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Teslim Folarin,
Senate majority leader, and three other suspects remanded in prison
over the alleged killing of Lateef Salako (aka Eleweomo), factional
leader of the National Union of Road Transport Worker (NURTW), applied
for bail at an Oyo state High Court on Thursday.

An Oyo state chief
magistrate, Shakirat Badrudeen, ordered the four men to be remanded in
prison custody until January 14 when their case would be reopened for
mention.

They were arraigned
on Tuesday on a two-count charge of felony (conspiracy to murder) and
murder of Mr Salako who was gruesomely killed after the local
government congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at Ona Ara,
Oyo state, last Thursday.

Though the
magistrate agreed with the argument of Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, former
president of the Nigerian Bar Association who led the team of lawyers
defending Mr Folarin and others, that the court lacks the jurisdiction
to hear criminal matters, Ms Badrudeen, still adjourned the case till
January 14, for mention.

The other accused persons are Ramoni Jayeola Bankole, Olaide Raji and Raimi Ismaila.

Filing the bail
application on Thursday, Mr Akeredolu, supported the documents with a
44-page affidavit. In the application tagged M/8/2011, the applicants
joined the state attorney general and the state commissioner of police.

For the whole of
Wednesday, Mr Akeredolu and his team had brain-stormed on the
modalities to hasten the bail of the senate leader, who had been in
custody since Monday when he honoured the police invitation to come and
write his statement on the death of Mr Salako.

The Agodi prison,
where the accused were detained, was still bustling yesterday with Mr
Folarin’s sympathizers. It appeared as though the senate leader had the
support of prominent Ibadan political and business leaders. Prisons
officials faced a heavy volume of visitors calling at the prison
throughout the day to see the politician.

Baba Adisa Bolanta,
Oyo State commissioner of police, has, however hinted that more people
will be declared wanted by the police today (Friday) over Mr Salako’s
death.

Mr Bolanta, who
disclosed this to journalists in Ibadan on Thursday, said the police
are yet to close the case on the murder as many other suspects are yet
to be apprehended. He opined that the command should be commended for
its efforts in unraveling the mystery behind the killing of the
unionist in the past week

Police deny bias charges

In another
development, Lekan Balogun, leader of the opposition against the state
governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, announced that he planned to hold a rally
on January 15 to push for the deployment of the commissioner of the
police from Oyo State. Mr Balogun accused Mr Bolanta of corruption and
bias in the murder case of Mr Salako. He said he would ensure that the
police commissioner was transferred from the state to allow for peace.
Denying the allegation of bias against Mr Folarin, the police boss said
the force established a case against him before arraigning him and
three others last Tuesday.

Saying he had given
the Ibadan high chief respect as a senior citizen and a former
lawmaker, he said, “We will not delay in dealing with him [Mr Balogun]
according to the law if he tries to incite the public against the
police.”

Mr Bolanta said
that none of the cases of crime reported since he took over his post in
Ibadan had gone uninvestigated, and that everything he did as police
chief was done with the consciousness that he would give account one
day “where the whole SANs in the world would not be able to defend me.”

He said
investigations conducted so far have shown that the Senate leader and
other accused persons were present at the scene of the incident. He
said the four police officers attached to the senate leader who were
also arrested and detained shortly after the killing of Mr Salako, are
assisting the police in their investigation of the matter.

He also said that Mukaila Lamidi (aka Auxiliary), Mr Salako’s
deputy, was interrogated at the Iyaganku Police station yesterday over
his alleged involvement in the vandalism of a filling station belonging
to Lateef Akinsola Oloruntoki (aka Tokyo), the state chairman of the
NURTW.

The national
chairman of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Okwesilieze
Nwodo, has declared that the party and its government are determined
and committed to ensuring that the will of Nigerians prevail in the
choice of their leaders during the forthcoming general elections in
April.

Mr Nwodo spoke
while receiving the South African minister of international relations
and cooperation, Maite Nkoanie Mashabane, who paid him a courtesy call
at his private residence in Abuja.

