The director general of the Goodluck Jonathan campaign organisation, Femi Fani -Kayode, has asked the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, NBC, to stop what he termed the illegal operation of APC radio, which he accused the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, of running.

At a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Fani – Kayode alleged that the station’s focus was to incite Nigerians against the federal government.

He accused the former Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi, and the APC leader, Bola Tinubu, of being the brains behind the APC radio, which he described as a “propaganda tool”.

“Our attention had been drawn to the existence of an illegal radio station called “APC Radio” or “Radio Chanji” he stated, adding that the station “has been broadcasting falsehood, propaganda and inciting comments periodically over the last few days and since inception.”

“We seize this opportunity to call on the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation to set its house in order, while ensuring that its rules are followed. We are asking them to use all means available to stop this illegal radio from operating and if necessary to block its illegal operations,” Fani – Kayode stated further.

he also alleged that the APC plans to use the radio station as a propaganda tool to fight the PDP-led government after if loses in the general elections.

He further urged the security agencies to arrest an APC leader, Yusuf Mamman, and to question Kayode Fayemi, Bola Tinubu and the presidential candidate of the APC, Muhammadu Buhari, on the “illicit and dangerous agenda of this illegal Radio station”’.

Stressing that the PDP would not allow the APC to achieve its plan to destabilise Nigeria, Fani-Kayode also stated that “The opposition knows that they would lose the election and after this happens, it is their intention to begin to use this illegal Radio Station to incite Nigerians against the government”.

“They seek to create mayhem, cause panic and create an atmosphere in which their supporters will be encouraged to slaughter and kill innocent Nigerians whilst the country burns,” he said.

Fani-Kayode accused the opposition party of trying to create division and utter chaos within the Nigerian state, using religion and ethnicity.

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“It is through the auspices of this illegal Radio Station that they intend to announce members of their planned parallel government, to nominate their ministers and to then create major crisis in our country.

“The whole thing is simply an attempt to denigrate the Nigerian people and bring us into disrepute before the international community,” he said.

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Attahiru Jega, on Wednesday confirmed the readiness of the electoral body to conduct the 2015 general elections scheduled to take place next week.

The INEC chairman affirmed the commission’s readiness at a meeting with Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, in Abuja to assess the electoral body’s preparedness for the conduct of the elections, which is expected to begin on March 28.

Jega however expressed concern over the security of the personnel that will be deployed for the exercise, especially in the North east where troops are currently battling to flush out Boko Haram insurgents.

INEC had announced the postponement of the elections which had been scheduled for February 14 due to security concerns to March 28 and April 11.

The new dates were announced after Jega met with political stakeholders in Abuja on February 7.

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday inaugurated the eight new ministers recently confirmed by the Senate before the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council, FEC meeting.

The former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, was sworn in as the Minister of State Foreign Affairs II. His nomination and final clearance by the Senate had been dogged by controversy for his involvement in the Ekiti State rigging scandal evidenced by an audio recording, but the Senate screened and cleared him amidst stiff opposition from lawmakers in the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Other appointees include Patricia Akwashiki (Information); Nicholas Ada (State, Foreign Affairs I); Musiliu Obanikoro (State, Foreign Affairs II); Augustine Akobundu (retd.) (State, Defence); Fidelis Nwankwo (State, Health); Hauwa Bappa (State, Niger Delta Affairs); Kenneth Kobani (State, Industry, Trade and Investment); and Joel Ikeya (Labour and Productivity).

The President also confirmed the Minister of State, Health, Khaliru Alhassan, as the Minister of Health. Alhassan had been acting as supervising Minister of Health since Onyebuchi Ckukwu resigned in 2014 to pursue political aspirations in his home state, Ebonyi.

President Jonathan also swore in two Federal Civil Service commissioners – Jonah Madugo, who will represent Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa states and National Population Commission, Abimbola Salu-Hundeyi.

The President told the new ministers that they were coming in at the “injury time” noting also that Nigerians will be watching their moves.

“For the ministers this is an injury time. It is like bringing a player when you have just five minutes to go in a football match. So everyone wants to know what that player will do, the magic the player will perform within that short period. The player himself will be struggling to at least kick the ball before the end of the game,” the President stated.

The president congratulated the new appointees and expressed hope that they will join to serve the nation.

