Nigeria Content Online

After initial
setbacks, Henry Okah has finally taken his push for bail in
Johannesburg to a high court with the court fixing January 4 for
commencement of the appeal.

Mr. Okah is
charged with terrorism-related offences in connection with the October
1 bombings in Abuja, and is being held in custody at a Johannesburg
prison following the denial of his bail application by a Johannesburg
magistrate’s court on November 19.

The counsel to
Mr. Okah, Mr Rudi Krause, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in
Johannesburg on Tuesday that the appeal had been set for January 4,
2011.

He insisted that the magistrate’s court erred by not granting his client bail given the facts presented during the hearing.

Mr. Okah had
argued in the bail application that he was innocent of the charges
levelled against him and promised he would not evade trial as he was
not prepared to live as a fugitive.

He had argued
that underlying evidential materials relating to his alleged phone and
e-mail contacts with suspected perpetrators of the bombings had not
been provided because they were non-existent and could only have been
fabricated.

Mr. Okah had also
insisted that he was not a member of the Movement for the Emancipation
of Niger Delta (MEND), which had accepted responsibility for the attack.

He further said that he was convinced he would be let off the hook if the case eventually went on trial.

The suspect had also told the court that he had health concerns and was due for an operation.

Illegal occupant

The prosecution
had, however, maintained that Mr. Okah remained a flight risk as he was
living illegally in South Africa and had the ability to influence
investigations into the matter if granted bail.

The state urged
the court to keep him in custody as it had a strong case against him
and had evidence of his contact with the perpetrators of the October 1
bombings.

Nigeria’s Attorney-General Mohammed Adoke, in an affidavit to the court, also urged the court not to grant Mr. Okah bail.

Magistrate Hein
Louw, in denying him bail, held that he was convinced that Mr. Okah was
indeed the MEND leader contrary to his claims and MEND had accepted
responsibility for the bomb blasts in Nigeria, which claimed no fewer
than 12 lives.

The magistrate stated that probably the most damning evidence
against him was that his wife, Azuka, in her own handwriting, had
referred to him as leader of MEND in some correspondences.

The Action Congress
of Nigeria, (ACN) on Tuesday in Benin City voted back most of its
principal executive officers to run the affairs of the party for
another four years.

All members of the
executive committee, except Usman Bugaje, the former national secretary
who plans to pick the party’s presidential ticket, were returned
through a unanimous affirmation of voices at the Samuel Ogbemudia
stadium-venue of the national convention of the party.

In place of Mr. Bugaje, a former senator from the North-West zone, Lawan Shuaibu, was elected National Secretary.

Mr Akande was
returned unopposed with 1008 votes at the election supervised by former
governor of Anambra State, Chris Ngige, who was chairman of the
election committee. Boss Mustapha from Adamawa was returned as the
deputy national chairman.

The event went smoothly, except for instances of unruly behaviour by some of the supporters of the party who heckled delegates.

One of the
delegates to the convention and the Lagos State commissioner for
information, Opeyemi Bamidele, said Mr. Akande was returned because the
party needed a man of strength, courage, character and experience to
lead it.

Experience matters

Bisi Akande, in his
acceptance speech, said he was determined to nurture the party to
greater heights. He berated the PDP for its poor leadership.

“The more I see ACN
grow, the more energetic I become, and the more willing I become in
serving Nigeria,” he said. “Nigerians are happy with the party and the
achievements of the party so far. But the PDP government has completely
destroyed the nation’s education. Nigeria needs more than good luck to
survive.” Lagos State governor, Babatunde Raji Fasola observed that the
time to remain focused more than before is now, in order to lead the
country to the promise land.

Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, said party members have all demonstrated a commitment to progress,

saying that Nigeria must become the flagship nation for all black nations of the world.

He recounted his ordeal before he could reclaim his stolen mandate.

“I refused to give up. And my doggedness and resilience have paid off today,” he said.

Other returned officials are: national organising secretary,
Abubakar Kareem; welfare officer, Regis Uwakwe; national legal adviser,
Muiz Banire and national publicity secretary, Lai Muhammed.

The Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde
Fashola, on Wednesday said that the country will make positive headway
when governance is driven by the Action Congress of Nigeria.

Mr Fashola, while
speaking to reporters at the presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed
Airport (MMA), Lagos on his way back from the party’s convention in
Benin, Edo State, disclosed that the ACN has young, vibrant and
energetic leaders that have the abilities to take the country to
greater heights.

“With young people
in the helm of affairs, with elderly people steering and guiding them,
showing leadership, I think that the future of Nigeria is very bright
in the hands of the Action Congress of Nigeria,” he said.

Explaining that
the convention was a huge success, the governor congratulated the Adams
Oshiomole-led administration and other participants at the conference
for a job well done.

Mr Fashola
disclosed that the party is optimistic and looks forward to winning
more states across the country, adding that the ACN has demonstrated
good leadership in the various states where it rules.

“The convention
went well. The convention committee must be congratulated. Edo State
must be congratulated. Governor Oshiomole must be congratulated.
Leaders of our party must be congratulated; and all of us must be
congratulated for a peaceful and well organised convention.

