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President
Goodluck Jonathan yesterday claimed his utterance in which he
reportedly referred to leaders of the south-west region of the country
as rascals was ‘grossly misunderstood.’ He however said that the region
must be ruled by “those who have what it takes.” The president had been
quoted at a presidential campaign rally in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital
last week, to have said that “the entire South-West is too important,
too sophisticated and too educated to be in the hands of rascals.” The
statement has been interpreted as an indirect reference to the
opposition party, the Action Congress Of Nigeria (ACN) which holds sway
over the region. Reacting to the statement, the Lagos State governor
Babatunde Raji Fashola cautioned the president saying that leaders
should refrain from using words that are offensive.

Choosing his
Facebook wall to clarify his statement, Mr Jonathan said that
“unreliable or mischievous behaviours or notions ought not to be
acceptable in any part of our body politic especially not in the
south-west where the population has had the privilege of a head start in
education compared to other parts of the country.” Noting that the
region is of critical significance to the economic and political
advancement of the country, he said, “it is unhelpful to public
discourse if we constantly twist words beyond intended meaning.” He
condemned the emphasis on the latter part of his sentence which he
claims “typifies the general tendency to dwell on the negative which we
must, as a country, refrain from”.

“My qualification of
the West as highly educated and sophisticated was easily dispensed
with, while the fact that we should not expose such civilized and
educated populace to rascality was played more upon, with emphasis on
the rascality” he adds.

Mr Jonathan said
that the foundation of the nation’s independence movement burgeoned from
the discussions which emanated from what he called the “Ibadan School
of thought” as the liberal Arts faculty of the then University College
Ibadan was then known.

He insisted that the
western region remains a very sophisticated and educated part of the
country, unique in its unequivocal stand for justice and equity and adds
that as he and Vice-President Namadi Sambo moves around the country on
his campaign train, they will continue to respect and pay tribute to the
hard work and patience of all Nigerians. “Our promise of a significant
turnaround in the way our country operates and is governed is an article
of faith.”

Support for President

Two civil society
groups; the Movement for Democratic Sustainability and Media for Ethnic
Equality have both welcomed the presidents explanation and called on
Nigerians and particularly the south west to be weary of people who were
“ exploiting” the statement by the President to score cheap political
point.

The groups claim the president further demonstrated his
responsiveness as a leader with the explanation and that the President
has taken the dialogue above the wish of those who seek to profit from
such calculated acts of sheer mischief in order to paint the Presidency
in a bad light. Iyiola Johnson, publicity secretary of the media for
ethnic equality praised the President for his “humility and inner
strength”.

The
G-11 lawmakers of the Ogun State House of Assembly known to be loyalists
of the governor, Gbenga Daniel yesterday stunned the world, as they
created a makeshift Assembly Complex inside the government house where
they deliberated on the 2011 budget.

The budget was said
to have been earlier presented in secret to them by the state governor,
Gbenga Daniel. It would be recalled that following unresolved political
crisis in the state since 2006, the House of Assembly was shut down in
September 6, 2010, as a result of a sudden impeachment carried out by
the 9 lawmakers, announcing the sack of 15 members of the Assembly.

However, in a twist
to the legislative business of the Assembly which has been on hold since
the impeachment crisis started, the factional Speaker, Shoyemi Coker
led the G11 group to the Valley View of Government House in Oke-Igbein,
Abeokuta, announcing to the ministries and agencies that the governor
had presented the budget to the house.

Compulsory approach

Mr. Coker,
therefore, called on the ministries and agencies to subject themselves
to budget defence, saying ‘‘for the sake of clarity let me say that this
is the committee level of the defence of the 2011 budget’’. The
factional members of House of Assembly thereafter moved into the cubicle
within the complex, to further deliberate on the controversial budget
of which estimate is not known to the public. Journalists were equally
sent away from the venue.

He said, the complex
turned ‘assembly’ was provided for them by the security agencies ‘‘I
want to thank the security agencies in the state, they have done a good
job in securing this complex , I really want to appreciate them.’’

