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Pakistan may let US
investigators question the wives of Osama bin Laden, a US official
said, a decision that could begin to stabilise relations between the
prickly allies that have been severely strained by the killing of the
al Qaeda leader.

However, senior Pakistani government officials in Islamabad said Tuesday no decision had been taken on the US request.

Bin Laden was shot
dead on May 2 in a top-secret raid in the northern Pakistani town of
Abbottabad to the embarrassment of Pakistan which has for years denied
the world’s most wanted man was on its soil.

The government is
under pressure to explain how the al Qaeda leader was found in the
garrison town, a short distance from the main military academy, and
faces criticism at home over the perceived violation of sovereignty by
the US commando team.

Pakistani
cooperation is crucial to combating Islamist militants and to bringing
stability to Afghanistan and the US administration has been keen to
contain the fallout.

US investigators,
who have been sifting through a huge stash of material seized in bin
Laden’s high-walled compound, want to question his three wives as they
seek to trace his movements and roll up his global militant network.

“The Pakistanis now
appear willing to grant access. Hopefully they’ll carry through on the
signals they’re sending,” a US official familiar with the matter said
in Washington.

There was no immediate comment from the White House.

A Pakistani
government official denied that permission for the US questioning of
the women had been given, saying local investigators had yet to finish
their inquiry.

“It’s too early to even think about it,” said the official, referring to the US request to question the women.

Pakistan says the
three wives, one from Yemen and two from Saudi Arabia, and their
children, will be repatriated and Pakistan was making contacts with
their countries but they had yet to say they would take them, the
official said.

Bin Laden’s
discovery has deepened suspicion that Pakistan’s pervasive
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency, which has a long history
of contacts with militants, may have had ties with the al Qaeda leader,
or that some of its agents did.

US legislators have
been asking tough questions, with some calling for a cut in billions of
dollars of US aid to the nuclear-armed Muslim country.

But the United States has stopped short of accusing Pakistan of providing shelter to bin Laden.

“We believe it is
very important to maintain a cooperative relationship with Pakistan,
precisely because it’s in our national security interests to do so,”
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday.

NATO
Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Western governments had no
alternative to cooperating with Pakistan in the fight against Islamic
militants.

“If we are to
assure long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan and beyond, then we
need positive engagement with Pakistan,” Rasmussen told the World
Affairs Council in Atlanta Monday.

In a reminder of
Pakistan’s own struggle against al Qaeda-linked militants, a bomb
outside a court in the northwestern town of Nowshera killed a
policewoman.

“Absurd”

Pakistani-US
relations were already at a low ebb after a string of diplomatic
disputes over issues including a big attack by a US drone aircraft in
March and CIA contractor Raymond Davis, who shot dead two Pakistanis in
January.

Potentially
stirring tension further, a Pakistani TV channel and a newspaper have
published what they said was the name of the undercover CIA station
chief in Islamabad.

US officials said the name disclosed in Pakistani media was wrong and the station chief would remain at his post.

They said they
believe the leak was a calculated attempt to divert attention from US
demands for explanations of how bin Laden could have hidden for years
in Pakistan.

Last year, after
the chief of the Pakistani ISI was named in a US civil case over
attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai, the then-head of the CIA’s
Islamabad station was named by Pakistani media and forced to leave the
country.

Pakistan Prime
Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, in his first major address since bin
Laden’s killing, rejected suggestions of incompetence or even
complicity in hiding the al Qaeda leader.

“Allegations of
complicity or incompetence are absurd,” Gilani told parliament Monday,
saying it was disingenuous for anyone to accuse Pakistan of “being in
cahoots” with al Qaeda.

US President Barack
Obama said Sunday that bin Laden likely had “some sort” of a support
network inside Pakistan, but added it would take investigations by
Pakistan and the United States to find out the nature of that support.

Pakistan’s main
opposition party has called on Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari to
resign over the breach of sovereignty by US special forces who slipped
in from Afghanistan on helicopters to storm the bin Laden compound.

