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Wrongdoing in
society must be identified and punished to avoid the development of a
culture of impunity, President Goodluck Jonathan said yesterday during
a meeting with the leadership of the Evangelical Church Winning All
(ECWA).

Responding to a
call on government to take radical steps to ensure that individual
votes count in 2011, Mr. Jonathan said perpetrators of electoral
offences such as “changing figures of votes cast”, which is forgery,
would face the full wrath of the law, since “any crime that goes
unpunished leads to a culture of impunity, which does not augur well
for law and order.”

He also re-stated
his commitment to the conduct of free and fair elections in 2011,
adding that, “until people can elect those they want as their leaders,
democracy will not take root in Nigeria.”

Clarifying his
position on the militants and anti-social conduct in the Niger Delta,
the president said genuine militants who had embraced the amnesty were
being taken care of, but all those who have engaged in criminality
would be treated as criminals. The president further commended ECWA for
their role in partnering with government in educational, health and
rural development and congratulated them for celebrating their
centenary this year.

Laws on electoral offence

The president of
ECWA, Anthony Farinto, who led a delegation of the church to the State
House, called for laws to criminalise electoral malpractices.

“The current situation whereby some state governors,

federal and state
lawmakers occupy office for about three and a half years only to be
rooted out of office by competent courts is definitely not good for our
democracy,” he said.

He commended Mr.
Jonathan’s commitment to free and fair elections in 2011, his
determination to improve power supply and the establishment of six new
federal universities.

The ECWA president expressed concern at the incessant religious
crises in the North andcalled for a serious check on electoral
malpractices, as well as for a return of mission schools taken over by
government to their original owners.

The House of Representatives, on
Tuesday, readmitted another suspended member, Doris Uboh (PDP, Delta)
to the House as part of a gradual reintegration of the sanctioned
‘progressive’ lawmakers back into the House. Gbenga Oduwaye (PDP, Ogun)
and Austin Nwachukwu (PDP, Imo), who were also on suspension, were
pardoned last week. They attended yesterday’s plenary session. Also in
attendance were arrowheads of the group, Dino Melaye, Independence
Ogunewe, Solomon Awhinawhi, Abas Anas Adamu and Bitrus Kaze.

Messrs Melaye and Awhinawhi had, last
week, stormed the House’s chamber during a plenary session to enforce a
court ruling that their suspension was illegal, prompting deputy
speaker, Usman Nafada, to announce that the House was a law-abiding
institution and would therefore respect the decision of the court. It
was, however, gathered that the presence of Mr. Melaye and the others,
led to the temporary delay of the commencement of the plenary session
as the chamber was locked for about an hour allegedly to prevent them
from going in. But the doors to the chambers were opened at about
11.15pm after some of the lawmakers, who were hanging around the lobby,
expressed their anger over the development.

Obeying the court

In announcing the re-admittance of Ms.
Uboh, who had also gone to court to challenge her suspension, Mr.
Nafada, in the course of making the day’s announcements, informed
members that: “I received a communication in my office this morning on
the case by Doris Uboh that the Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled
that she be recalled back to the House. Uboh is hereby re-admitted.”

The lawmakers were suspended in June after they accused the leadership
of the House of corruption and threatened to remove the Speaker, Dimeji
Bankole if he did not resign as demanded. The lawmakers were forced out
of the House during a fracas at a plenary and were indefinitely
suspended by their colleagues. They has struggled most of last week to
have the judgment of the court overturning their suspension accepted by
the House leadership.

John Abraham
Godson, a Polish citizen born and raised in Nigeria, has been sworn-in
as the first black member of Poland’s parliament.

Mr. Godson had
served as a councillor in the city of Lodz before taking up a
parliamentary seat, vacated by a party colleague after local elections.
His entry into parliament has created a media stir in the mainly white
country.

He came to Poland
in the 1990s, opening an English language school, and working as a
pastor in a Protestant church. He has since married a Polish woman and
the couple have four children.

