Nigeria Content Online

Governorship
candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State,
Shamsideen Dosunmu, has been dragged before a Federal High Court in
Lagos, by one Oluowo Adeyeri who is seeking nullification of his
nomination as the party’s flag bearer in the forthcoming election.

He is contending
that Mr Dosunmu was not eligible to contest the January 10 PDP primary
where he secured the nomination of the party.Mr Adeyero is, therefore,
asking the court to declare the next candidate with the highest number
of votes at the January 10, PDP gubernatorial primary as the lawful
winner and consequently the party’s flag bearer for the 2011
gubernatorial election in the State.

Joined as
co-respondents in the suit are the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP); the
chairman of the PDP gubernatorial Screening Committee, the Chairman,
PDP Gubernatorial Election Panel and the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC).

Not qualified

According to Mr
Adeyeri, at the time of the contest for the nomination of the PDP’s
flag bearer for the office of the governor on January 10, 2011, Mr
Dosunmu had not been a party member for up to two years as required by
the PDP’s guidelines.

He added that the
flagbearer also failed to seek for waiver to cover the deficiency of
not being a member for two years which he could have done under the
provisions of Article 14 (j) of the PDP Electoral Guidelines for
Primary Election, 2010.

He averred that Mr
Dosunmu was in public service as the Director General of Nigerian
Maritime Agency (NIMASA) up until July 2009, and prior to that he was
in the service of the Lagos State Building and Investment
Corporation.The applicant is seeking, among other things, a declaration
that the PDP Gubernatorial Screening Panel wrongly cleared Mr Dosunmu
to contest for the PDP nomination process on January 10, 2010 in
flagrant breach of the PDP Electoral Guidelines.

Further, he wants
an order of injunction restraining the PDP from presenting him or
submitting his name as the party’s flag bearer for Lagos State in the
forthcoming election.No date has been fixed for the suit as the matter
is yet to be assigned to a judge.

Tunisian police
fired shots into the air on Thursday to try to disperse hundreds of
protesters demanding that ministers associated with the rule of ousted
president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, leave the government.

The protesters, who
gathered outside the Tunis headquarters of the RCD, Tunisia’s ruling
party for several decades, refused to move back when police fired shots
from behind a metal fence.

For the first time
since the fall of Ben Ali last week, there were also protests in other
towns across Tunisia. The protesters on Mohamed V Avenue near the
centre of Tunis, chanted: “After Ben Ali and his wife, we want to bring
down his thieves!” They also burned the logo of the party and carried
banners saying: ‘Government out!’

One of the
protesters, who gave his name as Aymen, said: “We are here, we are not
going to move until the RCD falls. We will come every hour and every
day.”

At the RCD
headquarters, workmen were removing the large plaque from the outside
of the building bearing the party’s name, a Reuters reporter said.

A moustachioed
military officer, whose unit was guarding the building, told the crowd:
“Translate this as you wish: the RCD is going away.”

The protesters
responded with rapturous applause and began embracing members of the
security forces. It was not clear if the officer had meant the RCD was
simply leaving the headquarters building or that it was relinquishing
power.

Ben Ali fled to
Saudi Arabia on Friday after weeks of violent unrest spurred by anger
over poverty, unemployment and repression. The popular revolt was seen
as sending shockwaves through autocratic governments across the Arab
world.

The central
committee of Ben Ali’s RCD power base has been dissolved, state
television reported. It said the decision was taken as many committee
members, who were also government ministers, had quit the party under
opposition pressure. The party itself will continue to operate, the
report said.

Minister quit party

The ministers in
the interim government resigned from the RCD party in a bid to restore
credibility after four opposition ministers quit the cabinet, saying
ministers belonging to the RCD party must go.

In a new blow to the government, a junior minister stepped down on Thursday, the official news agency said.

“I am stepping down
for the higher interests of the country in this delicate situation to
try to bring the country out of crisis and ensure a democratic
transition,” Zouheir M’Dhaffar, minister of state in the Prime
Minister’s office, was quoted as saying by the official TAP news agency.

The prime minister
and caretaker president left the RCD party this week, but protesters in
Tunis and other cities kept up pressure on Thursday for a government
free of ties with Ben Ali and the old guard.

Between 3,000 and
4,000 people gathered in the town of Gafsa, 350 km (220 miles) south of
Tunis, to protest the presence in the government of ministers who
worked for Ben Ali, union activist Hedi Radaoui told Reuters.

