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The Senate majority leader, Teslim Folarin, and three other
persons docked for the alleged killing of Lateef Salako (aka Eleweomo),
factional leader of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), were
on Thursday discharged by an Ibadan Chief Magistrates Court.

Their discharge was sequel to an application from the state’s
police headquarters seeking to withdraw charges earlier preferred against the
accused persons.

Messrs Folarin, Ramoni Jayeoba, Bankole Olaide Raji, and Raimi
Ismaila were, on Tuesday, January 4, arraigned before an Ibadan Chief
Magistrate’s Court on a two count charge of felony (conspiracy to murder) and
murder of Mr. Salako, who was killed on December 30, 2010 at a People’s
Democratic Party’s (PDP) congress of the Ona-Ara local government council.

The accused persons were due for appearance before the court
today (Friday) to witness the session fixed for the mention of their matter.

But, the police prosecutor, Matthew Ojeh, yesterday applied for
an abridgement of the adjournment to an earlier date to allow him move an application
requiring urgency.

In the motion on notice, supported by a 7-paragraph affidavit
deposed to personally by Baba Adisa Bolanta, Oyo State Commissioner of Police,
the police prosecutor asked the court to shift the adjournment date to an
earlier one to allow him move his urgent application.

While granting the application, the presiding magistrate,
Fatimat Badrudeen, said since Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), lead counsel to the
accused persons, did not object it, the abridgement was therefore fixed for
yesterday, which was the only date earlier than the original date fixed.

She also ordered that the accused persons be brought to the
court for the movement of the urgent application.

It was, however, a stormy and dramatic session when the accused
persons were brought from the prison and the court was reconvening. The Senate
leader, who looked ruffled, was brought into the court’s premises in an
ambulance bus around 12.50 pm.

When the case was called and appearances were sought, H.L. Sule,
the state’s director of public prosecution, rose to announce his appearance.
That attracted a vehement rebuff from Mr. Akintola, who insisted that he was
not known to the matter and lacked the right to be heard by the court.

“I am opposed to Mr. Sule’s appearance. He is the DPP. He was
not the one that preferred a charge against the accused persons and he is not
the Commissioner of Police who gave indication of withdrawal of the case. The
police lawyer, who is the prosecutor, is here and he has withdrawn from the
case. It was upon his application that your worship abridged the case to today.
He even filed affidavit of urgency before you to expedite the discharge of the
accused persons. So, there is no other person apart from the Commissioner of
Police that has the charge before you. This case was stood down for the accused
person to be produced in court and here they are,” he said.

Case discharged

It took the intervention of the magistrate, who urged the
learned silk to allow her know why he was in the court.

But as soon as Mr. Sule announced that he was for the
prosecution, Mr. Ojeh interrupted him and told the court that he was the one
for the prosecution.

Though she agreed with the DPP that he has the right to
prosecute anybody anywhere within the state, Mrs. Budrudeen denied him that
right yesterday, arguing that two agencies cannot prosecute the same case at
the same time.

According to her, the police and the DPP should have agreed
before coming to the court and that since the case in question had earlier been
brought to the court by the police, the police prosecutor would be allowed to
carry on.

Having settled that, Mr. Ojeh, on behalf of the Commissioner of
Police, formally moved the application for withdrawal of the charges against
the accused persons to allow “further interrogation on the case.”

Again, Mr. Akintola did not oppose to the application, but
prayed the court to strike out the case and discharge and acquit the accused
persons.

Delivering her ruling on the application, the magistrate said,
“the complainant is hereby allowed to withdraw the charge against the accused
persons and others at large. The charge is hereby struck out.”

She also noted that since the court is a temple of justice, it
would not want to be a clog in the wheel of fairness and justice, adding that
since the premise of the police was to allow it further its investigation on
the killing, the application should be allowed.

Her pronouncement lightened the court hall as Mr. Folarin’s
supporters burst into shouts of victory.

After a few minutes when the noise subsided, Mr. Akintola still
asked the court to give an order to release the accused persons, since the
order to remand them in prison earlier came from the same court.

The court also obliged him, but the accused persons could not
leave the court premises until some hours later due to efforts to perfect
papers of their discharge.

