Amaechi, six other govs float new party

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61954

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013**

Mr & Mrs

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•Nyako, Wamakko, Kwankwaso,Babangida Aliyu, Ahmed, Lamido in VOP

Amaechi, six othergovs float new party

COLUMNISTS:

•P.17OCHEREOME

NNANNA

LES LEBA•P.44

•P.21

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•P.37

SUNTAI —Taraba State Governor, Danbaba Suntai being helped out of the aircraft on his arrival at the Nnamdi AzikiweInternational Airport , Abuja, yesterday. Below right: L-R: Prof. Jerry Gana; Governor Suntai; Minister of State for Niger DeltaAffairs, Darius Ishaku and former Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Obadiah Ando at the airport.Photos: Abayomi Adeshida.Stories on Page 7.

BY EMMANUELAZIKEN, POLITICAL

EDITOR

LAGOSLL —THE crisisin the Peoples

Democratic Party, PDP,took a turn for the worse,weekend, with the deci-sion of seven of the par-ty’s 23 governors to floata new party, the Voice ofthe People, VOP.

The application for reg-istration by the newparty, it was learnt at the

BANKS: 20% interest ratekilling local industries — FG

8

2015: Why PDP NEC is silent on Jonathan 53

CMYk

TARABA GOV, SUNTAI RETURNS

2 — Vanguard,— MONDAY,AUGUST 26, 2013

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Vanguard, MONDAY,AUGUST 26, 2013 —3

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4 — Vanguard,— MONDAY,AUGUST 26, 2013

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POCKET CARTOON

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013—5

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Amaechi, six other govs floatnew party

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Do not despise adversity; learn from it— PastorttTaiwo Odukoya. There is definitely a lesson in eve-rything.

ODOGWU!—HRM Agbogidi Obi Victor Chukwumalieze 1, Obi of Onicha-Ugbo Conferringthe title of Odogwu of Onicha-Ugbo on Chief Ibe Kachikwu (left), at the Obi Palace, Onicha-Ugbo DeltaState. weekend. Photo: Nath Onojake.

weekend, has beenfiled with theIndependent NationalElectoral Commission,

which is processing it. Asource in INEC con-tacted on the develop-ment, yesterday, said hewas unable to confirm

the veracity or the stageof the application.

The party, it waslearnt, is receiving thepatronage of severalchieftains of the PDP.

The seven governorsalleged to be behind thenew party include allfive Northern governorsthat have engaged in aseries of consultationwith eminent statesmen,including former headsof state. The five gover-nors are Murtala Nyakoof Adamawa ; RabiuKwankwanso of Kano;Aliyu Wamakko ofSokoto; Sule Lamido ofJigawa and BabangidaAliyu of Niger State. Thefive governors are beingjoined in the rebellionagainst the PDP by Gov-ernor Abdulfatah Ahmedof Kwara and RotimiAmaechi of Rivers State.

Another governor isalso sympathetic to theproposed VOP, but hisidentity could not be con-firmed as at weekend.The inclinations ofSpeaker Aminu WaziriTambuwal towards thenew party have also notbeen confirmed thoughit was learnt that he hasbeen approached.

The decision of thegovernors to move out ofthe PDP came ahead ofthe special national con-vention of the PDP thisweekend. GovernorAmaechi who has been

suspended has not beeninvited to the conven-tion but the decision ofthe other six to pull outof the PDP could comeas a blow to the PDPgiven the electoralweight of the states in-volved.

With Sokoto, Kano andJigawa states out of con-trol of the PDP and theSouthwest totally out ofcontrol of the rulingparty, the PDP would bereduced to playing sec-ond fiddle in the North-west and Southwest re-gions whose total voters’population is more than40% of the national vot-ing population.

There were indicationsthat last Friday’s privatemeeting between Gover-nor Kwankwaso andPresident GoodluckJonathan was a lastminute bid to stop thegovernor and his col-leagues from the rebel-lion.

Though associates ofSpeaker Tambuwal inthe House of Repre-sentatives claimed igno-rance of his involvementor knowledge of the newparty, there were never-theless suspicions thatthe involvement of Gov-ernor Wamakko couldinevitably lead thespeaker into the emerg-ing party.

Speaker Tambuwal hasbeen severally flayed by

some PDP associates forhis close ties with oppo-sition political parties.

The decision of thegovernors to float a partyinstead of teaming upwith the All ProgressivesCongress, APC, it wasgathered, flowed fromdeep suspicions be-tween the governors andsome of the promoters ofthe APC.

One of the governorsinvolved in the newparty had told Vanguardthat GeneralMuhammadu Buhariand Mallam Nasir El-Rufai who are among thechampions of the APCwere missing when ac-tivists fought for democ-racy during militaryrule.

THE GOVERNORS' PROFILE

Governor Ahmed hasbeen a silent crusader inthe PDP. Even though hehas not been visible inthe campaign againstthe alleged injustice inthe PDP, his voice, hashowever, not been to-tally quiet.

His political benefac-tor, Senator AbubakarSaraki, it is believed,may have greatly influ-enced his decision.Though he, Saraki hassilently offered advice tothe Jonathan adminis-tration at the highestlevel, Senator Sarakiwho was the immediatepast governor of KwaraState is known to be astrong political ally ofAmaechi. The adminis-tration’s on-again-off-again probes of theSaraki regime has alsobeen taken with offencein Kwara.With Governor Ahmeddecamping to the VOP,it would inevitably crum-ble the PDP in KwaraState. The PDP wouldnow have to play thirdfiddle after VOP and theAll Progressives Con-gress, APC.

AlhajiAbdulfattahAhmed(KWARA)

GovernorRotimi Amaechi(RIVERS)

Amaechi has beenconsistently labelled asthe enemy of the peopleof the South-South onaccount of an allegedambition. He has beenaccused of aspiring tothe post of vice-president with the intentof substituting the officeof the president nowoccupied by a NigerDelta man for the officeof vice-president.

Governor Amaechiwho is generally be-lieved to have per-formed well in office,especially in the areas ofeducation, health andagriculture, provokedcontroversy with his as

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UNLESS you know the basic mechanics behindUUthe workings of the ego, you won’t recog-nize it, and it will trick you into identifying with itagain and again. This means it takes you over, animposter pretending to be you. You cannot fightagainst the ego and win, just as you cannot fightagainst darkness. The light of consciousness is allthat is necessary -You are that light —E. Toilet

Lord Tennessee’s insightful message about theego is very thorough and sums it beautifully, whenhe says that nobody sees anybody truly but allthrough the flaws of their own egos. That is theway people sometimes view others in life. Vanity,fear, desire, and competition- all such distortionswithin our own egos- condition our vision of thosein relation to us. Add to those distortions to ourown egos the corresponding distortions in the egosof others, and you see how cloudy the glass mustbecome through which we look at each other. That’show it is in all living relationships except when thereis that rare case of people who love intenselyenough to burn through all those layers of opacityand see each other’s naked hearts.

This much I do know, no matter what you do, howgood your intentions, people will always see thereflection of themselves in you. It does not matterhow a person sees you, if your heart holds a beau-tiful conviction of harmony, purity and divine lovethat is all that matters.

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013

Jobless graduate appeals for aidafter having triplet

PORT HARCOURT— AMOTHER of triplet, Mrs

Joyce Peter, has appealed for fi-nancial assistance to enable hertake care of the babies.

Joyce, who is from Delta Statebut resides with her husband inPort Harcour, made the appeal,yesterday, saying things had

been very difficult for her familysince she had the children onJuly 30.

Joyce, who is a fresh graduateof English language, said herhusband is in the entertainmentindustry, adding that he was yetto find his feet.

She said: “They are my firstchildren. I had them throughcaesarean operation, CS. Thecost of taking care of them is so

heavy on me and my husband. Iam appealing to Nigerians toassist us.

"Things are rough with us. Ihave not started working, so to alarge extent I don’t do anythingfor a living.

"My husband earns a little fromhis job as a musician and this canhardly help the situation. I ambegging Nigerians to come toour aide. They should please

help.”She said her mother was still

alive but a petty farmer in thevillage, adding that her fatherdied long ago.

According to her, “we wereplanning for one child whenthree came. Thought they are giftfrom God but we never plannedfor this number. Nigerians shouldplease come to our aide."

Protest in Kaduna against use of chemical weapons in Syria.

3 die, 4 injured, 18 othersarrested at cult initiation

BY DEMOLA AKINYEMI

ILORIN II — THE combined teamof Kwara State Police Com-

mand and Vigilance group inIlorin, Saturday night, swoopedon the hideout of AiyeConfraternity initiation which ledto death of three, four criticallyinjured while 18 were arrested.

The cultists from neighbouringstates, who were returning froman initiation ceremony were mis-taken for robbers by the securityoperatives.

The command Police PublicRelations Officer (PPRO),Olufemi Fabode, a Deputy Su-perintendent of Police, DSP con-PPfirmed the incident in Ilorin, yes-terday.

Fabode explained that prior tothe incident, the police had in-formation that on Saturday night,robbers were hiding in a bushbehind NASFAT village alongAirport Road, Ilorin preparatoryto unleashing terror on the resi-dents of the area.

He said: “This prompted vari-ous vigilance groups in the com-munities around the place tomount sentry on all roads thatlead to the bush and waited untilearly hours of the morning whenthe Aiye Conferternity completedtheir initiation.

“Unaware that ambush had

been laid for them, they ran intoit. The vigilance groups mistookthem for robbers and opened fireon them.”

The PPRO said during the ex-change of gun fire, three of thecult members fell and were al-most burnt before men of the com-mand got there.

The police spokesman con-

firmed that three of the cultistsdied, four critically injured and18 of them were arrested and arebeing interrogated by the men ofthe state CID.

He said some of the cultistcame from as far as Lagos, Osun,Ibadan and Oro respectively,adding that more of them will bearrested

Hoodlumsstrip partychieftainnaked inOgun

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

ABEOKUTA — PANDEMONIUM broke out in

Abeokuta when a chieftainof the All ProgressivesCongress, APC, in OgunState, Mr Emmanuel Ajala,was beaten blue black bysuspected politicalthugs,who also strippedhim naked.

Ajala was attacked atabout 6:30pm, on Saturday,while going to hisGbonagun home inAbeokuta. His attackerswere apparently on his trail.

Vanguard gathered thatthree men operating on amotorcycle were alleged tohave overtaken the politi-cian’s car and flagged himdown then pounced on him.

Ajala, a former legislatorin Abeokuta South LocalGovernment of the state,was also reported to havebeen dragged down fromthe car, while his cloth wastorn.

It was, however, gatheredthat he was saved from theattackers when they sightedan oncoming vehicle andtook to their heels.

Narrating his ordeal, thepolitician said: “They ac-cused me of being too boldto comment on political is-sues, which they consid-ered uncomplimentary andwarned me to desist.

“It was an oncoming carthey saw that made them tobolt away. I have equallyreported the case toObantoko police station.”

Contacted, the OgunState Police Command Pub-lic Relations Officer,Muyiwa Adejobi, said thevictim reported at the policestation, but had failed toreport back as scheduled forfurther investigation of thecase, explaining that hisfailure to report back willaffect investigation.

“The man reported thecase, and he was asked tobe followed to the scene, butsaid he was scared andwhen asked to also comeback the following day forfurther investigations, hefailed to report.

"There is no way the po-lice could investigate with-out him. He has killed in-vestigation, so whether hisclaim is true or not, nobodycan tell."

Ogun policerecover2 fleeingrobberscorpses

Store keeper docked overalleged N1.5m theft

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

ABEOKUTA — THEOgun State Police

Command said it had re-covered the corpses of twoof three robbers who fledwhen policemen attached toOdogbolu division of thestate engaged them in agun battle along Omu/Eperoad in Odogbolu LocalGovernment Area of OgunState, last Wednesday.

The Police Public Rela-tions Officer, MuyiwaAdejobi, in a statement inAbeokuta, yesterday, ex-plained that his men wentin search of the fleeing rob-bers with some members ofthe vigilante service ofOgun State and recoveredthe corpses in the nearbybush a day after the gunduel.

It would be recalled thatthree robbers escaped withgun wounds after engag-ing the police in a gun duellast Wednesday.

According to Adejobi, “thecorpses have been depos-ited in a mortuary in IjebuOde.

He said: “The commandhas put machinery in placeto harness all available re-sources on ground in thestate to provide adequatesecurity of lives and prop-erty for the general popu-lace.

“The Commissioner of Po-lice, Ogun State, CPIkemefuna Okoye appreci-ates the people of the stateparticularly the members ofthe Vigilante Service ofOgun State for their supportin achieving the effectivepolicing of Ogun State.

“In the same vein, thecommand will always workwith other security agenciesin Ogun State, in all rami-fications, to get the state ridof hoodlums."

LAGOS— A 21-year- oldstore keeper, Ebuka MatthewLL

Ugboma and one other,Onwuatuelo Obinna, 28, havebeen arraigned before a LagosMagistrate's court, sitting inApapa, for allegedly stealingN1.5 million belonging toTonyZen Nigeria Ltd.

The suspects, who are facinga three-count charge of con-spiracy, stealing and obtaining,preferred against them by thepolice, were docked before Mag-istrate A Shonubi.

The police prosecutor, SergeantO. Festus, told the court that thedefendants and three others at

BY ONOZURE DANIA large, committed the offencesometime in July 2013, atAspanda market, Trade fair com-plex in Lagos.

He said that Ugboma, beingthe store keeper of TonyZen Ni-geria Ltd, stole 98 cartons ofMobil Oil XHP, worth N999,600,PPbelonging to the company.

Festus said that in the samemonth, Obinna stole 54 cartonsof Mobil Oil XHP, valued N560,PP800, property of the same com-pany.

The prosecutor also allegedthat Obinna received 54 cartonsof Mobil Oil XHP from Ugboma,which he knew was stolen prop-erty from the company.

BY JIMITOTAONOYUME


Suntai's return grounds JalingoBY SONI DANIEL,

Regional Editor, North,HENRY UMORU &

JOHN MKOM

JALINGO—HUMAN andvehicular movement in the

Taraba State capital, Jalingo,was disrupted for about twohours, yesterday, followingthe return of injured Gover-nor Danbaba Suntai to thestate.

The aircraft, a Hawker 800,which brought Suntai, whohad been away from the statesince October last year,touched down at 3:40pm atthe Jalingo Airport, amidsttight security.

Suntai sat in the plane withhis aides and junior brother,Babangida Suntai.

Two other small aircraft, aDornier, with registrationnumber 224 BA, ferried mem-bers of the governor’s family,while another one marked5NBMR, conveyed hisfriends and associates andtouched down at 3:45pm.

Deputy GovernorHe was received by the

Deputy Governor, GarbaUmar, who has been actingsince the absence of Suntai,and his wife, Hajia HauwaSuntai, who arrived the statewith his children last Fridayahead of the Governor’s re-turn.

As the plane touched down,an excited Hauwa, assistedby the governor ’s securityaides, got into the aircraft andcame out with Suntai, whilethe crowd that had taken overall available space in the me-dium airport, hailed.

Supported while disembark-ing from the aircraft, Suntaiwalked to his waiting car,waved to the cheering sup-porters and was immediatelydriven away in a convoy ofcars to the GovernmentHouse, Jalingo.

He did not address thehordes of party chieftains andsupporters, who had gath-ered, apparently expectinghim to speak to them or relivehis experience since the un-fortunate incident of October25, 2012, when his plane wentdown, inflicting him with in-jury that took him to two coun-tries— Germany and theUnited States of America— fortreatment.

Traffic, crowdcontrol

Security men had a hectictime trying to control thecrowd within and outside theairport, as thousands ofTaraba natives flocked out towelcome the governor to thecapital.

Although it appeared thatthe governor was still in painsand unable to stand the rig-

ours of addressing thelarge crowd, he smiledand motioned to the crowdin acknowledgment.

The expected arrival of

the governor had caused se-rious traffic snarl, a develop-ment that made it impossiblefor them to be able to leavethe airport, nearly two hours

after the governor’s entouragehad left.

The state’s Commissioner forInformation, Mr. Emma Bello,described the safe return of

Suntai as a vindication of thestate government’s positionthat the governor was hale andhearty and able to perform hisfunctions.

He said: “Today is a good dayfor Taraba people. The gover-nor has returned to a tumultu-ous welcome and we are happywith his arrival in Jalingo.”

The Chief of Staff to the Gov-ernor, Ahmed Yusuf, thankedGod for the safe arrival ofSuntai and expressed happi-ness that it would lead topeace and stability in thestate.

Cultural and religiousgroups decked in various at-tires, sang and danced in soli-darity with the governor.

Roll callSuntai, who arrived the

Nnamdi Azikiwe Interna-tional Airport from the UnitedStates at 1pm in a charteredGulfstream jet, was immedi-ately taken to a VIP lounge atthe airport where he rested fora while before being ferried byanother aircraft to Jalingo laterin the day.

At the airport to receive thegovernor, who was clad in aFrench Safari suit, were formerMinister of Defence, GeneralTheophilus Danjuma (rtd.);former Minister of Information,Professor Jerry Gana; Ministerof State, Niger Delta, DariusIshaku; Chairman, SenateCommittee on Agriculture,Senator Emmanuel Bwacha,among others.

EXACTLY 10 monthsafter he went out of

‘circulation’ on account ofan air crash, GovernorDanbaba Suntai of TarabaState, yesterday, returnedto Nigeria amid wide ulu-lation in Jalingo, theTaraba State capital.

Beyond the excitementtrailing his return, Suntai,wwho was piloting thecrashed helicopter, will bewwelcomed by the politicallyunstable polity that Tarabahas morphed into duringhis absence.

On the eve of the crashon October 25, 2012,Taraba appeared a unitedstate without any shadowof doubt over who was in-charge. However, Suntai’s10-month absence has ledto the emergence of a newand polarised Taraba.

QuestionsHis absence has also

raised an avalanche ofquestions he must begin toanswer in words and ac-tions urgently, to prove hiscritics wrong and douse

rising political tension in thestate.

One of the big questions iswhether or not Suntai, whowas aided to alight from theaircraft yesterday, is physi-cally and mentally fit to carryon with his duties as gover-nor? Another question is howwill he handle the dichotomyin the State Executive Coun-cil, SEC, and House of Assem-bly. Both had been dividedalong pro-Suntai and anti-Suntai camps?

What kind of relations willhe have with his deputy,whom his supporters havebranded disloyal and plottingto take over from him? Willhe reverse the ‘unpopular ’appointments and decisionstaken by his deputy?

After several failed promisesabout Suntai’s return, indica-tions that he would ‘actually’return, yesterday, emergedwhen the state acting Gover-nor, Garba Umar confirmedthe development on Friday.

“His Excellency, the actinggovernor of Taraba State, AlhajiGarba Umar, is pleased to an-nounce that the executive Gov-ernor, Danbaba Suntai, has re-covered from the injuries hesustained during the air mis-hap of October 25, 2012,” a

statement by Umar’s Chief PressSecretary, Kefas Sule said.

Until now, the issue of Suntai’sreturn was a controversial onein Taraba. His supporters in thecabinet, who felt that the actinggovernor, Umar, wasstrategising to retain the seat onaccount of the recovering gov-ernor’s incapacitation, were saidto have made plans to bringSuntai back in the state to checkthe deputy governor’s allegedambition.

‘The cabal’Now regarded as the Suntai

Cabal, the group is expected to‘lobby’ Suntai to restore all thepre-October 25, 2012 politicalstructures that the acting gover-nor ‘tampered’ with.

The affected structures includethe G-7 loyalists of Suntai in theHouse of Assembly and principalofficers, who were impeached lastApril, a move allegedly hatchedby Umar’s faithful, to entrenchhim in governance.

Another attempt was made toimpeach the current leadershipof the House last week, follow-ing plans of the governor’s re-turn.

Will Suntai’s return end or in-crease the boiling hostilities inthe House?

How Suntai handles this deli-

cate issue will go a long wayin determining the politicalfuture of Taraba ahead 2015elections, when he is expectedto quit the governorship seatafter eight years and handover to a successor.

Flood fundsWill Suntai also reverse the

sack of some commissionersand the Secretary to the StateGovernment, SSG, who wererelieved of their jobs over al-

fleged misappropriation ofN400 million released by the

rFederal Government to caterfor flood victims in the state?

The affected persons, whowere appointed by Suntai,have alleged that they werevictimised because they re-fused to go along with plotsto initiate impeachment pro-ceedings against Suntai.

Will Suntai be comfortable towork with Umar in spitespeculated loyalty gulf createdbetween by their warring sup-porters and fall for the trap toback impeachment of hisdeputy?

Acting Taraba Governor,Umar, had repeatedlypledged his loyalty to Suntaiand dismissed as unfoundedand baseless allegations thathe was eyeing Suntai’s seat.

Politics of Suntai’s returnBY CLIFFORD

NDUJIHE, DeputyPolitical

DANBABA SUNTAI:TT Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba State (2nd left) on his arrivalat the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: Abayomi Adeshida.


Riverscrisis 'llsoon beover— Okupe

BY PETER DURU

VISIT: From left— Hajia Maryam Yusuph, Vice Chairman; Alhaji Kamaldeen Yusuph,Chairman, both of KAM Industries Ltd.; Alhaji Isiaka Gold, Secretary to Kwara StateGovernment, representing Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed; Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Ministerof Finance, and Mrs. Ramat Abubakar, a staff of KAM Industries, during the pre-commissioningvisit by the minister to the ultra-modern cold roll steel sheet mill complex in Ilorin.

BANK: 20% interest ratekilling local industry, says FG

from Bank of Industry and weare very proud that the Bankof Industry under Ms.Okputu has been able to sup-port them.

“But there is a catch, whichis that the interest rate on theresources that they have fromFirst Bank, like many otherbanks, which is generallyknown to most of those whoare in industry or small andmedium scale enterprises,SMEs, is very high.

“Government wants the in-terest rate to come down be-cause we believe that we can-not have sustainable invest-ment at such a high rate.

‘Inflation is down’“One of the things we have

to do as government is to bringthe rate of inflation down be-cause banks surcharge an in-terest rate that is higher thanthe inflation rate to stay sol-vent.

“So we have been workingharder together; between theMinistry of Finance and theCentral Bank. And what hashappened? Our inflation hasgone from 12 percent in Janu-ary to 8.7 percent now.

“So, we are driving it down,meaning that interest rate canalso go down. So that is why Iwas asking the question, whyis their loan at 20 percent? Be-cause this Alhaji and AlhajaKAM here, they’ve got assets.

“They have been in businessfor 15 years; they have mov-

able assets; they have immov-able assets; they have a lot forcollateral. So, someone like thisshould be enjoying much lowerinterest rate, not much abovethe 8.7 percent.

“It could be in the lower dou-ble digit. It could be 12 percent,it could be 13. But 20 is killing.

“So, we must work harder.We must have the cooperationof the banks, the Central Bankand the Ministry of Finance;the President is concernedabout this and that is why weare talking to the banks.”

Governor reactsVice Chairman of KAM,

Alhaja Yusuph, said the visionof the industry was in conso-nance with Federal Govern-ment’s drive to speedily indus-trialise Nigeria and put theeconomy on sound footing.

Yusuf, who said that the coldsteel rolling mill complex wasthe third in the country and thebiggest and the best of thethree, added that it was amulti-billion naira project com-prising HR slitting line, push-pull, pickling line, cold steelrolling mill and many more.

She said: “The Cold RollingMill is an assembly of technol-ogy from 11 countries of theworld, which includes Bel-gium, India, USA, Brazil, Ger-many, China, among others.”

Also speaking, GovernorAbdulfatah Ahmed, who wasrepresented by the Secretary tothe State Government, SSG,Alhaji Isiaka Gold, called on theFederal Government to waveimport duty for the farm inputas it would go a long way inhelping the state’s ShongaFarm scheme.

MAKURDI—THESenior Special As-

sistant to the President onPublic Affairs, Dr. DoyinOkupe, has assured thatthe protracted feud be-tween the Presidency,Governor Rotimi Amaechiof Rivers State and otheraggrieved governors inthe country would soon beresolved.

He said that “the na-tional reconciliation com-mittee that was set up byPeoples Democratic Party,PDP, would tackle all thelingering issues that gavebirth to the crisis and en-sure true reconciliation inthe party.”

The presidential aidespoke yesterday inMakurdi, Benue Statecapital, after featuring asa guest preacher at theRock of Victory Evangeli-cal Ministry specialchurch service held inhonour of the state’s DutyGovernor, Chief StevenLawani.

Okupe said: “Our party,PDP, as the ruling party,has a reputation of over-coming its crisis and com-ing together as a familyto remain in power.

“There is a time for eve-rything. There is time tofight and time for peaceand let me inform you thatfor PDP, this is the time tomake peace and the lead-ers of the party are work-ing round the clock to rec-oncile all aggrieved par-ties.”

On the recently re-leased manifesto of AllProgressives Congress,APC, Okupe said: “It is auseless document thatwas just downloaded fromInternet. In any case,APC will remain as theopposition in 2015 as PDPwill still retain power.”

