments, voluntarily stepped down his presidential ambition by insisting that Buhari was the best option for Nigeria, which expectedly, pitched him against certain dominant interests.

Map of Nigeria Indeed, if Saraki is allowed to lead the next Senate, it is definitely not for him but for Nigeria. A Saraki Senate presidency will not only be a stabiliser, a bridge builder but ensure a robust senate. Saraki’s Senate Presidency is definitely for Nigeria’s progress. This will also give the president a breathing space.

A product of King’s College, Lagos and Cheltenham College, Cheltenham, London, Dr Saraki studied at the London Hospital Medical College of the University of London where he obtained his M.B.B.S (London). He had worked as a Medical Officer at Rush Green Hospital, Essex and as a Director of Societe Generale Bank (Nigeria) Limited, as well as appointed Special Assistant to the President on Budget in 2000.

Senator Saraki is the leader of Kwara State politics and by extension, North Central and one of the national leaders of APC, who ensured that Buhari won the state and ultimately changed the direction of the election. He also serves as a tribal nobleman of high rank in Kwara State in his capacity as the Turaki of the Ilorin Emirate and also Turaki Raya Kasan Nupe. In a country deeply divided along religious, ethnic and political lines, Saraki is seen as a blend of all by having his origin in North Central with close ties to the SouthWest. Saraki is a Muslim with a Christian wife.

His consideration by the APC to serve in the capacity of the Senate President of the 8th National Assembly where the party and Nigerians are hoping he will further contribute his quota to the development of the country by firming up existing legislations and initiating new ones for the benefit of all Nigerians, certainly, is a good sign of the better things to come in the years ahead. Therefore, he deserves the support of all who genuinely mean well for Nigeria, APC and Nigerians.

*Mr. Oba, CPS to the Kwara State governor, wrote from Ilorin, Kwara State.

Lynch escapes Senate lynching

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OR over five months, dyed-in-thewool conservatives in the U.S. Senate lay in an ambush for Loretta Elizabeth Lynch, waiting and looking for the best opportunity to legislatively lynch her.

Practically all of them had no qualms about scuttling her desire to be the next attorney general of the United States. The issue was politics affecting her confirmation of the nation’s chief law officer. Ms. Lynch had twice served as the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York. But the senators, most of whom really had nothing against her as a person, and had nothing damaging to say about her qualification for the job, just did not want to approve her for the position in an effort to do some horse trading with other issues they needed to deal it, mainly immigration and anti-abortion.

In the end, however, Lynch escaped Senate lynching and was last week confirmed by a 56-43 vote in the Senate to replace Eric Holder in the powerful position of attorney general of the United States. Incidentally, Lynch’s most vocal anti-nomination senator was not present to vote against her. That man, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, preferred to let go his fight against Lynch and focus more on his ambition to become the Republican Party flag-bearer in the 2016 presidential election.

Senator Cruz did not couch his opposition to Lynch in diplomatic language. He said on the floor of the Senate that “for several months, I have been leading the fight to stop the confirmation of Loretta Lynch - and the reason is simple: Ms. Lynch came before the Senate Judiciary Committee and refused to articulate any constitutional limits whatsoever on the authority of the president...Some say, confirming Loretta Lynch means Eric Holder is no longer Attorney General. But there is a difference.

Eric Holder began disregarding the law and abusing his office after he was confirmed. Ms. Lynch looked senators in the eye and told us she intends to disregard the law. For senators to vote to confirm an attorney general in that circumstance means they are complicit in the lawlessness.”

Cruz is not alone in his “lawlessness” argument.

His colleague, Senator Jeff Sessions from Alabama, said this before voting against Lynch: “We do not have to confirm someone to the highest Lynch law enforcement position in America if makes that someone has history as committed to denigrating Congress” the first and the law. But, New AfricanHampshire Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte, American perhaps spoke for most woman of his conservative colleagues in the Senate to occupy when he put politics that aside and acknowledged that exalted “Ms. Lynch is a well- judicial respected U.S. attorney position with a proven record

and significant experience handling difficult cases. After meeting with her and reviewing her qualifications, I believe she is clearly qualified and has the necessary experience to serve as Attorney General.”

Ms. Lynch is the second woman to serve as a U.S. attorney general. The first was Janet Reno. Both were appointed by Democrat presidents, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, respectively. Lynch, however, makes history as the first AfricanAmerican woman to occupy that exalted judicial position. She also made history in another way: the third longest delay in confirming someone for the office of attorney general in the U.S. This historymaking position is the result of the partisanship that has become characteristic of Congress in Obama’s tenure.

From the ontset of his administration in 2008, Republicans in Congress vowed to plant cogs in Obama’s wheel of governance. They became so fixated about stopping whatever the president did that Obama himself joked that if he somehow found the medicine that would cure cancer, Republicans would rather die than try the medication. So, it was not a surprise that the senators sat on Ms. Lynch’s nomination for as long as they wanted.

Another important factor that delayed her confirmation had to do with his predecessor, Eric Holder, the first AfricanAmerican male to hold that position. For some reason, Republican Congressmen believed that Eric was only focused on giving legitimacy to anything Obama did.

Nomination process The Republican senators who eventually voted to confirm Lynch must have found themselves in a dilemma: in as much as they wanted to scuttle Lynch’s nomination process, they knew that the more they delayed her confirmation and assumption of office, the more they had Eric Holder to deal with. In the end, they must have concluded that voting for Lynch was more pragmatic than having Holder remain in office.

The other possible reason for Lynch’s confirmation is that the campaign for the 2016 presidential election has kicked off.

Republicans don’t want to be accused of making it impossible for the country to have an effective attorney general. Yet, they needed to use Lynch to showcase as another example of how tough they are on Obama’s regime. It was no fluke that all three potential Republican presidential candidates very visibly voted against Lynch’s confirmation as attorney general.

Lynch’s confirmation is another notch up the ladder for women in America. It may have been a coincidence, but it is a fact that two days after Lynch’s senate confirmation, Cecily Strong of Saturday Night Live became only the fourth woman to host the annual (94th) White House Correspondents’ Dinner, held at the Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. Who knows, 2016 might be another year for the uplifting of women in the U.S. That might be when Hillary Clinton will emerge as the winner of an election that would etch her name in history as the first woman to become the President of the United States of America, a “luxury” that is currently being enjoyed by female presidents in Liberia, Argentina, Brazil, and so on.

42—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

SENATE: Amori wins Delta Central seat, as Omo-Agege heads to court

By Festus Ahon, Egufe Yafugborhi, Perez Brisibe & Ochuko Akuopha

candidate, Omo-Agege alleged that the exercise was replete with irregularities and

vowed to challenge the outcome in court.

He advised his supporters to

remain calm, assuring them that he will surely claim the mandate.

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GHELLI—CANDIDATE of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Delta Central senatorial district, Chief Ighoyota Amori, has been declared winner of Saturday’s re-run election in the district.

Announcing the election result, the Presiding Officer of the senatorial district, Prof.

Prekeyi Tawari-Fideyin, said Amori polled a total of 116, 723 votes.

She said that the Labour Party, LP, candidate, Obarisi Ovie Omo-Agege and that of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Halims Agoda, polled 76,635 and 16,489 votes respectively.

Reacting to his victory at the poll, Amori expressed appreciation to God, the state governor Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, the state governorelect, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa and the leadership of the party for their support.

On his part, Labour Party

Oshiomhole commends AAU VC

By Gabriel Enogholase

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ENIN—EDO State governor, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, has commended the Vice Chancellor of Ambrose Alli University, AAU, Ekpoma, Prof. Cordellia Agbebaku, for efficiently running the institution despite the numerous challenges she faced when she took over the affairs of the university.

The governor also condemned the award of honorary degrees to people of questionable characters by university administrators in the country, noting that such awards usually go to the highest bidders.

Oshiomhole, who addressed the 19th convocation of the institution as the Visitor of the University, said under the leadership of Prof.

Agbebaku, “The university has continued to enjoy stability, peace and has grown from strength to strength.

“Before she took over as the Vice Chancellor, it was one problem of students’ riot or staff protests, but she has demonstrated courage and fearlessness in checking the trend."

NLC CONFAB: Deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, Lady Valerie Ebe, (middle); Head of Service of the state, Mrs. Cecilia Udoessien (2nd left); National Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Ayaba Waba (2nd right); Special Adviser, Labour and Productivity, Mr. Godwin Udom (right), and the out-going Chairman NLC, Comrade Unyime Usoro (left), during the opening of the 7th quadrennial state delegates conference of the NLC, in Uyo.

PIPELINE SURVEILLANCE: Isoko HOSTCOM, ex-militants, issue seven-day ultimatum to FG

By Perez Brisibe

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GHELLI—ISOKO chapter of Host Communities of Nigeria, HOSTCOM and some exmilitants from the area in Delta State, have issued a seven-day ultimatum to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC and the Federal Government to address what they termed the marginalization of Isoko people in pipeline surveillance contracts, else they would be forced to take action against oil and gas servicing companies in their area.

The groups, in a statement

by Mr. Morrister Idibra, chairman, HOSTCOM, Isoko chapter, Julius Omoyibo, exmilitant leader and 22 others, threatened to unleash their grievances on oil companies in their area on the expiration of the seven-day ultimatum.

On the need for the decentralization of pipeline surveillance contracts, the groups called on government to decentralize the contract to members of the host communities in the Niger Delta region.

The groups warned that their calmness should not be taken for granted, noting that contract should not be used to settle political jobbers, adding

that there was need for the contract to cut across all tribes

in the region rather than restricting it to the Ijaws.

Rivers PDP alleges looting in state’s ministries, parastatals

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IVERS State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has expressed regret over alleged looting in the state’s ministries and parastatals ahead of Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s exit, on May 29.

It also raised alarm over alleged illegal sale of government property to close friends, political allies and family members of the state governor.

PDP, in a statement, yesterday, by its state Chairman, Mr Felix Obuah, also alleged the illegal employment in Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori, where, he said about 500 people have been secretly employed without due process.

He said: “The Chairman, Rivers State Civil Service Commission, Mr. Ngo Martins-Yellow and the 23 Local Government Caretaker Committee Chairmen, are also secretly employing thousands of persons to swell the number of civil servants in government employ and councils, so that the incoming PDP government

will battle with the alarming wage bill.

“PDP appreciates the employment of Rivers people, but such employment must follow due process, must not be partisan and without hidden agenda.

“Change of guards in governance is a normal tradition and does not mean the end of government or discontinuation of political leadership in the state.”

He warned all those behind the acts to desist, stressing that the long arm of the law will surely catch up with them.

He said that information available reveals that some of the government property being stolen and vandalized were mainly the unregistered brand new cars assigned to different departments of government.

Some equipment for the monorail, government farms, schools, hospitals, government owned media houses among others, he alleged, have also been stolen and vandalized.

“It is most unfortunate that this is happening," he added.

Group tasks Okowa on fight against corruption

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A R R I — A G R O U P, Concerned Deltans for Good Governance, CDGG, has urged Delta State governor-elect, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, to fight bribery and corruption headlong, especially in government ministries and parastatals for the state to move forward.

It noted that Delta State was endowed with abundant human and natural resources which could be tapped to enhance the economy of the state.

National co-ordinator of the body, Evangelist Gabriel Ogheneruemu, who gave the advice in a statement in Warri, also advised the governor-elect to be wary of sycophants and praise singers, whose activities are evil.

EGCDF, DESOPADEC donate science equipment to schools in Egbema

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MMEDIATE past commissioner representing Ijaw ethnic nationality on the board of Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development C o m m i s s i o n , DESOPADEC, Mr Kingsley Otuaro, now the state Deputy Governorelect, has donated science laboratory equipments worth millions of naira through the Egbema Gbaramatu Communities Development Foundation, EGCDF, to four secondary schools in Egbema Kingdom, Warri North Local Government Area of the state.

