Why we cant prosecute Boko Haram suspectsIG

Destroys 51 illegal refi neries, four boats

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Vol. 2 N0. 496 Wednesday, November 21, 2012 N150

Presidency to spend N36bn on ex-militants

Shell offi cials arrested over oil theft

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GEORGE OJI, TORDUE SALEM AND EMMANUEL ONANI

The Presidency has earmarked a bud-get of over N35bn for ex-militants in the Ni-ger Delta.

Special Adviser to the President on Amnesty Programme, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, said that the money was to cater for skills ac-quisition and vocational training.

Kuku presented the pro-posal before the House of Representatives Commit-tee on Niger Delta, headed by Hon. Warman Ogoriba.

According to him: A re-view, analysis and discus-sions of actual proposals with training vendors and educational institutions as well as other reinsertion factors have revealed

15 killed as JTF, gunmen clash in Borno

Reps walk out minister, perm sec

Mark denies 2015 presidential ambition P.13

.

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Asset declaration: Conduct bureau to investigate Orubebe

Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun (left) and Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Suraj Adekunbi, at the presenta-tion of the 2013 Appropriation Bill to the legislature in Abeokuta, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

. Jonathan loses brother

Hearing begins today in NPAN suit against APCON

Summonu

CHINEDUM EMEANAPORT HARCOURT Men of the Joint Military Task Force, JTF, code-

named Operation Pulo

Shield, have arrested two personnel of the Shell Petroleum Development

P.7,48

CBN seeks legal framework for budget benchmark

P.4

Sanusi

Hamas, Israel disagree over truce

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net2 Wednesday, November 21, 2012News

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Presidency to spend N36bn on ex-militants

15 killed as JTF, gunmen clash in Borno

that a projected figure of N35,409,859,972.63 is to be spent in the year 2013 on the reintegration of the ex-militants enrolled in the Presidential Amnesty Pro-gramme.

As mentioned earlier, 63 per cent of this sum will go to service ongoing commit-ments while the balance, that is 37 per cent, will be expended in placing 3,000 transformed ex-agitators in either formal education or vocational training in the fiscal year 2013.

The budgetary figure for the placements of the estimated 3,000 ex-com-batants in reintegration centres is based on the pro-file from the career/pro-fessional counselling and reintegration classifica-tion sessions of the trans-formational training and other rationale. Given a breakdown of the training proposals, Kuku said 66 per cent or 1,980 of the 3,000 ex-combatants have opted for vocational training.

It is estimated that lo-cal training centres will be able to absorb 1,000 partici-pants. The balance of 980 ex-agitators will be trained

offshore, he said. He recalled that a to-

tal sum of N66,176,411,902 was appropriated by the National Assembly for the Presidential Amnesty Pro-gramme for the 2012 fiscal year.

According to him: The key facts in the 2012 budget for the PAP shows that the sum of N41, 281, 229, 902 was appropriated for the reintegration component of the programme for al-ready demobilised.

The reintegration phase of the amnesty pro-gramme essentially en-tails the placement of dis-armed, demobilised and classified former agitators in either vocational train-ing or formal education ei-ther within the country or offshore.

He also explained that in strict compliance with the United Nations Disar-mament,

Demobilisation and Re-integration, DDR, Charter Code (A/C 5/59/31), N924m was provided for in the 2012 budget to take care of the Reinsertion/Transition Safety Allowance for 6,166 transformed ex-militants and their leaders enlisted

in the second phase of the presidential amnesty.

Given also the Federal Governments commit-ment to the sustenance of the payment of N65,000 monthly stipends to 26,358 ex-agitators enlisted in the amnesty programme, a to-tal sum of N20,796,462,000 was appropriated for this purpose.

He also told the com-mittee that a total sum of N3,173,820,000 was ap-propriated to cover the cost of operations in the Presi-dential Amnesty Office, domiciled in the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta in the 2012 fiscal year.

He said that from last years provisions in the budget, the Presidential Amnesty Office has so far in the 2012 fiscal year able to pay

stipends and allow-ances, with a total sum of N20,796,462,000, which was appropriated for stipends and allowances in the year 2012 and 26,358 ex-agitators enlisted in the first and second phases of the pro-gramme were considered.

Of this appropriated sum, N20,732,612,000 has

been released by the Bud-get Office of the Federa-tion to the Amnesty Office in four instalments.

Following these re-leases, the Amnesty Office has paid out stipends and allowances to the enrolled ex-agitators till the end of October 2012.

On the programmes re-integration programme, he said the total enrolled number of 26,358 ex-agi-tators enlisted in the first and second phases of the programme have been fully disarmed and demo-bilised, having undertaken non-violence transfor-mational training at the Amnesty Demobilisation Camp, located in Obubra, Cross River State.

The Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Ogoriba who, however, picked holes in the estimates, said the committee would set up a sub-committee to review the proposal of the amnes-ty office.

Meanwhile, members of the House of Repre-sentatives Committee on Science and Technology were engaged in a shouting match with the Minister for Science and Technol-

ogy, Professor Ita Okon Bassey-Ewa, yesterday over the actual budget per-formance of the Science and Technology Ministry.

The minister was piqued when the House Commit-tee Chairman, Hon. Abio-dun Akinlade (ACN-Ogun) asked him to translate the ministrys 2012 budget per-formance into percentages instead of providing it on an item by item basis.

Prof. Bassey-Ewa made efforts to convert same to percentages but failed and was reprimanded by the lawmakers.

The chairman pointed out that the minister had never taken the committee seriously just as he recol-lected that Bassey-Ewa had failed to provide the per-centage performance of his ministry when the com-mittee went to his office for oversight function earlier.

But in his response to the chairman, the minister shouted we are prepared; we are prepared. You can see that I have been trying to compute the percent-age.

When cautioned by the chairman that he should realise that he was ap-

pearing before a commit-tee which is an extension of the House, the minister replied that his outburst was provoked by the Chair-mans rude talk to him.

Subsequent efforts to calm Bassey-Ewa down failed, leading to the Com-mittees resolution to send him out to go and prepare adequately to appear be-fore the committee at some other time.

The minister and his Permanent Secretary, Rabi Shuaibu Jimeta, then walked out fuming.

The committee had ear-lier queried the minister on why he was yet to rec-ommend the appointment of a substantive Director-General for the National Agency for Science and En-gineering Infrastructure, NASENI, when the Act-ing DG of the agency, Mr. Mohammed Haruna, had stayed in acting capacity for more than the regula-tory six months.

The minister agreed that Haruna has stayed for about eight months in act-ing capacity as the DG of the agency but told the law-makers that the process for

OMEIZA AJAYI AND INUSA NDAHI

No fewer than 15 people were feared killed and dozens of shops razed yesterday by gunmen in Damboa, Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State.

This is coming barely two weeks after suspected terrorists killed scores of people in the town, while primary schools, the coun-cil secretariat, fire service station and the Federal Road Safety Corps office were razed.

Our correspondent re-ports that the build-up to

the incident started on Monday, a market day, when some gunmen about 6p.m. threw an improvised explo-sive device, IED, at a secu-rity patrol vehicle, leading to reprisal and the killing of 15 people.

Although the identities of those killed during the attack could not be ascer-

tained, an eyewitness, who did not want his name mentioned, confirmed that over 15 people were killed, while most of the shops and houses on the ever-busy Maiduguri-Damboa-Biu road were razed during the encounter which lasted for over three hours.

A Joint Task Force, JTF,

official, who declined to be identified, said: Some members of Boko Haram sect attacked our patrol vehicles in this place and burnt them.

JTF spokesman, Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa, in a telephone interview with National Mirror yesterday also con-firmed the incident, but said: I dont have details as all the telecommunication masts in the council were razed by suspected terror-ists a couple of weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the Inspec-tor General of Police, Mo-hammed Abubakar, has said that except the anti-terrorism law is urgently passed by the National As-sembly, police may not pros-ecute most of the Boko Ha-ram suspects in its custody.

Only few days ago, global human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, had accused security opera-tives of extra-judicial kill-ings and detention without trial of suspects for long period without trial.

Addressing journalists during the conference of se-

nior police officers from the rank of commissioners of police to deputy inspectors- general of police, DIGs, in Abuja, Abubakar also con-firmed that the force had many terror suspects in its custody.

He, however, added that a committee had been in-augurated to ascertain the number of Boko Haram suspects in police detention facilities in Abuja and else-where in the country.

He said that some of the suspects were usually transferred to sister agen-cies for more interrogation, making it difficult to know the number of suspects in custody.

The IGP stated that the envisaged passage of the anti-terrorism law by the National Assembly would help the Police to immedi-ately prosecute terrorism suspects.

According to him, the police require an enabling law to be able to charge the suspects to court.

He lamented that the CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

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President Goodluck Jonathan, his mum, Eunice, and the Executive Secretary of Christian Pilgrims Board, Mr. John Kennedy Opara, during the Presidents 55th birthday in Abuja, yesterday.

Nothing has been heard from you politically after you contested for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gov-ernorship ticket in Edo State. Are you no longer inter-ested in politics?

