Nigeria Content Online

The management of
Intercontinental Bank yesterday denied that there was a court order to
seal up its headquarters on Danmole Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Sources however
confirmed that a former employee of the bank secured the order to seal
up the place. Two employees of the bank who work at the headquarters
corroborated that policemen came to the premises to effect the order
but they did not carry out the order after a meeting with the bank’s
management.

At about 4:30pm
yesterday there was a heavy presence of policemen at the bank’s
reception, an indication that something was amiss.

An angry man,
dressed in native attire, was also seen at reception giving orders to
the security officers to close the bank’s entrance door. When
approached and asked why he gave the order, he refused to speak on the
matter. However, it appeared his words had no effect as the officers
left the door open to visitors while staff carried on with their duties.

Eddy Ademosu, the
bank’s spokesperson, claimed that the bank was not aware of any court
order restraining it from carrying out its operation. “Our door is not
locked as you can see,” Mr. Ademosu said, adding, “It is not as if
there are no issues in court relating to shareholders, the bank itself,
or customers’ perceptive, but even issues in court are being resolved
as a responsible organisation.”

According to him,
“If there are issues, it would have been brought to our attention.
Maybe somebody will come tomorrow with a court order — I cannot say,
but as I speak we are not aware of any court injunction.”

He said the heavy presence of security personnel is not new because
“security has always been part of the bank” since the Central Bank
intervention, while he also said the persons giving orders might be
telling the officers to lock the door since it was closing time.

Britain pressured other NATO members to step up
ground attacks in Libya on Wednesday but cracks appeared in the
alliance as foreign ministers met in Qatar to try to break the deadlock
in the civil war.

NATO divisions surfaced at the international “contact
group” meeting, not only over arming the rebels and increasing air
strikes but also on creating a fund from frozen Libyan assets to help
the opposition trying to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
underlined the humanitarian disaster caused by the war, telling the
meeting that up to 3.6 million people, or more than half the
population, could need assistance.

Paris and London are increasingly frustrated that air
strikes have neither tipped the balance of the war in favour of rebels
trying to end Muammar Gaddafi’s 41-year rule nor even ended devastating
shelling of the besieged city of Misrata.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe criticised NATO
on Tuesday for not doing enough to stop the bombardment of the
rebel-held port town, where hundreds of civilians are said to have died
in more than six weeks of siege.

Libyan state television said on Wednesday that NATO
planes had bombed Misrata’s main Tripoli street, scene of repeated
battles between rebels and government troops. It said people were
killed, without giving details.

It said alliance planes also attacked Gaddafi’s birthplace of Sirte, east of Misrata, and Aziziyah, south of Tripoli.

British Foreign Minister William Hague told Reuters that other coalition aircraft must join ground attacks.

“There are many other nations around Europe and indeed Arab nations who are part of this coalition.

There is scope for some of them to move some of their aircraft from air defence into ground-strike capability,” he said.

Rebels call for more NATO strikes

NATO said it destroyed 16 tanks, an anti-aircraft gun and a pickup truck in operations on Tuesday.

Rebels attending the Doha meeting said they expected
more support, saying NATO was using “minimum” power and needed to step
up attacks on Gaddafi’s heavy weapons.

Britain and France, western Europe’s two main
military powers, are delivering most of the air strikes on Gaddafi’s
armour since President Barack Obama ordered U.S. forces to take a back
seat.

Other NATO countries are either keeping their distance from the campaign or enforcing a no-fly zone but not bombing.

A wide gap appeared at once between NATO hawks and doves.

Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere said the
March 17 U.N. resolution authorising NATO action in Libya — to protect
civilians from Gaddafi’s government forces — ruled out arming
civilians and he saw no need to boost forces there.

In another disagreement, German Foreign Minister
Guido Westerwelle voiced reservations about an Italian call to create a
fund from frozen assets to aid the rebels. “The question is, is it
legal? The answer is we don’t know,” he said.

Britain’s Hague called for a temporary financial
mechanism to fund rebel government in the eastern territory they
control. The rebels said they needed $1.5 billion in aid for civilians.

A spokesman for the rebel national council at the
Doha talks said the coalition was considering supplying arms which
should go to soldiers who have defected from the army. The rebels only
had “primitive weapons” taken from Gaddafi’s troops, he said.

Hague also sought a clear statement from the ministerial group that
Gaddafi must go, a demand reiterated in Doha by the rebels. The group
of international powers has struggled to reach a consensus on calling
for regime change.

Okey Ezea, the
governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Enugu State and 35
others were yesterday arraigned before an Enugu State Magistrate Court
for allegedly attempting to disrupt last Saturday’s National Assembly
election.

