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All former military
heads of state and their deputies since independence in 1960 are to
enjoy monthly salaries and allowances, like their elected counterparts.

This was agreed by
members of the House of Representatives, who passed into law a bill
amending an Act on the remunerations of the former Presidents and heads
of state.

The bill is titled,
“A Bill for an Act to Provide Remuneration of former Presidents, Heads
of Federal Legislative Houses and Chief Justices of the Federation and
other Ancillary Matters, 2010.” It was recommitted to the Committee of
the Whole in order to enable the House debate the constitutional and
incidental matters pertaining to the bill.

The former military
leaders are Yakubu Gowon, Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida,
Abdulsalami Abubakar, all of who are still alive. Those dead are
Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, Murtala Muhammed and Sani Abacha.

Others who are to
benefit from the salaries and allowances are former vice presidents;
former Senate Presidents and their deputies; former Speakers and their
deputies; and former Chief Justices of the Federation.

The allowances are
to be worked out by the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal
Commission (RMAFC). The position of the representatives is, however,
opposed to that of the senators, who last March, while passing the
bill, excluded former heads of state who seized power through coups,
from enjoying the remunerations.

Senate says no

By this development, the two chambers will now set up a conference committee to harmonise their positions.

During the debate
on the executive bill, the chairman of the Committee on Rules and
Business, Ita Enang, argued that the constitution has already given the
former military leaders a role by making them members of the Council of
State. He said there was nothing wrong with allowing them the salaries
and allowances paid to the former leaders of executive, legislative and
judicial arms of government.

Also contributing,
Cyril Madubum (PDP, Anambra) supported the argument, saying Section 316
(2) of the constitution has, by implication, recognized the former
military rulers as once occupying the office of the head of state.

“Any person who
immediately before the date when this section comes into force holds
office by virtue of any other constitution or law in force, immediately
before the date when this section comes into force, shall be deemed to
be duly appointed to that office by virtue of this constitution or by
any authority by whom appointments to that office fall to be made in
pursuance of this constitution.”

In justifying the
removal of the former military leaders from the list of beneficiaries
last March, the senators had argued that including them would amount to
encouraging future coups.

The Senate
President, David Mark, a retired Brigadier General and governor under
the military regime of Ibrahim Babangida, had said during the debate
that it would discourage people from coming to power unconstitutionally.

“This is to
discourage other ways of getting into power through unconstitutional
means; the only way recognised by the constitution is through the
ballot box and not through the barrel of the gun,” he said.

Some army personnel
can now work in a more conducive environment, following the
construction and rehabilitation of office facilities at the MHYOUNG
Barracks at Yaba, Lagos, on Thursday.

The Chief of Army
Staff, Abdurrahman Dambazzau, the Minister for State for Defence,
Murtala Shehu Yar’Adua, the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, and other
senior government officers were present at the commissioning of nine
structures which include: administrative blocks, three warehouses, a
general store, a dental lab store, canteen, RSM office, guard house and
stores offices, as part of the flag-off of the 2010 Army Day
celebration.

In his welcome
address, U.S. Essien, a major general, said the construction and
rehabilitation of the facilities was carried out by direct labour,
involving the Nigerian Army engineer corps.

“About six months
ago, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. A.B. Dambazzau, tasked the
Nigerian army engineers to demolish the dilapidated temporary
structures that serve as the central medical stores and reconstruct new
ones by direct labour.

“The new facility
is what we are commissioning today,” he said, adding, “Work for the
project was scheduled to last for 18 weeks but after the 15th week, we
had completed the construction, in spite of the adverse conditions.”

More projects

Lt General Dambazzau said the army will be positioned to carry more direct labour initiative in the country.

“The resources are
very limited and this is why we engaged in the direct labour project,
first to save cost, and to maximise the little resources we have. To
save time and more especially to develop human capacity, there is need
to develop our personnel, to engage them in national development not
only for the army but for the nation as a whole.

“We all know that
the importance of appropriate storage facilities for drugs and other
medical equipment until they get to the end-users cannot be
overemphasised. I am glad that this facility has met the standard of
the UN level 2 stores.”

The guest of honour
at the event, the Minister of Defence, Adetokunbo Kayode, who was
represented by Murtala Shehu Yar’Adua, the Minister of State for
Defence, said the ministry will continue to support the army and other
defence parastatals to carry out their duties effectively.