Every human being is a political animal; I want to thank God for the political process that happened in Edo State and which is beyond me now. We are looking forward. We have faith in God and the people. Again, what is important to me is whoever emerged the governor of the state must do the will of the people by making the schools to work in a suitable environment, create jobs for the people, make the roads motorable, make sure there is security of lives and property in the state and ensure peace and stability, the hospitals must be equipped and functional; that is my prayer for Edo State and Nigeria in general.

You have made two attempts at the governorship in Edo State; the first time, you almost got the ticket but you were asked to step down. The last one you lost the ticket at the primaries. How do you feel about the process?

I have said it that we dont have transparency process in Nigeria. That is true and I have witnessed it two times. I un-derstand the process and that is why we are there to make change. For my experiences, we have no process, before my call, I was determined, I conceived and aspired that we must bring about good process, because good process will bring about good leadership, good leadership will bring about good dividends of democracy and good services to the people. So, whichever way it goes, Nigeria will be better off, if we have better people, who are in the political arena playing politics.

Again, politics should not be left to people who didnt go to school; criminals and people that see governance just as avenue to loot and steal public funds. Politics must be used as a tool for development, tool for social engineering and tool to push the people and country forward.

So, if politics is devoid of these, it is no more politics; it is thuggery, violence and that is for the thieves. To those who designed politics as it is played in the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada and other devel-oped countries, it was meant to be tools for development, for change, for social engineering of the society, creation of jobs, for the economy to be robust, provision of good education and better life to the people, all these and other things are the whole essence of politics. That is why I call on God-fearing people, both of the Christian and Muslim faith, the Nigeria professionals, people that have succeed-ed in their private endeavour, that most importantly, they should all come to be part of politics in Nigeria to give it a good facelift.

You mentioned thuggery, violence and malpractice in Ni-gerian election. You witnessed the U.S. election, what is your impression and how would you compare it to what we have in the country?

Honestly, they are miles apart; the ocean between Nige-rian politics and U.S. politics is far too wide. But, we will not be discouraged by that, rather it should be a turning point to do more and make a change. In the U.S. election, it was peaceful. What guided the American people were is-sues, between the two candidates, President Barack Obama of Democratic and Mitt Romney of Republican. What they will provide for the people. And the people were interested who will provide good education to their children, keep America save, create jobs, and turn the economy around.

crisis of insecurity the country is facing?It is quite unfortunate, that at this time of our national

life, we see the problem of the country as the problem of the president only. The president is doing his best and it is the duty of every Nigerian to help the president to suc-ceed, because, if President Jonathan fails, the country has failed. When the American president emerged, right from that day, every American rallied round him and gave him the necessary support. The American president must not fail, because if he fails, the American nation has failed. So, if President Jonathan fails, the Nigerian nation fails. We must make sure that this administration succeeds, for us to deliberately put stumbling blocks on his ways is unac-ceptable. We should pray for him and not unnecessarily criticise him, but if we should criticise, it should be con-structive and not destructive. So, rather Nigerians should rally round the president to see that Nigeria as a nation doesnt fail

What is the way forward?

The way forward is for every Nigerian to seek for change, let us get together to make change, let us be honourable, let us allow for integrity to come to play, whichever corner you find yourself, do your part, think about Nigeria first, before self. We should be faithful and fear God, because if somebody fears God, he or she will not loot or steal pub-lic funds meant for the development of the nation and the well-being of his people. We all should come together and fight corruption and when anybody commits any crime, the person should be punished for it. Nobody should be above the law of the land. The people doing their job hon-estly and diligently should be honoured and recognised by the people and the government.

Above all, the government should try its best by creating job, providing what makes life better, and take care of the youth. The youth will in turn abide by the law of the land and give peace a chance.

Look at the beauty of politics in the U.S.But in Nigeria, the best person who can steal and loot

and have the highest thugs to cause election violence and chaos would have emerged winner. But I will not lose hope in my generation. Again the leaders are not the problem of Nigerian politics but the followers, the people. If the people are determined to make a change based on issues, we should vote for the right person; people who are com-mitted to change. If Nigerians are vigilant, determined for change and do correct analysis of everybody that is asking for their votes and translate it to action, then the yearning for change would have come. If the people are determined and focused, I am assuring you that good leaders would be voted into office by the people.

For you to have development, you must have good leaders, for you to have good leaders, the process must be transparent, for you to have a transparent process, and the people should be ready and determined to demand for good process. I think we should begin now to deliberate on how to make positive changes.

How do you see the present administration and the

IT IS QUITE UNFORTUNATE, THAT AT THIS TIME OF

OUR NATIONAL LIFE, WE SEE THE PROBLEM OF THE COUNTRY AS THE PROBLEM

OF THE PRESIDENT ONLY... IF PRESIDENT JONATHAN FAILS, THE NIGERIAN NATION FAILS

Jonathan needs support to succeed Imasuangbon

Barrister Kenneth Imasuangbon, a former Edo State governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in this interview with AYODELE OJO in Virginia, United States speaks on the need for Nigerians to support Presi-dent Goodluck Jonathan, security chal-lenges, among other issues. Excerpts:

Imasuangbon

Wednesday, November 21, 2012 3National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.netMidweek Interview

PAGE

L-R: Lead Consultant, Qualitext Consulting and Associate, Mr. Tunji Timothy; General Manager, Prima Corporation Ltd., Mr. Rajiv Khanna and Managing Director, Jotna International, Mr. Narendra Somani, during the celebration of the SON/ISO certification received by Prima Corporation in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: OLUFEMI AJASA

L-R: Representative of the Vice-President and Nigerias Ambassador to Netherlands, Amb. Nimota Akanbi; Executive Chairman, Obio/Akpor Council, Rivers State, Prince Timothy Nsirim; President, IIMCD, Mr. Daniel Omonze, at the World Infrastructure Summit Gala Dinner, an evening with the Government of Nigeria held at the Royal Artis Zoo, Amsterdam, recently.

L-R: Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics, Lagos State University, Prof. Dapo Asaju; Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oladapo Obafunwa; Executive Director, Public Sector, South, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Mr. U. K. Eke and Group Head, Public Sector, Lagos, Mrs. Shade Omoniyi, at the presentation of buses to the university by the bank in Lagos, recently.

L-R: Country Manager, Microsoft Anglophone West Africa, Mr. Emmanuel Onyeje; Vice-President, Nokia West Africa, Mr. James Rutherford and General Manager, Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Kola Oyeyemi, at the launch of Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: YINKA ADEPARUSI

etary Policy Ratio, MPR, at 12 per cent with a corri-dor of +/- 200 basis points around the midpoint and also retained the Cash Re-serve Ratio, CRR, at 12 per cent and the Liquidity Ra-tio at 30 per cent.

Making a case for the independent budget bench-mark pricing body while briefing journalists on the key decisions taken dur-ing the apex banks MPCs

meeting in Abuja, the CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said the move would help address the yearly rancour between the two arms of govern-ment over budget bench-mark price as the teams recommendations would be based on factual appraisal of macroeconomic and other indices both at the domestic and international economic environments.

TORDUE SALEMABUJA

The House of Repre-sentatives and the Ministry of Cul-ture, Tourism and Nation-al Orientation yesterday disagreed over the imple-mentation of the minis-trys 2012 budget.

The House expressed dissatisfaction with the im-plementation of the capital component of the 2012 bud-get by the ministry.

The Minister of Cul-ture, Mr. Edem Duke, said the ministrys budget per-formed relatively well, while the Chairman of the

House Committee on Cul-ture, Hon. Ben Nwankwo (APGA-Anambra), said at the 2013 budget defence that it recorded a poor per-formance.

Nwankwo said if the ministrys budget was diligently implemented, it would have generated employment for many Nigerians.

He said: We are not generally satisfied with the implementation of the cap-ital budget. The budget is a law; there is no choice for selective implementation. Government should be de-cent in implementing it.

The chairman warned

Sanusi urged both the ex-ecutive and the legislature to learn from the Chilean ex-perience with regard to the setting of the parameters for the preparation of the bud-get to avoid the perennial ac-rimony that usually charac-terises the budget approval processes in the country.

He said: Many coun-tries where the commod-ity price-based budget flow borrowed this from the Chilean example where, based on the price of cop-per, the budget is made. Chile has an institution made up of a committee of experts that determines the long term price of copper to the Gross Domestic Prod-uct, GDP. Those prices are determined independently of the political process.

These experts would determine the benchmark price for oil and the output, if that is what the budget is based on. These prices are binding to both the fiscal authorities and the National Assembly. This idea that af-ter going through a technical detailed process that allows the Ministry of Finance to come up with a number and the National Assembly sits

down to say that it does not like that and prefers another number to increase it, is only wasteful because the coun-try has not institutionalised the process.

It would be good to not just have a benchmark, but also a legal framework for determining that bench-mark and clarity so that the decision is not political. In-creasing the benchmark to $78 or $80 simply increases the amount of money that is spent and reduces the amount of money that could have been saved. And if for any reason output under-performs, the fiscal flexibility would be reduced and the ability to respond in the event of any shock.