While pleading withAcademic Staff Union ofUniversities, ASUU, to re-turn back to the class-rooms in the interest of thefuture leaders of thecountry, Okupe said: “Ifyou ask me my own viewson this matter, I wouldsuggest that governmenthands off the running ofhigher education in thiscountry.

“If the private universi-ties are working, I won-der why public universi-ties cannot work.”

ILORIN—THE Federal Gov-—ernment has complained

about the high interest rate of20 percent being charged bybanks on indigenous investors,saying that it is killing, even asit assured stakeholders thatthere would be combined effortsto bring it down.

The Coordinating Minister forthe Economy and Minister of Fi-nance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said this during her pre-commissioning visit to KAMIndustries' ultra-modern coldroll steel sheet mill complex,meant to produce car bodysheets, in Ilorin, weekend.

She explained that zero importduty granted by the FederalGovernment to industrialists wasto support industrialisation, jobcreation and agricultural revo-lution in the country.

On the high lending rate, shesaid the current interest rate of20 percent by banks cannot en-courage sustainable investment,particularly among indigenousindustrialists.

She also said that the devel-opment had continued to kill thedesire and commitment of indig-enous industrialists in financingtheir capital projects capable ofdeveloping the nation’seconomy.

The minister was apparentlyreacting to the claim of theChairman of the company,Alhaji Kamaldeen Yusuph, thatthe interest rate on the six-yearloan granted to the company byFirst Bank, to finance the projectwas 20 percent.

She said: “They got some re-sources from First Bank and wewant to thank and congratulateFirst Bank for making availablea facility for six years.

“They also got some resources

Minister negotiates with striking health workersBY SOLA OGUNDIPE &

CHIOMA OBINNA

I N D I C A T I O N Semerged, weekend, that

the Ministry of Health is meet-ing with the leadership of Medi-cal and Health Workers Unionof Nigeria, MHWUN, this morn-ing towards finding quick reso-lution to the ongoing healthworkers’ strike.

It was gathered that themeeting, which is expected tobe presided over by the Min-ister of Health, ProfessorOnyebuchi Chukwu, wouldexplore available options fornegotiation towards endingthe strike that has paralysedactivities in all Federal tertiaryand specialist hospitals nation-wide.

Meanwhile, the five-day old

strike called by MHWUNover irreconcilable issueswith the ministry, may be ex-tended to primary healthcarecentres and state owned-hospitals should govern-ment fail to accede to theirdemands by August 28.

Chairman of LUTH branchof MHWUN, Mr. KehindeAdegoke said: “There is ameeting in Abuja tomorrow(today) between the Minis-try of Health and the JointAction Committee.

“I understand the Ministerwants to negotiate before theultimatum expired. Even be-fore the expiration, the Min-ister of Labour tried to me-diate, but neither the HealthMinister nor his representa-tive showed up.

“Before we went to court

last year, the Ministry ofHealth and our unionssigned an agreement that wewould abide by the judg-ment, but now the Ministersaid he has gone to the Courtof Appeal.

“Now the courts are on re-cess, and may not resume tillmiddle of September.

“We have agreement on fivepoints out of the 10, and itwas the minimum that was tobe implemented betweenMay 6- 29, 2012. The othersnot agreed on were referredto the Industrial Court.

“We may be able to reach acompromise within the short-est time if they should imple-ment those areas where wehave reached an agreement.Up till now, none has beenimplemented.”

BY DEMOLA AKINYEMI


BY OLASUNKANMIAKONI

Fani-Kayode: Yoruba group warns againstinciting comments

BY DAPO AKINREFON

Tinubu, Fashola others hail Omojola @ 75 Namibia’slady Dillishwins BBA

BY OLASUNKANMIAKONI

PRESENTATT TION:AA Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Se-gun Ogunsanya, presenting the championship trophy in the male category to the captain ofPort Harcourt winning team, Bright Emmanuel, at the Agege Township Stadium, Lagos onSunday. His is flanked by Coach Joseph Egbu of Port Harcourt (left) and members of thewinning team.

ALL Progressives Con-gress, national leader,

and ex-governor of LagosState, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu,his successor, Governor Baba-tunde Fashola and his coun-terpart from Osun State, RaufAregbesola, yesterday de-scribed 75-year-old activist,Baba Oluwide Omojola, as aman whose activism and lead-ership qualities helped in thepolitical emancipation of thecountry.

They spoke at the 75th birth-day/lecture in Lagos, organ-ized for the activist, with thetheme An overview of the pro-gressive movement in Africa.

The lecture was delivered byDr. Nkem Oyekpe, from Uni-versity of Lagos, UNILAG.

The event was also attendedby the former General Secre-tary, Nigeria Union of Petrole-um and Natural Gas Workers,NUPENG, Chief Frank Kokori,(Chairman of the occasion),leader of Afenifere, Chief AyoAdebanjo, Publicity Secretaryof the National DemocraticCoalition, NADECO, ChiefAyo Opadokun, among others.

Omojola fought for themasses

Speaking, Asiwaju Tinubu,who was represented by Pro-fessor Adebayo Williams, de-scribed Omojola as a Nigeri-an who participated in sever-al protests to demand for bet-ter standard of living for themasses and to ensure that theright of the citizens were notviolated.

He said: “For me, in order toensure that while still alive, hislegacy can be inculcated intoeveryone, I have concludedplans to establish a foundationin his honour. And it would benamed ‘Baba Omojola Foun-dation’. The foundation willhelp inculcate the idea of self-less service in Nigerians.”

He fought for democra-

cy—Fashola

On his part, Fashol, a rep-resented by his Special Advis-er on Political, Power and Leg-islative Bureau, Mr. TaofeeqFolami, said: “He is a loftyman. He is an activist whofought for the democracy thatwe are all enjoying today. Thebest legacy I believe is the leg-acy that the representative ofAsiwaju Bola Tinubu has sug-gested that we should have a

foundation for him. That, Ibelieve, is a legacy that willlinger his performance whileon earth.”

Similarly, Opadokun saidOmojola was an excellentleader who served the coun-try with his activism, saying,“he is a man who wants thebest for the people. I have notseen a good number of peo-ple with such carriage in thecountry. This is a man that willsell his personal property to

fund protests to demand forthe rights of the citizens. Heis broad minded. He is adogged fighter. What you havecontributed to the country willremain a lasting legacy. Youhave added value to the coun-try.”

Speaking, Chief Kokori, theformer General Secretary ofNUPENG said “this is one ofthose frontrunners in thestruggle for the democracythat we are enjoying today."

LAGOS—AS part ofmeasures to ensure har-

monious relationship, the Na-tional Interim Executive, NIE,of All Progressives Congress,APC, has approved the estab-lishment of state harmonisationcommittees.

This, according to the party,was established in order not tocreate a vacuum and regulatethe activities of the party at thestate level and the Federal

Capital Territory FCT.The Interim National Publici-

ty Secretary of the party, AlhajiLai Mohammed, in a statement,yesterday, said the decision toset up the State HarmonizationCommittees, SHC, followed theadoption of the report of theMasari Committee by NIEwhich met last week in Abuja.

He said the SHC shall com-prise President/Vice President,past and serving, who are mem-bers of the legacy parties; gov-ernors/deputy governors, past

and serving, who are membersof the legacy parties; servingand former senators who aremembers of the legacy parties;serving members of the Houseof Representatives who aremembers of the party andSpeakers or Minority Leadersof the states Houses of Assem-bly who are members of theparty.

APC listed others as formerministers who are members ofthe legacy parties; all immedi-ate past national executivemembers of the legacy parties;immediate past gubernatorialcandidates of legacy parties,and their deputies where APCdoes not have a sitting gover-nor, who are still members of thelegacy parties. Nine persons,comprising of three elders,three youths and three women,with one of each being fromeach of the senatorial districtsof the state; state Chairmen andthe Secretaries of the LegacyParties; members of the NationalInterim executive and FederalCommissioners who are mem-bers of the Legacy Parties.The party said these personsshall be recommended to theNational Interim executive forapproval and inauguration.

APC approves state harmonisation c'ttees

A YORUBA group, Ood-ua Descendant Union,

ODU, has appealed to the Igboto desist from making incitingcomments capable of severe con-sequences.

In a statement by the group’scoordinator, Adeyemi Aboderin,the group said it was reactingto what it described as “calcu-lated campaign of calumny andthreat against the Yoruba peo-ple by some Igbo groups.”

It said: “These campaigns

have become loud since thepublication of an article byformer Minister of Aviation,Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. Theseattacks have continued unabat-ed despite his explanationsthat his comments have beengreatly been misunderstood,and that his intentions were notto ridicule or malign the Igbo.Some Igbo groups have notstopped at attacking him alone,but have gone ahead to issuethreats against his wife andchildren.

“The ODU has taken time to

study these attacks and otherslike it in the recent past, andhas concluded that the attackson Fani-Kayode are merescreen-smoke. The main targetof these attack dogs is definite-ly the Yoruba race. The Yorubahas a saying that when a childthreatens to slap you, the childis not acting alone. He has thebacking of an adult who is act-ing behind the curtains. It is inthis light that we view this lat-est attack as a calculated at-tempt by some Igbo groups todisparage and insult the Yoru-ba."

NAMIBIA’S Dillish,last night,

grabbed the 2013 BigBrother Africa, BBA,grand prize.

It was, however, ashock for Nigerians aftermaking it to the finale,as the country’s hopes ofsnatching the chasecrown went up in flameslast nightwhen Beverly and Melvinbecame the first twoChasemates in the Top 5to be booted out.

The two Nigerians re-ceived the lowest votesafter an intense round ofvoting this week. Onecould hear a pin drop asthe housemates, alldressed to the nines, satin the lounge and await-ed their fate. With USD300 000 at stake, it is giv-en that nerves would bemore than frayed.

The gorgeous Na-mibian started her Chaserace as the proverbialunderdog and was la-belled everything fromlazy to a pampered prin-cess. As the Chase rolledon however, Dillishquickly emerged as avery strong contender forthe Chase title and wonher fellow Housematesand Africa over, with herquirky, accented alterego, aptly titled PrincessDillish.

Last night proved onceand for all that Africa isall about girl power! Thetwo top spots in TheChase finale weresnapped up by Ruby la-dies, Cleo and Dillish.

The Namibian madesure to stay away fromtrouble and coastedthrough the Chase bytaking her place behindthe scenes. While her fel-low Housemates gotthemselves into hot wa-ter, fighting and gossip-ing their way to whatthey hoped was the topof the mountain, Dillishremained grounded andmaintained cordial rela-tions with her fellowHousemates.

The only time the Na-mibian got herself in aspot of trouble was whenshe and her good friend,Nigeria’s Melvin, had adisagreement after shetold her fellow House-mates about a relation-ship he was involved in,which was less than stel-lar.

BY UDUMA KALUwith agency reports


Ondo guber poll: S-Court to hear suit againstMimiko today

BY IKECHUKWUNNOCHIRI

20 Osunyouths ontraining inGermany

Police seal off senator’sconstituency project in Ogun

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

ABEOKUTA—ANXIETYhas gripped resi-

dents of Ota, in Ado-Odo-Ota Local Government Area ofOgun State, following the de-ployment of a detachment ofpolicemen from the state po-lice command who eventu-ally sealed off a town hallproject.

The project was reportedlyconstructed by Senator AkinOdunsi, representing OgunWest Senatorial District of the

THE first batch of 20youths chosen by

Osun State governmentfor training in best prac-tice agriculture abroadare to depart for Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, nextweek.

Already, the youthswere, last Friday, at theConference Room of theMinistry of Agricultureand Food Security, Os-ogbo, taken through anorientation programmehandled by different lev-els of experts in health,information and commu-nications technologyand ethical trainings.

ABUJA—THE Chief Jus-tice of Nigeria, CJN,

Justice Mariam AlomaMukhtar, has ordered the Su-preme Court to commencehearing on appeals seeking tosack Governor OlusegunMimiko of Ondo State today.

The apex court, which is cur-rently on vacation, had earli-er fixed September 24 to be-gin hearing on four separateappeals challenging the Ap-peal Court judgment thatokayed Governor Mimiko asthe validly elected candidatein the August 27 gubernato-rial election in Ondo State.

However, sequel to protestsfrom the appellants who main-tained that September 24would fall outside the manda-tory 60 days prescribed by theconstitution for the determina-tion of election petition ap-peals, the CJN, decided tobring forward the hearingdate.

Specifically, the pendingappeals were filed by the Ac-tion Congress of Nigeria,ACN, the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, the IndependentNational Electoral Commis-sion, INEC, as well as a crossappeal that was entered be-fore the court by Mimiko andhis Labour Party, LP.

It will be recalled that an

Amosuntasks Yewaindigenes inUK oninvestment

appellate court in Akure, theOndo Capital, had few weeks

ago, upheld the verdict of theOndo State governorship elec-

tion petition tribunal in whichMimiko’s victory was upheld.

DINNER: From left: Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Chief Nike Okundaye; Chief Précious Agbabiakaand Mrs Victoria Scott, during a dinner in honour of Trade Delegates from United State after a conference on Trade Invest-ment and Culture, at the Government House, Osogbo, weekend.

FAAN, Arik trade words over teenager’sstowaway

BY LAWANI MIKAIRU &DANIEL ETEGHE

THE Federal Airports Au-thority of Nigeria ,FAAN,

yesterday, asked the manage-ment of Arik Airlines to acceptresponsibility for the teenag-er that stowed away on it’saircraft rather than put thewhole blame on FAAN.

The management of Arik Air-lines had earlier said that itwas surprised at the incidentwondering how the teenagerbeat the Aviation Security per-sonnel at the Benin Airport to

get to the runway.General Manager, Corpo-

rate Communications, FAAN,Mr. Yakubu Dati, said thatArik Airlines’ accusation wasunfair to FAAN stressing thatthe airline took no responsi-bility whatsoever for such aserious security breach.

According to Dati , when thepassengers notified the au-thority of the airline, the air-line would have conducted aproper check and ensure thatthe boy was promptly arrest-ed but they rather chose tocontinue with the flight.

Dati said: ”The facts of the

matter as FAAN’s investiga-tion has revealed, are com-pletely different to the Arikaccount. The facts of the stow-away incident are as follows:

“On Saturday August 24,2013 at about 0905hrs, ARIKflight 544 departed Benin Air-port for Lagos. The normalrunway inspections were con-ducted by FAAN Security at0730hrs and 0850hrs. Theserunway inspections are con-ducted routinely all day, eve-ryday, by a FAAN Securitypatrol teams and are aimed atpreventing animal and hu-man incursions unto the air-craft maneuvering areas of theairfield.

“Our investigations revealthat a passenger on board theflight called the attention ofthe cabin crew while the air-craft was waiting to take off atthe threshold of the runway,to the effect that they had seena young boy walk under theaircraft and had not seen himreappear either side.

“The cabin crew in turn in-formed the pilots in the cock-pit about this. The pilots calledthe control tower and askedthem to request FAAN to do asweep of the area after theirdeparture, opting to carry onwith their flight despite thereport.”

state on the platform of the AllProgressives Congress (APC)and was billed for commis-sioning this weekend.Vanguard gathered that the

police acted on a petition al-legedly written by the leader-ship of the Peoples Democrat-ic Party, PDP, in the state.

Reacting to the develop-ment, the state Police PublicRelations Officer, Mr. Muyi-wa Adejobi, said the actionwas meant to prevent breakdown of law and order in thestate.

L ONDON—GOV-ERNOR Ibikunle

Amosun of Ogun hasurged members of theYewa Descendants Un-ion in UK and Ireland tokey into developmentprigrammes back home.

Amosun, who spokeagainst the backdrop ofthe ongoing infrastruc-ture development in thestate, gave the chargeon Saturday at the 1stYewa Descendants Un-ion Day held in London.

He said that the stategovernment had em-barked on variousprojects, especially inthe areas of agricultureand tourism, andstressed the need forthose in the diaspora tobring their expertise tobear.

Fielding questionsfrom members of the un-ion, Amosun addressedthe issue of securitychallenges, unemploy-ment and bureaucraticbottleneck in the alloca-tion of land.

He said that the statewould only allocatelands that already hadbasic infrastructure.

He said: “We will ade-quately allocate lands toYewa indigenes whowant to invest at home;in doing so, we willbuild infrastructure be-fore allocating lands.

“On youth empower-ment, we have createdmany job opportunities.”

Vanguar MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013—11

PH kingship:Emergenceof twocrowns fuelstussle

BY EGUFE YAFUG-BORHI

P O R T HARCOURT—PUNSETTLED by the con-troversial crowning of twocontenders for the stool ofEze Apara Rebisi, alsoknown as the King of PortHarcourt, another con-tender, Eze EmekaAnyagbulem, has re-turned to court over thedisputed kingship.

Stating his case to Van-guard in Port Harcourt,Anyagbulem said therecannot be two kings forone stool, adding that theaction of the duo whowere crowned amounts tocontempt of court as thereis a subsisting suit chal-lenging such actions.

“Apart from the fact thatthere can’t be two kingsfor one throne, it is un-tenable that while a suit(No. PHC/1818/2013) isyet pending, two personsnamely Prince VictorWoluchem and UcheIsaac Elikwu of Oro-Olozu lineage on Tues-day respectively crownedthemselves.

‘Stow-awayteenagerthought hewas on USbound flight’

BY SIMON EBEG-BULEM

BENIN CITY—THE teenage boy

who emerged from thelanding gear compart-ment of Arik Air plane atthe Murtala MuhammedAirport in Lagos thoughthe was on a US-boundflight, saying he had tomove due to allegedmaltreatment by his par-ents.

The boy had sneakedinto the compartment atBenin Airport last Satur-day as the plane was atthe holden point readyfor take-off to Lagos.

A source at the airport,who spoke to Vanguard,said the parents were al-ready on their way to La-gos to bring the stowawayback to Benin City, afterthey expressed shock onseeing the story of theirson in the newspapers.

“The boy said he wasbeing maltreated by theparents and decided torun away from them. Hethought he was on aflight to the US,” thesource said.

You’ll be blamed if Nigeria breaks up,Uduaghan charges Guild of EditorsGbenga Adefaye, others inducted as fellows of Guild

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

GOVERNOR EmmanuelUduaghan of Delta State,

said, weekend that editorswould be held responsibleshould Nigeria break up.

Consequently, he charged theeditors to be mindful of the kindof reports they churned out forpublic consumption..

Speaking at a gala nite organ-ised for the editors to round up9th edition of Guild of EditorsConference in Asaba, the gov-ernor said: “I want to sincerelythank the President and othermembers of the Guild who havebeen here for these past fewdays. There is no doubt that asjournalists you owe our peoplethe responsibility of ensuringthat we keep Nigeria one.

“Whatever you write or what-ever you do not write for thosewho write whatever you say andwhatever you do not say cankeep us together or break us.So I want to appeal, some of uslove Nigeria and want Nigeriato remain one.

“Some of us love democracyand want democracy to con-tinue. We believe that yet weare still not firm on the groundin terms of democracy, but webelieve that with time as we falland get up, we will eventuallystop falling. We will start walk-ing and start running.

“So I want to appeal thatsometimes before you writethink of the impact of that write-up, how it will affect society. I’mnot saying you should not criti-cise but when you are doing it,have the interest of the countryuppermost in your hearts”.

Uduaghan challenged the

editors on the need to holdgovernment accountable to thepeople.

Earlier during an executivesession held on Friday, Gover-nor Uduaghan told the editorsto monitor the implementationof budgets in order to achievetransparency and accountabil-ity in governance at all levels.

He stated that government’sbudget was a public documentthat should be made availableto the public to see and assessthe level of its implementation.

This, he said, informed theneed for Delta State govern-ment to print and circulate its2013 budget freely to individu-als, including participants at

the conference.“Budget should be a public

document that people can haveaccess to and hold governmentaccountable to it. This is why wehave printed and distributed ourstate budget to people includingyou all in this hall.

“You can also access our budgetonline at any of our websites. Ithink we are the only one in thecountry to have done this. Gov-ernment is accountable to thepeople in everything,” he said.

Ten distinguished Editors wereinducted as new Fellows of theGuild at the colourful gala nite,which included the GeneralManager/Editor-in-Chief of Van-guard Newspapers and two-term

President of the Guild, Mr.Gbenga Adefaye.

Other fellows were MalamModibo Kawu, John Ndukauba,Bayo Atoyebi, Folu Olamiti, JideAdebayo, Segun Babatope, BukiPonle, Olusegun Aribike andBonnie Iwuoha. The oath of of-fice was administered by Mr. RayEkpu.

Mr. Adefaye while respondingon behalf of others, promised thatthey would uphold the ethics ofthe profession as well as live upto expectation.

Apart from the fellows, othernew inductees into the Guild tooktheir oath of office administeredby Mr. Bonnie Iwuoha.

Okocha denies SANs’ support for Rivers acting CJBY INNOCENT ANABA

FORMER PRESIDENT of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Chief O.C.J Okocha, SAN, has

denied the reports that Senior Advocates of Ni-geria, SANs, in Rivers State, supported the ap-pointment of Justice Peter Agumagu as acting ChiefJudge of Rivers State.

Okocha, in a statement, said “My attention hasbeen drawn to a false and misleading story pub-lished in the media, whereby, it was alleged thatthe Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria supportsthe appointment of Justice Agumagu as the actingChief Judge of Rivers State. The story was cred-ited to Granville Abibo, SAN, a lawyer based inPort Harcourt.

“While the matter of the said appointment of Jus-tice Agumagu is a matter under the purview of theNational Judicial Council, it is important for me, asChairman of the Port Harcourt Chapter of the Bodyof Senior Advocates of Nigeria to state as followsthat we did not visit or pay any courtesy call onJustice Agumagu, and neither did the Body issuea statement to the effect that it supports the saidappointment of Justice Agumagu as acting ChiefJudge of Rivers State.

“The Port Harcourt Chapter of the Body of SeniorAdvocates of Nigeria has a membership of nearly20 and none of them, except Granville Abibo, waspresent at the said visit or courtesy call.

Granville Abibo is the most junior of all the Sen-

CONFERENCE: From left; Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, President of Ni-gerian Guild of Editors, Mr. Femi Adesina, and Mr. Kayode of Channels TV, during theGala-Night put together by Delta Sate Government, marking the end of 9th Nigerian Guildof Editors Conference, at the Event Centre, Asaba, weekend. Photo: Henry Unini

ior Advocates of Nigeria in Port Harcourt,and was admitted to the Rank of SeniorAdvocate just about a year ago. He doesnot have, and has never had, any author-

ity or mandate to speak for the Body of Sen-ior Advocates of Nigeria, and he is awareand ought to be aware of that incontrovert-ible fact.


CRC chides group for disparagingAmaechiA GROUP, Concerned

Rivers Citizens, CRC,has condemned disparagingstatement made against theperson of the state governor,Mr. Chibuike RotimiAmaechi, by a body that iden-tified itself as Grassroots De-velopment Initiative, GDI.

GDI had in a statementsigned by its President-Gen-eral, Bright Ameawhule, ac-cused Governor Amaechi ofraping the Nigerian constitu-tion in connivance with his At-torney-General and Presidentof the Customary Court ofAppeal in respect of appoint-ment of new chief judge for

the state.But CRC, in a statement

signed by Igo Aguma, aformer member of the Houseof Representatives, describedGDI’s allegation as mischie-vous, blasphemous, addingthat it strengthened its suspi-

cion that the elements behindthe GDI were determined todestabilize the state, adding,however, that Rivers peoplewould resist it.

The statement read: “Whilewe do not want to join issueswith the evil driving, volatile

and rabble-rousing GDI andits sponsors over the appoint-ment of an acting Chief Judgefor the state, we take seriousexceptions to abuses pouredon Governor Amaechi and hisadministration.

BENIN — MR.Godwin Wowo, elder

brother to Nigeria- born formerChief Justice of the Gambia,Justice Joseph Wowo, week-

end, raised alarm that hisyounger brother was being per-secuted in Gambia on accountof his nationality.

Justice Wowo, according to hiselder brother, is being pros-ecuted on the allegation that he

asked for bribe in a land disputethat he had earlier given judg-ment.

In a statement made availableto journalists in Benin, the EdoState capital, Mr. Wowo said thebribe story was falsehood or-chestrated in YOU Tube by pow-erful forces in Gambia who didnot want a foreigner to be ap-pointed a Chief Justice of theircountry.

Tracing the genesis of thetravails of his younger brotherwho was two weeks agogranted bail by a Magistrate’sCourt on criminal charges ofgiving false information to apublic officer, Mr. Wowo saidJustice Wowo who was also ajudge of the country’s Court ofAppeal, was invited by Gam-bia’s ex-Attorney-General andMinister of Justice, LaminJobarteh, to help in resolvinga dispute over land matter inwhich he (Justice Wowo as aHigh Court Judge had earliergiven judgment in favour of aGerman plaintiff, BerndGeorge Diedrich, against 12trespassers, including oneAndre Sape Van Klaabergen,who was the former minister’sclient before his appointmentas attorney-general.

