SNG Rejects How UNILAG Was Named After MKO Abiola
The Save Nigeria Group(SNG) while acknowledging the eternal place of Bashorun M.K.O Abiola, the winner of June 12 elections, in the political history of Nigeria and would want the highest possible honor done to him; deplores the indecent manner in which President Goodluck Jonathan has re-named the University of Lagos after him.
Renaming a University established by law through presidential fiat is an abuse of power which would make even the symbol of democracy turn several times in his grave as he died in the process of fighting against arbitrariness and rule of he thumb which the annulment of June 12 represented.
It is violation of the principles and tenets of democracy which government officials are celebrating to go on air to announce the renaming of an institution like the University of Lagos without any consultations with the university community in a manner reminiscent of the autocratic ways of the military brass hats who denied Abiola his victory in 1993 because they arrogated to themselves better knowledge than 14 million Nigerians who went to the polls.
This presidential misdemeanor displayed on the purported renaming of the University of Lagos without due process is at the heart of the mis-governance that has been the signature of a “democratic” president behaving like an Emperor in the last one year.
The scant regard for appropriation laws that led to the theft of N3 trillion on fuel subsidy whereas only N245 billion was appropriated, the deployment of soldiers against peaceful protesters against the law and other violations of due process in the last one year; are all signals of a dangerous mindset driving the country into a full dictatorship while pretending to a democratic order.
It is high time President Jonathan embraced a democratic mindset and stop behaving like maximum ruler.
We restate our demand that M.K.O Abiola must be given a befitting honor or the sacrifices he made for democracy in Nigeria in a decent and worthy manner.
Yinka Odumakin.
Spokesman.
Save Nigeria Group.
Democracy Day National Address By President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan That Caused The UNILAG Students Protest
Fellow Nigerians: 1. One year ago, I was privileged to stand before you, to take the oath of office as President of our dear country, the third to serve you as President since the return to democratic rule in 1999. Today, I remember that day and the processes leading to it with profound gratitude to God Almighty and to all Nigerians who have worked very hard to enrich our journey from military dictatorship to inclusive democratic governance.
2. For the past 13 years, we have remained a stable democracy. We have together demonstrated that the government of the people is an ideal that the people of Nigeria cherish. We have our differences as individuals and as politicians, but we have shown great faith in democracy and its institutions. We have refused to be limited by our differences. Despite reservations about some of our institutions, we have refused to submit to despair. This achievement is a testament to the courage and optimism of the Nigerian people.
Render Account of Your Rogue Regime, CNPP Urges Obasanjo
Render Account of Your Rogue Regime, CNPP Urges Obasanjo
The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has challenged Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s former president, to render an account of his regime.
In a much-quoted statement yesterday, Obasanjo described the State Houses of Assembly and the National Assembly as full of “rogues and armed robbers.”
Obasanjo imperiously queried the quality of the laws such people may be expected to produce, stating, “Integrity is necessary for systems and institutions to be strong.”
Agreeing with the former president about the necessity of integrity, CNPP described Obasanjo’s administration as “A regime that harvested unprecedented oil revenue without commensurate project performance, a regime that bastardized our democracy and a regime which simulated the fault lines hence Boko Haram and other insurgences.”
Recalling that the former general returned from jail a very poor man, CNPP pointed out how, after eight years of looting while in office, he has become one of the richest Africans.
Citing various instances of Obasanjo’s manipulation of the nation’s economy, politics and laws for his personal benefit, it challenged him to explain why all the probes and audit of his regime by the National Assembly have found him culpable.
“Chief Obasanjo blatantly looted the treasury of the nation, withdrew billions from the treasury without appropriation, corrupted the privatization process, serially obstructed justice, which made CNPP to file a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on 24 December 2007, when his immunity exited,” the statement said.
CNPP also pointed out that it has become the trade mark of Chief Obasanjo to paint Nigeria black each time he is out of power, a deceptive strategy he designed long time ago to curry the favour and recognition of the international community, and warned him not to think that he will escape or that his corruption case has been closed.