He said that the
on-going electoral process within the ruling PDP is a test for the
party and the country in the democratic journey, adding that the
country’s commitment to democracy is sacrosanct notwithstanding the
teething problems.

Mr Nwodo noted that Nigeria and South Africa have a lot in common as Africa’s leading nations and regional powers.

Earlier, Ms
Mashabanie told Mr Nwodo that she came to deliver a message from South
Africa’s President Jacob Zuma to President Goodluck Jonathan and was
directed to see the national chairman of the ruling party. She invited
Mr Nwodo to the African National Congress (ANC) centenary celebration
in January next year.

Ms Mashabanie also stated that South Africa is disposed to solving
Cote d’Ivoire’s political logjam using ECOWAS rather than the use of
force.

The former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Nuhu Ribadu, and former governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa, will be the pair to slug it out for the presidential ticket of the Action Congress of Nigeria, barring any delayed maneuverings.

While Mr. Ribadu will today pick up his nomination form at the party secretariat in Wuse Zone 6, Abuja, Mr. Bafarawa picked up his form yesterday. The party’s deadline for the purchase of the presidential nomination form is Sunday, April 9. The form is sold by the party for N5 million.

NEXT has learnt that the certainty of Messrs Bafarawa and Ribadu being the final contestants to vie for the ticket is due to the withdrawal of the former national secretary of the party, Usman Bugaje, and Saidu Malami from the presidential race.

“Dr Bugaje has pulled out from the race. He has written us (ACN secretariat) that he is no longer interested in contesting the presidential election,” an official of the party told NEXT.

When contacted, Mr Bugaje declined giving any information about his purported letter. “I will let you know what my decision is at the party primary,” Mr Bugaje told NEXT.

Mr Malami is also said to have withdrawn from the race after several meetings between himself and Mr Ribadu. Both men attended the interactive session organized by the Abuja chapter of the CAN. Both Mr. Malami and Mr. Bugaje are said to have decided to support Mr Ribadu. The party’s presidential primary has been fixed for January 14 in Abuja.

Chairman’s warning

Ahead of the primaries, ACN’s national chairman, Bisi Akande, has urged all members to ensure the best conduct and maintain the highest standards all through the primaries.

Mr Akande in a statement issued on Thursday, charged the party executives, party officials and aspirants to keep to the high standards and behaviour of the party.”

“Our party is a disciplined party and a party that is determined to install democracy and good governance,” he said. ” It will, therefore, not tolerate any corrupt practices or any behaviour that will undermine the integrity of our party and process.”

Mr Akande further warned that a monitoring system is in place to catch any illegal exchange of funds stating that “for the avoidance of doubt, a surveillance system has been put in place to monitor and detect any demands or exchange of funds other than that published in the guidelines. We are determined to ensure democracy and build a strong foundation for good governance,” he stated.

In one of the most keenly watched elections during the PDP primaries in Ogun State, the state deputy governor, Salimot Badru, yesterday defeated her main challenger to emerge candidate and flagbearer of the PDP for the House of Representatives election. Mrs Badru defeated Emmanuel Hosu, a former chairman of Ipokia Local Government at the congress which attracted delegates from Ipokia and Yewa local government areas which took place at the Gateway International Stadium, Ilaro.

The speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, emerged untouched following the disqualification of his opponents by the PDP verification team for the Abeokuta district.

In the Ilaro election, Mrs Badru polled 262 out of 840 votes, while Mr Hosu scored 212. Six of the total votes cast were foiled. The congress was conducted under the watchful eyes of security operatives, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission {INEC}, journalists and party officials.

The policemen, who mounted security round the premises, kept suspected hoodlums at bay.

The two contestants watched the exercise from a distance, as delegates filed out one by one to determine their fates through voting which lasted for about three hours. The results were announced publicly after.

