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Twenty-three of
the 120-man delegation that accompanied Goodluck Jonathan to New York
for the United Nations General Assembly were aides and friends of his
wife, Patience, presidency sources told NEXT yesterday.

Among aides of the
president’s wife on the trip were her steward, Benson Okpara; her
luggage officer, Geoffrey Obuofforibo and her special assistant in
charge of administration, Oroyemisi Ojewole.

In addition to the
five security operatives that accompanied her husband on the journey,
Mrs Jonathan flew her own separate security team to New York. There
were her aide-de-cap, Jacob Tamunoibuomi; her orderly, Abigail Jonah,
and Francis Ibiene, her chief security officer.

Although Mr
Jonathan’s chief physician, F. Fiberesima, was on the trip, Mrs
Jonathan reportedly insisted on taking her own personal physician,
Elizabeth Austin-Amadi, along with her. Also on the president wife’s
party were her director of protocol, Mfama Abam; her principal protocol
officer, Nuhu Kwache; her special assistant, domestic matters, Martha
Onwuzurumba; her special assistant, media, Aliagan Zubair and another
media assistant, Ayobami Adewuyi.

Four friends of Mrs Jonathan also made the trip. They were Bola Shagaya, Joyce Bozimo, Pelebo Banigo and Musa Ujah.

Helen Mark, wife
of the President of the Senate; Mariam Imoke, wife of Cross River State
governor; Fatima Shema, wife of the Katsina State governor; Oluwakemi
Alao-Akala, wife of the Oyo State governor and Clara Chime, wife of the
Enugu State chief executive, completed Mrs Jonathan’s party to New York.

Realm of absurdity

Mrs Mark also took two of her aides, Ogwuiji Clement and Omeche Omudu, along.

The vice
president’s wife, Amina Sambo, was accompanied on the journey by her
aide-de-camp, Abubakar Dauda; her principal protocol officer, Zayyad
Abdulsalam and her personal assistant, Dabo Suleiman.

The Nigerian Constitution does not recognise the offices of First Lady at the federal and state levels.

But wives of
presidents and governors, even local government chairpersons, have
continued to maintain huge offices, a retinue of aides and financial
allocations that are never retired. Over 30 aides are believed to work
for Mrs Jonathan alone.

Executive Director
of the Nigeria Liberty Democratic Forum, Bukola Oreofe, on Sunday
described Mrs Jonathan’s conduct as “obscene use of public funds”.
“What she did ranks very high in the realm of absurdity,” Mr Oreofe
said.

“I am not surprised that his wife, who has no constitutional duties,
would do that in the midst of the misery and poverty that the average
Nigerian is languishing.”

The last 50 years
of Nigeria’s independence have been that of waste and misgovernment,
and there is, therefore, no cause for celebration, speakers at the
third plenary session of the Nigeria’s Peoples’ Parliament in Diaspora
(NPPID) said at the weekend.

The parliament,
which met at the La Guardia Marriot Hotel in New York, said rather than
engage in any festivities, Nigerians should stand up to the ruling
elite in the country and seize the momentum of the coming elections to
throw out those holding down the nation’s progress.

The NPPID, an
initiative of the Nigeria Democratic Liberty Forum, a New-York based
pro-democracy group, is a platform for citizens in the Diaspora to
“cross fertilize ideas” and suggest solutions to the country’s myriad
problems. It’s first plenary was in March this year.

After an extensive
debate on the “Problems, Progress and Prospects” of Nigeria at 50,
participants at the session agreed that the country had not made any
significant progress in its five decades of existence as an independent
nation. The discussions culminated in a motion, which urged the masses
to rise up, confront the “greedy” ruling elite, and halt the plundering
of their country.

“The problem of
Nigeria emanates largely from the pathological greed, corruption and
lack of patriotism by the ruling elite, past and present, military and
civilian,” read the motion raised by Bukola Oreofe, executive director
of the NDLF.

“The masses should
demand ‘Enough is Enough’ and that the next 50 years should be
different from the last 50 years through citizen engagement and demand
for accountability.” Before Mr Oreofe raised his motion, which was
unanimously passed, speaker after speaker lamented the corruption, bad
governance and missed opportunities in the last 50 years.

