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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.

The former
governor of Lagos State and a chieftain of the Action Congress of
Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, on Monday, condemned the leadership of the Oyo
State government, describing it as one that practices what he termed
“amala politics.”

Mr Tinubu, while
speaking to reporters at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, said that the
Akala-led government has brought more devastation to the people of Oyo
rather than the dividends of democracy. “Ever since the Akala type of
politics came in, the entire Oyo State has been regressing, that is the
truth,” he said. “They have brought wanton destruction to the spirit of
our people. They have never, never had a focus.”

Comparing Lagos and Ibadan

Mr Tinubu, who was
reacting to comments credited to Mr Akala, that the Action Congress of
Nigeria cannot win in Oyo State in the 2011 elections, argued that
previous administrations left tangible development worth applauding,
adding that the incumbent administration will be kicked out after next
year’s polls. “If you look at since 1999, the foundation laid by Lam
Adesina, it was a progressive foundation,” he said. “Then look at since
year 2003; are you not happy coming to Lagos? Are you happy getting to
Ibadan? And see how filthy, how dirty and how unkempt the state of
infrastructure there is in complete disintegration. Can you keep that
government any longer? Not even pipe borne water, not even one hospital
is developed. We are talking about developmental programmes in
politics; we are not talking amala politics of Akala.”

The former governor said that his party will win Ogun and Oyo States
by 2011, adding that the ACN has the capacity to boost the economies of
states. “We are using ACN to really show our capacity and commitment in
terms of economic and political development of all our various states
including Oyo, Ogun and many other states across the country,” he said.

A Federal High
Court in Lagos on Monday adjourned till December 21 further hearing in
the case filed by a former Director-General of the Nigerian Stock
Exchange (NSE), Ndi Okereke-Onyuike.

Mrs. Okereke-Onyuike is challenging her removal as NSE Director-General by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

She wants the court to void her sack and to declare that SEC lacked the authority to terminate her appointment.

The former NSE boss
equally wants an order of perpetual injunction restraining SEC and its
agents from implementing the letter announcing her removal from office.
She is also seeking N3 billion as compensation.

Mrs.
Okereke-Onyiuke contended that her removal from office was part of an
elaborate design orchestrated by SEC to humiliate her.

She said that SEC
failed to avail her the opportunity to react to allegations levelled
against her before announcing her removal on August 4.

At the resumed
hearing on the matter on Monday, Yemi Osibanjo announced his appearance
for NSE on the grounds that his client was interested in the case.

“We have filed an
application before the court asking to be joined as defendant in the
matter,” he said. He contended that the NSE was a necessary party to
the suit because the outcome of the suit would likely affect its legal
interest, internal policy and organisation.

Counsel to
Okereke-Onyuike, Dapo Olanipekun, however, asked the court for an
adjournment to enable him to file his response to NSE’s application.

The joy of the
family of a 65 year old woman, Juliana Ogunleye knew no bounds
yesterday as she regained freedom from her abductors.

Relatives and
neighbours of the woman trooped in to felicitate with the family over
the development shortly after the news of her release got to them. The
woman’s release came sixteen days after she was abducted by yet to be
identified gunmen.

The abduction of
Mrs. Ogunleye attracted the attention of the Nigerian Medical
Association (NMA), Ondo State chapter last week when they embarked on a
two day warning strike in solidarity with their colleague’s wife.

It was gathered
that the woman was freed by her captors around 5.30 am yesterday
shortly after the abductors called the family members to go and pick
the woman at a location described by them. She was consequently picked
up by her relatives around 5.50 along Ado-Ekiti road where she was
abandoned by the abductors.

One of the children
of the woman, Ayo Ogunleye said the family did not pay any ransom to
the kidnappers, “The abductors just called us to go and pick our
mother, the voice said since we have refused to pay the N50 million
ransom, it shows that our mother is worthless that we should go and
pick her”. He said.

The woman could not be reached for comments as she was said to have been taken out of Akure for medical attention.

However, her son
said when they reunited; she said her experience was very traumatic,
saying she did not pray to have a repeat of the last 16 days.

Mrs Ogunleye, wife
of a Saudi Arabia based medical doctor was on Sunday, November 28
abducted by four men that invaded her residence around 7 pm at Ijoka
area of Akure, the Ondo State capital. The kidnappers later placed a
N100 million ransom on her which was reduced to N30 million when the
family refused to negotiate with them.

