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Adeniyi Olajide,
the Action Congress of Nigeria’s candidate in the by-election conducted
on Wednesday into Moba Constituency 1 in Moba Local Government Area of
Ekiti State has been declared the winner of the election.

Mr Olajide
contested against the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Gboye
Afilaka in an election which to an extent suffered apathy by voters.

The election
suffered a low turn out of voters, contrary to the expectations of
politicians in the area, and also considering the level of high
political status that had joined the party’s political train for the
coveted seat of the state house of assembly.

The seat became
vacant following the death of the former Deputy Speaker of the State
House of Assembly, Saliu Adeoti of Action Congress of Nigeria on Oct.
27.

The vacant
Legislative seat which was contested by the majorly ACN, PDP and the
Labour Party (LP), the leading three parties in the state commenced at
about 8.30 in the morning was held in five wards of the constituency
comprising 49 polling units.

The security
operatives however ensured a heavy presence by a team jointly
co-coordinated by the state Commissioner of Police, Olayinka Balogun
and the state Director of the State Security Service (SSS), though some
reports of ballot snatching were also reported.

The state chairman
of People’s Democratic Party, Bola Olu-Ojo said in an interview that
the election was rigged and should not be honoured by the INEC,

“you can see for
yourself and I am sure that some of you still have it on the tape. If
INEC should go ahead with this, then we have started seeing what will
happen in 2011.

Monitoring the
election, a member of PDP and the Minister of State, Caleb Olubolade
and the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Isiyaku Maigoro,
confirmed few hitches but claimed that there were efforts to rectify
them.

Although there was
a case of alleged snatching of a ballot box at Osan-Ekiti by some
alleged political thugs, the election was generally peaceful.

Ajayi Emmanuel, one
of the Presiding Officers, who spoke to News Agency of Nigeria, said
that the election at his unit was peaceful and commended the security
personnel for their efforts in checkmating political thugs.

Mr Maigoro also
expressed satisfaction with the conduct, stating that apart from
Osan-Ekiti where a ballot box was snatched, the election is generally
peaceful as at noon.

“Since it is still
on and we are still monitoring the exercise, I cannot conclude on the
conduct now until the completion of the exercise,” he said.

Mr Olubolade
however told the media that “our people should see the need to abide by
the presidential directive for a free and fair election. It is only a
free and fair election that can give Nigeria credibility in the comity
of nations.

“It is unfortunate
that some state government officials are using government vehicles to
perpetrate this dastardly act,” he said.

The minister
disclosed that the Commissioner of Police and the Director of SSS had
already visited the unit and started investigations.

However, the former
Governor of Ekiti State, Segun Oni and the People’s Democratic Party in
a press statement issued after the election faulted the by-election,
calling it a disgrace to INEC and Nigeria as a country.

“”From what has
happened today, this country is indeed in trouble. People who go about
sermonising on one-man, one-vote were the ones who invaded Moba with
thugs, snatched ballot boxes and unleashed terror on the people.

This shameful!

“If Jega is serious
about free and fair election in 2011, he ought to have used this
election in just 49 polling units to show Nigerians that. He should
have even supervised it directly so that he can learn from it but he
has allowed the whole thing to be messed up,” Mr Oni said.

Meanwhile, Mr Maigoro, has vowed to prosecute any of his workers who by any means breaks the law during the by-election.

The Federal
Government entered into deal with Julius Berger over the Halliburton
bribery scandal because the Nigerian law dealing with corporate
criminality is weak, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the
Federation, Mohammd Bello Adoke has said.

He also spoke of the need to ensure the early resolution of the matter in the greater national interest.

Mr Adoke, who
presented the ministerial score card of the Ministry in Abuja
yesterday, said the ministry and the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) recovered money and assets worth N191billion form
Cecilia Ibru and her associated companies in the year under review.

He said he found
it necessary to use the occasion to highlight the approach adopted by
the ministry in addressing the prosecution of certain high profile
economic crimes committed by some individuals and corporate entities
(local and foreign ) against the Nigerian state.

“I refer
particularly to the ongoing prosecution of some bank executives and
multinational corporations for economic crimes and corrupt practices,”
he said.

He also said the
ministry has commenced the prosecution of individuals and multinational
companies indicted in the Halliburton bribery scandals.

“As a result of
government’s resolve to prosecute those indicted, Julius Berger,
Siemens, Saipem, Technip, and Halliburton Inc. were charged to court.
To avert prosecution, these companies approached us with various
settlement options for consideration,” he said.

Easy way out

He said in
resolving these cases, the ministry took cognizance of the weakness of
Nigeria’s penal provisions dealing with corporate criminal liability
before adopting international best practices, by emphasising on
‘restitution’ that would ensure direct benefit to the Nigerian
Government as the ‘victim State’. Accordingly, a total sum of $170.8
million has been paid as penal fines to the Federal Government.

The minister said
he directed the commencement of the review of the country’s penal
provisions to properly address the reality of corporate criminality by
providing appropriate sanctions that would ensure deterrence in the
country.