Speaker of the
parliament, Okey Ndibe, described Nigeria as a country “conceived in
hope but nurtured by its leaders into hopelessness”.

Mr Ndibe, a
professor of literature at Trinity College, Connecticut, added, “Our
country faces momentous times in the coming months as the elections
approach. This is a make or mar situation for us. If we get it right,
we will begin to reclaim our country. If we don’t, we may lose Nigeria
as an idea and as a nation difficult to redeem.”

Back to the ditch

Chukwuma Okadigwe,
who said he was in the stadium in Lagos when the British Union Jack was
lowered and the green-white-green flag hoisted, lamented how “a country
that was supposed to fly like an eagle has gone back to the ditch.” For
Bolaji Aluko, a professor of chemical engineering at Howard University
in Washington, Nigeria’s problem started when “very uneducated people
started becoming the leaders of Nigeria”.

“The next election
is very important for us. We must have clean elections to elect the
right leaders,” Mr Aluko said. “If we get the right leaders, Nigeria
can take off. If not, it will just be business as usual.” As part of
its own contribution to a clean and credible elections, the parliament
resolved to dispatch a well-equipped team to Nigeria to monitor the
elections.

The leadership of the NPPID was mandated to engage with local and international organizations to raise funds for that purpose.

Chairman of the
group, Adegboyega Dada, alerted “parliamentarians” that the “military
gang and their civilian counterparts” who brought Nigeria to its knees
were at their game again.

“These are the same
people that brought Nigeria to a standstill years back. They looted and
continue to loot the treasury. They committed murder with impunity and
continue undermining the integrity of Nigerians beyond acceptable
thresholds.” Mr Dada, a medical doctor, therefore, urged Nigerians to
“unite in our resolve to rescue our nation from the hands of those who
think Nigeria is their personal estate and so could do whatever they
deem fit.” Speaker Okey Ndibe agreed.

“The buffoons who
run our country do not take us seriously. When we organize, they will.
What about forming a committee so that when a government official comes
to the US to buy a house with stolen funds, we take them to court?” Mr
Ndibe suggested.

“Even if we don’t win, we would have embarrassed them. We can,
through our vigilance, say they are stealing our resources and make it
impossible for them to bring their loot here.”

Ahead of the start
of the 2010/2011 football season, which gets underway this weekend, the
Nigerian Premier League (NPL) has announced that clubs whose fans
assault match officials will henceforth pay a fine of five million
naira.

Previously,
defaulting clubs were sanctioned one million naira by the NPL but it
obviously didn’t serve as a deterrent as fans and clubs continued to
flout the rules.

Last season
witnessed an upsurge in stadium violence, and it ranked as one of the
worst ever in the history of the league in Nigeria since it acquired
professional status in 1990.

But the NPL is keen
to minimise incidences of violence at match venues and has stated that
they have decided to amend some rules so that discipline can return to
the league.

Articles 3.7

The most notable rule amended is Articles 3.7(1), which now states that:

“Intimidation and
harassment of match officials by clubs supporter(s)/fans or club
officials before, during, or after pre-match meetings is strictly
prohibited and attracts a fine of N5 million payable before the club’s
next home match.”

Articles 3.7(2)
also states that: “Where the match officials are harassed or
intimidated, Match Commissioners are empowered to call off or
discontinue with the meetings and or the matches,” while Articles
3.7(3) states that: “Upon receipt of the Match Commissioner’s report, 3
points and 3 goals shall be deducted from the already accrued points of
the offending team, and their opponent shall be credited with 3 points
and 3 goals.”

Acting Executive
Secretary, Tunji Babalola said in Abuja that all the clubs will have
the rules which they will share to their players this week.

“We are ready for
the start of the league this week. But we are also ready to enforce the
rules so that we can turn the fortunes of the game around in the
country.

“We know that the clubs will study the amended rules and regulations so that they will not run foul of it,” he said.

Babalola, on behalf of the NPL, also called all clubs to strictly
adhere to the new rules so that Nigerians will enjoy the domestic game
in the country which kicks off this Saturday.