KidnappedDELSUlecturer:ASUU faultsDelta CP

BY EMMA AMAIZE

ABRAKA —CHAIRMAN of

Academic Staff Union ofUniversities, ASUU, DeltaState University, DELSU,Abraka chapter, Dr.Emmanuel Mordi, hasdescribed as untenablereason adduced by thepolice in Delta State forfailure to produce a fe-male lecturer of the uni-versity, Dr. (Mrs.) MercyMokobia, kidnapped inher residence since April9.

About a month ago, theunion asked the police toproduce the abducted lec-turer, dead or alive butreacting to the order,Commissioner of Police,Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba,who disclosed that policehad arrested some sus-pects in connection withthe incident, said the po-lice were not magicians.

Former Gambian CJ persecuted on account ofnationality—Brother

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

NANS’protest inAsaba:Police warnparents

ASABA — DELTAState Police Com-

mand, weekend, urgedparents to warn theirchildren/wards againstparticipating in theplanned protest by theNational Association ofNigeria Students,NANS, scheduled tohold from today till Fri-day in Asaba, DeltaState.

“We have informationthat the protest is beingsponsored by some uni-dentified persons andthat hoodlums will hijackit to cause unrest in thestate and the policecannot fold their handsand watch people causeproblem,” Commis-sioner of Police,Ikechukwu Aduba, saidin a statement.

The statement read: “Itwill be recalled that stu-dents under the aegis ofNational Association ofNigeria Students; DeltaState chapter, applied toDelta State Police Com-mand for Police permit tostage a peaceful rally inrelation to the ongoingnationwide strike byASUU.

BY EMMA AMAIZE

CAN President excited over ‘Oritsejafor Road’

WARRI —WW AUTHORI-TIES of Warri SouthWW

Local Government Councilhave named a four-kilometre-road after the National Presi-dent of Christian Associationof Nigeria, CAN, PastorAyodele Joseph Oritsejafor,describing him as a greatambassador of Warri.

In a brief remark before un-veiling two sign-posts of theroad, Transition CommitteeChairman of Warri South Lo-cal Government, Dr. Augus-tine Uroye, noted that the for-mal unveiling in honour of theCAN President was the firstin the history of the local gov-ernment.

According to him, PastorOritsejafor has contributedimmensely to the develop-ment and positive projectionof Warri both within and out-side the country.

Pastor Oritsejafor, who wasflanked by his wife, PastorHellen Oritsejafor, stated that

UNVEILING: From left, CAN President, Pastor & Mrs. Ayodele Joseph Oritsejafor; WarriSouth LG Chairman, Dr. Augustine Uroye JP; Warri South LG Vice Chairman, Dafe Ikpuri,and Warri South Council HPM, Mr. Douglas Acambe, in front of one of the unveiled sign-posts to formally name a four-kilometre road in Warri, in honour of Pastor Oritsejafor.

he felt elated and excited,stressing that a man could notbe said to have achieved any-thing until his people hon-oured him.

According to the former Pen-tecostal Fellowship of NigeriaPresident, even Jesus Christ

could not do many miracles inhis own town because theJews had no value for him.

An emotional PastorOritsejafor, who prayed forcontinuous peace in Warri,declared that with the honourdone him, every good thing

that left Warri would return.The four-kilometre-road,

which runs from the PoliceBarrack Junction axis of thepopular Warri-Sapele Roadterminates at the Mabiakuroad in Warri GRA.

House of Reps aspirant promises to develop WarriBY KENNETH EHIGIATOR

PEOPLES DEMOCRATICParty, PDP, aspirant for thePP

House of Representatives WarriFederal Constituency, MeyiwaErewa, has promised to changethe face of Warri, if elected intothe lower chamber of the NationalAssembly.

He also commended ComradeFrancis Arhiyor on his electionas President-General of UrhoboYouth Leaders Association,UYCA.

Speaking with newsmen at thevenue of the swearing-in cer-emony at Oviorie, Ethiope East

Local Government Area, the pio-neer PDP chairman of WarriSouth Local Government, saidWarri Federal Constituency hadbeen lacking in development,stressing that now was the timeto activate its development.

Erewa, who is deemed to beacceptable to Itsekiris,Urhobosand Ijaws for his openness andsteadfastness, said he was fullyprepared for the race to the Houseof Representatives to change theface of Warri Federal Constitu-ency positively for the benefit andinterest of all the tribes in Warri.

He said: “For now, nothing isworking. During my consulta-tions, I discovered that as a rep-

resentative of Warri Federal Con-stituency, a lot has to be done,the gap is very wide, I must dosomething when I get there byinvolving everybody. WhetherIteskiris, Ijaws or Urhobos, we areall one and co-stakeholders ofWarri.”

He described the successfulelection and subsequentswearin-in of Comrade Arhiyoras very well deserved, addingthat the fact that his election andsubsequent swearing-in into of-fice was peaceful and devoid ofany violence, gave an indicationthat he was, indeed, the leaderof Urhobo youths.


Triumphant entry of Senator Chris Ngige, APC gubernatorial aspirant for 2014 AnambraState election in Awka, weekend.

UN agency harps on free, fair polls in 2015

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

ABUJAAA —THE United NationsAADevelopment Programme,AA

UNDP, has tasked stakeholders inPPthe electoral process in Nigeria toensure that the outcome of the 2015general elections was free, fair andtransparent.

The outgoing Country Director,UNDP, Ade Mamonyane Lekoetse,PPthrew the challenge at a farewellorganised for her by the Ministryof Niger Delta Affairs.

Lekoetse, who got a newappointment as UN ResidentCoordinator and UNDP ResidentRepresentative for the Republic ofGambia, was accompanied by hersuccessor, Bernado Cocco.

She said the country required apeaceful poll in 2015 to sustain thecurrent unity, as well as fostercohesion to confront developmentand other challenges.

According to her, “as for 2015, Ipray for the unity of Nigeria andthat the forthcoming 2015 electionswould be peaceful and resultswidely accepted so that Nigeriawould continue to smile after 2015.”

The UNDP is a majordevelopment partner with theMinistry of Niger Delta Affairs, andunder the outgoing CountryDirector, the partnership yieldedtremendous achievements inphysical development andproduction of the famous NigerDelta Action Plan aimed at fast-tracking the region’s development.

Lekoetse advised the FederalGovernment to take the issue ofdevelopment challenge in theNiger Delta seriously, noting thatthe region was very important tothe survival of the country on theaccount of its economic capability.

She said: “Our work was not invain because the validationmission was very successful andthe report was widely accepted andthe recommendations werelaudable and approved.

Special attention for NigerDelta region

“For me and for most Nigerians,Niger Delta is very importantbecause as they say, the goose thatlays the golden eggs. And if thegoose and eggs are not taken careof, Nigeria would not be what it isor aspires to be.

“Niger Delta is very importantand we are hoping that the actionplan which is a very beautifuldocument and has been widelyendorsed be implemented,particularly because most revenuefor development and well being ofthis nation comes from that region,so, efforts to ensure that the peoplein the Niger Delta are well lookedafter ensuring that they get thebenefits of what God endowed onthe country, which they are thecustodians, should be our concern.

“It is also very important that wehave peace in this region and thenation at large. It is on this basisthat the UNDP in 2009 supported

the preparation of the marshalplan that ushered in theamnesty programme to curbthe insurgence of militancy.

“Another major efforts ofUNDP under my regime is thatthe body has been working inthe region to ensure that theissue of environmentalpollution is addressed andcleaned. Recommendationwould be implemented asdiscussions are on and actionshave already been taken.

“The report is not only beinglooked at only for the Ogoniland, the issue of pollutionaffected all the Niger Deltastates. We are working with theministries of petroleum andenvironment to clean up theregion and enhance thelivelihood of the people aroundthere.

“I want to solicit that theprofessional and cordialrelationship that I enjoyed fromthe ministry that held my

partnership in high esteem beextended to my successor tosafeguard the cooperation andfriendship between UNDP andMNDA.”

The Minister of Niger DeltaAffairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe,who assured that PresidentGoodluck Jonathan was committedto keep Nigeria one, said thePresident was determined tosupport the electoral institutionsahead of the 2015 general polls.

APGA primaries: Anambra North holdsstakeholders' meeting on guber ticket

BY VINCENTUJUMADU

AWKA—AS the AllProgressives Grand

Alliance, APGA, holds itsprimaries today to selectgovernorship candidate for theNovember 16 election,stakeholders from AnambraNorth have been holdingcrucial meetings to evolve waysof ensuring that the zonesecured the ticket.

Of the seven clearedaspirants of the party, four arefrom Anambra North. They areChief Willy Obiano, ChiefEmeka Emeka, Chief PaulOdenigbo and Mr. PatrickObianwu. The fear of the zoneis that if they did not select oneperson to represent the zone,the ticket might go to Mrs.Uche Ekwunife, who is said tobe seriously making great in-road among the list ofdelegates. Ekwunife is from thesame Anaocha localgovernment area of AnambraCentral as Governor Peter Obiwho will complete eight-yeartenure in March.

While the former Secretary to

the State Government, SSG,Mr. Oseloka Obaze, who wasdisqualified by the screeningcommittee of the party for therace, met weekend with one of

the front runners to the race, Mr.Willy Obiano, to discuss the wayforward, some powerful traditionalrulers from Anambra North alsomet for the same issue.

Soldiersarrest 16suspectedpipelinevandals

OWERRI—SIXTEENsuspected pipeline

vandals arrested by eagleeyed soldiers at Oguta localcouncil area of Imo State,are now cooling their heelsin the state PoliceCommand Headquarters,Owerri.

The soldiers alsorecovered and handed overto the police manyvandalized pipes,equipment, a Mack truck,an L-300 Mitsubishi busand a trailer load of 40 feeteight-inch diameter pipesvalued at over N5 million.

Disclosing this whileparading the suspects inOwerri, the Police PublicRelations Officer, PPRO,Mrs. Joy Elemoko, said thatthe command arrested threeof the six people whoallegedly vandalizedunderground optic cablesbelonging to NigerianTe lecommunica t ionLimited, NITEL.

BY CHIDINKWOPARA

Cleric deniesreceivingN250m fromImo govt

BY CHIDINKWOPARA

OWERRIOO —CATHOLICArchbishop of OwerriOO

Ecclesiastical Province, HisGrace, Dr. Anthony J. V.Obinna, has denied everreceiving N250 million fromImo State government fordistribution to Ohaji/Egbema/Oguta youths.

Archbishop Obinna, whowas reacting, in Owerri, toa recent governmentstatement that appointedhim chairman of acommittee that woulddisburse the money toyouths of oil producingcommunities, alsoexplained that his clericalduties did not includedisbursement ofgovernment money.

Dr. Obinna said: “I wantto state clearly that I did nottouch the N250 million. I didnot accept the offer and it isnot my duty to distributemoney to Ohaji/Egbema/Oguta youths.”

The Catholic clericwondered why the stategovernment went ahead toannounce his name, evenafter he warned themagainst it before travellingoverseas.

CMYk


PDM registration, mischievous deviation— ANENIH

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR & HENRY

UMORU

He dosen't know what he is saying — PDM

How 21 banks defrauded FG through taxevasion, non-remittance of revenue

We 've spentN32bn onrail projects— SURE-P—bossBY CALEB AYANSINA

BY LEVINUSNWABUGHIOGU

THETT battle of legitimacy withinthe Peoples DemocraticTT

Movement, PDM, continuedyesterday, after Chairman of theBoard of Trustees of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, Chief TonyPPAnenih, disowned the newlyregistered political party.

Anenih in a statement, dismissedthe registration of the PDM as amischievous deviation from theoriginal aspirations of the originalPDM which he said remainedcommitted to supporting a secondterm for President GoodluckJonathan.

The new party in a sharp reactionsaid Anenih’s claim was aconfirmation of its suspicion that hehad been the big masqueradebehind recent attempts to rubbishthe image of the new party in themedia.

Anenih in a statement entitled,“Our PDM is not a Political Party”,said the movement remained anintegral part of PDP and would notbe distracted from its originalinclinations.

The statement by Anenih readthus: “Reports about theregistration of Peoples DemocraticMovement, PDM, as a politicalparty by the Independent NationalElectoral Commission, INEC, haveinundated the polity; and becauseof my leading role in the formationand nurturing of the Movement,concerned members of theMovement have contacted me toconfirm if it was our PDM that haswitnessed the transformation.

“After in-depth investigations and“extensive consultations with a widespectrum of the membership andleadership of the PDM, which isjust like a pressure group withinthe Peoples Democratic Party, PDPPPI consider it moral to use thismedium to clarify that the PDM,which some persons, purporting tobe interim leaders, secretly andmischievously promoted andsucceeded in registering withINEC to operate as a political party,is not our PDM that worked withother political associations to formthe PDP in 1998.

“For the avoidance of doubt, thePDM, which we collectivelyenvisioned under the leadership ofthe late General Shehu MusaYar’Adua, remains an integral partof the PDP, whose Board ofTrustees, I currently chair by thegrace of God and the consensus offounding fathers and leaders of ourgreat party.

“I hereby wish to urge those wholook up to me for guidance in thiscircumstance to remain steadfastwith me in the task of building amuch more united and formidable

PDP and to discountenance theregistration and treat it as apolitical trickery which will notsurvive the test of time.

“Members of the PeoplesDemocratic Movement, whichis working for the unity andsuccess of the PDP and theFederal Government under theable leadership of PresidentGoodluck Ebele Joanthanshould not panic. They should,

instead, see it as an attempt toundercut our PDM, which wasnever intended to be and shouldnot be a registered political partywithin and against the PDP”PP

The PDM in a sharp reactionarticulated by Alaba Yusuf,Media Advisor to the nationalchairman of the new party, said:“The masquarade behind theanti-PDM propaganda has beenunmasked. Chief Anenih’s

statement is a positiveadvertisement for PDM and whatit stands for. There’s no turningback the hand of time. PDM is anidea which time has come. We arenot going to waste our timeexchanging words with those whowant to live in the past. Let theChief resolve the crisis tearing hisparty apart before dabbling into theaffairs of another party over whichhe has no control.”

Fire gutted Globacom Abuja office located at Wuse 2, Aminu Kano crescent. Photo: GbemigaOlamikan.

ABUJA—THE House ofRepresentatives hasAA

accused 21 banks in the countryof defrauding the FederalGovernment of money runninginto billions of naira through taxevasion, non-remittance of tollsand falsification of officialfinancial records, saying theheads of the banks had queriesto answer

Chairman, House Committeeon Finance, Dr. AbdulmuminiJibrin, who disclosed thisweekend, listed the banks toinclude, CitiBank, StanbicIBTC, Standard CharteredBank, GT Bank, Access Bankand Zenith Bank.

Others are, First Bank, UnionBank, United Bank for Africa,Diamond Bank, Unity Bank,Fidelity Bank, Mainstreet Bank,Sterling Bank, Heritage Bank,EcoBank, FCMB, Wema Bank,Skye Bank, Enterprise Bankand Keystone Bank.

Jibrin said the committeedecided to embark on closerand thorough scrutiny of thebanks due to suspected sharp

practices.He said since the inception of

the seventh assembly, theCommittee on Finance hadbeen inundated with reports oncases of tax evasion and sharppractices in tax remittances bybanks.

According to him, the exercisecommenced with series ofengagements with thecommercial banks.

He said: “Pursuant to thestatutory mandate of the HouseCommittee on Finance and itsoversight functions over theFederal Inland RevenueService, FIRS, and tax matters,the Committee on Finance hasbeen investigating taxremittances, tax assessmentsand payments by banks.

"Consequently, the committeedecided to bring the banksunder close legislative scrutiny.”

He announced that sometemplates were distributed to thebanks to fill after holdingmeetings with the chiefexecutives but expressedsurprise that the banks falsifieddocuments to protect past shadydeals.

He said: “As a fallout of twoseparate meetings with ChiefExecutives of the banks, threedifferent templates weredistributed to all commercial banksin the country to complete andsubmit to the Committee.

"In the last few months, theCommittee has analyzed volumesof documents submitted by thebanks and is pleased to announcethat it has enjoyed tremendouscapacity support from the DFID,NABRO and reputableprofessionals in the industry inconducting its revenue generationand remittances investigations.

"Preliminary findings show apoor quality of returns by thebanks, discrepancies in datasubmitted, outright refusal topresent documentary evidence,blanket violations of existing laws,self exemption from existing rules,false declaration, manipulationand distortion of informationamong others.

According to Jubrin, the banksduring the investigationssubmitted different auditedmonthly accounts to theCommittee, aside from what weresubmitted to the CBN.

A B U J A — T H EChairman, Sub-

Committee on RailwaySubsidy ReinvestmentEmpowerment Programme,SURE-P, Chike Okogwu,said weekend that thecommittee had expendedN32 billion on railwayprojects.

Okogwu, who revealedthis in an interview withnewsmen, assured that thecommittee was workingassiduously to ensure thatall the projects werecompleted on schedule,despite challenges.

He said the issues ofinsurgency and floodremained a major source ofconcern to the governmentand contractors handlingthe projects, particularly thethree projects thatconstituted Eastern Line.

He said: “SURE-P isintervening in the railwaysector. As at today, we areworking in the Eastern Linefrom Port-Harcourt toMakurdi, Makurdi toKafanchan, and fromGombe to Maiduguri. So,we have up to threecontracts from Eastern Line.

“For example, at somepoints, one of the contractorsdelivered materials at site,and went into restaurant tohave dinner, the insurgentscame in there and executedabout 10 of them, it took awhile to convince them tocome back to site.

“We will also agree that,two to three years ago, wedid not have flooding, sosome places had just beendiscovered to be flood proneareas, because of the climatechange, and having seenwhat happened to us lastyear, what SURE-P decidedto do, as a task team, is tobe proactive. So,nonetheless, we are notgoing to go beyond 2014.”

Okogwu also explainedthe reason for the delay inthe modernization of Abuja– Kaduna rail line, notingthat kilometre 16 to 20,which is about fourkilometres in Kubwa axis,were occupied by residents,adding that there was needfor them to be compensated.

He said: “Althoughcompensation is not theissue, as compensation isbeing taken care of bygovernment, it takes timebecause there is process tofollow and it has to be donewith human face. You don’tcreate more problems whenyou have not solved one.”

CMY


Northern govs felicitate with Sultan @ 57

Tapgun blames PDP crisis on bad leadership

BYTAYE OBATERU

SESSION: From left: Mr. Ayodele Akele, Chairman, Gani Fawehinmi Memorial Organi-sation; Dr. Sam Amadi, Chairman/CEO, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC,and Mr. Adewale Adeoye, Coordinator, South West Human Rights Community/Director,Journalists for Democratic Rights, JODER, during the session between NERC and humanrights groups in Lagos. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

NAF movesagainstespionage,cyber crime,others

BY PETER DURU

MINNA—GOVERNORBabangida Aliyu of Niger

State, has warned Nigerianyouths not to allow themselvesto be used as thugs by desper-ate politicians during elections,but be fully involved in parti-san politics.

Aliyu who spoke in Minna,yesterday, when the newlyelected National ExecutiveCouncil, NEC, of the NationalYouth Council of Nigeria,NYCN, led by its Chairman,Abdullahi Abdulmajeed, paidhim a courtesy call, remindedthe youths that they were thefoundation upon which the de-velopment and progress of thecountry rested.

The governor said: “Nigerianyouths must be fully involvedin partisan politics and not al-low themselves to be used bydesperate politicians as thugs.The youths of any country arethe custodians of ideas andcreativity. It is imperative thatthe youths take their destinyinto their hands. Most countriesof the world pay serious atten-tion to the development andwellbeing of their youths,hence, the call for Nigeria toprotect its future by providinga conducive environment forself actualisation of the Nige-rian youths.”

Aliyu pointed out that untilthis was achieved, the country

MINNA—THE NorthernAAStates Governors Fo-

rum, NSGF, has felicitatedwith the Sultan of Sokoto, Dr.Muhammad Sa’ad AbubakarIII, who attained 57 years,weekend.

The forum described themonarch as a bridge builderwho had consistently workedfor peace, unity and toleranceamong diverse ethnic and re-ligious interests across thecountry.

JOS—FORMER PlateauState governor, Ambassador

Fidelis Tapgun, has blamed thehabit of running the affairs ofthe People’s Democratic Party,PDP, as a personal empire forthe crisis within the party.

He spoke weekend, while re-acting to a disclaimer on hismembership of the party, say-ing he remained a bona fidemember of the party.

Tapgun said: “The crisis thathas been bedeviling this partyis about this ‘grabbing’ and‘grabbing’. People want to takethe party as a personal propertyand it is against the philosophyof the party. This is what thenational secretariat of the partyis fighting against.”

According to him, it was thesame problem the Ekwuemereconciliation committee ofwhich he was a member, foundin 2007 when it went round thestates and found people tryingto personalise the party andmake it a personal empire fromwhich they could shout at oth-ers at will.

He said he was happy thatMr. President and the nationalchairman of the party wereready to check the trend saying,

2015: Aliyu warns youths against thuggeryBYWOLE MOSADOMI

“this party belongs to the peo-ple and it must go back to thepeople. It is lack of internaldemocracy that has been kill-ing this party and this has tobe reversed.”

He dismissed theadvertorial placed by the Pla-

teau PDP in some nationaldailies disclaiming him andtwo other members of the Elec-toral Sub-Committee for thespecial convention of theparty.

“I am a full-fledged memberof the PDP. I have done all I

need to do to return to theparty by returning to my wardas directed by the nationalsecretariat. You are familiarwith all that went wrong withthe party that made some ofus to leave the PDP, he said.”

MAKURDI—THENigeria Air Force,

NAF, has developed acurriculum to fight es-pionage, cyber and infor-mation and communicationtechnology crime in thecountry.

The Commandant of theNigerian Air Force Schoolof Air Intelligence, GroupCaptain BensonOmoyungbo, stated this atthe combined graduationceremony of the DocumentSecurity Course 5 and theBasic Intelligence Course17 of the school inMakurdi.

While recalling the recenthacking of the computersystem of the Army head-quarters, Omoyungo said:“The graduands of theDocument Security Courseof the school have been pre-pared to arrest such secu-rity threats in the course oftheir duties. Let me bringto our notice that the intel-ligence community in Ni-geria, especially the Ni-geria Air Force IntelligenceDirectorate, is committedeveryday to providemultidisciplinary intelli-gence to all and sundry.

”It was on this note thatthe school has been organ-ising Document SecurityCourses for the adminis-trative personnel of theArmed Forces of Nigeria.We want to assure theChief of Air Staff that weare committed to maintain-ing the highest educa-tional standards and willcontinue to deliver worldclass programmes that pre-pare our graduates forhigher assignments incomplex and dynamic en-vironment.”

Omoyungbo noted thatamong the 40 officersgraduating from the Docu-ment Security Course 5and the Basic IntelligenceCourse 17, were 12 femaleofficers who exemplifiedthemselves.

In his speech, the AirOfficer CommandingTraining and Command ofthe Nigerian Air Force, AirVice Marshal IsiyakuUmar, urged thegraduands to “imbibe whatyou have learnt in theschool in order to safeguardthe national security andintegrity of our countryfrom being compromisedor jeopardized.”

would continue in vicious cir-cle of underdevelopment andinsecurity.

Earlier, Abdulmajeed toldthe governor that the visit

was to thank him and the peo-ple of the State for hosting thenational congress of theNYCN and hospitality ac-corded delegates that at-

tended the congress.No fewer than 2000 del-

egates attended the two-daycongress.

BYWOLE MOSADOMI In a tribute to Sultan Sa’adAbubakar, the chairman of theforum and Governor of NigerState, Babangida Aliyu, saidDr. Sa’ad’s years on thethrone had brought tremen-dous progress and modernisa-tion to the Caliphate andacross the length and breadthof the nation.

The forum in the tribute byGovernor Aliyu’s Chief PressSecretary, Danladi Ndayebo,said: “The forum notes thatsince Sa’ad mounted the sad-

dle as Sultan and President-General of the Nigerian Su-preme Council for Islamic Af-fairs, the problem of violence- whether sectarian or other-wise, has become a rare oc-currence in the Caliphate andeven beyond, thanks to thefatherly role of the Sultan.”

The forum prayed God togrant the Sultan excellenthealth, courage and manymore years of selfless serviceto Nigeria and humanity atlarge

5,000 pilgrims to perform 2013 hajj from Sokoto

SOKOTO—SOKOTO StateGovernment has said that

5,180 prospective pilgrimsfrom the state are expected toperform the 2013 hajj.

Alhaji MuntariMaigona, Chairman of the statePilgrim’s Welfare Agency toldWWthe News Agency of Nigeria,NAN, yesterday in Sokoto thatthe figure was arrived at after thereduction of 20 per cent of thenumber of pilgrims in the 36states and Federal Capital Terri-

tory.He said: “Initially, Sokoto Statekk

was allocated 6,450 seats and theywere duly allocated to the 23 lo-cal governments of the state.

