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The South-South People’s Assembly, at a meeting at
Abuja, suspended AIT owner, Raymond Dokpesi, for heading former
military ruler, Ibrahim Babangida’s campaign organization.

“We totally condemn and dissociate the forum from the
ignoble action of Chief Raymond Dokpesi to serve as DG of the IBB
campaign organization,” Edwin Clark, leader of the forum, told
journalists after the meeting.

Late last month, Mr Babangida announced that Mr
Dokpesi, the chairman of Daar Communications, would head his 2011
presidential campaign under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Mr Dokpesi has, however, denied ever being a member
of the SSPA, although it formed the fulcrum of the support for the
presidential ambition of then governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili. Mr
Dokpesi was also the head of that campaign.

The SSPA has thrown its weight behind Goodluck
Jonathan, who has yet to announce his candidacy. On July 26, the forum,
along with five governors and regional leaders, rose from a summit in
Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with a call on Mr Jonathan to declare for
the 2011 presidential race “without further delay.” Mr Clark said a
rally has been scheduled for Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on September 13, to
urge Mr Jonathan to join the race.

Southern youth for Babangida

Mr Clark also urged the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that political parties adhere to
stipulated guidelines.

“We commend the president for giving INEC all they
need to ensure a successful election in 2011,” he said. “We want the
country to have a free and fair election in 2011.” Meanwhile, another
south-south group, the South-South Youth Assembly, has declared its
support for the presidential ambition of Mr Babangida. The group also
called on Mr Jonathan not to participate in next year’s presidential
election and run instead in 2015.

Its National President, Tony Anucha, says whatever
agreement was reached by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on zoning,
which produced the Yar-Adua/Jonathan ticket in 2007, must be respected
and upheld for 2011. “The position of the PDP on zoning clearly shows
that whatever gentleman’s agreement that existed, must be respected.
The south-south geopolitical zone prefers to have an eight-year go at
the presidency than a four-year go. The north should be allowed to
produce a candidate to complete the zoning understanding. This is the
truth, and we uphold same in good faith,” he said.

Mr Babangida, according to Mr Anucha, has promised to establish oil
and mineral development commissions for the benefit of communities
which produce the natural resources, which will be given through a
certain percentage of accruable revenues.

A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in
Ogun State opposed to the state governor, Gbenga Daniel, has rolled out
plans to support the presidential ambition of Goodluck Jonathan.

The faction, made up of the Omo-Ilu Group headed by
Buruji Kashamu and others, has printed and commenced distribution of
membership cards and posters to all the 20 local government areas and
wards.

The project, ‘Re-Build Nigeria Initiative,’ recorded
a large number of members in attendance at the meeting held at Ijebu
Igbo. The event also gave birth to the inauguration of three committees
to reposition the group for the upcoming electioneering campaign.

Mr Kashamu presented the posters canvassing for
Jonathan’s bid, with captions such as: ‘Hello, 150 million
Nigerians…. Who Deserves Better Life Than You?,’ ‘See and be seen in
the Nigeria of your dreams’ and ‘Let your views count, you have the
power.’ The group’s Director of Organization, Tunde Oladunjoye, said
the Omo-Ilu group serves as a stabilizing force within the PDP and that
the new committees would reposition the organization towards presenting
credible candidates for the party primaries and ensuring their victory.

Repositioning to meet challenges

“I want to say with all form of modesty that a lot of
people would have left this party if not for Omo-Ilu, because they are
complaining of lack of empowerment, even dividend of democracy doesn’t
get to the grassroots,” Mr Oladunjoye said.

“We are trying to re-position the organization to
meet electioneering challenges. We need to re-energize to produce
better results, that is why we have come up with three committees.” The
groups are the screening and verification, disciplinary and
reconciliation and campaign and strategy committees.

“We want to even screen our candidates in-house
before they are offered to the party, so there will be little or no
stress. We also use it as a forum to reconcile differences in case
there is more than a candidate for a position,” he said.

“The disciplinary committee will instil discipline within the
organization, to reconcile different interests. We also need to spread
our gospel, canvass, mobilize. We are doing this because we know that
it is an organization that is daily expanding.”