State television
said there was also an anti-government protest in the town of Kef,
about 180 km southwest of Tunis. There were also protests in Sfax.
Shooting and looting on the streets have declined in recent days, but a
resident in the Mouroudj neighbourhood, 5 km from Tunis city centre,
said police and military intervened on Wednesday night after gunmen
began shooting. Helicopters flew overhead and security forces used
loud-hailers to tell people to stay indoors, the resident said.

With the police
lacking public credibility after its role in cracking down on unrest
before Ben Ali’s departure, the interim government is heavily dependent
on the army to maintain order.

The military has, in public at least, stayed out of politics but some analysts say it wields influence behind the scenes.

At the Borj Lamary
Prison, just outside Tunis, a bus emerged carrying inmates released
under a government order to free all political prisoners. Families of
the released prisoners hugged them when the bus stopped and let them
out nearby.

Among those freed
was Sameer Hagouba, who said he had been studying at the Islamic Al
Azhar University in Egypt when he was deported on terrorism-related
charges and imprisoned in his native Tunisia.

“Does this look like the face of terrorism?” asked Hagouba, a young man with a light and carefully trimmed beard.

“We call now for all political prisoners to be released…”

In further moves to
seize the assets of the former ruling family, a bank owned by Ben Ali’s
son-in-law was placed under the control of the central bank, state TV
said.

Tunisia’s central
bank on Thursday moved to reassure international creditors, saying it
held enough foreign currency reserves to meet financial and commercial
obligations.

It said it held 12.6 billion dinars in foreign reserves, enough to cover 143 days of import needs.

For allegedly defrauding the federal
government to the tune of over N1.3 billion naira and $2 million, the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday, told a
Federal High Court in Abuja that Sani Lulu and three others committed
an offence under the Nigerian law and not under the FIFA law, and as
such, should be tried.

The EFCC stated this in a counter
motion challenging an application brought before the court by Lulu and
three others, Amanze Uchegbulam, Bolaji Ojo-Oba, and Taiwo Ogunjobi,
all former officials of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, seeking
to quash charges of alleged corruption preferred against them by the
commission.

At the resumed hearing of the matter on
Thursday, the accused persons through their counsel, Sunday Ameh and
Akin Olujinmi, challenged the jurisdiction of the court to entertain
the charges, saying that it is only FIFA that has jurisdiction to
prosecute them.

They accordingly prayed the court to
quash the charges on the ground that the regulating body of NFF is FIFA
and that the federal government has no right to legislate over football
related matters under the constitution.

Specifically, the defence said the
charges levelled against the men bothered on the breach of Criminal
Act, EFCC Act, and Public Procurement Act. Noting that since NFF is not
being regulated by such Acts, it could not be binding on the accused
persons and as such the accused could not have breached the provisions
of such law.

But counsel to the EFCC, Titus Ashaolu,
opposed the application with a 22- paragraph counter-affidavit praying
the court to discountenance the applications of all the defence
counsels on a lack of merit. Sressing that in as much FIFA law is not
domesticated in Nigeria, the accused will have to be prosecuted under
the law of the land.

“Coming to this court and saying they cannot be tried by Nigerian laws, except FIFA, is an aberration,” he said.

Mr. Ashaolu further argued that the
approval for funds by the NFF officials were in itself an offence, “as
there is a limit to which they can appropriate funds, as clearly
indicated in the Procurement Act for contract approval.”

Defrauding the government

He submitted that the applications by
the accused persons are meant to delay trial, and urged the court to
discountenance the applications in their entirety and allow the trial
to commence.

The prosecution counsel also faulted
the argument canvassed by the accused persons to the effect that the
EFCC did not seek and get the prosecutorial consent of the Attorney
General of the Federation before commencing trial.

He said the EFCC did not need a fresh
consent of the AGF to prosecute the case, as the EFCC has all the
powers and right conferred on it by the Establishment Act to prosecute
all economic and financial crimes.

Messrs Lulu, Uchegbulam, Ojo-Oba, and
Ogunjobi were arrested by EFCC on June 7, 2010 but granted
administrative bail. They were, however, re-arrested by the
Commission’s operatives on Monday September 6, 2010 and arraigned on
September 7, 2010.

The former NFF officials are standing
trial before Donatus Okorowa on a seven-count charge bordering on
corruptly using their offices to confer unfair advantage on themselves,
defrauding the federal government to the tune of over N1.3 billion
naira and $2 million, and also unlawfully issuing 1,263 tickets as
complementary offers to friends, associates, political support groups,
and family relations.

