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Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday
approved the composition of a new power reform structure as part of
efforts to transform the power sector and breathe fresh life into power
generation activities in the country.

The new structure is led by the Presidential Action
Committee on Power, chaired by the president and supported by a
Presidential Task Force on Power.

The Committee will provide leadership and guidance
for the development of the power sector, and determine the general
policy direction and strategic focus of the ongoing power reform. It
has the vice president, Namadi Sambo, as alternate chairman, and its
other members include: the Minister of State for Power, the Ministers
of Finance, National Planning and Petroleum Resources, the Secretary to
the Government of the Federation, the Head of Service, Governor of the
Central bank of Nigeria, a Special Adviser on Power and Chief of Staff
to the President.

The Presidential Task Force, on the other hand, is
charged with developing and driving the action plan for the nation’s
power sector with achievable targets within the life span of the
present administration.

It is also to articulate a proper plan of action for
implementation in the areas of power generation, transmission
distribution, as well as all issues regarding power sector reform. The
task force will report to the president and the Presidential Action
Committee on a regular basis.

Relevance of power ministry

Under the new arrangement, Ima Niboro, the media aide
to Mr Jonathan, said yesterday, the ministry of power will continue to
supervise the day-to-day affairs of the ministry and relevant agencies,
as well as fund the various projects approved in the 2010 budget.

“It will also provide a conducive environment for the
Presidential Taskforce to carry out its assignment. All requests for
the award of contracts for the consideration of the Federal Executive
Council are to be handled by the Ministry,” Mr Niboro said.

The Presidential Task Force is to be chaired by the Special Adviser to the President on Power.

Members include:

The Permanent Secretary (Ministry of Power)

Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum of Corporation (NNPC)

Managing Director, Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN)

Managing Director, Niger-Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC)

Director General, Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP)

Director General, Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE)

Accountant General of the Federation

Chief Executive, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)

CEOs of two power distribution companies

CEOs of two generating companies, and Director of Power in the Power Ministry

The Senior Special Assistant to the President (Special Projects) will serve as Member/Secretary

The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP)
said it supports the chairman of the Electoral Reform Commission (ERC),
Muhammadu Uwais’ rejection of the method adopted by the government in
appointing Attahiru Jega as the new chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Mr. Uwais recently faulted the government for not
strictly following the recommendations of the ERC in nominating Mr.
Jega last week.

But the government, in a statement by the media aide
to President Goodluck Jonathan, Ima Niboro, said it followed extant
law, and not the Uwais Panel recommendations in making the law.

The CNPP, in a statement by its spokesperson, Osita
Okechukwu, on Tuesday, insisted that it is in support of Mr. Uwais,
since only the ERC recommendations could guarantee transparent polls in
the country.

“CNPP, for the umpteenth time, reaffirms that on the
Uwais Report we stand, and on any genuine attempt to reconstruct a
truly Independent National Electoral Commission, which consequently
will guarantee a free, fair, and transparent 2011 elections and
beyond,” the statement said.

The group added that the ERC report and its core
recommendations were borne out of national consensus, rated as a
guiding principle and an article of faith in any genuine attempt to
salvage Nigeria from poor electoral process. It added that the report
will restore the image of the country in the comity of nations and
reinvent the standard and quality of its election.

“CNPP is outraged that President Goodluck Jonathan
and his cabal can now conveniently pull a volte-face and join
anti-democrats in revoking the Uwais Report. For it was convenient to
promise to implement the Uwais Report during the hectic route to become
an Acting President, and abandon it as a substantive president. It is
the height of paradox on the part of President Jonathan.

“CNPP, in league with Justice Uwais and other
democrats, are of the candid view that President Jonathan can amend the
constitution under one month if he places national interest above self
interest to contest the 2011 elections.”

The group recalled it had severally called on Mr.
Jonathan to submit an executive bill, in accordance with the three
bills in the Uwais Report as a change agent which he proclaims himself
to be, noting “rather, what we have today as the First Amendment is
nothing but self glorification, with neither electoral reformn or
restructuring of the federation addressed.”