Political maneuvers

News of Mr. Folarin’s release had crept into Ibadan, the Oyo
State capital late Wednesday, and steadily spread through to the morning of
yesterday. Thousands of his supporters were at the Agodi Prison yesterday,
thinking that he would be released earlier.

Despite the theory of further investigation the police fed the
court, NEXT gathered that the release was not unconnected with the developments
at the PDP presidential primaries going on in Abuja.

Sources said members of the National Assembly, who were part of
the delegates to vote at the primaries, had given President Goodluck Jonathan
the condition that if they must participate at the exercise, the Senate leader
must be present there.

They reportedly insisted that they would not be part of the show
if the leader of the Senate is still being incarcerated in Ibadan. Sensing
their seriousness and the consequences on his chances at the programme, the
president, according to the source, ordered the InspectorGeneral of Police
(IGP), Hafiz Abubarkar Ringim, to order his release. That, it was learned,
culminated to the release yesterday.

Mr. Folarin left the court yesterday for the police headquarters
for a meeting with Mr. Bolanta, probably on the restoration of his security
aides withdrawn few hours after the killing of Eleweomo, and it was also learnt
that he was flown to Abuja last night to participate at the primaries.

An Oyo State High Court had, on Wednesday, fixed Monday for
ruling on the bail application argued on their behalf.

The ruling will not be necessary anymore as the charges against the accused
persons have been withdrawn and the accused persons are no more in custody.

Nuhu Ribadu, one of the contenders for the presidential ticket
of the ACN at the party convention tomorrow has received a critical endorsement
from party members from Adamawa State, as over 1035 delegates affirmed their
endorsement of the Adamawa born politician.

The endorsement, which came the way of Mr Ribadu ahead of the
ACN convention holding in Lagos today ,was sealed at a special convention of
the party which was held at the conference hall of Silver Hotels, Yola, with Mr
Ribadu in attendance.

“This gathering is specifically called to enable us rally
support for our son,” a national leader of the party, Boss Mustapha said.

The motion for the adoption of Mr Ribadu was moved by Sander
Lamurde, a position which was adopted by all the delegates following secondment
by Suleiman Bagirei.

“We must be the first to make our voices known that we are in
support of our son, Nuhu ribadu. All 1035 delegates from Adamawa State, the
home state of Mr Ribadu are bound to cast their votes for the aspirant in party
convention holding in Lagos as direct outcome of this special convention,” Mr
Mustapha said.

Mr Ribadu, retired Assistant Inspector General of police and
former head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission acknowledged that
last year presented some of the most unimaginable challenges for him.

Accepting the endorsement, he said, “I am greatful to God, I am
humbled by your support. When I reflect back to last year, especially those
periods of my travails, and I now consider where God has brought me to today. I
cannot but give thanks to God. It is a thing of joy, since I started this
journey. I have seen the hand of God,” Mr Ribadu said.

Spreading party philosophy

The aspirant, who said he has known nothing else other than
service, noted that a few selfish individuals have spoilt the country. But said
he wants to assure Nigerians that his party will thread the path of justice and
ensure the equitable distribution of the country’s wealth.

Mr. Mustapha, the deputy national chairman of the party, said
the mass defection of members of the People’s Democratic Party to the ACN is a
proof that the party has engulfed the nation’s political fabric.

Meanwhile, Markus Gundiri has emerged the ACN governorship
candidate for Adamawa State. Announcing the results of the primaries at the
party secretariat, Baba Dala said Mr Gundiri polled a total of 28,600 of the
delegates’ votes to beat other aspirants by a simple majority.

Former Nigerian ambassador to South Africa, Buba Marwa was
yesterday presented with the certificate of return as the governorship
candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) for Adamawa State.

Mr Marwa, declared winner of the primary elections, polled
23,401 votes to defeat the other aspirants, Mohammadu Jibrilla and Suleiman
Abdullahi who polled 3,904 and 5,505 of the votes cast respectively.

Balami Ayuba, chairman of the CPC panel who monitored the
elections in the state, presented Marwa with the certificate of return.

Mr Marwa said it was a “great risk” staking his personality for
a contest which he entered alone, with neither a structure nor any of his
political supporters.