All Nigeria Peoples
Party (ANPP) has ordered all its members serving in the Peoples
Democratic Party-led government to quit their positions.Despite the
order,the involved members;Minister of State for Foreign for Foreign
Affairs,Salamotu Suleiman and her counterpart in the Ministry of
Finance, Yabawa Lawan Wabi; special adviser to the president on civil
society matters, Chineme Ume-Ezeoke and Ebute Ayuk, Coordinator,
Informal Sector have not given any indication to leave the ruling party
led government.

After its meeting
last week, the National Executive Committee of the ANPP resolved to ask
its members to withdraw from government. It also asked its members
participating in the government at the state level to do so.

The National
Chairman of the party, Ogbonnaya Onu after seven hours meeting, said at
a news conference that his party was pulling out of the (Government of
National Unity) GNU because it did not work.

He said, “ Our
great party has reviewed its position and has come to the conclusion
that in the best interest of our dear country, the new All Nigeria
Peoples Party shall no longer participate in the government of National
Unity,” Mr Onu said.“The party therefore calls on all its members who
are holding one position or the other either at the federal or state
level, as a result of the Government of National Unity, to withdraw
their services and return home.

Investigations
revealed that none of the four involved at the federal level have
complied to the order,although, none of the four could be reached
yesterday for comments, an aide to one of them, who pleaded anonymity,
said that his boss is yet to receive a formal letter from the party
leadership asking him to quit the PDP administration.

The national
publicity secretary of ANPP, Emma Eneukwu confirmed that none of the
four members has withdrawn from the GNU.“At present, I am not aware
that any of them has returned or even written a letter to us on the
matter,” Mr Eneukwu said yesterday. However the former chairman of the
party, Edwin Ume-Ezeoke,whose son is among those affected by the
directive refused to speak to pressmen on the issue when contacted on
Monday.

It was remembered
that Mr Ume Ezeoke when he was the national chairman of the party
threatened several times to withdraw his party from GNU, according to
him, it was no longer serving the interest of Nigerians.“Whether we
have a government of national unity or state unity or local government
unity, we don’t care. If anything runs contrary to the interest of the
people, we will stand up and say no,” he said,describing the PDP as a
cancer which the opposition would oust from power in 2011.

He explained that the ANPP went into the GNU in order to save the country from chaos.

The Supreme Court
yesterday re-validated the election of former speaker of the Delta
State House of Assembly, Martins Okonta, whose election was nullified
by the Court of Appeal on the grounds of illegal substitution. Not
satisfied with the decision of the Appeals court, Mr. Okonta approached
the Supreme Court with a notice of appeal, requesting it to overturn
the verdict of the court which removed him from office. Mr. Okonta, in
his appeal, said that the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, was
in conflict with the one earlier given by its Benin division and that
the Abuja division of the court shut him out of the case and was,
therefore, not given a fair hearing before judgment was given in the
case. The Court of Appeal, Abuja, presided over by Jimi Bada, had
ordered INEC to retrieve the certificate of return from Mr. Okonta of
the PDP and issue it to Noye-Kingsley Philips.

Mr. Bada also
directed that Mr. Philips, who was proved to be the rightful candidate
of the party for the 2007 State Assembly election, be sworn in as a
member of the House by the secretariat of the Delta House of Assembly
forthwith.

“This court is
compelled to align itself with the decision of the trial court because
the evidence supplied by the appellant respondent (Philips) clearly
shows that Section 34 of the Electoral Act was violated by INEC and
Okonta respectively. The appellant applicants, INEC and Okonta, are
hereby directed to jointly pay the sum of N100,000 to the respondent as
compensation for court processes,” Mr. Bada stated.

Apex ruling

Ibrahim Idris, Mr.
Philips’ counsel, told the media after the judgment that his client
clearly won the primaries. He said that the leadership of the party, in
a clandestine arrangement with INEC, replaced him (Philips). “Being a
pre-election matter, wisdom demands that we wait until the election was
conducted before approaching the regular court and not the Election
Tribunal,” he said.

Mr. Okonta had since lost the seat to Mr. Philips while another member of the house was sworn in as the speaker.