As politicians
jostle to secure their parties’ ticket for next year’s election, it is
not clear yet how the executives of the parties plan to deal with the
many tainted individuals who are currently jostling for elective
offices.

Despite the
threats made by the head of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), Farida Waziri, promising to stop corrupt politicians
from contesting in the coming elections, the political parties,
especially the PDP, are gearing up to field aspirants who have been
indicted by anti-corruption agencies, including some who are being
prosecuted in various courts.

Last month, Mrs.
Waziri said her agency would strive to prevent corrupt individuals from
contesting next year’s general elections.

“There is no way
that we will allow the political parties to field corrupt people.
Legally, we are empowered to look into some of these issues,” Mrs.
Waziri said.

“How do we allow
these people to come back and say that they are going to lead us? The
world will laugh at us. We see that some of them are already printing
posters and I will see how they are going to work that out. We are not
going to allow that. We want to ensure that only the proper persons
will represent us.” However indications are that Mrs Waziri’s threats
seemed of no consequence to the candidates and their parties.

Various newspapers
last week quoted a PDP source as saying the party would work with
security and anti -corruption agencies, in the screening of its
candidates. The party also submitted a list of some aspirants to the
EFCC for screening.

“The PDP has sent
us a list of some of its aspirants. We are presently going through it
and will advise them on the present corruption status of each of the
names,” a source at the EFCC stated.

Folu Olamiti, the
resident consultant on media to the ICPC however stated that the
commission was yet to be formally notified of the PDP’s intentions.

“We’ve not received any formal letter to that effect. So, we don’t know what they really want from us,” the ICPC spokesman said.

Mr. Olamiti
however stated that the ICPC would not do anything that was against the
law in order to help parties screen their candidates.

“There is a court judgement that only the court can disqualify a candidate,” he said.

When contacted for
clarification on the true position of the party as regards corrupt
political aspirants, Rufai Alkali, the PDP national publicity secretary
refused to pick our calls or respond to our text message.

Politicians at risk

Should the PDP
decide to go ahead with the planned use of anti-corruption agencies to
screen its candidates, some of its aspirants who may have trouble in
the screening include Jibrin Isah, a Kogi State gubernatorial aspirant;
Nicholas Ugbane, a serving senator and Kogi State gubernatorial
aspirant and Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, a serving senator and daughter of
former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Jibrin Isah

A former director
of AfriBank, Mr Isah alongside other directors of the Bank was indicted
by the EFCC for their involvement in the scandal that rocked the bank
which led to the removal of all the directors by the governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi.

The EFCC, on April
13, 2010 filed a 28-count charge against Mr. Isah and the other
directors of the bank. The charges include illegal approval of loans,
manipulation of bank balance sheet etc. He is currently vying for the
Kogi State governorship ticket on the platform of the PDP.

Nicholas Ugbane

Mr. Ugbane is the
chairman of the senate committee on power. He, alongside his former
counterpart in the house of representatives, Ndidi Elumelu are facing a
158-count charge by the EFCC for their alleged involvement in the
mismanagement of about N6billion meant for the Rural Electrification
Project. They were accused by the EFCC of using 21 companies to siphon
the funds. The ICPC says its investigation on the scandal is still
ongoing. He is currently vying for the governorship ticket of Kogi
State under the PDP.

Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello

The senator,
representing Ogun Central Senatorial district, has indicated interest
in running for her senatorial seat again. Mrs. Obasanjo-Bello, however,
is yet to clear her name with the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC).

She was named in
the popular N300 million unspent budget scandal which led to the
resignation of the then Minister of Health, Adenike Grange, in 2008.
Mrs. Obasanjo-Bello, who was the chairman of the senate committee on
Health at the time, and continues to head the committee, was allegedly
involved in spending N10 million out of the amount. Following her
arrest by the EFCC, she was released on bail. The case is still in
court.

Dimeji Bankole

Though Mr.
Bankole, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has been and is being
investigated by both anti-corruption agencies, EFCC and ICPC, over
different financial scandals, he is yet to be prosecuted for any.

An EFCC investigation report of the N2.8 billion Peugeot car scandal is still unaccounted for by the EFCC.