Pakistan has launched its own investigation and the military is due to brief parliament in a closed session on Friday.

The
Contracts/Consultancy Review Committee (CCRC) set up by the Ekiti State
government has recommended the ousted governor, Segun Oni, for criminal
prosecution by anti-graft agencies.

The committee said
it uncovered that over N5.4 billion was embezzled under his watch
through the award of various contracts during his three-and-half-year
tenure.

In a draft white
paper on the report of the panel released to the media yesterday, Mr Oni
was allegedly discovered to have defrauded the state in 11 contracts
awarded by him while he was governor.

The contracts, as
contained in the paper include: Dualisation of Ado-Iworoko-Ifaki Road,
Igede-Eyio-Iworoko Road, cross-boundary roads, construction of five new
state secretariat buildings, new House of Assembly complex, cassava
revolution scheme and purchase of 600 cows from South Africa for Ikun
Dairy Farm.

The panel also
discovered fraud in the award of contracts for the Ado-Ekiti solar
powered street lights, boundary roads with neighbouring states, designs
of most roads and housing projects.

Responding to the
allegation, the Media aide to the former governor, Wale Ojo-Lanre, said
it is painful that Ekiti State is obviously in the hands of people with
little knowledge about governance.

“If not, they won’t
be making allegations of fraud against a government that they took over
from seven months ago. More so that the government it took them seven
months to find their concocted evidence of fraud against was terminated
abruptly with no opportunity for any official of the government to tidy
up their records,” he said.

Mr Oni was also
alleged to have defrauded Ekiti people through the Government House
water reservoir project, the Deputy Governor’s Office project via
inflation of contracts, among others.

Make him pay

The panel led by its
chairman, Eben Alade recommended that the Kayode Fayemi-led
administration must use all legal means to compel Mr Oni to refund a
total sum of N5,419, 506, 264.55 to the coffers of the state government.

Sequel to this, the panel had recommended that government should
involve the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission
(ICPC) and the courts of law to recover all outstanding monies in the
hands of Mr Oni.

The Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State has filed a petition at the Ondo
State election petition tribunal sitting in Akure.

The Party is
challenging the defeat of its Ondo South senatorial candidate and former
governor of the state, Olusegun Agagu by the Labour Party candidate,
Boluwaji Kunlere. According to the result of the election released by
INEC, Mr Agagu scored 80, 794 votes against Mr Kunlere, who polled 88,
319 votes.

Two PDP candidates,
Agboola Ajayi and Jones Akinyugha also filed petition against the
victory of the Raphel Nomiye and Bakare Moshood of the Labour Party for
house of Representatives seats.

Messrs Ajayi and
Akinyugha, who were lawmakers representing Ilaje/Ese-Odo and
Idanre/Ifedore federal constituencies respectively, were defeated at the
polls by their Labour Party opponents.

ACN challenges election

Similarly, the
Action Congress of Nigeria’s House of Representatives candidate for
Ilaje/Ese-Odo, Felix Rawa has also filed a petition against the
declaration of the LP candidate, Bakare Moshood. All the petitioners,
including the former governor, Mr Agagu are urging the tribunal to
nullify the election of the winners and order a fresh election.

Joined as defendants
in Mr Agagu’s case were the INEC returning officer for Ondo South
Senatorial District; the LP candidate, Boluwaji Kunlere and the Labour
Party.

Though the former
governor did not personally file a petition, his party announced its
resolve to challenge the outcome of the election shortly after Mr
Kunlere was declared.

Mr Kunlere, however, said: “I am not moved by the petition because I
know that I won the election. The people of the southern senatorial
district voted for me because of the love they have for me. “Agagu and
his party are wasting their time, the will be disgraced at the
tribunal.”

A 29-year-old man has allegedly committed suicide after medical results revealed that he was HIV/AIDS positive.

The incident which occurred at Sangere village in Girei Local Government Area of Adamawa State took place in the house of the deceased, Emmanuel Peter.