General Secretary, EGCDF, Jude Ukori, who briefed newsmen at the occasion, said the donation of the equipment to the four schools through the EGCDF was a major boost to the foundation He said: “The EGCDF received the items last year, and now we are delivering them to OloduwaSecondary School, Opuama, Ogbinbiri Secondary School, Ogbinbiri, Ogbudugbudu Secondary School, Ogbudugbudu and Tsekelwu Secondary School, Tsekelewu."

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015—43

N3.6BN ENUGU SUBEB PROBE: Board chairman

Nnubia emerges Anambra NLC chairman

kicks against Assembly resolution

By Austin Ogwuda

By Enyim Enyim

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NUGU—EMBATTLED chairperson of Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board, ENSUBEB, Ms. Nneka Onuora, whose board was dragged to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over alleged financial impropriety by members of the State House of Assembly, has kicked against the decision, saying that it was uncalled for.

The House, which was hitherto

O

NITSHA— PRESIDENT of Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees in Anambra State, Mr. Jerry Nnubia, has emerged state chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress in the state.

He was elected at the 8th delegate's conference at Cana House, Awka.

Other members of the executive are Ignatius Okafor (vice chairman), Cordelia Okonkwo(vice chairman), Chinwe Orizu (treasurer), among others.

Speaking before the election, the national president of the union, Ayuba Wabba, who was represented by Mr. Wole Oyeniyi, advised workers in states whose governors were owing them, to down tools till all outstanding salaries were paid.

investigating allegation of N3.6 billion contract deal, last week passed a resolution inviting the EFCC to come into the matter, following further weighty petitions sent to the House by two members of the board against the chairman.

Condemning the action of the House, the Public Relations Officer, PRO of the board, Ebere Chukwu Nnaji, said in a press statement in Enugu, yesterday: “Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board is distressed by

recent false propaganda against her. ‘’The Board is surprised and alarmed that the Enugu State House of Assembly moved a Resolution based on wild and unsubstantiated allegations made by two former board members.

“One wonders why a legislative house that believes in due process would pass a resolution that portrays ENSUBEB in a poor light based

Accept defeat, group tells Otti, others

By Eric Ugbor

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BA—A group, Alliance For Good Governance, AGG, has appealed to the candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in the just concluded governorship election in Abia State, Dr Alex Otti, and other contestants who lost to concede defeat and support the winner, Dr.

Okezie Ikpeazu, in the task of developing the state.

Coordinator of the group, Barrister Emeka Onyechere, yesterday at a briefing in Aba, discouraged all the defeated candidates from challenging the election results in the Tribunal and urged them to toe the path of outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan who conceded defeat for peace and interest of the country.

He Said: “In every contest there must be a winner and those who lost in that election should consider the interest of the state above their personal ambition and should join hands with the winner and contribute their quota to the development of the state instead of unnecessary litigation that are targeted at distracting the next elected governor of the state.

INT’L WOMEN’S DAY: Vlisco honours women achievers

By Ikenna Asomba

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HE FOUNDER and Proprietress of Patrick Speech and Languages Centre, PSLC, Mrs. Dotun Akande, has emerged winner of the Vlisco Women’s Month Award 2015, at Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Akande, whose centre is the first in Nigeria set-up to help individuals with autism, emerged winner after a rigorous public voting by Short Message Service, SMS. She is now the 2015 Vlisco brand ambassador.

The two other finalists were Mrs. Itoro Eze-Anaba, Founder of

Mirabel Centre, a foundation set up to provide rehabilitation for rape victims, and Tolulope Sangosanya, Founder of Love On The Streets, LOT, a charity project, set up to reach out to dyslexic children in Nigeria and help them have a hope for a better future.

Earlier, the Marketing Manager, Vlisco, Adaeze Alilonu, explained that in line with activities marking the March 8 International Women’s Day, the trio were honoured as part of efforts to celebrate the inspiring achievements of women in West and Central Africa, who had the courage to turn their dreams into reality, despite all odds.

Alilonu said: “March 8 is the International Women’s Day, so this April, Vlisco deemed it fit to honour the outstanding achievements of West and Central Africa women by identifying and rewarding those

who inspired others to realise their dreams.

“We chose the theme for this year’s award as 'Live the Dream,' because we are poised to celebrating women who inspire dreams.”

Cleric decries fraud, violence in Nigeria's democracy

By Chidi Nkwopara

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WERRI—Catholic Archbishop of Owerri Ecclesiatiscal Province, Dr. Anthony Obinna, has decried the high level of fraud and brigandage that still permeate the democratic system, despite years of electioneering in the country.

Consequently, he advised

politicians to aim at leaving credible legacies for which they would be remembered, instead of arming hoodlums to cause all manner of havoc in the society.

Archbishop Obinna gave the advice while delivering the sermon at a requiem mass in honour of the Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Professor George O. S.

e fought with all our resources, including humans, to free these South Africans from aparthied. South Africa by now would have been another Somalia. I do not see why they can't be our brother. -Ms Ukoma Ezeokoye, Graduate

Amadi, at St. James Catholic Church, Ohuba Ubomiri, Mbaitoli Local Government Area.

“It is sad that years after the current democratic engineering started, the process is still bedevilled by all manner of electoral fraud, including snatching of ballot boxes. There are also reports of blood-letting during elections."

By Bartholomew Madukwe (08102479985) nwamad@yahoo.com

PEOPLE SPEAK

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on allegation from two out of its nine board members.

“ENSUBEB is not a contract agency. It is an education board established for the welfare of our children. We take our vision and mission very seriously and we will not allow dirty politics to interfere with the education of our children.

“The current leadership of ENSUBEB headed by Ms. Nneka Onuora is a strong believer in transparency and accountability and properly follows due process in all its dealings. ‘’The two former board members in question had taken active part in all Board activities, including board meetings, tender committee deliberations, bid openings, training workshops, project monitoring and other committee assignments. ‘’The other Board members are disappointed with what could have motivated the two former board members to file these false allegations.”

Speaker of the State Assembly, Mr. Eugene Odo, had at the plenary of the House last Thursday drew the attention of the members to petitions written by two Board members, namely Professor Udenta Chukwu and Dr. T. E. Ayogu, claiming that since the inauguration of the board in June 2013, the chairman’s leadership style had not been in line with the extant rules and regulations of the board.

XENOPHOBIA: Attack on Nigerians in South Africa

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y view on the attack on Nigerians in SA following xenophobia is that Nigeria should first remove the stick in their eyes before helping others, when killing and hatred is a normal thing in the country. -Mr. Dominic James, Commentator

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t is true that tribes may be against tribes during the last Nigerian elections, just to win the position, but such is not to be fused with cases where xenophobia is applied to Nigerians in South Africa. Nothing can justify such acts. -Mr. Okie Darlington, Graduate

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acismwon't end if people still wear white clothes to weddings and black clothes to the funerals. Even when playing the snooker, you haven’t won until you sink the black ball, and the white ball must remain on the field.

-Ms Ilokoli Augusta-, Communicator

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hat if all states and local governments in Nigeria make effort to hire 30 per cent of their workforce from across all other Nigerian states? I know we do not have jobs, but it is to show good brotherliness in Nigeria. -Mr. Stanley Olisa, Broadcaster

S

outh Africans, they suffered the most rancid humiliation under apartheid. The union leaders should explore all means available to ensure that the SA government pays compensations to the victims. -Mr. Edwin Mpofu, Computer Operator

44 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

COLLAPSED BRIDGE: Firm'll pay compensation to victims' families — KWANKWASO K ANO—GOVERNOR Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State has vowed to ensure that the local construction firm handling the pedestrian bridge, which collapsed along Sheik Jafar road paid adequate compensation to families of the seven victims of Sunday evening incident at Dorayi suburb in the metropolis.

The state police command confirmed that no fewer than seven people were killed when the bridge collapsed, saying that ''Criminal investigation has commenced against the contractor and he would face charges if found wanting.”

This was even as a man on tricycle escaped death by whiskers when the concrete slab on the collapsed foot bridge caved in and broke the rickshaw into two yesterday.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Magaji Majiya, spoke on the incident in an interview with newsmen in Kano.

However, the governor’s position was contained in a statement signed by the Director of Press in the Government House, Halilu Dantiye.

“Governor Rabi’u Kwankwaso has vowed to ensure that the victims and their families are adequately compensated by the company,” Dantiye said adding that “doing so

I

VISIT: Ukwa-Ngwa Leaders of Thought, led by Elder Emma Adaelu (5th right) on a thankyou visit after the declaration of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as governor of Abia State, at the Government House, Umuahia. will avoid a lot of of unnecessary consequences.”

The statement further admonished citizens to be patient and continue to be law abiding.

The statement further urged companies undertaking numerous construction work in the state to continue doing their work in a manner that would ensure minimum discomfort to road users.

The governor, who condoled with the families of the victims also prayed for the quick recovery of the injured ones who are currently in the hospital.

Meanwhile, Majiya said the incident happened around 4:45 p.m. when the bridge, which was still under construction, caved in and collapsed on a car passing underneath it.

“The workers at the site had warned motorists not to pass

because they were working on the bridge but the driver of the taxi allegedly ignored the warning. ‘’So, the moment he moved; before he passed, the bridge caved in and collapsed on the vehicle, which led to the death of seven persons,” he said.

According to him, the vehicle has since been evacuated from the scene while the corpses have been deposited at a hospital morgue.

NLC tasks Borno govt on N18,000 minimum wage for council workers

By Ndahi Marama

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AIDUGURI—THE Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Borno State

chapter has called on the state government to implement the N18,000 minimum wage for local government workers workers

Onokpasa faults Delta polls, hails Buhari, Emerhor, Onoge-led UPU

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ARRI—A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Delta State, Jesutega Onokpasa has described the recently-conducted elections in the state as an exercise fraught with electoral rascality, claiming that the results of the elections were at total variance with the political realities prevailing in the state.

Addressing newsmen in Warri, Onokpasa faulted the results as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and decried the conduct of the commission’s officials in the state as a proof that it had become merely an arm of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Delta.

Onokpasa, a lawyer asserted that while INEC may be said to have performed above board in most parts of the country, it abdicated its constitutional role in Delta State.

He said: “What we had purporting to be elections was an operation in what I would call electoral terrorism with the professional riggers in the PDP simply deploying billions of its

Police arrest 60 over NDLEA officers, drug addicts' clash in Ilorin

stolen wealth to steal or buy votes while unleashing mayhem on the populace. They brazenly wrote results and allocated votes to themselves.”

While vowing that the elections will be challenged in Delta State, Onokpasa congratulated the PresidentElect, General Muhammadu Buhari, on his victory.

He urged Olorogun Otega Emerhor, APC’s governorship candidate for Delta State to continue to provide leadership to the opposition in the state, thanking him (Emerhor) for drawing him and many others to throw their weight behind General Buhari’s candidacy.

He also commended the Chief Tuesday Onoge-led faction of the Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, for standing with Buhari, Emerhor and the APC despite financial temptations from the PDP, asserting that Onoge had been vindicated as the authentic leader of the Urhobos.

in the state.

The Chairman of the congress, Mr. Titus Ali Abana who made this call in an interview with newsmen in Maiduguri yesterday, said though the state government was doing its best considering the security challenges, it still needed to implement the minimum wage to carter for the welfare of the workforce done in the area of workers welfare, more especially the implementation of minimum wage and the re-engagement of workers of Borno state Hotels, International Hotels and the state Housing cooperation.

Abana who was just reelected at the weekend said “We also want to appeal to the state government to pay the outstanding 18 month minimum wage arriers for primary school teachers and local government staffs.”

The NLC chairman also appealed to Governor Kashim Shettima to pay much priority to the workers welfare.

He also urged Governor Shettima to look into the case of the workers that are disengaged from Maiduguri International Hotels, Borno investment company working in the state -owned revenue generation agencies/ parastatals that have now became moribund.

“Even though these workers were supposed to work and generate salaries for themselves, the government should still look into the possibilities of bringing them into mainstream ministries and be paid their full salary because of the situation in the state,” Abana said.

LORIN—THE Kwara Police Command Sunday said it arrested 60 suspects connected with Saturday’s clash between officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, and drug addicts in Ilorin.