The victory of Mrs Badru was followed by a wild celebration by her supporters. The deputy governor, who defeated her opponent with 50 votes, said her victory was for all members of the party.

Arrested armed suspects

Meanwhile, a son of a former local government chairman identified as Akinloye Bankole, was yesterday arrested by police over his alleged attempt to smuggle arms into the venue of the congress. The suspect was apprehended along with a few of his colleagues during a police check on the Mazda he was driving towards the Gateway International Stadium, Ilaro venue of the congress.

The police, suspecting foul play, insisted on searching the car and discovered guns and ammunition which the suspect could not successfully explain. He was subsequently taken to the police station for further interrogation, along with with the car and its contents. As news of his arrest filtered into the premises of the congress, his father, said to be a delegate, reportedly became crestfallen. He refused to speak about the incident. Police sources said the suspect will be transferred to the police headquarters at Eleweran, Abeokuta.

A number of locally-made amulets and other charms were also seized from some delegates at the congress by security operatives.

The federal
government on Thursday inaugurated an 18-member technical advisory
committee that will articulate and present Nigeria’s position at all
international Information and Communications Technology fora.
Inaugurating the committee, Stephen Willoughby, permanent secretary of
the ministry of information and communications, stated that Nigeria has
not always made adequate preparations before attending international
events and has been unable to reap maximally the gains of such
meetings.

“At the moment our
preparations have not been at par or been not the best,” he said.” We
go into conferences blank…sometimes we defend common interests of
others or even interests that are partisan to others which
inadvertently we do not know. When we try to defend our interests, we
do not articulate and defend them robustly. We must have strong in
positions which we must present and defend at all regional and national
fora.”

Mr Willoughby said
the ministry places great importance in the committee with the hope
that it will assist in advancing the cause and mandate of the ministry
at international fora on telecommunication and ICT.

Coordinating strategy

The committee, he
said, is a result of the recommendations made by the Nigerian
delegation to the just-concluded International Telecommunication
Union’s Plenipotentiary Conference that took place in Guadalajara,
Mexico last year.

“It was discovered
at the conference that Nigeria had no major position of its own for
presentation to the conference. Instead, the country went to the
conference with only the African Common Position at hand to defend
while some African countries that are not of Nigeria standard, despite
the African Common position, went to the conference with their own
in-house prepared positions, which they presented to the conference and
defended those positions with passion,” he said. “A time has now come
that we as a country need to develop our in-house positions, which we
must present and defend at all regional and international fora. We must
ensure that we prepare adequately within the country before going out
to participate in any of the fora. We have to be seen to be taking our
leadership role now in all affairs of the African continent.”

The committee’s
term of reference included coordinating Nigeria’s strategy and input to
meetings on telecommunications and ICT with a view to optimizing the
benefits of such for a to Nigeria.

They will also consider issues that will arise at such meetings and
advise on Nigeria’s preparations, positions, plans and effective
participation in a manner that influences the outcomes of such fora.

Ahead of the
National Assembly congresses of the People’s Democratic Party that is
rescheduled to hold today, some incumbent senators are deploying
desperate last-minute tactics to lobby both delegates and the public.
The senators, who have been lobbying delegates after a legislative
attempt to give them the right of first refusal failed at the national
assembly, have embarked on desperate means of sending across their
messages.

As a last-minute
measure to convince delegates, some of the lawmakers have employed
unusual new media to reach them. While some have taken their last
campaign messages to popular social media networks like Facebook and
Twitter, some are sending unsolicited bulk Short Message Services (SMS)
to random telephone numbers hoping to catch a delegate.

Like most of his
colleagues facing serious re-election challenges, Nimi Bariye Amange, a
serving Bayelsa state senator, in an unsolicited bulk SMS sent to
random telephone numbers, directly solicited for delegate votes. Most
messages were written in the new but informal social media language.

“Dear delegates to
d Bayelsa East Senatorial primary elections,” Mr. Amange wrote. “Ur
vote to Amange will enhance ur brother/sister, daughter/son’s,
educational pursuit. In 3yrs he has paid WAEC/JAMB/NECO for 800
candidates and he will do more.”

