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Tension is building
up in the House of Representatives as some members who lost in their
bid to return to the lower legislative chamber are allegedly plotting
to impeach the Speaker, Dimeji Bankole.

The members, most
of who belong to the majority People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are
alleging that the Speaker worked in tandem with President Goodluck
Jonathan to truncate the gentleman agreement reportedly reached to give
them automatic tickets.

Over 80 percent of
the 360 members of the lower legislative chamber could not pick the
ticket of their parties to return. Among them is the deputy speaker,
Usman Nafada who hurriedly withdrew from the governorship race of Gombe
State.

It was gathered
yesterday that the moves against the Speaker informed the hurried
adjournment of the House for two weeks on Tuesday, the same day it
reconvened from the Christmas/New Year break though the Speaker said it
was aimed at allowing members to participate fully in the anticipated
extension of voter registration.

The aggrieved members, it was learnt were disappointed when Mr Bankole suspended the plenary and called for adjournment.

Our source said
that ahead of Tuesday’s resumption of the House, about 75 of the
lawmakers met on Monday night in a hotel in the Central Business
District to fine tune their plot. They had earlier met in the Apo
Legislators Quarters’ residence of one of them.

No threat to leadership

But Kayode Odunaro,
the special adviser on Communication to Mr Bankole said he is not aware
of the impeachment. He said, “I am not aware of any impeachment plot
against the Speaker or the leadership. Everybody, including the Speaker
went and contested the primaries and they either won or lost. So, even
the Speaker had to struggle for his own ticket before he won. Assuming
such a plot exists against Mr Bankole and the leadership, will such a
move make them get the ticket back?”, Mr Odunaro said in an interview
last night.

It was, however,
gathered that the members moving against Mr Bankole are very angry that
despite the assurance given to them by Mr Jonathan, they lost to their
challengers during the primaries.

It was further
gathered that an influential member from the South-South geo-political
zone is leading the aggrieved lawmakers in the plot.

The member, who
belonged to the Integrity Group, a coalition of groups of members that
influenced Mr Bankole’s emergence as Speaker in 2007, also championed
the introduction of a bill to include all federal lawmakers as members
of the National Executive Committees (NEC) of their parties.

“We had a 60-40
agreement although it was not written. We had an understanding and they
(president, governors and leadership of both chambers) agreed that we
should support the president in return for automatic tickets. But they
turned around to witch-hunt us,” one of the lawmakers, who does not
want his name mentioned, told journalists yesterday.

“As you can see,
only about two percent of us from South-South were given tickets and
little over 25 percent in the South East. Although, it is a bit better
for our colleagues in the north, may be about 50 percent got the
tickets. This is unfair.” However, it was learnt that though the plot
to oust Mr Bankole and the leadership is thickening, the target of the
lawmakers is Mr Jonathan himself.

According to our
source, they also want to rattle the president by initiating
investigation into some key agencies and probably commence impeachment
plans against him as soon as Mr Bankole is out of the way.

One of the
strategies is to frustrate the passage of 2011 Budget until they get a
commitment from the leadership of their parties, in this case the PDP.

Another strategy is
that the aggrieved lawmakers will institute suits in courts against the
leadership over the alleged N2.3 billion vehicle scam and the alleged
misappropriation of N9 billion House capital votes, which led to the
suspension of some members last year.

The
Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly, Abubakar Faggo (PDP) has been
impeached and Haliru Jika (ACN) representing Ganjuwa Constituency has
been elected as the new speaker. The impeachment followed a motion
under notice of public importance moved by Aminu Tukur (ACN)
representing the Lere/Bula constituency, who urged the House to impeach
Mr. Faggo over alleged “poor leadership”.

“Since the
inception of Faggo (Shira Constituency) as the speaker of the House,
there has been no progress and he has retarded the activities of the
House, therefore, there was need for us to remove him as speaker,” said
Mr. Tukur.