The accused persons were also alleged
to have booked the Hampshire Hotel, South Africa, being a cheap,
substandard, unbefitting and an unlisted hotel among the approved list
of hotels by the Federation of International Football Association,
FIFA, for lodging by participating teams and caused the Federal
Government to pay a fine to the tune of $125,000 for a breach of
contract.

Mr. Okorowa, having listened to arguments canvassed by counsels, adjourned the case to February 16, 2011, for ruling.

</

The N850 million
banquet hall of the Nasarawa State House which was under construction
collapsed yesterday morning while a number of construction workers and
engineers on site watched helplessly. However, no life was lost in the
incident.

An eyewitness
reported that the iron rods and pillars used to prop up the building
gave way before the entire structure came crashing down. The collapse
of the 1000 seater capacity hall is the second state sponsored project
to have collapsed in the past two months.

In December, the N539 million water treatment plant also collapsed in its first test run.

The damage from
yesterday’s collapse affected the structural integrity of buildings
around the Government House including the Press Centre and security
post and a hotel some few meters away from the fence.

Residents and
workers as well as security men who were at the Government House gate,
adjoining the site of the disaster, ran in different direction, as the
collapse threw them into panic.

Emergency meeting

The governor and
the members of his cabinet were reported to be holding an emergency
meeting behind closed doors and as at press time none of them,
including the commissioner for Housing, Environment and Urban
Development, Muhammad Yamusa Chindo, was present at the site for an
immediate assessment of the degree of damage.

The contractor,
Shelter Development Ltd, was forced to mobilise the workers to begin
recovery, using the whole day to clear up the rubble.

The contract for the project was awarded last year, and the
contractor started the job in August after the foundation laying
ceremony by the state governor. He pledged that the work would be
delivered in three months, but after six months, the contractor was
only able to complete the erection of the collapsed pillars.

The expectations of
Udu people in Ughelli South local council of Delta State that the area
will soon become a host community to a higher institution have been
temporarily put on hold as work on the proposed Michael and Cecilia
Ibru University, has been abandoned.

The proposed
institution of higher learning, belonging to former Managing Director
of Oceanic Bank and her husband is located along the Udu-Ughelli Road,
between Otu-Jeremi and Ekapamrhen in Ughelli South local government,
Delta State.

Mrs Ibru was
recently convicted of corrupt enrichment following her arraignment by
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over her tenure as
head of Oceanic Bank.

A resident of Udu,
Ojarekre Urubwevwu who spoke to NEXT at the site, said construction
work on the site was abruptly put on hold when the bank chief was
arrested and detained for financial crimes by the EFCC.

“We be dey happy
say we go soon get university for here o, until we hear say dem carry
the madam put for prison. Na that time the people wen dey do the fence
come stop work wen dem hear say madam dey for prison. May be dem fear
say dem no go see their salary take,” he said.

Mr Urubwevwu, who
owns a farm opposite the proposed school’s site, said that grounds of
the planned university was a beehive of activities prior to the
incarceration of Mrs Ibru last year. Ever since then, however, the site
has been abandoned for unknown reasons.

Still hoping

All efforts by NEXT
to locate any of those who worked on the site before the abrupt
stoppage of work failed, as they were said to have been brought from
far away to work on the site.

Even though he
could not tell when the landed property was acquired for the
institution and when work began at the site, the local farmer said the
project had made people around the community to be very happy.

He, however, expressed hope that work on the project will resume
again, and that the hope of having their name written on the world map
through the school will come to pass.

Angry youth
yesterday staged a mildly violent protest in Ekpoma town following
another robbery attack in the university community.

The armed robbers
attacked a new generation bank, carting away an undisclosed sum of
money and injured no fewer than seven persons. This is coming after
weeks of robbery scare in the administrative headquarters of Esan West
local government area of Edo State.

The gang of seven
armed robbers who came in two cars, a Mercedes Benz saloon and a Honda
car, allegedly stormed the bank, situated few metres from the
divisional police headquarters, destroyed the ATM machines and emptied
out the cash content of both cash machines.

NEXT gathered that
while attempting to escape with their loot, the robbers shot and
injured two bank staff, a cleaner and a security man in the process.
The injured persons were rushed to the nearby Irrua Specialist Teaching
Hospital (ISTH), Irrua.

Five other persons,
including a two-year-old child, also sustained bullet injuries from the
sporadic shooting by the robbers on their way out from the bank. Some
of the bank computers in the bank and other facilities were riddled
with bullets.

However, the police
in Ubiaja, Esan South East local government area, later claimed to have
recovered one of the cars used for the operation. But the angry youth,
mainly motorcycle riders in the town, protested the incessant attacks
on banks, the killing of innocent people by armed robbers, and the
alleged subsequent shooting and injuring of innocent people by the
police.

