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APC Slams Jonathan Over Threats To Pull Out Military From Borno

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Musdapha Ilo, Maiduguri

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has condemned President Goodluck Jonathan’s threat to withdraw the military from Borno State, describing the position as unwarranted, unpresidential and petty.

Jonathan, during a media chat on Monday had insisted that the military is achieving success in curbing terrorism in the country’s North east and that if the governor of Borno State thinks otherwise, he would withdraw military troops for a month to show the difference.

A frustrated Governor Kashim Shettima last week had told the President that going by the present approach, the military may be unable to defeat the Boko Haram sect as activities so far showed that the terrorists are more sophisticated and motivated that security operatives.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, the interim national publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed, said President Jonathan was wrong to have threatened, no matter how subtly, to withdraw from Borno the troops who are battling against Boko Haram insurgents, and urged him to apologize to the people of Borno and to all Nigerians for the presidential indiscretion.

The party said the threat showed clearly that the President lacks full grasp of what is expected of him as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

“Mr. President, your most important duty as President is to ensure the welfare and security of all Nigerians, irrespective of the criticisms you may face or whether or not they voted for you. Therefore, you are not doing anyone a favour by performing that duty. It is the role you swore an oath to perform,” the APC said.

It said the President should know that as a leader, he cannot afford to be taking decisions on the basis of a perceived slight or criticism, because such decisions might turn out to be wrong and counter-productive.

“By his threat to pull out the troops from Borno for one month, he has further victimized the good people of the state, who have been at the receiving end of the senseless attacks by Boko Haram. A retraction of his threat and an apology to the people will be a good starting point for Mr. President to make amends,” APC said

Meanwhile, students of higher institutions of learning across the state have urged President Jonathan to make a trip to Borno, in order to appreciate what the people of the state was facing in the hands of the Boko Haram insurgency.

The students under the auspices of National Union of Borno State Students, NUBOSS, said the president can only know the extent of the loss of the people to the Boko Haram insurgency after a visit to affected areas and then understand the frustration of the Governor.

Addressing a press conference in Maiduguri, the national chairman of NUBOSS, Isah Mohammed Biu, said Shettima cannot be blamed for the crisis in the state especially as with the declaration of emergency rule which automatically shifted the responsibility of security in the state to the federal government.

NNPC Denies Conniving With Swiss Firms To Defraud Nigeria

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NNPC Denies Conniving With Swiss Firms To Defraud Nigeria

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, on Tuesday debunked claims that the corporation connived with Swiss oil companies to defraud Nigeria.

Group managing director of the corporation, Andrew Yakubu, made the denial at the investigative hearing on the alleged connivance of NNPC and Swiss oil companies to defraud Nigeria of billions of dollars.

The allegation was made by Berne Declaration, a Switzerland-based non-governmental advocacy group.

The group alleged that Nigeria loses billions of dollars every year from large volumes of crude oil exported from Nigeria below the international market price.

It specifically mentioned Vitol and Transfigura Commodity Trading Firms of Switzerland in the shady deal with the NNPC.

Testifying before the House of Representatives committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Yakubu, however, said that the corporation’s pricing strategy was in line with international best practice in the oil industry.

“Our prices are based on a reference to the benchmark crude Brent which prices are published by Platts for the international community,” he said.

The NNPC boss said that the claim by Berne Declaration that Vitol and Trafigura oil companies accounted for over 36 per cent of total volume of crude oil disposed by the NNPC was false.

He said that contrary to the claim, Vitol and Trafigura accounted for only 30.7 million barrels out of the 341.07 million barrels sold by the corporation in 2013.

“The lifting of Trafigura and Vitol in 2013 therefore represents nine per cent of the total lifting as against 36 per cent reported by Bernes Declaration,” Yakubu said.

He said that Nigerian traders collectively accounted for 98.2 million barrels during the period under review.

Yakubu told the committee that international traders, including Swiss trading companies, accounted for 61.2 million barrels, while off-shore and the Nigerian refineries took 36.2 and 38.3 million barrels, respectively.

He said that the selection of buyers of Nigerian crude was done transparently and competitively based on financial and technical capabilities.

Yakubu said that there had been significant increase in the number of Nigerian traders participating in the disposal of Nigerian crude.

He explained that the swap arrangement alleged by the Berne Declaration was a known practice in the oil industry

Yakubu said that the corporation delivered the international market value of crude to the federation on the basis of the general sales agreement and conditions.