The discovery of the death resulted in panic as residents trooped out to the scene where the corpse of the deceased was found suspended from the ceiling.

Though the deceased left no written note to say why he decided to take his life, family members suspected his suicide was as a result of the discovery of his HIV/AIDS status.

A relative of the deceased who identified herself as Magdalene Peter said the deceased had battled with a protracted illness before the medical report over the weekend confirmed his HIV/AIDS status. Musa Morris, a resident who spoke to NEXT after the police removed the corpse from the scene at about 7:45am yesterday morning, said the deceased must have contemplated his suicide well in advance. “We suspect he unsuccessfully attempted to terminate his life through the consumption of the dark powdery content of many of the broken batteries seen among his clothing’s before his recourse to a much faster death this morning (yesterday) by hanging,” Mr Musa said.

Poor health system

The chairperson of People Living with HIV/AIDS in the state, Fara James described the development as strange, saying it was quite a long time it had report of such occurrence. She, however, regretted that there was the possibility of such occurrence where pre-test and post-test counselling was not effectively done. “There must have been poor counselling somewhere,” she said.

All the elected politicians in the April polls in Edo State were yesterday issued certificates of return by the Independent National Electoral Commission, in Benin City.

A total of 33 elected members made up of three senators-elect, nine Federal House of Representatives members-elect and 24 State House of Assembly members-elect received their certificates from the electoral commission’s National Commissioner for Edo, Delta and Bayelsa States, Ishmael Igbani.

Among those who were issued with the certificates were 19 State House of Assembly members, seven Federal House of Representatives members and two Senators from the Action Congress of Nigeria, while five State House of Assembly members, two Federal House of Representatives members and one Senator are from the Peoples Democratic Party.

“Without rancour or bitterness”

Speaking at the occasion, the Edo State Residential Electoral Commissioner, Rose Obuoforibo, described the elected members as a new generation of leaders. She expressed happiness over the general conduct of the election, which she said was “without rancour or bitterness”.

She said the election put to shame those who doubted the ability of the commission to conduct free and credible elections.

Mrs Obuoforibo congratulated the candidates for their success at the poll which she said came with hard work, saying that the success demonstrated that election is for all stakeholders. She paid tribute to members of the National Youth Service Corps whom she described as gallant officers.

Mr Igbani, who personally presented the certificates of return to the victorious politicians, reminded them that the electoral agency had promised to be neutral, impartial and transparent in the conduct of the polls. He thanked all those who made the success of the elections possible, namely, members of the NYSC, security agencies, and the electorate.

Mr Igbani also thanked the politicians for their hard work during the campaign, and admonished them to protect their certificates which he described as their keys to their new offices. He also asked them to work for the benefit of those who voted for them.

The senator
representing Imo East in the National Assembly, Chris Anyanwu,
yesterday disclosed that the men of the Nigerian Army saved the Imo
governorship supplementary election from being hijacked by desperate
politicians.

Ms Anyanwu observed
that the soldiers in a display of sound professionalism and inspiring
patriotism resisted desperate efforts and pressures to derail the
election process in last Friday’s supplementary poll.

“This crop of military men made Nigerians proud,” she said.

Commenting on the
conduct of the Police during the election, the senator who was also
re-elected under the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance
(APGA) said, “The Police disappointed us all. I had far higher
expectation of the Nigerian Police than what we saw last Friday. I dare
say, there is yet a lot of cleaning up to be done in the Nigerian
Police.”

The senator,
however, noted that only the supplementary election was a genuine
election and full reflection of the wishes of the people of Imo State
whom she said had gone through four years of suffering and silent
endurance.

Commenting on the
role of the military in the election, the assistant director, Army
Public Relations, 82 Division, Enugu, Lieutenant Colonel Musa Sagir,
said the military first delineated the trouble spots before deploying
personnel and hardwares.

