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The
presidential ambition of former military leader, Ibrahim Babangida,
came under attack at the weekend as a shadow parliament, convened by
Nigerians resident in the United States, passed a resolution urging the
Federal Government to prosecute him for annulling the June 12, 1993
election.

The parliament,
which unanimously passed the resolution at its second session, held at
the LaGuardia Crowne Plaza in New York, also approved a motion that the
former military president should be banned from holding any public
office in the country for his role in the derailment of what is
believed to be the freest and fairest election in Nigeria’s history.

The Nigeria
Peoples’ Parliament in Diaspora, 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. Its first plenary
was in March this year.

The resolutions on
Babangida, at Saturday’s session, deliberately scheduled to coincide
with the 17th anniversary of the annulled poll, followed an extensive
debate on the significance of the 1993 election in Nigeria’s democratic
journey.

After more than
half of the over 80 parliamentarians at the session had spoken, (most
of them paying glowing tributes to the winner of that election, Moshood
Abiola, and those who were killed and incarcerated in the battle to
de-annul the election), the Speaker, Okey Ndibe, a professor of
Literature at Trinity College, Connecticut, called for motions.

Omoyele Sowore,
publisher of Saharareporters.com, an online news medium, and Alex
Kabba, publisher of African Abroad-USA, a New York-based newspaper,
moved “That IBB be banned from public office indefinitely.”

In the motion,
seconded by a certain Bukola Shonuga, Messrs Sowore and Kabba argued
that Babangida had made himself a criminal by derailing Nigeria’s
democratic journey and setting the country many years back. They,
therefore, want him arrested and prosecuted.

“The time has come
for punishment to be meted on the criminals who annulled that
election,” Mr. Sowore said. “We must also find out from Babangida those
who put a gun to his head and asked him to annul the election. They
should all be identified, interrogated, and appropriately punished.”

After the motion
was passed, several others followed in its wake. NDLF’s chairman,
Adegboyega Dada, a physician, moved that Mr. Babangida should be
declared an enemy of democracy and of the Nigerian people while “June
12 should be declared Democracy Day and be so recognised by the
Nigerian government.”

The motion, seconded by a Mr. Dimeji Ayanwale, was unanimously passed.

Then Haziz Ajayi,
who came from Chicago, proposed that to honour Mr. Abiola, his
photograph should replace that of former Central Bank of Nigeria’s
governors on the N1000 note. Gbenga Agbaje moved that the late
businessman-cum-politician should be posthumously declared winner of
the election.

Chukwuma Okadigwe,
Emmanuel Onasile, Dimeji Lawal, Ololade Lacrown, Biliaminu Faleti,
Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba, and Mutiu Leshi proposed different motions
asking the government to declare June 12 a national holiday and erect
monuments in honour of Mr. Abiola and other heroes of the pro-democracy
struggle that arose from the cancellation of the election. All the
motions succeeded.

Monitor the elections

Earlier, during the
debate on the anniversary of the annulled election, Mr. Ndibe described
June 12 as “one of those moments that the promise and prospect of
Nigeria as a viable political entity came alive.”

In a prepared
speech he gave before the parliament began its deliberation, Mr. Dada
lamented the annulment of the 1993 election and urged Nigerians “to
renew your spirit in readiness for the task ahead. Together, we can do
new things. Remember, patriots never keep mute.”

Before closing the
session, the parliament received and deliberated on the report of its
electoral and constitutional review committee.

The seven-member
committee, chaired by Bolaji Aluko, a professor of chemical engineering
at Howard University in Washington, recommended that the electoral
system used for the 1993 election should be adopted for the 2011
elections.

The committee also
suggested that the Independent National Electoral Commission should
have an oversight board comprising representatives of political
parties, and that Nigerians in the Diaspora should be eligible to vote.

Another highlight
of the 30-point recommendations urged the National Assembly to adopt
the Justice Uwais report, which stated that the National Judicial
Council, rather than the president, should have the responsibility of
appointing INEC official.

The parliament announced that it would raise a well-equipped team
that would travel to Nigeria to monitor the forthcoming general
elections.