However, Bappa Waziri, the state chairman of the party
attributed Mr Marwa’s victory to members of the party whom he said knew what
they wanted.

Haste in accepting Marwa

Meanwhile a coalition of youth groups within the CPC have
expressed their dissatisfaction with the haste with which Mr Marwa entered the
party and picked the party’s nomination.

The group, through its spokesperson, Tasiu Mohammed at a press
briefing at the NUJ secretariat in Yola, said they were against the “hasty
manner” Mr Marwa was adopted by the state leadership of the party to contest
the governorship primaries.

“We condemn the party exco for bringing a candidate from the
opposition party two days to the primary elections without availing us of the
candidates manifesto,” they said. The group also alleged the “non-conformity of
the party exco to the guidelines and procedures set for aspirants seeking
nominations under the party platform, that all duly completed nomination forms
for governorship aspirants are to be submitted at least one week before the
congress for the election of such a candidate.

“This kind of people, when elected to power, will go back to their
respective parties where they came from. We are calling on the national
executive of this great party, CPC to look at this matter and find a lasting
solution to this problem.”

In the face of persistent attacks, youth in different parts of
Jos have organised themselves into vigilante groups to take charge of security
in the areas where they live every night.

Different youth groups spoken to in Zaramaganda Hwolshe, Kadima,
Abattoir, Rikkos, and Angwan Rukuba say they have lost confidence in the
sincerity and commitment of the Task Force men to provide security and restore
peace.

At Angwan Rukuba on Thursday morning, one of the youth who
preferred anonymity said Wednesday’s arrest of five of the Task Force men in
connection with the overnight killings in parts of Riyom and Barkin Ladi has
lent credence to their fears, saying they have to intensify efforts to monitor
and track down strange faces that lurk in their midst and perpetuate havoc.

As early as 6pm every evening, movement within Jos becomes very
difficult as a result of road blocks mounted by these groups along the streets.

At Hwolshe and Kadima, as early as 6pm, the boys will mount a
heavy road block at Africana Junction which is the main entrance into Hwolshe
and Kadima and carry out thorough screening of vehicles, motor cycles, and all
people coming into the community.

A drive through Apata, Amigo Junction, Nasarawa, Filin Ball,
reveals that the practice is being replicated in the entire town of Jos, as an
atmosphere of fear, distrust, and suspicion persists since the bombings of
December 24, 2010.

Careful cyclists

As the group with the highest number of deaths during the
crisis, commercial motor cyclists no longer operate along every route as may be
dictated by business flow and passenger preference.

One cyclist who simply identified himself as Sani, said many of
their members are missing, ostensibly caught in the wrong place during the
cross fire and were killed. He said with that experience, Christian cyclists as
their Muslim counterparts now prefer to operate along routes that they perceive
not ‘dangerous’, and just have to make do with whatever earnings they can get
at the end of the day.

However, although banks and some other businesses remained
closed for the fourth day on Thursday, there was significant improvement in
traffic flow as many returned to their businesses as early as 7am.

At Ahmadu Bello Way, there was pressure on telecoms shops as
many customers and small scale dealers were making orders for recharge cards
and other accessories to return to business.

At the popular Terminus area, newspaper vendors were back, just
as the frontage of Mr Bigg’s was busy as dealers on second hand wears dared
with their stock from Katako Market to Terminus where customers abound.

Most shops of Ndigbo members were still under lock and key, as some of the
shops owners, were waiting agonisingly by the doors.

Anyone would be forgiven for assuming that Nigeria’s presidential elections will actually be holding in Abuja today, and not in April as advertised by INEC. Five thousand persons – imagine an outsized papal conclave – will assemble at the Eagle Square cast ballots to decide on the candidate that will run for presidency on the platform of the PDP.

The attention being focused on the primaries by local and international media suggests that there is an assumption that Presidency is the PDP’s birthright, and that whoever wins today will easily go on to become Nigeria’s next President. The reason for this is simple: the PDP has held the position since 1999, and despite recent judicial losses of a number of state governorships, still maintains an overwhelming majority in executive and legislative offices at Federal and State levels across the country. There is no real opposition to the party’s hegemony at national level.