They made bonfire
with tyres along the popular Royal Market Road, just as they threatened
to burn down the police station. They were, however, dispersed by the
police with tear gas.

One of the
protesters, who did not want his name mentioned in print, said that
they were angered by the failure of the police to respond to distress
calls while the raid lasted. He alleged that sporadic shooting from the
police after the robbers had resulted in the injuries sustained by
several persons.

The chief medical
director of Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, George Akpede,
disclosed that not less than seven victims of the bank raid were rushed
to the hospital, most of whom he said were in critical conditions due
to the severity of the injuries. Some, he said, suffered
intra-abdominal injuries, fractured bones, while others had bullets
lodged in their bodies.

Pathetic incident

Chairman of Esan
West local council, Stella Okoro, who visited the affected bank and the
victims at the hospital, described the incident as pathetic. She,
however, promised that efforts would be made to collaborate with the
security agents to prevent future occurrence, with a promise to assist
the victims with hospital bills.

The council boss,
however, accused the banks of foot dragging on her call for them to
team up to procure armoured personnel carriers to effectively police
the banks.

The commissioner of
police in the state, David Omojola, said the robbery was “a call on the
police to re-order their strategies to prevent future occurrence.”

On the allegation
that his men were responsible for the injuries sustained by most of
those injured, he said “that is not likely to be true because police
will not go out and start shooting at members of the public. We are
always very careful with the use of firearms because we know the
implication.”

He, however,
assured the people of their security despite the incessant robbery,
saying those behind the robbery would be arrested.

Banks in Ekpoma
last month closed shops for several days following an alert that
robbers were billed to carry out an attack in the town.

An Abuja High
Court, yesterday told the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) to call all its witnesses in the case against former Director
General of the National Gallery of Arts, Joe Musa or he will close the
case.

Adekayode Adeniyi,
the presiding judge, told the EFCC on Thursday that if the commission
refuses to call all its witnesses by February 16, he will close the
prosecution.

Mr Adeniyi said
this while ruling on an oral motion by Oluwemimo Ogunde, counsel to Mr
Musa praying the court to close the case following the alleged attempts
by the anti-graft body to deliberately prolong the matter.

Presenting the
motion, Mr Ogunde submitted that Steve Odiase, counsel to EFCC sent him
a text at about 5 pm on Wednesday that he (Odiase) was sick.

“My Lord, this
again shows that the prosecution is not ready to go on with the case
but to frustrate my client who is serving an unending suspension over
an offence strange to him,” he said. “By the record of the court, the
last time the prosecution called witnesses was six months ago; all the
adjournment we had had were at the instance of the EFCC. This motion
would have called for the summary closure of this matter, but for the
benefit of justice, I shall be urging the court to give a deadline
within which the other prosecution witnesses will come to testify or
withdraw the case.” In his ruling, the Judge said the matter was
stepped down for today and tomorrow for the prosecution witnesses to
testify, but it appears the EFCC is actually frustrating the court and
the accused persons.

“This calculated
step by the prosecutor to further drag the matter is containing in the
letter addressed to the court by Mr Odiase, stating that he is sick,”
he said. “I thought the counsel has been to court several times with a
number of lawyers, so I can not fathom how his being sick should affect
our proceedings. I however, grudgingly for the benefit of justice allow
this excuse to stay by giving the prosecution February 16 as the day to
present the witnesses or risks the case being closed preparatory to
judgment.” Mr Musa along with four other former senior officers of the
agency, are standing trial for alleged conversion of N87 million of the
agency for personal use between August 1, 2008 and April 9, 2009.

At the last
sitting, the EFCC said its prosecuting counsel is afraid for his life
and the commission is no longer comfortable with both its lawyer and
witnesses appearing before that court .

Mr Odiase told the
trial judge that the EFCC instructed him to seek an immediate transfer
of the case-file to the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory,
following threats by some undisclosed persons to kill him over the
matter.

Threat to lawyer

He came to court on
that day with two heavily armed mobile police escorts and read one of
the threat massages he said was sent to his phone the previous night.

“Last night they
sent me another one, and I promptly reported it to the police and the
director of operations in EFCC, Steven Otutoju. This was how they
killed our forensic expert in Kaduna recently, we no longer feel
protected in this court and therefore want the case-file transferred,”
he said.

The latest threat
message he read was : “You still have the honourable option of opting
out of Musa’s case now or accept the choice of preparing your funeral
oration yourself and or the possible extermination of your family. This
is the final warning!”.