Remarkable,
however, was the scenario that took place at Mbaitoli, the largest
council area in the state which had over 120,000 voters. According to a
community source, in the determination of the Army to ensure a credible
election, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division, Major
General Sarkin Yaki Bello, had on the election day, slept with his
troop in the open field outside the Mbaitoli INEC office which served
as council collation centre keeping watch on the conduct of the
exercise.

According Mr Sagir, the GOC had moved round flashpoints in Oguta and
Mbaitoli with his troop and returned to Mbaitoli where they kept vigil
until they safely escorted the result to the state INEC office.

The current
chairman of the house committee on information, Eseme Eyiboh, will know
his fate on May 19 as the federal high court in Abuja, will deliver its
ruling on whether or not he was the qualified candidate to represent
the Eket Federal Constituency of Akwa Ibom at the concluded House of
Representatives elections.

Mr Eyiboh wants the
court to set aside the primary election, which was held in his
constituency on January 28, 2011, claiming that the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) did not conduct any election before forwarding the name of
Bassy Dan Abia to the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC).

According to Mr
Eyiboh, the headquarters of his constituency is Eket and under the
party’s constitution the primaries must hold at the headquarters. He
said that he contested the initial primary election to represent the
Eket/Ibeno/Esit/Onna federal constituency in the 2011 general
elections.

“The primaries were
initially scheduled for 7th January, 2011 at the Eket Township stadium
but were cancelled due to violence and irregularities. The violence
claimed lives of two delegates.” Mr Eyiboh said.

Mr Eyiboh argued
that the party had violated its Constitution and the Electoral Act by
conducting the re-run election in Uyo instead of Eket, which is the
headquarters of Eket Federal Constituency of Akwa Ibom.

Wole Olanipekun,
counsel to Mr Eyiboh said majority of the delegates at the primary
election who converged on Eket township stadium unanimously endorsed Mr
Eyiboh as their candidate in the just-concluded election, and urged the
court to hold that Mr Eyiboh was the rightful candidate.

Law broken

Specifically, Mr
Olanipekun said Article 17(2)(b) of the PDP constitution provided that
the primary election to the House of Representatives shall be conducted
at the constituency headquarters.

“My Lord, the
counsel to PDP in their statement of defence has said that the election
was conducted in Uyo on the basis of convenience. The Electoral Act has
said that it is mandatory to conduct party primaries to select
candidates to contest National Assembly Seat in the Headquarters of
Federal Constituents. My Lord, based on this reckless violation of the
Electoral Act, my client is automatically qualify by the provision of
the law to assume that seat in the House of Representatives,” he added.

Mr Olanipekun
submitted that the defence and counter affidavit of the counsel to Mr
Dan-Abia, Goddy Uche was inconsequential, as according to him, Dan-Abia
was not the person who violated the Electoral Act to conduct the
election in a different location.

Mr Uche, counsel to
Mr Dan-Abia, however, submitted that the suit was not properly filed
before the court, adding that his client had already been declared
winner in the April general election.

Mr Uche said that
the main applicant to the suit (Mr Eyiboh) and all the delegates were
at the venue of the primaries in Uyo Township Stadium.

A.O. Yinka, counsel
to the PDP aligned himself with all the submissions raised by Mr Uche
in defence of Mr Dan-Abia except on the call for the transfer of the
case to the Akwa Ibom Federal High Court.

Mr Yinka argued
that the Court as presently constituted had the jurisdiction to
entertain the suit, adding that all the parties except the third
respondent (Dan-Abia) had offices in Abuja.

Mr Eyiboh in the
supporting affidavit to his motion said that all the three contestants
agreed to the new date, but by the guide line of INEC, the primaries,
including the re-run, ought to hold on or before January 15, 2011. He
stressed that on account of the said failed earlier attempt to hold the
primaries, the party eventually fixed 28th January, 2011, (12 Days
after the deadline fixed by INEC for primaries).

He also said that
for the non-statutory/automatic delegates numbering about 90 for the
constituency, no congresses were held to elect them. They were single
handedly appointed.