The calm and coolly
articulate man once dubbed ‘No Drama Obama’ chose some surprising
profanity this week to demonstrate a different side of his personality.

Facing criticism
that he hasn’t been involved or emotional enough about the oil leak
that is now the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, President
Barack Obama insisted that he’s working closely with experts on a very
particular goal.

“We talk to these
folks because they potentially have the best answers,” he told our
colleagues at NBC News, “so I know whose ass to kick.” Obama may be
angry the same way that millions of Americans are. An oil-rig accident
that started out bad – with the deaths of 11 workers – has gotten much
worse. It’s become a national catastrophe and media obsession that’s
dragged on for nearly two months.

Polls suggest it’s also now a political problem for the president and that may be a factor in his show of anger as well.

After the
infamously slow emergency effort that followed Hurricane Katrina in
2005, an ABC News/Washington Post poll that found 62 per cent of
respondents thought poorly of the Bush administration’s response.

The same poll now
finds that even more Americans – 69 per cent – have a negative opinion
of the Obama administration’s work since the spill.

There may be something larger happening too.

Americans felt optimistic when they elected Obama president more than a year and a half ago.

Now, under the
pressure of a still sluggish economy and stubbornly high unemployment,
Americans tell pollsters they are angry about the state of the country.
Is it a coincidence that the president’s own persona is beginning to
reflect that?

Obama is not
turning into a ranting populist railing against the oil industry. But
America’s sour mood is being darkened further by the oil coming ashore
on its south coast.

The president clearly doesn’t want to look too cheerful about the challenge.

A recent study by
the World Bank Group, in conjunction with the United Kingdom Department
for International Development (DFID), has unravelled the issues
conspiring to sustain the prevailing difficult operating business
environment in most states of Nigeria. The 176-page report, titled,
‘Doing Business 2010: Reforming through Difficult Times’ launched on
Thursday in Abuja, as part of the Nigeria Sub-national Investment
Climate Programme, focused on key areas of regulations affecting four
stages of business life cycle in the country, covering starting a
business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, and
enforcing contracts.

The initial study
in 2008 dwelled on quantitative indicators on business regulations in
10 states, including Kano, Anambra, Ogun, Enugu, Kaduna, Sokoto, Abia,
Bauchi, Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The 2010 edition
not only documented the progress in the previous study, but also
expanded the scope to all the 36 states and Abuja, comparing their
performances with 183 economies worldwide. The thrust of the report was
to investigate the conditions that enhance business activity, as well
as the constraining factors to the growth of small and medium scale
liability companies. The overriding objective was to provide the basis
for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business.

Study findings

Findings from the
study, according to the World Bank Group Vice President, Financial and
Private Sector Development, Janamitra Devan, showed that though there
exist wide variations in business regulations nationwide, eight of the
11 states measured in 2008 recorded improvements in at least one of the
four areas above, as a result of various reforms initiated to change
the business environment.

The variations were
attributed to different performance levels of state branches of federal
agencies involved in the different stages in the business registration
process, such as Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), stamp duty
offices, federal and state inland revenue services, as well as state
licensing authorities for business premises.

While it takes only
five procedures, 22 days and about 58.5 per cent of per capita income
to complete the cycle of starting a business, it takes almost an extra
month to complete a similar incorporation process in Bayelsa State,
owing to the high number of processes required to be met. Across the 36
states, starting a limited liability company, the study shows, requires
an average of nine different procedures, 36 days and about 77.7 per
cent of Nigeria’s per capita income of $1,161 (about N174,150).

On dealing with
construction permits, the report says it is easier to obtain all
construction-related permits and utility connections in Jigawa, Sokoto,
Kano and Adamawa States than in Abuja, Lagos, and Ogun. In 32 of the
states, requirements for construction permits include: environmental
impact assessment (EIA), land use clearance, site analysis report and
fire safety report, while Jigawa, Kwara, Kano, Benue, and Sokoto States
do not require such permits for the construction of structures with low
environmental impact.

Completion of the
all procedures for the permits could be as fast as within 47 days in
Jigawa, 52 in Kwara or as long as 148 days in Rivers State or 350 in
Lagos, as a result of the bottlenecks of obtaining building permit and
getting permanent electricity connection, the report shows.

