CCT Trial: Saraki counsel’s ill-health stalls appeal

The hearing of the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki’s appeal at the Federal Court of Appeal, Abuja on Thursday, against the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has been stalled again.

The inability of the court to sit on the matter stemmed from a reported ill health of the applicant’s (Saraki) counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN).

   

The Senate President is being tried at the tribunal for alleged false and anticipatory declaration of his asset while serving as governor of Kwara.

The Federal Government had also alleged that the applicant violated the country’s Money Laundering law.

However, Saraki, who denied any wrong doing, is challenging the jurisdiction of the CCT to try him.

Agabi had transmitted a letter to the presiding Judge, Justice Abdul Aboki, seeking an adjournment on account of his ill-health.

The application was not opposed by the respondent’s counsel, Mr Rotimi Jacob. (SAN)

“In view of the letter sent to this panel from the applicant’s counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi, seeking adjournment on account of ill health and since this prayer is not opposed, the court will grant it.

“The hearing of the appeal is hereby adjourned until July 18,’’ Aboki said.

The hearing of the appeal was stalled on May 31, as the panel could not form the mandatory quorum to hear the matter.

Justice Moore Adumien

Messi appears in court at tax fraud trial in Spain

Argentina and Barcelona football star Lionel Messi, one of the world’s highest-paid athletes, arrived Thursday at a Barcelona court to take the stand for the first time at his tax fraud trial in Spain.

The 28-year-old, who wore a black suit and tie, was cheered and jeered as he emerged from a van accompanied by his father Jorge Horacio Messi.

The two are accused of using a chain of fake companies in Belize and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on 4.16 million euros ($4.6 million) of Messi’s income earned through the sale of his image rights from 2007-09.

Dozens of photographers and onlookers crowded behind metal barriers and a line of police that guarded the entrance of the court to catch a glimpse of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.

 

Most applauded but some jeered and criticised the player.

“If he cheated, he has to be sentenced no matter how much of an idol and Ballon d’Or winner he is. These are four million euros less to pay for hospitals, schools, firefighters, roads,” Jose Seco de Herrero, 25, told AFP.

“Thief!,” yelled out one onlooker. “Go play in Panama,” cried out another.

The tax fraud trial comes at a time of simmering voter anger over steep government cuts to health and social spending, as the government struggles to bring Spain’s public deficit down.

Messi and his father will be questioned on Thursday on the third day of the trial. It is expected to wrap up on Friday.

After his court appearance in Barcelona, Messi will jet off to the United States where Argentina take on Copa America defending champions Chile in their first game of the three-week tournament in California on Monday.

The high-profile case kicked off on Tuesday without Messi, as he was recovering in his hometown of Rosario in Argentina from a lower back injury he suffered during a friendly match against Honduras last week.

Under Spanish law, a defendant is not obliged to attend the full trial if prosecutors seek a jail sentence of less than two years — as is the case here.

– Voluntary payment –

Messi’s former tax advisors came out in support of the football star when they took the stand on Wednesday, saying the player never handled his own wealth management.

He “didn’t take any decisions and I didn’t see anyone consulting him for anything”, Angel Juarez, one of the partners at law firm Juarez Veciana which managed Messi’s tax affairs at the time, told the court.

Inigo de Loyola Juarez, another partner and Juarez’s brother, added: “I don’t know if any of my correspondence has been included in the case, but they will see that Lionel Messi does not appear in any of it.”

The Barcelona forward and his defence team have long argued that Messi’s father handled the footballer’s finances without reporting to him, and the striker was not aware of any wrongdoing.

Both Messi and his father, who has managed his son’s affairs since he was a child, have been charged with three counts of tax fraud.

Spanish prosecutors are seeking a jail sentence of 22-and-a-half months for them if they are found guilty, plus fines equivalent to the amount that was allegedly defrauded.

But any such sentence would likely be suspended as is common in Spain for first offences carrying a sentence of less than two years.

Messi and his father made a voluntary payment of 5.0 million euros ($5.6 million)– equal to the amount of the alleged unpaid taxes plus interest — in August 2013 after being formally investigated, which is expected to mitigate any sentence if they are found guilty.

Messi has scored 314 goals in 348 appearances for Barcelona. He boasts eight La Liga titles and is a four-times winner of the Champions League and Copa del Rey with the club.

Ekweremadu on youth investment

IN an environment such as our, one wonders how youths can come across platforms or avenues for investments or start-up businesses. Fortunately, there are fora such as summits, seminars, conferences, etc that come in handy where youth can get useful ideas in the area of their specific need.

One of such meetings held recently in Enugu State, The Oganiru Enugu State Investment Summit. It emphasized on key areas open for investment, especially in the State.