By Jefferson Ibiwale, Benin

Edo State governor Adams Oshiomhole has charged the state police commissioner to conduct a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding the death of Chibuike Edeh, a worker at a 5-Star Hotel in the state who was accused of theft and kept in their custody.

The governor gave the charge while speaking to the family and friends of the deceased who staged a protest to the Government House in Benin, seeking the governor’s intervention.

“Whether or not the young man was a thief, whether or not the money was found on him or he threw it across the wall is not the issue. There is law. There is procedure to be followed to investigate alleged stealing, even alleged murder. The police can listen to complaint from anyone who has cause to complain or report theft or any crime or suspected crime to the police,” he said.

“The responsibility of the police stops at arresting and investigating a suspect. They do not have the right to kill, to maim, to brutalize and to murder anybody. That is not acceptable. The responsibility of the police in our constitution is very clear; to protect lives and property and they are law enforcement agencies, they are not to execute people who are suspected of crimes. They are to arraign suspects in court and ensure that suspects are prosecuted according to our laws,” Oshiomhole said.

The governor further stated that nothing empowers anyone, whether the President, the governor, the police Commissioner, the AIG or anybody at all, to order the killing or condone the killing of any Nigerian, even if that Nigerian was a known criminal, reiterating that the courts alone have such power.

“I have received since yesterday various accounts about whether or not this person died in the police custody, whether he died of natural causes or he died as a result of police torture or whether he died in the cause of allegedly trying to escape and he was knocked down by a vehicle. I will raise these issues with the Commissioner. If somebody runs across the road and a vehicle knocks him down, the vehicle will be apprehended and the driver will be known so it cannot be an unknown vehicle or driver.‎

“I do understand that when we talk of police custody, they call it protective custody. The police are to protect suspects and they are deemed innocent until they are found guilty by a competent court and police cannot constitute itself into a court of law and even if a judge finds a man guilty of murder and sentences him to death, he cannot be executed except the governor approves of the death sentence so the laws are very clear.

“However, the issues for us to find out are whether this person died in police custody and if he escaped how he escaped from police custody because he wasn’t reported to be an armed robber. He was said to be at the very worst, that he stole money from somebody, he was not armed with any offensive weapon and so no one can say he was running and he was shot, so we will find out,” the governor stated.

He noted that as a leader, it would be improper to jump into conclusion but assured the deceased’s family that he would reach out to the commissioner of police to explain how the murder of this young man occurred.

“Whoever is responsible for the murder, the police have a duty to produce the people and we will ensure that the law is followed to get justice, not for the man that is dead but for the rest of us who are living because today it is the turn of this young man, to be killed, tomorrow, nobody knows who else will be a victim,” Oshiomhole assured.

The spokesman of the family, Tochukwu Edeh, who had earlier addressed the governor said that his brother could not have stolen money and alleged that he was murdered for yet to be ascertained reasons.

“Some days ago, this boy that was brutally slaughtered, Chibuike went to work at the Hotel. He called around 5pm that he had been arrested for allegedly stealing N42,000. This is the same boy that has worked in the Hotel for two years now and they pay him 40,000 naira every month out of which 10,000 is removed every month as savings for them. They said the boy stole money yet they did not deduct the money from his savings with them which is over N200,000. Instead they arrested him, “Tochukwu said.

“On getting to the station, we gathered money to give to the Hotel Management so the boy could be released and they said it was no longer 42,000 naira but N48, 000. We went and looked for the remaining N6,000 only to return and be told the boy was dead. We went around doing our own investigation, this was a boy that was inside police custody but his body was found at Imaguero,” he explained further.

Tochukwu observed that the police PRO said the boy confessed to the crime But insisted that it was not likely.

“This is a boy that worked in the hotel for two years that they gave best staff award, a boy that returned 3,000 dollars in the same hotel, the same boy you said stole N48, 000. They said he was knocked down by a vehicle yet we didn’t see the vehicle or the driver. We made investigation along Sapele road and gathered that nothing of this nature happened there. They brutally murdered an innocent boy that had a promising future,” he asserted.

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Muhammadu Buhari, Tuesday stated that his administration will not seek to interfere with press freedom, if elected President on March 28.

The APC presidential candidate, who gave the assurance during an interactive session with members of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN, and the Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, in Abuja stated that his administration would uphold the Nigerian constitution as sacrosanct.