Registering
property, according to the study, has continued to be a slow, expensive
and burdensome process, with entrepreneurs having to go through an
average of 12 procedures over 82 days and having to pay over 16 per
cent of the value of the property to have it registered in the Land
Registry. The involvement of lawyers to register property is a big
impediment to the property transfer process, though not as much as the
requirement to secure the state governor’s consent.

Rating by states

On enforcing
contracts, the study shows that it takes an average of 511 days and
about 36.3 per cent of the claim value in all the states to enforce a
contract, as a result of clumsy court processes. Overall, Jigawa, Gombe
and Borno were adjudged the easiest states in the country to do
business, while Imo and Ogun states were considered the most difficult.

Despite
his insistence that his administration will organise free and fair
elections in 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan does nor appear serious
about electoral reform, the opposition Action Congress (AC) has said.

The party, in a
statement issued by its national publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed, the
party said Nigerians should not be deceived by the president’s
assurances, and should instead judge him by his efforts so far in that
direction (electoral reform).

Backing up its
assertion, the party said from all indications, all the recommendations
made to Mr Jonathan by the sub-committee on electoral reforms of the
Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC) have been jettisoned. The party
said highlights of the recommendations, made to Mr Jonathan on May
19th, include that he should invite governors elected on the platform
of opposition parties as well as all opposition presidential candidates
in the 2007 general elections to make recommendations on appointments
into INEC.

The president was
also advised to inform security agencies concerning their role before,
during and after elections; vigorous enlightenment campaigns by the
government using the National Orientation Agency and the media on why
every vote must count and ensuring that electoral materials are ready
long before elections to avoid delays in voting and ensure all voters
vote simultaneously.

“The party regrets
that none of these recommendations has been implemented by the
president, with just a few months to the next elections,” the party
said, as it urges the PAC members to resign or they would be seen as
part of what is increasingly looking like a deliberate effort to stifle
the success of the 2011 elections.

“The general
feeling is that the president is not following PAC’s recommendations in
carrying out the decisions he has made so far, especially in the
appointments into INEC. If this is not so, it is better for the members
to quit instead of soiling whatever reputation they have built over the
years,” the party said.

Look at Uwais report

The party said if
Mr Jonathan is truly committed to electoral reforms and wants to
guarantee free and fair polls in 2011, he should adopt wholesale the
recommendations of the Uwais panel, especially as it relates to
appointments into INEC.

“People have said
Prof. Attahiru Jega, the INEC chairman-designate, is a fine gentleman
with impeccable credentials. We agree, but we will like to say, again,
that those credentials may not matter much as far as the INEC job is
concerned. In the first instance, Jega is just one out of 50 INEC
commissioners, and he can only do so much in an environment polluted by
compromised national commissioners and RECs.

Secondly, there is a fatal flaw in the recent appointments of INEC
Commissioners and RECs. One of the National Commissioners is a member
of the PDP’s Board of Trustees. Another was a former gubernatorial
candidate of the PDP in Zamfara, while several others are known
sympathisers of some political parties,” added the opposition party.

Four armed men,
suspected to be hired assassins, invaded the Abuja residence of a
senator from Kwara State, Gbemisola Saraki, daughter of Olusola Saraki,
the Second Republic senate leader, in the early hours of yesterday,
after overpowering her security aides.

The men undertook a
meticulous search of the entire building, looking for Ms Saraki, but
had to abandon their mission when they couldn’t locate the senator who
had travelled out of Abuja days earlier, after the Senate announced its
recess.

The men, who made
enough racket to wake up all the senator’s aides and other residents
living in the building, had arrived around 1am yesterday and proceeded
to search the rooms, demanding to see Mrs Saraki.

“They came around
with sophisticated weapons,” a family member said. “Ms. Saraki was
however not at home when the suspected assassins forced their way into
her house. They took her security aides and other members of her family
hostage, demanding her whereabouts.” According to eyewitness account,
the thugs were speaking in Yoruba, Ms Saraki’s language, claiming that
they were sent from Ilorin, her home state, to kill the senator.

