Thursday, April 30, 2015

SEEKING RELEVANCE UNDER UNRELEVANT CIRCUMSTANCES : FG summons Indonesian envoy over execution of four Nigerians ... Punch

President Goodluck Jonathan
The Federal Government on Thursday summoned the Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, Harry Purwanto and protested the execution of four Nigerians killed for trafficking drugs to the Asian country, despite appeals.
The Undersecretary, Economic and Consular Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador, Bokunolu Onemola, who met with Purwanto in Abuja, conveyed Nigeria’s position to the envoy.
He said the men should not have been executed because of the robust relationship between Nigeria and Indonesia.
The Indonesian government had executed by firing squad Jamiu Owolabi Abashin, 50, Martin Anderson, 50, Okwudili Oyatanze, 41, and Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise, 47, and other nationals for drug trafficking, on Tuesday.
But Purwanto in an interview with journalists after the meeting with Onemola, insisted that the execution of the convicts was carried out after all legal proceedings had been exhausted.
He said the case had been on for 10 years and Indonesia needed to make sure adequate opportunity was given to the convicts within the limit of the law, stressing that his government suspended the moratorium on death penalty due to the gravity and dangerous impact of the drugs on the citizens.
“There was nothing we could do for those four Nigerians because every legal process was completed and only then did the government of Indonesia implement the decision of the court,” the envoy stated.
He explained that Indonesia “suffers from the harsh reality of drug trafficking as about 4.5 million of our citizens especially the youths, are affected by narcotics,” adding that only about 1.8 million of them had been rehabilitated.
He added that between 33 and 50 victims of the drugs die every month, describing it as unfortunate.
On the issue of the Prisoner Transfer Agreement between both countries, Purwanto said ,“Indonesia will be happy to do that but unfortunately we do not have the legal basis.We have to wait for a new legislation in Indonesia but then we have to convince our members of parliament to do that.”
Commenting on the incident, Onemola said that irrespective of the fact that Nigeria had protested the executions on the basis of the subsisting friendly relations between both countries, Nigerians must desist from drug trafficking.
He added that Nigeria would not recall its ambassador to Indonesia because of the executions.
He said, “One message I would like to convey to my compatriots is that they should know that drug offences in Indonesia attract capital punishment and our appeal is that they should avoid going to these countries to commit these offences because we cannot change their laws.
“They are a sovereign nation, we can only appeal to them, but our citizens should know this and desist from drug trafficking.”

WE MAY NEVER UNDERSTAND WHY THIS MAN LEFT THIS THING FOR SO LONG? : I’ll hand over Nigeria free of terrorist strongholds – Jonathan ... PremiumTimes

PIC.17.PRESIDENT-ELECT RETIRED MAJ.-GEN. MUHAMMADU BUHARI (L) IN A HANDSHAKE WITH PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN 
DURING HIS OFFICIAL VISIT TO THE PRESIDENTIAL VILLA IN ABUJA
ON FRIDAY (24/4/15).
2176/24/4/2015/ISE/CH/NAN
President Goodluck Jonathan pledged Thursday in Abuja that he will do all within his powers to ensure that all Nigerian territory still held by terrorists and insurgents are totally liberated before May 29, 2015.
Receiving a delegation of Heads of Customs from the West and Central African Region of the World Customs Organisation, led by the Secretary-General of the organisation, Kunio Mikuriya, Mr. Jonathan said he was determined to hand over a country completely free of terrorist strongholds to the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari.
The president said ongoing military operations in the North-East had already recorded huge successes, with two states completely free from the control of terrorists, while operations in the third state had reached a concluding stage.
“We can now say two states are completely free from terrorist control, while in the third state, it is only in one Local Government Area that they are still present; that is in the Sambisa Forest,” he said.
President Jonathan noted that the military had already moved into the forest to seize the remaining camps of the terrorists.
He said the recent rescue of about 300 abducted girls and women was further evidence of the success being achieved in the ongoing operation.
On his decision to concede victory to the President-elect, Mr. Buhari, before all the results of the presidential elections were announced, Mr. Jonathan said elections must be approached from a nationalistic point of view.
“Our elections should be about where Nigeria is going,” he said. “If Nigeria is moving forward, it is for the good of all Nigerians. My children and grandchildren will live and grow in this country and contribute to it.
“I always tell my colleagues to leave office when their time is up. We are trying to encourage African leaders not to remain in power as kings until death.”
Mr. Mikuriya commended the President for supporting the reform of the Nigeria Customs Service.
He noted that other African countries had already started emulating the vision, strategy, adoption to new technology and result- oriented training of officers that were captured in Nigeria’s reforms.