Like Mr. Amange,
most senators and other senatorial aspirants base their public campaign
on either the capital projects they executed or attracted to their
communities and promising to do more rather than the effects or
efficiency of the laws they sponsored or supported or intend to sponsor
or support if (re)-elected.

Umoh Edet, a
political analyst with a special interest in the national assembly,
says the elements of these campaign messages are wrong and have the
potentials of misleading ignorant constituents on the core function of
lawmakers. He argues that lawmakers have no business initiating,
executing or promising capital projects except on philanthropic grounds.

“The core function
of the lawmaker is to make laws, not building roads or bore holes,” he
said. “That is the work of the executive arm of government. The
lawmakers are supposed to change the lives of their constituents
through the laws they make.”

The senators,
alongside their House of Representatives colleagues, late last year,
dropped the right of first refusal idea after they were caught in a web
criticism for attempting to insert in the electoral act, a clause which
would have made it mandatory for political parties to put the ambitions
of a serving lawmaker before rookies.

Subsequently, most of the lawmakers are facing strong opposition
from fellow party members who either feel they did not perform very
well as lawmakers or perhaps ogling the perceived fat pay the lawmakers
earn.

Military
intervention in Cote d’Ivoire need not trigger civil war, presidential
claimant Alassane Ouattara said on Wednesday, as his rival seemed to
reverse a pledge to lift a blockade on his headquarters.

Mr Ouattara said he
preferred a peaceful solution to his post-election standoff with
incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, but dismissed negotiations, telling
France 24 television “Mr Gbagbo must leave power to allow Cote d’Ivoire
to return to normal.”

Mr Gbagbo has
refused to cede power to Mr Ouattara, widely seen as winner of a
disputed November 28 election, despite international pressure,
sanctions and the threat of force, and he has accused world leaders of
meddling in Cote d’Ivoire’s internal affairs.

Mr Ouattara’s aides
have called for a regional West African force to make good on a threat
to kick out Mr Gbagbo if he refuses to go, but there are fears it may
not be able to attempt such action without getting bogged down in war.

“I think he will be
responsible for the situation that he will face. Military intervention
does not mean that Cote d’Ivoire will ignite,” Mr Ouattara said of his
rival, from inside the Golf Hotel, where he is under U.N. protection.

“All that needs to
be done, as has been done in other African countries, is to come and
get Mr Gbagbo and remove him from the presidential palace.” Mr Ouattara
said an offer this week by Mr Gbagbo to negotiate an end to the crisis
was just an attempt to “buy time in order to recruit mercenaries to
kill Ivoriens and smuggle money out”.

Blockade goes on

Cote d’Ivoire
security forces on Wednesday maintained a blockade of the Golf Hotel,
despite a promise by Mr Gbagbo to ease it. Mr Gbagbo’s foreign minister
Alcide Djedje told a news conference on Wednesday the blockade would
not be lifted while the 300 armed rebels loyal to Mr Ouattara remain
inside.

“That constitutes a
threat for the president. It’s a question of the soldiers of the New
Forces (rebels) leaving the hotel as a condition of lifting the
blockade,” he said.

A heavy military and police presence was still sealing off roads leading to the lagoon-side hotel on Wednesday.

“Mister, don’t try and come through here. Turn your car around and don’t argue,” a soldier wielding an AK-47 said.

Only U.N.
helicopters and supply trucks have access. Mr Gbagbo is backed by his
security forces, some Ivorien youth and militia groups, and the
Constitutional Council, which overturned Mr Ouattara’s 8-point election
win, alleging fraud.

He has refused
exile in South Africa, Nigeria and the United States. “President Gbagbo
doesn’t need to go to Washington. He’s fine where he is and he intends
to stay there,” Mr Djedje said.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson said on Wednesday he should cede power to Mr Ouattara.