Sacked Lagos Doctors: Court Upholds Jurisdiction, Capacity Of Medical Guild To Sue; Trial to Commence In June
The National Industrial Court today in Lagos ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear the dispute between the sacked Lagos doctors and the Lagos State Government. The suit was brought before the court by a medical guild on behalf of striking doctors sacked by the state government. The case has now been adjourned to June 19, 2012 for commencement of proceedings.
On Tuesday, the Lagos State Government had asked the industrial court to throw out the suit. The government counsel, Ade Ipaye, had also filed a preliminary objection questioning the jurisdiction of the National Industrial Court to hear the case.
The medical guild had earlier released a statement alleging that Lagos State had designed a malicious plan to prolong the crisis in the state’s healthcare sector by thwarting all moves by various quarters to resolve the feud between striking doctors and the government.
EFCC Docks Lagos Man Over N3m Fraud
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) today at the Federal High Court in Ikeja arraigned one Gerald Ifeanyichukwu Mobougwu, 39, on three counts of allegedly obtaining the sum of N3.2 million from one Grace P. Enyeting under false pretences.
The EFCC said Mobouhwu, in an advertisement in his church magazine, “The Voice of Communion” in April 2009, invited investors to invest N1 million for 540 days and earn a return of N1, 590,163.93k. He also claimed that some celebrities were among the directors of the Accredited Bonds & Hedges Limited, which was located at 30A Taoridi Street in Surulere, Lagos.
“Based on this advertisement which appeared in the magazine of Communion Church, Festac Town, Lagos; Grace O. Enyeting had no cause to doubt the credibility of the investment company since her church member, (Gerald) was the Managing director of the company,” EFCC reported today. “Oblivious of the fact that Gerald only used the advert to lure church members into investing in the company, Enyeting invested over N3 million into the company only to discover that she had been duped.”
When the case came up before Justice Simeon Adah, Mobouhwu pleaded not guilty to all the charges. The judge granted him bail in the sum of N5 million and one surety who must be a resident of Lagos State.
The case was adjourned till 28th of June 2012 for commencement of trial.
JAF Calls on Diplomatic Missions To Deny Health Visas to Lagos State Officials
The Joint Action Front (JAF), a pro-labour civil society coalition, has urged diplomatic missions in Nigeria to place a ban on officials of the Lagos State government seeking visas to travel for health purposes.
In a letter to the missions, JAF said its request was based on the information available to it that senior officials of the government as well as their relatives are travelling abroad for medical treatment, at great cost to the taxpayer and while the greater mass of the people suffer under the current situation.
Recalling the government’s recent sacking of 788 of its doctors and the genesis of the doctor’s strike which led to it, JAF said that its General Congress had determined that all measures, including diplomatic sanctions, should be brought to bear on the government in order to ensure that it rescinds all its deplorable act of insensitivity.
“We believe that leaving the country by any official of the Lagos State Government or their relatives to seek medical treatment abroad while the mass of the people are being denied access to basic healthcare is criminal, and this must not be allowed,” it said in the letter.
Nigerian Government Takes On Ugwuonye, Its Former Lawyer, In US Court
The Nigerian government has filed a series of legal responses to status reports from its former lawyer, Emeka Ugwuonye, whom it accuses of stealing a $1.5 million tax refund from real estate transactions. Mr. Ugwuonye’s questionable handling of the refund was first reported by SaharaReporters.
In the responses to Mr. Ugwuonye, the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington DC, represented by Michael Guiffre of the law firm of Patton Boggs, took apart earlier arguments by the Nigerian-born Ugwuonye. In the filings, the Nigerian embassy’s attorney characterized Mr. Ugwuonye as a man who has consistently lied about his availability to defend the case. The embassy also revealed that Mr. Ugwuonye’s license to practice law in Maryland has been suspended because he failed to pay his bar fees.
The embassy was responding to Ugwuonye’s status filing where he accused Patton Boggs of conniving with the Nigerian government to abduct, torture and illegally detain him in Nigeria. In his filing, Mr. Ugwuonye asked a Washington, DC Federal District Court judge to order the embassy to pay him $4 million for his detention.