However, the
Supreme Court set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja
which upheld the decision of the Federal High Court that nullified Mr.
Okonta’s election. Justice Dahiru Musdapher who led four other justices
agreed with Mr. Okonta’s counsel, Lateef Fagbemi, that the suit that
led to the appeal was incompetent because Mr. Okonta was not joined as
a party at the Federal High Court. Justice Olufunlola Adekeye, in the
lead judgment, said the refusal to join Mr. Okonta in the suit is a
breach of his fundamental right to a fair hearing. She said it is trite
law that proper parties are before the court so that they will be bound
by the effect of the action.

“The decision of the Federal High Court which was upheld by the Court of Appeal is hereby set aside,” she said.

Mr. Okonta had gone
to the apex court seeking a review of the verdict of the Abuja Court of
Appeal which had nullified his election. The court also refused Mr.
Okonta’s request for an order of injunction staying the execution of
the Appeal court judgment delivered on May 12, 2009, pending hearing
and determination of the appeal.

The apex court said there might be no need to hear the application
as it would take the substantive case and gave instant judgment.

Nigeria-US
relations have further been strengthened by the military cooperation to
combat terrorism, the new U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, Terence McCulley,
said on Sunday in Abuja. Mr. McCulley who was the guest at the forum of
the News Agency of Nigeria, said that relations were currently at the
highest level, given the recent bilateral engagements between the
countries. The ambassador noted that both countries are having a very
cooperative military-to-military engagement. According to him, Nigeria
is a member of a multinational trans-Saharan counter-terrorism
partnership initiative which looks at building capacity and addressing
common threats affecting all nations in the region.

Speaking
on the Gulf of Guinea, the envoy said both countries were collaborating
to safeguard the region, although “more work needed to be done.” He
also stated that his government has provided $2 billion in the past six
years for HIV and AIDS intervention in Nigeria. “HIV/AIDS relief is
perhaps our largest programme, and we have, over the past six years,
provided about $2 billion in assistance, and $500 million in this
fiscal year alone to mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS,” he said. “We
also have a programme which will be launched this year: the President’s
Malaria Initiative, here in Nigeria. Looking ahead of the next three
years, what I would like to do is to ensure that our democracy and
governance agenda is incorporated into all of these activities.”

The balance in the
Excess Crude Oil Account surged to about N450billion at the end of last
month, the accountant general of the federation, Ibrahim Dankwambo,
said at the end of the monthly Federation Accounts Allocation Committee
meeting in Abuja at the weekend. He said the balance of revenue in the
dollar-denominated component of the ECA was about $1.9billion, while
about N50billion was transferred into the domestic ECA. This excludes
the $1billion already deposited by the federal government as seed money
for the take-off of the newly created Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).

Mr. Dankwambo
attributed the surge in the revenue in the ECA to increased oil
production capacity under the various Production Sharing Contracts
(PSCs) in recent times as a result of the declining tension in the
Niger Delta as a consequence of the impact of the federal government
amnesty initiative in the region, improved oil prices at the
international oil market above the $60 per barrel benchmark in the 2010
budget as well as a rise in the modified carry agreement receipts by
the oil companies.

“The production
capacity of the multinational oil operators improved tremendously in
recent times as a result of the improved operational environment as a
direct consequence of the Federal Government Amnesty Programme for
Niger Delta militant groups as well as increase in crude oil prices at
the international market. Revenue, generally, was good, that was why
there was a transfer to excess crude account (dollar), which has a
balance of $1.9billion, (domestic) N50billion) and Sovereign Wealth
Fund of $1billion, bringing it to close to $3billion in revenue
savings. Our hope is that this level will be sustained,” he said.

More money to share

The AGF said gross
revenue available for distribution among the three tiers of government
for the month of November was N557.839billion, made up of
N407.554billion as statutory revenue, including Value Added tax (VAT).
The total figure is higher than N451.074billion from the previous month
by N106.766billion. The distributable statutory revenue for the month
was N364.639billion, an increase of N564million, or 0.15 percent
compared to the October figure. There was no augmentation revenue for
the month, neither was there an exchange gain,

considering that
the prevailing exchange rate of N147 per dollar was lower than the N150
per dollar set as the benchmark. A total of about N143.043billion was
transferred to the ECA, as well as for Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) and
Royalty.