“There is no question that the election in the Cote d’Ivoire was stolen by President Gbagbo and those around him,” he said.

After efforts at
mediation by four African leaders on Monday, Mr Gbagbo agreed to
continue talks to end the crisis. But an end to the standoff seems far
off.

More than 170
people have been killed since the dispute started, rekindling divisions
in the country that have festered since the civil war of 2002-03.

Diplomats and
security sources say many of the dead are victims of death squads
operating at night in neighbourhoods where Mr Ouattara is popular, and
the U.N. says hundreds more have been kidnapped by Ivorien forces and
allied militias.

Mr Gbagbo’s camp
says these are lies meant to discredit him. Despite the political
turmoil, cocoa for export is arriving at Cote d’Ivoire’s ports in
similar quantities to last season. Cote d’Ivoire is the world’s top
cocoa grower.

The country’s
Eurobond is trading at yield of 15 percent, after it failed to meet an
interest payment on Friday, although it will only be in default after a
month’s grace period.

In a statement on
Wednesday, the U.N. mission condemned what it called human rights
violations, including a raid by security forces on Mr Ouattara’s party
headquarters on Tuesday.

That raid killed an activist and left many people wounded, including some security forces, according to state media.

REUTERS

As hundreds of dead
birds fall from the skies across the United States, about a hundred
birds again fell off in Sweden shortly before midnight on Tuesday, just
as millions of dead fish surfaced in a bay in Maryland, United States.
Similar unexplained mass fish deaths occurred in Brazil and New Zealand.

The Baltimore Sun
reports that an estimated 2 million fish were found dead in the
Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, mostly adult spot with some juvenile
croakers in the mix, as well. In New Zealand, hundreds of dead snapper
fish washed up on Coromandel Peninsula beaches, many found with their
eyes missing, The New Zealand Herald reports. However Maryland
Department of the Environment spokesperson Dawn Stoltzfus says
“cold-water stress” is believed to be the culprit.

Residents in
Falköping, southeast of Skövde, found 50 to 100 jackdaw birds on a
street further echoing the unexplained incidents that commenced earlier
in the week across the Atlantic in southern US. A Swedish county
veterinarian, Robert ter Horst believes that the birds may have been
literally scared to death by fireworks set off on Tuesday night.

“We have received
information from local residents last night. Our main theory is that
the birds were scared away because of the fireworks and landed on the
road, but couldn’t fly away from the stress and were hit by a car,” he
explained to a Swedish online news platform — The Local on Wednesday.

“We will continue
to look at whether there are other theories, but then we have to do an
autopsy on the birds. The birds just now are in a car on the way to a
laboratory in Uppsala. We don’t know exactly what happened yet, but we
will continue the investigation,” he added.

Mr Horst noted that
he has also received some reports about pigeons, but the incident has
happened too quickly to assume that it is related to the untimely
demise of the jackdaws. The site where the birds were found has now
been blocked for a veterinary inspection of the birds. Emergency
services had cordoned off the area earlier on Wednesday. Across the
Atlantic, an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 blackbirds crashed into homes,
cars and each other in central Arkansas on New Year eve. Another 500
birds were killed and littered the highway in Louisiana. Diverse
theories such as fireworks and power lines sparks have been propounded.
It’s almost certainly a coincidence the events happened within days of
each other, Louisiana’s state wildlife veterinarian Jim LaCour said on
Tuesday.

“I haven’t found anything to link the two at this point.” Anders
Wirdheim of the Swedish Ornithological Society (Sveriges ornitologiska
förening, SOF) believes the nocturnal birds were likely frightened in
the middle of the night, then flew around in the dark and collided with
various objects. Bird deaths and fish kills at smaller numbers aren’t
all that uncommon, though the size and proximity of some of the recent
events have led people to allege their relation, though officials deny
the frequency of these wildlife deaths as being anything other than
coincidence.

President Goodluck
Jonathan will pay unscheduled visits to ministries, departments and
agencies to ascertain the level of commitment to work and the
punctuality of government officials.