“We can’t wait till
the time when our other colleagues feel it is convenient , we need to
move the state forward, that is the reason we are here.” He however
claimed that, the Assembly “receive the budget from the Excellency, we
want to commend the Excellency for a job well done in spite of the
situation in our state but at the same time, we want to appeal to him
concerning the situation of roads across the state so that we can put
them in good shape before the end of our tenure. We have done our part
on the budget.” he said.

However, journalists were not able to know the estimate of the budget
in question when they approached Mr Coker, ‘‘You will hear in due
course’’.

The Action Congress
of Nigeria (ACN) has refuted reports by a section that there is a
disagreement between the party’s leader, Bola Tinubu and the party’s
presidential candidate, Nuhu Ribadu, over the choice of the party’s
presidential running mate.Media reports earlier in the day claimed the
party was engulfed in a crisis over the choice of Mr Ribadu’s running
mate.

This was made known
in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by its national publicity
secretary, Lai Mohammed. The party also dismissed the alleged walkout of
its chairperson, Bisi Akande, from a meeting in Abuja on Thursday. The
party said its leaders, Mr Tinubu and Mr Akande are both out of the
country and therefore could not be involved in the alleged feud.

In an attempt to
clear people’s doubts, the party noted that: “Having served in many
capacities, including as Secretary to the Government, Deputy Governor
and Governor, our chairman will be the last to walk out of any meeting,
when he has acquired the experience and wisdom to resolve even knottier
issues without resorting to such actions that are being attributed to
him,” it added.

There have been
speculations in the media that Mr Tinubu had rejected Mr Ribadu’s
earlier choice of Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala as running mate. Sources believe that the former Lagos
State governor is not comfortable with the combination because he fears
that they will be too strong for him to handle.

The party however, alleged that the publications are sponsored by
those who have become jittery at the rising profile of the ACN.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday asked a
Federal High Court in Abuja to vacate its order, restraining the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from publishing the
name of the Governor of Enugu State,w, as its candidate in the 2011
election.

The party, through its counsel, Olusola Oke, told the
court that it sent the name of Mr. Chime to the electoral commission for
publication on January 27, two days before the ex-parte order of
January 30 came restraining INEC not to recognise Mr. Chime.

The presiding judge, Abdul Kafarati, had in a ruling
ordered the PDP not to submit the name of Mr. Chime as its candidate for
the forthcoming governorship election in the state, pending the
determination of an action challenging his alleged nomination.

In the exparte application argued by Alex Izinyon on
behalf of a PDP governorship contestant in the state, Anayo Onwegbu and
38 others, the court granted an interim order restraining INEC from
accepting or validating Mr. Chime’s name as the party’s standard bearer
for the governorship poll.

Thirty-eight plaintiffs also got an order temporarily halting the electoral body’s dealing with alternative lists of names.

The trial judge, Mr. Kafarati, ordered “that the first
defendant (PDP) is hereby restrained in interim from submitting any
other names, list of names other than the names contained in the list of
candidates dated 17th January, 2011, which includes the plaintiffs, as
the gubernatorial candidate and deputy gubernatorial candidate for Enugu
State, 2011 respectively, and first defendants for the National
Assembly and State Houses of Assembly in Enugu State for submission to
the second defendant (INEC), pending the determination of the motion on
notice.”

Judgement too long

Mr. Kafarati will on February 16 deliver ruling on
whether to vacate its interim injunction restraining INEC from
publishing Mr. Chime’s name as PDP’s candidate in the election.

At the resumed hearing of the suit, both parties argued their applications and adopted their written addresses.

INEC, through its counsel, Onyechi Ikpeazu, argued
that the electoral body’s decision to publish Mr. Chime’s name was not
out of interest but was done so that PDP is represented in the
gubernatorial elections in April. He further submitted that as at the
time INEC was to publish the names, it was Mr. Chime’s name that was
submitted to it by the headquarters of the PDP, therefore could not have
published any other name that was not given by the party.

The party also told a Federal High Court in Abuja,
that the primary election which produce Jubrin Isah as the governorship
candidate in Kogi State, was valid, that the alleged order for a re-run
election was done in error.