“But when the need to reducethe 20 per cent arose, we con-ducted balloting across the stateand successfully effected the re-duction.”

Maigona explained that theagency had concluded all ar-rangements required to ensurethe success of the exercise.

He said that the local govern-ments had refunded the Hajjfares of all pilgrims who wereaffected by the reduction.

“All those who were affectedand needed their money backhad since been refunded acrossthe 23 local governments.

“But all those who want theagency and the local govern-ments to keep the money untilthe 2014 hajj would be givenautomatic seats next year,” headded.


Navy seeks independent probeinto oil theft

BY EVELYN USMAN

Labour tasks Northern govs,firms on N1bn textileworkers’ entitlements

BYVICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

KADUNAKK —ORGANISED Labour in Tex-

tile industry, has askedthe 19 Northern StatesGovernors; owners of theclosed Kaduna TextilesLimited to pay workerstheir entitlements put atN687, 073,346.00.

Under the umbrella of theNational Union of Textile,Garment and TailoringWorkers of Nigeria,NUTGTWN, also called onthe owners of closedNortex/Finetex Limited, topay workers their N379,688,077 benefits.

Both Kaduna Textiles andNortex/Finetex Limited,closed about ten years ago,jointly owe workers andNUTGTWN, about N1,063,761,423.

At a briefing, in Kaduna,NUTGTWN, lamented thatthe workers had been pass-ing through untold

hardship, pleading withthe governors and own-ers of Nortex/Finetex Lim-ited, to honour their obli-gations to the affectedworkers and their fami-lies.

Giving details of the frus-tration of labour and work-ers of the affected compa-nies, General Secretary ofNUTGTWN, Issa Aremu,said both Nortex andFintex closed in September2003 without settlement ofworkers’ gratuitiesamounting toN305,653,887, outstandingsalaries amounting toN63,434,190 as well asoutstanding union duesamounting to N7.6 mil-lion.

According to him, theunion had obtained severalcourt judgments compel-ling owners of Kaduna Tex-tiles and Nortex/FinetexLimited, to pay the entitle-ments to no avail, saying

the union had equallymade several appeals,among others, to sway theowners of the affected com-panies without success.

According to him,“when all efforts by theunion to bring the manage-ment to a round table dis-cussion failed, the unionresorted to legal action, astiff measure to safeguardour members’ interests toget justice and secure thepayment of their terminalbenefits. In reaction to theunion’s petition, themanagement filed a coun-ter petition on Friday Feb-ruary 25, 2005, contestingthe legality of the union towind-up the companyunder receivership.Monday February 28,2005, a judge of the Fed-eral High Court ruled infavour of the union; that theunion has legal right toinstitute the action. Thecase was then adjournedto March 3, 2005.”

LAGOS—LL NAVAL personnel at a three-day

training on “MaritimeAwareness and Opera-tions”, weekend, calledfor an independent judi-cial probe, deviod ofpoliticians, into the in-creasing oil theft in Ni-geria and the Gulf ofGuinea.

Participants made upof captains and below,lamented that non-pros-ecution of oil thieves inNigeria and Gulf ofGuinea, was the cause ofthe increasing illegalbunkering and othercriminalities in the na-tion’s waters and its en-virons.

In a communiqué atthe end of the seminarheld at the Naval Train-ing Command, ApapaLagos, participants at-tributed high wave ofcriminality in the Gulf ofGuinea to non-existenceof functional refinery inNigeria, making piratesand oil thieves to haveaccess to pipelines con-veying crude and oilproducts.

In his closing remarks,the Flag Officer Com-manding Rear AdmiralAzubuike Ajuonu, ex-plained that as a majorstakeholder in the coun-

try ’s maritime sector,knowledge of the desig-nated domain was nec-

essary for effective op-eration towards curbingcriminal activities.


OPINION

,,

BY SYLVSTER IRUONAGBE

*Mr. Iruonagbe, a lawyer,wrote from Benin City, EdoState.

THERE is an old, simple way ofdefining the news for fresh

journalism students. “When dog bites aman, it is not the news. But when manbites a dog, that is the news”. It is alsoheld that bad news sells.

But for me, bad news has become verytiresome. There is too much bad newsin the media. It has become toomonotonous, especially these days whenextreme wickedness has become thedaily fallouts of extreme poverty. It is nolonger shocking to read about a mansetting his octogenarian mother ablazeand threatening neighbours who wantedto rescue her from a burning house; menimpregnating their own daughters andfathering children thereby; childrenconniving with kidnappers to abductthem with a view to sharing the proceedsextorted from their parents; hotel ownerserving human meat to lodgers in hishotel; young man beheading his son ina farm for money rituals; terroristsmassacring preteen students in aboarding school; state governmentsdeporting fellow citizens to their statesbecause they are poor and non-indigenes.

The list goes on

When I open the papers, I am nowlooking for something to cheer me upand give me hope for a better tomorrow,if not for me but at least for my childrenand their fellow “leaders of tomorrow”.As I write this Friday, August 23rd 2013,I have one right in front of me telling ofthe first international flight to land atthe Akanu Ibiam International Airport,Enugu. Aha! That’s the stuff. This ismore than a mere international flight. Itis a historic leap for the capital of thedefunct Eastern Region that has beenstarved of federal presence since the endof the war.

It was this starvation of federalamenities and opportunities that forcedIgbo people and easterners in generalto migrate in large numbers to other,more favoured parts of Nigeria, such asLagos and Abuja. It was also this denialof opportunities that led to the avoidanceof that part of the country by otherNigerians, thus denying it of the impetusthat the presence of non-Igbo Nigerianswould have contributed to itsdevelopment as the Igbos are doing inother parts of Nigeria.

Akanu Ibiam International Airport willbe the first international gateway to theworld out there. It will lead to theestablishment of a major internationalmarket and industrial parks within that

Return of the trainsReturn of the trainsReturn of the trainsReturn of the trainsReturn of the trainsarea, which will attract Igbos, otherNigerians and internationals. It was anopportunity that successiveadministrations at the centre havedenied the former secessionprotagonists and their homeland theatreof the civil war. It is a giant step awayfrom the shadows of our bitter history.

On this same day (August 23rd29013), another epochal news unfolded.Unfortunately, because it is “good”news, few media houses are paying itquality attention. I am referring to theresumption of cargo freighting fromLagos to the North by rail!

Managing Director of the NigerianRailways Corporation, Mr. AdeseyiSijuade, had informed the media thatthe first cargo of twenty wagons carryingbetween twenty to forty containers wouldbe transported in the maiden voyage,while within a short time the frequencyof the Lagos – Kano freight services

would be increased to thrice weekly.It is also certain that by the end of this

year, the rehabilitation of the easternflank of the rail system would have beencompleted up to Makurdi from the PortHarcourt Terminus. The NRC informsthat already, 34 bridges along the railline have been rebuilt and tracksrefurbishment has reached about 48%.

Nigeria is one of the most railway-backward countries of the world. TheBritish colonialists established ourrailways in 1898, mounting them fromthe ports in Lagos and Port Harcourt tothe hinterland up north for the

evacuation of goods and human cargo.The British colonial masters left us with3,505 kilometres of single-track narrowgauge rail network. We only managedto add another 277 kilometres ofstandard gauge line from Warri to Itakpe,which is hardly operational. Thus withonly 3,880 kilometres of railway network,Nigeria is a dwarf compared to Egypt(5,150), South Africa (20,192), Brazil(23,538), Canada (46,552) India(63,974), China (86,000), Russia(87,157) and USA (244,792).

Bearing in mind that until a couple ofyears ago Nigeria was totally railway

immobile, the resumption of aggressiverailway transportation and the verypromising master plan the FederalMinister of Transport, Alhaji Idris Umarunveiled during the MinisterialPlatform, Nigeria is, indeed, on themarch again.

The railway system was a great symbolof our nobler past. Since the systemcollapsed in the early 1990s Nigeria’seconomic and social status imploded.The rails were the primary movers of ouragric-driven economy signposted by thegroundnut pyramids in the North, theproduce boom in the East and the Cocoapower in the West. With the coming ofoil boom in the 1970s and the shift ofpreference to import dependency, therailways started losing its relevance. Thefinal nail on the coffin was the sabotageof the railways by the haulage mafia,who leveraged their connections with themilitary government to kill the railwaysin connivance with the Indiancontractors brought in to manage it afterthe civil war.

Thus was born the phenomenon ofthousands of trucks, trailers and tankerslittering our highways and destroyingour major trunks nationwide. Thecollapse of the rails threw the localeconomies along the tracks out ofcommission and millions of Nigerianslost their economic means of livelihood.

COMECC Thursday, August 29th 2013,Nigeria’s foremost indigenous

telecom giant and second nationalcarrier, Globacom, will be marking itsten years anniversary. Part of the successstory of this company is that it hasenabled you, my readers, to reach methrough calls and text messages, asponsorship that has endured for sevenyears with the magic number on thiscolumn’s logo.

Congratulations, Glo, and many morehappy returns to the ebullient Chairman,Dr. Mike Adenuga (GCON), hishardworking managers and generalstaff. Please, don’t stop.

Congrats to Glo atggCongrats to Glo atttCCCC GlC Glgggg ttttCCCCCC GlC GlC GlC GlCongrats to Glo atCongrats to Glo atCongrats to Glo atCongrats to Glo atCongrats to Glo atCongrats to Glo atCongrats to Glo atCongrats to Glo atCongrats to Glo atCongrats to Glo atCongrats to Glo atCongrats to Glo atCongrats to Glo attententententententententententententttttentententententententen

Some of the most heinous crimes aretaking place among the 19 states wheretraversed by the railways, and theseinclude violent robberies, kidnapping,terrorism and vandalisation of publicutilities.

We must encourage the federalgovernment to proceed at full speed withits current efforts not only to bring backthe trains but also to modernise themand rapidly broaden the network to otherareas not currently covered by thearchaic network.

When next you hear the sound of trainhorns, smile. It is the sound of promise.

We must encourage the Federal Governmentto proceed at full speed with its currentefforts not only to bring back the trains butalso to modernise them and rapidly broadenthe network to other areas not currentlycovered by the archaic network.When next you hear the sound of train horns,smile. It is the sound of promise

IT is no longer news that the All Peoples Congress(APC) has been registered in Owan East and

Owan West LGAs in Edo State, the registration ofAPC has re- energize the political life of the people.

In 2015, we will also look forward to an APCcandidate to represent the good people of OwanFederal Constituency at the House ofRepresentatives. This is the only elective positionthat is rotated between Owan East and Owan Westin the Owan Federal Constituency.

It is a common understanding between the peoplesof East and West to rotate the office of the memberof House of Representatives representing OwanFederal constituency on a one term basis. This is asa result of the agreement and understanding reachedby our elders and political leaders.

At the inception of democracy in 1999, the peoplechoose to elect Late Hon. Benson Alegbe into theFederal House on the platform of PDP . Alegbe whowas from Axis one (Ora-Ozalla - Sobe) Owan Westdid only one term and as a honourable gentleman,stepped aside to honour the agreement of the peopleon rotation between the two local government areason a one term basis.

In 2003, Abdul Oroh activist, Journalist andLawyer, now commissioner for Agriculture, Edo Stateindicated interest in the Reps seat and a former

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Chairman of Owan West L.G.A, Hon. JohnsonAbolagba indicated interest. Oroh is from Owan EastAxis One (Emai – Ihievbe – Ivbiadaobi) andAbolagba is from Owan West Axis Two (Iuleha)

The leadership of the PDP in the area prevailedon Abolagba not to run and that he should respectthe agreement of the people on rotation, but herefused. To ensure fairness, the PDP then conductedprimaries between Oroh and Abolagba, Oroh wonand Abolagba immediately decamped to NDP wherehe ran against Oroh. Oroh won the elections andrepresented the Owan Federal Constituencybetween 2003-2007. At the end of Oroh’s tenure, hewanted to return to the House as a result of hisachievement and pedigree but the people asked thatthe rotation agreement be kept. Oroh tried all hecould to get re-elected but was defeated at theprimaries by Johnson Abolagba and Abolagba fromOwan West Axis Two (Iuleha) won the 2007 electionsand represented the people between 2007 and 2011.

At the expiration of Hon. Abolagba’s tenure, hewanted to be re-elected and ran on the plat form ofPDP against Pally Iriase who ran under the Action

Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Hon. Pally Iriase isformer Deputy Speaker, Edo State House ofAssembly, former Chairman Owan East LGA, formerSecretary to Edo State Government, and nowmember, House of Representative representingOwan Federal Constituency.

At a meeting of the Leaders of Owan East andOwan West hosted by Chief Shagari Oni of ErueOwan West, they unanimously agreed to respect therotation and emphatically averred that it was theturn of AXIS TWO in Owan East.

Presently, Hon. Pally Iriase is representing the goodpeople of Owan Federal Constituency at the Houseof Representatives. Now we have heard from thegrapevine that he is interested in returning to theHouse for another term. This is laughable becauseit was mainly because of the rotation that he got theticket to run for Reps in the first place.

CMYK

OPINION

18 — Vanguard, MONDAY,AUGUST 26, 2013

BY WILLIAM BOZIMOAs PDM joins the political racej pj pAs PDM joins the political raceeeAAAA PDM j i h li i lA PDM j i h li i lj pj pj pj p eeeeAAAAAA PDM j i h li i lA PDM j i h li i lA PDM j i h li i lA PDM j i h li i lAs PDM joins the political raceAs PDM joins the political raceAs PDM joins the political raceAs PDM joins the political raceAs PDM joins the political raceAs PDM joins the political raceAs PDM joins the political raceAs PDM joins the political raceAs PDM joins the political raceAs PDM joins the political raceAs PDM joins the political raceAs PDM joins the political raceAs PDM joins the political race

*Mr. Bozimo, a veteran journalist, wrotefrom Asaba, Delta State.

THE political climate is gettingfoggier and complicated as INEC

was reported over the weekend to haveregistered another party apart from theAPC, thereby creating more avenues forpoliticians who enjoy jumping from oneparty to another to test their popularityat the forthcoming polls in 2015.The new party- Peoples DemocraticMovement- was said to have beenfloated and financed by some highlyplaced Nigerians led by former VicePresident, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Atiku,it would be recalled, formed the PDMas a crucial anchor that gave birth tothe present PDP. This was while he wasunder the tutelage of the late GeneralShehu Musa Yar ’Adua during themilitary era.With the backing of the PDM, the SocialDemocratic Party, SDP, was able to outdothe National Republican Convention,NRC, in the elections of that period.It will be recalled that Atiku held thefranchise of the PDM which he usedeffectively when former PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo, aka OBJ, wasscheming for a second term ticketunder the PDP.With 14 serving governors under hiscontrol as Vice President, Atiku almostsucceeded in upstaging OBJ, almostliterally bringing the President to hisknees.The governors wanted to replace Atikuwith OBJ for the 2003 presidential

election but somehow, Atiku himselfbegged them to let him go. If those wereto be believed, it could well have beenthat some of the governors who hadwithdrawn their threat later facedvarious forms of victimization from OBJand subsequentlyAtiku himself sufferedgreatly as the President embarked onfull scale vicious revenge mission.The heat put on Atiku was such that hedecided to dump the PDP for theopposition Action Congress Party,ostensibly to actualise his presidentialambition. But it did not work out andthe former Vice President returned capin hand, begging to be re-admitted intothe PDP.On his return he kept working towardsrealising his presidential ambition onceagain. Unfortunately his old nemesis,OBJ, was still around to frustrate himwhen he made his bid at the PDPpresidential primaries at the EagleSquare. The news of the registration of PDMas a party did not come as a surpriseexcept for those who are not familiarwith the Atiku design to ascend thepresidency by hook or crook.The Daily Independent of August 19,2013 with a front page headline: ‘’PDMUnsettles PDP,” reported that the PDPhigh command were caught unawaresand they did not know of the PDM

schemes until the party’s registrationwas announced. The paper cited somePDP politicians who had benefitted fromthe party to be involved in what itdescribed ‘’ as a great betrayal and avery strong position should be takenagainst the traitors".The confusion was again morecompounded when the former VicePresident denied any knowledge orinvolvement in the birth of the newparty, saying: "I may not be aware ofthe registration of the PDM as a partybut I cannot stop my friends who areready to register a party if they sowished. I am still in the PDP”.This is not surprising becausepoliticians are known to play games,always finding new ways of trying tobargain for better gains andopportunities.

With the emergence of the APC andWWnow the PDM , the political marketWWis becoming crowded and it is better forpolitics and its practitioners, mostespecially as the other APC had notfound the might and spirit to come outto compete for the APC acronym. Someother mischief makers had gone onestep ahead to register a party whichmight end up being North- based anddo battle with both the APC and PDP,splitting votes as they move along to

the disadvantage of both parties. Willthe PDM throwing its hat into the2015 presidential election signal anysubstantial gain for itself or APC?It is, perhaps, too early in the day togauge to whose advantage the cominginto being of the PDM will be.Something tells me it is simply abargaining chip by the Atiku Group ofthe PDM to rattle the comfort zone ofthe PDP across the country and byextension they will also collide with theAPC in the the Northern states,especially the battle ground states ofKano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Niger andSokoto states.One thing is sure and that is that themore the parties , the better for a healthyrivalry and politicking. It might also bea new ball game for parties whichhitherto had banked on sweeping thepolls with their multiple brooms. Thatinstead of fragile brooms as weaponsof sweeping to power, they might reachfor sledge hammers and other weaponsof selective destruction to reach AsoVilla because the ruling party, the PDPwill fortify itself with all the coercivepowers of state apparatus to bear on the2015 elections. Mortar for mortar,broom for broom, naira for naira and justname it. It is going to be total war tofinish because in a state of war anythinggoes, including starvation of youropponents.

THE unfolding events in Egypt should bea cause for serious concern for Nigeria.The continent’s second most populouscountry sits on the proverbial keg ofgunpowder, and there is no predicting theoutcome of its on-going turmoil.After more than forty years under a

militarised civilian autocracy, Egyptiansjoined the train of the 2011 “Arab Spring”wave of revolutions that swept across mostof the Middle East, which ended in theresignation of President Hosni Mubarakon 11 February 2011. The army, whichassumed power, started an orderlytransition that produced a constitution andculminated in the election of MohammedMorsi, the candidate of the Freedom andJustice Party. FJP, the political wing of theMuslim Brotherhood, as the firstdemocratically elected president of Egypt.Morsi’s inability to carry the mosaic of

the Egyptian political interests along, aswell as his increasing bent towards radicalIslamic interests led to demonstrations bythe alarmed opposition, thus triggering thereturn of the military to power. Since then,

An Eye On EgyptAn Eye On EgyptAn Eye On EgyptAn Eye On EgyptAn Eye On Egyptthe army has cracked down on supportersof Morsi who have been staging series ofunrests, wreaking a grim harvest of highdeath tolls.One of the earliest reactions to the return

of military rule to Egypt was the decisionof the African Union, AU, to suspend her.Nigeria, which is a signatory to the AUpolicy of distancing itself from militaryregimes in Africa, has bought into the AUposture.As a country now menaced by armed

Islamic insurgents, Nigeria has a duty andan interest to watch developments inEgypt with vigilance. As much as weshould toe the line of the continental body,we must place our national interests

above every other consideration.Our primary national interest is the

security of lives and property of Nigeriansboth in Nigeria and elsewhere. Nigeria’ssecurity will be threatened if events inEgypt are allowed to degenerate into acivil war. Our recent experiences in therelatively smaller Libya, whereby largeamounts of arms mainly from thedeposed Muammar Ghaddafi’s campfuelled the wheels of terrorists in Nigeria,must be an object lesson.We call on the Federal Government to

join hands with other concerned powersto moderate events in Egypt to avoid thecollapse of the state or reign of anarchy.Though we abhor military rule, we mustgo beyond this and play our role as amajor continental power with somethingto lose if Egypt goes wrong. Ourpragmatic approach to the Omar Al Bashirvisit to Abuja recently, in which we placedour national interest above that of theInternational Criminal Court, is a goodpointer.Let us be constructively engaged.

CMY

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013————————————————————————191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919

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CMYK

,

,

,

BY OKEY NDIRIBE

BY ZIK ZULU

*Mr. Zulu, a political analyst,wrote from Lagos.

* Mr. Ndiribe, a journalist, wrote fromAbuja.

Continues tomorrow on page 18

Anambra 2014: Can Tukursave PDP

ON April 14, 2007, Andy Ubawon the Anambra State

governorship election. It was alandslide victory for the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP But on JunePP14, same year, barely two weeksafter he was sworn in, Uba, in oneof the most controversial SupremeCourt judgements, was asked tovacate his office. Not because hedidn’t win the election. And he wasnot impeached. The final courtruled that Governor’s Obi’s tenurehad not lapsed and that theIndependent National ElectionTribunal, INEC, was wrong toconduct the election.

Uba licked his wounds; digestedhis tragic fate and accepted thejudgement even though he did notseem to agree with it.

When Anambra was up again forelection in 2010, many thoughtthat PDP would at least be kind toUba considering thecircumstances under which he losthis mandate. To be sure, everygovernor that his election wasannulled in PDP states was given achance to recontest as decided bythe 175th NWC meeting of April24, 2008 held in Abuja whichresolved that '' all Party membersare reminded that no court rulinghas nullified the governorshipcandidates of PDP Flag bearers "and directed " there is therefore noneed to substitute candidates " .Surprisingly, the NWC decision,availed all other 2007 flag bearersincluding Cross River Stategovernor, Senator Liyel Imokeand then Edo State governor,Professor Oserhiemen Osunbor,removed by courtpronouncements, but denied Dr.Andy Uba, the PDP flag bearer inAnambra State, when the electionbecame due in 2010.

Andy Uba was given no chanceto re-contest, to seek a return to anoffice he was compelled to vacate

for no fault of his. The thenChairman of PDP, VincentOgbulafor acted like one who hadscores to settle with the reticentformer presidential assistant whilethe PDP leadership watched ineither an attitude of passivity orcold complicity.

The primary election that yearwas a charade. And before the dustcould clear, Charles ChukwumaSoludo, a former Central BankGovernor, a respected scholar buta political neophyte, withoutstructure and without politicalhistory was imposed on AnambraPDP as their candidate.

Other PDP aspirants felt thattheir party had put justice on thegallows and so left for otherplatforms to reinvigorate theiraspirations and to seek theiractualization. PDP votes inAnambra had consequently beenbulkanised. It was a fatal selfinjury. And expectedly Soludobrought no solution or healing.PDP lost Anambra State for asecond time.

The question is, has PDP nowlearnt its lesson? Are they ready toallow Justice to prevail as it getsready to organise its primaryelection? The signs appearominous. History seems about torepeat itself. But this politicaltragedy can be avoided. Let us lookat the unfolding drama.

PDP vs INEC This time, PDP’s battle may not

exactly be against a member. INECis the object of its battle cry. Thereason? The Chairman ofAnambra State PDP recognised byINEC is not acceptable to PDPActing National WorkingCommittee and its chairman, DrBamanga Tukur . And Tukur hastold anyone that cared to listen thatit is not the mandate of INEC torecognise or impose a chairmanon PDP. But therein lies the irony.

To begin with, that PDP today isworking under an Acting NWC

was simply due to INEC’s reportwhich pointed out some defects inPDP’s last convention in terms ofstrict adherence to the party’sconstitution. As a consequence ofINEC’s observation and indeedreport, the affected members ofNWC were pressurized to resignwhile a mini-convention has beenscheduled for August 31, 2013. Thepurpose is to ensure that theconvention is organised inabsolute conformity with the““party’s constitution and so to say,to correct the defects contained inINEC’s report. In fact, the PDPchairman, Tukur had gallantlyasserted that the INEC report hadvalidated his own election aschairman. He also accepted,pronto, INEC’s report thatadjudged Adamawa Statecongress as illegal.

The stinging question now is,TTwhy is Anambra’s caseTTdifferent? At what point did Tukurrealise that INEC’s report is nolonger binding or is untenable?Why should INEC report be atestament to the authenticity ofhis election as Chairman while thesame INEC report should beregarded as inconsequential andof no effect in Anambra State?Why should INEC report be validin Adamawa, his home state andinvalid in Anambra State? Is

justice about to be put in thepurgatory once again? One doesnot think so because we know DrTukur to be an honourable man.But he must stand up for justice andso make a hard but right decision.

What PDP must doDr Tukur is a man who speaks

with profound candour andconviction. His integrity has neverbeen in contention. May be, justmay be, he needs to understand thecore political scenario in AnambraState PDP to appreciate why heneeds to change his postureagainst INEC.

The caustic truth Tukur needs toappreciate is that the whole ideaof pushing the name of KenEmeakayi as Anambra State PDPchairman fractures the principleof logic, justice and importantly, isin crass violation of the PDPconstitution. For a lucidunderstanding of the situation, itmust be understood thatEmeakayi’s claim to headship ofPDP in Anambra State remainsvague and illegitimate, as it were.