A PERCEPTION SLOWLY BEING CAST IN STONE ... THE AVERAGE BLACK SOUTH AFRICAN MAN IS INSECURE : South African women married to Nigerian men have told about the discrimination they face for having foreign husbands ... Naij.com

South African Women Narrate Their Heartbreaking Stories
The United Nigerian Wives in South Africa
After experiencing the disaffection of fellow South Africans for finding love with Nigerian men, the women decided to take measures to protect themselves. About two years ago they formed an association, the United Nigerian Wives in South Africa (UNWISA) club, where they give support and help to each other.
Lindwela Uche, the chairwoman of the group, confessed that they saw the xenophobic attacks coming and alerted their husbands about the danger but they did not take their warning seriously.
“We saw this thing coming and that’s why we formed this association. If only they (the authorities) had listened to us… they would have known that there’s a fire burning slowly and they would have seen how to tackle it,” she said.
According to Lufunu Orji, who is married to a Nigerian resource consultant, Ogbonnaya Orji, having a foreign husband  is very challenging.
“You often spend your time defending yourself and then you defend your foreign husband for being himself. Just before I got wed to my husband, I lost two very best friends of mine. They thought I was out of my mind,” she said.

Everyday life for the wives, their husbands and their children is a constant battle with criticism from neighbours, schools, government officials, health workers and even the police.
Another member of the group, who gave her name as Uche, said that her 13-year-old daughter returned from school, complaining that her teacher had told her “not to bring that Nigerian mentality here” after she and classmates were noisy in class.
“We need to be protected, we need our children to be protected… and our husbands to be treated with dignity,”  Uche pleaded.
Thelma Okoro, 37, confessed that the attitude towards them is negative everywhere they go. According to her, wearing traditional Nigerian dress on the street can attract bad comments. She spoke of how her eight-year-old daughter gets mocked by schoolmates over her name “Ngozi” which means “blessing” in Igbo but literally translates to “danger” in Zulu.
South African Women Narrate Their Heartbreaking Stories
Some of UNWISA’s  members have kept their maiden names because their husbands’ names attract rude remarks.
Okoro, who has been married to Kenneth for 13 years, says she was told off by an official when she tried to apply for free government-issued houses in 2011.
“They told me that I was not entitled because I am married to a foreigner, and that if I wanted a house I must divorce the man first,” she said.
She recalled the case when she was taking her sick children to hospital, where “the nurses ask ‘why are you giving these people residence papers’ — degrading and discrediting our choices”.
Now UNWISA club is going to widen its reach to South African women married to other foreign nationals after the recent anti-immigrant attacks, Daily Mail reports.

One victim, Nokuthula Mabaso, told local media that she was threatened with rape for dating her Zimbabwean boyfriend Elias Chauke.
“A group of Zulu-speaking men arrived and kicked down the door.
“They asked me why I dated a foreigner when there were many South African men in the squatter camp and I replied that I love Elias. They then assaulted and robbed me.
“One of them threatened to rape us and was stopped by others,”  the woman said.
Recently, the South African president, Jacob Zuma, held a press conference where he tried to restore the image of his nation, declaring that they are not a xenophobic people.
However, the Nigerian government is planning to demand N84 million from South Africa as damages for its citizens who are victims of the xenophobic attacks in the country.

MAKING GAINS IN OUR WAR AGAINST TERROR : PHOTO: Nigerian Army releases shocking images of Sambisa Forest survivors ... PremiumTimes

Another sets of Some of the hostages
The Nigerian military has released heart-wrenching images of what it says are survivors rescued from the notorious Sambisa forest where they were held hostage by Boko Haram insurgents.
The military released the images on Thursday. The images show women and children, most of them malnourished, suggesting the survivors were kept under extremely terrible conditions.
PREMIUM TIMES could not independently verify the images.
The military said the true identity of some of the rescued women and girls are yet to be ascertained.
“At the moment, what is upper most and of priority is their movement to a conducive place where they are now undergoing thorough profiling to verify their true identity, where they come from, how they found themselves in the forest, etc,” the military said in a statement. “Additional number of persons are still being recovered from the forest. Until such comprehensive profiling is done, nobody can confirm whether they are among the Chibok girls or not.”