However, in an elaborate response, the lawyers to the Nigerian embassy said Mr. Ugwuonye was only trying to turn his criminal trial in Nigeria into a political case by passing himself off as a human rights activist being persecuted by the Nigerian government.
Mr. Ugwuonye had defended the military regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar (ret.) against lawsuits in the US, services for which he received thousands of dollars in compensation. In a subsequent twist, however, he confiscated monies recovered from the United States Internal Revenue Service for unrelated real estate transactions in which he had represented the Embassy. That act led to his subsequent arrest in Nigeria for criminal breach of trust.
Medical Guild Alleges Lagos State Government’s Desperation To Prolong Crisis in the Health Sector
The Lagos State Medical Guild, a body of medical practitioners, has accused the state government of a malicious intent to prolong the ongoing crisis in the healthcare sector. The guild, which had filed a suit challenging the move by the Lagos State Government to sack 788 striking doctors employed by the state, reacted sharply to the state government’s legal ploy at yesterday’s session of the National Industrial Court (NIC) where the case is being heard.
The doctors embarked on a strike to protest the state government’s failure to implement pay and other benefits negotiated in a package called CONMESS. After the state government announced it was sacking all the striking doctors, their guild filed a suit at the industrial court seeking to stop the action.
The suit could not be heard at yesterday’s session as Lagos State’s counsel, Ade Ipaye, filed a preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the National Industrial Court to hear the case. Mr. Ipaye also questioned the legal capacity of the medical guild to sue on behalf of the doctors, claiming that the body is not a recognized body and therefore could not bring a suit on behalf of the grieving doctors.
Counsel to the guild, Bamidele Aturu, however countered the state’s plea. In the end, the hearing was bogged down by argument over the industrial court’s jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, the National Industrial Court had ruled last year during a similar face-off between the medical practitioners and the state government that the doctors had a right to embark on a strike.
In a statement issued today and signed by the chairman of the Lagos Medical Guild, Mr. Odusote, and the Guild’s secretary, Mr. Idris Olusola Durojaiye, the medical group accused the Lagos State Government of desperation to prolong the healthcare crisis in the state.
“The events at the National Industrial Court and the NBA-mediation committee meeting on Tuesday 22nd May 2012 have once again exposed the desperation of the Lagos State Government to prolong the present health sector crisis as long as possible for self-serving reasons,” the statement alleged.
The guild also stated that top Lagos State officials were working hard to stall any hearing on the case of the sacked doctors by challenging the competence of any court to hear the matter.
“The court is yet to hear the substantive case of illegal sack. Top government officials have boasted that they will drag the issue of jurisdiction as far as the Supreme Court in order to further prolong commencement of hearing of the substantive suit.
“Having realized the illegality of the mass sack of doctors and the possible reversal of this action by the court, the government is trying to avoid public embarrassment by prolonging the matter in court as long as possible in order to break the resolve of the doctors. This will not happen as all doctors in the country have resolved to protect the dignity, sanctity and honor of the medical profession,” said the guild.
Soon after the adjournment of the hearing at the NIC yesterday, the doctors said they headed for a mediation meeting called by the Nigerian Bar Association. The NBA had called the meeting to help resolve the lingering crisis between the Lagos State Government and the sacked doctors. But guild officials claimed that some top officials of Lagos State again schemed to scuttle the reconciliation bid.
“Similarly, at the NBA-mediation committee meeting later same day, the government team also frustrated the efforts of the mediators by requesting for an indefinite adjournment of the sitting. This has effectively put an end to negotiations between the government and the doctors,” said the guild’s statement.
The guild added, “It is rather unfortunate that while the suffering masses are clamoring for a speedy resolution of the crisis, the government is busy playing politics with their lives. At this point, the masses are at the mercy of the government they supposedly voted to power to
protect their welfare.” The guild pledged its determination to “continue to pursue all legal and
peaceful means of resolving this crisis.”
Public hospitals in Lagos have been shut for several weeks due to the government’s feud with the doctors. The state government recently claimed it had employed some 300 doctors for the government-owned hospitals, but sources within the health sector dispelled the claim.