Speaking shortly
after swearing-in three new Permanent Secretaries at State House
yesterday, Mr Jonathan said the Administration will no longer tolerate
absenteeism or lateness to work.

“You must have the
courage to query your errant subordinates, who do not conform to laid
down procedures or disobey the rules, so that we can have a disciplined
service”, he said. The three new Permanent Secretaries are Tunji
Olaopa, Atiku Abubakar Kigo and R. S. Jimeta.

He charged the new permanent secretaries to work hand in hand with the ministers in charge of their ministries and other staff.

“Because Nigerians
must continue to see themselves as one, we should not discriminate
against ourselves if we want to get to where we want to reach,” Mr
Jonathan said. “Do your work without bias, without sentiments. Be loyal
and show high degree of commitment to the development of this country.

“I expect you to
cooperate with your ministers because the greatest worries we have is
the problem of relationship between permanent secretaries and
ministers, ministers being political appointees but even these days the
permanent secretaries with the eight year tenure in service are semi
political appointees. We expect cooperation between ministers and
permanent secretaries that is the only way we can move forward because
without cooperation, government projects are always stalled. I will
charge you to cooperate with your ministers and work well with your
directors and other staff.”

Punish the loafers

The president noted
that one of greatest problems noticed in the civil service is the
inability of the leadership to restrain the followership.

“Sometimes the followership, for political reasons, display one attitude or the other. Please,

within this period
that I am here, there is no sacred cow. Anybody under you that is not
doing what he is suppose to do, you must take administrative measures
to correct it, that is the only way we can instil discipline in the
civil service,” he said.

Condemning the
culture of impunity where people come to work whenever they like and
decide to go on break without due process, the president said this
should no longer be tolerated.

“In this new year, I may be visiting some ministries without notice
because a situation where I’m told some people go to work by 9 a.m. and
by Thursday they have left, if they are not ready to work then they
should resign and allow others,” Mr Jonathan said. “We have so many
unemployed Nigerians who are ready to work. So, those who are too big
to work in the civil service should go to the private sector and make
the billions they want to make.”

President Goodluck
Jonathan yesterday inaugurated the presidential task team on education
to refocus and restructure the educational system in the country. This
is following a presidential stakeholders’ summit on education convened
October last year to identify the challenges facing the educational
sector.

Addressing the 30-person team, the president said they had been selected based on high integrity, competence and experience.

“It is on this regard that I have no doubt that you will handle this special assignment with total commitment,” he said.

The president who,
during the summit, had spoken on the fallen standard of education in
the country, noted that the question of meeting the country’s
educational aspirations had brought about the convening of the
stakeholders’ summit on education in October last year to identify the
challenges facing the sector.

Recommendations
from the working groups touched on issues that range from policy,
institutional arrangement and governance, funding arrangement and
resource mobilisation, legal framework, ethics and value system,
physical infrastructure and institutional facilities, teacher quality
and content, effect of sectional sentiments over quality, the role of
the community and NGOs as well as sustainability. It was also agreed
that education should henceforth occupy its central position in
national development agenda. To implement these recommendations, the
summit had agreed that the presidential task team should be constituted.

Terms of reference

Inaugurating the
team, the president said the team has the following terms of reference:
To refocus and restructure existing policies at all levels of
education, especially the concept and implementation of the 6-3-3-4
system of education. Determine the best institutional arrangement for
the management, regulation and coordination of education at all levels.
To propose a sustainable funding arrangements and transparent
management of resources for education. Examine all laws militating
against the delivery of qualitative education and proposed required
changes or amendments. The team will also examine the ethical issues in
education with steps necessary to restore ethics and values in
education at all levels as well as develop programmes and projects that
will attract talented and brilliant persons to the teaching profession
while re-training and motivating teachers. Chairman of the team, Peter
Obayan, said the group will do more than make the sky be their limit.
He added that the team will get to work immediately and make sure they
come to positive results.