The spokesman of the command, Mr Samuel Okasanmi, announced this while addressing newsmen in llorin on Sunday.

He said police had launched a manhunt for the ring leader of the disturbance.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that three people are feared dead and property worth millions of naira destroyed when suspected touts went on rampage in some areas of Ilorin.

The alleged ringleader of the crisis allegedly led a gang on a reprisal against some operatives of the NDLEA. Okasanmi said the NDLEA operatives were part of the team that raided marijuana smokers’ spot at Idi-Ape-Baruba area on Friday.

He said many houses and motorcycles were burnt and damaged during the incidence.

The police spokesman said the command had ordered a thorough probe into the causes of the incidence while those found culpable would be prosecuted.

PUNUKA yearly lecture holds April 30

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AGOS—THE 2015 edition of PUNUKA Attorneys and Solicitors yearly lecture with the topic “Anti Corruption and Bribery Laws: Extra Territorial Applications and Lessons for Businesses and Government Agencies” holds on April 30, 2015 in Lagos.

The lecture is aimed at bringing together key industry players and stakeholders on topical issues bordering on law, the economy, financial matters, good governance, nationbuilding, amongst others.

Justice Emmanuel Ayoola JSC (rtd) will be the Chairman of this year’s edition, while Professor Mariana Prado, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto is the guest lecturer.

The lecture will also have a

panel of discussants that will further deliberate on the subject.

Speaking on the suitability of the topic, the Senior Partner of the firm, Chief Anthony Idigbe, SAN, said the discourse presented from both international and local perspectives would address amongst other issues, the efficacy of anti-corruption laws, the extra territorial application of foreign antibribery laws (such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act & UK Bribery Act).

Others are the advent of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in Nigeria with focus on the effectiveness of their anticorruption policies and campaign and the implication for the economy, businesses and government institutions.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015—45

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ASEMOTA @ 80: Cellebrator, Chief Sunny Omoregie Asemota (right); his wife, Ireti (middle) and daughter, Mrs Shola Coker, at Asemota's 80th birthday celebration in Lagos. PHOTOS: Biodun Ogunleye.

VLISCO WOMEN: From left— Adesuwa Onyenokwe; Mrs Itoro EzeAnaba; Salomey Gyamfi, Vlisco Holland; Mrs Dotun Akande, Winner of Vlisco Women Month 2015 award night; Miss Tolulope Sangosanya, Founder, Lots Charity Foundation, Mayor of Dustbin Estate and Adaeze Alilonu, Marketing Manager, Vlisco Nigeria, at the award night in Lagos. PHOTOS: Akeem Salau.

From left— Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Mr. Femi Otedola and Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State at Asemota's birthday celebration.

Mrs Adebola Adefope (left) and Mr. Olufemi Adefope, Managing Director, Delta Sky Logistics Limited, at the Vlisco Women event.

AGAINST MALARIA: From left— Dr. Rotimi Agbolagorite, Deputy Director, Disease Control, Lagos State Ministry of Health; Mr. Babajide Bello, Executive Secretary, Mushin LGA; Alhaji Jimoh Olowoidiobi, Baba Oja, Amu Plank Market, Mushin; Qaiser Rashid, Category Manager, Pestcare, Healthcare, Aircare, RB, West Africa, and Mr. Fatai Oyewuwo, Deputy Executive Secretary, Mushin LGA, during the Mortein-sponsored community enlightenment in commemoration of 2015 World Malaria Day at the plank market.

COMPETITION: From left— Obinaju, Adeyemo Kayode, Ahion Kevin, Sobola Timilehin and Celestine Ezeokoye, former Imagine Cup participant, coaching the 2015 Nigerian national winners of Microsoft Imagine Cup students competition in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: Emeka Aginam.

UNVEILING: From left— Oyinade Ladapo, Brand Manager, Close Up; Mr. David Okeme, Brand Building Director, Unilever Nigeria; Mr. David ' Davido' Adeleke, Close Up Brand Ambassador, and Bunmi Adeniba, Category Manager, Oral Care, Unilever Nigeria, during the unveiling of Close Up Red Hot in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: Biodun Ogunleye.

HONOUR: Steven Frank-Big Mike, Chief Executive Officer, Swagga Records Nigeria/ Malaysia (right), a representative of the Nigerian Embassy in Malaysia, during the presentation of award to him for uniting Nigerians in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

46 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

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52—VANGUARD, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

Who will rebuild the PDP? WITH a resolve after recent top-level meetings to stay together, the potency of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, surviving in the harsh political and economic climate as an opposition party would be seriously determined by the sagacity of the men and women who will lead its reinvention.

•Jonathan

By Charles Kumolu

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ITH an electoral defeat that bruised and deflated the ego of virtually every member of the self acclaimed largest party in Africa, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the prospects of the party were hazy in the eyes of Senator Olurunnimbe Mamora, the deputy-director general of the All Progressives Congress, APC Presidential Campaign Organisation. One caution he gave to the emerging opposition political party was to imbibe the principle of constructive criticism.

Indeed, the PDP had since its formation in 1998, never lacked men whose political clout ensured it emerged relatively strong from internal crises, all mostly drawn together by the party’s hold on the presidency. However, with the loss of the presidency that attraction is now going to be put to serious test.

It is of note that many chieftains, who before the polls were assumed to be of remarkable electoral value, surprisingly failed to deliver their polling units at the polls.

Special committees Many of the mighty names bandied about in the media at the end of the day failed to deliver even their polling units to their party.

Having emerged from the defeat with a bruised ego, it was not a surprise that the party recently planned to constitute a committee for re-packaging.

With the primary aim of halting it’s dwindling fortunes, the party resolved to set up special committees with the task of rebuilding.

However the committee decides to carry on its agenda, it will have to take into consideration the inclination of some prominent chieftains of the party upon whom the fortunes of the party could be rebuilt the PDP. Among them are: Dr. Goodluck Jonathan

•Mark

It is natural that all eyes would be focused on the President in the quest to reposition the party, given that he may be the party’s national leader even as a former President.

Though he is not considered as politically savvy in many quarters, it is expected that he would still command some influence that the party would find useful.

How Jonathan’s imprints would add up to the party’s fortunes may be constrained by his perception of not having a leading voice in party affairs.

Nyesom Wike The exit of Rivers State governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi from the PDP, inevitably put the leadership of the party in Rivers State on Wike.

So it was not surprising that Wike, who is now the governorelect of Rivers State, was the arrow ahead of the PDP during the political crisis that had engulfed the state.

Some in the party would want to call upon Wike to use his pugnacious instincts in reinventing the party at the national level. However, such hopes would be seriously limited on the basis of the fact that the

•Lamido

federal cover that was brusquely used by Wike in Rivers State would be missing after the exit of the Jonathan administration at the end of next month.

Nevertheless, Wike would be a rallying point in propelling the party in the South-South and notably in Edo State where he has a close affinity to the PDP state chapter through his friend, Chief Dan Orbih.

Godswill Akpabio Under the present circumstances, the outgoing governor of Akwa Ibom State would be the cynosure of eyes given his leading role in the party as the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum. Though his stature as a powerful PDP leader, may have wanned following his party’s woeful electoral performance, his galvanizing ability would be brought to bear.

However, with his imminent exit from the Government House and his entry into the Senate, his stature and swagger would be diminished by the decrease in his ability to expend patronage.

Despite the fact that he would be a rookie in the Senate, Akpabio’s presence and deft political moves would perhaps be advantageous to the PDP caucus in the 8th Senate.

•Akpabio

Chief Tony Anenih In this troubling time in the life of the PDP, Anenih’s expertise in the art of politicking, is something that would have been called up.

But Anenih may have reached his limit not only in his political mileage, but also would be seriously constrained by age.

Anenih, who would be 82 in August is however already being seen as an old warhorse. Even more, the Uromi born tactician’s political expertise has only been

The PDP had since its formation in 1998, never lacked men whose political clout ensured it emerged relatively strong from internal crises, all mostly drawn together by the party’s hold on the presidency

known to shine under the klieg of the ruling party. His political endurance in the opposition has not been tested. So it would be doubtful if the party decides to rest its fortunes on the aging politician.

Musiliu Obanikoro Even with the political battles he had fought among PDP chieftains in his home state of Lagos, Obanikoro remains one of the few leading figures in the South-west.

With a popularity among the party faithful in the state that is only disputed by his traditional antagonists, the former ambassador to Ghana boasts of the knack required to make a difference in the party.

Barring the re-emergence of perennial rivalry among party stalwarts in Lagos, Obanikoro’s personal inputs may be valuable to the party as it seeks to rediscover itself in the country.

Bode George The former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP is no doubt, an asset to the PDP. In spite of a political stature that had prominently been shaped by controversies, he commands a

Continues on page 53

VANGUARD, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015—53

Yobe: Rat race for appointments

By Bala Ajiya

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FTER the landslide victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the April 11 governorship elections in Yobe State, a rat race for appointments has ensued among leaders of the party.

A host of politicians including those who lost their seats to the opposition in the National Assembly are now lobbying Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, who has been re-elected, and his close associates for appointment into his next cabinet.

Traditionally, appointments into the executive cabinet, since the advent of democracy in 1999, are based on a sharing formula which cut across the 17 local councils of the state. Each council nominates a person that

will represent it at the centre.

Now, the sharing formula appears headed for the rocks as appointments into political offices henceforth will not be hinged on nomination from the 17 councils. They will be based on integrity, loyalty and most importantly, level of contribution to the success of the APC in the just concluded general elections in the state.

Financial assistance Speaking on the new benchmark, one of the party’s big shots alluded to the body language of Governor Gaidam and the statement he made when some traditional rulers paid him a congratulatory visit at the Government House Damaturu. The governor said he was re-elected by the

electorate stressing that his reelection was through the influence or financial assistance of any politician in the state.

According to the governor, the election revealed a lot, ‘’the enemies of the government are now known, those who worked against the party have been identified and appropriate actions will be taken against them.’’

Another APC chieftain said the governor’s statement may not be unconnected with the treacherous tendencies of some of his close associates who collected huge sums of money but could not ‘deliver’ their units let alone their local governments at the polls.

He said the governor was bitter with some people who engaged in anti-party activities that led to the APC losing Zone

•Gaidam B senatorial seat, one House of Representatives and two House of Assembly seats to the PDP. A reliable source also confirmed that most of the commissioners may not return to the cabinet because of their poor performance and perceived disloyalty to the governor. A host of them are

political wilderness.

Also likely to undermine Muazu’s ability are allegations of corruption and anti-party activities broadly levelled against the leadership of the party.

Even as it is not contestable that his position might be one of the casualties of the repositioning, the former Bauchi State governor would be a handy reference point for the task ahead.

Continues from page 52

sizable number of followership in the Southwest.

Unfortunately the Lagos Boy as George is also known as, may not be available to rebuild the party having vowed to go on exile should Major General Muhammadu Buhari, retd, win the presidential poll.

Col. Ahmadu Ali He was among those relied upon for the President’s reelection, given his pedigree as a former National Chairman.

In his capacity as the Director General of the PDP campaign organisation, Ali was in his typical elements of jabbing those he felt were antagonistic to the party.

As a member of the old guard in the PDP, Ali’s wisdom would be sought in rebuilding the party.

Being successful at that may not come easy for him especially in his home state of Kogi where the APC had made an overwhelming inroad.

His perceived reputation of lacking in capacity and mannerism needed to carry everyone along may be a liability this time.

Buruji Kashamu Not even the international pressure for his extradition to the US for alleged drug-related offenses, would deter the PDP from relying on Kashamu for its reinvention especially in the southwest.

After all, it was under the same situation that Kashamu emerged from just an associate of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to a notable leader of the party in the zone at a time when the party had mixed fortunes.

Whether he delivered in his position as the Chairman Mobilization Committee of the

now scheming and lobbying those who have the governor’s ear to influence the appointments in their favour.

As the intrigues and power play continues and given the new appointment benchmark, it is to be seen what Gaidam’s new cabinet will look like after the May 29 hand over.