The suspects were
accused of threatening to cause violence and disrupt the parliamentary
election at Ibagwa Aka in Igbo Eze local government area of the state
when the result of the election was being collated. But they pleaded
not guilty to the charge brought by the police.

Mr Ezea and the
party’s House of Assembly candidate in the area were subsequently
granted bail on self recognition by the presiding magistrate, Emma
Ezema, after taking their plea.

However, the others
were granted bail under in the sum of N500,000 each and four sureties
who must be residing within the area where the offence was allegedly
committed.

Mr Ezea, who was
earlier on Monday invited by the Criminal Investigation Department
(CID), explained that he visited the office of the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) at Ibagwa Aka with some of his supporters
at about 10pm on the election day to report cases of malpractices to
officials.

According to him,
the state commissioner for information, Chuks Ugwoke and the chairman
of Igbo-Eze South Local Government Area, Chris Omeje, both of whom hail
from Alor Agu Community snatched some ballot boxes during the election.

Mr Ezea said that
rather than institute an investigation into the allegation, some
officials of the state government instructed soldiers to arrest him and
his supporters.

Following Tuesday’s
deadly clash between students of Ibadan City Academy and Community
Grammar School, both in Ibadan, in which a life was lost and property
worth millions of naira vandalised, the Oyo State government has
ordered the closure of the two schools until normalcy returns to the
area.

The state
commissioner for education, Nureni Aderemi, made this known in Ibadan
on Wednesday through a press release from his press officer, Babatunde
Ajibike.

According to him,
the government was saddened by the development and had to order the
immediate closure of the schools “to safeguard the lives of students
and teachers, to forestall further destruction of properties and with a
view to ensure maintenance of peace in the state”.

Mr Adeniran also
conveyed the sympathy of the state government to the family of the
bereaved and wished the injured speedy recovery.

He said the
security operatives in the state have already been put on red alert to
take over the premises of the schools to allow peace reign in the
vicinity.

The commissioner
said the government will take punitive actions against the culprits in
the incident, adding that it “frowns at attempt by anyone to ferment
trouble and disrupt academic activities in our schools”.

Clashes between students of the two schools turned bloody on Tuesday
when thugs were mobilised by one side to seek reprisal against the
other. One person was reportedly killed, one other put in a coma, and
many others injured in the fracas. Many cars and several properties
were also destroyed.

The governorship
aspirant of the Action Congress of Nigeria in Kwara State, Dele
Belgore, has alleged a plot by the PDP-led state government to arrest
some of his supporters.

In a statement
issued by the media aide to the politician, Rafiu Ajakaiye, he said the
plot is to “get the police to keep key ACN leaders out of circulation
ahead of the next elections.”

Meanwhile, Mr.
Belgore has urged the residents of the state to fast and pray on
Thursdays preceding the remaining elections, calling for the aversion
of violence and rigging plans.

Mr. Belgore, in a
media broadcast, said that “If Kwarans can do this for Nigeria and the
state, the election will be peaceful and the will of the voters shall
be ensured.”

The support group
of the party aspirant campaign, called MDB Support Group, through its
chairman, Saliu Ajibola Ajia, said in a statemen that the special
adviser on security to the state governor, Bukola Saraki, has written a
letter calling on the police to round up ACN leaders, especially those
from Asa, where the PDP alleges plan to also rig in the coming
elections.

“We are aware of
the grand design to railroad the police to arrest and detain our men in
Asa, whom the PDP fears could stand in the way of any rigging tactics
in the coming elections. For the avoidance of doubt, on April 4, 2011,
yesterday, the new SA Security to Governor Bukola, Usman Abdulkareem,
wrote the Commissioner of Police in Kwara State demanding that he
invites the following ACN chieftains for questioning.

“They are: Rahimi
Gidado of Adangba area; Hanafi Omo-Owo of Oloje; Memudu Turawa of Ile
Lanigan, Ipate Oloje; Jimoh Salami of Eyenkorin; Alhaji Issa Kewu
Repete of Alore Area; Obalowu Toyin of Oloje; Olaitan Oladimeji, also
of Oloje area; Wahab Yusuf Tode of Ode Alausa Area; and Bashir Gidado
of Adangba Area.

“We urge the police
and indeed all security agencies not to be wiling tools in the hands of
the PDP because that would not augur well for our democracy and
collective drive to change Nigeria for good,” Mr. Ajia said in the
statement.

Mr. Ajia also
warned the PDP to stop what he called the harassment and intimidation
of the party’s governorship flag bearer by spreading unsubstantiated
rumours against him and his team.