When, at the end of today, a chieftain of the PDP counts the ballots publicly, many watchers will recall the 2003 primaries, when incumbent President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice President Alex Ekwueme (this time again the leading contenders are an incumbent President and a former Vice President) were the top contenders for the party’s presidential ticket. Instead of a hotly-contested race, what emerged was a very predictable – and overwhelming – victory for Obasanjo.

Cash and carry

Party primaries in Nigeria are typically cash-and-carry affairs; the only rule is that there are no rules, delegates ‘eat’ from all camps, and keep their options open till the last minute. This can make it a most frustrating exercise for candidates, requiring an endless supply of cash, often denominated in dollars.
There is no evidence that today will be different, whether in how the battle will be fought (with cash), or in the outcome (victory to the ‘incumbent’). No incumbent Nigerian President has ever lost a re-election bid. In a political system in which the President is seen as “leader” of the party, it is hard to imagine how a challenger would succeed staging an upset, and dislodging the person from whom all patronage – contracts and appointments – flows. Already a number of party leaders have insisted that there is “no vacancy” in Aso Rock.

But it is worth pointing out that the Atiku of eight years ago would certainly have floored Goodluck Jonathan, or anyone else, in a contest for the PDP presidential ticket. Indeed Atiku, as a super-powerful Vice President in 2003, was on his way to snatching the ticket from his boss, President Obasanjo, in the primaries of that year.

It took much pleading on Obasanjo’s part to convince his deputy to give up his ambitions. Today, Atiku probably realises, regretfully, that in 2003 he passed up his most viable chance to become President of Nigeria.

In the years since then his influence within the PDP has diminished considerably. Between 2007 and 2010 he was a member of the opposition Action Congress (later ACN), to which he defected when it became clear Obasanjo did not have any plans of handing over to him. Having returned to the ruling party only a few months ago, it is doubtful that he has had any time to (re)build the sort of structure and network that could pose a noticeable challenge to an incumbent.

The Obasanjo factor

One person who may play a deciding role in today’s outcome will be the 73-year-old former President. Obasanjo’s influence within the PDP may have suffered a massive whittling-down since he left office, but anyone who thinks him down-and-out will be greatly mistaken. For one he remains the Chairman of the party’s influential Board of Trustees.

There is no doubt that Mr. Obasanjo will throw his weight behind Mr. Jonathan, who he handpicked as Vice President in 2007. A bitter fight between Obasanjo and Atiku, dating back to the 2003 primaries incident (presumably Obasanjo is still smarting from the humiliation Atiku subjected him to), and which consumed their second term in office, suggests that Obasanjo is not likely to sit back and watch his one-time deputy clinch the PDP ticket.

Atiku will be counting on his vast wealth, the fact that he emerged as the consensus candidate of the North, and on the residue of his once intimidating influence on the PDP; Jonathan on his incumbency advantage, and the endorsement of most of the PDP Governors, who will be providing the delegates.

The Jonathan
Project, an organisation supporting the candidacy of President Goodluck
Jonathan in the 2011 elections, has unveiled what it called “the 150
reasons why 150 million Nigerians must vote for President Goodluck
Jonathan.”

In the list, which
was released yesterday, the group described Mr Jonathan as the most
accessible president Nigeria ever had. “This Nigerian from Otuoke is
highly consultative and inclusive in his decision making,” according to
its Coordinator, George Kelly. “He is not desperate about anything but
passionate about Nigeria.”

The group also
pointed out that the president’s children were enlisted in schools in
the country, as against the practice by politicians of sending their
kids to foreign schools. Mr Kelly said the list was drawn through
consultations and discussions with a wide varieties of groups and
Nigerians across the country.

“Never before have
our politics and polity been so tested and tried,” stated the group.
“Never before has the state of our psyche been so heavily challenged.
Never before has the strength of our unity been so questioned. The
emergence of President Jonathan as president of Nigeria expanded the
horizon of hope for tens of millions of Nigerians even though it jolted
and sent shock waves down the spines of an age old power bloc who have
for so long come to believe that it was their birthright to choose for
Nigerians those who should rule Nigeria.”