Emmanuel Ojukwu,
the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Police, said in a telephone
that the police is treating the crime as a “burglary and theft
attempt.” He also said that his men have not discovered any new
information on the incident.

Family sources
however said the armed men ransacked Ms Saraki’s house and locked her
family inside a room after they could not find her.

A member of the
family said the raid lasted for almost one hour and the police only
arrived the scene hours after the men had left.

The senate
leadership condemned the attack and asked the police to commence
immediate investigation. “We received with shock news of the attempt on
the life of Senator Gbemisola Saraki,” Ayogu Eze, the senate
spokesperson said. “We condemn the violation of the sanctity of Ms.
Saraki’s household and the abuse of the constitutional rights of her
relations and domestic staff. We call on the Inspector General of
Police and other security agencies to step into this matter and fish
out the master-minds and the culprits in this heinous act.”

Ms Saraki could not
be reached for her comments hours after the incident. However, on her
Facebook page, she posted the message that, “The protection of Allah
shall be banner over the lives of souls whose paths are always shining
light on others.”

Bad omen for 2011

Ms Saraki, who
switched to the senate in 2003 after she had spent four years as a
member of the House of Representatives, hopes to take over from her
brother, Bukola Saraki, as the governor of Kwara State. The brother,
whose final tenure ends next year, is reportedly not keen on handing
over to his sister.

One of her aides
said the fact that the men claimed to be from Ilorin might mean that
some people were trying to frighten her away from the contest or worse,
to ensure that she was in no position to contest.

Mr Eze said Nigerians should stop employing violence in politics.

“Politics of
violence and brigandage belong to our regrettable past and any attempt
to return us to that inglorious era is unfortunate and completely
unacceptable,” he said.

“Political or other differences should be resolved through dialogue
and consensus building and not by recourse to thuggery and
arm-twisting. Our new politics should not be foreshadowed by threats of
violence and thuggery. This development obviously sends a wrong signal
and we urge the police to deal with this matter comprehensively.”

The members of the South West Zonal Caucus in the
House of Representatives have passed a vote of confidence on the
embattled Speaker, Dimeji Bankole.

The Speaker, who represents Abeokuta South Federal constituency of Ogun State, is a member of the caucus.

The public relations officer of the caucus, Wole Oke,
who disclosed this to journalists in Abuja, on Sunday, said it met over
the allegations made against Mr. Bankole by ten members of the House
last Wednesday, and discovered that they were all lies and blackmail.

“The South West caucus met and thoroughly diagnosed
all the allegations raised against the Speaker by the Progressives, and
found out that there was no merit whatsoever in them, consequent upon
which the South West caucus in the House passed an unanimous vote of
confidence on Speaker Bankole.

“The Speaker has committed no sins to warrant his
resignation, as being demanded by the Progressives. There is no way
Bankole would resign; he has not committed sins. He has acted well and
we urge him to continue his good work in the larger interest of
Nigeria,” Mr. Oke stated.

The lawmakers, led by Dino Melaye (PDP, Kogi), had at
a press conference in Abuja, accused the Speaker of corruption and bad
leadership and gave him seven days to resign or be disgraced out of
office.

Embrace peace

The legislator, who represents Ijesa North Federal
Constituency of Osun State, argued that it is not possible to satisfy
all the 360 members of the House, and that the leadership has the right
to direct the affairs of the chamber in accordance with the rules.

Mr. Oke, who said that Mr. Melaye and his group lack
the numerical strength to oust Mr. Bankole, noted that the leadership
of the House has properly directed its affairs and has not abused its
position, as alleged by the group.

He asked the aggrieved “progressive members” to embrace peace and
work with the leadership, in order to move the nation forward, rather
than wasting their time on the pages of newspapers fighting an unjust
and needless cause.