Working with the law

It said that Mr. Jega and the other democrats among
President Jonathan’s nominees could still have emerged, had the
template of the Uwais Report recommendations been adopted.

“Today, unfortunately, Mr. Jega has inherited an
excess baggage which includes the remnants of Professor Maurice Iwu’s
henchmen in the new INEC.”

The CNPP challenged Mr. Jonathan to muster the
political will to harvest the legacy which genuine electoral reform, in
accordance with the Uwais Report, will bequeath on the nation and
himself, noting that this could be done before the amendment is
concluded by the legislature.

However, Mr. Niboro explained that Mr. Jonathan was
moved to act in the appointment of the INEC officials as a result of
the shortness of time.

“No matter how we feel about the reforms, the law is
the law, and Justice Uwais probably knows this more than the rest of
us. For now, the law in place mandates the President to nominate the
Chairman and members of the electoral commission, along with state
chairmen of INEC, present them to the National Council of State, which
is advisory, and send to the Senate for screening,” he said.

“This is exactly what the President has done. The recommendations of
the Uwais panel, no matter how well meaning, remain recommendations
until they are passed into law by the National Assembly.”

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related
offences Commission (ICPC) on Tuesday called on employees of the
Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to shun corruption.

Speaking at the second Anti-Corruption Transparency
monitoring Unit (ACTU) sensitisation workshop held at the Murtala
Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, Sampson Iroka, desk
officer for the commission, disclosed that Nigeria will only move
forward when her citizens frown against corrupt activities.

Fundamental problem

Referring to President Goodluck Jonathan’s statement
at the recent presidential retreat, Mr. Iroka explained that greed is
one primary reason why Nigerians engage in dishonest conducts,
stressing that the situation has also led to FAAN’s inability to
improve on the aging facilities at the country’s international airports.

“Just as the president said recently, the major
fundamental problem of every Nigerian is greed, and unless we shun it,
corruption will persist,” he said. “We must not only attribute
corruption to our leaders, but whether you are a teacher, clerk, or
junior staff, you must desist from every form of corruption, otherwise
there we are heading nowhere.”

According to the ICPC representative, Nigeria did not
record any convicted corrupt senior public office personnel for about
forty years after independence, adding that the situation is
responsible the country’s slow pace.

“Since the establishment of the Act, between 1960 and
2000, you will agree with me that there was no known name of any top
public service officer convicted of corruption in Nigeria. Does it mean
that none of them was corrupt? No,” he said. “This country would not
have been where it is today if no public officer during those times is
guilty of corruption.”

Admitting corruption

Edward Olarerin, regional manager Southwest for the
airports authority, also said corruption must be addressed if
facilities at the nation’s airports are to witness any meaningful
improvement, adding that it is frustrating that facilities at the
airports continue to decay despite the huge sum of money the agency is
supposedly making.

“It will be very wrong for me to say there is no
corruption in Murtala Mohammed International Airport. We generate so
much but we don’t get this money. It is frustrating for me when I
cannot produce what I generate in MMIA. It is even more frustrating
when you generate 100 per cent and you cannot collect 40 per cent due
to some unseen forces,” he said.

Mr. Olarerin disclosed that only the management of the authority cannot eradicate the vice.

“Corruption is also exhibited among the lower staff; hence it has
hierarchy not just with the top level workers,” he said. “Let just join
hands to move FAAN forward, for there is no place where only the
management can eradicate corruption so let all workers and stakeholders
and the media assist in this fight against corruption.”

The President,
Centre for Disease Control, Thomas Frveden, has decried the prevalence
of HIV and Tuberculosis (TB) in the country.

Mr. Frveden made
the remark during the inauguration of projects and scientific
facilities at the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Training Centre,
Zaria.

However, he did not give the current statistics of TB and HIV in Nigeria.