Also, Mr Yar’Adua
said the Ministry of Defence will soon meet with the federal government
to discuss the issue of the retirement of senior army officers, an
issue which has caused a rumble in the military.

“The Ministry of
Defence will continue to support government agencies both morally and
financially to carry out their functions. In regards to the retirement
of some army officers, we will have a meeting with the federal
government very soon and the issue will be addressed. Salary increment
is another issue, but we have limited funds; but the government is
looking into it,” said Mr Yar’Adua.

An army of thugs,
suspected to be members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers
(NURTW) in Oyo State, attacked some members of the Action Congress (AC)
in Ibadan, the state capital, Wednesday evening.

The victims, who
reportedly sustained serious injuries, were coming from an enlarged
rally of their party held at Idi-Arere area of the town, on the day of
the incident.

Apparently to
forestall possible breakdown of law and order, the state police command
had stationed a truckload of police personnel at the rally area, which
is just a walking distance to Beere, the most dreaded trouble spot of
the town.

However, the
attackers hung around waiting for the AC members, and intercepted them
on their way home. Four people were reportedly injured in the process.

The party faithful
at the rally freely barraged Adebayo Alao-Akala, whose government, they
said, have failed to impact positively on the state and its people.
Though NEXT could not readily establish whether the attackers are
members of the opposition party, Olubodun Rasaq, personal Assistant to
Abiola Ajimobi, an AC governorship candidate, said the hoodlums were
known members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He explained that
they had the information on the impending attack beforehand, saying
that was why they requested for police protection at the rally.

But, perhaps, the
thugs, realising that an attack in the heavy presence of officers of
the Nigeria Police, State Security Services (SSS) and the Civil Defence
Corps could be suicidal, deferred it till the end of the rally and a
distance away from the rally area.

The police authorities, have, however, dismissed the alleged attack, describing it as political.

Police denial

Olabisi Okuwobi,
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Oyo State command, said the
rally was peaceful, adding that no attack occurred before, during and
after the rally.

She advised
politicians to always be truthful and be weary of sending wrong signals
to the world about the situation in the state, in order not to scare
way would-be investors.

Former governor of
the state, Lam Adesina, in his own speech, condemned Governor
Alao-Akala for allowing the issue of new Teachers Salary Structure
(TSS) to degenerate to the level of the teachers calling for an
indefinite strike.

“Teacher-government
face-off is getting worse because this government does not recognize
teachers; it does not take care of them. Let me warn Governor Akala not
to try sacking any teacher. If he does, God will sack him. AC
government will restore free education and free health at all levels in
Oyo State as from next year.

“In my four-year tenure, we received N48 billion but Governor Akala
has received N250 billion so far. Let him account for what he has done
with the money,” he said.

NEXT columnist,
Pius Adesanmi, is among three Nigerians shortlisted for the inaugural
Penguin Prize for African Writing. He is listed with Chika Ezeanya and
Tanure Ojaide, along with 13 other African writers.

The prize comes
with a cash award of R50000 (about N1million), a publishing contract
with Penguin Books South Africa, and worldwide distribution via Penguin
Group companies.

The competition,
organised by Penguin Books South Africa, is broken into fiction and
nonfiction categories, with a prize winner emerging from each category.

Messrs Adesanmi and
Ojaide are shortlisted for nonfiction, while Ezeanya is in the fiction
category. Organisers had called for entries of unpublished full length
works of between 60,000 and 100,000 words in length. Approximately 300
submissions were received from authors across the continent.

Others on the
shortlist are Ellen Banda Aaku (Zambia), Moraa Gitaa (Kenya), Shubnum
Khan (South Africa), Isabella Morris (South Africa), and Mukoma wa
Ngugi (Kenya, shortlisted for last year’s Caine Prize) in the fiction
category; and South African writers Andrew Barlow, Ruth Carneson, Ahmed
Mortiar, Anli Serfontein, and Tebogo Tlharipe, for non-fiction.

Members of the
opposition party in Osun State House of Assembly have approached an
Osogbo High Court seeking an order to nullify the screening of the
state Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) members while an appeal
were pending in court on the matter.