Seconding the
motion, Baba Gaide (PDP) who also urged the House to impeach Mr. Faggo
because the activities of the House had continued to move at a “snail
pace” over the inactivity of the speaker. The House, presided over by
the Deputy Speaker, Saleh Dumba, (PDP) representing Dass constituency,
adopted the motion in which 20 members out of the 31 members of the
House signed the impeachment notice while two of the members including
Mr. Faggo were absent.

The Deputy Majority
Leader, Auwal Jatau, was also removed and was also replaced by Ibrahim
Bappa (PDP). He was removed over what the members described as
“loyalist of Faggo and an impediment to the House”.

The new speaker was sworn in by the deputy clerk designate, Muhammed Tulu.

Mr. Jika, the new
speaker, told journalists in an interview after being sworn in that he
was happy with the mature manner in which the lawmakers had handled the
impeachment saga.

Mr. Jika, who is
occupying the number three position in the state for the second time
under Mr. Yuguda’s administration, assured that he would reposition the
House to ensure that all the activities of the House take a vibrant
dimension within the few months left for the tenure of the legislators
to expire.

No political motive

Aminu Tukur, the
mover of the motion, said, after the session, that the legislators had
failed to legislate laws that could be beneficial to the people of the
state due to a lack of sittings. He said that it was constitutional for
the lawmakers to exercise their right whenever the need arises.

He said: “Without
malice, it was under Faggo that the House has failed many times to
convene, sit down and take any decision towards the development of the
state. Out of the five former speakers we had in the state, Faggo is
the worst we ever had, therefore, we have decided to impeach him.”

He however denied
the allegations from some quarters that the Secretary to the Government
of the Federation, (SFG), Ahmed Yayale and the FCT Minister Bala
Muhammed had masterminded the impeachment of Mr. Faggo. He also denied
the allegations that the impeachment of Mr. Faggo was to lay the ground
for the impeachment of the state governor, Isa Yuguda.

Commenting on his
removal, Mr. Faggo, who spoke in a telephone interview, said that he
was still the speaker, describing the move of the legislators as
illegal. He said that the 20 members out of the 31 members that sat on
his impeachment lacked the two-thirds majority required by the
constitution.

Mr. Faggo, who refused to disclose the location he was speaking
from, stated: “I am still the incumbent speaker of the House as the
actions by my colleagues were unconstitutional, considering the fact
that they have even failed to serve me with a notice of impeachment.”

One hundred and
eighty-eight megawatts have now been added to the power generation in
the country, through the Olorunsogo power plant, which brings power
generation in the country to a total of 3,800mw with an estimated
4,000mw expected by the end of March this year. This is among the first
three projects in the National Independent Power Projects to be
completed to this stage. Besides the Olorunsogo plant in Osun state,
the generating plants in Aloaji in Abia state and Sapele in Delta state
are also being test run.

This was disclosed
by the Minister of State for Power, Nuhu Wya while briefing alongside
the minister of information and communication Labaran Maku, after the
second federal executive council meeting of the year, who also said the
power plant has been test run and connected to the power grid.

Mr. Wya who
enthusiastically spoke on the successful completion of the test run of
the Olorunsogo plant, said this was to show that government was serious
about delivering on its promise as some people had not believed that
the NIPP projects would even see the light of day, adding that the
Aloaji and Sapele plants are also being test run in preparation for the
commissioning in the first quarter of this year.

He however said
more generation would be made via the Olorunsogo plant as it had the
capacity to generate much more than it is currently generating.

“We are on top of
the situation in the power sector… with this we can assure Nigerians
of significant improvement in power supply from now on,” Mr. Wya told
journalists.

Other matters

Mr. Maku also
briefed journalists on the issues discussed during the closed door FEC
meeting, noting that council had primarily focused on memos tendered by
the Federal Capital Territory minister, Bala Mohammed, which included
the construction of 3 solid waste transfer stations for the FCT worth
N2.9billion. According to the information minister, Council approved
this contract because of the impact it would have on the city of Abuja
and its environs.

“Council approved the award of this contract for the construction of
three solid waste transfer stations at Mpape, Apo and Kubwa areas of
the city, in favour of Messrs Goodness International Resources Ltd. in
the sum of N2,957,572,096.35 with 12 months completion period,” Mr.
Maku said.