But Mr Adeniyi
refused to hands-off of the trial as requested by the EFCC, maintaining
that there was no basis for the anti-graft agency to seek a withdrawal
of the case-file.

“I will not concede
to this request because there is no basis to seek the withdrawal of
this case, if you are being threatened by anybody, then report it to
the police or other relevant agencies,” Mr Adeniyi said. “Justice is a
3-way traffic. The accused persons were arraigned before this court on
July 7, 2009, and since then the case has suffered series of
adjournment at the instance of the prosecution.” Those on trial are the
former Director-General of the establishment, Joe Musa; Director of
Finance, Olusegun Ogunba; Director of Research & Education, Kweku
Tandoh and Deputy Director Administration of the Gallery, Oparagu
Elizabeth.

The Vice President,
Namadi Sambo, has urged the National Union of Road Transport Workers
(NURTW) to support the on-going voters’ registration exercise for the
success of the 2011 general election.

Speaking yesterday
when he received the President of the Union, Najeem Usman Yasin and his
management team in the State House, Abuja, the Vice President solicited
the support of the union to sensitise its members and mobilise them to
take part in the ongoing voters registration exercise, reiterating that
2011 elections will be transparent, free, fair and electorates’ votes
will count as there will be “one man, one vote”. He assured the union
and Nigerians of government’s determination to develop a good network
of roads across the country, fix the power sector, provide healthcare
facilities and build infrastructure, noting that no economy grows
without a good transport system.

Mr Sambo also
expressed regret at the inability of the union in accessing the Public
Mass Transit Revolving Fund Scheme being managed by the Urban
Development Bank of Nigeria and promised to address the issue with the
Bank’s Managing Director to help the union access the fund. On the
Union’s request to acquire land in the Federal Capital Territory, the
Vice President advised the officials to apply to the Minister of FCT
for land and specify the number of housing units it will use the land
for, adding that government will assist them as long as the houses are
for the benefit of Nigerians.

Access to funding

Earlier, Mr Yasin
expressed gratitude for government’s efforts to enhance the welfare of
workers in the country. He also congratulated President Goodluck
Jonathan and the Vice President on their victory in the recently
concluded PDP primary election. The union boss said the purpose of his
courtesy call was “to register support and commend the Federal
Government for adopting various strategies aimed towards addressing the
country’s infrastructure deficit which is evident in areas such as
inadequate power generation and distribution, poor roads and
transportation networks” as well as “health, education facilities and
security.”

He asked for the Federal Government’s assistance in accessing the
Public Mass Transit Revolving Fund being managed by the Urban
Development Bank, describing the conditions for getting the fund as
being stringent. Other requests solicited were the acquisition of land
in the FCT for mass housing and government’s intervention in Anambra,
Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Enugu States where people who have no
business in trade unions continue to usurp the functions of the union.
Others present were Minister of Labour, Emeka Worgu; Permanent
Secretary, Ministry of Labour, Anthony Ozodinobi and senior government
officials.

Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, has expressed concern over technical hitches facing the conduct of the voters registration exercise and urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to brace up and correct these.
The governor, who visited six registration centres in company of top government officials of the state, commended the people for their enthusiasm to perform their civic responsibility by registering despite the frustration being encountered.
Mr. Mimiko said the people of the state are enthusiastic to register but are discouraged by the technical challenges on the part of the electoral commission.
“The performance is less than satisfactory. The pace of registration is disturbing. There are basically some technical errors in some of the machines. Some of these problems are being rectified, but my worry is that I don’t know how many people will be able to register within this time frame and with these technical challenges that our people are facing in almost every polling unit, one is worrisome,” the governor said.
Noting that there could be possibility for the extension of the exercise if the errors were not rectified on time, he said, “In some cases, INEC is trying to solve some of these problems but there are many of them. We’ll continue to interface with INEC to ensure that the exercise comes out successful at the end of the day.
“I don’t have any doubt in my mind that this exercise has to be extended in terms of time line.”
Patient with INEC
He commended the people for their patriotism and enthusiasm concerning the exercise, appealing to them to be patient with INEC and not to be discouraged by the challenges confronting them in their quest to register as voters.
“I want to especially thank our people; I’ve gone round and learnt that our people have been waiting since 6am to 5pm to get registered. That level of commitment and enthusiasm is uncommon. I don’t have any doubt in my mind that our people have decided this time that they will want to register,” Mr. Mimiko said.
“The minimum condition is that this time frame has to be extended. Some of these equipment have to be changed, some upgraded, and some to be recalibrated. What is important is that our people have decided that they must be registered this time around,” he added.