The governor’s call
is contained in a special broadcast to the people of the state to
commemorate the Eid-El-Fitr, where he said politicians should shun all
utterances and acts capable of causing a breach of peace. “The youth
should remember that all the struggles of the leaders are targeted at
them as the future leaders of the country,” he said.

While calling on the people of the state to continue to be
law-abiding, Mr Wamakko solicited their support for INEC in conducting
a hitch-free voters’ registration exercise and election.

The Ondo State government yesterday said that its
decision to relocate traders from major streets of notable towns in the
state is irreversible, stating that no amount of politics played by the
opposition on the matter will make it change its decision.

The government also said no single street trader
will be relocated in any part of the state until a befitting
alternative was provided by his administration.

The state governor, Olusegun Mimiko, who disclosed
this while inspecting the Isinkan Market and the Auto-Mart projects
under construction in Akure, said there was no going back on turning
Akure to a mega city.

“The Urban Renewal programme is in the best
interest of the people because at the end of it, more foreign and local
investors would be attracted to the state for massive investment,
thereby, providing job opportunities for the people,” he said.

Modern auto-mart

“We are not ready to deprive anybody of the means
of his or her livelihood by dispersing street traders without the
provision of befitting alternatives. As we are building new
ultra-modern markets with necessary facilities, we are also building a
modern auto-mart where the motor dealers on Oba Adesida-Oyemekun Road
would be relocated to pave way for our Urban Development programme in
the capital city, which is the window through which the whole world
would see Ondo State. Hence, our resolve to make the Akure a model city
that would be the cynosure of all eyes in the nation.” Mr Mimiko
commended the State Direct Labour Agency for working to ensure that the
projects are completed within the stipulated time. He said the task of
developing the state remains the responsibility of the entire citizens
and urged the people to support the developmental efforts of his
administration in order to achieve the desired results.

The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Kunle
Ashaolu, explained that the government embarked on the projects through
the Direct Labour System to save costs, as part of its avowed
commitment to prudent management of public fund and resources.

The Action Congress
of Nigeria (ACN) has described the planned general election as
“unrealistic” going by the timetable released on Tuesday by the
electoral body.

The party also
described the plan which shows that staggered elections will hold in
January as a “recipe for failure.” In a statement issued in Abuja by
its National Publicity Secretary, the ACN warned that “in order for the
country not to repeat its history of electoral woes, and to prevent the
billions of naira to be spent on the elections from going down the
drain, the National Assembly must show uncommon patriotism by
suspending the operation of the amended constitution until after the
2011 elections, so that INEC can conduct the elections in April.”

According to the
party, this problem was caused by the series of setbacks the
constitution amendment witnessed as planned by the National Assembly.
“The problem of impossible timelines which the elections face now was
not created by INEC, but by the choreographed delayed amendment of the
constitution by the National Assembly.

“By releasing the
timetable, therefore, INEC has simply demonstrated its readiness to
comply with both the provisions of the new Electoral Act and the
amended Constitution,” it said.

The ACN claims that
it’s investigation has revealed that INEC is yet to award the contract
for the procurement of the 120,000 DDC needed for the fresh voter
registration.

In a breakdown of
the available time, the party further explained that it will take a
minimum of 10 weeks from the date of award for the machines to arrive
in Nigeria, and a minimum of three weeks is required to complete
voters’ registration and the display the new register for claims and
objections. Another eight weeks or at least 45 days will be needed to
integrate the data from the over 120,000 polling units before INEC can
commence printing of new voters cards. ACN, therefore, notes that INEC
cannot have the new voters’ register ready 21 weeks from today, “even
if the contract for the procurement of the 120,000 DDC machines were to
be awarded today.” By this permutation, ACN states that INEC will not
be ready for the election until “the first or second week in February
2011.” “This is already way past the month of January for which the
elections have been scheduled,” the party said.

Don’t blame INEC

The party stated
that the blame must be “laid squarely on the doorsteps of the National
Assembly,” for wasting so much time before the new Electoral Act and
the amended constitution were enacted into law. It also raised concerns
on the possible illegality of the constitution amendment, as the
process is being challenged by the presidency at the Supreme Court.