Though Mr. Bankole
has at press time not submitted his nomination form at the PDP
secretariat, he is believed to be running for the governorship of Ogun
State. However, a non-governmental organisation, the National Forum for
Transparency and Good Governance, has petitioned the PDP to bar Mr.
Bankole, and the deputy speaker, Bayero Nafada from contesting under
the party’s platform.

The directors and
management of 224 microfinance banks (MFBs) that failed a recent target
test are to be prosecuted, while those found culpable of abusing their
positions are to be blacklisted, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said
on Friday.

Kingsley Moghalu,
the bank’s deputy governor, Financial Systems Stability (FSS), who
announced the revocation of the operational licenses and closure of the
banks while presenting an update on the status of country’s MFBs in
Abuja, said the affected banks were either ‘terminally distressed’ or
‘technically insolvent’ or both.

Mr Moghalu put
total deposit of the 820 MFBs at about N18.2billion, total loans
exposure at over N19.6billion and shareholders’ funds of N6.1 billion,
explained that 178 of those classified as technically insolvent had
shareholders’ funds, capital adequacy ratio, and liquidity ratios that
were negative.

Besides, 46 others
under the terminally distressed category had either closed shop for
more than six months or failed to submit returns to the CBN as well as
response for requests for verification of their operational status.

He said that since
the launch of the Microfinance Policy Framework in December, 2005, the
industry encountered several challenges as a result of the operators’
lack of understanding of the microfinance concept and the methodology
for delivery of the services to the target beneficiaries.

“Many of them lost
focus and began to compete with deposit money banks for customers and
deposits, leaving their target market unattended, in spite of efforts
of the regulatory authorities to put them back on track,” he explained.

The situation, he
said became complicated by the impact of the global financial crisis,
resulting in credit lines drying up, competition becoming more intense
and credit risk increasing, while many customers were unable to pay
back their credit facilities owing to the hostile economic environment.

Special examination

To identify
factors that accounted for the failure of some MFBs to achieve the
policy objective of economic empowerment of people at the lower end of
the financial market, particularly their ability to meet matured
obligations to depositors, the CBN, in conjunction with the Nigeria
Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), conducted a special examination
for the 820 registered MFBs in the country.

The special
examination, which lasted between February and June, revealed that most
of the MFBs was affected by high level of non-performing loans,
resulting in high portfolio at risk (PAR), which impaired their
capital; gross undercapitalization in relation to the level of
operations; poor corporate governance and incompetent boards; high
level of non-performing insider-related credits, and other forms of
insider abuses.

The test also
revealed other problems, including heavy investments in the capital
market, with the resultant decline in the value of the investment after
the meltdown; poor asset-liability management owing to portfolio
mismatch; heavy investments in fixed assets beyond the maximum limit
prescribed; operating losses as a result of high expenditure on staff
and other overheads; weak management evidenced by poor asset quality,
poor credit administration, inadequate controls, high rate of fraud and
labour turnover.

Mr Moghalu, who
said the decision to wield the big stick against the erring banks was
pursuant to the provisions of section 12 of Banks and Other Financial
Institutions Act (BOFIA) of 1991 (as amended), said the NDIC would pay
a maximum of N100,000 as insurance coverage to each depositor in the
closed banks.

The action by the Bank, he said, sets the stage for the completion
of the ongoing comprehensive review of the microfinance policy
framework, which would soon be made public, warning that in line with
the reforms in the banking sector to ensure corporate governance and
prudent risk management, MFBs must henceforth operate as responsible
institutions by abiding with the regulatory guidelines.

Thelma Amata Iremiren

Mrs Iremiren was
appointed as one of the representatives of the south-south. Born in
Forcados, Delta State in 1946, she studied Sociology in the University
of Lagos before beginning an extensive federal civil service career
which started with the Ministry of Health in Lagos in December 1970, as
an Assistant Secretary 11.

She rose to the
position of permanent secretary in 2001, serving with the Ministries of
Finance, Works and Housing, Federal Civil Service Commission, National
Planning Commission and finally in the Federal Ministry of Internal
Affairs from where she retired in December 2005.

That career
deepened more at the Ministry of Finance, where she held key federal
positions stretching from representing Nigeria at major international
financial meetings, to managing Nigeria’s relations with the Paris and
London clubs.