Profile of Nigeria’s Boko Haram Leader Abubakar Shekau-BBC
Abubakar Shekau is the leader of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, which has carried out a series of deadly attacks across northern Nigeria. Abdullahi Tasiu Abubakar from the BBC Hausa service looks at Nigeria’s most wanted man.
The leader of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram is said to be a fearless loner, a complex, paradoxical man - part intellectual, part gangster.
Fondly called imam or leader by his followers, Abubakar Muhammad Shekau was born in Shekau village in Nigeria’s north-eastern state of Yobe.
Activists Reject “Ibori Judge” Awokulehin Handling Former Nassarawa Governor’s Corruption Case-PREMIUM TIMES
Civil Society Organisations say Justice Marcel Awokulehin does not have the moral pedigree to preside over any other corruption case.
A judge whom civil society groups say has “brought so much shame to Nigeria” is to decide whether Aliyu Akwe-Doma, former Governor of Nassarawa state corruptly enriched himself to the tune of 15bn naira.
Marcel Awokulehin, presiding judge of a Federal High Court in Nassarawa state on Monday listened to arguments on whether or not charges filed against the former by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should be quashed.
In defending his client, counsel to the former Governor, Charles Edosonwan, stated that “this is a criminal proceeding that ought not to proceed.” The basis for this submission by Mr. Edosonwan was a previous ruling by Mr. Awokulehin.
How President Jonathan, Ministers And Cronies Shared N155 Billion From Malabu Oil Block Sale Scam-PREMIUM TIMES
The presidency, his associates and some ministers have been named in a monumental money laundering scandal, one of the most elaborate in Nigeria’s history.
PREMIUM TIMES can reveal today that the N155billion secretly paid to convicted money launderer, Dan Etete, by the Federal Government, on the orders of President Goodluck Jonathan, was actually a slush fund, with a huge chunk of it ending in bank accounts of cronies and business associates of government officials and at least one individual with links to Mr. Jonathan.
Augustine Effiong: A Southerner And A Member Of Boko Haram; Confesses To Attacks On Christians At BUK-ChannelsTV
Augustine Effiong, 25, an indigene of Akwa Ibom State, who is popularly known as Abubakar Garba said on Monday that he helped carry out deadly attacks on April 29 at church services in the old campus of the Bayero University, Kano (BUK) and admitted belonging to the extremist group, Boko Haram in his confession to police.
The Scene of the BUK blast that killed about 20 people including two professors
The State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Idris who disclosed this in a press statement made available to reporters said that, Mr Effiong had confessed to be one of those behind the attack on Christian worshipers at BUK.
Jonathan, Shell, Etete In Fresh N155billion Scandal-PREMIUM TIMES
The Federal Government is enmeshed in court cases in the U.S. and UK over a curious $1.1bn (about N155 billion) payment made to a company belonging to former oil minister, Dan Etete.
Four years after he was convicted of money laundering in France, Dan Etete, a former Petroleum Minister, through his company Malabu Oil, has become a billion dollar richer, courtesy of the Nigerian Government and Shell.
According to documents (filed March 22, 2012) before the Supreme Court of the State of New York in the US, President Goodluck Jonathan discreetly approved the transfer of the sum of $1.1bn to Mr. Etete on April 29, 2011, two weeks after he was re-elected.
The Looting Of Nigeria: BIG OIL’s $140 Billion A Year and Counting By Thomas C. Mountain
As western oil companies loot some $140 billion a year of Nigeria’s black gold, two thirds of the country’s 100 million people live on less than $2 a day.
Nigeria’s “official” oil production figures show about 3 million barrels a day being pumped from their oil fields into the holds of western tankers, though for decades now informed observers have estimated up to one third of all Nigerian oil is actually “stolen”, secretly loaded onto oil tankers after bribes are paid to corrupt government officials.
If 4 million barrels of oil are being shipped out of Nigeria daily at $100 a barrel, times 30 days a month, times 12 months, you arrive at almost $150 billion a year in potential oil revenues for Nigeria.
SaharaReporters is an outstanding, groundbreaking website that encourages citizen journalists to report ongoing corruption and government malfeasance in Africa. Using photos, text, and video dynamically, the site informs & prompts concerned African citizens & other human rights activists globally.