“I want to give you my full assurances that in this democratic dispensation, I will ensure that the Nigerian constitution is upheld. This includes respect for the media, respect for the right to free expression and freedom of speech.

“I have said elsewhere that I cannot change the past. But I can change the present and the future. Dictatorship goes with military rule as do edicts such as Decree 4,” the former military ruler said.

He reiterated that he might be a former military ruler but is now “a converted democrat, who is ready to operate under democratic norms”.

The APC presidential candidate also promised to continue to promote the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria by guaranteeing that the media’s freedom is not compromised in any way.

“I give you my full assurances that the Nigerian media will be free under our APC government,” he stated.

Urging media owners and editors to shun hate reports and slanderous political rhetorics, he also appealed to media stakeholders to use their outlets for the purpose of shaping positive public discourse while eschewing hate speech, fear-mongering and slanderous political rhetorics which heat up the polity.

Buhari said that the purpose of the meeting was to thank the Nigerian media “for the role you have played in advancing our country’s democracy” and “for being a platform through which Nigerians’ cry for change was articulated all around the world.”

“On newspaper pages, TV screens and radio waves, the alarming depth of corruption and impunity in our country, the terrifying level of insecurity, and the grim state of our economy were kept constantly before the world’s eyes, making it impossible for the current government to doctor the truth, despite their meanest efforts, the APC candidate observed.

He urged the media not to relent in playing its watchdogs role and to continue to be the voice of the people.

“The health of Nigeria’s democracy rests partly on you. Without a robust and thriving media, the masses would have no voice, ” he added.

Buhari also affirmed that change revolution is imminent in the country without firing a shot.

“Our country is on the verge of something new. The tide has turned and the world can sense the wave of change that is about to flood this nation. In less than two weeks, the Nigerian electorate will head to the polls to make their voices heard.

“Through the ballot, without a single shot fired, a change revolution will likely take place, he stated.

The presidential candidate answered questions from journalists present and was asked if he would apologise to the two journalists jailed under Decree 4 during his military regime.

However, he was prevented from answering by the director –general of the APC presidential campaign organization, Rotimi Amaechi, who said: “Gen. Buhari had already answered that question by saying he cannot change the past but he can change present and the future.”

Present at the session were the president of NPAN, Nduka Obaigbena; deputy president of NPAN, Kabiru Yusuf, the publisher of Vanguard Newspaper, Sam Amuka Pemu; a former President of NPAN, Ray Ekpu; the publisher of Leadership Newspaper, Sam Nda Isaiah, the representative of the Guardian publisher, Toke Ibru, the managing director/ editor-In-chief of Champion Newspaper, Nwadiuto Iheakanwa;  the publisher of Peoples Daily, Wada Maida; the publisher of Blueprint Newspaper, Idris Mohammed; a former president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Gbenga Adefaye; the managing director/ editor-In- chief of New Telegraph, Eric Osagie; the chairman of Liberty Radio, Tijjani Ramalan; and the chairman of Silverbird  Television, Ben Murray Bruce.

Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, has kicked against any plan to relocate Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, from the camps provided by government back to their homes, saying it would be callous and irresponsible to hurriedly return them to their liberated communities, even to vote in the coming election.

The governor stated in a press statement released by his spokesman, Isa Gusau, that some of the villages and suburbs of the liberated towns are still infested with the insurgents and sending the IDPs back to the areas without total cleansing of all vestiges of insurgency would amount to wickedness and sacrificing them on the altar of politics.

The governor commented on the ongoing efforts to enable the IDPs to vote during the forthcoming elections during a visit over the weekend to Diffa province in Niger Republic to see about 200,000 refugees from the state who fled to the neighbouring country, explaining that his government chose not to support the move to hurriedly dispatch the IDPs to the recently liberated communities on the grounds of safety and environmental health hazards.

He insisted that a lot of destroyed houses, hospitals, schools, farms and lots more need to be fixed before citizens are made to return.

“I think it will be irresponsible on our part as a government to hurry our citizens back to liberated communities now mainly to go and vote because that will be very callous. We have pockets of insurgents in some villages, we have had attacks that are very recent on some routes. We all know that these liberated communities are still not fully safe and habitable,” he stated.