In arriving at the MPR, CRR and Liquidity Ra-tio decisions, Sanusi said the committee considered three scenarios, includ-ing an increase in rates in response to the uptick in headline and food infla-tion; a reduction in rates in view of declining core inflation and GDP growth; and retaining current mon-etary policy stance in view of conflicting price signals and global uncertainties.

that the House would not condone a poor implemen-tation of the budget in 2013.

In his response, Duke said N582 million was al-located to the ministry in 2012 for capital project, but that between January and November, only N268 million was released to the ministry, representing 46 per cent, leaving a bal-ance of N313 million.

The minister said that out of the N588 million al-located to the ministry for overhead, N499 million was released to the minis-try between January and October, representing 84 per cent.

He added that the level of performance of capital budget was 98 per cent.

According to him, N60 million has been set aside for work to continue at the National Theatre in Cala-bar, while N150 million has also been budgeted for Abuja Carnival in 2013.

Duke, however, agreed in part that the insistence of the committee on full implementation of bud-gets would help in fund release to the ministry.

He said that workers of the ministry were ready to assist in the realisation of the Transformation Agen-da of the government.

Reps, ministry split on 2012 budget

CBN seeks legal framework for budget benchmarkRetains MPR at 12%

TOLA AKINMUTIMIABUJA

As the debate between the executive and the Legislature over appropriate oil benchmark price for 2013 budget rages on, the Central Bank of Ni-geria, CBN, yesterday restat-ed its support for the $75 per barrel proposal.

It also canvassed the set-ting up of an independent professional team support-ed by a legal framework that would help in determining benchmark price for bud-gets in the years ahead.

This is even as the Mon-etary Policy Committee, MPC, at the end of its two-day meeting concluded yes-terday retained the Mon-

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News National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netWednesday November 21, 20124

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 5 Wednesday, November 21, 2012 NewsNational Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net News

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15 killed, shops razed as JTF, gunmen clash in Borno

Shell officials arrested over oil theft

Members of Nigeria Labour Congress who stormed the YarAdua Centre venue of 2012 African Industrialisation Day in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

detention facilities of the force are currently being overstretched due to the number of suspects in its custody.

According to him, the police would be glad to have the suspects arraigned before a competent court of law and tried for the of-fences for which they stand accused, adding that their conviction or otherwise might serve as a deterrent to would-be terrorists in the country.

Why do we want to hold on to them for so long? They are a liability and so it will be in our interest to have them tried immediately,, he said.

He added: You cant take somebody to court ex-cept there is an enabling law. Unless the anti-terror-ism law is passed by the

National Assembly, we can-not arraign most of them. It will be in our interest to arraign them. We are not happy keeping them too.

Abubakar also ordered Assistant Inspectors Gen-eral of Police, AIGs, and police commissioners to deploy effective crime fight-ing strategies in their do-mains in order to forestall criminal activities during the Yuletide.

Abubakar specifically threatened to sanction Commissioners of Police in states that witness rising crime wave, explaining that the police have no other job than to maintain law and order in the society.

Any command that al-lows its grounds to be used for criminal activities, the CP there will face sanc-tions, he said.

While he lamented that

the conference was long in coming due to the exi-gencies of police duties, Abubakar said the meeting was necessary to review the security situation in the country as well as deploy mechanisms that would guarantee a crime-free Christmas and New Year celebration.

Todays meeting is very crucial in view of the cur-rent security challenges in the country. The police have been doing their best but notwithstanding there are still challenges in the North East especially in Borno, Yobe and Ad-amawa states. Now we are beginning to have such challenges in the North Central and even in places like Zamfara, Kaduna and Taraba states, Abubakar explained.

Commending the offi-

cers for doing their best in spite of the meagre re-sources at their disposal, Abubakar said cases of kidnapping and other vio-lent crimes must be halted henceforth and the perpe-trators arrested.

He stated: Nigeria must continue to be safer than what it is today. Ev-ery CP will go to his or her command and ensure a hitch-free Christmas and New Year. All cases of criminality must stop and the criminals fished out. Kidnappers must be appre-hended.

Abubakar, however, promised to checkmate the excesses of his men, order-ing the officers to pay seri-ous attention to the issue of bribery and corruption.

He also said he will dis-cipline any Commissioner of Police who treats such

issue with levity in the command.

Meanwhile, the Taraba police command has con-firmed the arrest of 200 people in connection with the recent violent clashes in Ibi, the headquarters of Ibi Local Government Area of the state.

Disclosing this to news-men yesterday in Jalingo, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Amos Olaoye (DSP), said the sus-pects were arrested as they came into Ibi on Monday, allegedly to forment trou-ble.

He disclosed that some of the suspects were found with arms and other dan-gerous weapons head-ing for the troubled area through the surrounding bushes and mountains.

Alaoye explained that the relevant departments

had commenced investiga-tion to ascertain their level of involvement in the cri-sis, and persons behind the incident which, according to him, had claimed four lives.

He said that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as the investiga-tions were over.

The town is saturated with security agents while calm has been restored in the area, he said.

He appealed to the peo-ple to be law-abiding, assur-ing that the police would continue to ensure the pro-tection of their lives and property.

The crisis in Ibi broke out on Sunday following a misunderstanding between some persons resident in the area, leading to the burning down of houses and shops.

Company, SPDC, for in-volvement in the economic sabotage activity on a pipe-line in Kporgho Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The two suspects, Mr. Bori Friday and Mr. Young Apahia, are surveillance staff of the company, em-ployed to protect oil pipe-line from vandalism, ac-cording to the JTF.

Army Public Relations Officer, 2 Brigade Bori Camp, Major Michael Etete, said that the JTF on patrol discovered at about 9.30p.m.on Monday a bro-ken pipeline and illegal

connection on an SPDC pipeline in Kporgho Go-kana LGA of Rivers State with both men found on the scene of the pipeline van-dalism.

Etete said both suspects were arrested and trans-ferred to operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Rivers State Command, for prosecution.

Only last week, the JTF complained about oil com-panies frustrating their ef-forts at ridding the country of oil theft and illegal bun-kering operations.

Shell did not immedi-ately respond to inquiries

seeking comments on the issue.

The JTF had raided ille-gal oil refining sites around Awoba, Bille, Km. 45 and Elemakire, all in Degema LGA of Rivers State on November 14 and 15 where three boats loaded with 55 empty drums; five speed boats and one illegal refin-ery with five surface tanks and one underground stor-age tank and a wooden boat all loaded with illegally re-fined AGO were destroyed.

Etete, however, ex-plained that the JTF would continue the fight against illegal bunkering and oil theft.

Shell Petroleum Devel-opment Companys inabil-ity to repair or even clamp over 70 illegal loading points already discovered over the last one year in the sector is adversely affecting the fight against oil theft due to continued use by oil thieves. This is highly frustrating to the JTF operations.

Nigerian National Pe-troleum Company, NNPC, should cause SPDC man-agement to repair or clamp all identified illegal loading points, the JTF spokes-man said.

Meanwhile, a joint anti-piracy and illegal bunker-ing security operation

yesterday resulted in the destruction of 51 illegal re-fineries, four dug-out boats, and arrest of six youths in an operation that lasted for about nine hours in Ke and Pero-Kparakama com-munities in Degema Local Government Area of Riv-ers State.

The six youths arrested include two ladies, Miss Jane Ijeoma Duke, 20 and two teenage brothers, God-spower and Jonathan Rob-inson, as well as two others, Sandwell Jumbo and Chi-nonso Ochuma.

The security forces also recovered one FN pistol, eight machetes, five AK-47 rifles, 12 AK 47 magazines, nine identification cards, including one of a police of-ficer and N535,000 cash.

The suspects, who were paraded and later handed over to CSP Gbiwen Fran-cis, the Police Sector Com-mander of JTF for further investigation and prosecu-tion, however told journal-ists that they were innocent.

Addressing a joint press conference at NNS Path-finder, the Commander, Commodore Oyetunji Fadeyi, said the joint opera-tion was to exterminate il-legal bunkering and piracy.

He stressed that the op-eration followed useful in-formation from sea pirates earlier arrested.

In another development, security chiefs in Rivers State have once again called

for the establishment of a special court for speedy prosecution of piracy and il-legal oil bunkering suspects.

I think we have to im-prove that aspect of our laws. Arresting them like this and prosecuting them will act as deterrent to oth-er criminals, I think that is the major area.

I support the call by Commander Yusuf Buratai (2 Brigade of Nigeria Army, Port Harcourt) for the setting up of special courts to try these cases faster and that is why I am reiterating it.

If you look down there (pointing) you will see three tankers, they have been ar-rested a long time ago, but the prosecution is still in the pipeline. So, we hope that our justice system will be faster and I think we can improve on it.

Special courts can also help because that is what we resolved in our meeting, that the government should create special courts to try these offences, Fadeyi said.

Commander of 97 Spe-cial Operations Group, Air Commodore Elam Ngokala, said the call for a special court was the decision of the service commanders in Rivers State.