He explained that
the facilities, which are the best in West Africa, are to ensure full
diagnosis of HIV and AIDS as well as Tuberculosis patients, with a view
to reducing the spread of the menace among the people. He urged the
Federal Government to increase the diagnostic centres of the deadly
diseases, especially in remote areas, adding that private clinics
should be co-opted into the programme.

The fire that
gutted the registry of the Eket High Court has affected the pace of
court sittings at the Eket Judicial Division in Akwa Ibom, with a judge
yesterday suspending hearing on a case to enable him re-admit six
documents that were lost in the fire incident.

An early morning
fire razed Eket High Court 2 in 2009, destroying vital documents
admitted by the court as evidence and exhibits. Many litigants who had
pending cases with relevant documents had to plead with the two judges
in the area to admit photocopies of such documents as exhibits. The
litigants incurred extra costs, as pending cases suffered numerous
adjournments owing to the extra time spent by both parties and their
counsel in scrutinising the photocopies of the documents.

“It is now that we
are feeling the impact of the fire that destroyed the court’s registry;
it is causing a lot of delays, and the situation is even worse for
those who did not keep copies of documents submitted to the court,” a
litigant stated.

The National
Directorate of Employment (NDE), Oyo State branch, on Monday, urged
various establishments to stop the distribution of motorcycles to
youths.

Some establishments
distribute motorcycles to youths, as part of efforts to alleviate
poverty among Nigerians. But Martins Ola, the Oyo State Coordinator of
NDE, said such organisations should instead, encourage the youth to
learn a trade.

He said, during an
interview with journalists in Ibadan, that encouraging the youth to
learn a trade would make them to be self-employed, and enable them to
offer employment to others; rather than operate okada business as a
means of livelihood, as it is not a job that can last long.

Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, has presented a
cheque of N20m to the Queen of the Rosary College, Onitsha, for the
reconstruction of her burnt dormitories.

The governor, who presented the cheque to the
college authorities during a visit to the school, said his
administration was working towards making the state reference point in
the country. He challenged the students to remain good citizens, and
asked them to always support and pray for the government. He stressed
his readiness to solve their pressing needs and commended them for
maintaining a clean environment.

Mr. Obi announced that the school had been
selected to host the state’s Microsoft Academy, and the government
would soon provide the school with laptop computers after training
teachers on their use. He also promised a utility bus to the school,
and mandated the commissioner for environment to visit the erosion site
threatening the college for urgent intervention.

The principal of the college, Ngozi Ekwenibe,
described the governor as education-friendly, and pointed out that the
school had benefited immensely from his government. She listed the
renovation of science laboratories, supply of science equipment, a
generator set, bore holes, computers, construction of toilets, and the
computer academy as some of the contributions of the governor to the
school. Mrs Ekwenibe thanked the governor for promising a school bus,
as well as provision of adequate personnel to enhance effective
teaching and learning in the school.

The
National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has reviewed the
curricula and course specification for several programmes at National
Diploma, Higher National Diploma and professional post-HND levels, the
board’s acting secretary, Ade Ojo Aimola, has said yesterday in Akure.

Mr Aimola, who
spoke at a workshop on technical education, said the board decided to
review course specification covering engineering, environmental
studies, business and related studies in the nation’s 278 polytechnics,
in order to keep abreast with modern day development in the fields. He,
however, said the board was worried about obsolete nature of curricula
in technical and vocational schools across the country, saying NBTE
would soon begin the review of curricula for technical schools and
colleges in the country as well.

“The review became
imperative because the last review of the curricula was last done in
2002,” he said, adding that the federal ministry of education, NBTE,
and African Development Bank also intended to evaluate and fill the
identified gaps in the selected curricula to meet national development
goals, as identified by Africa Development Fund in 2009. Some of the
courses to be affected, according to him, included Electrical
Installation, Radio and Television Work, Computer Studies, English,
Mathematics, Technical Drawing, Entrepreneurship, and Information and
Communication Technology.