•Sambo

•Muazu

•Fayose

Who will rebuild the PDP? Southwest PDP, should not be a matter of strenuous debate considering the performance of his party in the last election.

However, the growing pressure for his extradition could become very distractive for Kashamu, who was recently elected to represent Ogun East in the Senate.

Ayodele Fayose Despite being regarded as politically irritant, Fayose is so much valued in the PDP. The fact that his actions resulted in collateral damages for the party does not matter since he is regarded as one of the few foot soldiers left in the PDP. Already, he has vowed to be the last man standing as the party commences its role as the major opposition party.

While declaring his commitment to the party ’s redemption, Fayose vowed not to dump the PDP under any condition.

Though his mobilization capacity is not in doubt, his Knack

for always courting controversies remain a source of concern.

David Mark The outgoing Senate President is one of the few PDP chieftains whose loyalty had never been a subject of controversy.

Serving as the Senate President longer than anyone else before him, his durability is a testimony of his mastery of political games.

Speculations that he would defect to the APC were dismissed

by Mark, who vowed to remain and rebuild the PDP. Unlike some who may be tackled by some personal and public shortcomings, Mark is considered one of the few beacons upon which the future of the lies upon.

Adamu Mu‘azu Being the national chairman of the party, the buck stops on Muazu’s table. Agitation for his removal being the chairman who changed the game of the party

has for now been stifled following a meeting with governorselect and party leaders from across the country.

But holding the unenviable record of the chairman, who led the party to defeat, raises so much doubt about how well he can lead the party out of the

In his capacity as the Director General of the PDP campaign organisation, Ali was in his typical elements of jabbing those he felt were antagonistic to the party

Sule Lamido Being one of the original nine persons that formed the party, the outgoing governor of Jigawa State resisted the temptation to exit the party at the height of the dispute between some governors and the immediate past national chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. He had asserted that he would not leave the house he built for someone else.

As the last man standing among the founders of the party, Lamido’s reputation of political sagacism and tact would be of inestimable value to the PDP. He is also expected to champion civility, peace, dialogue and constructive engagement that are key to intraparty relations.

However, the grace and gait with which he walked in the party was severely damaged by his failure to deliver the party in his state and win any measurable office for the party during the last general elections.

Notwithstanding what people think, Lamido comes across as someone who could be relied upon in his party’s quest for reengineering.

With a detribalised personality, robust political contacts that had endured for decades, fearless stance on national issues, and rich experience, neglecting Lamido would be inimical to the PDP.

54—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

PWC Forensic audit of NNPC reveals $1.28bn in subsidy scam

By Emeka Anaeto, Babajide Komolafe & Ediri Ejoh OLLOWING a Presidential directive, the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, yesterday, released the Forensic Investigative Audit conducted by PriceWaterCoopers into the allegations of unremitted Funds into the Federation Accounts by the NNPC. Among other things, the report revealed financial improprieties amounting to $1.28 billion in payment for petrol and kerosene subsidy between January 2012 and July 2013, comprising $980 million in subsidy over claim by the NNPC, $63.78 million duplicated subsidy payment by NNPC, $36.05 million overstatement in PPPRA’s PMS subsidy Payment Advice to NNPC, and an estimated $205 million kerosene subsidy overcharge by NNPC. It also revealed underreporting of revenue amounting to $6.58 billion comprising $2.34 billion under-reported revenue and under-reported remittance of $3.81 billion, as well as underreported third party financing revenue of $430 million.

Petrol and Kerosene Subsidy: The report stated, “Our review of the subsidy documentation revealed that the subsidy due to NNPC between January 2012 and July 2013 on PMS and DPK import was $8.99billioncompared to the $9.97 billion stated by the Reconciliation Committee.

F

Reconciliation committee The difference was due to the following: Exclusion of October 2011 - December 2011 subsidy claims of $1.2billion. This does not relate to the review period of January 2012 to July 2013; $0.13billion increase in PMS subsidy claimed for the 19 months period; $0.09billion increase in DPK subsidy claimed for the 19 months period.

“Our examination of the PMS and DPK import verified by PPPRA revealed that some discharges were apparently verified and subsidy advised to NNPC more than once. The repeated subsidy for PMS amounted to N3,709,879,190 ($23,954,796). The repeated subsidy for DPK amounted to N6,169,502,266 ($39,836,652).

“Our review of the Subsidy Payment Advice sent by PPPRA to NNPC for discharges between January 2012 and July 2013 revealed that PPPRA applied the pre-2012 Ex-Depot Price (N49.51) on some discharges in 2012 instead of the approved Ex-Depot Price of N81.51; A total of 174,449,778 litres of PMS was affected in these PPPRA computations.; The error in computation resulted in an over-

Petroleum minister Deziani Alison Madueke statement of PMS subsidyby N5.6 billion ($36.05 million).

“Our review of a sample of the copies of the Pro Forma Invoices (PFIs) issued to the other marketers of DPK across different geopolitical zones of Nigeria, revealed that the other marketers bought DPK from NNPC/PPMC prior to arrival at NNPC depot in Nigeria at N40.90; The marketers are thereafter required to incur the Lightering expenses10, NPA charges, Jetty Throughput Charge and Storage Charges before bringing the product into Nigeria. “Subsidy is calculated as Landing Cost minus Ex-Depot Price; Per PPPRA’s template, Landing Cost also includes the extra expenses incurred by the other marketers; By selling DPK to marketers at N40.90 and claiming subsidy at an Ex-depot price of N34.51 without adjusting the Landing Costs for the extra costs borne by the marketers, NNPC had over deducted subsidies to an estimated amount

The total revenue generated from our analysis of all crude oil revenue streams amounted to $69.34 billion. This was $2.34billion higher than the amount reported by the Reconciliation Committee

Finance minister Ngozi Okonjo Iweala

of N31,522,234,881.06 ($204 million).”

Further revelations from the forensic audit showed $2.34 billion under-reported revenue and under-reported remittance of $3.81 billion, as well as underreported third party financing revenue of $430 million. $2.34 billion under-reported revenue generated: The report stated, “The total revenue generated from our analysis of all crude oil revenue streams amounted to $69.34 billion. This was $2.34billion higher than the amount reported by the Reconciliation Committee. The difference was as a result of the following; FIRS – Data received from both COMD and FIRS put revenue generated from FIRS tax oil lifting at $16 billion which is $1 billion higher than the amount quoted by the Reconciliation Committee. B. NPDC – Information submitted by NPDC to the Senate Committee stated total revenue generated from lifting at $6.82 billion. This is $0.82 billion higher than the Senate Reconciliation Committee’s figure.

C. Third Party Financing – Data received from COMD and confirmed by Mobil Producing Nigeria Limited (MPNL) and Total E&P Nigeria Limited (TEPNL) during their submissions at the senate hearing, revealed total revenue figures of $2.43 billion. This is $0.43 billion higher than the amount reported by the Reconciliation Committee. D. Our analysis also revealed increased revenue of $0.29 billion and $0.22 billion from Equity and Domestic crudeoil lifting respectively, and a reduction of $0.42 billion from DPR royalty revenue, when compared to Reconciliation Committee’s figures.

Under-reported revenue remittance of $3.81billion: The report stated, “The total cash remitted into the Federation accounts from crude oil liftings for the period under review amounted to $50.81 billion. We were able to trace $49.33bnof this amount to the FGN bank accounts

listed in Appendix 6.1.33. The balance of $1.48billion was also traced to the FAAC report for subsequent months. Please refer to Section 4.2.7 for more details. $3.81billion is the difference between $50.81billion and the $47billion amount reported by the Senate Reconciliation Committee.

This difference was as a result of the following: FIRS remittance – We verified additional $1 billion revenue generated by FIRS which was not reported by the Reconciliation Committee. We also traced the payment of this amount to the CBN/FIRS JP Morgan account. Other third party financing remittance – $1.37billion was received from the third party financing arrangements.

Financing arrangements The arrangement with TEPNL resulted in the payment of $211million to the Federation from the USAN Field TMP project which represents Royalty and Profit oil, while the sum of $1.16billion was received from MPNL from the Satellite Field and Reserve Development projects.

NPDC remittance – Cash payments of $1.7 billion representing Petroleum Profit Tax and Royalties had been remitted.

Equity crude and DPR royalty oil remittance – The remittance received from Equity crude sales, and in favour of DPR royalty oil, was $0.16 billion higher and $0.42billion lower than the Senate Reconciliation Committee figures respectively.”

Under-reported Third Party Financing Revenue of $0.43 billion “Mobil Producing Nigeria Limited, in its submission to the Senate, reported revenue figures of $518million5 and $859million6 in respect of the Reserve Development Project (RDP) and Satellite Field Development Project (SFD) respectively. Total E&P reported a revenue figure of $1.053 billion7 in respect of the USAN project. These amounts

represent royalty and profit oil due to the Federation from these third party financing arrangements. The total revenue generated from third party financing arrangement was $2.43billion and not $2 billion reported by the Reconciliation Committee.

On the undisclosed remittance to the Federation account, the report stated, “Out of the total revenue reported by MPNL $1.158 billion had been remitted to the Federation Account as at November 2013. This was confirmed by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation at the presentation to the Senate Committee. We also traced these payments to the CBN/NNPC JP Morgan account.

The total of $858,750,972 relating to SFD had been remitted while $300,000,000 out of the $518,069,354 relating to RDP had been remitted. The balance of $218,069,354 was withheld to service the project finance cost and subsequent remittance of the net amount, in accordance with the contract terms. In respect of the USAN project handled by Total E&P Nigeria Limited, the sum of $193,478,061.15 and $17,943,616 totaling $211,421,6779, being Royalty and Profit Oil was remitted to the Federation”

Remittance of shortfalls The forensic audit covered analysis of remittance shortfalls from NNPC into the Federation Accounts; analysis of submissions made by key stakeholders in relation to these alleged shortfalls; and Producing an independent Forensic report detailing our findings. The forensic audit project follow the timeline of events beginning with a letter in September 2013 by the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, now Emir of Kano, HRH Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR, stating that from January 2012 to July 2013, NNPC had lifted US$65billion worth of crude oil on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) but remitted only $15.2bn into the Federation Accounts, with US$49.8bn as outstanding to the FGN. The AuGF engaged PwC to investigate any and all crude oil revenues generated by the NNPC that was withheld or unremitted to the Federation Accounts between January 01, 2012 and July 31 2013. In November 2014, PwC submitted the report in which it indicated that the findings in the report were based on the information it received up until October 31, 2014. In January 2015, PwC was recalled by the Auditor General for the Federation and asked to visit with NNPC (the nominal Auditee) to share its key findings and receive feedback from them.

This recall action led to a significant amount of additional information and clarification hitherto hidden, a development that consequently forced a substantial change in the content of the report.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 — 55

IMF calls for further currency depreciation in Nigeria

By Babajide Komolafe

T

HE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday called for further currency depreciation in Nigeria and seven other oil exporting West African countries.

Recall that the Nigeria’s currency, Naira, has depreciated officially by 28 per cent from N155 to a dollar November last year to N197 at the close of business yesterday In its April 2015 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa, which economic growth of 4.5 per cent

for the region in 2015, IMF said, “For the region’s eight oil exporting countries, fiscal adjustment is a priority; policy makers should support an adjustment by allowing exchange rates to depreciate, where flexible exchange rate mechanisms are in place”.

Summarising the Outlook for the region, Ms. Antoinette Sayeh, Director of the IMF’s African Department in a press release stated, “Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy is set to register another year of solid economic

performance with growth expected to expand 4½ percent in 2015. The region will continue being one of the fastest growing in the world—second only to emerging and developing Asia. ''That said, the economic expansion will be at the lower end of the range experienced in recent years, mainly reflecting the impact of the sharp decline of oil and commodity prices over the last six months. But the impact of this shock will be highly differentiated across the region.