It is a collective decision; we discussed it at a round-table before we came out with it. It wasnt one mans view, that was the view of all the service chiefs in Rivers State, he said.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net6 News Wednesday, November 21, 2012

IJEOMA EZEIKEABUJA

The management of University of Abu-ja yesterday shut the institution indefinitely over students rampage that hampered the Second Semester examinations.

The examinations were billed to begin on Novem-ber 19, but could not hold

because of the two-day protest that led to the shut-down of the institution by the management.

What started as a protest by students of Engineering Faculty over the failure of the management to secure accreditation for their pro-grammes suspended by the Federal Government yesterday snowballed into violent demonstration.

In a statement signed in Abuja by the universitys registrar, Mallam M.B. Modibbo, the Vice-Chancel-lor, Prof. James Adelabu, said the university was closed down to forestall un-pleasant consequences.

He, therefore, ordered students to vacate the two campuses of the university before 4pm yesterday.

The statement reads:

Giving the prevailing situation on the campus and potential threat to the peace and security, the vice-chancellor, on behalf of the University Senate, has ap-proved the closed down of the university.

All students are, there-fore, directed to vacate the university campuses before 4pm today (yester-day).

Legal fireworks begin today at the Federal High Court sitting Lagos in the suit instituted by the Newspaper Propri-etors Association of Ni-geria (NPAN) against the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (AP-CON) in which the former is challenging some provi-sions of the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice and Sales Promotion.

In the suit filed on its behalf by Tayo Oyetibos chambers, the association wants the court to deter-mine whether Articles 21 and 137 of the Nigerian Code of Advertising Prac-tice and Sales Promotion are not beyond APCON to the extent that they affect media houses who do not engage in the practice of advertising. Joined in the suit is the Inspector-Gener-al of Police (IGP).

Other issues wanted for determination are:

whether the two articles are not inconsistent with the provisions of Section 39 of the 1999 Constitu-tion which guarantees the freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinion and to receive and impart ideas without inter-ference and whether with regard to the provision of Section 4 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, it is compe-tent of APCON to create offences and impose pen-alties as done in the code of the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice and Sales Promotion.

The association is, therefore, seeking the fol-lowing a declaration that Articles 21 and 137(a) of the Nigerian Code of Advertis-ing Practice and Sales Pro-motion are ultra vires.

L-R: Commissioner of Police (CP) G Department Force Headquarters, Computer ICT, Mr Chris Olakpe; Deputy CP Ports Authority Police Command, Marina, Lagos, Uba Kura; Jigawa State CP, Mr Kayode Theophilus; CP Armament FHQS, Mr. Moses Onireti, at a meeting in Abuja, yesterday.

Conduct Bureau may investigate Orubebe over asset declaration

OLUSEGUN KOIKI

The Nigeria Customs Service at the Mur-tala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, yester-day announced the arrest of a passenger with over $320,000 aboard a Qatar Airways flight bound for Doha in the Gulf region.

An online statement signed by the Customs Area Comptroller, Mr. Charles Eporwei, said the

passenger, Mr. Onwuekwe Anthony Chidi, with pass-port number A04086671 was arrested at about 1:pm on Monday when he was checking in on Qatar Air-ways.

Eporwei said the passen-ger only declared $70, 000 after which the remaining amount was discovered.

He said when officials carried a search on him, they discovered that $67,437 was not declared.

Eporwei said the Cus-toms Service would hand over the passenger to offi-

cials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commis-sion (EFCC) for further in-vestigation.

He said it became im-perative for Customs at the airport to comply with gov-ernment regulations as it affects foreign exchange in line with the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) CAP C 45 LFN 2004 as amended.

Eporwei said that since September 24, 2012 when the office received a let-ter from the EFCC, it has thereafter put in place a

collaborative working ar-rangement with the com-mand currency declaration officers at the international airport.

He said: On September 27, 2012, passengers Messrs Hassan Ganiyat Olorunto-yin (Mrs) and Oteh Prince Eminike were refused boarding at the currency declaration desk when they were unable to produce evidence of purchase of $270,000 and $1,040,000 re-spectively. They were sub-sequently handed over to the EFCC.

TORDUE SALEMABUJA

The Federal Ministry of Power yesterday denied that the govern-ment had cancelled the con-troversial $23.7 million elec-tricity transmission contract awarded to a Canadian firm, Manitoba Hydro Internation-al (MHI).

The Minister of State for Power, Zainab Ibrahim-Kuchi, said that the contract had not been revoked as reported.

Ibrahim-Kuchi described the report on the contract termination as sponsored, saying President Goodluck Jonathan only ordered a re-view of the contract following perceived illegalities bother-ing on breach in due process.

The minister spoke while defending the 2013 budget for the ministry before the House of Representatives Commit-tee on Power.

We are just managing a bad situation. The contract was not cancelled. Manitoba is still on the table, no other contractor is competing with the firm. We are just trying to regularise due process around that contract. Ibrahim-Kuchi said.

The National Council on Privatisation (NCP) has, how-ever, denied recommending the cancellation of the con-tract.

Chairman of the NCP Technical Committee of the NCP, Mr. Atedo Peterside, de-scribed as false speculation that the committee ever made such recommendation.

He said: The stories mak-ing the rounds which falsely suggested that the technical committee ever recommend-ed the Cancellation of Mani-toba Hydro Internationals Management Contract to manage the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) for thre years in the first in-stance.

OLUFEMI ADEOSUNABUJA

Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Mr. Sam Saba, yesterday vowed that agency would investigate the allegation of non-full disclosure of assets raised against the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe.

The CCB threatened that Orubebe would be brought before it if the al-

legations are true.Saba spoke when Anti-

Corruption Network, led by its Executive Secretary, Hon. Dino Melaye, submit-ted a petition against the minister.

He said: I have not even read the petition and so cannot even tell you what to expect. I can see the pictures in the petition and pictures do not lie. If what Hon. Dino has given us is genuine, then we are going to deal with it.

Ours is to verify it and

if we find out that Oru-bebe has not actually de-clared his assets, we will find out why he did not declare it and we will also find out from the Registry why he has also not done that.

There are avenues to find out and when we find out, it will be taken to the Code of Conduct Tribu-nal, the last court of adju-dication. Once, we finish, we will communicate.

Saba, who saluted the courage of the group to

come up with facts that would assist the Bureau in the discharge of its duty, lamented that it had been difficult to fight corrup-tion in Nigeria because of the failure of the people to avail the agency with the necessary information.

He said: If you are ask-ing on what has been our constraints, it is failure of Nigerians to come out and give us information and I am commending Dino Me-laye for boldly coming out with facts which we are

now going to verify.In a two separate peti-

tions, one to the CCB and the other to the Indepen-dent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Me-laye accused the minister of sundry contracts scam.

Specifically, in the peti-tion to the Code of Con-duct Bureau, he alleged that Orubebe accepted a luxury building as grati-fication from one of the contractors handling the ministrys projects.

Melaye said: By the

virtue of his standing to influence the award of contracts, Elder Godsday Orubebe abused his office by accepting a gratifica-tion of palatial mansion on the property allocated to him in Abuja, contrary to Section 12 of the ICPC Act.

The mansion is situ-ated at Ministers hill, Ma-bushi Area, Abuja, built and delivered to Elder Godsday Orubebe by one of the contractors in his ministry.

Customs arrests passenger with $320,000 at Lagos Airport

$23.7m Manitoba contract intact

UNIABUJA shut over students protest

Hearing begins today in NPAN suit against APCON

Senator President, David Mark

L-R: Mr. Folorunsho Folarin-Coker; Senator Gbenga Ashafa; Barrister Tobi Ashafa; Senator Ganiyu Solomon and Senator Femi Ojudu, at the call to the bar reception party for Barrister Ashafa in Abuja, yesterday.

Jonathan loses younger brotherROTIMI FADEYIABUJA

President Goodluck Jonathan has ex-pressed sadness over the death of his younger brother, Chief Meni Inno-cent Jonathan.

Coincidentally, the death of Meni occurred yesterday which was the birthday of the President, who clocked 55 years.

A statement issued by his Special Adviser on

Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati said; Presi-dent Goodluck Jonathan announces with sadness the death, earlier today, of his younger brother, Chief Meni Innocent Jon-athan.

The statement disclosed that Meni passed away at the National Hospital, Abu-ja, after a brief illness while formal burial arrange-ments would be announced later by the family.

Although, the cause of

Menis death was not dis-closed, it was gathered that he was flown from Bayelsa to Aso Rock clinic last week to receive medical treat-ment.

It was also learnt that Meni was the Presidents half brother and had act-ed as the head of Otueke Council of Chiefs before his death.

Meanwhile, the news of the death of Chief Meni Jonathan beclouded any elaborate ceremony at the

Presidential Villa to mark the Presidents birthday.

At the State House yes-terday, there was lull in ac-tivities except for the five new ambassadors to the country that were received by the President before he heard of the sad news.

It was gathered that Jonathan later visited the National Hospital where his younger brother died in company of Vice-President Namadi Sambo and other senior aides.