Mohammed Danjuma, the northern coordinator of the group, said
Nigerians need to look beyond sectional interests in picking a
candidate to support. “It is a sad thing that a section of the
country’s leadership wants to hold on to power for the benefit of a
tiny minority and not for the general good of the populace,” he said.

Kano State deputy governor Abdullahi Tijani Gwarzo
yesterday announced his defection from the All Nigeria Peoples Party
(ANPP) to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Director-General of the
Campaign Organization of the Deputy Governor, Farouk Hassan, confirmed
the exit of the deputy governor from the ANPP yesterday.

Mr Hassan said the deputy governor withdrew his
membership from the ANPP after consultations with various interest
groups and that the decision followed the failure of the leadership of
the party in the state to provide the desired enabling environment for
the contestants, not because the governor was supporting a particular
contestant.

“The deputy governor and the campaign organization
were not worried about the support the governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, has
been rendering to a specific gubernatorial aspirant,” he claimed.

He however described as “worrisome’, the issue of the
principle of equity, justice and fair play that had been continually
preached had not gone beyond rhetoric. Following this development, he
(the deputy governor) declared his withdrawal from ANPP. He lamented
the party’s loss of focus and moral justice, saying that the leadership
of the party violated the Electoral Act 2010 and the party’s
constitution in respect of the conduct of primaries as it failed to
comply with all the procedures for primary elections where delegates
were not elected by the people, but were picked by the party officials
to favour a particular governorship contestant.

Similarly, a chieftain of the party, and the
immediate past director-general of the Kano State Pilgrims’ Welfare
Board, Sani Lawan Kofa Mata, has also dumped the ANPP. Mr Kofa Mata’s
grouse against the party is what he called the highhandedness of the
party’s leadership, the lack of internal democracy and the undue
interference of the state governor, Mr Shekarau, in the party affairs.
Mr Kofar Mata was contesting the governorship seat until he was
persuaded to switch gears and contest the seat of the Kano Central
Senatorial District instead, which he also lost to Aminu Ibrahim Abba.

In fact, we asfounding members of the All Nigeria
People’s Party (ANPP) joined the party at its formative stage based on
the belief that it was the best political platform that will promote
social justice, equity and fair-play at every level of governance,” Mr
Gwarzo said.

“However, trends in Kano ANPP in the last few months proved that the
party has abandoned the noble cause it stood for. It has in fact
derailed and has allowed individual’s interest to override collective
interest and has institutionalized actions that portray injustice and
dictatorship.”</

The Action Congress
of Nigeria (ACN) has announced that it will hold a special convention
to elect its presidential flag-bearer at the Onikan Stadium in Lagos on
Friday.

The party, in a
statement signed by the party’s national chairman, Bisi Akande said
that “all the national delegates who emerged from the
recently-conducted ward, local government and state congresses of the
party are expected to vote to elect the presidential candidate.” He
also confirmed that the party’s presidential screening panel has
concluded its job, using criteria based on educational qualification,
vision, integrity with past records and experience.

Other qualities
considered for the screening include: leadership experience, political
consistency, contribution to the growth of the party (financial and
otherwise), international exposure and reputation, public perception
and marketability, inter-personal skills and charisma as well as
familiarity with and commitment to party ideology.

He however said
that the party’s position is that “aspirants must score over 50 per
cent in the screening exercise conducted to be able to participate in
the primary,” and assured the delegates that all necessary precautions
have been taken to ensure a hitch-free convention, appealing to its
teeming supporters “to adhere strictly to the party’s much-vaunted
ethos of decency, integrity, transparency and non-violence.” Screening
result

However, the
Chairman of the Presidential Screening Committee, Kayode Fayemi, said
in Abuja that the results of the screening will be announced before the
elections.

“We will finish our
job in the shortest possible time. Results are expected to come out
before the primaries on the 14th of January, but not from me. You have
to contact Bisi Akande, the national chairman of the party, for the
results,” he said.

The candidate that have been screened by the committee include Nuhu Ribadu; Saidu Mallami and Attahiru Baffarawa, .

Members of the committee were Muiz Banire, Yakubu Mukhtar, Chudi Nwike and Osagie Iyamu.

Governor Adebayo
Alao-Akala of Oyo State, on Wednesday, got the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) ticket to contest the 2011 governorship election in the state.