“Sub-Saharan Africa’s eight oil

exporters have been hard hit by the price decline, and their average growth in 2015 is expected to be about 1¼ percentage points lower than in 2014 in response to this shock. ''However, for most of the rest of the region, growth prospects remain favorable. These countries are enjoying the benefits of lower oil import bills, although some are also feeling the impact of lower prices for their non-oil commodity exports.

Growth is projected to be

particularly strong in most lowincome and more fragile countries, and this will help to reduce poverty levels.

“In Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the Ebola outbreak is beginning to be controlled, with a sharp decline in the incidence of new infections. However, 2015 will be another difficult year, with economic activity expected to be significantly depressed. ''The IMF has provided $390 million of assistance to help these countries, including $100 million of grants for debt relief— the first instance of such assistance by a development partner.''

Women, others protest death of youth during Assembly poll in Ibusa

W

TRADE: From left; Director, Commercial Law Department, Ministry of Trade and Investment, Mrs. Nima Salman Mann; Minister of Trade Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga; Chairman, Intellectual Property Committee Section on Business Law, Mr. Afam Nwokedi and Chairman, NBA, Abuja Chapter, Mr. Agada Elachi, during the World Intellectual Property Committee Section on Business Law, in Abuja yesterday. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan.

ORRIED over constant killings of innocent citizens during elections, women and youths drawn from the various communities of Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State, weekend, protested in Ibusa to demand for immediate arrest and prosecution of all those involved in beating three innocent youths to pulp, and causing the subsequent death of one of them during the last House of Assembly election in Delta.

The women and youths, who were half-naked, armed with

wooden pestle and some condemned cooking utensils, among others, called on the law enforcement agents to speed up investigation of the suspects who killed one Emeka Onianwa of Umuehea, Ibusa and made to face the full wrath of the law.

One of the women, Mrs. Mary Anukwu, in an interview, lamented the ugly trend, saying that it is sad to note that each time there was election, a particular set of people always engaged in ballot box-snatching, destruction of property, thumb-printing of ballot papers, and above all, killing of innocent citizens.

Pan-Deltan group thumbs down polls, lauds President-elect

A

SABA—A panDeltan group, Detribalised Deltans for Genuine Change, has condemned what it described as the rape of democracy during the recentlyconducted elections in Delta State.

While addressing newsmen in Asaba yesterday, the spokesman of the group, Hon. Emma Nwosu said the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which had woefully failed the state in the last 16 years, could simply not have won the elections in Delta considering its series of broken promises to the electorate.

According to him: “Anyone going for thanksgiving over a fraudulently acquired mandate is trying to make a mockery of God while actually only fooling his or herself. There were no elections in Delta. What happened was someone, somewhere imperiously dictating that the All Progressive Congress, APC must not have more than fifty thousand votes in the presidential elections and not more than one hundred thousand votes in the governorship elections.

''It is what they know best.

They just rob us blind, loot the treasury of the state and wait every four years to pump billions into the electoral process, bribing election officials, writing results and rigging popular parties out of mandates given by the people to their candidates.

Nwosu nevertheless congratulated Presidentelect, General Muhammadu Buhari, asserting that his victory has brought hope for the liberation of the country from what he described as impunity and unbridled corruption.

While urging Chief O’tega Emerhor, the All Progressives Congress, APC’s candidate for the governorship election in Delta State to ensure he reclaims his stolen mandate, he commended Emerhor for making the people know that Buhari is the best bet for progress in Nigeria.

He said: “But for Emerhor ’s persistence, many Deltans would have fallen for the ethno-religious sentiments, which PDP had relied on as its selling point.

When these failed, they simply resorted to rigging on an obscene scale.”

56—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28 2015

Bishop Chukwuma blasts colleagues for not condeming corruption

By Chimaobi Nwaiwu

N

N E W I — ARCHBISHOP of Enugu, Most Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, has challenged bishops to speak out against corruption in the country.

According to him, bishops who fail to speak out are encouraging the phenomenon which does not bode well for Nigeria.

Speaking at his 26th consecration anniversary as a bishop, which coincided with the consecration of three Anglican Bishops, Archbishop Chukwuma said: “Right now, the country needs bishops who can speak out, not contractors, and compromising bishops. ‘’This is the time we must definitely come out to talk and condemn evil in our society, men of God must condemn corruption, immorality, cheating and then care for the poor and the hungry.

“This is the time to make politicians know that our youths must have jobs, there must be proper care for all of us in the society and more importantly, prayerful that our government must improve.

“When you talk about change, the change must come indeed and bring relief to Nigerians and not only that, the church of God will be one and revitalised through the power of the Holy Spirit.’’

He said Nigerians should not expect too much from General Muhammadu Buhari, especially as he was already saying he was not a magician.

“We should not expect a lot from him, but whether he likes it or not, he has to perform, if he didn’t, perform, he will lose the confidence of the people," he said.

Ikpeazu's election brings equity, fairness to Abia —Orji

By Anayo Okoli

U

MUAHIA—ABIA State governor, Chief Theodore Orji, has said that the emergence of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu as the governor-elect of the state has enthroned justice, equity and fair-

ness in the political equation of the state.

Governor Orji, who spoke to journalists in reaction to Ikpeazu’s victory, said his election had also broken the jinx of an Ukwa/Ngwa person becoming the chief executive of Abia since the state

was created in 1991.

“The party (PDP) said it was time to break the jinx of an Ukwa/ Ngwa man becoming a governor,” Orji said.

According to him, the pattern of voting in the election shows that no section of the state can

ASSEMBLY: From left, Col Joe Achuzia, Chairman; Mr. Tony Nnadi, Secretary General, and Mr. Fred Agbeyegbe, President, all of Lower Niger Congress, during a solemn assembly by the Congress, in Port Harcourt, yesterday. Photo: Nwankpa Chijioke

God answered our prayers in Ugwuanyi —CAN

By Francis Igata

E

NUGU—THE Christian Association of Nigeria,CAN, Enugu State chapter, yesterday, expressed gratitude to Almighty God for answering their prayer, following the victory of Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, governorship candidate, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, at

the April 11 poll.

CAN had earlier prayed for Ugwuanyi’s victory, asking God to give Enugu State a leader that will have a listening ear which it saw in the governor-elect.

Addressing newsmen at the residence of Enugu State governor-elect, on behalf of the Christian community in the state, CAN chairman in the state,Christian Obiefuna, said:

“All the Christian denominations in Enugu State converged on Michael Okpara Square and prayed, asking God to bestow Ugwuanyi on us who will address the infrastructure challenges plaguing the state.

“We are here to thank God and appreciate him and also ask God to continue working in him that Enugu State may have a godly face in his reign.”

E

NUGU—A Federal High Court in Enugu, yesterday, granted a motion for an order of mandamus to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to prosecute a House of Representatives member-elect in Enugu State,

On the conduct of the poll, the clerics eulogised the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and security agencies for the professional manner the poll was conducted in a free, fair and credible atmosphere.

He, however, assured the people of Enugu State that the incoming administration would lead with the fear of God in the midst of daunting challenges.

Anambra CJ threatens to withdraw magistrates from hostile communities

By Vincent Ujumadu

A

WKA—THE chief judge of Anambra State, Justice Peter Umeadi, threatened,

yesterday, to withdraw magistrates from communities that exhibited hostile attitudes to judicial officers posted to their areas.

Speaking after the swearing-in of 20 new magistrates and one

deputy chief registrar at the High Court complex in Awka, Justice Umeadi said there was need for the host communities to support the judicial officers posted to their areas as their duty was mainly to ensure quick dispensation of

House of Reps candidate seeks order of mandamus to prosecute opponent

By Austin Ogwuda

produce a governor without the support of Ukwa/Ngwa.

Orji explained that the implementation of power shift had put in place a template that must be sustained in order to avoid rancour, acrimony and distrust in the contest for power among various sections of Abia State.

The governor dismissed the widely held view in the state that he installed Ikpeazu, insisting that he was chosen by the party, having emerged through a governorship primary election.

He also dismissed the insinuations that he would be manipulating Dr. Ikpeazu to do his bidding. According to him, once he leaves office, he will have nothing to do with how his successor ran his administration.

“You cannot manipulate a man with Ph.D. He is old enough, has been in government and is very intelligent. The era of manipulation is gone.

“I am moving to another level as a Senator representing Abia Central,” Orji said.

He, however, urged the governor-elect to see the whole of Abia as his constituency and strive to sustain the peace and unity of the state by running inclusive government and taking the issue of security seriously.

Chukwuemeka Ujam, for certain electoral offences.

Ujam was alleged to have committed the offences during the National Assembly election on March 28.

He was declared the winner of Nkanu East/West federal constituency election under the platform of Peoples Democratic

Party, PDP. But, his main opponent in the election, Nnoli Nnaji, of People for Democratic Change, PDC, yesterday, brought a motion ex-exparte through his lawyer, Chuma Oguejiofor, to enable him apply for an order of mandamus to compel INEC to prosecute Ujam.

It will be recalled that Nnaji had

earlier in a petition to INEC, alleged that soldiers on election duty arrested Ujam, who was also a former commissioner in the state for being in possession of over 4,000 Permanent Voters' Cards, PVCs, at Four Corner, Ozalla Junction in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State on the election day.

justice.

He also frowned on a situation where police officers were attached to civilians when judicial officers risked their lives without security.

“It is a misplaced priority to assign police to civilians when magistrates are left at the mercy of criminals in the society,” he said.

According to him, magistrates handle the bulk of cases and therefore, need the necessary protection and assistance to enable them perform optimally.

He stated that the new magistrates were coming at a time Anambra State were being positioned for greater achievements in all sectors of human endeavour.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 — 57

Continues from page 5 the law. And as such, if armed robbery is punished, ‘official robbers’ should be given stricter punishment that would pave way for others with such proclivity.”

He maintained that Buhari should ensure that he recovers all controversial money that is stolen from the petroleum industry.

Also, Dr. Ibilola Amao, Principal Consultant, Lonadek Nigeria Limited, a firm of local content consultants, lauds the initiative.

“The initiative is refreshing to the industry, but on a second opinion, it is required of the President-elect, after the exit of the minister and reshuffling of related cabinet, especially those who provided data to the auditors, that gave NNPC a clean bill of health. Clarity is required on debt owed the IOCs, cash calls and payments made for IOC’s divestment.’’

Extend probe to Gulf oil windfall report — Adonri

In his reaction, Mr. David Adonri, Chief Executive Officer, Highcap Securities Limited also expressed support for the decision of Muhammadu Buhari to probe the allegedly missing $20 billion, calling, however, for the probe to be extended to the Gulf oil windfall probe report and other periods in the past.

According to him, the probe should be extended to past administrations, ensuring that all the monies stolen in the past till date are recovered.

He said, “$20 billion is a colossal

sum. The last probe of the petroleum industry during Abacha’s tenure indicted Babangida for the disappearance of $12 billion Gulf war oil windfall.

“Buhari should recover that money and all others stolen to date from that industry and also address the petroleum subsidy scam.”

Stakeholders should conduct audit — Okigbo

Also commenting on the issue, Mr. Patrick Okigbo, Principal Partner, Nextier Limited, called on Buhari to allow industry stakeholders to conduct the audit on NNPC’s operational and financial processes, by engaging the services of independent petroleum sector auditors.

He said, “The main challenge with Nigeria’s petroleum sector is a lack of transparency with the technical and financial processes.

Most of the transactions highlighted above may have some merit; however, when cloaked in secrecy, they provide room for fraud and other forms of abuse.

“There is need for a detailed audit of the activities of NNPC. However, judging from Nigeria’s history with audits of the petroleum industry, there is little or no confidence that an audit conducted by the government will result in any meaningful changes to the sector. Therefore,

SA Insurance appoints Bode Akinboye GMD/CEO

S

PURRED by a corporate need to make Standard Alliance Insurance Plc a dominant player in the nation’s financial services sector, the board of the insurance company has appointed Mr. Bode Akinboye, an accomplished chartered accountant, veteran insurance practitioner and financial services professional, as the company’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer. With the new appointment, Akinboye has a responsibility to pilot the company’s new focus and transformation programme.