Subsidy scam: Dozzy oil boss not arrested Counsel

Nigerian leaders urged to invest in future

Abia gov proposes N134bn for 2013

Insurance fi rm sues Senate Committee head, NAICOM for N2bn

Ecological Fund: Reps demand ministers sack over N396bn fraud

FRANCIS FAMOROTI

Managing Director of Dozzy Oil and Gas Limited, Sir Dozzy Chukwudozie, has refuted claims that he was arrested and detained by men of the Special Fraud Unit, SFU, Ikoyi, Lagos, over an alleged N1, 773,938,533.60 billion subsidy scam.

Counsel to the oil mag-nate, Mr. Ugwuzor Adindu, who dismissed the newspa-per report in a statement in Lagos, said the publication, which alleged that Chuk-wudozie, was detained, said the publication was not only false, malicious and defama-tory, but intended to portray his client in bad light as oil subsidy defaulters.

Besides, he said the

company was not indicted by the SFU as purportedly claimed by the unit.

The SFU had in a state-ment released on Monday claimed that six managing directors and chief execu-tive officers of six oil com-panies are in its net. The unit said investigations had shown that the companies benefitted from an illegal oil subsidy.

The list named Chukwu-dozie as one of the detained, whose firms benefited from an illegal subsidy at differ-ent times between 2010 and 2011. But, Adindu main-tained that his client had never been indicted by the Presidential Committee on Fuel Subsidy Verification or by any other panel set up by the Federal Government on subsidy payment.

Nigerian leaders have been urged to take charge of the countrys future by invest-ing heavily in the education sector in order to provide a quality foundation for Nige-rian children.

Renowned journalist and author, Fareed Zakaria, at the 2012 Airtel Night of In-fluence, yesterday gave this charge, saying the future of Nigeria should be of para-mount importance to the leaders.

Zakaria, who spoke yes-terday under the theme; Africas Political Economy: The Challenge of Lead-ership at a high profile gathering of Nigerias best and brightest, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, observed that a focused investment in hu-

man capital development and building strong institu-tions to safe-guard society from human failings are important requirements for lifting developing nations out of the lowest levels of economic growth.

The cerebral TV anchor-man also advised that rather than subsidising the pres-ent or buying votes, leaders should invest in education, invest in infrastructure, in-vest in healthcare and invest in the future.

Citing Taiwan and South Korea, he further observed that although these coun-tries do not have natural re-sources, they have emerged strong economies with im-pressive GDP growth rates because of their efforts inde-veloping human capital and building strong institutions.

GEORGE OPARAABIA

Abia State Governor, Theodore Orji, yes-terday presented a N134.148 billion budget to the state House of Assem-bly for the year 2013.

The budget had an in-crease of N4.188 billion rep-resenting 3.2 per cent over the 2012 budget outlay of N129.959 billion.

The governor said while presenting the budget ti-tled; Budget of Hope, that recurrent expenditure was N67.820 billion, while capi-tal expenditure is N66.327 billion.

Governor Orji said a breakdown of the recurrent

expenditure showed that personnel cost would gulp N24.386 billion as against 2012 figure of N23.881 bil-lion.

According to him, over-head cost was N30.943 bil-lion against N26.744 billion in the passing year.

Giving a breakdown of the capital expenditure, the governor said general ad-ministration got the highest allocation of N25.398 billion while the economic sector got N21.086 billion; regional development N11.353 bil-lion and social services sec-tor N7.669 billion.

The state assembly re-ceived N8.20 billion as capi-tal expenditure for the com-ing year.

KAYODE KETEFE

An Insurance com-pany, Alliance and General Insur-ance Plc, (A&AGIP) has sued the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) before a Fed-eral High Court in Lagos, claiming damages of N2 billion.

The company, which joined a worker of NICOM, one Mr. N. O. Opara, as the third defen-dant in the suit, contends that the defendants had injured its reputation as a duly licensed and credible insurance company in Ni-geria by publishing serial defamatory publications maliciously about it.

The purported defama-tory materials claimed that the plaintiff was not credible enough to be an insurer for the Nigeria College of Aviation and that it could not be a prop-er organisation to be trust-ed on insurance contract.

In its statement of claim, the insurance firm states that on July 12, NICOM wrote a letter to the first defendant (Sena-tor Hope Uzodima) that contained false and de-famatory matters about the health and financial position of the company.

It contends that NAI-COM wrote to Senator Uzodima the following words: On the basis of the 2010 Accounts which is yet to the approved by the commission due to some unresolved ac-counting issues, the com-pany maintained a nega-tive solvency margin of 271/750, 047.00.

The implication of the position above is that the company had a sol-vency shortfall of N3, 271, 750,049.00 for the financial year ended 31st December, 2010.

The unresolved ac-counting issues men-tioned above included suspected alteration and or falsification of figures reported in the 2010 finan-cial year which rendered

TORDUE SALEMABUJA

The House of Repre-sentatives Commit-tee on Environment yesterday asked President Goodluck Jonathan to sack the Minister of Environ-ment, Hajiya Hadiza Maila-fia, with immediate effect over the alleged disap-pearance of N396 billion from the Ecological Fund.

The lawmakers were an-noyed with the minister, who along with the Sec-retary to the Government Federation, SGF, Anyim Pius Anyim, turned down invitation to appear before

the committee yesterday. The committee, which

was to conduct hearing on the operations of the Eco-logical Fund yesterday, had to postpone the hearing ow-ing to the ministers absence.

Members of the commit-tee took turn to condemn Mailafia for showing lack of commitment to her of-fice and work.

The committee also lam-basted Anyim for his ab-sence at the investigative session which, according to the Chairman of the com-mittee, Uche Ekwunife, was meant to conclude the work it started since November 2011.

the audited accounts unreli-able.

On the basis of the above statement allegedly by NAI-COM, Senator Uzodima wrote a letter entitled; In-surance of the assets of Nigeria College of Aviation Technology by A &G Insur-ance Company Plc to the Minister of Aviation.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 7Wednesday, November 21, 2012 National News

FEMI OYEWESOABEOKUTA

Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State yesterday in Abeokuta, the state capital, presented a budget propos-al of N211.86 billion to the House of Assembly for the 2013 fiscal year.

The proposal, which was christened Budget for

sustainable growth, was hinged on the five cardinal programmes of the gover-nors mission to re-build the state.

Amosun said education, health care delivery, hous-ing, agriculture, rural and infrastructural develop-ment were the priority in the budget preparation.

At the presentation wit-nessed by the three Sena-

tors from the state, past military governors of the state and traditional rulers among others, the governor said the 2012 budget perfor-mance stood at 51 per cent.

He said his administra-tion remained sincere and unwavering in the imple-mentation of the five car-dinal programmes upon which the budget for the out-going year was hinged.

The governor, who ex-plained that the needs of the people informed the policies and projects initi-ated by his administration, said: We are ambitious, determined, aggressive and forward-looking in our de-velopmental programmes and projects.

We are focused on pre-paring our people and our state for the future. We see

Ogun as one state that will play a pivotal role in the fu-ture development of Nige-ria and Africa.

Amosun promised that the 2013 budget would be geared towards consolidat-ing the efforts of his ad-ministration by paying at-tention to wealth creation through sound economic policies.

But what could have been a disaster at the pre-sentation was averted yesterday as security op-eratives threatened to shoot three journalists for alleg-edly presenting what they called fake identification cards.

The three journalists - Femi Oyeweso of National Mirror, Sulaiman Fasasi of Nigerian Pilot and Razaq Ayinla of Business Day newspapers - were accused of impersonation by the overzealous security offi-cial and were denied access to cover the budget presen-tation.

The security officials openly cock their guns and threatened to pull the trig-ger should the fake jour-nalists refused to leave the scene.

State police still solution to nations insecurity AjimobiKEMI OLAITANIBADAN

The agitation for the creation of state police resurfaced yesterday in Ibadan, as Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi said the federal-controlled Police Force has failed woefully in the main-tenance of internal security.

He spoke in a lecture entitled: The police is-sue in federal Nigeria: A shoe wearers perspec-

tive, which he delivered at the Department of Politi-cal Science, University of Ibadan.

The governor called for the amendment to 1999 Constitution to accommo-date the establishment of state police as a solution to the security challenges confronting Nigeria.

He said the agitation for state police became apt in view of the violent crimi-nal activities which had enveloped the country in

L-R: Children of the late former Special Adviser on Health to Lagos State Governor, Hon. Toyin Hamzat Omolara, Oluwatobi, widow, Funke; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola and Tomiwa Hamzat, during the governors condolence visit to his residence at Ijebu-Aiyepe, Ogun State, on Monday.

recent times.Ajimobi said: It is suf-

fice to say the Boko Haram uprising in the North, the kidnappings and mob kill-ings in the South-East and South-South and ceaseless armed robberies and assas-sinations in the South-West have raised questions on the ability of the police to secure Nigeria.

He lamented that the cur-rent command structure of the police had hampered governors to truly serve as Chief Security Officers of their respective states.