The International
Criminal Court (ICC) says it will publish its findings on possible
crimes against humanity in Nigeria in the “next six months.” The
court’s prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who spoke to reporters in New
York on Tuesday, said ICC had received “many communications” on Nigeria.

He said: “We have
received communication on different issues and we will want to clarify
the different situations before providing a provincial report,
providing more clarity on what we are doing and what Nigeria can do.

“We are trying to
be predictable, because national authorities have the primacy on
investigations.” The UN Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) reports that Mr Ocampo declined to get into details on the
communications received from Nigeria.

However, in
December, the ICC prosecutor was reported as saying that the Court was
looking into the potential crimes against humanity in the killings that
took place in Jos, in January 2010 in which over 300 people died.

“In Nigeria we are
watching these incidents with many communications. There are many
incidents that are reportedly under jurisdiction. What we are planning
to do is to prepare a report, that you will see in the next six months,
explaining what we are watching,” he said.

He described the Nigerian government, as “very cooperative” with the court.

The chairman of the
Osun State Contract Review Committee has assured all contractors,
consultants, and architects handling various projects being executed
with the controversial N18.3 billion loan that his team will be fair
and factual without witch-hunting anyone.

Adelana Odutola, an
engineer, heads the team comprising Adegboyega Oyetola, the Chief of
Staff to the state governor, and other top civil servants that toured
six stadiums to assess the level of work done on all the sites.

Some of the sites
visited by the team are the ones awarded by the past Oyinlola
administration in Iwo, Ile-Ife,Ede, Ilesa, Ikirun and Osogbo.

The tour also
extended their visit to the Living Spring Free Trade Zone in Ede where
the committee was briefed on the state of work by government officials
who had been supervising the project.The team leader informed the
contractors on each site that the governor had been inundated with
petitions by Osun state citizens who queried the rationale behind the
construction of the six stadia when there is no sports festival coming
up in the state.

As tax payers, Mr
Aregbesola could not disregard their concerns and had to do something
professionally wise because of posterity. Letters were served to all
the contactors to stop work on the projects so that the committee could
assess the level of work done on site.Crucial in the decision making
process of the committee, he stressed is the determination of the long
term usefulness of the six stadiums to the economic development and
employment generation strategies of the state.

Honest advice

At each town,
Odutola sought the advice of the contractors who unanimously submitted
that two or three stadiums were enough for the state.Though each of
them pleaded that their project be sustained and funded, when the
committee chairman asked them not to talk like contractors but as
citizens, there was an unanimity of opinion that the projects were
much.He promised that the committee will consider all the concerns
raised by the contractors. Contractor must sympathize with the
situation of the people of Osun state. ‘‘We are being factual and point
blank. Loans have been taken to finance these projects. What has been
given to contractors cannot finish these projects,the loans have to be
repaid. We know you want to save your jobs but you should look at
everything and the long term effect it will have on the people”.

An Ibadan
Magistrate Court sentenced two men on Tuesday to one year imprisonment
for breaking into the house of late Bola Ige, carting away valuables
worth about N20 million.

The convicts, Felix
Nwagwu, 30, and Olajide Olumo, 36, were found guilty of three count
charge of conspiracy to steal, entering with intention of stealing, and
stealing of properties of the Ige household.

While delivering
her judgment in Ibadan yesterday, the magistrate, Sofiat Oyediran, said
the evidence before the court proved beyond reasonable doubt that the
two men really committed the offence, and found them guilty as charged.

She sentenced each
them to one year on each of the count without option of fine and
ordered that the sentence run concurrently with hard labour.

Former staff

Mr Nwagwu was a
guard at the Solemnia Court, the Old Bodija Ibadan residence of late Mr
Ige, while Mr Oluwo was said to be a guard at the house of late
Minister of Justice’s architect son, Muyiwa Ige.

The two were arraigned on May 28, 2008 when a police inspector, Sunday Ogunremi, brought them for prosecution.