Beaten up twice

A member of the
centre-right Civic Platform Party, he was appointed to the seat vacated
by party colleague, Hanna Zdanowskaafter, after she became mayor of
Lodz.

Racism is still a
problem in Poland, where it is not uncommon for well-educated people to
make racist jokes and it is still quite rare to see black people even
in the Polish capital, Warsaw, Poland’s most cosmopolitan city.

Mr. Godson was
beaten up twice in the early 1990s, but he says attitudes to black
people in Poland are changing for the better, particularly since the
country joined the EU six years ago.

Speaking earlier to Polish radio, Mr. Godson said:

“I am from Lodz, I will live here, I want to die here, and I want to be buried here.”

Vice President
Namadi Sambo has advised the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN)
not to allow maintenance of power plants across the country interrupt
the supply of electricity to Nigerians.

Speaking during the
weekly meeting of the Presidential Task Force on Power in Abuja,
yesterday, Mr Sambo also said there should be a synergy between the
Ministry of Power and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation to
avoid a drop in gas supply during maintenance operations. He directed
the Power Holding Company to prevail on its staff to desist from the
act of shutting down power plants whenever they make demand, adding
that adhoc staff be trained to handle power plants against subversive
elements in PHCN.

While emphasizing
transparency and accountability in the sector, Mr Sambo said Nigerians
should be informed on the efforts of government to provide adequate
power supply by settling labour issues, benefits of the planned
privatization, and the subversive activities of labour union which
militate against the attainment of this goal. The vice president
further set up a committee to resolve any impending issues with labour.
Members of the committee include the Ministries of Power, Labour,
Finance, National Planning, Justice, and the Head of the Civil Service
of the Federation.

Unhappy unions

Minister of State
for Power, Nuhu Wya, gave highlights on Geregu, Ibom, Jebba and Egbin
Power Plants. According to him, the Geregu Power Plant suffered from
gas interruption last week due to repairs carried out by Nigeria Gas
Company over a pipe leakage on Oben-Ajaokuta Line. He also noted that
the Ibom Power Plant is experiencing low gas pressure and has been out
of operation since December 10, while Egbin is undergoing repairs on a
broken cold reheat pipeline that occurred immediately after the system
collapse of December 8, 2010.

He was, however, optimistic that the repairs would be completed by
December 17 to restore 200MW to the system. Mr Wya said the PHCN
in-house union had given notice to the Ministry of Power and the
management of the company on its plan to embark on a “sensitization
exercise” on December 16 against the proposed privatization exercise in
the power sector. He also stated that 791 staff, representing 1.20
percent, are yet to be cleared for payment of monetisation benefits
while 44,035 (97.41%) staff have been paid.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi narrowly survived a no-confidence
motion on Tuesday that left his struggling centre-right government clinging to
power by a handful of votes.

The result reinforced Berlusconi’s reputation as one of the great survivors
of Italian politics but left him badly weakened, without the numbers in
parliament to ensure stability at a time of big economic challenges and a
menacing euro zone debt crisis.

Berlusconi’s survival was ensured with 314 votes against 311 in the lower
house of parliament.

Vote counting after an acrimonious debate was briefly interrupted by a
scuffle between deputies from rival camps.

Pier Luigi Bersani, head of the opposition Democratic Party, said
Berlusconi’s survival was a Pyrrhic victory.

“You, prime minister are no longer in a position to govern,” he
told parliament.

Riot police blocked off the centre of Rome and clashed with protesters who
threw firecrackers and paint bombs at the Senate and oranges at the economy
ministry.

After a year overshadowed by corruption and sex scandals and an acrimonious
split with former ally Gianfranco Fini that cost him a secure parliamentary
majority, the result offered at least a temporary lifeline to the 74-year-old
premier.

Berlusconi has repeatedly defied sceptics, shrugging off a string of gaffes
and scandals to win three elections and transform Italy’s political landscape
since gaining power for the first time in 1994, but he has polarised Italians.