The governor said: They merely wear that title like an honorary chieftaincy title. Yet, the governors, who have been deemed fit to be entrusted with securing their states by the electorate, deserve to have the powers and fa-cilities to meet the expecta-tions of the electorate on the security of lives and property.

Ajimobi also noted that the police had been subject to abuse by past federal ad-ministrations for political reasons, citing the arrest and deportation of Alhaji Abdulrahman Shugaba,

the Majority and Great Ni-geria Peoples Party (GNPP) Leader of the Borno State House of Assembly by the National Party of Nigeria-led Federal Government in the Second Republic.

According to him, the police also featured promi-nently in the manipulations of the 1983 elections in Oyo, Ondo and Imo states.

Ajimobi said: Since 1999, the police had been used by the Peoples Demo-cratic Party (PDP) govern-ment of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to ha-rass and intimidate gover-nors who either belonged to different political par-ties or were members of the same PDP, but not in good terms with the former President.

The instances included the abduction of former Governor Chris Ngige in Anambra State. It also in-cluded the police-assisted impeachment of many gov-ernors, including former Governor Rashidi Ladoja of Oyo State. Instances of police culpability in the rig-ging of elections against opposition parties have also been rampant.

EMMANUEL ONANIABUJA

National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, was among the 3, 897 graduates of the Ni-gerian Law School called to the Bar yesterday at a ceremony held at the Inter-national Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja.

Of the number, nine graduated with First Class degree, 195 had Second Class Lower Division, while 2,783 came out with Pass.

According to the Direc-tor-General of the Law School, Dr. Mamman Tahir, a total of 1,552 would re-sit their examination.

Dr. Tahir advised the new lawyers to be self-reli-ant by creating jobs, rather than waiting to be engaged.

He told them that the knowledge acquired must be justified through its posi-tive exploits.

The DG said those caught impersonating during the just-concluded examina-tion are currently facing criminal trial.

Also speaking at the cer-

emony attended by eminent Nigerians and parents of the new lawyers, chairman of the occasion, Chief Id-owu Sofola (SAN), advised the new entrants to en-sure prompt attendance in court and approach their assignments with utmost diligence.

Oyinlola, 3,896 lawyers called to Bar

We passed nine bills, 16 resolutions

PDP, ACN trade blames over attack in Ekiti community

Amosun presents N211.86bn budget for 2013

FEMI OYEWESO ABEOKUTA

Ogun State House of Assembly Speaker Suraj Adekunbi yes-terday said that the Assem-bly has passed nine bills into law and 16 resolutions.

The Speaker dropped the hint in his welcome address to herald the presentation of the 2013 budget by Gov-ernor Ibikunle Amosun at the Assembly Complex in Abeokuta, the state capital.

Adekunbi said the bills passed into law were on fi-nance, education, health, judiciary, local government, rural and infrastructural development.

He said the bills and resolutions were meant to complement the efforts of the governor towards fast-tracking the socio- econom-ic development of the state.

Commenting on the oversight functions of the Assembly, Speaker Adekun-bi said the House ensured that funds appropriated in the year 2012 budget were spent on projects for which they were meant.

ABIODUN NEJOADO EKITI

Members of the Peo-ples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Ekiti State are accusing one an-other over the attack un-leashed on Efon-Alaye yes-terday.

Two members of PDP, who were allegedly injured in the fracas, according to a PDP leader in the area, Mr. Segun Akinwumi, are receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Aramo-ko-Ekiti.

Akinwumi told journal-ists on phone yesterday that some PDP members were standing in front of the partys secretariat when ACN supporters suddenly swooped on them and left two PDP members inflicted with machete injury.

He alleged that ACN leaders in the community, including the Special Ad-viser on Legislative Affairs to Governor Kayode Fay-emi, Hon Dapo Karounwi, were behind the attack, adding that the assailants vandalised the PDP secre-tariat.

But Karounwi dismissed the allegation.

He said he had notbeen to Efon-Alaye, his country home, since Saturday.

Karounwi said some in-dividuals in the PDP would have been responsible if there was any crisis in the town.

He said: This informa-tion is strange to me and it is rather very unfortunate. The PDP should not be intellectually lazy by just cooking up allegation with-out getting the veracity of its claims.

Oyinlola

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net8 Wednesday, November 21, 2012 South West

MURITALA AYINLA

The lawmaker rep-resenting the La-gos East Senatorial District, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, yesterday con-demned the assassination of a top Lagos politician and a former Chairman of Ikeja Local Government, Hon. Toyin Amzat.

According to Senator Ashafa, the assassina-tion of Amzat, which took place in Sagamu after a party the deceased attend-ed, confirms the insecu-rity in the country.

The Senator, who de-scribed the former local government boss and an ex-Special Adviser to Gov-ernor Babatunde Fashola on Health, during his first term in office as a humble

SAM OLUWALANA

Determined to en-courage small scale industrial-ists in the 36 states of the federation and the Fed-eral Capital Territory (FTC), Abuja, the Manag-ing Director of the Bank of Industry (BoI), Mrs. Evelyn Oputa, has made available a N37 billion loan facility to assist lo-cal entrepreneurs across the country.

The loan, a collaborat-ing effort between the BoI and each of the 36 state governments and the FCT is meant to encourage and improve industrialists contributions and partici-pation in the nations in-dustrial growth.

Under the terms of agreement, each of the contributing state will pay a sum of N500 mil-lion counterpart fund,

He told the gathering that the attacks on him over his 2014 governorship am-bition in the past few weeks had popularised him the more among Ekiti people.

Fayose said the state government has no justi-fication to allegedly spon-sor any attack against him, even if he has com-mitted similar mistakes in the past.

It will be recalled that the

meetings of Ayodele Fayose Campaign Organisation at Oye Ekiti, Ilawe Ekiti and Ikere Ekiti were disrupted by some thugs recently.

State Police Commis-sioner, Mr. Sotonye Waka-ma, told journalists on phone on Monday that sev-en persons had been ar-rested in connection with the attack on the former governor at Oye Ekiti.

Fayoses words: They

said I used the state ma-chinery to stop the then Al-liance for Democracy when I was the governor, but this is not true. Even if I had committed a similar mis-take in the past, must they follow a bad precedence?

The former governor, who said it was not fair to stop his campaign group said; Governor Kayode Fayemi campaigned hard and struggled for years to

the only means of their livelihood is Okada busi-ness, it is expedient to cur-tail this menace before the situation gets out of hand.

His words: There are no records of these immi-grants, neither is there any tangible means of control-ling their entrance, there is no data on them and they are free to commit crime and disappear and the only available job for them is Okada business.

The group called on the Lagos State govern-ment not only to be vigi-lant, but to take drastic

measures to deal with the situation and the social consequences of the drift which has led to high rate of crime and violence in recent time.

The group, which said it has embarked on a cam-paign in all the local govern-ment areas of Lagos State to meet the landlord associa-tions, community leaders, community-based organisa-tions and Okada riders as-sociation to form a synergy between them on how to ban the menace of Okada busi-ness and safe our society from criminality.

and easy going fellow that is worthy of emulation.

His words: Lagos State and indeed Ogun State where he hailed from will surely miss a highly re-sourceful professional, who touched the lives of so many people across party and economic di-vides. He was a socialite with a passion for philan-thropy, especially where the less-privileged are concerned.

while the BoI will provide the other N500 million to make a total of N1bil-lion loan facility for small scale industries in the state.

But some states pledged to contribute more than N500 million as a way of ensuring more small scale industrialists in their do-main enjoy the facility.

Already, the facility has started to change the face of business in Ondo State as one of the beneficiaries in the state, Jojein Nige-ria Limited, has set a new standard in the hospital-ity business in Akure, the state capital, through its new outlet, Jojein Hotels & Resorts.

According to the Gen-eral-Manager of the new 5-Star Hotel, Emmanuel Oguot, the BoI loan facil-ity to the company came handy when construction work came to a stop due to paucity of funds.

become governor, so I ex-pect him to give others a similar leverage for them to actualise their dreams in the interest of peace.

According to him, the people of Ekiti State would unfailingly want a repeat of the good time they had under his admin-istration when he engaged local contractors in the ex-ecution of state projects to sustain the economy.

ABIODUN NEJOADO EKITI

Former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has attrib-uted the poverty suffered by the people in the state to lack of patronage for lo-cal contractors by the gov-ernment.

Fayose canvassed a re-versal of the trend to ad-dress the capital flight,

which, he said, had been the bane of development in the state.

The former governor, who spoke at a meeting with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members at Igede Ekiti in the Ire-podun/Ifelodun Council Area yesterday, advised the ruling Action Con-gress of Nigeria (ACN) government against intol-erance to the opposition.

SINA FADARE

The Oodua Nation-alist Coalition has lent its voice to the restriction of Okada as a means transportation not only on Lagos major roads, but in major cities in the South-West states, saying that the trend should be checked so that the zone will not be made the base for illegal migrants.

The group in a press briefing addressed by its President, Comrade Ola-lekan Agbana, yesterday

said the step taken by the Lagos State government was in the right direction.