Led by Timothy
Owoeye, the legislators that are members of the Action Congress (AC) in
the Assembly, through the suit number HOS/M70/2010, are seeking the
order of the court to declare the screening of the chairman and members
of OSSIEC while the Appeal, in suit number HOS/M41/2009, was still
pending as an abuse of court process. In the originating summon, dated
June 29, 2010, the AC lawmakers also wanted the court to determine
whether “the filing of a stay of execution of a judgment by a party
against whom the judgment is given has not put the judgment in abeyance
until the ruling on the application is delivered.” They also wanted the
court to determine whether an appeal properly filed at the High Court
registry is for onward transmission to the Court of Appeal could be
properly terminated at the same high Court registry by mere filing of
notice of withdrawal of Appeal.

The trend

The summon, which
was filed by Kolapo Alimi, counsel for the plaintiffs, Minority Leader,
Mr. Owoeye, also averred that on March 27, 2010, an attempt was made to
serve him a notice of withdrawal of appeal at the premises of the state
House of Assembly which he rejected upon perusal that showed his name
was not written on it. On March 30, 2010, Mr. Owoeye claimed that
members of the House of Assembly were served with the list, and the
curriculum vitae of nominated chairman and members of the OSSIEC.
Amongst whom were, retired Justice Titus Oyeyemi Adewuyi, Remi Alabi,
Bamidele Isola Ezekiel Ogunjuyigbe, Adebisis Gbolagade, Razak Adegbite
and Akinboye Ogunola.

He also claimed
that his advice to the Assembly not to violate the law by screening the
persons named on the list while the appeal was pending in court was
overruled by the Speaker, Adejare Bello.

He however
mentioned in the 15 paragraph affidavit that he and other members of
the AC caucus staged a walk out of the floor of the parliament to
protest their grievance with the development.

An Osogbo High Court presided over by Justice Jide Falola had
earlier this year, ruled that the composition of OSSIEC was illegal,
while the state government filed a notice of appeal but in a twist,
sent a fresh list of OSSIEC members to the parliament for screening and
approval. No date has yet been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

Henceforth,
associations seeking registration as political parties are expected to
establish and maintain functional and verifiable offices in at least
two-thirds of the 774 local government areas in the country in order to
qualify for registration.

They will also have at least 10,000 registered members in at least two-thirds of the 36 states.

These are some of
the conditions adopted by the House of Representatives yesterday to
streamline the numbers of political parties in the country.

The adoption was
based on the report of the House eight-member ad-hoc committee it set
up on June 1, which made the recommendations.

Others
recommendations by the committee, chaired by the minority leader,
Mohammed Ali Ndume, and which were adopted by the House at the
resumption of the review of the amendment of the Electoral Act, are
that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shall have
powers to deregister any party which breached any of those requirements
for registration; or which fails to win a seat in the National or State
Assembly election; and that the commission shall verify the claims of
the associations seeking registration, and publish same in at least
three national newspapers before registration.

However, following
a suggestion by the Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, the House rejected a
proposal by the panel that INEC should forward report on the parties
registered to the National Assembly, not necessarily for approval, but
for the records.

Following the
adoption of the recommendations, a new subsection will be inserted
under Section 80 of the substantive Electoral Act, while Section 83
will be amended to read “Power of the Commission to register and
de-register political parties.”

The committee was
set up to synthesise the views of members on the issue of political
parties registration in a Bill for an Act to establish the Independent
National Electoral Commission and make appropriate recommendations to
the House. However, the amendment will scale through if the Senate
concurs.

The members of the
committee are Mohammed Ali Ndume, Ita Enang, Cyril Maduabum, Abdullahi
Shuiabu Hashiru, Ibrahim Mustapha, Lanre Agoro, S.Y. Ahmed, and Hannatu
Jankara (Assistant Clerk of the House), who is the secretary.

Mr. Ndume said,
during its assignment, the committee consulted widely with members of
the House and that at its meeting, all the options were considered.
“The members of the committee, after exhaustive deliberations, came up
with recommendations which they felt would go a long way in creating
broad-based national political parties.”

He also explained
that the committee did not request the parties to have two-thirds
registered members in all the local government areas and the states at
the same time, to avoid ambiguity.

He said the
intention of the panel was not to give powers to the National Assembly
to approve the parties that applied to be registered by the commission,
but just to have such information in its record.

Heated debate

The issue of the
number of parties to participate in the 2011 general elections had
generated a heated debate in the House when it began the amendment of
the Electoral Act with some members, particularly those in the
opposition, calling for a two-party system while others demanded a
multi-party system that will only have five parties.