Thousands of students, workers and other
government opponents staged other protests around the country on Tuesday.

Had Berlusconi lost in the lower house following a clear win in the Senate
earlier on Tuesday, he would have had to resign, potentially opening the way to
early elections more than two years before they are due in 2013.

The result was secured after a fevered campaign of back room deals, in which
opposition accusations of vote-buying and corruption have been answered by
fierce denials and counter-accusations of treachery.

“Go to elections”

With the vote out of the way, attention now switches to the concessions
Berlusconi will have to offer to centrists and rebels on the centre-right to
secure a longer term alliance.

On Monday, Berlusconi offered to open up his government to moderates in a
broad electoral pact but his coalition allies in the Northern League, who play
the role of government kingmakers, have already expressed scepticism.

“Either there are the conditions for continuing in government with a
solid majority or it would be better to go to an election,” Interior
Minister Roberto Maroni, a senior member of the Northern League told reporters.

Tuesday’s vote was closely watched by financial markets on high alert over
the euro zone debt crisis, and a prolonged period of doubt could turn the
spotlight on Italy’s strained public finances.

“Political uncertainty will only be dissipated in case of a clear
majority,” analysts from Italian bank UniCredit wrote in a research note before the key vote.

Italy has one of the heaviest public debt burdens in the world, at almost
120 percent of gross domestic product. But it has largely escaped the euro zone
debt storm thanks to tight control of spending and a conservative banking
system that avoided excess during the market boom.

Markets were reassured last week when the 2011 budget was passed in
parliament ahead of the votes, but the vote does not provide the secure
majority investors want to see and leaves the future of the government in
doubt.

Former anti-corruption judge Antonio Di Pietro, who now heads the opposition
Italy of Values party, said in parliament:

“Whatever the result of the vote you have bought, one thing is clear.
You (Berlusconi) do not have a political majority that would allow you to
govern.”

“Whether you like it or not, you have reached the end of the line for
your political experience,” he said.

REUTERS

James Ibori, former
Delta State governor, who is on a wanted list in Britain over
allegations of corruption, yesterday in Dubai, the United Arab
Emirates, lost his appeal against his extradition.

The Gulf Arab
Emirates’ cassation court ruled against Mr. Ibori’s appeal. The former
governor, who has also been declared wanted by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was arrested in the Emirates in
May. The arrest was at the behest of the London Metropolitan Police,
and a Dubai court later approved a British extradition request.

Convicted associates

A British court had
in August 2007 frozen his assets, worth over $35 Million, based on the
suspicion that they were the proceeds of corruption. Some of Mr.
Ibori’s associates in Britain have been convicted.

Among these are his
sister, Christine Ibie-Ibori, and his ally, Udoamaka Okoronkwo (nee
Onuigbo). Both are currently serving jail terms in a United Kingdom
prison. Mr. Ibori’s wife, Theresa Nkoyo, and his UK-based lawyer,
Bhadresh Gohil, were also convicted recently.

A statement by Femi
Babafemi, the spokesperson of the EFCC, yesterday said, “The ruling
today of the appellate court in Dubai only goes to confirm our earlier
position issued after the first ruling in October that justice is
universal and applicable anywhere in the world.

“We have been
cooperating with authorities in other jurisdictions on this matter and
we will continue to do this until the cause of justice is fully served,
irrespective of the ignorance and misrepresentation being peddled by
mischief makers.”

The anti-graft
agency had in April tried to arrest Mr. Ibori before his trip to Dubai,
to question him over allegations that he looted N44 billion from Delta
State coffers. However, a large number of his supporters prevented
police from arresting him in his hometown, Oghara. Few days after, he
fled the country for Dubai. How he fled the country without being
apprehended is still unknown.

Mr. Ibori governed
Delta State from 1999 to 2007. He was a big power broker in the Peoples
Democratic Party after he left power, dismissing all accusations
against him as political.