Agbana said; With the clampdown on illegal aliens in the Maghreb re-gion, mostly in Libya and the decline in migration from West Africa to Europe, due to the new anti-immi-gration regimes in North Africa, the focus of most migrants will be Lagos.

He regretted that the manner the aliens are moving from Mali, Mau-ritania, Southern Sudan and Chad to Lagos un-checked and the fact that

Patronise local contractors, Fayose urges govt

Dont lift ban on Okada, group tells Fashola

Ondo threatens to revoke road contractHAKEEM GBADAMOSIAKURE

The contractor han-dling a major road in Ondo State, Homan Engineering Company, has been handed a two-week ultimatum to either move to site or consider the con-tract terminated.

The state government had awarded the over N4 billion Fiwasaye-Obaile-Airport Junction to the construction company

about three years ago. The construction firm is said to be owned by the Chair-man of Bi-Courtney Lim-ited, Dr. Wale Babalakin.

Issuing the warning yesterday during an in-spection tour of the road project, the state Commis-sioner for Works, Gboye Adegbenro, expressed disappointment over the attitude of the construc-tion company towards the project.

Adegbenro lamented

the state of the 8.2 kilo-meters road awarded to the company almost three years ago which was still at less than 25 per cent ex-ecution level.

The commissioner said the construction firm never showed any serious-ness in the handling of the project, adding that the manner the project was being handled showed that the firm lacked the capacity to execute it.

Adegbenro, however,

expressed regret that Bi-Courtney had disappoint-ed the government and the people of the state with the way it abandoned the project awarded to it since February 2010.

His words: It is disap-pointing that we are at this stage on this project, this is a project of almost three years and the level of execution is still very disappointing and we can-not continue to wait for this company.

Amzat touched lives across party divides Ashafa

Local entrepreneurs to enjoy BoIs N37bn loan facility

Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi (right); presenting a Toyota Camry car gift to the Pastor-in-Charge of Ekiti Province 1 of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Olawale Adejubee, during the 50th Birthday Thanksgiving of Pastor Adejubee, in Ado-Ekiti, on Sunday.

Ashafa

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Wednesday November 21, 2012 9South West

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net10 Wednesday, November 21, 2012 South East

Robbers invade Catholic priests homeCHRIS NJOKU OWERRI

Four suspected armed robbers on Monday stormed the house of one Rev. Fa-ther Wilson, a resident Catholic Priest attached to St. Patricks Catholic Church in Imo State Poly-technic, Umuagwo in Oha-ji/Egbema Local Govern-ment Area of Imo State and dispossessed him of his personal belongings, including N150, 000.

The robbers, who ar-rived at the polytechnic at about 12 midnight, hid within the campus till

they struck at about 5am. They robbed the priest

of the sum of N150, 000, one lap top and four mo-bile phones.

But luck ran against the robbers when some youths noticed an unusual movement at the Rev. Fa-thers resident and alerted the polytechnics Chief Security Officer (CSO), who in turn called in the police.

When the police got to the scene, the robbers engaged them in gun battle. Three of the sus-pects were arrested, while

one escaped with bullet wound.

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, Vitalis Onugu, said the police recovered axe, iron cutter, iron rods and one locally made pistol from the robbers.

According to him, the robbers were later trans-ferred to State CID in Ow-erri for further investiga-tion.

The suspects will be charged to court as soon as the police conclude their investigation, Onu-gu said.

NWABUEZE OKONKWO ONITSHA

Detectives attached to Ogidi Police Station in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State have arrest-ed a landlord and another man for alleged robbery.

The suspects were al-leged to have been terroris-ing residents of Nkpor, Ogi-di and environs.

According to a police source, the landlord, Ifeanyi Okwudo, alias Sandpaper, was arrested in a robbery operation, while his accom-plices escaped arrest.

The other suspect was arrested on a different op-eration. His accomplices escaped too.

According to the source, both suspects were operat-ing on motorbikes before their arrests.

He hinted that on inter-rogation, the suspect con-fessed to have built seven rooms with loots he made from robbery operations.

Items recovered from him were locally made short gun and five rounds of Ak47 assault rifle ammu-nitions.

In a similar develop-ment, the police also arrest-ed one commercial motor-cyclist, Obisieike Nwabia, for allegedly robbing an apprentice trader at Ikenga village, Ogidi.

Confirming both inci-dents, the Ogidi Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Mr. Kanayo Uzuegbu, said in-vestigations have begun, adding that the fleeing ac-complices would be arrest-ed.

DENNIS AGBOENUGU

The Independent Cor-rupt Practices and other Related Of-fences Commission (ICPC) has called on Nigerians to support the anti-graft agen-cies to fight the war against corruption.

ICPC said that the war against corruption could not be won with the sole ef-fort of anti-graft agencies in Nigeria.

The South-East zonal head of ICPC, Mr. Udonsi Arua, spoke at a three-day capacity-building to engage in budget processes at the grassroots in Awka and Idemili South local govern-ment areas of Anambra State.

At the workshop organ-ised by YORDEL Africa, a non-governmental organi-zation (NGO), Arua said the whole essence of the ICPC Act 2000 is not only to pun-ish offenders, but also to bring about corruption free society through strategic partnership and collabora-tion with all tiers of govern-ment, NGOs, community-based organisations (CBOs) and the entire public.

He regretted that infra-structure, such as water, electricity, roads and oth-ers, which ought to have been provided for the av-erage citizen, have eluded Nigerians while those who loot the nations treasury live in luxury, displaying their ill-gotten wealth all over the place.

Landlord, other held for alleged robbery

ICPC urges support for war against graft

CHRIS NJOKUOWERRI

Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha yes-terday ordered the im-mediate arrest of contrac-tors who have collected money but failed to execute their projects, even as he declared war on violent crimes such as kidnapping and armed robbery.

Governor Okorocha, who gave the order at the launch of new Imo Securi-ty Network and Emergen-cy Services at Ahiajoku Memorial Centre in Ow-erri, the state capital, said: Now that rains are over, contractors executing

road projects have been ordered to go back to sites to ensure their immediate completion.

He warned those con-tractors, who have collect-ed money, but refused to go back to sites, that it would not be business as usual, saying they risked being arrested.

The governor said: Any contractor who has collect-ed money and refused to go back to site will be arrested and dealt with according to law.

He promised to inform members of the public all roads that had been ap-proved and how much paid by the government, as well

as the names of the con-tractors handling them.

According to him, over N13.9 billion had already been spent on various road contracts with the inten-tion to spend additional N26 billion on roads.

Okorocha said: This money is more than enough to complete all road projects in the state and that was why we decided to open all the roads to so that we could complete them before the rains set in, but the contractors took advan-tage of the rain to abandon the projects, thinking that the roads are too many that we would not be able to identify them.

The governor, however, warned kidnappers and

armed robbers operating in the state to desist or face the full wrath of the law, as the new security outfit was established to fish them out.

He said: The security outfit will comb the forests, uncompleted buildings any where criminals may be hiding and bring them to justice.

The Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Baba Bo-lanta, said the launch of the security outfit dem-onstrates the importance the state attached to secu-rity of lives and property, but advised the govern-ment to inculcate in the security outfit the need to keep to the confines of the law.

NWABUEZE OKONKWO ONITSHA

The Anambra State Police Command yesterday declared one Okey Nwaforagu, alias Ochiagha Nkpor, wanted in connection with armed robbery, kidnapping, mur-der and unlawful posses-sion of prohibited fire-arms.

In a statement signed by the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Raphael Uzoigwe, the com-mand said the suspect, who hails from Enugu-Umusiome village, Nkpor in idemili North Local Government Area, is about six feet and two inches tall, without any tribal mark.

According to the state-ment, the suspect speaks

English and Igbo languag-es fluently, adding that any person(s) that has useful information that could lead to his arrest should con-tact the nearest police sta-tion or call GSM number 08037061958 or 08030954493.

The statement added that a handsome reward awaits any person who gives useful information that could lead to the sus-pects arrest.

But Nwaforagu de-scribed the statement as a mere gimmick. He told journalists in a telephone chat yesterday that he was not on the run because his hands are clean.

He said: It is an attempt to tarnish my image and ridicule me, as well as give

the public the impression that I have questionable character, but unfortu-nately for them, the public knows who I am. The pub-lic knows that I have no dent at all.

The suspect identified himself as the embattled chairman of Abor-Akuzor Kindred in Umusiome vil-lage, saying the police ac-tion was aimed at giving him a bad name in order to hang him.

He alleged that the Divi-sional Police Officer in Ogi-di, Mr. Kanayo Uzuegbu, might have masterminded the declaration because of a recent petition he wrote to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) accusing the DPO of negligence of duty.

Okorocha declares war on violent crimes

Police declare man wanted for kidnapping

Anambra State Governor Peter Obi (left) and President, Chartered Institute of Banking, Mr. Segue Aina, during a visit to the governor at the Government House in Awka, on Monday.

