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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.

The 36 state
governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum will meet
tonight in Abuja to discuss some national issues, including the ongoing
amendment to the Electoral Act. The governors may also pick a new
chairman to replace Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State, who declared
his intention, two months ago, to run for the presidency.

The meeting, which
is scheduled to hold at the Kwara State Governors Lodge, Asokoro
District of Abuja, will be preceded by that of the Northern Governors
Forum. The northern governors, who shifted their meeting from their
traditional venue in Kaduna to Abuja will meet this morning.

However, the
governors elected on the Peoples Democratic Party met last night ahead
of the National Executive Committee meeting tomorrow in Abuja.

The PDP NEC meeting
is reportedly scheduled to ratify the recommendations of the National
Working Committee and other organs of the party on the timetable and
guidelines for the primaries. The National Working Committee, Board of
Trustees and the National Caucus of the party had cancelled staggered
presidential primary elections and opted for a one-day convention
billed for Eagle Square in Abuja.

Although, its
agenda was not clear, it was gathered that the amendment to the
Electoral Act 2010, the PDP timetable/guidelines, topped the agenda.
The governors were said to have opposed staggered primaries adopted by
the PDP leadership and may present the same to NEC. NEXT also learnt
that the plan by the National Assembly to amend Section 72 to include
members of the National Assembly as members of the NEC of the party,
would be discussed. The governors are allegedly opposed to the
amendment because, according to sources, it would remove the power base
from them to the federal lawmakers.

Nothing on chairmanship

When contacted last
night, the director-general of the NGF, Asishana Bayo Okauru, confirmed
that the three meetings will hold, but noted that he was only concerned
with the meeting of the 36 state governors, which comes up tonight.

According to him,
the 36 governors will discuss the Electoral Act and two other issues,
which he did not mention. He said that the meeting begins at 8pm. On
the election of a new chairman for the NGF, Mr. Okauru also confirmed
that the forum will look at the report submitted by the Babatunde
Fashola Panel, which was constituted last month to set rules for the
election of a chairman.

“I doubt if a new chairman will be picked,” he said in a telephone
chat last night. “You know Fashola committee submitted its report but
it could not be discussed last week because of the death of Governor
Adams Oshiomhole’s wife. The report will be discussed alongside two
other issues. The new NGF chairman will not emerge because they were
not asked to pick a chairman but to set rules for the purpose because
such situation had never arisen before. The rules will be looked into.”

The secret meeting
between the former United States Ambassador to Nigeria and President
Goodluck Jonathan published by the internet whistleblower, WikiLeaks
has been welcomed by a pressure group claiming the leaks confirmed that
the President is a humble, honest, patriotic and down-to-earth
personality.

The Movement for
Democratic Sustainability (MDS) said in a statement issued yesterday
signed by its publicity secretary,Iheanacho Afam decried the Atiku
campaign group for insinuating in a national daily that details of the
leaked cable suggested that Mr Jonathan “cannot be trusted.” The group
urged Nigerians to read the documents intelligently and “get the main
facts and not political sensationalism that is flying around.”

The group insisted
that despite the Presidency’s claim that the reports in the cable are
inaccurate, “nothing in the document suggests that Mr Jonathan sold
Nigeria as some people angling for his post would have done.” “He was
advised by the ambassador and other envoys who visited him at the time
and he made it clear that he will look into them and act accordingly in
a manner that would not compromise the sovereignty of the country.”

Mr Afam further
noted of more importance is that, Mr Jonathan’s name was not linked to
any of the “dirty oil deals and bribe bazaars” that characterised the
past government as revealed by WikiLeaks.According to the group, the
president ought to be commended for holding such high level diplomatic
consultation and making efforts to bring Nigeria back to mainstream
international politics. MDS insisted that contrary to what some
politicians want Nigerians to believe, the leaked document revealed
that President Jonathan though very humble remains “his own man.”
“Therefore, to us the president is being honest by saying he is not a
“politician” in the sense that politicians are known in Nigeria today.

And that to us
makes him a better person for the job. “We strongly believe that once
again, beyond petty politics,Mr Jonathan needs to be commended by all
Nigerians for steering the ship of the Nigeria from the wreck for which
it was heading as a result of former President Yar Adua’s ill health.
This noble role cannot be wished away.” Afam conluded.

Reporters have been
reminded that investigative journalism involves remaining dogged in the
face of adversity until answers are obtained as to why situations
thrive in any given society.

Speaking at the
fifth edition of the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting,
held on December 9, 2010, a legal practitioner, Ayo Obe, stated that
investigative journalism goes beyond the traditional reporting process
of asking ‘Who? What? When? How? and Why?’. “What marks investigative
journalism out is what the reporter has to do to get the answers to all
those questions,” she said. “It speaks to the amount of burrowing,
digging, checking and confirmation that the reporter has to do to get
the true answers to those questions. It speaks to the reporter who is
not satisfied with the first answer, who tests those first answers and
comes up with fresh questions until he or she is fully satisfied that
they have as much true information as they can get.”

Rewarding hard work

The award was first
instituted in October 2005, and was named the Wole Soyinka
Investigative Reporting Award. It was named after the 1986 Nobel
Literature laureate for his consistent and outspoken activism,
particularly during Nigeria’s military regimes. The name was later
changed to the Wole Soyinka Centre For Investigative Journalism in
2008. Since inception, the centre has awarded 21 journalists for their
best practices in the Nigeria media aimed at ensuring accountability in
the society.

At this year’s
award presentation ceremony, which held at the Agip Recital Hall of the
MUSON Centre in Onikan, winners were decided from the print, online and
photo categories; as works submitted for the broadcast, local
government and climate change categories did not meet the standard of
the judges. The winner of the print category was Badejo Ademuyiwa, of
Business Day Newspapers, for his serial on ‘NNPC Insurance Program’;
the first runner-up was Emmanuel Mayah, of The Sun Newspapers, for his
story on ‘Europe by desert: Tears of African migrants’; and the second
runner-up was Chukwuma Muanya, of Guardian Newspapers, for his story on
‘The scramble for Pfizer’s token in Kano’.

In the online
category, Peter Nkanga, of NEXT, winner for his serial on ‘The Pregnant
Inmate’. Last year’s winner and this year’s only other runner-up was
Nicholas Ibekwe, also of NEXT, for his story on ‘Nigerians lose
millions in search of diplomas’. Winning the photojournalism prize was
Femi Ipaye, of PM News, for his photograph on ‘The great scramble for
Patience Jonathan’s rice’. Olatunji Obasa, of The News, was the first
runner up, for ‘(Police) man’s inhumanity against man’; while the
second runner up prize went to Sunday Aghaeze, of This Day Newspapers,
for ‘The president convoy on the way from Abuja airport’.

Winners from the
various categories were rewarded with certificates of commendation,
plaques, laptops with one-year Internet access, and an a trip to the
United Kingdom. First runners-up got laptops, fifty thousand naira cash
prize, and certificates of commendation; while second runners-up were
given laptops and certificates of commendation.

Other awards given
on the day includes the Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence,
which was presented by the Kadaria Ahmed, the Editor of NEXT
Newspapers, to media icon, Doyin Abiola; while Bunmi Oyewole, a high
court judge, presented the Anti-Corruption Defender Award posthumously
to legal icon, Gani Fawehinmi, which was received by his wife, Ganiyat
Fawehinmi.