Out of the 1,300
delegates present for the party’s primary election held at the Obafemi
Awolowo Stadium, Ibadan, the governor pooled 1,249 while Wole Oyelese,
a co-contestant, who had announced that he was boycotting the exercise,
alleging that it was arranged to endorse the governor, scored one vote.

According to a statement by Dotun Oyelade, special adviser to the governor on public communications, two votes were voided.

Mr. Oyelese had
reportedly secured an injunction against holding of the primary at a
Federal High Court, Ibadan, on Tuesday, but Mr. Oyelade, also in a
release on Tuesday, said the party would still go ahead with the
programme yesterday, citing a section of the Nigeria’s constitution,
which forbids court from stopping such exercise.

Speaking with
journalists after being declared winner of the primaries, Mr. Akala
expressed his regrets at the decision of Mr. Oyelese to boycott the
exercise, saying though the other contestants would have lost, their
presence would have attested to their spirit of sportsmanship and
acclaimed love for democracy.

More victories

The state, at
different primaries held on Tuesday, had elected its representatives
for the three senatorial and 14 House of Representatives seats of the
National Assembly.

Oyo Central primaries were held at Durbar Stadium, Oyo, Oyo South at Olubadan Stadium, and Oyo North at Soun Stadium, Ogbomoso.

The Senate leader,
Teslim Folarin, who is in Agodi Prison for an alleged murder case;
Oluyemi Taiwo, former acting speaker of the state House of Assembly and
currently a member of the House of Representatives; and Ayoade Adeseun,
chairman, House committee on appropriation, all who are openly against
the second term of Governor Alao-Akala, were replaced by fresh
candidates.

While Jumoke
Akinjide, daughter of Richard Akinjide, former attorney-general of
federation and minister of justice, replaced Mr. Folarin for the Oyo
Central slot, Hosea Agboola, current commissioner for local government
and chieftaincy matters in the state, beat Gbenga Babalola, son-in-law
to late Lamidi Adedibu, in the Oyo North Senatorial primaries.

Some of the current
members of the National Assembly also lost their seats to new
contestants at the primaries that ran to late nights of Tuesday.

Segun Akinloye,
also a supporter of Alao-Akala’s second term, could not retain his
seat; he lost to Gbenga Adewusi, former chairman of Ibadan North-East
local government.

The former deputy
governor of Abia State, Chris Akomas, defeated three other contestants
to emerge as the gubernatorial candidate of the Progressive People’s
Alliance (PPA) in Abia Atate.

Declaring the
result of the primaries late in the night after collating the results
from the 17 local government areas, the returning officer for the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Elizabeth Akpa,
announced Mr. Akomas as the winner, having polled 2,188 votes.

House of
Representative member, Stanley Ohajuruka, representing Umuahia North
and South federal constituencies, trailed him with 629 votes, while Max
Nduaguibe and Obi Aguocha garnered 74 and 27 votes respectively, even
as 149 votes cast were declared invalid.

Depending on the
decision by the national body of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on
the two candidates that emerged in the party’s parallel primaries on
Monday, Mr. Akomas might be contesting against his former boss,
Theodore Orji, who was one of the candidates that was elected to fly
the PDP’s flag in the April polls.

The electoral
officer saluted all the contestants for being dedicated to their
ambitions and that of the party and asked those who lost to accept the
results and support the winners as the real gubernatorial election was
still ahead.

But less than 24
hours after the primaries, one of the losers, Mr. Ohajuruka, defected
to the Labour Party where he is expected to pick the party’s nomination
ticket to contest for the governorship primaries. Mr. Ohajuruka, who
confirmed his defection to the Labour Party at a Town Hall Meeting in
his campaign office in Umuahia on Wednesday, said his decision was in
response to his supporters’ request that he joins a national party
instead of a regional party, the PPA.

The PPA, headed by the former governor of the state, Orji Uzor Kalu,
was the governing party in the state until the incumbent state
governor, Theodore Orji, dumped the party for the PDP last year. Mr.
Akomas was, until 2010, the deputy to Mr. Orji but he was impeached for
his refusal to defect with his boss from the PPA to the PDP.