Engage police in gun battle

My hands are clean Suspect

Orders arrest of failed contractors

state to publicise huge contracts and the first state to manage a ratio of about 80 per cent for capital expenditure and 20 per cent for recurrent expenditure of the state budget, which can be seen through projects executed in the state.

The governor flayed op-ponents of the 13 per cent oil derivation and advised them to look inwards by harnessing their natural

resources, saying: Crude oil is a perishable item and if the economy de-pends only on crude oil, then there are bound to be problems. I want to call on Nigerians to look inwards towards their natural re-sources in their domains.

NEITI Chairman, Mr. Ledum Mitee, explained that NEITI is charged with promoting transparency, which leads to account-ability for the benefits of

the people and urged states and local government ar-eas to embrace NEITI, ex-plaining that they brought the retreat to Akwa

Ibom State to look for practical ideas to solving the countrys problems.

Mitee applauded Akpa-bio for setting the pace of

development through democracy and urged him to continue to steer the ship of transparency in his administration.

NEMA lifts Ebonyi fl ood victims

Kassim Afegbua is Oshiomholes SA on Media

DENNIS AGBOENUGU

The National Emer-gency Management Agency (NEMA) has presented relief ma-terials worth several mil-lions of naira to flood vic-tims in Ebonyi State.

Handing over the items to the displaced persons through the state Governor, Martins Elechi, NEMA Di-rector-General, Alhaji Mo-hammed Sani Sidi, urged those charged with the re-sponsibility of distributing the materials to do so with utmost sincerity.

Alhaji Sidi was repre-sented by NEMA Coordina-tor in the South-East, Dr. On-imode Abdullahi Bandele.

The event was witnessed by officials of Ebonyi State Emergency Management Agency, as well as chair-men of the affected local government and develop-ment centres.

In his remarks, Alhaji Sidi said that the agency had provided relief materi-als worth several millions of naira to victims of flood in the South-East, saying the gesture was in fulfill-ment of the Federal Gov-ernments efforts towards cushioning the effect of the disaster.

He added that the ad-ministration of President Goodluck Jonathan shared in the victims plight.

Responding, Governor Elechi expressed the appre-ciation of the government and people of the state to the Federal Government on the gesture, especially its unrelenting effort in as-sisting the state in lifting the victims.

Executive Secretary of Ebonyi State Emergency Management Agency, El-der Igboke Umunna, hailed NEMAs efforts in lifting the flood victims which, ac-cording to him, cannot be quantified.

our society forward in-stead of moving our pock-ets forward.

He said: Akwa Ibom State today is successful because we were ready to change, we wanted to make an history and be part of the transformation agenda of President Good-luck Jonathan and the only key to achieve that is through transparency.

I can boldly say that Akwa Ibom is the first

Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio has urged the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to check illegal mining of solid minerals in the country.

Akpabio, who spoke yesterday at a dinner or-ganised for members of the National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG) of NEITI held at the ban-quet hall of the Gover-nors Lodge in Uyo, the state capital, said illegal mining had denied Fed-eral Government of sub-stantial revenue.

The governor stressed the need for Nigerians to embrace positive change, pointing out that If we want our country to change, we must be ready to change. We must begin to change our status quo of the country by moving

Akpabio urges NEITI to check illegal mining

Our challenge is to rebuild fl ood-damaged infrastructure DicksonSuspected sea pirates and illegal bunkerers paraded by the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in Port Harcourt, yesterday.

Uduaghan advises Agric Ministry on management of seedlings

Governor Adams Os-hiomhole of Edo State has appoint-ed Prince Kassim Afegbua as his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs.

A native of Okpella in Etsako East Local Govern-ment Area of the state, Prince Afegbua holds a degree in English from the Obafemi Awolowo Uni-versity, Ile Ife; a Post-grad-uate Diploma in Public Relations and Journalism from the Nigerian Insti-tute of Journalism (NIJ) and a Post-graduate Diplo-ma in Good Governance and Democracy from Mar-quette University, Milwau-kee, United States.

A seasoned journalist and public affairs analyst, Prince Afegbua was Direc-tor of Publicity, National Democratic Party (NDP) and later Acting National Chairman of the party from 2006 to 2008.

He was also spokesman to former military Presi-dent, Gen. Ibrahim Baban-gida, and Director of Me-dia and Publicity of the Comrade Adams Oshiom-hole Campaign Organisa-tion in the just concluded governorship election in Edo State.

A columnist with Van-guard Newspapers and Publisher of African Statesman magazine, Prince Afegbua is married and blessed with children.

EMMA GBEMUDUYENAGOA

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State yesterday ad-mitted facing a major chal-lenge in rebuilding the pub-lic infrastructure recently damaged by flood in the state.

Dickson said the chal-lenge of restoring peoples livelihood has just start-ed, describing it as the most difficult task.

The governor, who spoke at a monthly briefing in Yenagoa, the state capital, noted that all the public schools, roads and other fa-cilities needed to be rebuilt.

Delta State Gover-nor Emmanuel Uduaghan has urged the Ministry of Ag-riculture not to make mis-takes on figures of farm-ers affected by flood and warned against using the agricultural programme as money making venture.

Dr. Uduaghan, who was reviewing the flood situa-tion in the state with some senior public officials yesterday in Asaba, said: Dont see this as a mon-

He said contractors han-dling the road projects had been asked to return to site as the flood had receded.

The state Deputy Gover-nor, Rear Admiral John Jo-nah (rtd), said earlier that the state received N12.96 billion and N13.75 billion as September and October allocations from the Feder-al Government, noting that the state had so far saved N23.57 billion after its ex-penditure in October.

Jonah said the states monthly Internally Gener-ated Revenue (IGR) for Au-gust and September were N479 million and N629 million respectively.

ey-making venture. Be prudent and do not bring unrealistic figures. Pur-sue this programme self-lessly and help our farm-ers to plant this season.

He directed the min-istry to classify the farmers into categories especially subsistence, merchandized and com-mercial farmers so that the state government would determine the lev-el of assistance.

The governor was op-

He said the government had authorised the pay-ment of 40 per cent mobil-isation fee to contractors handling school building projects across the state.

The deputy governor said N6 billion would be spent on education sector to give it a facelift.

Governor Dickson, how-ever, alleged that some disgruntled and discred-ited politicians incited the flood victims and state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners to cause crisis and instability.

He said: There are a few disgruntled and discred-ited politicians whose sole

timistic that the farmers affected by flood would re-place their lost crops even as he disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Agri-culture would distribute to states affected by flood improved seeds and seed-lings this planting season.

He said: Farmers lost everything and they are expected to plant this season. So, dont frus-trate our efforts. You have to be sincere; we are not going to tolerate

business is to see how they can paint our government in bad light continually.

They have the support of some section of the Ni-gerian media. During the flood situation, most of them stayed in Abuja, they didnt come to commiser-ate with their people.

We are aware of their plans to discredit this gov-ernment and its officials and to create instability in the state .With the sup-port we have in the state, these people will continue to fail in Jesus name. Our match to greatness cannot be halted by the antics of some persons.

fraudulent figures.Briefing the governor,

the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon. Misan Ukubeyinje, an-nounced that the Federal Government allocated over than 40 metric tonnes of grain to Delta State.

Ukubeyinje said that the grains would be con-veyed to the state with 49 trucks even as he ex-plained that the grains would be sufficient for the farmers.

He listed the grains to include rice, maize and sorghum as well as garri to feed the teeming inter-nally displaced people.

Uduaghan

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Wednesday November 21, 2012 11South South

ADEMU IDAKWOLOKOJA

Two persons were yesterday feared dead while scores sustained various degrees of injury as workers en-gaged the Liaison Officer of Omala Local Government Area of Kogi State, Mallam Aminu Atabor, in a clash over unpaid salaries.

The workers, numbering over 100, stormed the coun-cil secretariat at Abejukolo headquarters in a peaceful protest demanding for the payment of the backlog of their salaries.

The workers, among other demands, charged the governor, Capt. Idris Wada, to sack the Liaison Officer 1, saying since he resumed office in June, the workers have suffered untold hard-ship as he had owed them unpaid salaries for months.

They also alleged high-handedness, victimisation and harassment of per-ceived political opponents by him.

The protest, which start-ed on a peaceful note, be-came uncontrollable when the police, who were drafted

to curtail the protest ar-rested six of the leaders and whisked them to the police headquarters in Lokoja, the state capital.

When the news of the arrest of Godwin Noah, Paul Wada and Moham-med Bamidele, Jacob Audu, Alilu Shehu and Moham-med Ademu, filtered into the town, youths, under the aegis of the Omala youth Network, barricaded all the major roads leading to the town demanding the release of their colleagues.

According to eye witness account, the Liaison Officer One, Aminu Atabor, for the fear of the police being over-whelmed by the protesters brought in combat ready soldiers to quel the up-ris-ing and two people were al-legedly killed in the melee.

HENRY IYORKASEMAKURDI

Barely three days to the local govern-ment poll in Benue State, another political clash between suspected members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) erupted yesterday at Wannune, the headquarters of Tarka Lo-cal Government Area of Benue State.

National Mirror re-lia