When the matter came up for hearing yesterday, counsel
to PDP, Mr. Oke, argued that the inclusion of Kogi State in the list
of places where re-run will hold was an error, adding that the National
Working Committee (NWC) has the final decision on all disputes relating
to the conduct of primary election and such decision is binding on all
organs and members, including the plaintiff.

Specifically, Mr. Oke said that the party had at no
time ordered a re-run in Kogi State as alleged by the plaintiff,
stating that any other document coming from any other person which is
inconsistent with the decision of the NWC should be discountenanced.

He, therefore, urged the court to dismiss the plaintiff’s claim on the ground that it was baseless and lacking in merit.

A suspected Boko
Haram member on Sunday in Maiduguri, mistakenly shot dead his associate
while attempting to assassinate someone else.

An eye-witness,
Simon Joseph, told journalists in Maiduguri on Monday that three
suspected militants had attacked the Bulumkutu residence of one John
Musa at about 8 p.m. and shot sporadically into the air.

Mr Joseph said that
Mr Musa engaged one of his attackers in a combat. He explained that as
Mr Musa and his attackers wrestled, the other two attackers continued to
shoot in their direction with Mr Musa as their target.

Mr Joseph however
confirmed that it was in that process that the suspected Boko Haram
member was killed. According to him, the death of the suspected Boko
Haram member appeared to have shocked his associates as they stopped
shooting all of a sudden.

Confirming the
development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday, Lawal
Abdullahi, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Borno State
Police Command, said the sporadic shooting by the suspected Boko Haram
members attracted police patrol teams to the scene of the incident.

“ The shooting attracted police patrol teams who rushed to the scene and rescued the victim, Mr Musa.

“The body of the
slain militant was evacuated and deposited at the University of
Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) Mortuary. The police also recovered
an AK 47 rifle, a mobile phone and four empty shells of live ammunition
at the scene,” Mr Abdullahi said.

Jos judgement

A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Jos on Monday granted bail to five persons arrested over the January 10 crisis in Jos.

The five suspects are: Ismaila Aliyu, Mohammad Rabiu, Tijani Aliyu, Isa Isa and Yusuf Mohammad.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the suspects were charged for criminal conspiracy and rioting.

They were also accused of being in possession of arms and dangerous weapons which were offences under the penal code of justice.

When the case came
up for hearing before Ishaku Kunda on Monday, the suspects pleaded not
guilty while their counsel, A.S. Moyosoro, applied for their bail.

The bail application was granted with the condition that each of them must bring a District Head or a local government chairman.

Alternatively, the magistrate ordered the suspects to bring a member of either the state House of Assembly or National Assembly.

The other conditions
were that each of the sureties must have a landed property and must pay
N250,000 before they could be released.

The prosecuting police officer, Yahaya Adamu, who also addressed the
court, said the investigation was on-going and that the file would be
sent to the Department of Public Prosecution for further advice. Mr
Kunda fixed further hearing for February 23.

The uprisings in the Tunisia and Egypt ousting the sit tight presidents have sparked a revolution across the Middle East.

In Algeria

Protesters defied a
police ban and protested in Algiers, but thousands of riot police
blocked a planned march through the city. Opposition groups said on
Sunday they would follow up the protest they held this weekend by
calling a demonstration in the capital every Saturday until the
government is changed.

Foreign minister
Mourad Medelci said that the 19-year-old state of emergency in Algeria
will end within days, he brushed off concerns that the recent protests
in the country could escalate as it did in Tunisia and Egypt, suggesting
that though the government may be willing to make concessions, the
decision to change the government lies with the president who will
assess the possibility and make adjustments as he had done in the past.

In Palestine

The cabinet
resigned on Monday, in an apparent attempt by President Mahmoud Abbas to
demonstrate political reform in the wake of the popular uprising in
Egypt. The shake-up could bolster the standing of President Mahmoud
Abbas among Palestinians who are currently dissatisfied with the
workings of the cabinet as many regard them as dysfunctional. The
reshuffle had been demanded by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who has
spearheaded efforts to create institutions for a Palestinian state.