Yet, others
insisted that the multi-party system, as presently obtained in the
country, should be left intact in the Act. Most of the members of the
ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has about 280 members in
the lower legislative chamber, canvassed the registration of five
parties. Some of the lawmakers had argued that since the return of
democracy in the country, the number of the political parties has risen
from three to 57 because of the grant given to the parties, and which
is usually pocketed by their leaderships without fielding candidates
during elections.

They noted that
some of the leaders of the parties, which they described as “portfolio
parties”, only become active politically when it is time to receive the
grants. On two occasions, the lawmakers could not vote on the amendment
to Section 80 of the Electoral Act 2006 to include a clause regulating
the number of parties in the country.

However, on May 20,
amid protests and rowdiness, which spanned over an hour, the House, by
a vote of 172 to 48, dumped the proposal for a two-party system. But
members of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Action Congress (AC),
and a handful of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House, who
wanted a two-party system, kicked against the result and staged a walk
out in protest.

The minority parties were led by the same Mr. Ndume during the walk out.

The senate, on
Wednesday, deferred debate on the request of the government of Sao Tome
and Principe for the alteration of terms for a $30 million loan it owes
Nigeria.

The senate stood
down the request because the request was not presented to the senators
with the required details on Wednesday. President Goodluck Jonathan had
requested the lawmakers to approve a request by the government of Sao
Tome and Principe to extend the tenor of the $30 million soft loan
which it received from Nigeria early this year from the agreed six
years to thirty. According to Mr Jonathan, the prime minister of Sao
Tome and Principe asked for the alteration of the loan conditions due
to an IMF program which the country entered into recently which does
not allow them to take only long term loans.

New terms

Earlier this year,
both the senate and the Executive Council of the Federation had
approved the USD30 million loan to the government of Sao Tome and
Principe with a tenor of six years, no interest charge, and moratorium
with a disbursement plan of $10 million every six months, over an 18
months period. Now, the prime minister of Sao Tome and Principe is
asking for the same loan amount but for a tenor of 30 years, a six
years moratorium and three years disbursement plan, still at no
interest charge.

Although the first
tranche of $10 million have been disbursed, the loan agreements are yet
to be signed by the government of both nations. “In view of the
strategic nature of our relationship with Democratic Republic of Sao
Tome and Principe, and considering the need to provide all necessary
and reasonable support to the country, the prime minister’s request was
acceded to,” Mr Jonathan stated in his letter indicating that the
executive arm have agreed to the borrowing country’s request.

More details required

President Jonathan
said the adjusted conditions will not adversely affect the finances of
Nigeria but the senators said they want a detailed document, besides
the later, to be enable them make up their minds adequately. “Unless
somebody presents the details of the document, we have nothing to
contribute,” said James Manager (PDP Delta state). His submission set
up an argument that led to the eventual withdrawal of the request for
proper presentation on another legislative day. “Although the letter is
self explanatory, we will step it down and take it on another
legislative day,” said Senate president David Mark.

The Senate has
blamed the federal government and the government of Zamfara State for
the tragic death of 163 people, mostly children below the age of five,
during the recent outbreak of lead poisoning in the state. A minute
silence was observed by the senators on the back of a motion by Sahabi
Ya’u (PDP Zamfara state) which noted the federal government’s carefree
attitude to issues concerning the lives of Nigerians.

The senators
criticized both the federal and local governments, for allowing the
disaster happen. They argued that if the government had strictly
implemented the mining laws, built a clinic within the community, or
even responded to the disaster rapidly, the deaths would have few. “It
is a pity we have to mourn this avoidable death of our citizens due to
our carelessness.” Patrick Osakwe (PDP Delta state) said.

“If we had taken the mining act seriously, we wouldn’t have been here discussing this today.” Ayogu Eze (PDP Enugu state) said.

John Shagaya (PDP
Plateau state) lamented the lack of urgency in the manner that the
federal government has handled the disaster, noting that till date
government has not inaugurated a committee set up on the issue.

Blame game

Ahmed Yerima (ANPP
Zamfara state) who was governor of the affected state for eight years
also decried the inability of the federal government to send relief
materials to the surviving victims.

“In other
countries, the government would have declared a state of emergency in
the area.” Mr. Yerima said. “But till now federal government has not
done anything by sending relief to the affected people.” The disaster
was caused by the activities of illegal miners of iron ore in Anka and
Bukkuyum local government areas of the state in April this year.

The villagers
turned miners were said to take crushed rocks home from the mine and
this resulted in the soil being contaminated from lead and the people
were thereafter poisoned through hand to mouth contamination. Many were
contaminated by contacts with contaminated tools and water.

