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The Senate president, David Mark, has expressed support for the
creation of additional states in the country.

Mr. Mark, while speaking to airport reporters at the
presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, on his way to
Abuja, after the conferment of a chieftaincy title on him from Egbaland in
Abeokuta, Ogun State, disclosed that the creation of more states enhances
proximity between the leaders and the led.

“I think truly that the agitation for state creation is an
agitation to bring governance nearer to the people. That is what it means in
effect,” he said at the weekend.

“Could you have imagined what the situation could have been if
Lagos was not created out of the old Western Region, or if we didn’t have more
states in Nigeria?” He asked.

Admitting that there are states in the country that are not as
productive compared to some others, the Senator said that the need for more
states outweighs arguments of a particular state’s viability.

“I know the argument is there are states now that don’t appear
viable, but that itself is not enough argument to stop the agitation for state
creation,” he said.

The public will decide
number

On the number of additional states to be created, Mr. Mark
disclosed that Nigerians will decide on the number of states required for the
country, adding that an open dialogue on the issue will be conducted.

“It is the will of the people. You know, we are going to subject
this to public discussion and at the end of it, we will gather opinion and see
where the preponderance of the opinion swings to,” he said.

Mr. Mark, however, disclosed that the media, the general public,
and the National Assembly have a role to play in the creation for additional
states.

“It depends on you; for the media has a critical role to play.
The public and parliamentarian have a role to play. We all have something at
stake and if we play our part, everything will be alright,” he said.

Imo State Attorney General, Ken Njemanze, appears to have been caught in the middle of a dispute over a traditional throne. He is alleged to have used his position as the state’s Attorney General to influence the judgement of the Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri over the dispute in which he is considered an active participant.

A group known as Imo State Concerned Citizens Abroad based in Slovakia sent a petition dated July 19, 2010 to the National Judicial Council (NJC) accusing the Mr. Njemanze of colluding with Mojeed Owoade, a Justice of the Court of Appeal, Owerri, to fraudulently subvert an earlier judgement of an Imo State High Court, Orlu, over the matter between the state (plaintiff) and Cyracus Amaechi Mkpado (accused).

Another group, the Concerned Citizens of Orlu based in California, United States of America, also petitioned the NJC on the same matter calling on the body to investigate Mr. Njemanze, Mr. Owoade and another justice of the Appeal Court in Owerri, Helen Ogunwumiju, for what it termed “their roles in this travesty of justice”.

Attempted murder

Cyracus Mkpado was charged by the state for attempting to kill one Chima Mkpado by shooting him during a marriage ceremony on December 31, 1991. The shooting was believed to have been precipitated by their quarrel over the kingship stool of Umuzike autonomous community in Orlu local governemnt area, which Cyracus Mkpado was occupying then.

When the case came up for hearing at an Imo State High Court, Orlu, Mr. Njemanze was part of the legal team representing Cyracus Mkpado. On February 22, 2007 Benjamin Njemanze, the presiding judge, passed a guilty verdict on the accused. Ken Njemanze entered a plea of leniency on behalf of his client on the ground that he was a first offender. The judge subsequently sentenced him to five years imprisonment with the option of N500,000.00 fine, which was promptly paid in full by the accused.

Following the verdict of the High Court, Cyracus Mkpado was stripped of his position as the king of Umuzike and his opponent, Chima Mkpado, appointed as the king-elect of the community.

Controversial appeal

However, after the payment of the fine, Mr. Njemanze on behalf of his client, filed an appeal contesting the judgement of the lower court. However, before the conclusion of the appeal Mr. Njemanze was appointed the attorney general of the state. He, however, through his law firm reportedly continued to act as the counsel to the appellant despite being the chief legal officer of the state.

Trouble came when the Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri upturned the decision of the lower court. The verdict of the appellate court led to a situation where the two parties resumed their claim to the throne.

Supporters of Chima Mkpado claimed that the proceeding at the Appeal Court was rigged. They accused Mr. Njemanze of abuse of office. According to them, he colluded with Mr. Owoade and Mrs. Ogunwumiju to subvert the true course of justice.

“The Attorney General, Barrister Ken Njemanze’s stand in this matter shows a conflict of interest and is apparent that he is still operating as the accused council rather than in the interest of the Imo State as the current Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Imo State.”