Once the state congress wasconducted on March 17, 2012 andEjike Ogbuebego was elected assubstantive chairman, Emeakayi’sclaim automatically came to anend. This is the letter and spirit ofPDP constitution and it remainsinviolable.

That Emeakayi ran to the courton December 18, 2012 to obtainexparte order to restrain INECfrom recognising no one buthimself changes absolutelynothing. In the first instance, theorder was obtained nine monthsafter the PDP congress and itcouldn’t have been retroactive andtherefore cannot displace a dulyelected chairman. But he wouldnow cause Anambra PDP toembark on judicial odyssey to seekauthenticity as a rash of courtorders and judgements overleadership followed. While aFederal Capital Territory HighCourt judgement of July 5, 2012between Emma Mbamalu andPDP declared null and void theward, local government and statecongresses that producedOgbuebego as chairman, of which

an appeal exits, a Federal HighCourt in Port Harcourt in a suitNo. FHC/PH/CS/213/2013between Ejike Ogbuebego & 2 Orsvs PDP and INEC also restrainedINEC from having anything to dowith Emeakayi.

If Anambra PDP has to be rescuedfrom this cacophony ofjudgements, INEC has to be themessiah as the court appears tohave been drawn into this complexand intricate political web andtheir judgements seem tocontradict one another and soseemingly ineffectual.

Since INEC was not a party tothe suit at the High Court of theFederal Capital Territory thatnullified the election of thesubstantive chairman, EjikeOgbuebego, the PDP Chairman,Alhaji Tukur should see a leewayin there to permanently resolve theAnambra PDP crisis as INEC is notbound by that judgement.

And since INEC itself hasaffirmed emphatically that it didnot monitor the process thatushered in Emeakayi as chairmanof PDP in Anambra State, the onlyway to assure justice is to recogniseOgbuebego as the authenticchairman which indeed he is.

Besides, Dr. Tukur and INEC hadbeen according recognition toOgbuebego since his election. InMay 2013, Dr Tukur forwardedOgbuebego’s name to INEC as thechairman of PDP in AnambraState and INEC duly recognisedhim.

There will be no justifiablereason now to throw up any nameor person as chairman. It justwouldn’t fly. It can onlycomplicate the Anambra politicalconundrum and castrate itspotentials.

Dr Tukur, surely, is a man ofhonour. And the honourable wayto go now is to accept andrecognise Ogbuebego as theAnambra State PDP Chairman. Heneeds to do this before theAnambra PDP governorshipprimary election on August 24,2013.

IHAD intended not to dignify Femi FaniKayode with any response since he

decided to dance naked in the market place.Somebody ought to have reminded him thatthose who live in glass houses don't throwstones. He has only himself to blame abouthis unpalatable past which has been ondisplay all over Facebook in the last fewkdays.

In the first place, I no longer have anyiota of doubt that his articles are productsof a sick mind. For instance, he claimed thatall Igbos are vulgar.

My response to this is that Fani Kayode isnot only vulgar and obscene but outrightlymorally depraved. How can any sane mandisclose the lurid details of his escapadeswith the opposite sex on the pages ofnewspapers all in the name of proving thathe is not a tribalist?

Hear him: "I was not a tribalist when Ihad a long-standing and intimaterelationship with Miss Bianca Onoh, anIgbo lady, who many years later marriedOjukwu and who is now our Ambassador inSpain. I was not a tribalist when I had along-standing and intimate relationshipwith Miss Chioma Anasoh, another Igbolady, who I almost took as a second wife. Iwas not a tribalist when I had a long-standing and intimate relationship withMiss Adaobi Uchegbu, another Igbo lady,who was exceptionally close to me and whois now at the National Headquarters of the

Fani-Kayode and his naked danceruling PDP."PP

Kayode was also laughable when he wrote:"I was not a tribalist when I wrote an essay,just two years ago, extolling the virtues ofIgbo women and telling the world about theirsudden and meteoric rise and how far theyhad gone in the power circles of this countryin the last 10 years."

The complete illogicality of his argumentwas further exposed when he wrote:

"I was not a tribalist when many years agoI attended and gave my life to Christ in achurch called TREM, which was establishedby a great Igbo man by the name of BishopMike Okonkwo."

He further exposed his irrationality bypresenting another position which could atbest be described as non-sequitor in logic.

According to him: "I was not a tribalistwhen my grandfather, Justice VictorAdedapo Kayode, taught Chief NnamdiAzikiwe at Methodist Boys High School inLagos and when my father, Chief RemilekunFani-Kayode, was appointed as the leaderof the predominantly Igbo NCNC in theWestern Regional House of Assembly".

Pray, what is the relationship betweenFemi's religious beliefs who onceworshipped in Bishop Mike Okonkwo'schurch and his attempt to deny that he is atribalist? Was he trying to say a tribalist couldnever attend Bishop Okonkwo's Church orwhat?

Again, of what relevance is the fact thathis grand father Justice Victor Kayodetaught Nigeria's first President, Dr. Nnamdi

Azikiwe, to the issue at hand?

Another evidence that the man is a veryAApoor example of what a graduate ofAACambridge University should be, was hisresponse to some of the rejoinders that havebeen written about his "scholarly" articles.

The self-acclaimed blue-blooded Kayodestated: "The shameless and emotionalthrash and disjointed verbiage that have beendescribed as rejoinders so far are just not upto scratch. They are bereft of any scholarshipand intellectual content. They also invoke(sic) pity in me for the faceless plebeiansthat wrote them and those they claim to bespeaking for."

In his effort to whip up anti-Igbosentiments, he was very effusive in hisemotional outbursts. According to him Igboshate Yorubas "and only pretend to believein one Nigeria as long as they can alwayshave their way and laud(sic) it over others.Worst of all, generally speaking, they haveno restraining factors because money andthe acquisition of wealth is their sole

objective and purpose in life."He continued: "They have labelled the

Yoruba as tribalists and Igbo-haters simplybecause we have refused to accept theirclaims to our land and territory and eventhough we were more charitable, hospitable,accommodating and generous to them thanany other nationality in Nigeria after thecivil war.

"They have labelled the Northerners astribalists and Igbo-haters simply becausethe North has refused to tolerate theirexcesses and accept their complicated ways.They have labelled the Niger Deltans astribalists and Igbo-haters simply due to the”abandoned property issue” and becausehistorically many of them have alwaysresisted the idea of Igbo domination."

Another evidence which clearly indicatesthat Femi is not only possessed of aconfused mind but lacks good education,came few days after his first article claiminghe had intimate relationships with someIgbo ladies.

The statement which was issued on hisbehalf indicated that he never meant toconvey the impression that he had slept withthe Igbo ladies whose names he mentionedearlier.

For Femi's information, among the entriesfor the word 'intimate' as contained in theOxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary ofEnglish is: "having a sexual relationshipespecially outside marriage".

So, how can a so-called graduate ofCambridge not know the meaning of wordshe used in an essay he claims is a scholarlyarticle?

The caustic truthTukur needs toappreciate is thatthe whole idea ofpushing the nameof Ken Emeakayias Anambra StatePDP chairman isin crass violationof the PDPconstitution

He has only himselfto blame about hisunpalatable pastwhich has been ondisplay all overFacebook in the lastfew days

ON April 4, Vanguardreported that the IOCs –

or international oil cormpanies –have responded aggressively tothe latest draft of Nigeria’sPetroleum Industry Bill (PIB). It’sno surprise that they’ve been socritical. The IOCs making thecriticisms – includingExxonMobil, Chevron, Total andShell – responded through theOil Producers Trade Section, abody that was founded to speakfor both international andindigenous corporations in theNigerian petroleum industry.They’re on dubious groundspeaking through this organ, asthe complaints they’re makingare only relevant to internationalcorporations: many of the issuesdisliked by IOCs are supportedstrongly by domestic Nigerianproducers. But despite this, thesecriticisms are being heard, andthey deserve a response –because the arguments make outthat their private grievances arealso grievances for the Nigerianpeople. They are not, and wehave to get rid of this idea. Thepublic interest is quite separatefrom the IOCs’ private interests– indeed,on occasions they’redirectly opposed.

So Nigerians need to hear a

Natural gas is important, andthe PIB makes a powerful andjustified effort to persuade oilcompanies to let Nigerians buysome of the gas coming fromtheir own land. And this gas isimportant. As all Nigerians know,our power supply is unreliableand needs lots of investment. Aswell as new power cables andgenerators, we also need asupply of fuel – and gas is thebest option.

So why are the companies noteager to make the most of thePIB’s incentives to keep gas inNigeria? Perhaps they’re underpolitical pressure elsewhere tokeep the flow of export gas

20—Vanguard— , MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013

BY ABIYE MEMBERE

PIB: IOCs grievancesare not Nigerians’

counter-argument from the PIB’sdefenders, so that it becomes clearthat the Nigerian public interestis not harmed by the legislation– even if IOCs have problemswith it, for reasons of profit andloss.

Attacks on PIB

What are their attacks on thePIB? One of the main criticismsnoted by the Vanguard was thatdthe IOCs prefer to export gas, andare reluctant to produce it for theNigerian market. The PIB givescompanies great reasons toproduce gas for Nigerianconsumers, including tax breaks,but the IOCs have made clearthat they still favour export toAmerica and Europe. As manyIOCs know, natural gas is aclean, efficient source of energy– as Statoil argued in 2013,“natural gas is a particularlyattractive energy source andshould play a key part in … theEU’s long term energy mix”.

coming – in America, in Europe.Undoubtedly, it appears that ex-port-oriented gas projects are tak-ing precedence over the needsof the Nigerian people. It standsto reason, therefore, that only theNigerian people can secure thisprotection for themselves,through legislation to create newincentives to keep Nigerian gasin Nigeria. The draft PIB 2012 ispoised to do just that as lack ofgas infrastructure forms a majorconstraint.

In a further criticism, the IOCscriticised the new approach beingtaken to regulation. Under thePIB, two new taxes at fixed rateswill be introduced – the NigerianHydrocarbon Tax and theCompanies Income Tax. Butthough these tax rates are fixedin the PIB, royalty rates – theamount of profit that the IOCsget – are going to be set at a latertime, in more detailedregulations. Contrast this withthe 1993 deep water regulations,in which oil companies gainedan 80 per cent share of profits,

, ,In spite of what the IOCs say, they won’tbe leaving Nigeria any time soon. The oilindustry here will remain profitable

able, even at higher rates. In-deed, many high-rate countrieshave benefited from recent in-vestments, including Total’s OfonPhase II investment, Shell’sSouthern Swamp project here inNigeria, and ExxonMobil’s Re-serve developments – the last ofwhich won African deal of theyear award in 2012. We know,and the IOCs know that it’s bet-ter to have something than noth-ing – especially when indig-enous Nigerian competitors arereading to snatch up any avail-able oilfields.

So the Nigerian government isno enemy of investment, and theIOCs are not looking after Ni-geria’s best interests when theyscaremonger about possible fallsin investment: investment willcontinue, as it has elsewhere.

Another key objective of the PIBis the introduction of a modernsystem of acreage administrationwhich would ensure that tractsof acreages that have been lyingdormant under the current re-gime are operated in a vigorousand continuous manner thatwould shore up the nation’s re-serves and production.

Therefore, under the PIB, thedays in which IOCs could sit onvaluable acreage without activelyworking them would be over.This system will not only helpNigerian oil companies, but willalso attract new independentplayers that are ready to takeexploration risks to increase pro-duction.

Predictably, the IOCs arescared of the competition this willcreate, as it will reduce theirdominance and open up the sec-tor for increased investment. Ifwe remember that in the pastdecade, much success in major

underdeveloped communities ofthe delta, asking a little morefrom the IOCs’ generous profitmargins.

Furthermore, to the IOCs’claim that this plan will createuncertainty for investors, we re-ply that in truth setting rates likethis is common across the world,and already happens under thecurrent Petroleum Profits Tax Acthere in Nigeria. The systemworks well, because it offersregulators the degree of flexibil-ity needed to respond to chang-ing market conditions – it stead-ies the ship in the storm. TheNigerian taxpayer, representedby the government, is not lockedinto a fixed regime but is able torespond nimbly to rising and fall-ing prices, ensuring that (as inother areas of taxation) rates canalter as political and economiccircumstances change. We’re ask-ing that companies take on someof the uncertainty that was pre-viously taken on by the taxpayer.

Lowerroyalty

A further complaint exposes asimilar, rather self-interested de-fence: citing the lower royalty-take rates of other African coun-tries, the IOCs argue that Equa-torial Guinea (with a 44 per centGovernment take) or Ghana (52per cent) are more attractive thanNigeria, which is uncompetitiveby comparison. But in reality,even countries with far highertakes – the UAE takes 77 per cent,Angola 83 per cent – have im-plemented these rates withoutcausing a flight of IOCs to low-take countries like Ghana. Therehas been no exodus – becauseinvestment remains very profit-

to understand why this regula-tion is viewed as a threat to IOCs,but positively by non-dominant,up-and-coming marketplayers.It’s an excellent reformfor the sector as a whole.

In a final attack, the IOCs havecriticised the system ofinvestment allowances, whichrewards companies by output,discouraging wasteful behaviourby IOCs. Once again, these rulesdo turn the tables on IOCs,improving the terms for thetaxpayer and Nigerian citizen.IOCs have complained, here,that the authorities are not payingenough attention to their needs,and haven’t consulted themsufficiently. In a way, they’re right– the Government is listening,but they’re going ahead withreforms in spite of the complaints.Because the PIB deliberatelyshifts the balance of interests infavour of the people.

Nigeria’s oil industryremains profitable

Legislation doesn’t have to bea zero sum game, in which oneside gains as the other loses: asthe Nigerian people claim somebasic standards, just as othercountries across the world havedone, the IOCs will pay their fairshare.

But in spite of what the IOCssay, they won’t be leavingNigeria any time soon. The oilindustry here will remainprofitable. We just need to becareful, as the debate about thePIB goes forward, to separate theIOCs’ complaints from the publicinterests.Their concerns aboutprofit are real to them, but theyshouldn’t be allowed to wear themask of public interest. Thegovernment, elected by thepeople of Nigeria is legislatingto improve Nigerians’ lives: theIOCs can contribute to thisdemocratic process of reform, butwe will not stand by as theirpetrodollars spreadmisinformation. The PIBrepresents the real publicinterest. It should pass.

Abiye Membere is Group Ex-ecutive Director for Explorationand Production at the NigerianNational Petroleum Corporation.

and it’s clearer why theIOCs are dissatisfiedwith the new PIBmodel. For the IOCs,this new deal enforcesa standard of fairnessthat defends the Nige-rian taxpayer and the

as discover-oil and galy has beenies globallependents,by the indeisk-aversenot by riho expandIOCs whacquisitionthrough a

and mergers, it’s easyandmerge

Petroleum minister, Deziani Madueke

President Goodluck Jonathan

Map of the Niger Delta

Vanguard, MONDAY,AUGUST 26, 2013 — 45

CMY


CMY

Vanguard, MONDAY,AUGUST 26, 2013 — 47

CMY

48— 48— 48— 48— 48—48—4484848484848484848—48—48—48—48—48—48—48— Vanguard,ggVanguard,,,VVVV dV dgggg ,,,,VVVVVVV dV dV dV dVanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 26,, MONDAY, AUGUST 2666 MONDAY AUGUST 26MONDAY AUGUST 26,,,, 66666MONDAY AUGUST 26MONDAY AUGUST 26MONDAY AUGUST 26MONDAY AUGUST 26 MONDAY, AUGUST 26MONDAY, AUGUST 26MONDAY, AUGUST 26MONDAY, AUGUST 26MONDAY, AUGUST 26MONDAY, AUGUST 26MONDAY, AUGUST 26MONDAY, AUGUST 26MONDAY, AUGUST 26MONDAY, AUGUST 26MONDAY, AUGUST 26MONDAY, AUGUST 26MONDAY, AUGUST 26,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 2013 2013 2013 20132013201332013201320132013201320132013201320132013201320132013201320132013

Hole-in-heart baby seeks N2.5m forcorrective surgeryBY MODINAT AMUSAT

ASAA the rising problem of male-factorinfertility is being effectivelyA

tackled with a technologically advancedapproach called Intra-CytosplasmicMorphologically-Selected SpermInjection, IMSI, Nigerian couples withsuch challenge have been urged to takeadvantage of the technique.

IMSI enables direct selection of goodsperms from the man and theninjecting into the woman’s egg tosuccessfully achieve pregnancy.

It is a build up on a previouslyexisting treatment for male-factorinfertility treatment procedure calledIntra-Cytosplasmic Sperm Injection,ICSI.

Making the call last week,Medical;Director, Nordica Fertility Centre,Lagos, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi, said coupleswho may have been experiencing failedassisted reproduction conceptions orrecurrent miscarriages, may need to beinvestigated for the problem of male-factor infertility.

“When we compared the spermparameters of men who presented 10years ago in our clinic with parametersof those who are presenting now, wefound that there is about a 30 percentdecline in the sperm count of thosepresenting now,” Ajayi stated.

Noting that although the observation

Nigeria records reduction in polio cases

BY CHIOMA OBINNA &KOSISO UDEMBA

Further, Funsho said: “Nigeria has nobusiness being among countries that areyet to eradicate polio. Nigeria haseradicated Type 2 and Type 3 strains ofthe WPV said the country is currentlyfaced with the challenges of eradicatingType 1. It will be embarrassing if thecountry is the last among the threecountries to eradicate polio.

"This is why Rotary is committed toeradicating polio from the surface andensure that Nigeria is not the last to bedeclared polio-free country in the world."It is not about statistics, but about thepicture of that child that has oncewalked but soon came down with feverand then could not walk again or justdied of polio. That is the picture wewant to eradicate in Rotary," he said.

Rotary Club Service Projects, R.IDistricts 9110, Nigeria, Yemi Osilajasaid to address funding gap in Nigeria,the Club plans to raise N100 millionbefore the end of the year throughcycling race in collaboration withCycology Riding Club in Lagos.

Osilaja said the Club is organisingthe six–hour non-stop cycling race inLagos. Cyclists from outside Lagos willbe invited to join in the campaign aimedat filling the funding gap in Nigeria.

•Dr. Abayomi Ajayi

NIGERIA has recorded reduction ofA reported cases of the wild polioN

virus, WPV, even as RotaryInternational says insecurity in thenorthern part of the country isresponsible for the slow progress of theeradication drive.Presenting an update report on polio

in Lagos last week, Chairman, NigeriaNational Polio Plus Committee, NNPPC,Dr. Abdulrahman Tunji Funso said thecountry has halved the number of WPVcases, with 43 confirmed cases in ninestates as at August 9, 2013 compared to81 cases in 11 states within the sameperiod in 2012.

Funso however, lamented that 84 percent of the current burden of polio stillcomes from Kano,Borno, Yobe andBauchi States, mostly affected byactivities of Islamic sect, Boko Haram.Tothis end, NNPPC held a two-day polioimmunisation programme in endemiclocal councils in the four States.

“It remains a challenge for the countrythat about 200,000 children are stillmissing the three doses of polio vaccineneeded to prevent the deadly virus. Thedanger is that for every polio infectionwe allow to happen anywhere in thecountry, it puts the whole country andthe world at the risk of new spread,”Funsho warned.

He said: "Yes! No case has beenrecorded in the south so far, but newcases in the north equally put us all atrisk. Which is why we are still appealingfor collective support to tackle poliodisease through continuous routineimmunisation and fund support."

Rotary International blames slow progress on insecurity•

Declining male fertility: IMSI to the rescuewas based strictly on patients attendingthe clinic and not the whole community,he hoever noted: “We are seeing moremale issues than what we saw 10 yearsago. The sperm parameters arebecoming worse, and therefore it isnecessary to bring it to the front burnerand we cannot talk about it withouttalking about technology, because weknow there is no drug right now thatsolves the problem of deranged spermcount or bad sperm parameters.”

Arguing that IMSI is someting weneed to talk about, Ajayi stated: “Fromour findings, IMSI has increasedpregnancy rates in people withprevious failures in ICSI, and we also

THE only thingstanding between 14-

month-old TemiloluwaOjebode and a happyhealthy life, is N2.5million to undergo acrucial corrective heartsurgery in an Indianhospital.Disclosing this to Health& Living last week,Temiloluwa’s mother,Toyin, explained that shehad known no sleep eversince her baby wasdiagnosed with a hole-in-the-heart.

Toyin, a native of Ijada-Ijesha in Osun State andan an unemployed HNDgraduate in Statistics saidwhen he was born onMay 31, 2012,Temiloluwa was perfect inhealth.“But after about threemonths, I began to noticehis hands, legs and lipswere turning blue. Thiscontinued for close to oneyear withoutimprovement.” Then, oneday, the baby fell asleepand could not be roused,and she was compelled totake him to Gbagada

General Hospital, wherethe doctor ordered an x-ray of the chest. “I did thex-ray. and also did anEcho. In the end, it wasdiscovered that he had ahole in the heart. So wewere referred to the LagosUniversity TeachingHospital, LUTH.”A medical report signedby Prof. A. Okoromah, aConsultant Paediatricianat LUTH, confirmed thediagnosis of a congenitalabnormality described astetralogy of fallot. Thedoctor confirmed the babyrequires further

evaluation and possibleopen heart surgery tocorrect the abnormalityyand forestall irreversibleand life-threateningcomplications.In a passionate appeal,Toyin is desperatelyypleading with the OyoState Governor and well

rmeaning Nigerians forrassistance. If you aretouched, send donationsto Ojebode TemiloluwaJohn, First Bankk3074678881, or call0 7 0 3 8 5 6 9 5 2 6 ,08090901934 for moredetails.

saw there were less abortion rates.IMSI is only indicated when there isless than two million sperm count andmotility less than 5 percent.

“First, sperm count is low, then thereis higher incidence of geneticallydeformed sperms. Much of theproblems with bad sperm is genetic,and they can burn out,”he noted.

Nordica Fertility Centre pioneeredthe technique in West Africa, and saysIMSI doubles the chances of men withabnormally low sperm count and poorsperm motility. It was gathered seriesof pregnancies have already beensuccessfully achieved through thepioneering initiative.

•Temiloluwa Ojebode

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

CMY


CLAIMS ofdisenfranchisement and

monetary inducement by someaspirants, have continued to

Thrills and frills at PDP primariesBY CHARLES KUMOLU trail the PDP governorship

primaries conducted by theKen Emeakayi-led faction ofthe party.

It was gathered that many ofthe 1500 delegates from the 326

wards that voted werefinancially enticed by agents ofthe aspirants. But how many ofthem succumbed remains anissue especially given thatNwoye, who won the primaries

COMRADE Tony Nwoye whoCCwas announced as theCwinner of the PDP governorshipprimaries early yesterday is aman of many ironies.

If endorsed by the PDP hecould end up becoming one ofthe youngest governors in thecountry, if elected. Nwoye whois now 38 won recognition asnational president of the NationalAssociation of Nigerian Students,NANS and subsequently usedthe platform to firmly planthimself on the political landscapein his native Anambra State.

Born as a twin on September13, 1974, Nwoye, while at theUniversity of Nigeria, Nsukkawas elected national president ofNANS in December, 2003 andbecame the first and only Igboman to hold that office.

He served on several FederalGovernment committees andboards and was a delegate to theNational Political ReformConference in 2005. In the sameyear, he was appointed assistantsecretary of the PDP in AnambraState, a position he held until2006 when he was appointedchairman of the party.

He was a close associate of thethen presidential aide, Andy Uba,who subsequently won the 2007gubernatorial election withNwoye as chairman of the PDPPP

In the 2011 general election,Nwoye contested for a seat in theHouse of Representatives torepresent Anambra East/WestFederal Constituency, but eventhough the courts upheld hiselection and the IndependentNational Electoral Commission,INEC issued him a certificate ofreturn, he has till date remainedoutside on the basis of legaltechnicalities.

Nwoye: Payback for the student activist

•Nwoye

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR

FOR the second time in threeFF attempts, Senator Andy Uba,Fweekend, emerged as theAnambra State gubernatorialcandidate of a faction of thePeoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He was the party’s candidatein 2007 and went on to win thegovernorship election. He wassworn-in as governor; he was on

Will Andy Uba be second time lucky?BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE,DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR

would not be considered therichest or a moneybag in theAnambra sense of estimation ofmoney.

At the Women DevelopmentCentre where accreditation

Tony who?

Nwoye’s win in the PDPgovernorship primariesconducted by the party, however,again puts him at odds this time

SECRETARY of the AllProgressives Grand Alliance,

APGA, in Anambra StateBarrister Emeka Meze, hasdismissed fears in some quartersthat today’s governorshipprimary would be a coronationexercise for any of thecontestants, saying that the partywould provide a level playingground for all aspirants.

Meze, in an exclusive chat withVanguard said six aspirants willbe participating in the exercisescheduled to hold at Alex

Ngige’s endorsement forecloses aspirants' chances — CNPP

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

TONY Nwoye’s victory in theTTPDP governorship primariesTTwas shocking to many, especiallyto those outside the mainstreamof the PDP in Anambra State. Thiswas especially so since he wasnot regarded as one of themoney bags in the party and was

APGA 'll be fair, says scribeEkwueme Square, Awka.