He said that the NNPC Act mandated the corporation to supply petroleum products to the federation as supplier of last resort.

“In order to meet this obligation, 445, 000 barrels of crude is assigned to the corporation at international price for domestic refining,” he said.

Chairman of the committee, Muraina Ajibola, (PDP-Oyo, said that the committee would ensure that appropriate recommendations were submitted to the House.

Ondo Assembly Loses Speaker To Cancer

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Ondo Assembly Loses Speaker To Cancer

The Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Samuel Adesina, is dead.

Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Rotimi Adelola, made the announcement on Tuesday in Akure.

Adesina, who represented Odigbo Constituency II in the House died in the early hours of Tuesday after a protracted battle with cancer of the urinary bladder at the age of 52.

The statement described the late Speaker as a bridge builder, a man of integrity and a reliable team player who placed the interest of the state above personal considerations.

“The Ondo State Government received the news with rude shock and disbelief. We commiserate with the family of the late Speaker, the state legislature and the entire people of the state over this irreparable loss,” the statement said.

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Boko Haram Storms Yobe School, Kills Over 40 Students

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Boko Haram Storms Yobe School, Kills Over 40 Students

Musdapha Ilo, Maiduguri

Over 40 students of the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi in Yobe State, were on Monday killed in their sleep by members of the outlawed Boko Haram sect.

Although a senior teacher at the school, Ibrahim Abdul, told the state governor, Ibrahim Gaidam, that 29 students were killed in the attack, hospital sources revealed to journalists that 43 corpses were deposited at the morgue.

The hospital source at the Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital Damaturu said 43 corpses of students were deposited at the morgue in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Abdul said the attackers had a field day during the seige on the school which lasted about five hours without any resistance from security forces.

Eleven students were also injured and are now receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital.

The governor who was shocked and lost for words at the bestiality of the insurgents promised an assistance of N100 million to the school and the victims.

Like his Borno State counterpart,  Kashim Shetima, Giadam urged the military to change tactics in dealing with the Boko Haram insurgency.

The Yobe State Commissioner for Police, Ahmed Rufai confirmed to journalists that 29 students were killed in the siege.

Yobe is one of the three states under emergency rule that has continually come under the attack of terrorists.

Even though the government has continually claimed victory in the war against insugency in the region, the realities on ground puts a lie to this claim.

More than 500 persons have been killed so far

Ukraine’s Ousted President Yanukovych Wanted For Mass Murder

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Ukraine’s Ousted President Yanukovych Wanted For Mass Murder

Ukraine’s new authorities have issued an arrest warrant for fugitive President Victor Yanukovych over “mass murder of peaceful civilians”.

Acting interior minister, Arsen Avakhov, made the announcement on his official Facebook page on Monday.

“Yanukovych must be tried by the court of the people right here in the square. He must answer for all the crimes he has committed against Ukraine and its people,” he said.

The ousted President’s last public appearance was in a televised interview Saturday from Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, a base of his support, where he insisted he was still president and would not leave the country.

He then tried to fly out of Donetsk but was stopped and went to Crimea on Sunday, Avakhov said, where he freed his official security detail from its duties and drove to an unknown location, turning off all forms of communication.

Security has been tightened across Ukraine’s borders.

Meanwhile, the acting interior minister has declared the start of a presidential election campaign on February 25, with the voting set for May 25.

Russia and the West have sharply disagreed over the events in Ukraine. While Western countries have supported Ukraine’s new authorities and promised financial aid, Russia questioned their legitimacy and accused them of using “dictatorial” and “terrorist” methods to suppress dissent and infringe on the rights of ethnic Russians.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Russian foreign ministry lashed out at the West for pursuing “geopolitical self-interest” in Ukraine and advancing a “forceful regime change.”

Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, said: “If you consider Kalashnikov-toting people in black masks who are roaming Kiev to be the government, then it will be hard for us to work with that government.”

Russia warned Ukraine’s new leaders to heed the “concerns” of the Russian-speaking eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, as well as the Crimea and Sevastopol.

An assembly of Ukraine’s eastern provinces on Saturday refused to recognise the legitimacy of the new authorities in Kiev. A 20,000-strong rally in Sevastopol on Sunday voted to replace a Kiev-appointed Mayor with Russian businessman Alexei Chaly and to stop sending their taxes to Kiev.