Conflict of interest

This situation was described as an “infamous conduct” by Jiti Ogunye, a Lagos-based lawyer, as it places the attorney general in the compromising position of being the counsel to both the appellant and the respondent. According to Mr. Ogunye, it is clear from the conduct of the attorney general that he “deliberately wanted to sabotage the administration of justice”.

However, Mr. Ogunye berated Chima Mkpado for not acting as at when due.

“The person that is crying foul now has every right at the Court of Appeal to file an application challenging the decision of the attorney general as the counsel to the appellant asking the court to disqualify the attorney general’s chambers from appearing because of conflict of interest.”

Another Lagos-based lawyer, Charles Musa, said as much as the action of Mr. Njemanze may not be strictly illegal, it is not ideal.

“It is not neat”, he said. “There may be conflict of interest. It would have been better if he was not involved; his chambers should not have touched the case.”

However, he said that sometimes it may not be practical to ask a lawyer to hands off all cases involving the government.

“Once he leaves his chamber to become the attorney general he may want to argue that he is no more the lawyer handling it. He has resigned from the chamber and he cannot close the chamber because he becomes attorney general.”

According to Mr. Musa the allegation that the attorney general influenced the decision of the court of appeal to his favour is far-fetched.

“To say that he influenced the Court of Appeal, No, unless there is prove”.

In a telephone interview with NEXT, Mr. Njemanze completely denied having anything thing to do with the decision of the Court of Appeal.

“I have nothing to do with the case,” he said. “It is ridiculous for them to accuse me of influencing the court of appeal. I have no interest whatsoever with the case, I’m not from Orlu; I’m from Owerri. So what is in it for me? I have resigned from my former chamber and I have nothing to do with their work there. It is a busy place with senior lawyers, so why will I want to get involved in their operations?”

Mr. Njemanze also promised to make available all documents relating to the case to show that his hands are clean.

Meanwhile, in a letter dated August 4, 2010 and signed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Aloysius Katsina-Alu, the NJC, while referring to the petition sent by Imo State Concern Citizens, gave the judges two weeks to respond to the accusation levelled against them.

Efforts made by NEXT to know the present status of the case has not yielded any result, as the commission had not responded to our enquiry before we went to press.

GLANCE BOX:

1. December 31, 1991: Cyracus Mkpado was accused of attempting to kill Chima Mkpado with a gun during a traditional marriage ceremony at Umuowa, Orlu.

2. February 22, 2007: An Orlu High Court, Imo State found Cyracus Mkpado guilty as charged of attempted murder and sentenced him to 5 years imprisonment with an option of N500,000.00 fine.

3. March 5, 2007: Cyracus Mpkado appealed the judgement of the Orlu High Court

4. June 25,2010: The Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri upturned the verdict of the High Court and acquitted Cyracus Mkpado of attempted murder.

The National
Chairman of All Nigerian Peoples Party(ANPP), Ogbonnaya Onu yesterday
expressed concern over the insecurity of lives and property across the
country.The former governor of Abia State also said ‘‘more worrisome is
the increasing spate of assassinations of innocent citizens across the
country’’.

Fielding questions
from newsmen in Umuahia during a one-day sensitization visit to Abia
State, Mr Onu said, “ all Nigerians are worried. Security is very
important,the ANPP is worried, we have been victims living in a very
unsecured environment. We have lost our National Vice Chairman, North
East who was assassinated and he died in cold blood in his own house
and those who went there removed nothing except his life.” He said “we
are extremely worried that people no longer go to bed with their two
eyes closed because of the fear of armed robbers and of late,
kidnapping and what is worrying us is that the situation is getting
even worse”.

Vibrant opposition

On the growing fear
that the country might be heading towards a one party state, the ANPP
leader said democracy would not strive without a vibrant opposition.

“So,we do not
believe, and I know that it is unacceptable to most Nigerians,if not
all Nigerians ,that we should have one party rule,” he said. “The ANPP
believes that there ought to be competition in the political arena. We
are convinced that once there is competition in the political arena,
that Nigeria will develop at a very fast pace. The problem we have
today will not be there.” He said the party was not formed to serve as
an opposition party because it believes it can win power through the
vote of the people to form a government at all levels.

Giving insight into
the procedure the party would adopt in selection of its candidates for
the 2011 election, Onu said, “we will not interfere with the people in
terms of choosing who is to represent them. We are leaving the
situation to internal democracy”.