Fayyad will retain
his post and select new ministers, officials said. Although several
anti-Abbas protests erupted in the West Bank after the upheaval began in
Egypt on January 25, he has not faced large-scale demonstrations in the
territory, whose economy has strengthened in recent years.

In Bahrain

Protesters clashed
with police on Monday as the government tightened security in the Gulf
island state for an opposition “Day of Rage”. Helicopters circled over
the capital Manama, where protesters were due to gather later in the
day, and security forces tightened their grip on Shi’ite communities.

Police broke up one
protest with teargas and rubber bullets. Shi’te protesters revealed that
,they don’t want to overthrow the ruling family; they just want to have
their say.

Bahrain is a small
oil-producing country whose Shi’ite population has long complained of
discrimination by the ruling Sunni al-Khalifa family, well before
popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt emboldened activists throughout
the region.

Protest organisers
said they want the dissolution of Bahrain’s constitution, and replaced
with a new version penned by a committee that includes both Sunnis and
Shi’ites. They want the country’s prime minister to be directly elected
by the people, and demand the release of “all political prisoners,” and
an investigation of torture allegations.

In Iran

Security forces fired tear gas to scatter thousands of people marching on a Tehran square in a banned rally on Monday.

The march was a test
of strength for the reformist opposition, which had not taken to the
streets since December 2009,when eight people were killed. Iranian
security forces are still unlikely to hesitate to use any means to stop
protests.

Large numbers of
police and security forces wearing riot gear were stationed around the
main squares of the capital and travelling in pairs on motorbikes around
the city.

The opposition
nevertheless renewed the call for the rally. Iranian authorities have
warned the opposition to avoid creating a “security crisis” by reviving
protests that erupted after the last election, the biggest unrest in
Iran since the 1979 revolution. The opposition see the unrest as being
more similar to their own protests following the June 2009 election
which they say was rigged in favour of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iranian authorities
deny doctoring the 2009 election results and accuse opposition leaders
of being part of a Western plot to overthrow the Islamic system.

“They are incapable
of doing a damn thing,” the hardline Kayhan newspaper quoted
Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi as saying. The opposition is
“guided by Iran’s enemies abroad,” Moslehi said.

In Yemen

Hundreds of
anti-government demonstrators clashed with supporters of Yemen’s
president on Monday. With both sides hurling rocks as protests escalated
in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state.

Witnesses said police fired shots into the air but were unable to
control the crowd in the industrial town of Taiz, while in Sanaa,
protesters inspired by an uprising in Egypt vowed to march to police
intelligence headquarters. Analysts say Yemen is not yet at the point of
an Egypt-style revolt, and any upheaval would likely unfold more slowly
and perhaps with more bloodshed, in a heavily armed country where
tribal allegiances run strong.

Ekiti State
governor, Kayode Fayemi, has appealed to the youth in Ikole community
not to engage in violence over the relocation of a federal university
from the town. He urged them to allow the Regent of the town, Jumoke
Mshelbwala, who fled in the heat of last Thursday’s protest to return to
the palace.

The governor said he
will personally seek an audience with President Goodluck Jonathan in
Abuja over the relocation of the federal university from Ikole Ekiti to
Oye-Ekiti.

The governor who
spoke during his visit to the families of protesters who were shot dead
by the Police in the wake of the protests, affirmed that his
administration has not rescinded its decision to make Ikole the home of
the new university.

Mr. Fayemi said he intends to make that position clear to the president.

He added that he was
sure that the president whom he described as a “believer in fairness
and the rule of law” will resolve the crisis without being biased. The
announcement of Oye as the site of the new University on a Federal
Government-owned electronic media, three months after Ikole had been
pencilled down as the site sparked off a peaceful protest by youths in
Ikole local government area.

However, the
protest was disrupted when policemen shot and killed two of the
demonstrators leading the protesters to set the Idi-Ose police station
ablaze.

The governor also
disclosed that the council of traditional rulers in Oye Local Government
Area has thrown its weight behind the choice of Ikole as the site of
the university.

The Ekiti State governor asked the Federal Government to allow the
state decide the appropriate site for the institution, adding that
although both Oye and Ikole are parts of the state, the state government
considers the choice of Ikole as “more appropriate”.