“Action Congress
of Nigeria can only look forward and only look up from here. We are
looking up; we are going to elections; we are head high with very, very
proud achievement on developmental works in Edo, Lagos, and beginning
now in Ekiti and Osun behind us,” he said.

Legislative
proceedings took a new dimension when praise singers stormed the
chambers of the Oyo State House of Assembly in company of Governor
Adebayo Alao-Akala who was there to present the 2011 budget before the
lawmakers.

Dressed in
different ‘aso ebi’ with megaphones of various noise intensity, the
praise singers struggled to outshine one another as they interjected
the governor’s speech intermittently to show their loyalty to him.

Christened a
‘budget of reality,’ the governor proposed a total of N144.1 billion
budget, with much attention on infrastructural development.

To demonstrate his
commitment to improved capital development in the state, the governor
proposed to commit 54.46 per cent of the total expenditure to capital
projects, adding that the state will focus on the completion of all the
ongoing projects across all sectors of its economy.

Under this, a sum
of N18.447 billion is proposed to go for road construction, expansion
and rehabilitation within the towns and across cities in the state.

While reviewing the
2010 fiscal year, Mr Alao-Akala said that despite the challenges faced
by his government in the year, he was able to deliver on his set goals
for the state.

“Much was achieved
in the area of infrastructural development, health, education and host
of others for the benefit of residents of the state,” he said. “The new
proposal is drawn to ensure consolidation on the achievements recorded
in the outgoing year, and was also tailored towards making the state
one of the biggest four economies in the country in the next five
years.” The governor said in order to achieve the dream, his government
is going to be more aggressive in its drive to improve internally
generated revenue (IGR) this year, as well as lay more emphasis on the
execution of projects with revenue-yielding potentials.

One of the major
highlights of the budget was the N800 million the state is earmarking
for the conduct of elections to local government councils in the 33
local government areas of the state.

Speedy budget passage

The state had
recently dissolved the governments in its local councils and appointed
caretaker chairmen to take charge in the interim.

The governor said
the money allocated will be used to construct zonal offices for the Oyo
State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC), as well as train its
staff to ensure free and fair elections in the fiscal year.

Olawale Atilola,
speaker of the House of Assembly, in his remarks, appealed to the
Revenue Mobilisation Committee to increase the states’ allocations to
enable them deliver more of the dividends of democracy to the people.

He assured the
people of the state that the legislative arm will ensure that the
budget is given speedy passage, and also try their best to monitor its
implementation.

When they took turn to respond to the fiscal proposal, members of
the state’s House of Assembly only praised the governor without making
any useful contributions to the presentation.

Those who think
former information and communications minister, Dora Akunyili, only
joined the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to achieve her
senatorial ambition, and would return to the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) afterwards are wrong, Mrs Akunyili said yesterday in Awka.

After a meeting
with traditional rulers to mark the end of her tour of her
constituency, the former minister described APGA as a party of the
future and one through which her people will realise their potentials.

Because of this,
she said, there was no need for her to think of dumping the party
especially when one of her purposes of joining it and running for
senate was to help the state governor, Peter Obi in the good work he is
doing.

“I came into APGA
to help the governor. I’ve not discussed with any PDP member about
switching over to the party after I’m elected as a senator,” Akunyili
said.

She however said
that since politics was dynamic, no one could foretell the future. “If
anyone had told members of the defunct NRC and SDP then that the
parties would not be in existence today, they would not have believed
him, but today where are the parties?” she said.

She said what was
paramount is for leaders to serve the people and that any action she
would take in her political journey must be in consultation with the
governor, the traditional rulers and her constituents.

Answering a
traditional ruler who asked why she was contesting for the Senate when
she is from the same town as the incumbent governor, the aspirant
expressed her disappointment with such sentiments.

Why is mine different?

She said that when
Chris Ngige was governor, Mike Ajaegbo (a senator) also came from the
same zone as Ngige and nobody talked. After him she said the incumbent
senator, Annie Okonkwo also emerged from the same zone as the governor.

“Why then should my
own be different?” she said. “I cannot be influenced by such sentiments
but will concentrate on delivering service to my people. That is what
matters,” she said.

Mrs Akunyili
expressed satisfaction with the response she got from her constituents
during her maiden tour, which she described as unprecedented. “All the
local government people are endorsing me. It’s very encouraging. They
showered me with a lot of love and support. It’s actually unprecedented
in this part of Nigeria,” she said.

During the two-day
tour of her constituency, crowds of enthusiastic party supporters had
cheered her at every turn, with the various local government executives
pledging their support for her.

Support from chairmen

Indeed, any doubts
as to where the loyalty of the party executives lay were set aside when
she visited Njikoka local government chapter of the party. There the
chairman, Paul Anaekwe, told her plainly that the party was committed
to no other candidate but her.

“We in Njikoka
believe in the best and you are the best and we shall support you. We
are not committed to any other candidate but you.

We are making it categorically clear that it is you we support,” Mr Anaekwe said.