The two had
consistently stolen valuables from Mr Ige’s house for about six months,
between October 2007 and May 4, 2008, before they were caught.

Few of the items
stolen and recovered from them were used as evidence against them.
Reacting to the judgment yesterday, Mr Ige’s son expressed gratitude to
the court for committing the young men to prison over the act.

“After three years
of trial, it appears that there is a semblance of justice. At least, in
the sentencing of the accused persons, the judgment will serve as a
deterrent.

“I appreciate the magistrate for a well researched judgment. That
will send a message to criminals that crime does not pay. Though we had
hoped for a harsher judgment, the fact that the accused persons have
been convicted and sent to prison will teach them lessons,” he said.

“Dramatising
trivial things,” was the opinion of a British newspaper over commentary
by professional colleagues protesting the presence of women cleaners in
male toilets. Surprisingly, this seems to be the convention all over
the world.

These prying female
eyes largely go unnoticed because male passengers have other things on
their minds in the hurry to catch a flight.

In Nigeria, it goes
slightly and shamelessly further. The cleaner clutches a mop pretending
to be doing the floor but actually soliciting; “ Oga, how was your
flight, how’s the family?” I often observe that many men are
uncomfortable with this indecent model of sexual harassment. Why a
woman hired to clean toilets should position herself strategically to
beg for money inside the male facilities beats the imagination. Male
cleaners are better behaved, and never seen in the vicinity of female
toilets at our airports.

Agreed that it
creates employment, albeit controversial employment for the young and
able-bodied, but passengers the world over prefer to shove the vehicles
by themselves. At the Abuja and Lagos arrival lounges, the functional
trolleys are always already taken over by attendants, irrespective of
the potentials for their contribution to baggage losses. Travellers are
free to help themselves to the remaining rusty, stiff trolleys with
broken wheels and handles.

A popular adage
that first impressions matter bears relevance to the status of airports
in any country. At no institution can the foreigner make a quick
assessment of the mood in a country, the economy and culture of its
people than at airports. It does not matter whether it is an
international or a domestic terminal. At the nation’s capital, a
passenger’s journey may begin with the confusion as to whether the
departure is from the international or the local wing. The guiltiest of
the airlines remains ARIK. Departure terminals fluctuate for differing
destinations, passengers regularly paying an extra one thousand naira
cab fare for the dash to the right airport, with barely enough time to
pick up a parcel of kilishi, the cold, sun-dried meat and only
industrial product of the Abuja economy.

Separating
domestic and international terminals by a couple of miles is a Nigerian
invention that makes little sense in respect of service delivery to
passengers, as well as for security. Many foreigners arriving in Lagos
are distressed to find that an onward flight to a destination in
Nigeria results in the risk of getting out of the terminal into the
cacophony of touts, muggers and suspicious car hire services. To
compound the delay process, authorities in Lagos are smart enough to
plant a toll gate between international and domestic terminals, as
though the revenues so collected are deposited where they belong.

If security
consciousness is the international watchword, why are the scanning
machines at Nigeria’s airports always breaking down? Could a mafia be
deliberately calling for their repairs just to award contracts to a
crony? Manual rummaging through hand luggage is more common. At times
the searches are deliberately vigorous and callous where the traveller
is obstinate and unwilling to part with gratification. You are
requested to drink up any bottled liquids, and remove shoes for
scanning only to step onto a filthy and dusty piece of carpeting with
naked feet! One woman security agent in Lagos went through a
passenger’s belongings, excavating a bunch of underwear. I thought for
the sake of hygiene and disease control she should have been wearing
gloves for her job.

The Abuja domestic wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport actually looks like an infectious diseases hospital from the outside.

Governor Adebayo
Alao-Akala of Oyo State has called for mutual cooperation among all
Nigerians in the effort to nip the raging sectarian crises in some
parts of the country in the bud.

The governor made
this call in Ibadan on Tuesday while delivering his address at the
quarterly meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC)
meeting, held at Mapo Hall, Ibadan.

Mr Akala warned
against allowing the effect of the crises to truncate the new
democratic session and diminish the reputation the country has built
for itself over the last few years.