Shettima further queried the assumed safety of the recovered territories reasoning that some of the insurgents who were holing up in villages would constitute a menace if the IDPs were encouraged to return to their homes in communities such as Gamboru, Baga, Monguno, Malamfatori, Kala-Balge, Mafa and other places.

“What about the issue of landmines possibly planted there that everyone knows the military has been contending with?”

“All those politicians that stay in Abuja and cause all manner of confusion for Borno, if they are so certain that liberated communities are now safe, let them go and live in Gamboru like ordinary people. Why have they moved their entire families including their cats out of Maiduguri that is relatively safe not to talk of the local government areas?” he queried.

He stated further, “Why do they want our citizens to go to liberated communities and put their lives at risk knowing fully well that there is so much to be done. Apart from the issue of safety, there are decomposed bodies, we need to do so much fumigation and environmental cleansing, we need to rebuild homes destroyed, markets, schools, hospitals, many have been destroyed, we need to fix things because our citizens are human beings and they deserve to be treated as such.”

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The governor said that his administration would set up a task force comprising critical stakeholders on evaluation, reconstruction, rehabilitation and re-integration of victims of the insurgency.

“It will be a multi-faith and multi-ethnic based so that every segment of the affected population is covered be it citizens, associations, government or institutions from security to all others. We have a serious work before us, it is not child’s play that some people are advocating for mainly for their selfish and dehumanizing interests. We must learn to put politics aside where the existence of our citizens are involved,” Shettima said.

The Catholic Church, through its Justice, Development and Peace Centre, JDPC, on Tuesday called for the total independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, asking that the electoral umpire be detached from the apron-strings of serving politicians by fully implementing the recommendations of the Justice Muhammed Uwais Commission.

The JDPC executive director, Raymond Anoliefo, who is also a Catholic priest, gave this recommendation during a press conference held at Lagos.

Speaking under the theme: “State of the Nation: Political Logjam Trails Nigeria’s ‘First’ Election in the Fourth Republic”, Anoliefo frowned at the call by members of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and its supporters for the sack of INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, for asserting the independence of the commission.

Noting that the call for the removal of an electoral chief was neither new nor strange, as “there had never been one since 1960 who was not handed a quit notice by politicians and their followers”, Anoliefo stated that the strange thing about the call for Jega’s removal “is that the calls are coming from the ruling party”.

The JDPC director who noted that the call from the employers of the INEC chief was the first of its kind in the nation’s political history stated that it was curious that unlike in Ghana, Sierra Leone and South Africa, in Nigeria, an electoral chief must be an obedient, pliant public servant, who must bend the rules to favour his employers or paymasters.

He called for the implementation of the recommendations made by the Uwais Commission to ensure a truly independent electoral umpire.

It would be recalled that the Mohammed Uwais Commission had recommended, among other things, that the chairman of INEC should be appointed by the judiciary rather than the President.

Swiss officials have announced an intention to return about $380 million belonging to Nigeria which was looted and stashed in accounts in Switzerland by late military dictator Sani Abacha.

‎According to the Associated Press, AP, Geneva prosecutors disclosed on Tuesday that they ordered the money seized in Luxembourg starting in 2006 after which it was transferred to Switzerland and officially confiscated last year following an agreement between the federal government and the Abacha family.

The Nigerian government consequently dropped its case against the late dictator’s son, Abba Abacha while prosecutors in Geneva have also closed their own case, opened in 1999, in which Abba  was the last person still under investigation.

They also revealed that Abba had been detained for 561 days from 2004 to 2006, without receiving compensation.

In 2012, the dictator’s son was handed a one-year suspended prison sentence for participating in a criminal organization but Switzerland’s apex court, citing procedural reasons, cancelled the sentence in May 2014.

Attempts by the federal government to recover funds looted by the late dictator began in 1999 when Nigeria asked the Swiss authorities to assist in recovering $2.2 billion which had been looted and stashed away by Sani Abacha as military ruler.

Switzerland has repatriated more than $700 million of such looted funds that were hidden in Swiss accounts to Nigeria.

The State of Jersey, the biggest territory in the Channels Island, also announced in December 2014, that it would return £315 million Abacha loot to Nigeria. The Island, reputed for its transparent banking services, had previously returned £140 million.

Reports revealed that the money was laundered on behalf of Abacha by Raj Bhojwani.

Bhojwani, an Indian businessman, is currently serving an eight-year sentence in a UK prison.