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday warned
criminals who continue to hide under acronyms to engage in criminal
acts of self-enrichment that they no longer have a hiding place, as
orders have been given to law enforcement agencies to hunt them down.
The President also affirmed that government will continue to pursue its
programmes for the re-orientation, rehabilitation and reintegration of
all genuine militants who had laid down their arms under the amnesty
programme.

He commended the military high command and officers
and men of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta for
the safe rescue of the seven foreign and 12 Nigerian oil workers held
by kidnappers in the region, yesterday.“While the Federal Government
will continue to take all necessary steps to guarantee the safety of
lives and property, as well as the security of oil workers and
installation in the Niger Delta, all law-abiding citizens have nothing
to fear,” the president said.

The security forces yesterday handed the freed
hostages to their employers on Thursday.The release of the hostages is
seen as a victory for Mr Jonathan’s administration.

Charles Omoregie, commander of a military taskforce
in the Niger Delta, said the military had taken over several suspected
militant camps in the region’s three main states, including those run
by a newly emerging kingpin, known as Obese.“Two camps have been taken
over in Delta, two in Bayelsa and three in Rivers … (The hostages)
were all rescued from Obese’s camp here in Rivers state after a
sustained military operation.” He said the raids started on Monday and
that Obese, thought to be a newfield commander of the Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND)militant group, had contacted the
security forces via former militant leaderswho accepted amnesty last
year to tell them he was ready to surrender.

Mr Omoregie praised the role that former MEND field
commanders, including Boyloaf and Farah Dagogo, who acceptedlast year’s
amnesty, played in ensuring the release of the hostages.

Shocking Experience

The seven expatriates were taken from an offshore oil
rig operated by exploration firm Afren on November 7. Eight of the
Nigerians were abducted from an Exxon Mobil platform a week later,
while the remaining four were employees oflocal construction firm
Julius Berger.

One hostage, Canadian Robert Croke, described the ordeal.“It was a
shocking experience. They gave us mattresses to sleep on,virtually
nothing else. We were begging for food and water because what we were
exhausted,” he told reporters. “We were not maltreated, they were not
hostile to us, it was just that we lacked the basic necessities.”

The Senate
yesterday denied doing any selective work in favour of certain
proposals for state creation submitted to it by people agitating for
new states.

The senate
spokesman, Ayogu Eze, on Thursday in Abuja, denied allegations that the
senators have shortlisted a list of new states which they intend to
rubber-stamp during the state creation exercise.

“There is no list
of states to be created that has been drawn by the national assembly,”
he said. “That matter is not being considered right now but we hope
that we will consider it in the life of this sixth national assembly.”
He added that currently, the lawmakers are only receiving requests and
collating such requests and that the issue of state creation has been
relegated until the constitution review exercise is finished.

“We don’t have any
reason whatsoever at this stage to eliminate any request or to include
any request because we have not started the consideration of any
request,” he said.

Mr Eze said all the
requests for creation of states are with the senate’s 44-member ad hoc
committee on the alteration of the constitution, which would bring out
criteria for selection of the states to be created – in accordance with
section 9 of the constitution – “when the time comes.”

“All the requests
that have been received are with us, we have not drawn up any list, we
have not thrown away any request, and we have not taken any request
onboard. All of them are intact as they have been made,” he said.

He insisted that
the state creation exercise will follow the same pattern with that of
the constitution alteration, as outlined in section 8 and 9 of the
constitution. He added that it is through such a process that the
lawmakers will determine which states would be created, depending on
the mood of the public.

Altruistic lawmakers

He also added that
the insistence of the lawmakers that the president need not sign an
amendment to the constitution before it becomes effective is not an
“ego trip,” but a necessary argument that will benefit the constitution
in the end.

He also defended
the ongoing amendment to the 2010 electoral act, part of which seeks to
make the lawmakers members of the National Executive Committees (NEC)
of their various parties.

“We are not making laws for ourselves because we are not going to
stay in the national assembly forever,” he argued. “We think that if
you pull in the representatives of the people into the decision making
bodies of the parties, we are making it more democratic; we are
bringing in more voices, and views; we are enlarging the political
space within the parties and increasing the participation.” He added
that the amendment is not strange, considering that only a few parties
in Nigeria do not have all their national assembly lawmakers as members
of the NEC.