Similar assurances
were given in Dunukofia, Anaocha, and Awka North and South, and Idemili
North and South local government chapters of the party where she
visited.

But Mrs Akunyili
told party supporters that her ambition to represent them at the Senate
was not a do or die affair. “I’m not aiming to win at all costs. This
is why I have come to you to ask your support for me to represent you
in the senate,” she said.

“As soon as I get
into the Senate I will hit the ground running. I’m touched by the poor
quality of life in the villages where I have also lived,” she said.

She said she had always been given appointments, but now wanted her people to send her to serve them.

“I will not go to
the Senate unless you agree. I’m not going there for myself. I will
make sure you get the type of representation you have never had before
and at every turn I will tell the world that you sent me.” She also
promised to hold regular town hall meetings to acquaint the people with
developments in the Senate.

She said the people
can ask for her resignation if within one year in the Senate she fails
to bring clear changes. “Don’t recall me because that is a long
process; just ask me to resign,” Akunyili told her constituents.

Passengers, who
have started besieging the various motor parks in Lagos with intention
of traveling `home’ for the Yuletide have lamented the hike in fares by
inter-state transport services.

Some travellers,
who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, expressed the
fear that the increase in transport fares might hinder many families
from travelling for the holidays.

A civil servant, Jonas Iwuoma, said that the high fares had affected his earlier plan to travel with his family to the village.

“When I got to the
motor park to find out the cost of travelling from Lagos to Owerri by
luxury bus, I discovered that the fares had been increased from N2,500
to N7,500, therefore I cannot afford it.

“I had earlier
thought of going to the village long before Christmas when fares would
have been affordable, but as a civil servant, it wouldn’t have been
fair on my employers and colleagues,” Mr Iwuoma said.

A businessman,
Francis Nwoye, said that the hike in fares was so high that he was
forced to leave behind most of the goods he had intended taking home
for his aged parents and relatives.

“Can you imagine
the rate at which people are moving luggage and goods home that the
cost of transporting goods may surpass passenger fares; that is why I
decided to drop some of my luggage at home,” Nwoye said. Israel
Umuerrie, Zonal Manager, Delta Line Transport Services Ltd, told NAN
that since last week Wednesday, there had been an upsurge of over 100
per cent in the volume of passengers being recorded daily.

Mr Umuerrie said
that before the Christmas season, the service conveys about 120-150
travellers daily from Yaba to Asaba, but since last week, about 300
passengers are conveyed daily.”

The official confirmed the hike in fares but attributed it to the traffic congestion along the Ore –Benin road.

He said that before the festive season, the company charged N2,500 but now, it charges about N3,000 from Lagos to Delta State.

Mr Umuerrie
disclosed that five additional buses have been added to the three on
the route because of the upsurge in passenger traffic.

Officials of three
other luxury bus transport services and three Hiace bus services who
did not want their names published, also corroborated what Mr Umuerrie
said.

According to them, the increase in fares at this period is normal.

“This is the season we make appreciable money in the year,” they said.

For stealing a plastic worth N5,500, a 33-year-old man was on Monday sentenced to three months imprisonment with hard labour.

Owusu Hassan, who
the police said has no visible means of livelihood, was docked at an
Ikeja Magistrate’s Court charged with a breach of peace and theft.

The Prosecutor,
Augustine Orji, told the court that the convict conducted himself in a
manner that was likely to cause a breach and stole a plastic drum kept
in his premises.

Mr Orji said that the drum belonged to one Anthony Orazulume of 17, Oyewole Street, Agege, Lagos.

He said that the
convict committed the offence on December 12, adding that it was
punishable under Sections 249 (d) and 390 (9) of the Criminal Code,
Laws of Lagos State.

Mr Hassan pleaded
guilty to the charges and was subsequently sentenced by C. J. Mommodu
who said the punishment would serve as deterrent to others.

© News Agency of Nigeria

Adefowope Olorode, chairman, Lagos State branch of
the Road Transport Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) on Tuesday said
nobody under the union would be allowed to be used as a thug by
unpatriotic politicians.

Mr Olorode, who was sworn in only a week ago, said
transport unions were not made up of miscreants and should not be seen
as the breeding ground for thugs to be used to unleash violence during
electioneering campaigns and voting.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos
that his members were already being sensitised to better know their
rights and the legal roles expected of them in the democratic process.

“We are talking to one another on the need to
actively participate in the nation’s political process; that is, we
must register to vote and ensure that we vote.

“We will ensure that our members are law-abiding
and not in anyway involved in any form of violence before, during and
after the 2011 general elections”, Mr Olorode said.

The chairman said though it was not out of place
to have members who could be quite active politically– even to the
extent of contesting party elections– others would have their choices
and not be forced to support any candidate.

“Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians, including RTEAN
members. When it is well with the nation, it is well with RTEAN members
and their businesses.

“We dream of a prosperous and peaceful Nigeria now
and in the future, so that our children and their children would not
pour curses on us”, he said.

He appealed to government at all tiers to give road maintenance and
expansion priority to ensure smooth and s movement of goods and people
throughout the country.