Following the
cancellation of the $420million Abuja Airport runway project, the
federal government has decided to reopen the bid for the contract to
both local and international companies, the minister of Aviation,
Fidelia Njeze said. The controversial contract for the Abuja airport
runway, which was initially awarded to Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, was
cancelled following lawmakers investigation into the cost of the
project. The House of Representatives Committee on Aviation condemned
the cost of the contract for the second runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport, Abuja, on grounds that the N63.8billion was
excessively high. The House says the winning bid from Julius Berger
Nigeria was more than double the price of the second-placed offer. The
House had therefore recommended that the contract be terminated and new
tenders advertised as the previous one failed to follow due process.
“New advert for the design and construction will be put out soon and it
will have international companies competing for the scope of the design
and construction,” she said.

Bids to expand the
Abuja airport, including replacing its ageing runway, was opened in the
middle of last year and Julius Berger emerged ahead of five other
companies. The construction company which has its headquarters in Abuja
is considered Nigeria’s biggest construction group, with revenues of
₦112 billion in 2008 and has handled most of Nigeria’s road and major
buildings.

House hails decision

At the weekend, the
House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, hailed the decision of
the federal government to terminate the runway contract.

The chairman of the
committee, Bethel Amadi said the cancellation of the contract is a
further testimony of the excellent relationship of the legislative and
executive arms of government.

He commended
President Goodluck Jonathan for allowing the principle of separation of
powers to prevail by acting in tandem with the recommendations of the
House in terminating the runway project.

“This is indeed a
welcome development for the growth of democracy and the ability of the
various arms of government to work in harmony to ensure good
governance,” Mr Amadi said.

The lawmaker noted
that reducing the contract sum would not have been in the best interest
of the nation, adding that outright cancellation and re-tendering would
be appropriate for transparency and accountability.

The House had, via
a motion, kicked against the high contract cost, saying it was enough
to construct two new airports. It consequently directed the aviation
committee to investigate the contract award.

Cost reduction not enough

Just as the
committee began its assignment, the presidency inaugurated the
Presidential Project Assessment Committee (PAC) chaired by Ibrahim
Bunu, a former FCT Minister, which re-examined the contract award and
made recommendation to the President.

The panel recommended the review of the contract from the initial N63.5 billion to N49.6billion.

But the House
committee queried the modalities for the reduction and maintained that
the sum of N49.6billion was still on the high side. It insisted that
the nation must get value for its money in the project.

The committee, in
its subsequent report, noted that the process that led to the award of
the contract was fraught with illegalities and contravened the
provisions of Public Procurement Act.

The lawmakers’ opposition to the recommendation of the Presidential
Committee as well as some damning revelations on the contract made
available to the Presidency were said to have informed the decision of
Mr Jonathan to cancel the contract.

Vivien Njemanze, a
committee clerk, had just finished conducting her boss, the chairperson
of the Senate Committee on Environment,

Grace Benet, round
quarry sites in Mpape, at the outskirt of Abuja when she noticed that a
bulldozer had deliberately crossed the only road, and all cars, bikes
and pedestrians have stopped moving.

People rushed out of buildings; everybody stood still, gazing expectantly at a mountain down the road.

Boom! A loud
explosion rattled off the mountain; the earth trembled, and a thick
cloud of dust covered the town, but nobody was hurt. Crush Rock
industries Ltd had just blasted a segment of the mount down the road.

Incidentally, the
Senate Committee on Environment and the National Environmental Standard
and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) had gone there to enforce
environmental regulation laws on the five stone quarry companies
operating in the suburb. The enforcement team was led by Ms Benet (PDP
Adamawa state), and comprised senators and the director general of the
environmental regulatory agency, Ngeri Benebo.

The previous week,
a similar blast produced disturbing waves which shock was felt by
buildings in the high profile Maitama district, less than 10 km away.

Apparently, the one
million people living in the community are familiar with such blasts
and with dust going down their lungs, but the enforcement team seemed
worried that the miners were not complying with the regulations guiding
their business and that their unlimited blasting was beginning to
affect the immediate environment and the adjourning Maitama district
negatively.

The enforcement
team were also checking if the various mining companies had any plan to
remedy the environment after their blasts and excavations.

Non-compliant miners

The five stone
mining companies operating in the suburb have mostly been blasting and
crushing rocks in Mpape for over 30 years but none of them have an
environmental impact assessment certificate or a plan on how to repair
the environment after mining. Neither did any of the mining companies
have a corporate social responsibility project in the community.