Between 1995 and
1998, Mrs Iremiren was the Alternate Governor for Nigeria at the
African Development Bank Group. On the bilateral desk, she was
responsible for mutual financial relations between the federal
government and other nations and took part in preparing Nigeria‘s
external borrowing outline.

As a Permanent
Secretary, later at the National Planning Commission, she assisted the
Chief Economic Adviser, and was also the Secretary to the National
Economic Council. She received the national merit awards of Member of
the Federal Republic (MFR) in 2001 and Officer of the Order of the
Niger (OON) in 2005.

Mrs Iremiren is the chair of the staff establishment committee in charge of employment and posting.

Ishmael Jikiri Igbani

Mr Igbani was
appointed for a second term with INEC and became the first ever
re-appointed commissioner. Born in 1941 in Rivers State, he holds a PhD
in Agricultural Extension Education and Rural Sociology from the
University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA in 1971.

In 1979, he was
named the Minister of State for Industries and later Minister of Works
and Housing in 1983, after an early working career that spanned local
and foreign establishments. In 2003, Mr Igbani was appointed a national
Commissioner of the INEC and served out his tenure in 2008. While in
that capacity, he was a member and head of several committees and
chaired the Board of the Electoral Institute, and later the Political
Party Monitoring Committee.

He was the
Director and later Chairman of Board, Intercontinental Distillers
Limited, Ikeja, Lagos, a position held since 1997. Mr Igbani heads the
election monitoring committee charged with the selection and monitoring
of the observers.

Gladys Nne Nwafor

Mrs Nwafor is the
former Director of Abia State Universal Basic Education Board and a
former member of the governing council of Nnamdi Azikiwe University,
Awka. Until his death, she was married to Chima Ogbonna Nwafor, who was
deputy governor of Abia State under Orji Uzor Kalu between 1999 and
2007. Femi Falana accused her of being a PDP member at a rally in June
but she later denied it.

She was nominated
as a member of the Institute for Agricultural Research and Training,
Ile-Ife, by former president, Umar Yar’Adua, in June 2009.

Mrs Nwafor has a
degree in Political Science from the University of Port Harcourt, and
worked as a teacher and held several education administrative positions
in Abia State for 35 years. She was born in 1949 and was appointed as
one of the representatives from the south-east.

She will take charge of staff welfare and discipline.

Lai Olurode

Mr Olurode is the
INEC commissioner in charge of information. An academic from the
University of Lagos, he served as a professor of Sociology and the Dean
of Social Sciences Faculty. In 2003, he was a visiting professor to the
University of California, Irvine, USA.

He holds a
Doctoral Degree (D.Phil.) in Philosophy from the University of Sussex,
UK, and a Law degree from the University of Lagos. He was born in 1952
at Iwo in Osun State, and is credited with several publications. He is
one of the representatives from the south-west.

Philip Etomike Umeadi

Mr Umeadi is one
of the remaining two commissioners who served under the controversial
former chairman of the commission, Maurice Iwu. He is said to have been
third in command at the time of Mr Iwu’s exit. He is said to have
missed out on becoming the acting chairman after Iwu’s removal owing to
allegations that he was once involved in examination malpractice at
UNIBEN, and was suspended.

Before his
appointment as INEC National Commissioner, he worked as a Legal Officer
in Akure Local Government Council in Ondo State. He also worked as
Principal Solicitor & Counsel at Ezebuilo Umeadi & Co. He is
the Director of Philip Green Nigeria Limited and Mid-Runners Resources
limited.

Mr Umeadi holds a
Law degree from the University of Benin and was born 1963 in Onitsha,
Anambra State. He represents the south-east.

Mr Umeadi takes charge of legal matters.

Solomon Adedeji Soyebi

Mr Soyebi became
the most visible member of the old team that was led by Mr Iwu, and
became the commission’s acting Chairman after Mr Iwu’s removal. Under
his brief watch, the commission took a few controversial decisions,
including the release of the Certificates of Return for two House of
Representatives seats that dragged for more than three years.