The NBTE and other
stakeholders in technical education, including the federal government,
had invited experts to Akure, the Ondo State capital, to brainstorm on
what are those things to be put in the curricula that would bring them
up to date to meet the needs of more recent technologies.

The Director of
NBTE, James Aboi said the skills training and vocational education
institutions were created with the goal of poverty reduction and its
subsequent eradication in the country.

An Abuja-based lawyer and human rights activist, Nkereuwem Udofia Akpan has dragged the Speaker of the House of Representatives,

Dimeji Bankole and his deputy, Usman
Nafada to a Federal High Court in Abuja for allegedly inflating the
cost of 380 units of Peugeot 407, two years ago. Mr Akpan is also
asking that Messrs Bankole and Nafada should be investigated by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent
Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) over the transaction valued at N2.3
billion.

Joined as defendants in the suit no
FHC/ABJ/CS/409/2010, instituted on Monday, are the Office of the
Speaker, Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria Limited, Inspector General of
Police, Attorney General of the Federation, and Federal Inland Revenue
Service.

The suit was instituted barely 24 hours after Mr Bankole claimed there was no underhand deal in the transaction.

The chief press secretary to Mr
Bankole, Idowu Bakare, however told journalists that the Speaker has no
problem whatsoever with Mr Akpan going to court.

“The only concern now is the
orchestrated blackmail targeted at the EFCC by these desperados, but
they will surely fail,” he said. Mr Akpan, in the sworn affidavit,
sought a declaration that the purchase of the cars to the tune
N2,359,486,500 by the House was riddled with corruption and unbridled
gratification and it was done without lawful authority, illegal, void
and fraudulent. He also sought a declaration that the transaction was
not only irresponsible, fraudulent and an abuse of power by Mr Bankole
but that a whopping N421,486,500.00 of tax payers money remains
unaccounted for.

He said that out of the contract sum, a
total of N117,974,325.00 was paid as Value Added Tax (VAT) on the
contract, and that the subsequent direct payment of a further sum of
N117,974,325.00 to FIRS by the House was fraudulent and unlawful.

Mr Akpan, therefore, sought an order of
mandamus directing Mr Bankole and the PAN management to refund
N421,486,500.00 being the difference in value from the said transaction
(with interests at the going market rate) to the coffers of the Federal
Government of Nigeria within 7 days).

He also sought for an order of mandamus
directing the Speaker, his deputy and the FIRS to account for the
N117,974,325 besides refunding the N421,486,500.00 to government’s
coffers.

The lawyer further contended that the
refusal or reluctance by the EFCC and the attorney general to prosecute
Mressrs Bankole and Nafada “for this fraudulent, sordid and
unprecedented abuse of power is unlawful.” According to him, there is
nothing in the EFCC Act, 2004 that requires the Commission to submit
investigation activities to the Presidency for “approval” as its
chairman, Farida Waziri recently claimed.

He also claimed that there is nothing
in the 1999 Constitution, the House of Representatives Rules and/or any
other law, for the time being, in force empowering the Mr Bankole as a
person, the Speaker and his deputy “to embark on this sordid and
fraudulent abuse of office, power and privilege.” He, therefore, sought
an order of mandamus directing the EFCC to, without delay, commence
legal proceedings based on its investigation report on the N2.3 billion
car scam.

Call for joint investigation

The legal practitioner also asked that
the Inspector General of Police, ICPC and the EFCC to jointly
investigate and possibly prosecute the Speaker, his deputy and the PAN
over the transaction.

Mr Akpan also demanded an apology, in a
form acceptable to him, to be published in 10 national newspapers by
Messrs Bankole and Nafada “for this massive and gross breach of duty,
fraud and abuse of power.” He claimed that, at the risk of sounding
immodest, he has been a patriotic and vociferous commentator on public
issues and a critic of national acclaim on matters affecting the peace,
order and good government of the country.