The worst offender
was Julius Berger Plc. They are the longest stone blasting company in
the area but had neither an Environmental Impact Assessment certificate
nor an Environmental Management Plan. Their site also had a lake
developing from their previous mining pit, “untreated and breeding
mosquitoes.” “Can Julius Berger do this in Germany?” Mrs Bent asked the
site manager. “This is totally unacceptable in Nigeria.”

The senate
committee chairman therefore gave them an ultimatum to develop an
environmental management plan and conduct an environmental impact
assessment on the site’s adjourning community.

“We are giving you
two weeks to do this or we will come back here and shut this place
down. We cannot tolerate this; it is totally unacceptable to us.” She
added.

Like Julius Berger,
Arab Contractors and the rest of the Chinese companies mining stones at
the suburb were blasting the rock, causing earth tremors, polluting the
air with dust, and producing unsafe lakes from old mining pits but have
never conducted any environmental impact assessment on the site.

Their workers were also not protected with safety kits, neither were they insured.

Kamel Eljilbaly who
represented the management of Arab Contractors ltd argued that the
company had the necessary certifications but Ihebinike Kevin, an
official from the Federal Ministry of Environment, countered saying the
ministry had no record of such certifications neither did they have any
post mining plans from the company.

Other mining companies the team visited similarly argued that they had certificates and permits but could not present them.

Soon after the
midday blast by Crushed Rock Industries Ltd, the bulldozer left the
road, and Mrs njemanze and her team had a thorough fare and life in the
community went back to normal – on the face of it.

In the meantime, residents of the suburb as well as Maitama, the
adjourning high profile city, anxiously await the full implementation
of the environmental laws by the stone blasting companies.

The political
crisis rocking the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) is not
limited to the national level of the party. There is crisis in
virtually all the state chapters and Osun, a state hitherto known for
peace, is not left out.

The house of the
PDP in the state seems to be strongly divided against itself and the
centre can hardly hold. This development is not unconnected with the
interest of some stakeholders of the party over who emerges as the
gubernatorial candidate of the party in the 2011 general election.

The party
leadership had tried to manage the crisis, but recent event has shown
that they are far from reaching a meaningful compromise.

The state
secretariat of the party has suspended the leaders of the party and
some members in Iwo Local Government Area of the state for alleged
anti-party activities, an allegation which the suspended members
strongly refuted. Aside this, a serious crisis looms in the six local
government areas in Ijesha area over who will represent the Ijesha zone
of Osun East Senatorial district of the state.

Similar crisis had
also broken out in Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state, where
party leaders and the chairman of the local council, Sarafadeen
Awotunde have disagreed. This has led to the polarization of the party
in the area.

There are parallel executives of the party in virtually all the 30 Local council branches of the party, as a result of crisis.

Political observers
say this might affect the unity of the party and its future in the
state, especially as it pertains to the 2011 governorship election. As
a result of the crisis, the party had last month suspended the chairman
of Ila Local Government, Bello over allegations of anti-party
activities. The party had also suspended the executive members of the
party in the council area, a development which the members of the party
in the area are protesting.

Basically, the
crisis, which has almost split the party into two, is seen as a result
of the interest of the leadership of the party in a particular
governorship aspirant who hails from Ile-Ife, in the East senatorial
district, out of the 15 aspirants that had shown interest in the
governorship race and obtained the N3 million intention of interest
form sold by the party secretariat.

Supporting one candidate

Some party leaders
alleged that the state chairman of the party, Ademola Rasaq was
supporting the candidature of one of the aspirants and had mobilized
heavily for him, and had even ordered all the local government chairmen
of the party to rally round the candidate in their various council
areas. However, this situation did not go down well with some of the
chairmen who prefer other aspirants, hence the crisis.

The PDP members in
Iwo, who recently staged a peaceful protest against the dissolution of
the executives of the party in the council area, alleged that they were
victimized by the leadership of the party due to their support for
Fatai Akinbade, the former Secretary to the Osun State government who
is also vying for the governorship position.

The aggrieved
members blame the leadership of the party for destabilizing the party
structure in the area and threatened that if not curbed, the present
crisis may destroy the party before the next general election.