The Enugu State
House of Assembly has, for a second time, rejected the amendment of
some sections of the 1999 Constitution as proposed by the National
Assembly.

Ruling on the
motion, the Speaker, Eugene Odoh, advised his colleagues at the
National Assembly to heed the rule of law irrespective of the interests
they might be canvassing.

According to him, there is no justification for the inclusion of the electoral timetable in the Constitution.

“Such a provision
should remain in the electoral act because human factors may
necessitate a change in any date,’’ the Speaker said.

Also, Mr. Odoh
reminded his colleagues that a few weeks ago, a Federal High Court in
Lagos declared the first constitutional amendment as “null and void’’,
since the president did not give assent to the amendments.

“We shall
communicate to the National Assembly our total rejection of the
amendment but if any court of competent jurisdiction states otherwise,
we will abide by it

“No court has
given any stay of proceedings in respect of the Federal High Court
judgment and since human nature is flexible and dynamic, it may not be
proper to put such timetable in the constitution,’’ he said.

Moving the motion,
Johnny Obidinma, the Leader of the House, urged his colleagues to
reject the provisions of the amendments as contained in clauses 1 to 11.

Paul Anikwe,
(PDP-Ezeagu), suggested that provisions of the 1999 Constitution should
be used to conduct the 2011 general elections, since the judgment of
the Lagos High Court had not been vacated.

Cletus Enebe,
(PDP-Awgu North) said that provisions of the second constitutional
amendment would promote constitutional crisis as section 132 (2) of the
1999 Constitution made provisions for days within which elections
should be conducted.

Legislators present
during the proceedings, unanimously voiced a rejection of the Act to
alter the Constitution (First Alteration).

In another
development, Abel Chukwu, Chairman, Joint Committee on Works, MDGs and
Judiciary, presented a report of the public hearing held on the Public
Procurement Bill and Regulatory Authorities.

He noted that many
of the contributors objected to a governor being chairman of the bureau
because there could be other state matters that might require attention
of a chief executive and could thus delay public procurement.

Debate on the
report for possible passage was deferred to a later date to be
determined by the Rules and Business Committee of the House.

NAN

The factional
deputy Speaker, Ogun House of Assembly, Edwards Ayo-Odugbesan, on
Thursday, dismissed insinuation that PDP institutionalised corruption
in the country.

Mr. Ayo-Odugbesan,
who said that corruption was not the creation of the party, called for
the immediate sack of Yinka Odumakin as the spokesman of the Save
Nigeria Group (SNG) over the alleged bias and issuance of such
allegation.

He said it would be wrong and unfair for anybody to point fingers at PDP for masterminding corruption in the country.

The Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) plans
to collaborate with the University of Ibadan in starting new programmes
at the institution, Olufemi Bamiro, the outgoing Vice Chancellor of the
premier institution, has said.

Mr. Bamiro, who
spoke during the congregation of the awards of Post-Graduate Diploma
and Masters Degrees of the University, held at the Trenchard Hall
yesterday, also stressed the fatherly role played by the institution to
other universities across the country, noting that the University of
Kaduna has requested the University of Ibadan to help train its first
46 degree holders for Masters programmes.

He said the CBN
will be joining hand with the university, “to develop human capital in
three key related disciplines-Banking and Finance, Accountancy and
Economics’’, while NEMA will be sponsoring a programme in Disaster Risk
Management.

He said that the
university will accede to the request from Kaduna in accordance with
the stipulated requirements of the programmes the students applied for,
adding that the premier university must always be ready to play such a
leadership role each time it is necessary.

The university,
this year graduated a total 2,432 candidates, comprising eight M.Phil.
holders, 36 Masters holders in Public Health (MPH), 1,634 Academic
Master Degrees, 514 Professional Degree of Master and 240 candidates
for Post-Graduate Diplomas.

Expanding knowledge

Mr. Bamiro charged
them all to ensure that they impact positively on the various sectors
of the economy as they go out to apply the knowledge acquired in the
university.

“As agents of
development, contribute your own quota to the vital development issues
facing our nation state and the world. It is a known fact that Nigeria
is experiencing serious political and economic problems which is
further compounded by the on-going globalization of the world economy,”
the VC charged.

He noted that the
situation of Nigeria as a developing nation calls for partnership among
the university, government and the industry, saying the university has
the central responsibility of developing human resources on the needed
skills to achieve the developmental goal of the nation.