It is not clear yet how soon he will be flown to Britain to face further prosecution.

Human right
activist, Femi Falana has condemned the jumbo pay collected by members
of the National Assembly and stressed the need for Nigerians to
critically examine the total cost of governance in the country.

Mr. Falana said
this over the weekend in Benin City at a lecture/lunchion organised by
members of the University of Ibadan Alumni Association, Edo State
branch. He called on all Nigerians to resist the jumbo salary of the
federal legislators.

Quoting section 70
of the constitution which stipulates that the salaries and allowances
of federal legislators shall be determined and fixed by the revenue
mobilisation allocation and fiscal commission, he faulted the situation
in which only 429 members of the National Assembly of the 140 million
population allocates to themselves 3% of the national budget in the
country where 70% of her populace live on less than N150 a day.

He noted that in
utter violation of the constitution, National Assembly members have
allocated to themselves jumbo emoluments through the appropriation act.

“Whereas the
National Assembly is empowered by the constitution to make laws for
‘the peace, order and good government of the federation’ the laws that
are today being passed by the legislators are designed to satisfy the
interest of a tiny portion of the populace. By this, the NASS should be
made to appreciate that its constitutional duty is to make laws for the
peace, order and good government,” he said.

Mr. Falana said
that in the course of passing the appropriation bill which embodies the
estimates, national legislators, increased the annual budget by
up-surging or sharing power with the President to prepare the budget
and lay it before the assembly, an act, he condemned.

“In the ongoing
debate on the salaries and allowances, federal legislators have claimed
that the over-head of the National Assembly is not 25% but 3%. This is
unacceptable in a country where N18, 000 minimum wage is less than N10,
000 per month. These legislators are the highest paid in the world.” He
said.

Nigerians must act

Mr. Falana
therefore challenged Nigerians, on the on-going debate on the fat pay
of federal legislators, saying that they should not allow the assembly
members and the President to violate the constitution in the passage of
the 2011 appropriation bill into law.

A bloody clash
between two rival groups that specialise in oil pipe lines vandalism in
Calabar, Cross River State, has left two members dead and a score of
others injured. The clash took place along the NNPC Right of Way in
Calabar.

It was revealed
that victims of the fight met their tragic end at the Ekorinim axis of
the pipelines that run from the Calabar jetty to the NNPC Tank Farm at
Harbour village in the Calabar Municipal area.

Though the full
identities of those killed were yet to be ascertained as at the time of
this report, their friends and neighbours seen at Ekorinim Village
lamenting the tragedy, gave their names as Ekeng and Kingsley aka King.

It was gathered
that trouble started between Creek Town vandals from the nearby
Odukpani local government area of the state and their Ekorinim
counterparts over the sharing of the proceeds that will accrue from the
sale after successfully siphoning their loot.

The hoodlums
stormed the pipelines at about 1a.m last weekend, with over 20 of them
armed with locally made guns, machetes, and jerry cans. However, as the
vandals emptied the pipelines and got ready to return home with their
loot, the Creek Town boys, who outnumbered the former group, allegedly
attempted to cart away the entire jerry cans of fuel, leaving their
Ekorinim counterparts empty handed, thus leading to physical combat.

One Ekong Edet, who
identified himself as a friend of late Kingsley, confirmed that the
deceased left the house hale and hearty on the fateful night to scoop
fuel, only for them to be informed the following day that he had been
killed at the pipelines.

“I advised him not
to involve himself in fuel bunkering again, because it has killed so
many people in Ekorinim but he will not listen,” Mr. Edet said.

The police is yet
to make any arrest as at the time of the report, but the deceased were
said to have been buried in shallow graves by the bank of the river.

Ekiti State government has appointed the permanent
secretary of the state ministry of finance, Olubunmi Famosaya, as the
new Head of Service (HOS).

Mr. Famosaya succeeds Olufemi Adewumi who has been occupying the office since June 2007.