Calling for more
time for the electoral body, ACN stated that “there is nothing
sacrosanct about elections in January 2011” as “all election petitions
can be disposed off between January and May 2011” if the polls were to
hold in January. The party, therefore, demanded “unequivocally” that
INEC be given adequate time to do a thorough job.

“The 2011 elections are critical to the survival of our democracy
and the realisation of the consistent pledge by President Goodluck
Jonathan to organise free, fair and credible polls. We cannot afford to
fail,” the party concluded.

The Airline
Operators of Nigeria (AON), an umbrella association of all domestic
carriers in Nigeria, on Wednesday, stated that it did not betray Arik
Air, neither is it divided despite the irregularities surrounding its
position on the new ‘pay as you go’ mode of payment for terminal
navigational charges recently introduced by the Nigerian Airspace
Management Agency (NAMA).

The association is
reacting to statements credited to Joseph Arumemi-Johnson, the Chairman
of Arik Air, that they airlines reneged on agreement reached between
them not to accept the new billing system. The association had, in a
meeting chaired by its General Secretary, Mohammed Joji, agreed not to
comply with the directive of the airspace agency. However, after
threats by NAMA to ground defaulting airlines, over 95 per cent of
members of the body paid the fee.

Explaining that the
meeting in which the carriers agreed not to comply with the new ‘pay as
you go’ declarative was held in his absence, Steve Mahonwu, the
President of the association, while speaking at a briefing held at
Murtala Mohammed Airport 2 (MMA2), Lagos, said that the association
will not kick against genuine government stipulated principles. “I was
in Botswana when that meeting was held; and after I came back I wasn’t
briefed by the general secretary,” he said. “And that does not mean
that AON is dead and is a betrayer; however, it should be noted that
AON cannot and will not be used against government principles.”

Operators should pay charges

Mr Mahonwu, who
argued that airlines using government facilities are expected to pay
their dues, said that lack of communication led to the breach which
resulted in the different views as regards the payment of the charges.
“We are to support our parastatals, for our own is to make the industry
move forward,” he said. “With what has happened, I have now sent
notices to my colleagues informing them not to send any information to
the press without going through the office of the chairman.”

Mohammed Tukur,
the Assistant Secretary General of the association, said that a
communication gap between leaders of the body necessitated the trouble,
and added that the issue has been resolved and that all domestic
carriers have complied by paying the charges. He also said that the
case in court will soon be addressed. “I’m not aware of when the
meeting took place and I wasn’t involved,” he said. “The chairman was
out of the country, and that was what led to this issue of pay and do
not pay being dragged about.”

Meanwhile, the association’s chairman expressed gratitude to the
management of Arik Air, for their role in enabling the country acquire
the coveted United States Category One status. “We want to appreciate
Arik, because they use their facility to enable Nigeria achieve
Category One,” he said. “For in [the] days of Nigeria Airways, we had
the certification, but after series of bottlenecks the certification
was struck out.”

The Group Managing
Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Austen
Oniwon, yesterday said that his administration leveraged on the vision
to operate at world class levels by maximizing value addition as well
as creating high value opportunities for Nigerians and the country in
general.

As a premier
integrated oil and gas company in Nigeria, Mr. Oniwon said the
corporation under his leadership would remain committed to its agenda
to guarantee unimpeded supply and distribution of petroleum products
across the country.

The commitment, he
said, is underlined by his management’s recent decision to partner with
some Chinese investors to build more refineries in the country not only
to boost the country’s local refining capacity, but to facilitate the
creation of more employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed
youths in the country.

The director was
speaking in Abuja on Tuesday while receiving the Senior Executive
Course No. 32 of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Study
(NIPSS).

“More than ever
before, the NNPC is determined to build more refineries in order to
complement the existing ones currently operating at optimum capacity.
With the daily increase in the consumption of petroleum products in the
country, the corporation has gone into a strategic partnership with a
Chinese firm to build three additional Greenfield Refineries and a
Petrochemical plant in three different states of the federation,” he
explained.