According to him, the disturbing media
reports on the vehicle transaction in the House galvanised him to
undertake some investigation and gathering of facts and documents.

The suit was instituted the same day Mr
Bankole denied any wrong doing in the N2.3 billion car deal. The
Speaker, who was on his way to Russia had told reporters that he
couldn’t have been involved in the scam having been aware that his
predecessor, Patricia Etteh was removed for allegedly inflating the
contract sum to renovate the official residence of the Speaker and her
deputy.

Mr Bankole also said he was not
bothered about the seven days ultimatum given to him by 10 members of
the House to resign from office or be disgraced out of office. He
challenged the lawmakers, who called themselves “progressive members”
to make public the documents they claimed to have relating to his
(Speakers) involvement in shady deals, including the car scandal.

Mr Akpan is the second lawyer to take
action over the N2.3 billion car transaction. On October 19, 2008,
Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo also wrote Mr Bankole asking him to explain
within 72 hours the alleged inflation in the cost of the 308 vehicles
to N539,46 million, out of which N117.97 million accounted for the
Value Added Tax (VAT). Mr Keyamo subsequently appeared before the
Ethics and Privileges Committee of the House, which probed the
allegation. The committee, in its report absolved the Speaker and the
House leadership of any blame.

Meanwhile, leader of the progressive members, Dino Melaye said the
group of 10 lawmakers will today address journalists on their quest to
have Mr Bankole resign from office. He refused to speak further on what
the group will do since the Speaker refused to quit, saying “wait till
tomorrow”

The decision of Shell Petroleum Development Company
(SPDC) to ignite a new flare in Opolo-Epie, Bayelsa State, is further
testament to the company’s flagrant disregard for the people and
environment of the Niger Delta and a direct threat to government’s
efforts to bring about genuine and lasting peace in the region, the
Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has
cautioned.

ERA/FoEN’s warning is coming against the backdrop of
field monitoring reports over the weekend that confirmed the Opolo-Epie
flare lit by the oil giant on Sunday June 13, 2010, is still raging,
fouling the air and threatening the peace that exists in the community.

In a statement issued in Lagos, the environmental
justice group described the development as “worrying,” warning that it
was a throwback to a similar action by the company at the Gbaran/Ubie
Gas Gathering Plant in nearby Gbarantotu Community in November, 2009,
which was put out only after ERA/FoEN and members of the community
mobilized and kicked against it.

More flaring

“It simply beats the imagination what the rationale
is behind Shell’s igniting of a new flare barely days after it
announced it had downed the volume of flares in the Niger Delta by 65
per cent because of so-called gas gathering infrastructure that will
gulp an estimated $3 billion at completion. But we can, however, try to
input that that announcement was mere propaganda,” said ERA/FoEN
Executive Director, Nnimmo Bassey.

“While it may not be too surprising that Shell is
taking this course of action due to our own government’s double-speak
and excuses on why flares continue, we are emphatic that Shell must
respect the rights of the Opolo-Epie Community and the generality of
Niger Delta people to a pollution-free environment by halting the
noxious plumes.” According to Mr Bassey, it was the height of
insensitivity for flare sites to be set up at a time the global
community has risen with one voice to condemn the practice, even as he
added that successive administrations have demonstrated insincerity in
halting routine gas flaring or put in place appropriate sanctions that
will guarantee an end to it.

He explained that gas flaring is a monumental waste
of Nigeria’s natural resources, and a mark of unacceptable double
standards by the oil companies, which not only contributes to
greenhouse emission but also violates the rights of the communities
around the flare sites, and must stop immediately.

“We have said it time and again that Shell’s much-touted investments
in the so-called gas gathering infrastructure is only a ruse to buy
time and perpetrate flaring. This is evidence that the wellbeing of
oil-bearing communities means nothing to the company and it remains
indefensible. The flares in Opolo-Epie and other sites in the Niger
Delta must stop now,” Mr Bassey said.</