WHODUNNIT? : Missing $20bn: Okonjo-Iweala disowns PriceWaterHouseCoopers, says she didn’t hire firm ... PremiumTimes

Ngozi-Okonjo-Iweala
Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has distanced herself from the audit firm,
PriceWatersHouseCoopers, saying she should not be held responsible for its hiring to probe Nigeria’s alleged missing oil money, days after a widely-discredited report by PwC was released.
As finance minister and coordinator of the economy, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala played a leading role in 2014 when PwC as hired, as the government tried to counter an allegation that $20 billion oil money had been stolen.
Former Central Bank governor, Lamido Sanusi, who made the claim, accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC of diverting the money.
After efforts by the government and the Senate to reconcile the sum yielded no tangible results, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala recommended an independent forensic audit. She later announced the hiring of PriceWaterHouseCoopers.
The report containing the outcome of PwC’s investigation, was released Monday several months after the firm completed its assignment.
PriceWaterHouseCoopers however said the work should not be relied upon, as it failed to meet international standards.
In an unusual statement Thursday, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala sought to steer clear of the audit firm, although she said her response followed a lawsuit blaming her for the hiring.
A statement released by Paul Nwabuikwu, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala’s spoksperson, said the minister was responding to a lawsuit filed by a group of three accounting firms before a Lagos High Court, accusing Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala of violating federal local content law by appointing PwC.
The statement was issued before the minister received a formal notification of a suit, a rather unusual and prompt response seen as an attempt by Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala to comment on the PwC case.
“The CME is astonished by the news of the said court action which is spurious in the extreme,” spokesperson Mr. Nwabuikwu said. “It is shocking that professionals of the calibre of the SIAO Partners can embark on this kind of legal action without taking the trouble to do the minimum amount of homework to confirm basic facts.”
The statement said “Okonjo-Iweala did not appoint the PWC to carry out the audit”.
The minister called on those behind the suit to immediately drop it or face her in court.

WHY IS IT THAT THIS MAN DOESN'T THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE? SO EVERYTHING STARTS AND ENDS WITH THE STOMACH? : Those running to APC will return with “empty stomachs” – Jonathan ... PremiumTimes

Goodluck_jonathan3
Those defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressive Congress due to PDP’s loss at the presidential election, will return with “empty stomachs”, President Goodluck Jonathan said Thursday.
The president said the PDP was still the dominant party and it was only a matter of time before it bounced back. He said the APC will first satisfy the hunger of its own members who worked during the elections before attending to defectors.
Mr. Jonathan made the remarks while receiving the PDP campaign report from the Presidential Campaign Organisation (PCO) at the presidential villa. He urged the party and its members to sit tight and put its failures behind and help the party move forward.
“So I encourage members of our party to remain loyal to the party, not to be so disillusioned ‎because we lost presidential election and decide to go where they think they will fill their stomachs or something. It’s not easy. I have been here for five years plus, you hardly satisfy even 15 percent of those who work for you.
“So those people running and those already cross-carpeting, they will come back on an empty stomach because they will touch the primary members of their party, before they get to you. They know you are coming because you are hungry, before it will get to you the food will be gone.
“So let us be committed to the party, yes we will have challenges at the beginning but surely we will get to where we want to be,” he said.
The president urged PDP members not to judge the party by the result of the presidential elections, saying it was time to go back to the drawing board and identify areas of challenges ‎so that the party will become stronger.
“PDP is still the most organized party, it is still the party that is not owned by anybody, it’s still the party that whatever you are you can get to any level with your competences and so on,” he said.
On his decision to concede defeat the President said he did not consult anyone before making the phone call to the winner in the race, President-elect Muhammadu Buhari.
“Yes I did not consult anybody before I made that phone call but I made that phone call on behalf of all you and on behalf of the PDP.
“I made the pronouncement but some of us are paying the price. Some people pay more price than I do, I know how some of you are already being persecuted and the kind of situation facing you.
“The key thing is that we must continue to unite, as a party we must continue to work hard so that as we go into subsequent elections 2019, 2023 and so on and so forth, PDP will continue to come up strong. Even in the interest of the nation, we need PDP.
“I still believe though we have lost presidential elections, some national assembly elections, governorship elections especially in the north, PDP is still the dominant party. Let us not judge PDP by the result of the elections for the presidential elections”.
He likened the 2015 elections to the civil war which had different accounts written by different people.
“‎Of course the issues of this 2015 elections will be similar to the civil war because different people gave different account of the civil war. The first book on civil war that I read was “My Command” by Olusegun Obasanjo, which is his perspectives on what he saw and observed. I recall Ojukwu’s own was “Because I’m Involved”, if you read it the dimensions are sometimes tangential to the first.
“If you ask the various observer groups, each will give you a different perspective. Even among ourselves whenever we talk ‎sometimes I laugh when people draw some of their analysis but by my privileged position I knew a little more about elections than others,” he said.
The President noted that the key thing isn’t whether the elections were lost or won but that Nigeria as a nation must move forward. “Political parties can only thrive when there is peace and stability in the country. If there is military intervention all the parties will disappear,” he said.
‎He thanked all who worked for the elections.
Mr. Jonathan said countries that sent vessels in case of an urgent need to evacuate their nationals from Nigeria, were disappointed because there was nobody to evacuate.
“The country was so tense but everything has gone down and I think that is the most important thing because the conviction is that you must have a country before you can run for an office. Nigeria is a very complex country and you must manage with care.
“So let me thank you all for joining us to carry the cross, thank you for the various roles you played and I charge you to‎ be even more committed to the development of the party. Definitely PDP will become stronger and united,” he added.
The Director-General of the PCO, Ahmadu Ali‎, commended the President for showing great, exemplary leadership and making the PDP proud despite losing to the rival All Progressives Congress (APC).
“You made the world proud by conceding defeat even when you had several options. You proved to the world that you are committed to your credo that no one’s blood is worth your political ambition.
“By that singular act, you pulled Nigeria back from a seeming pre-determined precipice and you made us proud. While you assuredly lost in the ballots, you won the biggest victory in defeat by that historic phone call.
Mr. Ali said lessons learnt from the elections will be used to wrest power from the current winners in future.