Mr Eyiboh added
that on the January 28 date fixed for the re-run of the primary
election, the panel appointed by the party from Abuja never came to the
constituency, but that he was surprised to hear that election had been
conducted there and Dan-Abia’s name was published as a candidate.

According to him,
he believed that the INEC did not monitor any primaries regarding Eket
federal constituency, and that he was confident that if the delegates
who waited with him at Eket township stadium had participated in the
primaries, he would have won by an overwhelming majority.

The presiding
judge, Abdul Kafarati, gave the May 19 date after counsel to the
parties had argued on all the motions that were earlier consolidated by
the court.

One way of
achieving quick administration of justice and decongestion of cases in
the courts is by amending the 2010 Constitution to give power to
traditional rulers to resolve minor disputes, the administrator of the
National Judicial Institute (NJI), Umaru Eri, has said.

Mr Eri said this on
Monday in Abuja at the opening of a workshop on arbitration and
alternative dispute resolution for judges and khadis with the theme:
“Effective use of Arbitration and ADR for Better Justice Delivery.”

According to Mr
Eri, “Traditional rulers of today can be effectively engaged to assist
in sanitising delay in the administration of justice by amending the
Constitution to give them powers to resolve minor disputes. Rightly or
wrongly, that is my personal view and no more. I hope the National
Assembly will give our traditional rulers this role in our
Constitution.” Furthermore, he said before the introduction of the
present court system in the country, disputes were traditionally
resolved by village elders by way of mediation aimed at amicable
settlement of such disputes. This system was quick, cheap and did not
breed bad blood.”

Mr Eri said he
grew up to see elders and traditional rulers settle disputes in their
various communities in the country. “The colonial masters came and
tampered with this tradition. Courts were established in northern
Nigeria and the native ones graded ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’. So it was in other
parts of the country. But the colonial masters still retained elders,
district Heads and traditional rulers of all grades as operators of
these courts. Performance was undoubtedly appreciative.

“I, therefore,
urge this workshop to have a rethink and come out with a judicial
policy for consideration by the authorities. To me, and like minds, the
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism is better called African
Dispute Resolution mechanism. The present inherited procedure is the
alternative.”

He added that the
nation’s present court system of dispute resolution “has substantially
remained the relic of the British colonial rule in Nigeria as in some
other Commonwealth countries.”

According to him,
“Bad blood is injected to the extent that bad relationship becomes
inevitable. No one would forgive another easily for the fact of
dragging another to court. Many of us believe that some of our
inherited procedural ways of settling disputes must be revisited if we
desire quick and affordable administration of justice.

“It is interesting
that even today stakeholders in justice administration in more advanced
countries are having a rethink on the continued utilisation of
litigation as a method of resolving all manner of disputes”.

Stressing the
importance of traditional rulers in the present search for ADR, he
said, “They adjudicated effectively before and during the colonial
administration. Why should they not now be involved?

“Today, we have eminent jurists who are traditional rulers and title
holders like Mammam Nasir, Sulu Gambari, Oba John Ajakaiye, Oba
Olateru-Olagbegi, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, Umaru Abdullahi, S.M.A. Belgore.”

The Ogun State governor-elect, Ibikunle Amosun,
yesterday inaugurated a policy working group, comprising five
committees with a mandate to work out modalities for the efficient
performance of his administration when he assumes office May 29.

At the ceremony which took place at the spacious
Hubert Ogunde Hall of the June 12 Cultural Centre in Kuto, Abeokuta, Mr
Amosun explained that he had developed a five-point agenda derived from
the progressive programmes and manifestos of his party, the Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

According to him, the group has been divided into six
sub-committees, namely: health, education, agriculture, rural
development and rural industrialisation, lands, housing and urban
renewal committee, budget and economic planning and security.

Mr Amosun added that the main committees would
coordinate the various work groups relevant to their respective focal
areas, stressing that the terms of reference include: assessment of the
current state of affairs, identifying the challenges and opportunities
that could be leveraged, identifying the required transitional
initiatives and roadmap to attain the goals.