“The tripartite elements of knowledge, information, innovation
coupled with technical change are the drivers of economic development.
This implies a central role for our universities and in particular,
University of Ibadan as knowledge workers,” Mr Bamiro said, as he
pledged the readiness of the University to take up the challenge of
conducting basic researches to expand the frontier of knowledge and
applied researches for innovations in the industrial sector of Nigeria.

President Goodluck
Jonathan yesterday declared that indiscipline and corruption will no
longer be tolerated in the public civil service and that no institution
of government is above the law.

He also expressed
dissatisfaction with the acrimony between the office of the head of the
civil service of the federation and the federal civil service
commission, which he said has led to gross indiscipline.

The president made
this declaration during the swearing-in ceremony of the new head of
service, Oladapo Afolabi, and three new permanent secretaries, Mathilda
Nkechi Ejele, Taye Hassan Haruna, and Abdulkadir Musa.

“Let me reiterate
that no institution of government is above the law, and public servants
must appreciate the effect of their actions on the polity,” Mr.
Jonathan said.

“Our public
servants must learn to respect laws guiding their assignments and
eschew unproductive actions that will affect service delivery,” he
added.

Congratulating the
new HOS, Mr. Jonathan said Mr. Afolabi was one of the highly qualified
candidates who are part of the rich history of the Nigerian Civil
Service.

“I expect the
Nigerian Civil Service to cooperate with him. I urge the new head of
service to also work closely with his colleagues, while I implore the
new permanent secretaries, and indeed other permanent secretaries, to
assist their ministers,” he said.

He said the civil
service made considerable progress under the last head of service, and
that he expects to see the continuation of positive pursuit of same to
ensure that Nigeria has a service that is accountable, professional,
and effective.

“The civil service
is the engine room of government and is responsible for implementing
policies. Executing of government decisions and the quality of
governance is, therefore, as good as the quality of the civil service.

“This is why your
appointment is uniquely important to the progress and stability of
national development. I, and indeed all Nigerians, expect only the very
best from you. We are at a critical point in the development of this
country when we must improve the quality of our policies and efficiency
of implementation,” he said.

For allegedly
withholding over N274.2 billion of the Federal Government’s compulsory
contribution to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), an
indigene of the Niger Delta area has taken President Goodluck Jonathan
to the federal High Court in Abuja.

Onengiye Elekima,
an indigene of Bukuma, joined the Attorney General of the Federation
(AGF) and Minister of Justice, Adoke Bello and the NDDC as defendants.

He said he wants
the court to declare the president’s action as unlawful, unjustifiable
and ultra vires the provisions of the NDDC (establishment) Act.

The trial Judge,
Ibrahim Auta, who did not sit on the matter, adjourned hearing in the
matter, through the Registrar till December 1, 2010.

The plaintiff is
praying the court for a declaration that the failure of the AGF (3rd
defendant) to take steps to recover these monies from the president was
a breach of the said law and the trust it owes him as a person directly
affected and entitled to benefit from the operation of the NDDC Act
2000.

Mr Elekima wants
the court to order the president and the AGF to comply with the
provisions of Section 14(2) (a) of the NDDC Act 2000 to immediately
release or pay the aforementioned N274, 159, 428, 139.23 belonging to
the commission allegedly withheld.

Not making payments

In an affidavit in
support of the originating summons, the plaintiff averred that the NDDC
Act requires the federal government to contribute to the commission’s
fund, 15 percent of the total monthly statutory allocation due to the
oil producing states.

According to him, a
check at the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission and
the office of the Accountant General of the Federation with respect to
accruals and disbursements of money from the consolidated fund, the
federal government has not been making the aforesaid compulsory
contribution to the fund.

“The 1st defendant
has consistently maintained (publicly) that those monies are withheld
on his orders and have remained withheld from 2000 to 2007”, the
affidavit stated and added that the payment of the money will enhance
the operations of the commission as it will enable it carry out its
responsibilities to the Niger Delta Region.

“All efforts by me and other well meaning people in my area to get
the board of the 3rd Defendant (NDDC) to take steps to recover the
withheld fund has been to no avail as the board have wilfully refused
to do so”, he said and prayed the court to order the payment of the
said money by the federal government in the interest of justice.