He further dismissed fears thatthe crisis holding the party downbefore now, might play out today.

His words: "We are ready forour primaries tomorrow (today).And we are going to witness themost transparent promaries inhistory. We have about sixaspirants who will beparticipating. And all of them willbe given a level playing ground.“The APGA crisis is a mediacreation. APGA is not a party toany suit in the court so we haveno crises.”

not known to be among the earlyfront runners.

Nwoye polled 498 votes aheadof his closest rival, PrinceNicholas Ukachukwu, whopolled 357 votes at the keenlycontested primary electionconducted at the Women

Development Centre, off Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, Awka.

The exercise was originallyscheduled for the Alex EkwuemeSquare at 10 am, but it did notcommence until about 6 p.m.after rigorous verification of thedelegates and those who did nothave party's cards were turnedback.

Party officials, who handled theprocess amid tight security calledin the delegates according to

THE Conference of NigeriaTTPolitical Parties, CNPP,TTyesterday said that the politicalcalculations, which threw up Dr.Chris Ngige as candidate of theAll Progressives Congress, APC,has foreclosed the chances ofcandidates of other politicalparties in the November 16governorship election inAnambra State.

National Publicity Secretary ofCNPP, Mr. Osita Okechukwuwho said this in a statement issuedin Abuja, was emphatic that thePeoples Democratic Party, PDPPPand All Progressives GrandAlliance, APGA, should forgetdreaming of winning theelection.

He said the umbrella body ofregistered political parties bid theruling APGA farewell from thestate.

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

•Uba

their local governments.Some people were caught

claiming the identities ofdelegates.

As results came in earlyyesterday morning there wasexcitement in the camps ofUkachukwu and NzeAkachukwu Nwankpo followingmomentary leads by the twoaspirants, but their joy turnedsober as Nwoye caught up andtook over.

the saddle for 17 days before theSupreme Court asked him to stepdown because Governor PeterObi’s tenure had not elapsed.

The development made him tobe known as the ’17-daygovernor.’

Andy Uba’s attempt to‘automatically’ take over fromObi on account of his ‘2007mandate’ did not yield dividendat party and court levels. He was

denied the PDP ticket in 2010 asthe party favoured ProfessorChukwuma Soludo.

This time, it is to be seenwhether Anambra people willreturn the mandate to him. Andthis will depend on whathappens with the IndependentNational Electoral Commission(INEC), which does notrecognize his PDP faction, but isbacked by the party hierarchy.

"The CNPP congratulated ImoState Governor, Owelle RochasOkorocha for his foresight,diligence, uncommoncommitment to common goodand patriotism in bidding good-

bye to APGA, by joining theprogressive train of AllProgressives Congress."

Okechukwu said that withOkorocha’s exit from APGA toAPC and the role he played to

midwife a seamless APC primaryelection in Anambra, APGA’s endis near in the state.

According to the statement,Okorocha’s exit from APGA andentry into the APC is a clarioncall for Ndigbo and indeedNigerians to join the progressivetrain, where hard work,innovation and competition morethan patronage, prevail.

took place, delegates had ahectic time entering the venue,as some were refusedaccreditation for nonpossession of party'smembership card.

A Director General of one ofthe aspirants, who spoke withVanguard on condition ofanonymity, regretted thateligible delegates weredisenfranchised through thatprocess.

“Delegates are being stoppedbecause they don’t have party'scard. That is not supposed tobe the criteria. I have nevervoted with a voter’s card before.Once you are a delegate, it isassumed that you have fulfilledall the needed requirements toparticipate in the exercise” hestated.

has come with that of SenatorAndy Uba, who won the rivalprimaries conducted by a rivalfaction of the party, headed byEjike Oguebego, an associate ofChief Chris Uba.

Even though the Oguebego

faction of the party has beendisowned by the nationalsecretariat of the PDP, SenatorPPUba is banking on therecognition given the faction byINEC.

CMYK


MANY believe that APC willMMbe torn apart when theMparty decides to choosecandidates for election...

Even councillorship positionsmust be decided honestlybecause that is what will showNigerians whether we are honestor not.

Are you saying that zoning willnot decide how things will movein the party?

Not a question of zoning, therewill be congresses afterregistration and if the registrationis hijacked by some people, thenthere will be problem.

Every Nigerian that intends toregister with the party should beallowed and should be givenequal right.

I can tell you that when wemerged and came together asAPC, we were not all saints, thereare some bad guys within theparty, and we cannot run awayfrom that because we couldn’thave sent people away when wewere registering the partybecause this is a Nigerian party.

Some of us are in this party withour life and in the interest of thiscountry and we will doeverything possible for it tosucceed and we are not going toleave any stone unturned fromany quarter that wants to cheatordinary people or partymembers.

So, how prepared is the newparty to fight the PDP in thecoming elections given thatelections will take place sixmonths to the end of the life ofthe present administration?

We do not have any problemswith time once we are willing.All that people want is that it mustbe different from the PDP, peoplePPwant distinct party, crises-freeand you can only get that if youare honest.

Putting the cards on table now,there is no way zoning will notplay out...

(Cuts in) Which zoning?Zoning is not even part of theconstitution of the APC. There isnothing like zoning but there issomething we call fairness butmost importantly, there must becapability, credibility andsomebody who can do the job.

So, don’t bring the question ofzoning because it is not part ofour constitution. It is part of PDP’sprevious constitution becausePresident Jonathan kicked

Yes, we're not all clean inAPC, but … — Kanti Bello

•Bello

SENATOR Mahmud Kanti Bello represented Katsina North Senatorial District between 2003 and2011 and was Senate Majority Whip. In this interview with Vanguard, he spoke on the newly formedAPC and its acceptability in the North. He also flayed President Goodluck Jonathan for failing tokeep to the alleged one term agreement and insists that APC is the party for all Nigerians. Excerpts:

against it and he is the leader ofthe party and that is one of thereasons why I disagreed withhim.

Not because the North ishaving an agenda but because Isat down with you and we madean agreement that this is the waywe want to live together, youcannot come and change itbecause you have an advantage.

It is not because Jonathan isfrom the South-South and I am aNortherner, it is because there isa rule and the rules have beendisobeyed and that is why thePDP is having a lot of troublesnow and they will continue tohave problems because some

people want to cut corners andthat is what I am saying to mynew party not to allow this tohappen; be honest with yourpeople and be sincere.

How does the North’s clamourfor power shift play out in APC?

We need a large heartedPresident; we need somebodywho is honest and ready to takecriticism. What we have beensuffering in this country is aPresident without experienceand without focus and becauseof that, we don’t even knowwhere we are going and that iswhy there is no respect for theparty.

And you can see what ishappening within the PDP thePPfive governors are going strongerand fighting the chairman,Bamanga Tukur.

All these show lack of disciplinefor the party, I cannot say that toChief Akande because I respecthim, not because I cannotmobilize the same people ChiefAkande can mobilize in my ownstate in my own right, butbecause he is my leader and Irecognize him as a leader.

We need a disciplined societyand that is why we need GeneralBuhari because he has the powerto bring discipline and wage waragainst corruption.

If you are still talking aboutBuhari as a Presidentialcandidate, how does that cometo play when people are alreadycalling for generational change?

I hope that the party will accepthim. I am not saying he has tobe. Where were you when therewere problems in South Africaand Mandela became President?

We just need somebody to clearthis corruption menace. Do youagree with me that Buhari is notcorrupt?

And do you agree with me alsothat the problems of this countryare corruption? All these subsidyand pension problems boil downto corruption and somethingneeds to be done urgently.

Will you then say APC leadersare ready to drop their ambitionto salvage this country?

That is what we are saying thateverybody having ambition,please drop it and it should notbe shown now. It is something toput something on paper, anotheris the implementation.

For me, the only way toimplement all these things isthrough honesty of purpose.

What is your comment on thecall for the adoption of part timeNational Assembly?

We are so selfish in this countrybut every right thinking Nigerianwill agree that we cannot affordthe system we are operating now.It is the system that we areoperating that is wrong, and inthe whole world, go and check,it is only Nigeria and UnitedStates that are operating thissystem.

Nigeria is a nation but therevenue and the economy ofCalifornia is many times biggerthan that of Nigeria even that ofTexas is bigger than that ofNigeria.

Our local governments arewhat they call counties in theUnited States, but yet we decidedto have 109 Senators and at thesame-time we wanted to functionas Senators of the United Statesof America.

We have legislative aides,constituency offices, vehicles andothers, but are we as rich as theUnited States? I am not sayingthe National Assembly membersare being over-paid, I am sayingthe system is wrong, reduce thenumbers and have one singlehouse with maybe 180 members.You cannot reduce theirremuneration, you have reducedtheir function. It is just likearithmetic, if you reduce it, youget less result.

There are several things someof those monies go into, likehousing which is expensive inAbuja, you have constituencyofficers who want you to dothings for them because theyelected you, you need to buyvehicles and motorcycles for themmost times, whether you havequality contribution on the flooror not, they are less concerned.That is our culture, so reduce thenumber that will also reduce thecost.

BY GBENGA OKE

,

,I can tell you that when wemerged and came together asAPC, we were not all saints,there are some bad guyswithin the party

CMYK


•Osoba: Not pleased with Amosun•Amosun: Doing things his own way

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

,

,

Over time, the crisis seemed to have beenbottled until the issue of nominationof local government chairmen,which also went in favour of the governorand thus polarised the party the more

THE absence of Osoba, allTTthree senators and majorityTTof the members of the House ofRepresentatives on the APCticket at the formal inaugurationof the new party recently inAbeokuta, was a major blow tothe unity of the newly emergedparty.

While Amosun and many ofhis supporters sang and dancedaway at the Alake Palaceground on that day, Osoba andmany of his followers includingall three senators it was learntwatched the proceedings ontelevision. They were definitelynot bemused.

They couldn’t have. Just threeyears ago they were the onesthat invited Governor Amosuninto the Action Congress ofNigeria, ACN, the party that isthe mainstay of the APC inOgun State. Amosun beforethen was in the defunct AllNigeria Peoples Party, ANPPand was the main tree and helike Osoba and others knewthat a tree could not make theforest they needed to crowd outthe Peoples Democratic Party,PDP.PP

Amosun's entry into the ACNwas, however, laced with crisisas he was accepted almostalone and all other prominentassociates who had politicalambitions for the Senate andthe House of Representativeswere dropped.

While he was easily crowned

as the ACN gubernatorialcandidate, his associates weredropped. Even his deputy, wasimposed on him. It was thehumble pie that Amosun took,but those who know him, knewthat he was bound to take hispound of flesh.

Genesis of the squabbleThe internal wrangling

rocking the party began shortlyafter it was clear that Amosun,who was a member of thedefunct All Nigeria PeoplesParty, ANPP, was going to behand-picked as Ogun ACNgovernorship ahead of the2011 election.

In fact, his choice as theparty’s standard bearer wasgreeted with violence as theparty secretariat located alongAbiola Way in Abeokuta wasdestroyed. Some leaders of theparty had to run for a cover assupporters of other aspirantsfelt cheated by thearrangement.

The trouble became biggerwhen the governor,reportedly, arm-twisted theparty leaders in the nominationof his commissioners when hejettisoned the party’s list.

Over time, the crisis seemedto have been bottled until theissue of nomination of localgovernment chairmen,which also went in favour ofthe governor and thuspolarised the party the more.

Then, the party wassharply divided into two: the

ACN and Senator IbikunleAmosun, SIA.

For the council polls, theparty ’s nominees werejettisoned for SIA’s candidateby the State IndependentElectoral Commission, whichled to defection of manyaggrieved members to otherparties including the PreoplesDemocratic Party, PDP and

Labour Party.It was further gathered that,

what angered SIA campagainst the other partybelieved to be loyal to Osobawas that his camp wasstripped almost naked in thenomination of lawmakersespecially at the Federal level.

The Osoba camp produced allthe nine Federal lawmakers butone was defeated at the electionby PPN candidate from Imeko.

Also, SIA was said to have feltcheated and humiliated withthe paltry slots offered him atthe state House of Assembly ashis camp was given 10 out ofthe 26 seats and Osoba campalso got the speaker’s seat. TheAssembly has six opposition

members leaving 20 seats forthe ACN.

Apparently irked by thearrangement, the SIA camp hitback at the Osoba camp.He swapped the position ofdeputy speaker which hadbeen given to a femalelawmaker from Ifo 11, KhadihatAdele Oladipo, to his loyalist,Tola Banjo from Ijebu-Ode

constituency.Ever since, relations between

SIA and other federallawmakers can be likened tothat of cat and mouse.

Effects andthreatsTo show their grievances, all

the Federal lawmakers stayedaway from the launch of APCin Ogun State.

Dramatically, all ofthem reportedly gathered inthe Lagos home of their leaderwhere they watched theprogramme on the state-ownedtelevision.

Interestingly, 24 hours afterthe launch of the party,the posters of another

governorship aspirant,believed to have beensponsored by the Osobacamp, flooded major places inthe state capital.

The speculation that Amosunmight have been dumped bythe party played itself out asthe posters of Fola Adeola,former running mate of ACNPresidential candidate in the2011 election; Nuhu Ribadu,was sighted at strategic placesin the state capital.

But, dramatically, somepeople believed to be loyalistsof Amosun swiftly removed allthe posters, which theyconsidered as an affront againstthe sitting governor.

With this development, as e e d o fdestruction seems to havebeen sowed right from the birthof the new party in Ogun Statefollowing theseveral endorsements ofGovernor Amosun for secondterm in office.

Although, it is at the stage ofsilent war but politicalobservers liken the situation tokeeping a keg of gun powderwithin the house which onlyneeds a little spark to explode.

They also maintained that“the only lesson that has beenlearnt from history is that mandoes not learn from history”.One would have expected thatAPC would have learnt from thebitter lesson of the PDP in thestate whose demise started asan internal wrangling beforeit blossomed into a deadlycanker worm that spelt doomfor the then ruling party in thestate.

According to some politicalwatchers in the state, Amosunhas demonstrated amiablevirtues such as gentilityand understanding before helater became power drunk.

They further said thatno matter the amount of powerhe possessed he could notafford to dismantle the structurethat brought him to power. “Itis interesting to have powerslike a lion but it is tyrannical touse it like a lion”, theyconcluded.

The other camp is said to besuffering from ego which,according to political watchershas made it difficult for themto respect their governor whois also their leader.

Amosun, according to them,boosted their chances in the lastgeneral election as someof them were little known inthe state.

They take the issue of thecandidates that defeated ex-Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives, DimejiBankole and daughter offormer President OlusegunObasanjo, Iyabo, as part of acase study.

However, the crisis is takingtoll on the party’s chancesahead of the 2015 generalelection. It may sufferincalculable losses at the pollsif it did resolve the matter.

Ogun APC: It's fight to finishIT was a fight long expected. However, no one expected the clash of egos between the Governor IbikunleAmosun and Aremo Segun Osoba led factions of the party to manifest so early in the life of the newlyregistered All Progressives Congress, APC.

CMYK


As lawyers, activists, others condemn kidnap

Ozekhome: Police intensify manhuntfor abductors

BY EMMA AMAIZE,GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE,

SIMON EBEGBULEM &ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH

BENIN CITY BB — EDO State Po-lice Command, weekend,

vowed to ensure that the humanrights lawyer and Senior Advo-cate of Nigeria (SAN), ChiefMike Ozekhome, and his driver,abducted, Friday, by suspectedkidnappers, were released un-hurt.

This came as Edo State chap-ter of the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, appealed to his ab-ductors and, indeed, all otherkidnapped victims to, as a mat-ter of urgency, release them un-hurt to their families and friends.

Similarly, Raymond DokpesiCentre for Media Developmenthas begged Ozekhome’s kidnap-pers to set him free due to hishumanitarian services in the le-gal profession.

It was learnt that a contingentof crack detectives are combingthe bushes in the state andneighouring Delta and Ondostates.

However, the Edo State PoliceCommissioner, Mr FolunsoAdebanjo, who was contacted byVanguard, declined to comment onthe issue, explaining that “this is asecurity matter but we will ensurethat they are freed unhurt.”

Ozekhome was abducted at Ehorafter a gun duel between police-men who came to rescue him andthe suspected kidnappers.

Four brave policemen died inthe shoot-out that followed, while

most of the armed men es-caped with bullet wounds.

NBA, senior lawyersdemand release

Nigerian Bar Association,NBA, yesterday, asked the Fed-eral Government to ensureOzekhome was released to hisfamily unhurt.

NBA President, Mr Okey Wali,SAN, at the pre-conference Na-tional Executive Committee,NEC, meeting of the annual con-ference in Calabar, Cross RiverState, said it “is a sad commen-tary on the state of our nationalsecurity in Nigeria.

“The NBA condemns the kid-nap of Ozekhome and urges thekidnappers to release him. Wealso urge the Federal Govern-ment to ensure that he returns tohis family safe and sound.”

Other lawyers called for thecreation of state police to tamethe high rate of insecurity in thecountry.

Afemai youths condemnthe kidnap

Afemai Youth Coalition, AYC,on its part regretted thatOzekhome was kidnappedwhile on his way to Afemai landdespite his struggles for goodgovernance, equality, justice,and accountability in governanceover the years.

The activist hails from Afemailand.

According to the group, “he

has fought for the poor and hasfought for the rich. He has de-fended the defenceless and hasoffered probono legal services tothe disadvantaged in society.”

While commending the braveryexhibited by the police officersthat lost their lives, Afemai youthsexpressed their profound condo-lence to the families of the fourpolicemen who fought to stop theabduction but lost their lives inthe process.

Edo PDP appeals toabductors

Also reacting, Edo State chap-ter of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) appealed to abductors ofthe activist and all other kid-napped victims to release themunhurt to their families andfriends.

The party in a statement inBenin, yesterday, by its state Pub-licity Secretary, Mr. MatthewUrhoghide, described Ozekhomeas “a good citizen, a defender ofhuman rights, a loving father,husband, a professional and agood friend to the oppressed. We,therefore, urge his kidnappers toplease let him as well as the othervictims go unconditionally.”

The party also commiseratedwith the Edo State Police Com-missioner and families of the po-lice officers killed.

...Raymond DokpesiCentre, too

Similarly, Raymond Dokpesi

Centre for Media Developmentappealed to the suspected kid-nappers to set him free due towhat it described as his humani-tarian services in the legal pro-fession.

Director General of the centre,Mr Chris Ebuetse, called on “allspirited Nigerians to join handsto see to the release of ChiefMike Ozekhome who was kid-napped last Friday. Apart frombeing an indigene of Edo State,Ozekhome has transversed thecountry, advocating good gov-ernance, issues of national de-velopment and peace.

“He is a brilliant advocate.Ozekhome’s significant contri-bution in the defence of humanright and peace is evergreen inour mind.”

FJHD calls for hisrelease

Also, the Coordinator, Forumfor Justice and Human RightsDefence, FJHD, Warri, DeltaState, Mr. Oghenejabor Ikimi,yesterday, called on the kidnap-pers to release them unhurt onhumanitarian grounds.

In a statement made availableto Vanguard in Warri, he said:d“We call on the abductors to im-mediately release Chief MikeOzekhome and his driver un-hurt on humanitarian grounds,while we commiserate with thefamilies of the four policemenkilled in the process of foilingthe said kidnap by the unknowngunmen.”

Ukpabiadvocatespower shiftalonggeopoliticalzones

BY EMMANUELAZIKEN

LAGOS— ELDER-STATESMAN, Sena-

tor Chris Ukpabi, has ad-vocated power rotationalong the geo-politicalzones even as he dis-missed northern agitationfor power shift to the North.

Ukpabi who served as asenator in the Second Re-public on the platform ofthe defunct National Partyof Nigeria, NPN, in an in-terview said it was unreal-istic for the north to seekthe presidency after hold-ing on to power for 38years.

He said: “Of course, pow-ers should rotate within thezones. As far as I am con-cerned, there is nothinglike North and South. Istand to be opposed by any-body. There are six geo-po-litical zones because theyare entities of their own. Itshould rotate within thezones and not North andSouth. This North andSouth thing is an imagi-nary demarcation.

“How can they be talkingabout this now after howmany years of Nigeria’s in-dependence? They haveruled for more than 38years. Others are also en-titled to be there. You can’trule for 38 years and ex-pect others to continue tolook at you. Nobody willtake it.

”Now, these 38 yearsthey maintained that theyare military. But I want totell you this, whether civil-ian or military, they arenortherners.

“There is a popular Latinadage which when trans-lated says ‘the gown doesnot make a mock.’ Whatyou are is what you are,whether you are wearingbabariga or not.

”If you are wearing khakias a General or you arewearing babariga as a ci-vilian, you are from thenorth. But in any case, theyare the ones pushing forNorth and South. As far asI am concerned the north-ern issue ended during theSouthern and NorthernProtectorates.

“’For me today, we havesix geo-political zones andwe should operate onthat,” Ukpabi who is oneof the founding fathers ofthe ruling Peoples Demo-cratic Party, PDP said.PP

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, Special Guest of Honour (2nd right); President, Busy Bees Society of theUnited African Methodist Church Cathedral, Oke-Arin, Lagos, Mrs. Arinola Fuwa (right), Grand Patron, Dr Akinola Ogunlewe(2nd left) and Proprietress, Seagate College, Chief Tessa Egbe-Ikimi (left) during the United African Methodist Church’sJuvenile Harvest Thanksgiving Service at the Church Cathedral, Oke-Arin, Lagos Island, yesterday.

CMY


Egyptians, notmilitary oustedMorsy— ENVOY

BY VICTORIA OJEME

2015: Monarchcautionspoliticians

PROMO—From left: Director, Consumer Segment, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Oluwole Rawa;Winner of a brand new Mercedes Benz GL 500, Miss Blessing Fubara with her father,Reverend Zion Fubara; and Head, Regulation and Monitoring, Lagos HQ, National LotteryRegulatory Commission, NLRC, Mr. Jude Ughuwajabo, during the second monthly prizepresentation of the Etisalat/FC Barcelona promo at Etisalat office in Ikoyi.

2015: Why PDP NEC is silent onautomatic ticket for Jonathan

BY HENRY UMORU

ABUJAAA —THE EgyptianAAAmbassador to Nigeria,AA

Mr. Ashraf Salama, yesterday,denied the claim by theMuslim Brotherhood that theousted Egyptian President,Mohammed Morsi wasdeposed by the military.saying the Egyptiansthemselves removed thepresident.

The envoy who disclosed thisduring a briefing in Abuja,declared that the oustedEgyptian president dug thegrave for himself when hereneged on all his promisesto the people of Egypt. He saidthat Egyptians could not waitfor two more years to deposehim, as the economic andpolitical landscape was stuckin quandary.

The envoy said: “We don’thave even economic projectsfor a five-year plan to improvethe lives of the people. They(Muslim Brotherhood) wereall concerned on how theycould distribute the piece ofcake among themselves; howto distribute the positions, thecompanies and so on. Therewere a lot of discriminationagainst women.”

On Morsi’s whereabouts,the envoy said, “Morsi is notin prison because it is not amilitary coup; he is under thenational security for his ownprotection.”

BY ANAYO OKOLI

ABA—THE traditionalruler of Umuola EgbeluAA

in Aba North LocalGovernment Area, of AbiaState, Eze Love Wogu, hascalled on politicians not to overheat the polity ahead of 2015elections.

Eze Wogu particularlycautioned the Ukwa/Ngwapolitical class of Abia State notto allow the 2015governorship tussle break theage-long bond between theNgwa and Ukwa people.

Wogu who is the chairmanof Aba North traditional rulerscouncil, spoke on the heels ofwhere power should shift toin 2015, saying that Ngwapeople have been workingtogether with their Ukwabrothers.

According to the monarch,2015 is still far to be causingtension in the system, hetherefore urged politicians toplay by the rules so as tomaintain peace in the society.

To force aspirants to step down for him

ABUJA—FRESH facts haveAAemerged why the PeoplesAADemocratic Party, PDP was lastPPThursday silent at its NationalExecutive Committee, NEC, onplanned moves to amend theconstitution to pave the way forPresident Goodluck Jonathan tohave automatic ticket towards 2015election.

A motion was to be moved toallow for the President andgovernors on the ticket of the partyserving the first term in office theright of first refusal to the party’sticket for a second term.

The proposal which would havescaled through only to be ratifiedat the August 31, SpecialConvention, was jettisoned at thelast meeting following advice bymembers of the Board of Trustees,BoT, and also from meetings heldlast Wednesday. It was alsogathered that members argued thatsince the convention was designedfor the election of members ofNational Working Committee,NWC, the PDP decided to suspendsuch volatile issues which includedthe amendment of the constitution.

According to a source, since itwas expected that the 62nd NECmeeting would be stormy, raisingit will further aggravate the PDPcrisis.