Presenting a paper
titled: “Imperative of Policy Sustainability for National Security and
Democratic Stability – TheNNPC Perspective”, Mr. Oniwon said the
corporation is currently involved in the repositioning of the natural
gas sector for rapid domestic, regional and export penetration, as
contained in the National Gas Master Plan (NGMP).

Meet the country’s needs

The present drive
for the development of Greenfield Refineries as well as revamping of
the old facilities, he pointed out, was in line with the strategic
effort to revitalize the downstream capacity to support the country’s
growing domestic energy needs.

On efforts to
upgrade its operations to enable the corporation compete with other
integrated national oil companies in the world, the NNPC helmsman
observed that the corporation is currently undergoing a transformation
process, adding that if the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) currently
pending before the National Assembly is passed, it would facilitate the
reform of key institutions to anchor sustained growth in the country’s
oil and gas sector.

“The main engine of
transformation of the petroleum sector is the PIB. The bill seeks to
reform the petroleum sector, such that the country’s oil and gas
industry will achieve the 21st century global industry performance
record. The bill when passed into law will decentralize the industry
and make it more efficient and result-oriented,” Mr. Oniwon stated.

He called for the
regular review of policies to enhance maximum returns on oil and gas
assets, pointing out that if bureaucratic bottlenecks are eliminated
from the system, it would greatly enhance the corporation’s drive
towards value addition in all the oil and gas value chains as well as
its capacity as a player in the global arena.

The Director of
Studies NIPSS and leader of the delegation, Thomas Imobighe, stressed
the need for successive administrations to retain laudable policies
that impact positively on the economy, assuring of the Institute’s
readiness to help propagate policies that would facilitate the growth
of the Nigerian economy.

The inaugural
launch of Ibrahim Babangida political rally in Ogun State started on a
wrong footing yesterday, as the National Association of Nigerians
Students disrupted the rally organised by the state chapter of the
campaign team.

The campaigners had
converged at their newly acquired secretariat at Oke-Ilewo area of
Abeokuta at about 2pm, all in T-Shirts emblazoned with Mr Babangida’s
photo and banners, accompanied by drummers and trumpeters for the rally.

The campaigners,
led by the state coordinator, Sunday Bello had set out for the rally
round the town to promote their presidential candidate when hundreds of
students, under the aegis of Joint Campus Committee, stormed the place
in five buses.

The students did
not waste time in dislodging the campaigners, who were seen running
helter-skelter for safety. In their escape bid, a number of placards
and handbills promoting Mr Babangida’s candidacy were abandoned by his
supporters.

As they run pell mell, pursued by the students, the campaigners hurriedly removed their T-shirts in a bid to escape detection.

The students’
actions were, however, not limited to just chasing Mr Babangida’s
supporters away. The campaign office was temporarily seized, while the
canopies erected were pulled down. The entire vicinity recorded traffic
jam as the exercise lasted.

Residents back students

Many residents of
the area, as well as a number of motorists and passersby who witnessed
the incident, applauded the action of the students, saying the
campaigners deserved the treatment meted out to them.

A taxi driver,
identified as Lukmon, said: “I like these students. They are bold and
courageous to have taken that bold action. For God’s sake, these
campaigners are stupid set of people and foolishly bold to attempt to
launch Babangida’s campaign in Abeokuta.” Speaking to newsmen after the
incident, Chairman of the Ogun State Chapter of Joint Campus Committee
of Nigeria Association Nigeria Students, Azeez Adeyemi, said it was an
insult to the indigenes of the state for the campaign team to embark on
a citywide rally.

He said Mr
Babangida’s antecedents in the country, with reference to the annulment
of June 12 Presidential elections, still leaves a bitter taste in the
mouth.

“It is unthinkable that the former military ruler should be allowed to return to power as being planned,” Mr Adeyemi said.

Amnesty
International has requested that Goodluck Jonathan authorize the
release of 30-year-old Patrick Okoroafor, who has been in jail in Imo
State for the past 16 years.

The international
human rights organisation said in an email made available to NEXT that
Mr Okoroafor was just 14 years old when he was arrested in May 1995.