Some of the
placards carried by the angry PDP members, who were mostly youth, read:
“Don’t impose minority on the majority in Iwo PDP”; “Minority cannot
rule over majority in Iwo Local Government”; and “Iwo PDP exco remain
intact” among some other unprintable words directed at the state
leadership of the party.

“ The state
executive of the party had no just reason to suspend the executive of
the party in the local government, since there was no crisis in the
party,” a leader of the protesting youth, Rauf Salawu said. “The
victimization of the majority of members of the PDP in Iwo zone was
targeted at Fatai Akinbade, who is a son of the soil and whom we are
supporting in his bid to emerge as the party’s flag bearer. This does
not go down well with some executives in the state chapter of the
party, because they wanted to penetrate into us but could not have
their ways.” He also warned the leadership of the party against
imposition of executives to administer the party in Iwo, saying it will
not augur well for the party in the general elections. He also advised
all members of the party in the zone not to allow themselves to be used
by any individual for selfish reason, even as he called for more unity
and understanding amongst members of the party.

Ijesha is also divided

The crisis in
Ijesha zone was caused by the decision of the elders’ caucus of the PDP
in the area to endorse one of the six aspirants. The caucus, under the
leadership of former minister of transport, Ebenezer Babatope, recently
announced the endorsement of a member of the House of Representatives,
Gbenga Onigbogi as the sole gubernatorial aspirant of the party from
Ijesha land.

Nine aspirants have
signified intention to contest the gubernatorial election from Ijesha
zone and three have done so from the Ife axis. Those from Ijesha zone
are Gbenga Onigbogi (Ilesa West); Toye Wahab (Obokun); Diran Odeyemi
(Obokun); Lateef Bakare (Ilesa East); Tunde Odanye (Ilesa West); Remi
Olowu (Ilesa West); Dosu Fatokun (Obokun); Femi Alafe-Aluko (Ilesa
East) and Saka Sarumi (Ilesa West). The aspirants from Ife zone are
Iyiola Omisore (Ife Central), Femi Fani-Kayode Ife Central) and Baju
Bamigbetan (Ife Central).

The decision to
endorse a single aspirant as Ijesha candidate did not go down well with
other aspirants and their followers, a development which made them
query the rationale behind the endorsement of Onigbogi and the
disqualification of other aspirants.

A pressure group in
the area, Ijesha Redemption Group asked the Elders to explain the
factors considered before concluding on Mr Onigbogi. It also cautioned
the leadership of the party against acts that might affect the
successful performance of the party in the 2011 election.

The Leader of the
group, Gbenga Fowowe said the endorsement of Mr Onigbogi was against
the PDP constitution and an affront on the members of the party in the
area, alleging that the process was not transparent and was marred by
bribery and high level corruption.

“This action is a total negation of the PDP constitution and operational guidelines,” he said.

Fresh evidence in the Daimler
bribery scandal links key actors in the Nigerian presidency, heads of
law enforcement agencies, and the top echelon of the Nigerian
diplomatic community to a $15 million bribery spree in the half decade
between 2002 and 2007. Ongoing investigations in the United States,
where the German company has been indicted, has again slurred the image
of Nigeria, highlighting the systemic structure of corruption that has
permeated the Nigerian bureaucracy.

The U.S. investigation report
obtained by NEXT names Sokari Egbuson, former Nigerian Ambassador to
Brazil as one of the Nigerian officials who benefited from the slush
funds dished out by Daimler AG, the German motor manufacturing company,
in order to obtain government contracts in Nigeria.

According to US investigators,
between 2002 and 2005, Daimler AG through its Brazilian subsidiary, DC
do Brasil, paid Mr. Egbuson $60,000, which by current value amounts to
N9 million, as ‘commissions’ for a contract to supply 10 buses to the
Bayelsa State government. Mr. Egbuson allegedly carried out this
business by using his privately incorporated company, Cascadas Nigeria
Enterprises Ltd., which he co-owns with his wife, Titilope Egbuson.