A source told Vanguard that atdmeetings before last ThursdayNEC, members argued that therewas no need amending theconstitution for the purpose,adding that it was resolved that2015 was still far and other teethingproblems of the party should be

resolved at the moment.It was also resolved that

when the primary electioncomes, rather than including itin the constitution, otheraspirants will be asked to stepdown for President Jonathanlike what happened at the 2012National Convention whereother aspirants stepped downfor Alhaji Bamanga Tukur andPrince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.Vanguard gathered that to

cool tempers especially fromthe anti-Tukur’s camp, themeeting became the shortest inthe history of NEC, just as itwas gathered that only itemfive on the agenda was takenafter Mao Ohabunwa moveda motion for the ratification ofthe item, “Ratification of Datefor the Special National Con-vention” His motion was sec-onded by former National Wom-an Leader, Hajia Maryam InnaCiroma.

It will be recalled that theChairman, Board of Trustees,BoT of PDP, Chief Tony AnenihPPhad at a meeting of the party’sleaders in South-South region,proposed the granting ofautomatic tickets to a sittingpresident and governors, justas he stressed that PDP mustnot subject the president to theparty’s primary election.

Chief Anenih also at a dinnermeeting called by PresidentGoodluck Jonathan in Abujawith select leaders of the partydrawn from the federal andstate levels, said he did not seeany problem in PDP extendingthe gesture to the president to

serve a second term withoutgoing through the rigours ofprimary election.

Anenih had on May 30, said,"Party leaders, brothers andsisters listening to reports ofMinisters of various sectors atthe Democracy Day celebrationheld at the InternationalConference Centre on May 29,2013, I felt proud that Nigerianshave not been disappointed bythis administration, buoyed hisown achievements, PresidentJonathan confidently asked Ni-gerians to develop their owncriteria in judging his perform-ance during the last two years.

"I do not see anything wrongif the PDP considers automatictickets for the President and itsGovernors who have performedwell and are seeking a secondterm. It is my view that with theoutstanding performance ofPresident Jonathan in the areasof power, rail, and water, trans-formation, road construction,aviation reforms, education, ag-riculture, job creation, etc, theparty should not find it difficultin granting him the opportuni-ty to serve a second term if heso desires.

At today's emergency NECmeeting which will havePresident Goodluck Jonathan,former President OlusegunObasanjo and other members inattendance will deliberate on thecrises rocking the party, as wellas assess the successes recordedby Governor Seriake Dickson-led National ReconciliationCommittee.

Senator'ssonarrested forallegedrobbery

BY KINGSLEYOMONOBI

ABUJA—A formersenator’s son has been

arrested and remanded inprison following hisinvolvement in robbery inAbuja.

Police sources toldVanguard that the formersenator’s son, who hails fromEkiti State, led a gang ofarmed robbers to rob a Colonel(names withheld) at MboraEstate by Jabi District, wherehis AK-47 and other valuableitems were removed.

The source disclosed that therobbery operation which tookplace on the July 5, 2013,resulted in the arrest of the ex-senator’s son whose namewas given as Ola Kila.

The source said in theprocess of investigationoperatives from the SpecialAnti Robbery Squad, SARS,working on a tip-offsubsequently arrested OlaKila and while a search wasconducted in his housearound Life Camp area,Abuja, 16 live cartridges andsome other incriminatingexhibits were recovered fromthe suspect’s house.

During interrogation, it wasdiscovered that the suspectallegedly belong to anotorious armed robbery gangthat has been terrorizing theFCT and its environs.

The suspect reportedly toldinvestigators that his friend,an Igbo boy whom he knewto be a member of a robberygang brought the gun and thecartridges to his house andthat the boy has gone back tothe East with the intention ofbringing more arms andammunitions.

Ola Kila, however, deniedparticipating in the robberyattack on the Lt. Colonel’shouse at Mbora Estate on theday in question.

He confirmed however, thatthe said Ibo boy brought twolaptops robbed at gun pointto him, which he sold in theGSM Village, Abuja.

He also alleged that the saidIbo boy robbed a man at LifeCamp and shot himsometimes in May this year.

The suspect and anothermember of his gang were lastweek charged for falseinformation at AreaMagistrate court, Karu by themagistrate who ordered thatthey be remanded at Keffi andNasarawa State Prisons.


PRESENTATION— Obi-In-Council, HRM Agbogidi Obi Victor Chukwumalieze 1, Obi ofOnicha-Ugbo presenting a certificate to Chief Ibe Kachikwu, Odogwu of Onicha-Ugbo (centre) afterhis conferment weekend in Onicha-Ugbo, Delta State. Photo: Nath Onojake.

cendancy to the chair-manship of the NGF. Asthe NGF chairman hehad the responsibility ofspeaking the minds ofthe governors. Amaechiremarkably had enjoyedsome level of personalrapport with the presi-dent, and had the clos-est relationship with thepresident of all South-South governors untilabout two years ago.

His refusal to heed thealleged directive of thePDP hierarchy not to re-contest the chairman-ship of the NGF broughthim into direct conflictwith presidential mind-ers and it was a testi-mony of his political te-nacity that he braved theodds to win the contestagainst the PDP’s fa-voured candidate for theposition, Governor JonahJang.

The PDP had leftAmaechi’s few options inthe last few months. Theparty structure was takenfrom him in controversialcircumstances andhanded over to his onetime chief of staff, Mr.Nyesom Wike.

Not long after, the gov-ernor was suspendedfrom the party. Only lastweek, the new leader-ship of the party underMr. Felix Obuah com-menced an appraisal ofpublic officials elected onthe platform of the PDP.

Amaechi, six other govs floatnew party

The move it was claimedby associates of GovernorAmaechi was aimed toeffect the expulsion ofthe governor’s associatesfrom the party on the factthat Amaechi’s associ-ates would not appearbefore the panel.Amaechi’s move to theVOP would create a chal-lenge to the PDP in thesense that the partywould be denied that lev-erage of harvesting itstraditional two millionvotes in presidentialelections.

Despite GovernorAmaechi’s near excellentperformance in office,his capacity to swing thewhole state in the direc-tion of the VOP would beundermined by theforces of Mrs. PatienceJonathan and Mr. Wike.

Continues from page 5

RabiuKwankwaso(KANO)

Arguably one of thebest performing gover-nors in the country today,Governor Sule Lamido’spolitics is following thepath of rebellion againstfeudal oppression helearnt from his late politi-cal master, MallamAminu Kano.He has not had any di-rect political problemswith Abuja except thenotable suspicion thathis sterling performancecould galvanise a mo-mentum fromstakeholders for him tocontest the 2015 presi-dential election as a wayof replicating the Jigawaexperience on a nationallevel.

It is not surprising thatposters of GovernorsLamido and Amaechi areregularly advertised asan item for the 2015presidential contest.Given the revolution hehas put in terms of infra-structure and the welfareprogramme, GovernorLamido’s exit from the

Sule Lamido(JIGAWA)

PDP would be a majorloss for the party and hewould almost certainlydeliver the state acrossboard to the VOP.

Aliyu Wamakko(SOKOTO)

Governor AliyuWamakko is the politicalphenomenon whose ten-tacles attracted PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo in2007 to the extent thatthe former presidentcaused his protégée,Alhaji Mukthar Shagarito surrender the PDP’sticket to the then ANPPgubernatorial candidate.It was one act of politicalengineering by Obasanjowithout which the PDPcould not have dreamtflying its flag in the SoktoGovernment House.Governor Wamakko’sproblems with the na-tional party are in partan extension of his do-mestic challenges. Manyof his foes who foundhabitation at the PDPnational secretariathelped to stoke the crisisbetween Wamakko andthe national party. It is,however, reflective of hisprominence that whenthe national party an-nounced his suspensionon the fact that he did notanswer the nationalchairman’s telephonecall, zonal and state offi-cials of the party andalso, the Speaker of theHouse of Representa-tives, Alhaji AminuTambuwal publicly cameout to denounce the na-tional party.One of the greatest dan-gers in Wamakko’s exitfrom the PDP is the ef-fect it could have onSpeaker Tambuwal. IfTambuwal as it is mostlikely joins him, thespeaker could throughhis network in the Housecause a free fall of thePDP in the House of Rep-resentatives.

Though Sokoto Statehas not been very lucra-tive for the PDP in presi-dential contests, the factthat the votes mobilizedby Wamakko could go toanother party of influ-ence could put the rulingparty in more jeopardy.

Murtala Nyako(ADAMAWA)

The challenges inAdamawa arguably werethe main factors that ex-acerbated the crisis in thePDP. When AlhajiBamanga Tukur soughtto displace the PDPstructure under the con-trol of Governor MurtalaNyako, PDP governorsled by Governor Amaechiquickly came to his sup-port and at one timeforced the NationalWorking Committee,NWC to disown Tukur.But with steadfastnessand the presidency back-ing him, Tukur has heldhis own against Nyako

But Nyako' exit from thePDP would be too muchof a good news to his tra-ducers. His capacity torally support for the VOPin the state against thedetermination of Tukurand the PDP is, however,open to debate.

Babangida Aliyu(Niger)

For GovernorBabangida Aliyu his pathof rebellion was like acall to duty. As chairmanof the Northern StatesGovernors Forum, NSGFit was his obligation todefend what was allegedas the understandingthat President Jonathanwould serve only oneterm in office. GovernorAliyu though withoutproof went on to say thatthe president signed anagreement on the issue.Though some had in thepast alleged that thegovernor could do a dealwith Jonathan under thecorrect understanding,so far no deal has beenmarshalled.

His exit from the PDPwould leave Niger Statean open play for allthree major parties, theVOP, PDP and APC.

Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso’sexit from the PDP camedespite last minute ap-parent pleas from Presi-

dent Jonathan last Fridaywhen the two men helda one on one session.Kwankwaso has had arunning battle with thePDP since 2010 when heformally launched hiscampaign to reclaim thegovernorship he lost in2003.

Party bureaucrats work-ing in cahoot with someofficials in the presi-dency allegedly sympa-thetic to Vice-PresidentNamadi Sambo had triedto deny Kwankwaso thePDP gubernatorial ticketon the fear thatKwankwaso would at theend of the second termpose a serious challengeto the hushed ambitionsof the vice-president.

It took strong securityreports of a possible riotin Kano for the PDP tobelatedly restoreKwankwaso’s ticket. Per-haps buoyed by that vic-tory or the messianicspirit that now effusesthrough hisKwankwasiya movementin Kano, Kwankwaso hasturned into a strongholdthat no one can stop. Hehas been consistent inchampioning regionalinterests.

Many disaffected PDPstalwarts in Kano wouldbe glad to see him leaveas it would give themroom to operate. His exitwould also gladdenmany in the APC as itwould soften the state forthe opposition party.

YOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAY

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGSend ySend ySend ySend ySend ySend ySend ySend yyyyyS dS dS dS dSend ySend ySend ySend ySend ySend ySend ySend your datour datour datour datour datour datour datour datour datour datour datour datddddour datour datour datour datour datour datour datour date and place of birppe and place of birrree ffpppp rrrreeee d l f bid l f biffe and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of birth tth tth tth tth tth tth tth tth tth tth tth thhhhth tth tth tth tth tth tth tth to the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Ash Ah Ah Ah Ao the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Astrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtttttrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrologicalologicalologicalologicalologicalologicalologicalologicalggggl i ll i ll i ll i lologicalologicalologicalologicalologicalologicalologicalological

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THOUGHT FOR TODAY

VIRGINIA

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Princess Shii’ By Andy Akman

[email protected]

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Lanre Kehinde

HOME & ABROAD By Lawrence Akapa

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

VanguardggVanguardddVVVV dV dgggg ddddddVVVVVVV dV dV dV dVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguard,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, MONDAY, ,, MONDAY, MONDAYMONDAY,,,,MONDAYMONDAYMONDAYMONDAY MONDAY,MONDAY,MONDAY,MONDAY,MONDAY,MONDAY,MONDAY,MONDAY,MONDAY,MONDAY,MONDAY,MONDAY,MONDAY, ,AUGUST 26,,,AUGUST 26,,,AAAAUGUST 26AUGUST 26,,,,,,,,,AAAAAAUGUST 26AUGUST 26AUGUST 26AUGUST 26AUGUST 26,AUGUST 26,AUGUST 26,AUGUST 26,AUGUST 26,AUGUST 26,AUGUST 26,AUGUST 26,AUGUST 26,AUGUST 26,AUGUST 26,AUGUST 26,AUGUST 26, 5 2013—55 2013 55013 55 2013—55552013 552013 5552013 552013 552013 552013 555555552013 552013 552013 552013 552013—552013—552013—552013—552013—552013—552013—552013—552013—552013—552013—552013—552013—55

By Richard EromoseleLIBRA; If you back your financial plans with concreteand positive actions things’ll go according to your desire.If you fail to realise importance of your spouse you wouldwork your way into avoidable trouble; aren’t you tired ofcrisis?

SCORPIO; Your intelligence, competence and level ofconcentration may today bring you envy, which you don’tdeserve within your working arena in a negative form but.

SAGITTARIUS; The Moon highlights your Solar secondhouse of money which is good but, if you try to buy truelove with money, you’ll be disappointed

CAPRICORN; The. Moon in your Star sign’ll gives younew confidence and with new supports from the powers-that-be, it’s like you are now un-stop-able. But be cautious,especially with the veterans within your base of operation

AQUARIUS; Better days are ahead of you but, you willtoday need to do away with non-productive argument and/or agreement. Try to be more diplomatic now.

PISCES; If what you’re doing today’ll depend ontomorrow’s event it’s better you’re more careful now. Eventhings may not go according to your personal plans today.Yet it’s important you plan both your immediate and farfuture carefully now

ARIES; If you take to aggression, your ego would bedeflated by your superior colleagues, but your being co-operative in a civilised way’ll prevent trouble

TAURUS; Those willing to put you to shame one way orthe other’ll be disappointed with the turn of things today.It’s good to secure support of your spouse.

GEMINI; You’ve had enough of fun in the recent timesand it’s now time you settle down for hard work in order toprevent avoidable trouble. Be patient please.

CANCER; Your concentration level and determinationare the pillars of your success today. Yet you’ll need to respectyour senior colleagues and protect your image

LEO; It’s true you’re willing to work harder but you justhave to drop both aggression and mental arrogance toallow things to roll accordingly. Then, you’re accident pronewithin your working arena. Respect the law and its agentstoday.

VIRGO; Serious thought may be giving to matters of theheart but it’s better you tarry a while. Joint ventures ofshort duration today may be an invitation to avoidabletrouble.

Success for me?Dear Joshua,I am interested in your Astrological counselling.

Kindly tell me everything about myself, especially myfinance and career; would I be rich eventually, if yeswhat should I do to make it happen quickly.

Ambrose, Lagos.

Dear Ambrose,There are indications of financial success for you but

you can not change what Almighty God Has designedfor you talking about the timing (the quickness youtalked in your letter) Certainly however no failure foryou.

Mercury –the planet of education and Accountancy,together with mighty Sun at positive angle to planets inVirgo (another Accounting Star sign) attracted you toboth Accountancy profession and the academic world.Truly you did not make wrong choice of career.

Money will eventually come along this line but it’llnot be as faster as if you take to OIL RELATEDBUSINESS. Because Neptune (the planet of OIL) wasvery comfortable when you were born. It will not be outof place if you have filling stations as time goes by,because you are basically a GAS PERSON. Anothermoney spinning vocation for you include writing eitheralong your line or for film making industry; it isimportant you exhibit the higher quotient of creativityin your inner-self. Yes your dream of becoming AProfessor will come to reality. Politics is another areayou are not looking at now but will surely come. Do yousay why? Because Aquarius is equally political

Venus that was powerfully placed when you were bornis all about MONEY. Thus you have special ability tomake money. And as it was at positive angle todisciplined Saturn, you are not giving to seriousfrivolity. One major challenge here is envy by others butyou will eventually overcome. Another source ofchallenges is your love life which looks not totallybalanced.

Basically you are a family minded person. You areequally loving and caring. But sometimes your love offreedom get better off you to the resentment of yourcloser partner(s).Then some other times it is otherparty’s fault making love-business very interesting. Andunless you are more careful and determined you maymarry more than once.y

Are you a photocopier?I AM sure your

swift answer to theabove question willbe God forbid, howcan I be a photo-copier.

But let us first ex-amine what photo-copier is: A photo-

copier simply put isa machine used inproducing dupli-cate copies of docu-ments.

Can you now an-swer the question?Do you copy other

people’s behavioureasily without anymodification? Forexample you seesome men put onear rings, can thatbe rationalised?Some people ex-

pose their underwears, is this justi-fied?

Don’t just dothings because oth-er people are doingit, do it because it isthe right and prop-er thing to do.

Think about it!


Fashola advocates family values asbuilding blocks for good governanceLAGOS LL — GOVERNOR

Babatunde Fashola ofLLLagos State, yesterday, ad-vocated the promotion offamily values in the homeas the building blocks forgood governance and de-velopment in the country.

Fashola, who spoke asguest of honour at the Chil-dren’s Harvest Thanksgiv-ing Service of the UnitedAfrican Methodist Church,Oke-Arin, Lagos, saidevery family unit repre-sented a government withthe father and mother asgovernor and deputy gov-ernor, local governmentchairman and deputychairman as well as presi-dent and first lady.

He told the congregation:“Every family is a govern-ment and the mothers andthe fathers are the heads ofthose governments, thegovernors and the deputygovernors, the chairmenand the vice chairmen, thePresident and the FirstLady in their home. If weget it right in the home, wewill get it right in the Local

Government”.“I have said and I will

repeat that the first govern-ment is the government athome. The more well-gov-erned homes we have, themore well governed stateswe will have and the morewell-governed state that wehave, the more well gov-erned federation we willhave.”

Urging parents to spendmore time with their chil-dren, the governor said inbringing up a child, every-one, including the parents,the teachers and pastors aswell as imams, have rolesto play, adding that if thefamily must grow togetherfor the benefit of all themembers, no one shouldabdicate such responsibil-ity.

“We all have roles to play,we all have responsibili-ties. The most important re-sponsibility is not to abdi-cate the development ofthese children to the teach-ers alone. A day like thison Sunday in the church, aday like this on Fridays inthe mosque and on Sunday

when you are going forAsalatu, is a day spent indeveloping that govern-ment at home,” he said.

Recalling the drama ear-lier performed by a groupof children as part of theevent, Fashola noted: “Ineed not say much but wehave seen a most usefuldrama showing the rewardof being close to God andlistening to His words. Iknow that our children willlearn a lot from that drama.

“We have spent what isessentially a Family Daywhen parents have com-mitted a substantial part ofthe day to their children inthe presence of the Lord. Iam sure that the rewardslie ahead. These are the tra-ditional building blocks ofmodern families and evenancient families.”

He debunked the notionthat the problem of thecountry is caused by politi-cians alone, pointing outthat no one was exemptedfrom the problem as, ac-cording to him, there ispolitics even in the family.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013 — g 57

US, China spy on UN, EU ---- German reportTHE UN headquar

ters were being wire-TTtapped by American in-telligence agency NSA,according to Germannews magazine Der Spie-gel. If confirmed, itwould be against a long-standing agreement be-tween the US and theUN.

Germany’s Der Spiegelclaims to have analyzedsecret NSA documentsthat show that, last sum-mer, the US intelligenceagency managed to getaccess to the video con-ferencing system used atthe United Nations head-quarters in New York,leading to “a dramaticimprovement of data onvideo conferencing andour ability to decode thatdata,” according to thedocument.

The NSA also alleged-ly caught Chinese intel-ligence spying on theUN and started analyz-ing the material Chinawas wiretapping.DW.DE

The alleged spying ac-tivities are illegal. TheUS has a long-standingagreement with the UNstipulating that the USrefrain from covert oper-ations with regards to theUN’s activities.

Der Spiegel also claimsthat the NSA documentsit has analyzed show thatthe NSA spied on the EUeven after its move to itsnew UN embassy in Sep-tember 2012.

The article says theNSA’s nickname for theEU embassy was“apalachee,” the EU em-bassy in Washington wasdubbed “magothy.”

The NSA used tradi-tional bugging devices tospy on UN activities, saysthe report. It also alleg-edly copied hard drivesand infiltrated computernetworks in Washington.

Der Spiegel also saysthat the NSA operated aglobal monitoring net-

work called “Special Col-lection Service” in morethan 80 embassies andconsulates, often withoutthe host country’s knowl-edge.

The NSA documentsurged staff to keep thenetwork a secret so asnot to damage relationswith other countries.

In three weeks, DerSpiegel said, the NSAincreased the number ofdecrypted communica-tions at the UN from 12to 458. Snowden’s leakshave exposed details ofthe United States’ globalsurveillance apparatus,sparking an internation-al debate over the limitsof American spying.

Syria lets UN inspect gas attack siteSYRIA SS agreed to let the

United Nations inspectthe site of a suspected chem-ical weapons attack fromMonday but a U.S. officialsaid any such offer wouldbe “too late to be credible”and there was little doubtthe government was toblame.

Foreign powers havebeen searching for a re-

sponse since many hun-dreds of people were killedby poisonous gas onWednesday in the suburbsof Damascus in what ap-pears to have been theworld’s worst chemicalweapons attack in 25 years.

The United Nations saidDamascus had agreed to aceasefire while a U.N.team of experts are at the

site for inspections whichwill begin on Monday. Syr-ia confirmed it had agreedto allow the inspections.

But there were increasingsigns that the United Statesand its allies were consid-ering taking action, a yearafter President BarackObama said the use ofchemical weapons was a“red line” that wouldprompt serious conse-quences.

U.S. official said there was

very little doubt that theSyrian government hadused a chemical weaponagainst civilians onWednesday and that Wash-ington was still weighinghow to respond.

“At this juncture, any be-lated decision by the re-gime to grant access to theU.N. team would be con-sidered too late to be cred-ible, including because theevidence available hasbeen significantly corrupt-ed as a result of the re-

gime’s persistent shellingand other international ac-tions over the last fivedays,” the official said.

Syria’s information min-ister said any U.S. militaryaction would “create a ballof fire that will inflame theMiddle East”.

He said Damascus hadevidence chemical weap-ons were used by rebelsfighting to topple PresidentBashar al-Assad, not by hisgovernment.

...As US moves forces closer to Syria

THE Pentagon ismoving naval forces

closer to Syria in casePresident Barack Obamadecides to order militarystrikes, US DefenceSecretary Chuck Hagelhas suggested.

Speaking to reportersaboard his militaryaircraft en route fromHawaii to Malaysia,Hagel declined todiscuss any specificforce movements.

He said Obama hasasked the Pentagon toprovide military optionsin light of reports thatthe Syrian governmentused chemical weaponsagainst civilians.

Hagel said the US willcoordinate with theinternational communityin deciding whethersuch an attack wascarried out.

And he said it isimportant to make adecision swiftly becauseof the possibility that theSyrian government

could be readyingfurther chemical attacks.

Obama played downthe prospect of speedyUS intervention in Syria,stressing the difficulty ofordering military actionagainst the Assadgovernment without astrong international

coalition and a legalmandate from theUnited Nations.

However, US defenceofficials said the USNavy moved a fourthwarship into the region.Each can launch ballisticmissiles.

Mugabe threatens UK, US over sanctions

Z I M B A B W E A NPresident Robert

Mugabe threatened “tit-for-tat” retaliation againstcompanies from Britainand the United States onSunday if the Westernnations persisted inpressuring his governmentwith sanctions and what hecalled “harassment”.

Mugabe’s latest verbalbroadside against his mainWestern critics followedtheir questioning of his re-election in a July 31 votethat his rival MorganTsvangirai denounced as a“coup by ballot” which he

said involved widespreadvote-rigging.

Mugabe, who at 89 isAfrica’s oldest leader, hasrejected the fraudallegations and was sworn

in on Thursday for a newfive-year term in thesouthern African nation thathe has ruled since itsindependence from Britainin 1980.

US restaurant throws out blacks overwhite customer

Agroup of 25 AfricanAmericans waitedAA

two hours to get in a WildWing Cafe restaurant in

North Charleston, SouthCarolina, only to be askedto leave almostimmediately after enteringthe restaurant because awhite patron felt“threatened” by them.One member of the grouptook his complaint toFacebook when thecorporate office of therestaurant did not call himback.

Michael Brown was oneof those 25 customers.They were there to send offBrown’s cousin, who wasleaving the Charlestonarea. After finally beingseated after the two hourwait, the shift managercame to the table and toldthe group that there was a“situation.”

According to Brown “She(the shift manager) saidthere’s a situation whereone of our customers feelsthreatened by your party,so she asked us not to seatyou in our section, whichtotally alarmed all of usbecause we’re sitting therepeaceably for two hours.Obviously, if we werecausing any conflict, wewould have been ejectedout of the place hoursbefore.”

Gibraltar criticises Spanish police dive

GIBRALTAR hasstrongly criticised

Spanish police forsending divers to inspectan artificial reef in watersclaimed by the Britishterritory.