He said the reports are expected in two weeks’ time,
adding, “We recognise that this is a rather short duration.
Nonetheless, we trust that these eminent personalities are capable of
working around every constraint there may be, including time, to
deliver the objectives of this assignment.

“The other area I will request committees and the
work group to devote attention to is the funding of programmes and
projects. The precarious state of the finances of Ogun State is well
known to merit any rehash here. It is therefore imperative that some
thought be devoted to identifying creative sources of funding for the
implementation of the policies and programmes,” Mr Amosun appealed.

“It is my hope and prayer that the policy document and more
importantly its implementation will become a reference point in
responsive governance in the country. It is indeed one key element of
the process designed to meet the yearnings and expectations of the good
people of Ogun State,” he said.

A Federal High
Court in Abuja yesterday discharged one out of the seven accused
persons standing trial for allegedly defrauding the pension office of
the Head of Service of the Federation of Nigeria of N12 billion.

Counsel to the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Godwin Obla, asked the
court to discharge the fifth accused person, Mohammed Katun Ahmed,
declaring that the commission was no longer interested in prosecuting
him. It was however gathered that the EFCC plans to use him as a
prosecution witness.

At yesterday’s
sitting, a 134-count charge against the persons for their alleged
involvement in the scam was read to them. They all pleaded not guilty
to all the charges.

The suspects are
Sani Teidi Shuaibu, former director, pension administration in the
Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation; Phina
Ukamaka Chidi, former deputy director (finance and accounts), and Aliyu
Bello, a personal assistant to Mr Shuaibu.

The other accused
persons are Garba Abdullahi Tahir, Mohammed Katun Ahmed, Emmanuel
Olanipekun, Abdullahi Omeiza, Computer Plaza, Essential Gadget
Ventures, Mobis Point Investment Ltd, Obista Enterprises, Shallow Well
Ventures, Mof Investment Ltd, Zumba Resources, Pam Investment and
Properties Ltd, Moshfad Enterprises, Newgate Projects Ltd, RedWings
Energy Ltd, RedWing Procurement Services Ltd, and Woodland Industries
Nigeria Ltd.

Others are Nwab
Tessy Enterprises Nig, Chris J. Junior Ventures, Uthaka Nigeria Ltd,
Bashinta Nigeria Ltd, Haleath Enterprises, Gozinda Enterprises, Omozua
Ventures, S.S. Badejo Entreprises, Lopee Ventures, Fafama Oil and Gas
Ltd, Fafama Estate Developer Ltd and Riba-Ile Petroleum Ltd.

Two of the
suspects, Mr Bello and Mr Omeiza, who were absent from court the last
time, on account of which the court ordered a bench warrant for their
arrest, were in court yesterday.

After their
arraignment, counsel to Sani Shuaibu, Sunday Ameh and Chris Uche, and
counsel to the other accused persons, both pleaded with the court to
grant their clients bail since the alleged offence was not a capital
offence, adding that they have been under administrative bail by the
court and have never jumped bail. The EFCC counsel did not oppose the
bail application.

The presiding
judge, Adamu Bello, granted bail to the accused persons in the sum of
N10 million and a surety in like sum. The surety must be resident in
Abuja and must possess landed property within the jurisdiction of the
court; the land title must be verified by the deputy chief registrar of
the court. Their international passports and that of the sureties are
also to be deposited in court and they are to report to the EFCC every
Monday of the week until investigation is over and that they should be
remanded in prison custody if they fail to meet the bail condition.

The accused are
under trail for using ghost pensioners to fraudulently pay N2 million
and N3 million into their accounts monthly, later diverting the sums by
awarding fictitious contracts to the above listed companies which they
managed. The agency found out that out of over 141,000 names on the
list of pensioners, only 90,000 were genuine, meaning that the 51,000
other names on the list were fake but were all receiving money from the
federal government, thus causing the bill to balloon to well over N3
billion.