Mr Iwu has been
accused of deliberately disobeying previous rulings of the courts on
the cases, allegedly on the instructions of former equally
controversial Attorney General, Michael Aondoakaa. Mr Soyebi served as
a principal in various schools for about 20 years before joining the
Commission in 2003, where he has served at various times as Resident
Electoral Commissioner in Osun, Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Kano and
Lagos States. He was born on in 1955 in Ogun State, and holds a degree
in Chemistry from the University of Ibadan, obtained in 1978.

He is believed to
have a turbulent relationship with Mr Umeadi after they repeatedly
clashed over the INEC chairmanship. He is the INEC commissioner in
charge of publicity and information.

Amina Bala Zakari

Mrs Zakari is from
Jigawa State and represents the North Central. She was a Secretary in
the Federal Capital Administration between 2004 and 2007 under former
minister, Nasir El Rufai. A pharmacist and alumni of the Harvard
Business School, she has been the head of consultancy at the Songhai
Medical Centre, Abuja.

She has been handed the post of Chair of the Political Parties Monitoring Committee.

Nuru Yakubu

Mr Yakubu is the
former Executive Secretary of the Nation Board of Technical Education
(NBTE) and a former Rector of the Kaduna State Polytechnic. He
represents Yobe State. He was the National Project Coordinator of the
UNESCO-Nigeria Project for the Revitalization of Technical and
Vocational Education in Nigeria.

He was a member of
the committee on the Future of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education
in Nigeria in 1999 and under the administration of former president,
Olusegun Obasanjo, he served as board member of the National
Directorate of Employment (NDE) since 2001.

He was a member, National Implementation Committee on the Review of Higher Education in Nigeria between 1992 and 1993.

Mr Yakubu will head the operations committee and will oversee the conduct of the elections. He represents the north east.

Mohammed Kurmi Hammanga

Mr Hammanga is a retired Army Colonel and an Architect. He is from Adamawa State and represents the north-east.

Mr Hammanga takes
charge of the Logistics and Transport Committee which has the onerous
task of the acquisition of the sensitive (ballot paper and ballet
boxes) and non sensitive materials. He is also responsible for the
acquisition of all vehicles that will be used during the elections.

Abdulkadir Oniyangi

Mr Oniyangi
represents Kwara State where he was Secretary to the State Government
between 1983 and 1985. He holds a degree in Medicine and was the Chief
Medical Director and Consultant of Hassanah Memorial Hospital in Ilorin.

Born in 1935 in
Ilorin, Mr Oniyangi is by far the oldest appointed commissioner. He,
however, recently dismissed suggestions that age would be a deterrent
in carrying out his duties.

“At 75, I am very
fit,” he declared. “If there is any evidence to show that I am going
down, I will be the first to throw in the towel. As I am now, I think I
am going to stay till I’m 105.”

Mr Oniyangi heads
the BOSTEC committee in charge of the boarding and acquisition of
properties, assets, vehicles and other materials.

Ahmed Wali

Mr Wali was one of
the last nominated commissioners in the current dispensation. The
former Ambassador is from Sokoto and represents the north west.

Mr Wali is in charge of the procurement and tenders board committee.

Chris Iyimoga

Mr Iyimoga is from Nasarawa State and represents the north central region.

He heads the
estate and works committee. He will be responsible for buildings and
management for INEC as well as the erection of new structures.

Most people tend to know you as an established justice. What was it like as a young lawyer?

That’s not true,
they knew me as a lawyer. I practiced all over Nigeria, Cameroun, and
justice was just one side of the story; we had more impact as lawyers.
Every lawyer will face a lot of challenges. When we were at the Bar,
for instance, we travelled for hours from Onitsha to Lagos for appeal
cases (there was no court of appeal in Enugu) and then if you have a
case in the north, you travel all the way. The train takes hours – two
days to Kaduna, two days from Kaduna to Lagos. So it was a really
trying time. Legal practice was very demanding. Since there were not
many lawyers, the few lawyers available were in great demand. And it
needed tough fibre to face such challenges. We did it until our
appointment to the bench.

Looking back at your career, is there anything you wish you could have done better?