He alleged that PDP
wants to use the claims that the party is introducing violence into
Kwara politics through the peaceful protests it introduced last Monday.

When contacted on
the allegation, Dabo Ezekiel, the police spokesperson in the state,
said that he was not responding to whatever it was that they are doing,
claiming that they could say whatever they liked.

When he was asked
whether the police had anything against the party’s protest and
possibly want to take any issue on it, he said, “ours is just to
provide the security, that is all that I can tell you.”

The chief press secretary to the governor, Ma’mud Adebimpe, however, in an interview denounced any plan against the party.

The Court of Appeal
in Ibadan, on Wednesday, fixed April 19 for its ruling on an
application filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a case that
will determine who is the governorship candidate of the party in the
state.

A former Minister
of Power and Steel, Wole Oyelese, Yekinni Adeojo, and a former deputy
governor of the state, Hazeem Gbolarunmi along with 38 others, had
challenged the selection of the state governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala and
others as candidates of the party in the ongoing general election.

They based their
objection on the allegation that the candidates were not properly
selected and so should not be allowed to fly the flags of the party
during the election.

The plaintiffs
prayed the court to restrain the party from presenting the names of the
candidates to the electoral body and also sought the order of court to
restrain the body from receiving the names.

Justice Jonathan
Shakarho of the Federal High Court granted the order, but later vacated
it. The vacation has also being challenged at the appeal court.

Now at the appellate court, the PDP filed an application, seeking a relief of the court to amend the records of the lower court.

Lateef Fagbemi,
lead counsel to the party, told the court on Wednesday that the record
provided by the lower court on what transpired during the proceedings
was incomplete, adding that the appeal could not be based on important
omission in the record.

Time for reckoning

He made reference
to an affidavit deposed to by Humphrey Orlu, the Director of Litigation
of the lower court, on behalf of Mr Shakharo where he said the judge
only recorded the arguments he considered relevant to the case while
the case lasted.

Mr Fagbemi faulted
the decision of the judge to consider his application for discharge of
the interim injunction relevant but not to add it in his record.

Consequently, he sought the relief of the court to use his own record to complement to the one provided by the lower court.

The governor’s lead
counsel, Richard Akinjide, aligned with Mr Fagbemi’s submission and
asked the court to grant the application.

In his submission,
however, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, lead counsel to the aggrieved PDP
members, said Mr Fagbemi was no longer a party to the appeal since his
notice of discontinuance had been filed and allowed in the lower court.

He noted that it is
not possible to have all things that transpired in court recorded by a
judge, saying the court was right to record only the relevant
submissions.

“The judge does not
also have to record argument or submission of a counsel that is no
longer a party to the case by virtue of Order 50, Rule 2,” he said.

Mr. Akeredolu said the supplementary record provided by Mr, Fagbemi could not be taken to mean a true record of the court.

The presiding justices – Stanley Alagoa, Sidi Bage and Joseph Ikyegh – adjourned till Tuesday to give their ruling.

Ahead of Saturday’s
presidential election, six presidential candidates on Wednesday
withdrew from the race and threw their weight behind President Goodluck
Jonathan, who is the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

The candidates who
stepped down for Mr Jonathan are Peter Nwagu of the African Democratic
Congress (ADC), Godwill Nnaji of the Better Nigeria progressive Party
(BNPP), Solomon Akpona of the Nigerian Mandate Progressive Party (NMDP)
and Batos Nwadike of the Peoples Mandate Party (PMP).

The others are
Lawson Igboanugo of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the
candidate of the United National Party for Development (UNPD) who was
represented by his running mate, Galadima Samari.

At a joint news
conference at Legacy House, the campaign headquarters of Mr Jonathan in
Abuja, the six candidates said they were stepping down for the PDP
presidential flag bearer because he represents the vision of a strong
and united nation.

They also commended
Mr Jonathan for delivering on his promise to give Nigerians transparent
and credible polls as witnessed in last Saturday’s parliamentary
election, adding that they were sacrificing their ambitions for the
interest of the country, which they said is bigger than any individual.

Winning opinion poll

The announcement came as an SMS opinion poll put Mr Jonathan ahead of other candidates.

In the poll,
conducted by HALA Global Services Nigeria Limited, in collaboration
with N&D, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), FRCN, and Radio1, has
Mr Jonathan receiving the endorsement of 78 percent of Nigerians who
sent in messages. Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive
Change (CPC), Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and
Ibrahim Shekarau of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) shared the
remaining 22% among themselves.

The general manager
and head of marketing of HALA Global Services Nigeria Limited, Usman
Ahmed, said in Abuja that poll was conducted from 15th March, 2011 to
12th April, 2011.