The poisoning had
both social and economic effects on surviving victims and will likely
affect their ability to procreate while damaging livestock and crops.

While debating the
motion, Erhiawarie Eferakeye (PDP Delta state), a professor of
pharmacology, advised that the government immediately begins proper
medical screening of the survivors as the poisoning could have long
term after effect.

The Senate,
however, resolved to investigate the crisis and urged the federal,
state and local government to embark on sensitisation campaign on the
danger of illegal mining.

Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo,
did not have a closed-door meeting nor any discussion with Dimeji
Bankole, during their “chance meeting” on Tuesday in Lagos, an aide to
Mr Obasanjo said on Wednesday.

A statement signed by Adeoba Ojekunle,
Mr. Obasanjo’s special assistant, stated that contrary to media
reports, the meeting at the Presidential Wing of Murtala Muhammed
Airport “was an inadvertent development and not a secret or
‘closed-door’ meeting.” The statement specifically referred to a
newspaper report which claimed that the former president and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives discussed behind closed-doors
at the airport.

Father-son talks

“While General Obasanjo was waiting
for a private plane to convey him to Kinshasa yesterday, June 29, 2010,
he and honourable Speaker Bankole happened to be at the Presidential
Wing of the airport together,” said Mr Ojekunle. “At the chance
meeting, the honourable speaker greeted General Obasanjo as a son would
greet his father, and General Obasanjo also responded accordingly, as a
father would greet his son. There was neither a closed-door meeting nor
discussion of any issue.

Mr. Ojekunle, however, said that the
speaker must have visited Lagos to attend a meeting, or was on another
appointment, and not necessarily to have any discussion with Mr.
Obasanjo. “General Obasanjo was not part of such meeting and the nature
of such meeting is not known to him,” he stated.

Mr. Obasanjo, who arrived at the
airport 20 minutes after the speaker landed at the VIP tarmac from
Abuja on a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft, headed straight to the
airport lounge without saying a word to journalists. Mr Bankole, who
had been in Lagos since Friday, left for Abuja on Monday only to return
at about 2.30pm on Tuesday at minutes interval to the former president
arrival too.

The duo met behind closed doors for
about 30 minutes at the presidential lounge of the Murtala Muhammed
Airport (MMA), Lagos. The meeting between the two men may not be
unconnected with Mr. Bankole’s current battle to retain his position as
the Speaker of the House, amidst allegations of financial impropriety
and contract inflation. The two men, however, refused to answer
questions about the reason for their meeting.

When confronted by aviation correspondents, Mr. Obasanjo refused to
answer any of their questions which included queries about the meeting;
his views about Ibrahim Babangida’s 2011 presidential aspirations; the
country’s 50 year anniversary; and the amount earmarked for the
celebrations; and Goodluck Jonathan’s bid for president come 2011.
Turning to his daughter, Kemi Obasanjo, the ex-president said: “They
(reporters) love my face and I love their faces.”

The crisis rocking
the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho,
yesterday took a new turn, following the directive of the Oyo State
House of Assembly that staff of the institution who are Oyo State
indigenes should report at the newly established teaching hospital of
the university in Ogbomosho, Oyo State.

In compliance with
the directive, workers who are indigenes of Oyo State at the teaching
hospital arm of the university in Osogbo withdrew their services en
mass to relocate to Ogbomosho.

About ten 18-seater
buses and some private cars left the premises of the teaching hospital,
Osogbo, at about 9.00am yesterday, to report in Ogbomoso.

The university,
which was established in 1990, is jointly owned by Oyo and Osun
governments. Trouble started last year when the Oyo State government
started the construction of another teaching hospital for the
university at Ogbomoso, which prompted the Osun State government to
express fear over the action.

The crisis was
debated at the Oyo State House of Assembly last Tuesday, leading to its
directive that the state government should disengage from the joint
ownership of the institution.

The house also
directed all its indigenes working in LAUTECH Teaching Hospital,
Osogbo, to report yesterday to Ogbomoso, for further directive from the
management of the institution.

Act of illegality

It also resolved
that all academic staff members of the University Teaching Hospital and
College of Health Sciences, Osogbo, who are non-indigenes of Oyo State,
and are willing to take up employment with the management of LAUTECH
should also report to the management at Ogbomoso yesterday.

It was gathered
that the house took the decision as part of the state’s moves to severe
joint ownership of LAUTECH with Osun State.