According to the deputy governor, Funmilayo Olayinka,
who broke the news at a session held with permanent secretaries,
general managers of public corporations, and directors in the civil
service, Mr. Famosaya was picked out of the five candidates that
applied for the position, explaining that the process that led to the
emergence of the new HOS was “very rigorous and painstaking.”

Mrs. Olayinka, who presided over the meeting held at
the Executive Council Chambers of the Governor’s Office on behalf of
Governor Kayode Fayemi, who was outside the state on an official
assignment, advised Messrs. Adewumi and Famosaya to immediately debrief
their subordinates before the announcement goes on air.

Promise to perform

Mr. Adewumi expressed confidence in the ability of
his successor, saying they both had at one time attended the National
Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS).

In his response, Mr. Famosaya described his new
position as a “very big challenge”, saying he felt humbled for the
confidence reposed in him to lead the public service of Ekiti State.

“I want us to see the civil service as our own
institution and not as a government institution. The political class
and the civil service all have a stake to take the state to the next
level. I promise that we will all do our best to move the public
service forward in Ekiti State,” he said.

Special appointment

Mr. Fayemi also appointed a deaf and dumb staff
member of Oye local government council, Kayode Ogundana, as domestic
assistant in the Government House.

The state government described the appointment of Mr.
Ogundana as an attestation to the commitment of the Fayemi-led
administration to the cause of the physically-challenged people in the
state.

Mr. Ogundana, according to his letter of appointment
signed by Seun Odewale, the personal assistant to the governor, is
attached to the special assistant (Internal Security).

The governor urged the new appointee to justify the confidence reposed in him. The appointment took effect from December 1.

Fidelia Njeze, the
minister of aviation, on Monday, expressed dismay with the rise in the
number of passenger complaints recorded by the Nigerian Civil Aviation
Authority between the months of January to September this year.

Explaining that air
travellers are rightfully entitled to adequate treatment by airline
operators, Mrs. Njeze said that the grievances by passengers ranged
from issues of missing luggage, poor in-flight services, contempt, to
the sale of an already paid seat to another passenger.

“In the past few
months, the NCAA has received several complaints through its consumer
protection unit by aggrieved passengers who have been badly treated in
one way or the other by some airlines within and outside the country,”
she said during a meeting with representatives of foreign airlines
operating in Nigeria, held at the agency’s headquarters annex in Lagos.

“For instance, this
year alone, between January and September, the consumer protection unit
has received approximately 46,998 complaints pertaining to lost
baggage, flight delays, cancellations, poor in flight service,” she
added.

Revamping customer service

The aviation
minister urged the airline operators to retrain their front desk
officers and crew members on how to relate with passengers.

“I use this
opportunity to appeal to operators to remind their personnel on the
need for proper treatment of passengers, especially Nigerians, wherever
they may be.

“It is a momentous
time in Nigerian aviation industry, and I implore you to avail yourself
of the tremendous potentials and opportunities presented. I believe
together we can forge a strong and vibrant sector comparable anywhere
in the world,” she said.

New developments

While pleading with
the carriers to support in developing the sector, Mrs. Njeze outlined
some of the strides of the ministry to include the implementation of
the National Aviation Security Programme, which led to the installation
of 3D Total Body Imaging Scanners; various explosive detection systems
at the major airports; total body pat down at departure security
points; investment and roll out of Machine Readable Travel Documents
that incorporate biometrics, amongst others.

“The government
believes aviation security is a matter of global concern that requires
global concerted efforts. We, therefore, call on your support and
corporation in our quest to build a safe and secure airspace,” she said.

The minister also announced that the Akanu Ibiam Airport, Enugu State, will be opened for operations this month.

“The Akanu Ibiam Airport, Enugu, as you are well aware, has been upgraded to international status.

“As I speak, the runway extension and resurfacing with new airspace
infrastructure has been concluded and scheduled to open for daylight
operations from the 16th of this month. It is hoped that airlines will
take advantage of this and commenced plans to provide service to
travellers in that region,” the minister said.