Mr Ahmed, who did
not give the breakdown of the percentages, urged Nigerians who want to
know the facts and figures recorded in the SMS Opinion Poll to visit
the website: www.nextpresidentng.com.

No odd man

The presidential
candidates said they were impressed that Mr Jonathan has so far avoided
using abusive and inciting language all through the electioneering
campaign.

According to Mr
Igboanugo, Mr Jonathan is an embodiment of great ideas and “the
consequences of all he has been doing in the past month have been
marvellous for the unity of Nigerian.” He added that he is “keeping his
ambition in the cooler until Jonathan completes his tenure.” In his
withdrawal declaration, Mr Nwadike said he heeded the call of his
people that initially asked him to run for the presidency and that of
“Ohaneze Ndigbo” that every bonafide Igbo person should support the
presidential ambition of Jonathan.

“I cannot afford to
be an odd man out.” Mr Samari, who spoke on behalf of his principal,
called on northerners to jettison regional and divisive politics which
he alleged some candidates have been propagating and advised them to
cast their votes for the Jonathan/Sambo ticket on Saturday.

The chairman of the
Inter Party Relations Committee of the Presidential Campaign council of
the PDP, Ebenezer Babatope denied insinuations that the presidential
aspirants were induced with the sum of N5million each to withdraw from
the race.

Mr Babatope
insisted that the PDP has always tried to maintain close ties with
other political parties through an all inclusive government of national
unity, adding that the ruling party will continue to collaborate with
other parties and their candidates.

Group of 45

Meanwhile, 45 registered political parties, on Wednesday, endorsed Mr Jonathan.

Announcing their
decision at a joint press conference, the coalition of the political
parties led by the National Chairman of the Advanced Congress of
Democrats (ACD), Yusuf Yakubu, said their decision was based on their
“faith in President Jonathan and belief that he is the most capable of
all the candidates in the field.”

They said their
faith in the PDP candidate was strengthened by the conduct of the
National Assembly election, which they claim was free and fair.

“We salute President Jonathan for keeping his promise to ensure
free and credible elections in Nigeria, for creating the enabling
environment and providing all necessary support to INEC,” Mr Yakubu
said. “The tremendous success achieved last Saturday convinces us that
President Jonathan is the man to lead Nigeria to the promised land.”

The governor of
Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel, yesterday said he is retiring from public
service after the expiration of his term on May 29, 2011.

Mr. Daniel said he will join the Ogun State Chapter of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners immediately he leaves office.

“I am going to
become a pensioner effective from May 29 when our tenure expires,” the
governor said during his administration’s valedictory meeting with
pensioners held at June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta.

Mr Daniel, who
bagged the award of the ‘Pensioners Friendly Governor’ at the event,
said he had not found the past eight years as governor of the state an
easy job.

He, however, said he is satisfied his government did not make life difficult for pensioners.

“By the special
grace of God, till I handover May 29, whatever will make you happy I
will do. You have served the state, what left is for the state to serve
you, and since my assumption I paid pension regularly,’ Mr Daniel said.

The governor
pledged a new bus to pensioners’ union and assured members that he will
not leave any unpaid debt of pensioners when he leaves office next
month.

“I have said it, I
will not go leaving debt behind,” he said. “I want you elders to pray
for me to accomplish this. It is not easy to rule for eight years
without violence. I didn’t lie to you for eight years, so there is no
reason lying to you while leaving office.”

The Secretary of
the pensioners’ union, Bola Lawal, appealed to the governor to offset
the gratuity payments owed pensioners since October last year.

“It is on record
that you approved land for our secretariat, but I want to use this
opportunity to tell you that the last time gratuity paid was last year
September, so we appeal to you on this,’ Mr Lawal said.

With less than two
weeks until the state House of Assembly elections, a Federal High Court
in Benin yesterday ruled that the Edo State chapter of the Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN) illegally substituted the name of Kabiru
Adjoto, who won the party primaries for Akoko-Edo I on January 12,
2011, with that of the runner-up, Anslem Agbabi.

Mr Adjoto, who is
currently representing the constituency in the Edo Assembly, filed a
lawsuit challenging the party’s action, and INEC’s decision to accept
the name substitution. In his ruling, the presiding judge, Adamu Hobon,
said that the party violated the amended Electoral Act, and that his
judgment was based on his consideration of the lawmaker’s allegations,
contained in a 24-paragraph affidavit and written addresses on merit.

The judge added
that, in line with the relevant sections of the 2011 Electoral
Amendment Act, the ACN in Edo duly organised indirect party primaries
to elect candidates who would contest the 2011 general elections in all
of the senatorial, House of Representatives and State Assembly seats in
the state, on January 12 2011.