In another Crimean city, Kerch, protesters tore down the Ukrainian flag from the City Hall and replaced it with the Russian flag.

Protesters in both Crimean cities have set up self-defence forces to guard against possible moves by Kiev to crush their resistance. With Russia now likely to put on hold the disbursement of the remaining $12 billion out of its $15-billion bailout for Ukraine, the new leaders in Kiev have appealed to the West to drum up a huge rescue package.

Ukraine’s acting minance minister, Yuriy Kolobov, said the country needed $35 billion by the end of next year to avoid default. He called for an international donors’ conference involving representatives of the EU, the U.S. and the International Monetary Fund to come up with an emergency aid package.

Borno Elders Vow To Resist Military Administrator

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Borno Elders Vow To Resist Military Administrator

Musdapha Ilo, Maiduguri

Elders and youths in Borno State on Monday warned that they would resist any attempt to replace the governor of the state, Kashim Shettima, with a military administrator.

The position was made clear after separate meetings of the Bornu Elders Forum and the Norther Youths Unity Forum, NYUF, in Maiduguri.

This is coming as a reaction to reports in the media that the Presidency is contemplating the action as a means to curbing the insecurity in the state which has witnessed so much killings since 2009, even in the face of an emergency rule.

According to a communique distributed at a press conference after an emergency meeting, the Borno Elders Forum, BEF,  said they received news of the plan with shock and disappointment, adding that it was evasive, diversionary and an abdication of responsibility by the federal government in tackling the insurgency.

“The Elders Forum condemns in no uncertain terms this move which will lead to further escalation and complication of an already bad security situation on the ground. The Elders Forum is aware of the inaction of the Federal Government in bringing this conflict to a decisive end. There was no serious action or political will to deal with the problem of insurgency in Borno and the rest of the North – East,” the forum said.

Also speaking in the same vein, NYUF, North east chapter, said the intent of the presidency to suspend the existing democratic institutions in the state is a gross breach of the Constitution.

The NYUF which was led to the press conference by its chairman, Usman Mustapha lamented that the state governors as chief security officers play mere advisory roles that may not be considered by the military and police formations who exercise, manage and control security services.

He said that the state governor, in spite of the security challenges, has been working round the clock to deliver good governance to the people in line with the fundamental objective and directive principles of the state policy and that the people of the state have not lost confidence in him.

“We have not, as a people, lost confidence in our governor, whom we duly elected barely three years ago. From the foregoing it is discernible that the action, if taken, will not only amount to inflaming the psyche of the silent majority in this part of the country that is already over heated,” the Youth Forum said.

However, President Goodluck Jonathan during a Presidential Media Chat Monday evening denied knowledge of the allegation. He said he is not aware of any plan that is seeking to remove the governor and replace him with a military administration, saying the allegation was baseless.

Notwithstanding the President’s denial, the Borno Elders say the people of the state cannot hold on to his words as recent happenings have shown that any rumour emanating from the presidency should be taken seriously and tackled headlong.

“We call on the Federal Government to retract this infamous intended action. The Governor of a state is only the Chief Security Officer of his state but lacks any control over national security forces. States do not have lawful security outfits. Therefore it is an aberration and vindictive to remove the Governor over issues he has no control on,” the Forum said.

They also appealed to the National Assembly to quickly intervene in the matter.

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President Jonathan Claims Absolute Powers To Suspend CBN Governor

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President Jonathan Claims Absolute Powers To Suspend CBN Governor

By Kevwe Ebireri

President Goodluck Jonathan Monday cleared the controversies surrounding the suspension of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi when he said he had “absolute powers” to carry out the action.

Sanusi who was suspended on Thursday to allow for investigation into allegations of financial recklessness under his watch, had proceeded to the court on Friday to determine whether or not the President was legally empowered to carry out such an action against him.

Other stakeholders – the House of Representatives, the All Progressive Congress, APC, lawyers and rights advocacy groups – had condemned the move by the President, insisting that the CBN Act only provides for the removal of the governor by the President with at least two-third majority votes from the Senate.

But Jonathan, speaking during his sixth Presidential Media Chat maintained he had powers to suspend the CBN governor and only requires the approval of the Senate in a case of removal.

He stressed that Sanusi remains the governor the apex bank, explaining that his suspension was just to pave way for investigations by the Financial Reporting Council, FRC, and that if the outcome of the investigation absolves him of the accusations, he would return to complete his tenure which will expire in June.