A statement by the company, said part of the board’s new goals are to “evolve the company into a composite underwriter, aggressively grow its market-share, run a more responsive claims administration policy, sustain profitability and dividend returns to shareholders and to make the organization a more exciting place to its varied publics to partner with.”

The statement said the board was convinced that the new helmsman would deliver on the new goals as he did in his earlier 13-year tenure with the company during which he worked very hard to list Standard Alliance Insurance Plc on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

It noted further that Mr. Akinboye also achieved consistent top line and bottom line growth coupled with dividends payment to shareholders and facilitated foreign direct investments of about USD$20m to the organisation before leaving in 2009

R-l: Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar with the president, Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines & Agriculture, KADCCIMA, Dr. Abdul-Alimi Bello and the Makama Zazzau, Alhaji Umar Mijinyawa, at the 36th KADCCIMA one-day seminar in Kaduna, yesterday. Photo: Olu Ajayi.

I've nothing to hide, says Jonathan there is need for an organisation of industry stakeholders to conduct such an audit.

“The audit can be achieved under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. The organisation should engage the services of a forensic audit firm with expertise in the technical and financial operations of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

No govt can gloss over the issue —Okorie

The National Chairman and presidential candidate of United Progressive Party in the just concluded election, Chief Chekwas Okorie said, “The amount is a staggering amount.

You do not expect any government to gloss over it.

Since the doubts are there, I think it is necessary to get the truth about it. Nevertheless, the probe should be what it is supposed to be and not a witchhunting exercise.

“The sum of $20 billion is not an amount to gloss over. That amount can fund a project. The government was busy borrowing money form financial houses when such an amount was claimed to be missing.

“When there is doubt, a responsible government should zBode Akinboye, GMD, SA not gloss over it. If I where him, Insurance I would go ahead to probe the to set up a private equity outfit. allegation so that it can be used The new Chief Executive to tackle other issues.” officer has assumed office after leading his private firm’s affiliate It'll expose the truth — establishment, Gemrock Ozon-Eso Management Company The General Secretary of Limited, to acquire strategic stake Nigeria Labour Congress, in the underwriting company in NLC, Dr. Peter Ozon-Eso said, December 2014.

“Well, I believe it is something According to the release, the that will be good so that we aspect of the investment into the know where the truth lies company was still being cleared because in terms of payment from the appropriate regulators. into the Federation Account, we It stated that Mr. Akinboye has need to know if there are already commenced steps to put linkage so that going forward, the organization on the fast lane the linkage would be blocked. of not only meeting but “The amount of 20 billion surpassing the board’s dollars is not chicken feed and expectations. so, the probe should also cover

those who superintended at the time, so that Nigerians will know where the truth lies and ensure that such people are not allowed to exist. I think it is something that should be done.”

Buhari is in order — Adenikinju

Prof. Adeola Adenikinju of Department of Economics, University of Ibadan and energy consultant for the European Union, United Nations, the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company, NLNG, The African Economic Research Consortium, OECD, UNIDO, ECOWAS, UNECA, the World Bank, and the National Data Bank, said: “Well, since it is about accountability and transparency, in the management of the nation’s oil and gas sector, it is a welcome development.

“After all, it is an allegation and the NNPC has said no money is missing, it is important for Nigerians to know the truth. I think, the Presidentelect is in order."

Make corruption a capital offence, HURIWA begs Buhari

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, yesterday, welcomed the resolve of Buhari to investigate the missing $20 billion.

In a statement in Abuja, the group, however, cautioned against selective justice or unnecessary witch-hunt of perceived political enemies, even as it urged the incoming National Assembly to understudy the Chinese antigraft model so as to introduce the death penalty as punishment for corruption by government officials and contractors.

According to the group, “the decision to probe the alleged missing $20 billion is a

welcome recantation or swift reversal of his earlier unpopular decision not to re- open any corruption cases that happened before March 28, 2015.

“We urge the President elect to begin by totally reorganizing the anti-graft institutions by bringing in capable Nigerians of integrity to head the institutions so as to revive the now moribund antigraft bodies.”

It's a welcome development —Reps

Members of the House of Representatives, yesterday, said Buhari’s decision to probe the missing NNPC's $20 billion was a welcome development.

The lawmakers hinged their submission on the fact that there is nothing wrong in the presidentelect’s further investigations into the matter.

Deputy Leader of the House, Rep Leo Ogor said: “It is a welcome development if the president-elect wants to probe further but at the same time he should be careful not to base whatever action he wants to take on hearsay alone”.

“Also provided the further probe is within the ambit of the law we shall gladly look into it because we are all against corruption in all ramifications”.

In his contribution, Rep Kyari Gujbawu, PDP, Borno, said” it is a sweet development particularly if you look at the revolutionary manner he emerged probing, fighting corruption should be a welcome development so long as it is not a witch hunt.”

Hon. Ogbonnaya Nwuke, the member representing Etche/ Omuma Federal Constituency of Rivers State, said it was a welcome development that will introduce financial discipline and curb embezzlement in the country.

He said: “The President-elect has clearly shown that there would be no hiding for system thieves whose penchant for stealing and looting public funds."

58 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015—59

‘Amnesty programme not endangered’

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HE National President of National Coalition of Niger Delta Ex-Agitators, NCNDE-A, ‘General’ Israel Akpodoro, has condemned the assumption by a section of ex-militants in the Niger Delta region that the incoming administration of President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), would scrap the Amnesty Programme of the Federal Government.

While saying such fear was misplaced, Akpodoro noted that the fear that the programme would be scrapped by the incoming All Progressives Congress, APC-led government was created by those who do not want change in the country.

He said those planting such seeds wanted to cause anarchy and distort history, since the Amnesty Programme was not initiated by President Goodluck Jonathan, but by late President Umar Yar ’Adua, who wanted genuine and purposedriven re-integration of the then freedom fighters into the society.

AWARD: From left— Mrs Juliet Egbiki; her husband, Mr. Henry Egbiki, and Mr. Chidi Ajaegbu, President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, during the presentation of merit award to Mr. Egbiki at the institute's 2015 annual dinner and awards in Lagos. PHOTO: Shola Oyelese.

Oronsaye Report ‘ll save Nigeria N860bn, says Okebukola

By Dayo Adesulu

F

ORMER Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, NUC, Professor Peter Okebukola, has urged the Federal Government to

implement the Stephen Oronsaye Committee report, noting that it can save Nigeria N860 billion in two years.

Okebukola, who disclosed this during the 2013/2014 University of Lagos, UNILAG, Convocation Lecture held

Alleged Tinubu apology to Bode George George seeking relevance— Tinubu’s media aide

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

C

HIEF Bode George’s claim that the national leader of All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, apologized to him should be taken as the meditations of a

man in search of political relevance, Mr. Sunday Dare, Media aide to Tinubu, said yesterday.

Dare told Vanguard yesterday: “Bode George takes himself too seriously.

He is in search of political relevance, which has since

Isoko deserves ministerial slot in incoming govt—YOUTHS

I

SOKO Youth Voice, IYV, has said the Isoko ethnic nationality deserves a slot in the ministerial appointments of the incoming administration of President-elect, Gen. Muhamadu Buhari(retd).

The group said Isoko nation had been marginalized since 1976, without a ministerial appointment.

Speaking after a meeting at Oleh, headquarters of Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State, the group’s President, Engr. Philip Onyeke and Publicity Secretary, Mr. Prince Udemude, appealed to

the President-elect to consider Isoko people, as they were peace-loving.

They urged Buhari to remain committed to his avowed pledge of fighting corruption and to run an allinclusive government that will strengthen democracy, describing the President-elect as a trusted and reliable leader.

Also, they specifically urged him to include the Isoko nation in the Export Processing Zone, EPZ, project that is in progress in Delta State.

deserted him.”

George, leader of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Lagos State, was quoted in a national weekly yesterday as claiming that Tinubu had, last year at the burial of Alao Ariseokola in Ibadan, apologized to him for purportedly conspiring with others to put him in jail.

He had been quoted as saying: “They called Bola; he shook my hand and said he was sorry. It was in public. Since then, if we meet in public, we greet. But our concepts of politics are different.”

However, responding in a text message to Vanguard last night, Dare said George’s claim “to seek political rehabilitation through a bogus claim that Tinubu begged him for forgiveness is unexpected of a leader like him.

“Tinubu bears Bode George no ill feelings. Although Bode George has used every media interview to attack Tinubu, Tinubu has hardly responded.

“The task of nation building, presently at hand, is more urgent than this distraction.”

yesterday, described government’s recurrent expenditure as haemorrhage, insisting that there was need for urgent implementation of the Oronsaye report.

Delivering a lecture on Taking Advantage of a Depressing Nigerian Economy to Accelerate Socio-Economic Development, he said: “Inflated contracts cost Nigeria N569 billion at the Federal level and N350 billion at the state and local government levels in seven years.”

Recall that in 2012, the Federal Government set up the Oronsaye Committee to look into measures for streamlining operations of its various organs for efficient service delivery.

The report suggested a reduction of the size of government to a manageable level, considering that over 70 percent of resources were channelled into running a government that is unduly large and cumbersome to manage, leaving less than 30 percent for issues such as debt servicing and execution of capital projects.

According to the report, reducing the size of government has become imperative given that a large government has inevitably led to stunted development and a very high level of poverty in the country.

Suggestion for Buhari

The former NUC scribe, however, suggested that the incoming administration of

General Muhammad Buhari(retd) should prune down public spending on governance by 45 percent.

Decrying the level of corruption and wastage in the economy, he suggested a benchmark of $45 per barrel of oil for the next two years.

VC speaks

Meanwhile, UNILAG's ViceChancellor, Professor Rahaman Bello, has called on managers of the nation’s university system to serve as catalyst toward repositioning of the nation’ s economy.

In his opening remark, Bello charged the university community to lend a deliberate helping hand as the nation earnestly awaits the assumption of office of the President-elect, Buhari.

He lamented that the task becomes a bit challenging in a situation where the system is poorly funded, assuring that the institution remains poised to move beyond the nation to being number one university in Africa.

Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Akeem Bello, represented by an alumnus of the university and President Alumni Association, Oloeigun Sunny Kuku, said the nation’s economy, despite being rated number one in the continent, remains a depressed one.

He commended work done by the outgoing government, imploring the incoming administration to work hard and make the economy more vibrant.

60 — VANGUARD, TUESDAY, APRIL 28 , 2015

Quake: Thousands Nepal flee capital N

E PA L E S E o f f i c i a l s scrambled on Monday to get aid from the main airport to people left homeless and hungry by a devastating earthquake two days earlier, while thousands tired of waiting fled the capital Kathmandu for the surrounding plains.

By afternoon, the death

toll from Saturday’s 7.9 magnitude earthquake had climbed to more than 3,700, and reports trickling in from remote areas suggested it would rise significantly.

A senior interior ministry official said it could reach as much as 5,000, in the worse such disaster in Nepal since 1934, when 8,500 people

US gets first black female attorney general

L

ORET TA Lynch was officially sworn in Monday as the first female African-American U.S. attorney general, after nearly six months of politically contentious debate over her nomination.

“Well here we are,”

Lynch said with a laugh as she began her speech, in which she thanked her family, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Sens.

Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Patrick Leahy (DVt.) for their support.

were killed.

K a t h m a n d u ’ s Tribhuvan International Airport was hobbled by many employees not showing up for work, people trying to get out, and a series of aftershocks which forced it to close several times since the quake.

On Monday, thousands streamed out of the city. Roads leading from Kathmandu were jammed with people, some carrying babies, trying to climb onto buses or hitch rides aboard cars and trucks to the plains. Long queues had formed at the airport.

“We are escaping,” said Krishna Muktari, who runs a small grocery store in Kathmandu, standing at a road intersection.

Nepal after the earthquake

ISIS head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dies in air strikes

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HE enigmatic chief of Islamic State jihadist group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead, Radio Iran has reported on Monday.