For the Akoko-Edo
constituency I state assembly seat, the judge affirmed that Mr Adjoto
was declared the winner, having scored the highest number of votes
cast. Consequently, his name, among others, was forwarded to the INEC
in a letter dated and signed on January 13, 2011 by Osaro Idah, the Edo
ACN State Secretary, the receipt of which was acknowledged on January
15, 2011 by the electoral umpire.

No just cause

Mr Hobon observed
that after the ACN informed INEC of Mr Adjoto’s candidacy, the only
approved rationale for substituting his name for another would be if he
died or wrote to withdraw his candidacy from the said election.

With neither of
these conditions met, Mr Hobon ruled that Mr Adjoto remains the valid
candidate of the ACN for the Akoko-Edo constituency I for the State
Assembly seat, and any contrary decision on the part of the ACN or INEC
is a violation of the Electoral Act. Further justifying his ruling, the
judge said that Mr Agbabi and INEC filed their counter affidavits and
written addresses against Mr Adjoto lawsuit too late and without the
leave of the court.

According to the
judge, Mr Agbabi filed counter affidavits and written addresses 11 days
too late, the ACN in Edo did same eight days too late while the INEC
filed 4 days late. None of the parties asked the court for an extension
of time. This action, he said, violated order 13 section 35, subsection
15 of the rules of court.

Reacting to the
ruling, counsel to the petitioner, Nosagie Peter Osifo, said that the
judgment of the court is “illuminating, as it corrects an apparent case
of injustice” against his client.

Mr Agbabi’s counsel, Emmanuel Usoh, said they will appeal the ruling once they receive copies of the judgment from the court.

An Oyo State High
Court will today, give verdict on the suit filed by 11 retired judges
of the state high court against the state government over its refusal
to pay their gratuity severances.

The judge, Muktar
Ladi Abimbola fixed the date after counsels to parties in the matter
adopted their briefs in court on Wednesday.

The claimants
comprise of three Chief Judges, two acting Chief Judges and six other
retired judges, who served in the state’s judiciary before retirement.

They accused the
governor, Adebayo Alao Akala and the state Attorney-General, also
joined in the suit, of consciously denying them the right to their
lawful entitlements in contravention of provisions of the 1999
constitution, Certain Political Public and Judicial Office Holder
(Salaries and Allowances) Act 2002 and the amended Act 2008.

They wanted the
court to determine whether the state has the right to withhold their
pay after working for it before retiring meritoriously.

At its sitting last
week Tuesday, the court adjourned till yesterday for definite hearing
to allow counsel to the litigants respond to fresh processes that arose.

But the
government’s lawyer, Abdulahi Olawale, a principal legal officer in the
state ministry of justice, almost swayed the sitting as he sought
another adjournment to allow the state government find out from Abuja,
if it indeed, is its responsibility to pay the retired judges.

The government, in
a counter-affidavit to an application from the retired judicial
officers, posited that it is not the responsibility of the state
government to pay.

That was also the
line of argument of Mr Olawale on Wednesday when he rose to adopt its
defence to the applications from the claimants.

Reacting to the
many evidences of payment from some sister states in the country and
the correspondences from the National Judicial Council (NJC) directing
that retired justices from states high courts receive their severance
pay from the respective states where they served, the government’s
counsel said the law was not really specific on the matter.

The claimants
attached the documents to their applications to reinforce their
argument and establish the extent they have gone to guide the state
government appropriately.

Lasun Sanusi
(SAN), who represented the retired judges, however, did not see any
sense in the government’s arguments, liking it to a scenario where a
man is directing someone who works for him to go and get the pay from
his father.

Sue the federal government

He was reacting to
the argument that since the law permits Revenue Mobilisation And Fiscal
Allocation Commission to remove salaries and allowances of serving
judicial officers from source before their employers get their
allocations, the government expects that such will be applicable to the
severance gratuities.

The state
government also contended that the claimants sued the wrong persons by
dragging the governor and the state Attorney-General before the court
over the matter.

It said they
should have sued the NJC and the state Chief Judge instead, as
according to the lawyer, it is the NJC that directed the payment and
the directives were addressed to heads of courts across the federation.

Besides, the government wants the court to decline jurisdiction over the matter.

Responding, Mr.
Sanusi said the government had all the evidence to make it admit
liability to pay the money but chose to ignore the available facts.

He described the
government’s objections to the claimants’ submission as frivolous,
misconceived, unreasonable, unmeritorious and absurd, asking the court
to set it aside and allow the applicants’ processes to stand.

The judge will be giving his judgement today (Thursday).