WINNING OUR WAR AGAINST TERROR : Fierce battle in Sambisa; Boko Haram’s top commanders killed, more women, children rescued ... PremiumTimes

Nigeria Army Sambissa Op 14-01-15 (4)
One soldier died, four others were injured as Boko Haram terrorists battled in vain to retain nine major camps in the dreaded Sambisa forest where more women and children were found and rescued.
Troop commanders said hundreds of Boko Haram insurgents were killed in hours of gun battle.
The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Usman, who made this known to newsmen in a statement, said two major combat tanks and high calibre ammunitions used by the Boko Haram terrorists were recovered while many others were destroyed.
The statement reads in full; “I wish to inform you that today (Wednesday) evening, troops of 7 Division Nigerian Army also cleared several terrorists strong points and training camps within Sambisa forest, Borno State, Nigeria.
“The troops have also rescued additional women and children. They have been evacuated to a safety zone for further processing.
“During the encounter unfortunately we lost a soldier, while 4 others were wounded in action. The troops have also killed several Boko Haram field commanders and foot soldiers and destroyed 2 Armoured Personnel Carriers, 2 Buffalo vehicles mounted with Anti-Aircraft Guns, a truck and several Hilux vehicles.
“The gallant soldiers also recovered 1 Anti-Aircraft Gun, 1 General Purpose Machine Gun, 1 Rocket Propelled Grenade and several AK-47 rifles. Sadly, 1 woman died and 8 other women sustained gun shot wounds.
“So far, the troops have destroyed 9 terrorist camps in the forest. This is in addition to the 4 destroyed yesterday. The destroyed camps includes Wulari Bukar, Gangala, Anguwar Bakwai and Jigide. Others include Kotorima, Lagara Bello and Lagara Fulani among others.
“I am glad to say that troops’ morale is very high as they are poised to accomplish the task of destroying all terrorists camps and rescuing all those held hostage by the terrorists”.
Meanwhile, the Director Defence Information, Chris Olukolade, a Major General, will today provide updates on the ongoing counter-terrorism campaign in North-Eastern Nigeria.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

THE WAGES OF DRUG TRAFFICKING : Indonesia executes four Nigerians, others for drug offences ... PunchNews

Indonesia execution
Indonesian authorities on Tuesday executed four Nigerians and four others for drug-related offences despite pleas by the United Nations, the European Union, Amnesty International and the Federal Government.
The Nigerians were identified as Martin Anderson, 50; Silvester Nwolise, 47; Okwudili Oyatanze, 41, and Jamiu Abashin, 50.
The convicts were reportedly taken to the Nusakambangan Island where they were executed by firing squad on Tuesday evening.
According to a report by the UK Guardian, Abashin was said to be homeless in Bangkok when a new “friend” offered him $400 to take some clothes to Indonesia.
He was nabbed in Surabaya with 5.5kilogrammes of heroin and sentenced to death in 1999.
Abashin was said to have appealed for presidential clemency, claiming he never knew he was carrying the drugs. His plea was rejected.
Nwolise was sentenced to death in 2002 for smuggling a kilogramme of heroin into Indonesia.
Oyatanze was sentenced to death in 2002, after being found guilty of attempting to bring 2.5kg of heroin through Jakarta in capsules inside his stomach.
The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, had on Monday personally appealed to Indonesia to stop their execution.
The European Union had also berated Indonesia’s plans to execute the convicts.
The EU had noted that the death penalty was not a solution to the rise in drug-related crimes in the country.
The only woman among the convicted, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso,   a Filipino, was spared in the last minute because a woman who reportedly tricked her into carrying drugs turned herself in.
The remains of the convicted would be taken to Jakarta, the Indonesia capital, on Tuesday according to reports.