I have few regrets.
I always wanted to be a lawyer. At first, we saw people like Udo Udoma
and (Samuel) Akintola (former premier of the Western region) who was at
the Bar before becoming a premier. We saw them performing and they were
really respected by the community. So it was the desire of every young
man to join the group of learned men. Then in most universities, you
can’t be called to the Bar unless you have a degree. I had a B.A in
history and a B.Sc in Economics before LL.B. So, having done history,
economics and law, you had a wide vision to look at a thing from the
economic angle, legal angle or social angle. Students nowadays are very
much in a hurry. Do a first degree and then LL.B. I wish they will do
that — widen the scope of those who want to be lawyers.

Nigerians have expressed worry about corruption and delay of cases in the courts. What is responsible for these?

Every country gets
the government it deserves. Corruption cannot exist in the judiciary if
it does not exist in the society. So the issue of corruption, we don’t
want to single out a particular group. Everybody is involved in it. If
a society is corrupt-free, it’s everybody’s benefit, and if it is
corrupt, it is to the detriment of everybody. It is a social evil and
the sooner we regard it as an evil, a plague, the better for Nigeria.
Corruption is bad and I don’t see what people get out of it because
those who are corrupt have not done more than those who are not
corrupt. You can only build houses and buy cars.

Tell us about your recent call for speedy trials of cases

If you want a
speedy trial, the lawyers will know what is there to put across.
Suppose we have a case about this house. This house is here, that’s a
fact. Why call three witnesses to prove that this house is here.
Alright, if there is a land case, the location of the land is in Lagos,
there is no dispute there. That should be taken as proved. The dispute
may be who owns the land. A says it is his father’s land, B says he
bought it from C. The question will be: has the man who sold the land
to you the power to sell? If these are deduced as issues, it becomes
easy and the case may not take more than two days. But now you go on a
rigmarole. A land is in Wuse, you call three witnesses to prove the
boundaries of the land which is not in dispute. If issues are properly
settled, no case will last more than three days.

What about corruption trials?

Why should cases of corruption be more important than other cases? It has been at the centre of Nigeria’s developmental failings.

I don’t know about
that. But before a good judge hears a case, he will insist on knowing
what they are asking him to do. Not beating about the bush for three
days. If you settle issues, you know issues in dispute, issues agreed.
Those agreed will be taken as proved. And if you look at it, only few
cases will have more than two contested issues.

What are your thoughts on the refusal of the government to act on the report of the Human Rights Violations Investigation panel?

Why not ask the
government. Why me? We submitted our reports. First of all, are you
sure they didn’t act on it? You are taking for granted that they didn’t
act on it. The mere fact they say we acted on it and the newspapers
will report does not mean they did not. Of course they did act on it.
My duty is to recommend; we submitted our reports and what they do with
it is their own headache, not mine.

Whether I am
satisfied or not is neither here nor there. We made recommendations
that will affect the interest of Nigerians. It is Nigerians who would
say whether they are satisfied after the Oputa panel investigations.

How about insinuations that some of the recommendations were against those in power then?

I don’t like
jumping into conclusions without facts. What were the issues of human
rights violations before the Oputa panel? What is the condition after?
To see whether government acted or not, is it better or worse? If the
conditions were worse, then they didn’t act on it. If the conditions
were a bit improved, then they acted on it.

Does the president need to sign the recently amended constitution?

I don’t like to be
dragged into a controversy that is raging. Let them finish, then we can
come and give our views. It will not be very fair to jump into a
controversy and start expressing your views. That may not be very
palatable. You have to be very careful not to make matters worse. The
place is heated already. When they finish, then we can have a post
mortem.

What do you think about cases of insecurity and kidnapping in parts of the country?

If the laws of a
society are strong enough to protect the citizens, if the economy is
sound enough to cater for the needs of the citizens, then some of these
things won’t happen. If a child goes to school, comes back and there is
no job and you have about five or six in one family roaming about. If
they cannot make it by lawful means, then they will try by unlawful
means. It’s not a legal issue; it’s a social issue. When it gets to a
point whereby living and dying is the same thing, then what are you
living for? Why not go and steal and then if you go to the prison, they
will feed you. You are better off there.