Jonathan dismissed insinuations that Sanusi’s suspension has anything to do with his allegations of missing billions of dollars against the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

He pointed out that the allegation was first made several month ago but also observed that the CBN governor had bandied different figures as missing ranging from N49.5 billion to N12billion and N20 billion.

On the issue of kerosene subsidy, President Jonathan said at no time did the federal government completely deregulate the product and that issues of pricing of petroleum products can not be done surreptitiously.

He said that although suggestions were made for the removal of subsidy from kerosene, it was kicked against by several stakeholders, including the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, who argued at the time that the policy could have negative impact on Nigerians, hence it was discarded.

The President who also responded to questions bothering on insecurity in the North, maintained that the military is winning the war against insurgency, as they keep evolving new ways to bring the situation under control.

He said the country is partnering with Cameroun to see that the borders are better protected in order to check the movement of people in and out of the country, curb infiltration of arms and ultimately put an end to the senseless killings and destruction of properties.

President Jonathan, however, expressed displeasure at the comments of the governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, who said that the terrorists are on top of their game and that the military has not been able to subdue them, calling for sterner measures against the Boko Haram group.

Jonathan fired back: “If the governor of Borno state thinks that the Nigerian Forces are not doing anything, he should tell Nigerians and I will pull out all the military personnel there for only one month. let’s see whether he will still stay in that his Government House.”

Those who anchored the chat include Grace Ekpo of Wazobia FM, Goodluck Nnaji of Blaze Fm, Bolaji Tunji of the New Telegraph, and Imoni Amarere of AIT.

The sixth Presidential Media Chat lasted approximately 75 minutes.

APC Alleges Plan To Replace Borno Gov With Military Administrator

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APC Alleges Plan To Replace Borno Gov With Military Administrator

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has alleged that the federal government plans to remove the governor of Borno, Kashim Shettima, and appoint a military administrator to oversee the affairs of the state under the guise of intensifying the fight against insurgency.

In a statement on Monday, the interim national publicity secretary of the party, Lai Mohammed, said “if indeed anyone should be removed over the protracted insurgency in the state and the entire North-east, it is President Goodluck Jonathan”.

The APC argued that the protracted crisis in the North-east region of the country and, particularly, in Borno State, is a mark of leadership failure at the highest level of government, especially because the imposition of a state of emergency in the three worst-hit states has given the President emergency powers to deal with the protracted crisis.

“As the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Jonathan is in full control of all the instruments of coercion available to the country, which he can and has been deploying at will. If, therefore, some seemingly implacable dead-enders have continued to kill, maim and destroy in any part of the country, no one but the President should be held liable. Everyone knows a Governor does not deploy troops,” the party said.

It  also stressed that the primary duty  of any government is the protection of lives and property and the moment any government fails in that key responsibility, it can no longer justify its reason for existence.

The APC  said Shettima and the entire people of Borno have been the victims in the senseless war being waged by Boko Haram and therefore deserve succour and support and not further victimization by a federal government.

According to the party, the presidency may be using the state of emergency in the North-east to fight its own political battle and get rid of those it perceives as a stumbling block to its interest in 2015 and may also have an ultimate agenda of allowing the insurgency to fester so that elections will not be able to hold in the area in 2015.

“The state of emergency has run its initial course and has even been renewed, yet the insurgency continues. That means the federal government must think out of the box to evolve new strategies to tackle the insurgency. One of such is to heighten intelligence gathering that will make it possible for our security forces to preempt attacks. Another is to win the hearts and minds of the local population so they can do more to help fish out the insurgents,” it advised.

Missing $20 Billion: SERAP Faults Adoke On NNPC Remittance

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Missing $20 Billion: SERAP Faults Adoke On NNPC Remittance

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, a non-governmental organisation, has faulted the attorney-general of the federation and minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke’s assertion during a senate hearing last week that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, was empowered by the NNPC Act to remit to the federation account, only its net earnings after deducting cost of its operations.

According to a statement signed by its executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, on Monday, SERAP believes that arguing that the NNPC has no responsibility to remit all public revenue amounts to permitting the corporation to create something parallel to a ‘special fund’ and recalled that the Supreme Court in the case of the attorney-general of the federation versus attorney –general of Abia State in 2002, ruled that the provisions of Section 1 (d) of the Allocation of Revenue (Federation Accounts etc.) Act on “Special Funds” is inconsistent with the provisions of Section 162 (3) of the 1999 Constitution and therefore unconstitutional.”