LESSONS FOR ANOTHER DAY ... NEVER AGAIN : Govs’ Forum Crisis Cost PDP Presidency – Uduaghan ... PunchNews

Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan
In this interview with TUNDE ODESOLA, Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, comments on party politics and the recent general elections, among other issues
A major objective of your administration was to make Delta State less dependent on oil. Looking back, can you say you’ve been able to achieve this objective?
The issue of ‘Delta beyond oil’ is our vision for economic recovery by simply using the funds we are getting from oil now to develop the structures that will encourage investments in other areas of the economy, especially in the agriculture, culture and tourism sectors. So far, we have reasonably laid the foundation for that kind of economy. The foundation we tried to lay is in three major areas. First is peace and security, without which no investors would come. Second is infrastructure development in transport, power, ICT and to encourage investors to come and thirdly, in the area of human capital development; to produce a strong workforce that can be absorbed when this structure comes into being. We have focused on those three areas and we have laid the foundation. I believe that the next administration would build on it and also expand the scope for the investment that comes to the state.
Your party, the Peoples Democratic Party, lost the presidential election. What do you think accounts for the loss?
I think we can attribute the loss to our internal problems. The election was for the PDP to win or lose but the party unknowingly or deliberately lost the election. The issues are that of impunity, intimidation and lack of internal democracy which are big challenges in any party, even in the All Progressives Congress of today. But when it becomes consistent, it can lead to the death of the party. After the 2011 elections, the party had to change its executive. Some elders and leaders actually started grumbling about the governors and that the governors were getting too powerful and they were trying to clip their wings. It was a deliberate effort to reduce the influence of the governors. The party structure took up this responsibility as led by the chairman who was relating to the governors as if they were nobodies. Now, the truth is that political power over time revolves round the nucleus of a political party. During the days of the National Party of Nigeria, political power revolved round the ministers. Ministers were the ones who had the powers. In the PDP, it was the governors. Right from 1999, the governors had always been the strength of the party. So, when these people decided to weaken the influence of the governors, that was the beginning of the downfall of the PDP. The national chairman then was treating governors like nobodies, writing letters and queries to them. Gradually, the governors started having challenges with the party and then one of the things they also did was to divide the governors. Of course, they did this through the Nigerian Governors’ Forum. So, the kind of thing you saw at the forum was actually influenced from outside. The governors were divided and there was weeping from the party and some (governors) had to leave the party. That really was one of the ways the party went down. Then when the primaries came, the party witnessed impunity and lack of democracy. People were not given a level playing field to contest. When the popular candidates emerged and the list got to the National Working Committee, there were lots of manoeuvres and changes were made. Sometimes, aspirants that came third in the primary emerged the candidates and their names were sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission. So, many were upset and left the party. This really caused a lot of problems. The remnants were not strong enough to make the party win. Also, the way the campaign went, we didn’t have a strategic team for the election. I can tell you this because I am an insider. There was no strategy. Each time people came up with strategies, they were jettisoned. Mr. President on his own took over the campaign and he started moving in the last few weeks. Most of the things he was doing, he was not supposed to be doing them. He took personal control. But it was too late.
You don’t see the treatment of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as one of the factors?
In 2011, there were some of the President’s kinsmen who made him to win. One was the late General Owoye Azazi, the other was Oronto Douglas and also Tony Uranta. They were his kinsmen. They were the driving force behind the civil society. I know a lot of civil societies and the media really assisted the President in 2011. Azazi is dead. Oronto didn’t have the strength till he died. Tony Uranta was elbowed away. Obasanjo was elbowed away. There were others who believed that they knew too much and they were making it impossible for the people to perform. Even the President had good intentions but they made it impossible.
As an insider, what actually transpired during the controversial election that split the NGF?
There was an election. I was the UN observer (laughs). By the time I give out that information; people will be paying for it when I write my book. Yes, there was an election and I played a prominent role in the election.
How do you feel that the winner of the election, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, was denied victory?
My brother, wait for my book.
Why did you forgo your senatorial ambition?
It is not every governor that wants to go the Senate after his tenure. I know the majority don’t want to go to the Senate. I actually had the ambition to go to the Senate but I come from a very complex senatorial district that has been involved in inter-ethnic crisis and one of the reasons is political considerations. It could be so bad that it would lead to ethnic crisis or the burning of houses and killings. If I had pushed further, it probably would have happened. I didn’t want the peace we have achieved in the state to degenerate because of my personal ambition. I just pushed it back. I had to make a choice. There is no big deal about the Senate.
The rumour mill has it that you jettisoned the ambition because of the threat by ex-militant, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, to set Delta on fire if you contested the senatorial ticket with him?