“By slowing
religious and communal strives to scuttle democracy and good
governance, our avowed commitment to freedom at all levels will be a
fluke,” he said.

Muhammad Sa’ad
Abubarkar, Sultan of Sokoto and Ayo Oritsejafor, President, Christian
Association of Nigeria ( CAN), both co-chairmen of NIREC, have, in
their separate speeches, condemned the recent crises in Jos and
Maiduguri, calling on Christian and Muslim leaders to encourage their
followers to ensure peaceful co-existence with their neighbours,
irrespective of their faith.

Mr Oritsejafor
expressed worries that crises in the country have assumed a new
dimension as attackers now throw bombs to maim and kill innocent souls
in the name of religion.

He called on
leaders of the two major religions to always speak the truth to their
subjects and let them know that God and the constitution of the country
forbid killing of fellow human beings unjustifiably.

The Sultan called
on Nigerians to fully participate in the current political process to
ensure that the nation has free, fair and credible elections in April,
this year.

At an open session held to discuss the effect of religion on the
daily lives in Nigeria, speakers stressed the need to tolerate one
another and ensure that the two religions are practiced as stipulated
in the respective holy books.

President Goodluck Jonathan has
forwarded a bill seeking to increase the number of justices of the
Appeal Court from 70 to 90 to the National Assembly. The bill to amend
the Court of Appeal Act 2005 to increase the number of justices from 70
to 90 and other related matters was forwarded to the National Assembly
on January 7, while the lawmakers were still on vacation.
The increment of the number of justices
of the Appeal Court is in line with the ongoing reform of the judiciary
by the executive. The bill was forwarded alongside the bill for an act
to amend the National Minimum Wage Act, 2004 to provide for the new
national minimum wage. The Minimum Wage Amendment Act is meant to
accommodate the negotiated N18,500 minimum wage agreement reached
between the Nigeria Labour Congress and the presidency following
protests by Labour for an increase.
“It is my hope that the distinguished senate of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria will consider and pass these amendment bills in your usual
expeditious manner,” the president said in his letters to the Senate,
with duplicate copies to the House of Representatives. Also, the
president requested the Senate to confirm the appointment of Austen
A.T. Pabor (Bayelsa State) and Timothy T. Sule (Benue State) as members
of the National Population Commission. Mr. Sule, if confirmed, would be
going into his second term on the board of the NPC while Mr. Pabor will
replace P.K.C Atuwo who passed away in 2010.

An ECOWAS
delegation is expected to meet with U.S. President Barrack Obama and UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week on the political situation in
Cote d’Ivoire. The delegation is expected in Washington on Wednesday
and in New York on Thursday, a senior diplomatic source told the UN
Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in New
York. President Goodluck Jonathan who is ECOWAS’ chairman, nominated
the team which includes President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone,
President of ECOWAS Commission, Victor Gbeho and the Nigeria Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Odein Ajumogobia. Nigeria’s Ambassador to the U.S.,
Ade Adefuye, is also part of the team.

According to the
source, they are expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary
Clinton, on Wednesday after which they will proceed to the White House
for a meeting with Obama.

The delegation will
also on Thursday meet with Security Council members in New York to
update them on ECOWAS’ position and plans for Cote d‘Ivoire.

The UN, the AU and ECOWAS have, so far, failed in their efforts to
persuade Laurent Gbagbo to vacate the presidential palace for Alassane
Ouattara, the internationally-recognised winner of the Nov. 28
presidential run-off election. Four AU delegations have visited Abidjan
since Dec. 1, but failed to prevail on Mr. Gbagbo to step down. Mr.
Gbagbo has not only refused to step down, but has also demanded the
withdrawal of the nearly 9,000-strong UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire.
The UN rejected the demand for the withdrawal of the Force which has
been supporting the stabilisation and reunification efforts in the
country in the past seven years. Last week, the Security Council
authorised the deployment of 2,000 additional troops for the mission in
Cote d’Ivoire, while ECOWAS has also threatened to use legitimate force
to get Mr. Gbagbo out.