“Two years later,
he was sentenced to death for robbery, along with six others. He did
not have the right to appeal and was reported to have been tortured
while in police detention. In 2001, his sentence of death was
pronounced ‘illegal, null and void,’ and instead changed to detention
‘during the pleasure of the governor.’ In 2008, the Imo State
Prerogative of Mercy Committee recommended that his sentence be changed
to life imprisonment,” the group said.

The road to jail

Patrick Okoroafor
and one Chidiebere Onuoha who was 15 at the time of arrest, petitioned
the then Military Administrator of Imo State, Tanko Zubairu, for
clemency on grounds of age. Mr Zubairu confirmed the death sentences of
Mr Onuoha, and five others, and commuted Mr Okoroafor’s sentence to
life imprisonment. On July 31, 1997, the six men were publicly shot to
death. In May 2009, Mr Okoroafor’s life sentence was commuted to 10
years by the then Governor of Imo State, Achike Udenwa. However, the
new sentence commenced on 29 May 2009 and did not take into account the
14 years he had already spent in prison.

“Prison has had serious consequences for Patrick’s health,” stated Amnesty International.

“He suffers from
asthma attacks described by prison authorities as ‘frequent and
life-threatening.’ A prison doctor has recommended that Patrick be
released because of his health. Patrick was a victim of a miscarriage
of justice.

His right to a fair
hearing within a reasonable time and before an independent and
impartial tribunal was violated. Owing to these factors, the torture
and ill-treatment he suffered while in detention, and the amount of
time that he has already spent in prison and on death row, Amnesty
International has been campaigning for the immediate release of Patrick
Okoroafor from prison.”

Reluctant to set him free

The Imo State
government has reportedly been reluctant to release Mr Okoroafor
because they believe he was involved in the killing of 11-year-old
Ikechukwu Okonkwo in Otokoto Hotel, an Owerri-based hotel that featured
prominently in the Otokoto riots of 1996 that shattered the relative
peace of the city. However, reports state that Mr Okoroafor and his
co-accused were arrested for alleged robbery in May 1995; while the
murder of Mr Okonkwo and the subsequent riots, took place in September
1996, when the accused were all in detention.

“On 1 October,
Nigeria celebrates 50 years of independence. Amnesty International is
calling on the President of Nigeria to obtain Patrick’s immediate and
unconditional release from prison and allow him to celebrate Nigeria’s
50 years of independence at home with his family,” stated the human
rights organization.

Speaker of the Ogun
State House of Assembly, Tunji Egbetokun, yesterday led a group of
state leaders, including Iyabo Obasanjo, to the national leadership of
the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to lobby for its intervention in
the legislative crisis that has crippled the state.

Though newsmen were
barred from covering the meeting at the office of the national
chairman, Okwesilieze Nwodo, sources at the meeting said Mr Egbetokun
gave his version of the events that led to the current crisis.

Mr Egbetokun, along
with 15 other members, were indefinitely suspended as Speaker on Monday
by nine members (one-third of the 26 representatives of the House).
Soyemi Coker was elected as the new Speaker.

He appealed to
party leaders to intervene, to prevent the opposition from taking
advantage of the crisis in the forthcoming general elections.

Address the problem

Speaking to newsmen
after the meeting, Doyin Okupe, a spokesman to former President,
Olusegun Obasanjo and supporter of Mr Egbetokun, said that the
intervention was important, as the party primaries and the general
election were just round the corner.

“As elders of the
party in the state, we feel very embarrassed by the development,” said
Mr Okupe. “You cannot explain the recent development where a group of
nine legislators will sack the speaker without having the required
two-thirds majority – and would sack the remaining members of the House
of Assembly. Is that possible?” Mr Nwodo promised to address the
situation.

“The party is no longer the party of yesterday where everybody can
take people for granted and do what they like,” he said. “The party
will delve into the matter to know the next steps to take.” Mr Daniel,
who was expected to have a meeting with Goodluck Jonathan yesterday,
swore in one of the new commissioners approved by the new speaker in
their brief ceremony on Monday, before he left for Abuja where he is
also spending time lobbying.