Tompolo is my younger one and he is very close to me. I have saved him before and he knows that and he has respect for me. I have related to him the way people do not like. After the Niger Delta crisis, some people were upset that I drew him closer. He has been given a larger-than-life image which he doesn’t have or deserve. In fact, once or twice we discussed this issue of Senate and what he said was that any decision agreed by the top is okay by him. There were other things he was more interested in but not the Senate. He cannot tell me not to go to the Senate or that if I go Delta will burn. Tompolo’s story will come another day.
A governorship aspirant of the PDP in Delta State, Tony Obuh, was said to be your ‘anointed candidate.’ Some believe that it was Tompolo that forced you to support Dr. Patrick Okowa as the PDP candidate.
No, Okowa’s ticket came from a free and fair primary. That is the difference between Delta and many other states. If you notice, many other states are still in chaos. Immediately after the primaries, many states witnessed chaos up till the elections and defections out of the PDP. There were only two major people in Delta who left. One of the two is back now. What happened was that in the primary, I allowed everybody to get involved in the choice of the delegates. We had a consensus. All the big leaders and I had a meeting and agreed with the panel from Abuja on how we were going to handle the delegates. This was because everybody was boiling. I could have as well sat in my room and drawn up the delegate lists but we allowed leaders from the wards to have a say. That way almost all were involved in the selection of the delegates and once you are able to do that, you give everybody a sense of belonging. Many states ignored that. That produced Okowa who was the most popular candidate. At a point, some wanted to disrupt the primary and that he was not their choice but I said no, that anybody produced by this primary is my candidate. After the primary, I called the contestants and we met. They all agreed that it was free and fair and all of them became members of the campaign council. Delta had peace after the primary. You saw the massive votes that we delivered for Mr. President because we were united. After the presidential elections, many thought that the loss of Mr. President would lead to mass defection to the APC but we were able to put ourselves in order because of the structure we have. So, it was not a matter of somebody forcing his will on us. It was the way we handled the primary.
Nigeria has a military but the Federal Government has given out a contract for pipeline security to militants. What’s your opinion?
I think they misrepresented this contract. It is not a contract for security. It is a surveillance contract. They are two different things. There are three types of pipelines in the Niger Delta. One, we have the one that carries the crude oil. We also have the one that conveys the gas and the one that carries condensate. With time, there had been damage to the pipelines, especially the one that carries crude oil. Initially, it was due to corrosion and lack of maintenance by the oil companies. Later the issue of oil theft became prominent and this overtook corrosion. If you do not understand the terrain, it is difficult to pursue oil thieves. You might be by the river and see just water but inside the water, there are areas your boats can’t pass. It is people from those areas that understand the terrain and can assist you to navigate and do fast movement. Two, some of these boys that were involved in the Niger Delta crisis originally, know these oil thieves. Sometimes, they are able to engage those doing damage to the pipelines. What contract did the NNPC give out? It gave contracts to some of our youths that understand the terrain to do surveillance work. They don’t carry guns and ammunition. They work with security agencies – the Navy and the Army. They are in the military boats, escorting the soldiers and telling them the routes. They can mingle with these thieves, collect information from them and they tell the military and the military pre-empts pipeline crimes in this manner. It is surveillance contract, not security. With that, the youths are engaged. Sometimes, they say if you want to protect yam, give it to a goat to secure. Unfortunately, this has been misrepresented.
Has the APC reached out to you?
I am not defecting. I have a lot of friends in the APC but I’m not defecting. We compare notes. There is politics and there is friendship.
What’s your plan after May 29? Are you going back to medical practice?
No, I can’t practice medicine again. I can advise on medical or health issues as it has to do with administration. I am going to be doing much about mentoring of younger ones on leadership skills as it relates to governance. With my experience, I believe I can mentor some youths and share with them my experiences in government so that they learn from them.
How is the state preparing for the return of former Governor James Ibori?
Is he coming back now? I don’t know.
But he will come back eventually.
I don’t think that’s a state issue.
What’s your view of the card reader?
The card reader was an issue. If you notice, those of us that called for caution on the use of card readers were accused of many things. We were not against the use of the card readers. We just believed that there was not enough trial for the card readers to be used for the elections and we were proved right. During the presidential elections, there were a lot of challenges with the card readers. At some point, INEC officials started using the manual method but I must also commend him (Attahiru Jega) for insisting that the card readers should be used for the governorship election. There were improvements during the governorship poll and during the rerun elections there were also improvements. The good thing about the card reader was that some people tried to snatch ballot boxes but by the time they did that, they saw that it was useless. At least for now the issue of snatching of ballot boxes is not a big challenge. That aspect of our bad political culture has stopped. Moreover, it has given credibility to our electoral process.