The State House deal

Mr. Egbuson was not alone. Between
1998 and 1999, Daimler AG, through its Nigerian subsidiary, Anambra
Motor Manufacturing Company (Anammco), paid about N270 million in
bribes to the Nigerian presidency, then headed by former Military
president, Abdulsalami Abubakar.

In return, the federal government
granted Daimler AG a contract to supply 23 new Mercedes Benz passenger
vehicles, and an armoured Mercedes Benz Pullman limousine. For this
deal, Daimler inflated the wholesale price of the vehicles.

“Daimler charged the State House
approximately 21 per cent over the wholesale price for the vehicles,
parts, and services,” the US investigators said, and from the profits,
made handsome payments to the relevant authorities.

“In connection with these sales to
the State House, DAIMLER made 1,427,242.65 dollars in improper
commission payments…with the understanding that these funds would be
passed on, in whole or in part, to Nigerian officials to secure the
State House Contract,” the investigators said.

In 1999, a total of about 1
million Deutschmarks were paid in two instalments to the London bank
account of a high level ‘Executive Branch official,’ in Nigeria.

Furthermore, 50,000 Deutschmarks
was paid to the administrative staff of the State House who signed the
contract while another 50,000 was disbursed to “a delegation of State
House Officials who were visiting a DAIMLER factory in Sindelfingen,
Germany.”

The FIFA deal

In 1999, Nigeria hosted the World
Youth Championship for the Federation Internationale de Football
Association (FIFA). The FIFA Championship offered another opportunity
for profits, both for Daimler AG and for corrupt Nigerian government
officials.

In February of that year, Daimler
landed another juicy deal to supply 54 buses to the Ministry of
Industry, then headed by Onikepe Akande. For this deal, valued at
almost N1 billion, Daimler paid a total of N13.4 million to government
officials who helped the German company clinch the deal “without
engaging in a public tender or bidding process”.

“The contract was dated February
12, 1999, and was signed by a senior Nigerian government official with
the Ministry of Industry, and witnessed by another Ministry of Industry
employee,” the investigators said, adding that these two officials were
subsequently paid money in bribes in May, 1999 and September, 1999.

First comes the Police

In this N2.3 billion scandal, the
Nigerian police was not left out. To be precise, the Nigerian Police
was the first government entity which received money in bribes from
Daimler AG, according to the US investigative report.

In 1997, Daimler AG entered into a
contract with the Nigerian Police Force to supply a Master Lift
Heavy-Duty Recovery vehicle. The Nigeria Police at this point was
headed by Ibrahim Coomassie who was the Inspector General but, as NEXT
investigations reveal, Mr. Coomassie was sidelined in the procurement
and the contracting process was wholly handled by a bureaucrat of the
executive branch who the American investigators listed as the
‘Permanent Secretary, Police Affairs Office, and the President’s
office’.

Mr. Coomasie headed the office
between 1993 and May 1999, and Mr. Musiliu smith succeeded him from May
1999 to March 2002. Though the contract was signed during the Coomasie
administration, payment was made in 2000 during Smith administration.

The Permanent Secretary at the
time was Abu Ogbe who later became head of service under the Obasanjo
Administration but neither he nor Mr. Smith could be reached to comment
on the claim of investigators for the story.

For this contract, however,
Daimler paid, according to indictment documents of American
investigators now available, a total of about N19 million (using
current conversion rates) to a “member of the Nigerian Police Force” in
two instalments. First, into the officer’s account in Germany and then
by cash, according to the indictment papers.

Emmanuel Ojukwu, the Police
spokesperson however told NEXT in Abuja that he was unaware of the US
investigation report, adding that the Nigerian police is not carrying
out any investigations into the Daimler bribery scandal.

“I am not sure that the police is
working on the case. I don’t have any information on the matter. I
cannot respond because I have not seen the US report. I need to see the
report myself,” Mr. Ojukwu said.

Meanwhile, the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has launched investigations
into the matter and is looking to work with the US government to
uncover the bribe takers.

“We opened investigations into the
Daimler/ Anammco scam recently following a judgment in the U.S.” said
Femi Babafemi, spokesperson for the agency last week, adding that “So
far, we have interviewed about four officials and representatives of
Daimler and Anammco in Nigeria.”