Nigeria will be
richer with $255 million by the time all the monies the companies
agreed to pay are collected, he said, explaining that only $35 million
was realised from Halliburton alone and that three, out of the four
companies involved in the scandal have so far paid $95 million.

He said about $130
million of these monies are held in banks at Monaco and Geneva, adding
that government is doing everything to recover the money from the
indicted companies.

Mr Adoke threatened
that government will ensure that all those involved in the civil
disturbances in Jos and the Boko Haram crises in some states in the
North-East geopolitical zone will be prosecuted.

He said the ministry has obtained the files on the alleged extra
judicial killings involving some police officers during the Boko Haram
crises and has commenced consultation with Borno State Ministry of
Justice in order to ensure early prosecution.

The four persons
apprehended by the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos Police Command
over the theft of 20 Direct Data Capturing (DDC) machines belonging to
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) appeared at the
Ikeja magistrate court yesterday .

On Tuesday, the
trial of the suspects came to a halt as they were transferred from the
Magistrate court 13 at the International Airport to the Ikeja due to
the inclusion of a minor among the culprits.

Femisola Azeez, the
Senior Magistrate scheduled to hear the case at the airport disclosed
that minor will be tried at a juvenile court, adding that the suspects
are to be transferred to the appropriate quarters.

The suspects which
include Suleiman Isa, 17, Lawal Lateef, Bamidele Joshua, and one
female, Sumonu Modupe, were arrested in the early hours of Friday
December 10, 2010 by detectives from the MMIA force after discovering
that the machines were moved out of the airport through the Shasha end
of the airport.

Meanwhile, Rasaq
Oyelade and Nwoche John, counsels to the suspects argued that they were
surprised at the refusal of the judge to hear the case, as they
stressed that the presence of a minor in the case should have waranted
a separation of the suspects rather than referring them to a juvenile
court.

It was gathered that the case of the adult suspects will be held at
the Ikeja Magistrate Court 9, while that of the minor, however, is yet
disclosed.

All the 624 PDP
delegates from the North-Central zone have endorsed the President
Jonathan/Sambo presidential ticket ahead of party’s Jan.13 primaries.

The delegates made
the endorsement on Tuesday in Lafia at a consultative meeting with the
president and other stakeholders from the zone.

The News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) reports that motion for the endorsement was moved by
former Minister of Information, Jerry Gana and seconded by former
Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Adamu. A voice vote to that
effect was called by the Senate President, David Mark.

“Given the fact
that the President is effectively responding to the yearnings and
aspiration of Nigerians, I, Prof. Jerry Gana do hereby move that the
North-Central delegates to the National convention of our great party,
the PDP, hereby unanimously agree and adopt President Goodluck Jonathan
as our choice of presidential candidate of the PDP for the 2011
election,” Mr Gana said. Mr Jonathan, who thanked the governors and
people of the zone for the support so far shown to his administration,
said he will not disappoint Nigerians if given the mandate.

He challenged the
delegates to vote for him in the interest of the zone in the
forthcoming PDP presidential primaries in order to help realise the
dream of the zone and the country.

He promised to
tackle kidnapping in the South-East and all other security challenges
if given the mandate in 2011, stressing that “no economic development
can be achieved without security.”

Asking for more

Earlier, while
presenting the delegates to Presdent Jonathan, the North-Central Zonal
Coordinator of the Jonathan /Sambo campaign organisation, the Benue
State Governor, Gabriel Suswam assured him that no delegate from the
zone will vote any other presidential aspirant during the primaries.

He, however,
appealed to the President to make the exploration of the various
mineral resources in the area, especially coal, his focus when
re-elected in 2011 as the resource had remained untapped for years.

Mr Suswan also
appealed for the dualisation of the Abuja – Lafia- Enugu Federal
Highway to ease transportation and enhance the agricultural potential
of the zone.

Aliyu Doma of
Nasarawa State commended the President for the landmark achievements
recorded, particularly, in the areas of power generation, economic
transformation, and infrastructural development.

He also praised the president’s commitment to equity, justice and promotion of unity and peaceful coexistence in the country.

Balarabe Musa, the National Chairman of
Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), has decried the Independent National
Electoral Commission’s guidelines on primaries, saying most of the
political parties will find it extremely difficult to comply with them.
He said on Wednesday in Abuja that only the People’s Democratic Party
would have all the requirements to hold the primaries for elective
public offices across the country. Mr Musa said PRP would require at
least N42 million to hold its primaries in just one state, stating that
“INEC guidelines are impossible to comply with by most of the 62
political parties because of the amount of money required. “Only PDP
will be able to nominate candidates who can pass through the INEC
screening for all the elections.” He said the electoral system should
be blamed for the lopsidedness which favours the ruling PDP. He however
said it was the responsibility of political parties to call the
attention of the National Assembly to the anomaly before it passes the
Electoral Act for the president’s assent.

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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

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.

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.

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.

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.