FOR THE RECORDS : ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT-ELECT, GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI, (GCFR) AT THE OCCASION OF THE INDUCTION OF NEW LEGISLATORS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ORGANIZED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR LEGISLATIVE STUDIES HOLDING IN ABUJA ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29TH, 2015.

 
PROTOCOL:
I am very pleased to be here today as part of this induction programme and to address the elected Members of the 8th National Assembly. I heartily congratulate all of you for being found worthy to be elected by Nigeria’s citizens in a fair and transparent election process.
I am delighted to say that we stand on the threshold of history. For the first time in our post independence history, power is going to be transferred from an incumbent ruling party to an opposition party. This is inspite of predictions of calamitous outcomes. Nigerians have indeed proven once again that they are a united people and stand resolute to protect its growing democracy
I wish to specifically acknowledge and laud the maturity exhibited by the political class, the professionalism of our security agencies, the competence and resilience of INEC, but above all the doggedness of Nigerians and their commitment to ensuring that their wishes are represented and respected.
I daresay, it is equally a victory for all political parties and their leaderships for according due respect to the electoral process and accepting the results in most cases. I wish to specifically acknowledge the role played by the President, H.E Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for accepting the results of the election before final announcement was made.
The legislature is a critical component and necessary ingredient of democracy and good governance. The legislature by nature is inherently democratic in the sense that all members are equal and are elected representatives of the Nigerian people. As President-Elect, I recognize this fact and believe that legislators carry this heavy burden of representation with all the seriousness it deserves. For a president to be successful in addressing community development and general welfare of the various people of the country, he or she would benefit from working closely and in harmony with the legislative arm of government. I therefore commit myself to working with the legislature as development partners motivated by the desire to deliver good governance.
Distinguished Elected Members of the 8th National Assembly, we are all aware of the challenges our dear nation has been facing and will continue to do so in the near future. These daunting challenges include:
General insecurity and insurgency that has caused extreme human hardship and destruction of lives, livelihoods that may take us over a decade to rebuild across most of North Eastern Nigeria and some parts of North western Nigeria.
Devastation and environmental degradation in the Niger Delta area which must be attended to.
Decline in revenues due to fall in oil prices which poses a threat to Government’s capacity to deliver on reconstruction of devastated areas and the new government development agenda.
Endemic corruption which has crippled human and infrastructure development for decades.
Unacceptably poor provision of power supply which has had a crippling effect on development of small businesses and indeed the wider economy.Deindustrialization for the past 3 decades leading to closure of many industries and migration of many to other African countries.
Unacceptably high levels of unemployment and especially Youth Unemployment reaching over 40%.
High cost of governance that has been crowding out capital and human development.
Erosion of public social services such as infrastructure, health and education.
Lack of development in the agricultural and solid mineral sectors.
Distinguished Members of the 8th National Assembly, I see these development challenges as the mission of my presidency. I need the support of the Members of National Assembly on the battle front. I need your support in many respects.
First and foremost, appropriate policies need to be put in place and such policies may have to be translated into laws.
Secondly, the oversight functions of the legislature is critical in ensuring that policies are implemented effectively and transparently. Therefore, my mission to bring integrity into governance would better succeed if complemented with a strong culture of transparent oversight.
Thirdly, we need to collaborate on the budget process and restructuring of the public sector so as to collectively tackle the menace of high recurrent cost at the expense of capital and human development.
Fourthly, there is an urgent need to contain this high state of insecurity. All of you are representing various communities. We need to work together to address the problem from both its roots and manifestations. The strongest mitigating forces at this point are to redress the power sector deficits, encourage investments that are job creating and focus on human development and reconstruction. We also need to deploy efforts in conflict resolution and peace building in all our communities.
I am here today, to invite you to work with the executive as partners in progress, as champions of good governance and development and as warriors for change. Together, we can make this nation great and as a role model in Africa and other emerging economies and democracies.
I wish you a successful completion of your induction programme. I wish all of you a successful and effective tenure in the service of our fatherland.
General Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR
President Elect
Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