Attahiru Jega, the
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is
optimistic that he can oversee credible polls in Nigeria. “I can
guarantee an excellent job, if I get time until April to be able to
conduct elections,” Mr. Jega says confidently, sitting in his office at
INEC headquarters in Abuja.

He is referring to
perhaps the most urgent decision that needs to be taken regarding the
2011 polls. Last week, INEC sought the cooperation of political parties
to explore ways of extending the election timetable within a legal
framework because according to its chairman, “If we are able to conduct
an election in April, we can do a grade A job’’.

For details, get a copy of today’s NEXT newspaper

The Goodluck Jonathan/Namadi Sambo Presidential Campaign
Organisation has challenged all the presidential aspirants in our country to
run their campaigns based on issues rather than on personality attacks.

The organisation made this known in Abuja yesterday, in two
separate statements signed by its director of media and publicity, Sully Abu.
It also expressed disappointment with the threat by the Edo State governor,
Adams Oshiomhole, to stage a protest against the federal government if the May
29 handover date was altered.

The campaign organization had on Wednesday said the ongoing
plans by four presidential aspirants from the north to gang up against Goodluck
Jonathan in the build up towards the primaries, is bound to fail. The statement
asked the presidential aspirants to follow Mr Jonathan’s example by conducting
issues-based campaigns. It also condemned the allegation by former vice
president and presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar, that the president’s
insistence on contesting was polarizing the nation, as well as the report
credited to another aspirant, Bukola Saraki, that the mammoth crowd that
witnessed Mr Jonathan’s formal declaration in Abuja last Saturday was rented.

Throwing mud

“We call on all aspirants in the PDP to follow President
Jonathan’s great example by running a campaign based on issues, on what they
have to offer Nigerians to pull them out of the grip of poverty and
underdevelopment rather than resort to throwing mud,” Mr Abu said. “Such
old-style politics which has not got the country anywhere should not be the
forte of political aspirants who want to be taken seriously.”

The organisation noted that Mr Jonathan’s opponents were taken
aback by the degree of the sophistication and organisation displayed in the
massive turnout at his hitch-free Eagle Square declaration rally and by his
message, which has resonated exceptionally well across the land.

It was a mix of politics and entertainment at the Lekan Salami
Stadium, Ibadan, on Thursday when the Oyo State governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala,
declared his intention to run for a second term on the platform of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP).

On stand to thrill the audience and the governor’s supporters
were Abass Akande aka Obesere and Abolore Adegbola Akande (aka 9ice) amongst
other popular musicians, who treated the audience to their popular tracks.

The governor was particularly ecstatic by 9ice’s performance,
as he danced round the podium before settling to give his declaration speech.
Titled “I hearken to your wish: I shall run”, Mr Alao-Akala’s speech explained
that he only made up his mind to go for a second term as a result of pressure
mounted on him from the public. “My dear compatriots and good people of Oyo
State, since the beginning of this year, many men of goodwill, comprising
notable citizens, professionals, peasants, market women, academic community,
religious leaders, corporate bodies, artisans and other interest groups have
approached and urged me to declare my interest for a second term in office.

“My standard response was to thank them for their concern, but
that I needed all my concentration to fulfil my promise which I made during the
electioneering campaign of 2007, and upon which our people freely voted for
me,” the governor said. He enumerated his achievements since he assumed office
in 2007 and gave a glimpse of his targets if allowed to run another term.

Opposition parties

Speaking on the opposition parties in the state, the governor
claimed that the parties have “failed in all the tricks used to blackmail his
government and derail it from achieving its objectives”.

As at time of his declaration, Mr Alao-Akala is the only known
candidate running for governorship of the state on the platform of the PDP.

Politicians, who are struggling to get tickets for one elective
post or the other also packed the venue with their crowds and entertainers,
trying to outdo one another. Though there was no record of violence, the
programme, which was a carnival-like event, witnessed the heavy presence of
political thugs, who were openly smoking Indian hemp at the event.

Leaders of the party, who have been campaigning for the governor for a long
time, took turns to pledge their loyalty to him and his ambition. Former
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Richard Akinjide,
and Omololu Olunloyo and Kolapo Ishola, both former governors of the state,
were among the politicians who expressed their support for the governor’s
second term.