Earlier, a Guardian report quoting sources with inside knowledge of the group reported that al-Baghdadi was severely injured in a US-

led coalition air strike in March.

According to that report, al-Baghdadi was inujred at al-Baaj district of Nineveh, close to the Syrian border. It also said he was making a slow recovery and was out of his day-to-day control of the jihadist group.

Al-Baghdadi, believed to be in his 40s, had a $10 million US bounty on his head.

Since taking the reins of the Islamic State in 2010, he had transformed it from a local branch of al-Qaida into an independent transnational military force.

Xenophobic attacks mar SA Freedom Day S

OUTH Africa’s an nual Freedom Day celebrations have been marred by recent fatal xenophobic attacks, as a Nandos advert satirising anti-immigrant sentiments has found new poignancy and gone viral.

The annual day this year marks 21 years since South Africa’s first democratic elections, and comes amid violence in the major cities of Johannesburg and Durban which has killed seven people in the past three weeks.

The anti-immigrant unrest followed alleged comments by Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, who said that foreigners need to “pack their bags and leave”. He has since denied inciting violence, and blamed the media for

misrepresenting his remarks as he called for calm.

growls as immigrants disappear in puffs of smoke.

But a Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said in a statement that property has been destroyed and the violence “created fear and uncertainty in the minds of African migrants.”

The advert ends with an indigenous Khoisan South African carrying hunting equipment saying: “I’m not going anywhere. You *$&@#* found us here.”

Released in 2012, the Nandos advert lampoons simmering anti-immigrant feelings in the diverse nation. At the time, several TV stations including the state-owned South African Broadcasting Corporation refused to run it, according to BBC News.

“You know what’s wrong with South Africa? All you foreigners.

You must all go back to where you came from,” the advert’s voiceover

“Real South Africans love diversity,” the advert, which has garnered over 1.7million views, declares as it unveils two new dishes.

The government last week postponed Monday’s annual Freedom Day National Awards ceremony, during which South Africans and foreigners who have contributed to the country are honoured, in order to allow the country to mourn those who had died in the violence.

U.S VP Biden (left) swearing in Lynch (right) as Attorney-General

IsIS kills five TV journalists

I

SLAMIC State militants have slit the throats of five journalists working for a Libyan TV station in the eastern part of the country, an army commander said on Monday.

The reporters had been missing since August, when they left the eastern city of Tobruk after covering the inauguration of the country ’s elected parliament to travel to Benghazi. Their route took them through

Derna, a militant Islamist hotspot. Faraj al-Barassi, a district army commander in eastern Libya, said militants loyal to Islamic State were responsible for killing the journalists, whose bodies were found outside the eastern city of Bayda.

“Five bodies with slit throats were found today in the Green Mountain forests,” Barrasi told Reuters, referring to a sparsely populated area east of Benghazi. He

did not say when the five journalists were believed to have been killed. The reporters - four Libyans and one Egyptian - had been working for Barqa TV, an eastern television supporting federalism for eastern Libya, other journalists said.

Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), a group promoting press freedom, said the reporters had been kidnapped at an Islamic State checkpoint and were killed recently.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 — 61

Okocha wants to be President of NFF F

ORMER Super Eagles captain Austin Okocha says he has no plans of going into coaching but hopes to one day be the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

“No, not for the moment. I’m more interested in the executive positions. I prefer to be the one who appoints them and tells them what to do “ was Okocha’s response when he was asked if he will one day be a coach.

However when asked about eyeing the NFF presidency in the future, the former Fenerbache, Bolton, PSG, Eintracht Frankfurt and Hull City playmaker responded positively to his ambition.

“Why not? Yes. In fact, I’ve just been named the chairman of the Delta State Football Association, which I’m delighted about. Who knows what the future has in store, though?”.

The Delta State FA boss made this known during an interview with fifa.com where he refused to name his favourite among the teams he played for, but picked his goal against Oliver Khan, scored in 1993 against Karlsruhe while he was playing for Eintracht Frankfurt as his most memorable.

“I was very young and I hadn’t made a name for

W

•Okocha myself yet. Klaus Toppmoller was my coach at the time and he started me on the bench for that game, which I wasn’t especially pleased about.

“We were 2-1 up when

RJEN Robben’s return is a timely boost for a Bayern Munich side attempting to add the DFB-Pokal and Champions League to their title win.

Pep Guardiola is relishing Arjen Robben’s return to action ahead of Tuesday ’s DFB-Pokal semi-final against

five defenders facing me.

“I just dribbled with the ball, going one way and then the next before putting the ball past the keeper, who was none other than Oliver Kahn.”

•Storms Okpekpe for pre-race checks

T

HE main organising committee for the 3rd Okpekpe 10km road race has begun the final countdown for the IAAF bronze label race scheduled to hold in Okpekpe near Auchi in Edo state on the 16th of next month.

Disclosing this to the media on Monday, former Nigeria track and field international and two time IAAF World

Borussia Dortmund, while warning his team there is no time to celebrate their Bundesliga success.

B o r u s s i a Monchengladbach’s victory over Wolfsburg on Sunday meant Bayern retained their league title with four games to spare.

Keshi Continues from BP team that Nigerians would be proud of.

“My plan is to start with the local-based players, like I did the last time and then look for fit and in-form players from outside the shores of the country.

“It’s sad that most of our players are not getting regular action in

he finally decided to put me on. We were under pressure and my job was to keep the ball, but we put a break together and I suddenly found myself in the opposition penalty box with four or

AHID EnitanO s h o d i , President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) has been elected into the Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation (CTTF).

A statement by NTTF on Monday said EnitanOshodi’s election was for his role in reviving the fortunes of table tennis and the crucial role that Nigeria played in promoting the sport.

It said that he was elected into the board of directors of CTTF on April 26 in Suzhou, China.

The statement added that Oshodi joined South Africa’s Audrina Mcdonald, who is the treasurer CTTF as the second African member of the federation.

The statement noted that the board, the highest ruling body in charge of table tennis in the Commonwealth

Okpekpe MOC begins final countdown

Robben back as Guardiola calls for focus

A

Oshodi makes Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation board

their clubs but we pray that this improves.”

Keshi further added, “You know most times when we meet we would have about three days together so mostly it would be tactical work we would be doing.”

Nigeria begin the campaign to qualify for the 2017 AFCON in June against Chad at home.

championships long jump finalist (1983 & 1987), Yusuf Ali revealed that the MOC will converge on Benin on Friday before leaving for Okpekpe.

‘The final countdown is here and the MOC led by Dan Ngerem (former president of Athletics Federation of Nigeria,AFN) will meet in Benin on Friday before leaving for Okpekpe to physically inspect the race course as well as the security, accommodation and other arrangements that bother on the technical organisation of the

race,’ said Ali who also jumped in the finals of the long jump event at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, USA. ‘The MOC will also check on the media arrangements for the event. The race this year will be different from the first two editions because it is now an IAAF bronze label race. This means it is one of the less than 100 races the IAAF has designated as one of the leading road races around the world in 2015.

‘This is a great honour to Nigeria and the MOC

Ibru Continues from BP qualifiers.

“I remember he was not on contract then.

Congo had beaten us in Calabar. We went to Sudan and lost. On return leg, even after beating Sudan in Abuja, Keshi was asked to leave the team alone. That was when the whole power play began.

“It is really surprising that after all the hullabaloo, the footdragging, and all the noise, the NFF still settled for Keshi. Why did they have to waste so much time to engage him?”

He said he was

equally shocked at the beggarly manner Keshi employed before getting the new deal. “I understood he was made to apologise to the NFF President and members of the board before he was given the job. That shows a man who was desperate as he took the humble pie.”

On Keshi’s chances of succeeding with the team, Ibru said, “I am not sure. He was there for three years and where is the team today?

We could not qualify for the last Africa Cup of Nations. However, I wish him good luck “

is determined to ensure it is organised in strict adherence to IAAF rules.

We have successfully completed the first hurdle which bothers on the invitation of athletes classified under the international elite field. The guidelines for this requires at least four nations to be represented by runners with times faster than the IAAF’s guidelines.

•Enitan-Oshodi nations was made up of 12 members and chaired

by England’s Alan Ransome.

It said that India was awarded the hosting right of 2015 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships expected to hold in Gujrat from Oct. 27 to Nov. 1.

The statement said that prior to the election; Oshodi was also a member of the International Table Tennis Federation (IT TF) Nomination Committee.

“For Oshodi, this election has also confirmed the relevance of Nigeria among the Commonwealth nations and this is another call to serve.

Meanwhile, the ITTF has commended Nigeria for the giant stride the country has made in recent times especially in their efforts to promote the game globally.

NIKE set to ‘spoil’ Nigeria National Teams

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ORLD’S leading brand, NIKE is to supply kits to the value of $750,000 to the various National Teams of Nigeria in the first year of the contract recently signed with the Nigeria Football Federation.

Details of the contract, signed at The Soho Hotel, Richmond Mews, London on Thursday showed that the products value would increase in the second

•Pinnick

year, with American company NIKE committed to supplying kits to the value of $1million to the Nigeria National Teams.

NIKE will supply kits worth the sum of $1million to the National Teams in the year 2017 and 2018.

The three-and-half year contract was signed

by NFF President Amaju Pinnick and General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi, with Tina Salminen, NIKE’s African Football Sports Marketing Director, representing the American behemoth.

There are also various bonuses specified for any of the National Teams that qualifies for major international championships, with the Super Eagles to earn up to the sum of $500,000 at the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia.

62 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

Terry: ‘Tippy-tappy football is great but you’re not going to win the league’

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•$300m at stake — Mayweather Vs Pacquiao (right) on May 2 (May 3rd Nigeria).

Why the Money man is close to genius I

T is easy to understand the distaste that so many feel for Floyd Mayweather Jr. He is brash, he can be crass, and when it comes to being a braggart, he is the undisputed world champion.

He is the cartoon embodiment of the excess for which his adopted home town of Las Vegas is notorious.

A poor kid from Grand Rapids, Michigan, he has spent his adult life over-compensating for the deprivation he once knew.

He has tossed handfuls of $100 bills into the air at a strip club and hurled wads of cash into a swimming pool so he could amuse himself by watching girls dive to retrieve them. The mouthguard he will wear during ‘The Fight of the Century ’ with Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand on Saturday night cost $25,000 and is inlaid with a $100 bill.

Money Mayweather Some novelists like to assign names to their protagonists that reflect their character traits or their obsessions.

Mayweather has saved everyone the trouble with his chosen nickname. John Self, meet Money Mayweather.

Money Mayweather reigned until the buildup to this fight began.

Then, he took to referring to himself as TBE, or The Best Ever.

He is better than Muhammad Ali and C M Y K

Sugar Ray Robinson ever were, Mayweather said this week.

Mayweather, it is also worth pointing out, has faced a string of accusations of violence against women and spent two months in the Clark County Detention Center in 2012 for a domestic violence conviction.

Light and darkness Although the fight is not quite the struggle between light and darkness that Pacquiao’s supporters would have you believe, it is true that Mayweather is not exactly a gentleman hero. But in sport’s spoiled, sycophantic world where no one ever tells the genius that he is out of line, that hardly makes him unusual.

There is a danger here, though. It lies in confusing our perceptions of Mayweather as a man with a desire to belittle his capabilities as a fighter. You might want him to lose to Pacquiao but you better accept that he probably won’t. He is as close to genius as it gets in modern boxing.

He may not be The Best Ever. Debates aimed at placing that crown on one head are, essentially, specious but it is legitimate to claim that Mayweather is one of the best ever. He has fought the best fighters of his generation, Pacquiao aside, and beaten every one of them.

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said last

week that Mayweather, 38, had ducked too many fighters to be considered the greatest even of this era. A cursory examination of Mayweather ’s record does not bear that out.

He has fought Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo, Arturo Gatti, Sharmba Mitchell, Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosley and Miguel Cotto and sent them all away broken.

He has won titles at five different weights.

He has fought men like Victor Ortiz and Robert Guerrero, who were supposed to be new forces in boxing, but whose limitations were exposed by Mayweather ’s ringcraft. That is the great irony of his dominance of the sport these past few years.