HIGH DRAMA : ‘Missing’ $20billion Oil Money: Our audit report not reliable — PricewaterhouseCoopers ... PremiumTimes

President Goodluck Jonathan (R) receiving The Forensic Audited Report of Finances in NNPC from the Country Senior Partner, Pricewaterhousecoopers (Pwc), Mr Uyi Akpata, In Abuja
The much anticipated report of the forensic audit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, operations on the missing $20 billion oil money may not amount to much after all, with PricewaterhouseCoopers, the audit firm that conducted the probe, saying it cannot vouch for the integrity of its findings.
In a startling introductory letter addressed to Nigeria’s Auditor General, the audit firm said findings in its 199-page report were limited to available information and did not constitute a review in accordance with generally accepted standards.
“The procedures we performed did not constitute an examination or a review in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards or attestation standards,” the firm said.
“Accordingly, we provide no opinion, attestation or other form of assurance with respect to our work or the information upon which our work was based,” it added.
The report and all accompanying deliverables, the company pointed out, were “solely for the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation, for their internal use and benefit and not intended to, nor may they be relied upon, by any other third party.
The firm concluded that the NNPC should refund to the government a minimum of $1.48 billion of missing oil funds, a figure many Nigerians believe is smaller than the likely actual figure.
The report however gave no strong and independent opinion of its findings despite saying the investigation was carried out using forensic techniques.
The firm instead listed a series of potential factors that could render its findings implausible, saying it had no access to the full account of some relevant agencies like NPDC, the upstream petroleum industry subsidiary of the NNPC.
The firm said where it lacked data, it turned to details of earlier investigations carried out by the Nigerian Senate, which all but cleared the NNPC, and the petroleum ministry of any wrongdoing.
“We did not obtain any information directly from NPDC, but in accordance with NPDC former Managing Director’s (Mr Briggs Victor) submission to the Senate Committee hearing on the subject matter, for the period, NPDC generated $5.11billion (net of royalties and petroleum profits tax paid),” the firm said.
PricewaterhouseCoopers also said without an independent legal opinion, it relied on the legal advice of the Nigerian government’s Attorney General (AG) on the subject of the transfers of various NNPC (55%) portion of Oil leases (OMLs) involved in the Shell (SPDC) Divestments which impact crude oil flows in the period.
“The AG’s opinion indicated that these transfers were within the authority of the Minister to make. Thus, these assets were validly transferred to NPDC. The same AG’s Legal Opinion also indicated that NPDC was to make payments for Net Revenue (dividend) to NNPC, which should ultimately be remitted to the Federation Account,” PwC said.
Still, the PwC said that although it reviewed documents submitted by the key parties involved, its work was conducted independently, with its findings based on the review of documentation, analytical reviews of data, and interviews conducted.
The firm said with the exception of the Deputy Group Managing Director/ Group Executive Director Finance and Accounts of NNPC, the Auditor-General for the Federation, and the Minister of Petroleum Resources, it did not discuss the findings of the report with anyone.
It is not clear for how much the Nigerian government hired the audit firm that has now delivered a report which it said should not be relied upon by Nigerians and the global community.

MORE SUCCESSES IN OUR WAR AGAINST TERROR : Report: 293 Women & Girls Rescued In Nigeria From Boko Haram Sambisa Forest Camps


Hundreds of kidnapped women and young girls in Nigeria have been reportedly rescued from the captivity of terrorist organization, Boko Haram. According to the Nigerian Armed Forces official Twitter account, the rescue happened this afternoon. There is no word if the rescued are among the group of school girls forcibly taken a year ago, sparking the #BringBackOurGirls movement. 

via MSN
“Troops have this afternoon captured & destroyed three camps of terrorists inside the Sambisa forest & rescued 200 girls & 93 women,” defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said in a text message, referring to the area in northeast Borno state where the Islamists have bases.


Boko Haram has boasted mass attacks on villages, even claiming responsibility for crimes against these women.