Governor Sir AdrianJohns said the actionconstituted a serious

violation of UKsovereignty over Gibraltar.

He said it wasparticularly unhelpful inthe light of the current rowover fishing rights whichhas led to strict borderchecks and long carqueues.

Meanwhile, Spain has

said that the reef isdamaging its fishingindustry.

Last month, thegovernment of Gibraltardropped 74 concreteblocks onto the sea bed tocreate an artificial reefdesigned to reinvigoratemarine life.

Egyptian soldiers and medics transport former President Hosni Mubarakafter he attended a court hearing back to a military hospital, in the southernsuburb of Maadi on the outskirts of Cairo yesterday.

58 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013

Wikileak: European editors slam UK

THE TT editors of leadingEuropean newspapersTT

have written to DavidCameron over thedetention of the partner ofa Guardian journalist.

The detention andsubsequent criminalinvestigation into thepartner of a Guardianjournalist threatens toundermine the position ofthe free press around theworld, the editors ofseveral northern

European newspapershave warned.

In an open letter toDavid Cameron publishedin Sunday’s Observer, theeditors of Denmark’sPolitiken, Sweden’sDagens Nyheter,Norway’s Aftenposten andFinland’s HelsinginSanomat described thedetention of DavidMiranda, the partner ofthe Guardian’s GlennGreenwald, as

harassment. They saidthat the “events in GreatBritain over the past weekgive rise to deep concern”and call on the Britishprime minister to “reinstallyour government amongthe leading defenders ofthe free press”.

Miranda was detainedby the Metropolitan policefor nine hours last Sundayas he was passing throughHeathrow on his way toBrazil.

NNS to participate in int'l fleetBY EVELYN USMAN

THE Nigerian NavyShip, NNS

THUNDER, NigerianNavy’s Offshore PatrolVessel Class of Ship, ispresently on her way toAustralia to participatein the Royal AustralianNavy,RAN International

Fleet Review (IFR) to beheld in Sydney fromOctober 3 to 11, 2013.

This is coming sevenyears after the NigerianNavy Ship participatedin an international navalevent outside Africa.

The International FleetReview according to theDirector of Information,Commodore Kabir

Aliyu, was a historicc o m m e m o r a t i v emaritime event for theRoyal Australian Navyand Australia whichwould include a multi-national sea exerciseand other notable eventsintended to showcasethe cordial relationshipthat exist between globalmaritime forces.

Swimmer snatched by crocodile inAustralia

A26-year-old birthdayparty goer has beenA

snatched by a 16-footcrocodile while

swimming in a notorioushabitat of the dangerousreptiles, police inAustralia said.

The man, whose namehas not been released,was celebrating a friend’s30th birthday on Saturdayat the Mary RiverWilderness Retreat, anOutback touristdestination 70 milessoutheast of the NorthernTerritory capital Darwin,the victim’s hometown,Senior Sergeant GeoffBahnert said.

The victim and anotherman had swam across theriver. The pair wereswimming back when thecrocodile attacked, hesaid.

Mexico kidnap victimsfound in mass grave

FIVE bodies pulledfrom a mass grave

have been identified assome of the 12 peoplekidnapped three monthsago from a Mexico Citybar.

Assistant attorneygeneral Renato Salessaid 13 badlydecomposed bodieshave been pulled from agrave covered withcement, quicklime andasbestos discovered onThursday on a ruralranch east of MexicoCity.

Ricardo Martinez, alawyer for relatives ofthe missing, said there

is no doubt the otherbodies would also beidentified as the missingyouths, most of whomare from the roughMexico Cityneighbourhood of Tepito.

“They ’re going towind up identifying allof them,” he said.

Iceland abandons plan to join EU

ICELAND hasabandoned its

application to join theEuropean Union.

Its foreign ministrysays it’s disbanding itsEU membershipcommittee.

The government sayselections held earlierthis year, whereEurosceptic parties wereelected to power,indicate the public nolonger wants to join theEU.

US doctors shocked as man comes back to life

DOCTORS in the USsaid that they were

stunned after a manthey thought was deadcame back to life.

Medics say Ohiomechanic Tony Yahle’sheart stopped for 45minutes - but he startedto show signs of lifeafter they stopped tryingto revive him.

The father of two issaid to have fully

recovered after having adefilbrillator fitted in his

chest. He is due toreturn to work on today.

Mumbai gang rape: Five suspectsarrested

ALLAA five men wantedover the gang rape

of a 22-year-old photojournalist in the Indiancity of Mumbai onThursday have been

arrested.The last suspect was

arrested in the capital,Delhi, yesterday , and isbeing brought back toMumbai, police said.

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Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013 — 59

Nadal: All I see is the titleRAFAEL Nadal is tar

geting victory at theUS Open in the hope offinishing the season atthe top of the worldrankings

“If I am number one,

it will be an amazing,amazing season for me.If I am not number one,it still will be an amaz-ing season for me.

“This tournament is

going to make a big dif-ference. After here I willsay not everything willbe decided, but thingscan be more clear or com-pletely less clear.”

Djokovic tips Nadal to shineWORLD WW number one

Novak Djokovicbelieves Rafael Nadalwill be the man to beatat the US Open, whichstarts today.

“He’s stepped in a lit-tle bit more,” the Serbi-an said. “He knows thatnow he has to be a bitmore aggressive than heusually is because of, Iguess, his knees and ev-erything and becausehard court is not clay. It’snot his favourite surface;it’s faster. “I’m sure heworked on that, and youcould see that all the

work he put in is gettingresults. He’s definitely sofar the best player thisyear. There is no ques-tion about it.”

Azarenka keen to make up forSerena lossVICTORIA Azarenka

is back in New Yorkand determined to makeamends after an agonis-ing defeat in the USOpen final to SerenaWilliams last year.

“It will always be a spe-cial moment because Ifelt like that whole tour-nament, that final matchleft a big mark on my fu-ture career. I still feel

that way.”“I just feel like I

switched the light,” she

Uduaghan signs on Regina GeorgeBY ONOCHIE ANIBEZE

MY MM target is to win amedal at the next

Olympics and I’ll be work-ing hard towards that.”

This was the comment ofRegina George, Nigeria’s400m runner at the Mos-cow World Championshipswhere she raced up to thesemifinals. Regina is basedin the United States andshe has been returningfairly good times lately.She was one of the onlyfour Nigerians to competeat the Moscow WorldChampionships with Astandard, the rest beingAjoke Odumosu, GloriaAsunmu and of courseBlessing Okagbare whowon silver and bronzemedals from Long Jumpand the 200m.

Regina may achieve herdream if all she will re-quire to win medal at theOlympics will be financialsupport.

Dr. Emmanuel Udu-aghan, the sports lovinggovernor of Delta State,who ensured that BlessingOkagbare won a medal at

the World Championships,has pledged to extend tre-mendous support to

Regina George. Okag-bare, while dedicating hermedals to the governor inMoscow said that Udu-aghan made her to remainin the sport after the Lon-don Olympics when shefailed in the 100m after ahuge promise. The gover-nor has been supporting

her with training grantsand other necessities.

“Uduaghan has noticedthe potential in ReginaGeorge and will extend alot of support to her too. Hefeels that if well supportedand her training and pro-gramming go well, she canwin a medal in Rio,” Ath-letics federation of NigeriaPresident, Chief SolomonOgba has said.

Uduaghan monitored theperformance of Nigerianathletes in Moscow andwas awed by Regina’s per-formance in the semifinalof the 4x400m relay whenshe ran the race of her life,taking the baton in the 4th

place but ending up sec-ond. After the first and sec-ond legs wobbled, Omoro-

la Omotosho paced well,overtaking two athletesbefore Regina finishedamazingly. In the final,Omotosho couldn’t re-en-act what she did in thesemifinal and only Regi-na ran a great race butothers had blwon the raceand Nigeria placed 6th.

“It will be fantastic for

her to have support fromthe Governor,” coach Gab-riel Okon said yesterday,adding “Regina is anOlympic Games medal po-tential. Track and field runsin their blood. Her father,Phillip ran 400m, 800mand even cross country. Hecame to sprints and beatpeople. He was such a

great sportsman that whenhe went into football hewas so good that he evenplayed club football beforehe relocated to the UnitedStates where he resides tilldate. I got Regina to runfor Nigeria and Phillipsobliged. With Uduaghan’ssupport, something is com-ing, you can be sure,”Okon said.

ARS 3 National finals: Port Harcourtconquers Nigeria•Hands down double defeat to Ibadan

IT was double victoryfor the Port Harcourt

contingent to the Na-tional Championship ofthe on-going seasonthree of the Airtel Ris-ing Stars National U-17Tournament as theirmale and female teamsemerged champions intheir respective catego-ries.

The South teams de-feated their counter-parts from Ibadan in thefinal matches played atthe Agege Township Sta-dium, Lagos on Sunday.

In the female final de-

cided earlier, defendingchampion, Port Harcourtemerged 2-1 victors overtheir opponents fromIbadan to retain the tro-phy for the third season.Action had started withmore play concentrated inthe mid-field as the twoteams struggled to coor-dinate play. Edore Ag-bude beat goal keeperAbubakar Ajimoh in the20th minute to put teamPort Harcourt ahead.

The goal spurred on theSouth team as they beganthe second half pressingfurther to increase the tal-

ly.They were however,

pegged back when JoyFalegon popped up tonod home a cross andsecured the much need-ed equalizer.

In the dying seconds ofthe last minute John ImehObong drove home along range effort thatbeat out-positioned goalkeeper Abubakar Ajimoh.

In the male final match,the Port Harcourt teamtook off from where theirfemale counterparts leftoff as they reclaimed thetrophy they last won twoseasons ago at CamposSquare.

said. “It is hard...I feellike you have to find yourown way on how to doit.”

Centenary beach marathon gets dateBY SOLOMON NWOKE

LESSLL than six weeks tothe start of the centena-LL

ry beach marathon in La-gos, runners

are already scrambling forthe entry forms at designat-ed centers.

The second edition of thebeach marathon which

holds on October 1st 2013was planned in commem-oration of Nigeria’s 100years as a nation and toalso create awareness on

the rampaging ocean surgein the Lagos beach coastline. It will attract popularNigerian entertainment per-sonalities and over a 100participants.

The prize money for topfinisher has been raised

from N75, 000.00 given outlast year to N100.000.00,second placed athletes willpocket N50.000 while thethird prize winner will gohome with the sum ofN25.000.00. There will beother consolation prizes.

George

•Uduaghan

•Nadal

•Djokovic

“

Mon Page 60 25/8/2013

60 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013

Man U v Chelsea:

MANCHESTERUnited

manager David Moyeshas hailed the talents ofRobin van Persie ahead oftoday’s big showdownwith Chelsea.

Moyes says he has beenvery impressed with the30-year-old striker sincehe took over at OldTrafford in the summerand will hope he continueswhere he left off lastweekend when his sidehost Jose Mourinho’sBlues in the big clash. TheDutch striker scored twoin the opening-weekendwin at Swansea andappears to be in the samesort of form that saw himfinish as the PremierLeague’s top goalscorerlast season.

“Robin’s movement andhis understanding of thegame with his hold-upplay and movement in thebox is sensational. It reallyis top-notch. “There aresome things I don’t evenknow if you can coach,nearly instinctive thingsthat you pick up if you’rea top player.”

United will be biddingto build on the van Persie-inspired 4-1 victory at theLiberty Stadium but areset to face one of their titlerivals in Chelsea, whohave begun with two winsout of two, beating HullCity and Aston Villa atStamford Bridge in theopening week.

Moyes banks on RVP

CARLOS Tevezmarked his Serie

A debut with the win-ning goal for Juventusas the champions begantheir bid to win a thirdstraight Scudetto with a1-0 victory at Sampdo-ria.

The former ManchesterCity striker, a marqueesigning for Antonio Con-te’s team this summer,has scored fancier goalsthan the close-range fin-ish that earned all threepoints in Genoa.

But there was no fault-ing Tevez’s timing, or hisform, as he made the dif-ference in Serie A’s bigopening Saturday nightgame.

Tevez off the mark for Juve

BAYERN Munichkept pace with

Borussia Dortmund atthe top of the Bundesli-ga with Franck Riberyand Arjen Robben bothon target in a 2-0 winover Nurnberg.

Nurnberg went closestto breaking the dead-lock as Bayern strug-gled to get their game

Bayern keep up the pacegoing in the first half,though David Alabamissed a penalty for thehosts.

When Pep Guardiola’sside found top gear inthe second half, though,there was only one sidewho was going to winwith wingers Riberyand Robben clinchingtheir third straight win.

TWO goals fromFraizer Campbell

handed Cardiff City ashock 3-2 victory overManchester City on Sun-day as the PremierLeague newcomers cel-ebrated a memorablewin in their first topflight match at home in51 years.

Edin Dzeko had giv-en the visitors the leadon 52 minutes, butAron Gunnarsson lev-elled for the PremierLeague newcomerseight minutes laterwhen following up aJoe Hart block.

Despite struggling to

Cardiff shock City

get the ball, Cardiffwent ahead in the 79thminute when Hartfailed to clear a corner,allowing Campbell tonod the ball home andhe repeated the featfrom another cornerseven minutes later..

ROBERTO Soldadoextended his hot

scoring streak at thestart of his Tottenhamcareer, getting hisfourth goal in threegames on Sunday toclinch a 1-0 victory overSwansea.

Just as in last week-end’s Premier Leagueopener against CrystalPalace, Soldado was ontarget from the penaltyspot against Swansea.

The Spain striker, whoalso scored twice in theEuropa League onThursday, slotted pastMichel Vorm in the 58thminute after AndrosTownsend was fouled byJonjo Shelvey.

Soldado on target for Spurs

•Canpbell

•Soldado

•Robin van Persie

•Robben

•Tevez (m) celebrate in Italy

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013 — 61

Tom Saintfiet.Saintfiet is to report

Stephen Keshi to Fifaafter the Nigeria coachcalled him “a white dudewho should go back toBelgium”.

The pair have been ar-guing since Malawiasked Fifa to move nextmonth’s crucial WorldCup qualifier from Cal-abar for safety reasons.

Ekoku, who played inthe same Nigerian Afri-ca Cup of Nations win-ning squad as Keshi in1994, has added hisvoice to the row betweenKeshi and Saintfiet:

“I’m mystified. I’m ex-tremely disappointed - alittle bit angry as well,that a guy who’s as smartas Stephen is, has beenaround internationalfootball for a long time,has travelled, has playedin Belgium, was a verygood footballer with abig profile in Africanfootball as well - wouldfeel the need to saysomething like that.”

Ekoku, speaking onthe BBC’s Sportsworldprogramme, went on tosay that Keshi “doesshoot from the hip occa-sionally”.

“He’s been very out-spoken, saying thereshould be a lot more Af-

EkokuContinues from BP

rican coaches, homebased coaches who are incharge of their nationalteam.

“This kind of commenthas been brewing for awhile, but as I said, I’mextremely disappointedthat he’s chosen to venthis frustration or anger inthis way.”

The controversy comesjust two weeks before thecrucial World Cup GroupF qualifier between thetwo nations on Septem-ber 7th in Calabar.

Saintfiet believes Kes-hi “is angry because ofthe request to change thevenue”, but the Belgianstands by his feeling thatCalabar is unsafe. Ekokuhas never been to thevenue, and although hedoesn’t agree with Kes-hi’s language, he doeshave some sympathywith his view of Calabar:

“Calabar, I know - inthe Eastern part of Ni-geria - is relatively calm.As far as I’m aware, therehaven’t been any distur-bances there in the last25 or 30 years so I can’tsee the reasons for theBelgian coach wantingthe match to be shifted inthe first place. StephenKeshi is obviously a lit-tle big angry that he’smade this request and

he’s decided to respondin that fashion which isunfortunate for everyoneconcerned with Nigerianfootball”.

Ekoku is hoping Niger-ia will be able to put thiscontroversy behind themas they bid to reach theWorld Cup finals in Bra-zil in 2014.

“Not to qualify for theWorld Cup in Brazil nextyear would be an abso-lute disaster, and I’msure it would costStephen Keshi his job.

“Can they go on andperform very well at theWorld Cup if they quali-fy? I doubt that the squadis actually that good. Ithink we’ve had betterteams in the past.

“This one went to theCup of Nations with re-duced expectation andthat probably worked intheir favour. We’ve hadbetter generations of Ni-gerian footballers andwe’ve not been able towin.

“This group of playershas won something, wehave one or two promis-ing guys. I certainly hopethat they can improveand we can find our-selves - in terms of con-sistency - at the top of thecontinental game foryears to come”.

life, I wanna live a dif-ferent life now.”

The 47-year-old ad-mitted to being a con-tinual substance abus-er but was hopeful hewas finally becomingclean.

TysonContinues from BP “I haven’t drank or

took drugs in six days,and for me that’s a mir-acle,” he revealed. “I’vebeen lying to everybodyelse that think I was so-ber, but I’m not. This ismy sixth day. I’m nevergonna use again.”

Bayelsa United 2 ABS Fc0

EPLCardiff City 3 Man City2

Tottenham 1 SwanseaCity 0

Fullham 1 Arsenal 3Everton 0 West Brom 0Hull City 1 Norwich 0Newcastle 0 West Ham0Southampton 1Sunderlands 1Stoke City 2 CrystalPalace 1Aston Villa 0 Liverpool1

La Liga

Eiche 1 Real Sociedad1Espanyol 3 Valencia 1Villarreal 2 RealValladolid 1

Serie A

Veron 2 AC Milan 1Sampdoria 0 Juventus 1

ResultsContinues from BP

Clash of the titans: DavidMoyes v Jose MourinhoJOSE Mourinho is

relishing thechallenge of facingManchester United as heprepares to be re-acquainted with the RedDevils in Barclays PremierLeague competition.

Mourinho burst into theBritish sportingconsciousness with histouchline dash and knee-slide at Old Trafford whiledefeating United en routeto Porto winning the 2004Champions League beforehaving some compellingbattles with Sir AlexFerguson’s United duringhis first spell with Chelsea.

He also met United withInter Milan and RealMadrid, who endedFerguson’s bid for a thirdEuropean Cup last term,and the Portuguese insiststhe challenge remainseven though David Moyesis now in charge.

Serena to be oldest USOpen queen

WORLD numberone Serena

Williams would becomethe oldest US Open wom-en’s champion in theOpen era if she defendsher crown in the Flush-ing Meadows fortnightthat begins Monday.

The 16-time GrandSlam singles champion,whose four US Open ti-tles are two shy of ChrisEvert’s Open-era careerrecord, is a heavyfavorite in the year’s fi-nal Grand Slam tourna-ment.

If Williams wins the fi-nal, scheduled 18 daysshy of her 32nd birthday,she would pass AustralianMargaret Court to becomethe oldest US Open wom-en’s winner. Court wonthe 1973 crown just 55days past her 31st birth-day.

”That would be great,”Williams said. “That’s notone thing I focus on andone thing I think about. Ijust think about how thereare so many people in thecompetition and so manythings I would like to do.”

THE battle for theN6-5m at stake

in the first LagosInternational TableTennis Classics beginstoday at Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of TeslimBalogun Stadium inLagos.

The International TableTennis Federation(ITTF)/ Africa TableTennis Federation( AT T F ) - a p p r o v e dtournament has playersfrom Egypt, Italy,Lithuania, Senegal,Congo Brazzaville,Congo DRC, Ghana,Togo, Benin and Russia.

The highest prizemoney tournament inAfrica is organized bythe Main Organising

Lagos Int’l T/Tennis Classics: Battlefor N6.5m prize money begins

Committee of LagosInternational SportsClassics in collaborationwith the Nigeria TableTennis Federation(NTTF) and it also hasworld ranking status.

Current AfricaChampion, Omar Assar,Italy’s Mihai Bobocicaand the CongoBrazzaville’s team ledby Nigeria-born SakaSuraju had their firsttraining sessionyesterday at the venuewith most of themvowing to upstageNigeria at thetournament.

Team Nigeria will beled by Segun Toriola andFunke Oshonaike whileother members in the

team are Aruna Quadri,Ojo Onaolapo andKazeem Makanjuolawill compete in themen’s singles. To joinOshonaike in thewomen’s singles areEdem Ofiong, JanetEffiom and RasheedatOgundele.

•Oshodi

Mourinho (l) and Moyes ready for battle tonight

T H R E E - T I M Echampions, the

Golden Eaglets willtoday in Abu Dbahi knowtheir group opponents atthe FIFA U-17 WorldCup, scheduled to kick-off October 17 in theUnited Arab Emirates.

Already, Coach ManuGarba, who was invitedas one of the guests towitness the OfficialDraw, starting at 4pmNigerian time at theFairmont Bab al Bahr,, isalready in the Emiratescountry.

Eaglets knowWorld Cup foestoday

Technical partner of Bet9ja Dave Grodan, CEObet9ja, Ayo Ojuroye, Chairman Remo Stars ofRemo Kunle Soname during the unveiling of Bet9jaas partner to Remo Stars in Lagos

CMYK


CMY

Vanguard, MONDAY,AUGUST 26, 2013 —63

CMY

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How to Play Sudoku

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line canhave two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (alsonine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within abold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1through 9. This means that no number can appear twicein any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, divisionor multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

YESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTER SDAY'S ANSWERSDAY S ANSWERSDAY S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSSSDDDDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSSDDDAY S ANSWERSDAY S ANSWERSDAY S ANSWERSDAY S ANSWERSSSSSSDDDDDDDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY S PUZZLETODAY S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLEEETTTTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLEEETTODAY S PUZZLETODAY S PUZZLETODAY S PUZZLETODAY S PUZZLEEEEEEETTTTTTTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

Sudoku

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 26 , 2013

ACROSS: 1, Duress 5, Jargon 9, Endow10, Refine 11, Lariat 12, Tally 14, Cord 17,Key 18, Reef 20, Timer 22, Badly 23,Passion 24, Besom 26, Again 29, Edit 30,Art 32, Erne 33, Sleep 35, Unveil 36,?Result 37, Gorse 38, Errant 39, Eroded.

ACROSS3 Viper (5)9 Rest (6)10 Pliant (6)11 Warhorse (5)12 Hunt (4)15 Fair (4)17 Extend (7)20 Pig-pen (3)21 Moist (5)23 Haystack (4)25 Shoot (4)26 Knot (5)28 Posed (3)30 Encourage (7)33 Excuse (4)35 Victuals (4)36 Branch (5)38 Weaken (6)39 Dislike (6)40 Irritable (5)

DOWN1 Crass (5)2 Superior (5)3 Donkey (3)4 Disengage (6)5 Paradise (4)6 Wand (3)7 Less (5)8 Pier (5)13 Endless (7)14 Boat (5)16 Reel (7)18 Intuition (5)19 Intelligence (3)22 Midget (5)24 Relations (3)27 Altitude (6)28 Cleave (5)29 Speed (5)31 Linger (5)32 Indigent (5)34 Heart (4)36 Piece (3)37 Fodder (3)

DOWN: 1, Direct 2, Reform 3, Sent 4, Sneak5, Jolly 6, Away 7, Gained 8, Notify 13,Leisure 15, Oiled 16, Depot 18, Range 19,Elfin 21, Ram 22, Boa 24, Bemuse 25, Silver27, Around 28, Nested 30, Allot 31, Terse 33,Sign 34, Peer.

Ekoku “mystified”, “disappointed”by Keshi's comments

Racism hits sour note

Tyson: I’m on verge of dying

MIKE Tyson hasclaimed he is on

the verge of dying fromongoing drug and alco-hol problems.

“I wanna live my soberlife. I don’t wanna die.I’m on the verge of dy-ing, because I’m a vi-cious alcoholic,” theformer heavyweight box-ing champion said onESPN’s Friday NightFights.

“I’m a bad guy some-times. I did a lot of bad

things, and I want to beforgiven. So in order forme to be forgiven, Ihope they can forgiveme. I wanna change myContinues on Page 61

Cardiff shock Manchester City 3-2 P.60

Clash of the titans: DavidMoyes v Jose MourinhoKick-off 8 pm. Story on Page 61

Serena to beoldest US Openqueen — Page 61

THE former Nigeriastriker Efan Ekoku

has told the BBC he’s“mystified and extreme-ly disappointed” by Ni-geria coach StephenKeshi’s comments to-wards the Malawi coach

•Tyson

•Moyes •Mourinho

•Serena

ssTUSSLE: Fraizer Campbell of Cardiff City(L) viesywith Manchester City’s Javi Garcia (R) yesterday

at The Cardiff City Stadium. Cardiff won 3-2.Photo/AFP

Glo League

Kaduna United 2 NembeCity 0

Dolphins 2 Rangers 0

Lobi 1 Heartland 0

Wikki 2 Sunshine 0

Akwa United 1 3SC 0

El Kanemi 3 Wolves 0

Kwara 1 Enyimba 0

Gombe 2 Nasarawa 0

Pillars 1 Sharks 0

RESULTSContinues on Page 61

Continues on Page 61

TWO WEEKS TO LIVE

Amaechi, six other govs float new party

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