He is scorned as a great vulgarian, a gaudy show-off, boxing’s thug king, and yet more than any other modern fighter he embodies the mastery of some of its finest skills.

Boxing has always venerated the artist and swooned over practitioners of the sweet science and M a y w e a t h e r personifies so much of what the purists admire.

He does not club his foes into submission.

He does not overwhelm them with savagery. He beats them with craft and cleverness.

He is a wonderful technician in the mould of Willie Pep, Pernell

‘Sweet Pea’ Whitaker and Ali. The shoulder roll he uses to protect his head and body from attack is a conundrum that none of his opponents have been able to decode. He is a pugilist, not a scrapper.

When Mayweather boxes, it is to put on an old-fashioned masterclass in the oftneglected art of defensive combat. He makes himself devilishly hard to hit, and, slowly and steadily, picks off his opponent. His style has made fans of connoisseurs like the late, great fight trainer Eddie Futch.

ERRY: ‘Tippy-tappy football is great but you’re not going to win the league’ John Terry has pointed to Chelsea’s resilience and ability to dig deeper than those among the chasing pack as key to the team’s imminent title success this season, arguing neat and tidy possession football is meaningless if it does not yield victories.

The former England captain was outstanding in his side’s goalless draw at Arsenal on Sunday, a result which means Chelsea can claim the title this week if they defeat Leicester on Wednesday and Crystal Palace at the weekend.

The leaders have still only lost twice in the

Crowd-pleaser Mayweather is not a crowd-pleaser. He is too good for that. He is so skilled that it is difficult for his opponent to land effective punches. His brand of brilliance does not make for explosive action but it does make for W after W after W on his record. He has 47 of them now to go with no defeats and no draws.

Roach says he has attended Mayweather fights where fans have fallen asleep from boredom. He is trying to goad Mayweather into abandoning his usual style because he knows it represents Pacquiao’s best chance — perhaps only chance — of winning.

Roach is a good man and a brilliant trainer but Money Mayweather is way too smart to fall for that. I take him to win by unanimous decision.

•Terry

league all season, and not at all since New Year’s Day, and boast a 10-point advantage at the top which they have maintained despite suspensions and injuries disrupting their approach over recent months.

The disgruntled Arsenal fans had chanted “boring, boring Chelsea” as Sunday’s derby petered out, with Mourinho’s side maintaining their clean sheet having won their two previous matches, against Queens Park Rangers and Manchester United, despite conjuring only three shots on target. Louis van Gaal’s side had monopolised the ball at Stamford Bridge only to succumb to a winner from Eden Hazard, who was duly crowned the Professional Footballers’ Association player of the year on Sunday.

“We are definitely not boring and if we do go on to win it, nobody’s going to remember the performances when perhaps it’s not been that exciting,” said Terry.

“We’ve dug deep and other teams haven’t, and that is why they are so far behind us. Possession is great. We could see that from the Manchester United game last week. Possession and tippy-tappy football’s great, but if you are not winning games you’re not going to win the league.”

Mourinho’s approach has become more pragmatic, and “less artistic” according to the Portuguese, in the absence of Diego Costa and Loïc Rémy, but they remain the second highest scorers in the division behind Manchester City. “Let’s not forget the first half of the season, up until Christmas, when we were the best side by far,” said Terry. “The football we played with [Cesc] Fàbregas and his assists, the goal at Burnley [from André Schürrle] and others after that. The play was different class.

“Things then went against us and the manager, being him, came up with the way to get us through games. That’s where he’s at his best. Let’s not forget we were the best side up until Christmas for sure and we have actually beaten the teams who

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 — 63

A TTeam eam of the Y ear should Mourinho: PF PFA Year ha havve had all Chelsea pla playyer erss in it J

OSE MOURINHO has slammed the PFA’s Team of the Year – even though it has six Chelsea players in it – and claimed it would never win the title The Chelsea manager saw his Belgian superstar Eden Hazard win the Player of the Year award last night – but Mourinho, who will clinch his third Premier League title if his team beat Leicester on Wednesday night and then Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Sunday – insisted that the PFA team should have included 11 Chelsea players.

Diego Costa, Eden Hazard, Nemanja Matic, John Terry, Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic were all named in the team, but Mourinho, when asked how many of his players should have been named, said: “All of them. I think it should have been the Chelsea team.

“But this is the Chelsea manager speaking, and obviously I respect every one of the players in that team, and everyone that chose them.

“The players from other teams have the right to choose, and obviously there are great players in that team, and great players were outside it.”

But his midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who has scored five goals and provided 19 assists this season, should definitely be in the side: “As an example, look at the season Fabregas is having, the number of assists and quality of his game – for him not to be there is a bit strange.

“That PFA team wouldn’t win the Premier League. Because that team has four defenders, plus Matic and five attackers. It’s a team without any balance. That team is missing a midfield player, and I think that should be Fabregas.”

Mourinho, whose team drew 0-0 at Arsenal yesterday to cries of ‘boring boring Chelsea’ from frustrated Gunners fans, had hit back at the accusations after the game in his press conference, saying boring was not winning anything for ten years: “I’m not sure people are saying that.

C M Y K

Star SuperFans Game Show: Golden Utd beat Awesome Blues

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PFA Team of the Year with six playes from Chelsea making the team. Mourinho(r) picks holes in the team.

7 stat es sho w int erest 2015 Olympic Day Run: 1 17 states show interest S EVENTEEN states and the Federal Capital Territory have indicated interest in the 2015 Olympic Day Run which has been slated for Saturday, June 17.

The states include Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Edo, Ondo, Rivers and Ogun states. Others include Ogun, Osun, Imo, Lagos, Plateau,

Kwara and the Federal Capital Territory. More states are expected to show interest before the deadline.

Last year, over 4 million Nigerians from across the country took part in the annual event which is organised by the Nigeria Olympic Committee in conjunction with the Nigeria

*Oshonaike

learn about the Olympic values, imbibe them and put them to practice in their every day lives,” Chairman of the Commission, Henry Amike said. “It is not a competition for prizes, rather an event to remind people about the benefits of physical exercise which is to keep them healthy.”

20 15 ITTF W orld Championships: 2015 World Oshonaike makes first round

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Engr. Gumel, NOC boss

Sports For All Commission. Olympic Day Run provides a platform for people of all ages and abilities to experience the thrills and frills associated with the Olympic Games in their localities.

“It is an ideal platform to highlight the benefits of physical activity which allows people to

HE air of supreme confidence, bordering on arrogance certainly served Manchester United fans, Golden Stars well when they squared up against the Awesome Blues of Chelsea for the N1 million prize and the bragging rights in episode Episode 3 of the Star SuperFans gameshow .

The two teams went at each other constantly in a gorgeous attacking manner and the presenter, Mozez Praiz very quickly found himself in the middle of an end-to-end contest with both sides repeatedly attempting and missing 20-pointers until Akinditure Williams of Awesome Blues made it 1- 0 shortly before halftime.

Golden United’s response in the second half was swift and deadly as two successive 20pointers put the ball emphatically into Awesome Blues’ net for the equalizer.

IGERIA’s Olufunke Oshonaike has been handed the biggest task of her career after been drawn in the first round against world number one female player and world champion, Ning Ding in the ongoing 2015 ITTF

World Championships holding at the Suzhou International Expo Centre in China.

Oshonaike made it to the main draw in China, after playing the game of her life to become one of the unseeded players that qualified into the main draw of the championship.

To berth in the main draw, Oshonaike defeated players from Costa Rica, Mexico and Tunisia while her toughest challenge was against Tunisia’s Safa Saidani, whom she played 4-3 against.

As long as Oshonaike was happy about her performance but she will confront another big hurdle when she face home favourite and world champion, China’s Ning Ding in her first round match on the centre table by 6am Ni-

gerian time.

Kazeem Makanjuola failed to advance to the main draw after losing his second group match 4-3 to Argentina’s Pablo Tabachnik. Africa’s most decorated player, Segun Toriola was in his fine form when he defeated Switzerland’s WEBER Lionel 4-3 to book his place in the main draw. Toriola had won his two group matches against players from Algeria and Qatar.

The former African champion will tackle Chinese Taipei’s ShengSheng Huang while Aruna Quadri will battle India’s Soumyajit Ghosh.

Egyptian players led

by Omar Assar will also be in action with Assar tackling Singapore’s Clarence Zhe Yu Chew, El-Sayed Lashin will face Germany’s Patrick Franziska.

*Ayobami

UNN wins Chuma Anosike cup

U

NN Cricket Club of Enugu have emer-ged winner of 5th edition of the SouthEast cricket championship tagged Chuma Anosike Cup as they defeated perennial rivals Royal Cricket club of Anambra by 32 runs at the cricket pitch of Government College Umuahia.

Anambra won the toss and chose to field . UNN batted first and scored 91 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 15 overs.

All efforts made by Royal Cricket Club of Anambra to up turn the scores in the second innings proved insufficient as they ended their innings with 60 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in 15 overs.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015

NFF, Keshi shock Ibru

Keshi: I don’t have a team S

UPER Eagles coach Stephen Keshi has made a most shocking admission that he does not have a team as he begins his second stint in charge of Nigeria.

Keshi, who led Nigeria to AFCON glory in 2013 after a 19-year wait, recently penned a fresh two-year contract to continue as the country’s coach.

However, the former Mali and Togo handler noted, “The team that helped us win the AFCON in 2013 is no longer in place.

“We don’t presently have a team. We would have to start from scratch to build a formidable Continues on Page 61

BY JACOB AJOM

C

HAIRMAN of R a c i n e s Football club of Lagos, Emmanuel Ibru has expressed surprise at the re-hiring of Coach Stephen Keshi by the Nigeria Football Federation.

IBRU who is abroad on a private mission told Sports Vanguard on phone that he was

Top stories inside

Okocha wants to be President of NFF — Page 61

Why the money man is close to genius ********* 'Tippy-tappy football is great but'•••

shocked when he read of Keshi’s new contract.

“The whole thing tells of a house not in total control of its affairs. It shows that the NFF was under pressure to employ Keshi,” he said.

Ibru asked the rationale behind the new deal to a man who was asked to go by this same board after a poor run in the 2015 Afcon Continues on Page 61

•Keshi

•Okocha

QUICK CROSSWORD

TODAY'S

PUZZLE

MON DAY'S ANSWERS MONDAY'S

ACROSS 1 Shriek (6) 5 Debase (6) 8 Scare (8) 9 Ooze (4) 10 Toupee (3) 12 Managed (5) 15 Total (3) 17 Meadow (3) 18 Tear (3) 19 Spring (3) 20 Rascal (5) 21 Sort (3) 22 Cur (3) 23 Skill (3) 24 Watch (3) 26 Had (5) 29 Stray (3) 33 Secure (4) 34 Story-teller (8) 35 Combined (6) 36 Pact (6)

DOWN 2 Dog (5) 3 Border (4) 4 Saying (5) 5 Thick (5) 6 Method (4) 7 Farewell (5) 10 Squander (5) 11 Clearing (5) 12 Freight (5) 13 Heathen (5) 14 Fear (5) 15 Malice (5) 16 Manufacturer (5) 25 Long (5) 27 Declined (5) 28 Heron (5) 30 Perch (5) 31 Adroit (4) 32 Paddle (4)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1, Urge 4, Wit 6, Taut 8, Advent 9, Nobody 10, Had 12, Vogue 14, Learn 15, Tried 18, Appeal 20, Unison 24, Laden 26, Enrol 28, Wider 30, Ply 32, Bigger 33, Animal 34, Mean 35, Din 36, Lees.

DOWN: 2, Radio 3, Execute 4, With 5, Tend 6, Table 7, Undergo 11, Ace 12, Via 13, Era 16, Ill 17, Dud 19, Pensive 21, New 22, Initial 23, Nor 25, Awl 27, Organ 29, Evade 30, Prod 31, Yarn.

How to Play Sudoku

P

lace a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

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