Section 162 (1) of the Constitution states: “The Federation shall maintain a special account to be called “the Federation Account” into which shall be paid all revenues collected by the Government of the Federation, except the proceeds from the personal income tax of the personnel of the armed forces of the Federation, the Nigeria Police Force, the Ministry or department of government charged with responsibility for Foreign Affairs and the residents of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”

Adoke had said to the Senate: “It is my considered view that the provision of Section 162 which requires all revenue to be remitted to the Federation Account does not preclude the deduction of NNPC’S expenditure or cost of business. This is more so as the federating units do not contribute to the funding of upstream petroleum operations of the NNPC and its subsidiary.”

However, SERAP noted that the use of the words ‘all public revenue’ suggests that the constitution allows of no distinction between net revenue and gross revenue.

It further argued that the NNPC Act relied upon by Adoke cannot override the clear provisions of Section 162, and the sacred principle that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land,” the organisation also said.

“Being the supreme law of the land, the constitution is not a document to be read with levity or disdain; every section must be given its meaning…It has to be emphasized that Section 162 does not exempt certain types of revenue and does not distinguish between ‘net and gross revenue’ as Mr Adoke has attempted to do,” Mumuni maintained.

Section 162(10) of the Constitution further clarifies the matter when it defined “Revenue” to mean “income or return accruing to or derived by the government of the Federation from any source and includes” : a) any receipt, however described, arising from the operation of any law; b) any return, however described, arising from or in respect of any property held by the Government of the Federation; c) any return by way of interest on loans and dividends in respect of shares or interest held by the Government of the Federation in any company or statutory body.”

“Assuming for the sake of argument that the NNPC is required to pay into the Federation Accounts only the ‘net revenue’ and not the ‘gross revenue’ as Mr Adoke has argued, this will still not remove the fact that the NNPC is a trustee of the public revenue collected. Therefore, as a trustee, the NNPC has a legal duty to render account to the beneficiaries (Nigerians) of the trust, if and when called upon to do so,” SERAP stressed.

It noted that the NNPC has woefully failed to discharge the sacred responsibility, adding that the impression now created by Adoke’s legal advice is clearly inconsistent with the attitude of a government that has repeatedly expressed commitment to fight corruption, and in fact signed the Freedom of Information Act.

“This interpretation is entirely consistent with Section 162 (2) of the Constitution which provides that the President, upon the receipt of advice from the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, shall table before the National Assembly proposals for revenue allocation from the Federation Account and in determining the formula, the National Assembly shall take into account, the allocation principles,” the organization added.

It therefore urged the attorney-general of the federation to urgently refer the NNPC to appropriate anti-corruption agencies so that the confusion around the missing $20 billion oil money is resolved once and for all, and suspected perpetrators brought to justice.

Gov Jang Predicts Victory For Jonathan In 2015

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Gov Jang Predicts Victory For Jonathan In 2015

Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau has said that President Goodluck Jonathan will win the presidential election in the state even if he does not campaign there.

Jang predicated Jonathan’s re-election for a second on the local government council election holding on Tuesday which he is optimistic will be won by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

“I have already told him (president), that he is going to win effortlessly in Plateau. I have told him that he does not need to campaign here,” he said.

Jang therefore urged the people of the state to troop out en mass to vote in the election.

The governor has also declared Tuesday, February 25, public holiday, to enable residents vote for their local government council officials.

As usual, vehicular movement is also restricted.

The governor called for peaceful conduct throughout the election period, saying necessary security arrangements had been put in place for that day.

He said: “I urge all of you that will be participating in the elections to be peaceful. All security arrangements have been made, and I have the assurances of the security chiefs that they are fully ready for the polls. We don’t rig elections, we win elections, so we must work for victory by coming out to vote as we did in 2011.”

Jang also promised that the 17 local government chairmen that would emerge from the polls would work assiduously for the development of the local governments under his supervision.

He also promised the people that God would give them a governor after His own heart when his tenure expires in 2015.

“It may be a woman this time,” he said.

Chairman of the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission, PLASIEC, Peter Dalyop, said that the commission is ready to conduct the local government council polls in the state and has completed arrangements to move all the essential materials to where they would be sent to the grassroots.

“Logistics have been completed by sending electoral materials from the local government headquarters to the polling units,” he said.

The elections are holding for the first time since 2009 when the councils were dissolved.

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