The summit was attended by key industry leaders and top financial investors who enlightened participants on the areas for investment and how they could go about it. Such key areas were: solid minerals and mining, real estate, hospitality and tourism, entertainment, transportation and agriculture.

According to Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy Senate President, youths, should not miss out on meetings like this, where they will not only tap from the pool of knowledge available but also gain  from  networking opportunities which serves as a platform for harnessing their talents.

At the just concluded Solidarity rally in Enugu by Youth For Ikeoha, a non-Governmental Organisation in support of the Deputy Senate President, he  emphasised the need to  invest in youth. According to him, such investment will serve  as a golden key that unlocks the present predicament in the country today.

Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa with a population of over 170million and among the top ten most populous nations in the world,with the youth contributing a great margin. According to the National Baseline Youth Survey (2012), the population of youth in Nigeria is in the estimates of 64 million of which 51.6% are female and 48.4% are male while 5.9 million children are added to the population yearly.  Imagine what empowering 64 million youth could do to an economy,the effect will be massive and unprecedented!

Put simply, there are many geniuses and great minds amongst our youth that go to waste for lack of opportunity and resources. Recently, a University of Lagos graduate, Mr. Ayodele Daniel, had a cumulative GPA of 5.00 in the department of Psychology, the best in the country so far.

The likes of Mr. Ayodele abound and investing in these individuals will empower the youth to be leaders today and tomorrow and indirectly create highly cerebral experts that can push the economy to greater heights in the future. It is common knowledge that Nigerians have some of the best brains in the world, unfortunately these brains are not well appreciated.

He said all leaders, himself inclusive should offer young people a vision for the future. he then went on to provide  tips that would be beneficial to youths who want to succeed in the present economic situation.


Firstly, while we all appreciate the need to tap into Agriculture, it is important that experts are recruited to train the teeming young population on the benefits of Agriculture using modern  methods. Abakaliki,Ebonyi State’s capital for example arguably has one of the best soils for  rice planting in Nigeria.

If well harnessed and youths empowered, the nation can  become an exporter of rice.  Same for other farm produce.  A wholesale/retail point mimicking the likes of Shoprite, where only locally made farm products are sold, would go a long way in keeping youths busy thereby increasing internally generated revenue. A walk down memory lane would remind us that Agriculture was the boom of our economy before the Oil boom of the  1970s.

Furthermore, arts and craft as well as technology cannot be ignored. Most youths are gifted with their ‘hands’. Some can be the best designers and artists in the world if there’s a conducive environment to harness these potentials.  Recall that Aba, in Abia State, was once the boom of commerce  some years ago.

The  city exported good  products to most West African countries. If youths are adequately empowered, the nation stands to benefit tremendously.

We have youths who are technologically savvy.  A forum can be formed where this group of talents will be funded and empowered to create something worthwhile that can be exported to other countries to grow the economy. China did it and today its economic power is in leaps and bounds. We can do it too. We have the number and the brains we just need the right environment and support to harness our potentials.

The Senator  call on all elected officials to put a stop to neglect of the youth, address their problems and embrace them as an integral and important part of the society, so that their generation is not lost to crime, drugs,violence and other prevalent social ills is very timely.

Mr. Chuka Okeke, a member of the Youth for Ikeoha, wrote from Enugu, Enugu State.

Economic crunch: We “ll all make sacrifices to pay salaries – Niger Gov

ABUJA-To wriggle out of the present economic meltdown and meet up with the demands of his states including the payment of workers salaries, Niger State Governor, Abubakar Bello has said that there was need to cut down on public expenditures.

According to him, cutting cost was one sacrifice necessary to save the state from indebtedness.

Lamenting that he could not continue to borrow money to pay salaries, the governor said that already, the state had been hit with N3 billion debt, saying it would be N10 billion should it continue to borrow.

Governor Bello who spoke to State House Correspondents after a private meeting with President Mohammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja on Wednesday however refuted claims that the state had pruned down salaries of workers.

He said: “No no no! We have not resolved to pay half salaries but what we are saying is that from January this year we have been borrowing from bank to augment whatever we have been getting from FAAC. As at this month, we are owing almost N3 billion‎. If we continue like this, by December, we will be owing N10 billion. So I think we should go back to the table. Of course, we can’t give what we don’t have but we are facing difficult times now let’s sit down and see what we can do.

“I really think it is unhealthy to keep on borrowing just to pay salaries. Apart from that, we are not just there to pay salaries. There are a lot of issues. I got call this morning from one Girls Secondary School; that their roof is off in six out of seven dormitories. Where will they sleep? Now, if I take the whole revenues and pay salaries, how am I going to fix schools, hospitals?

“Niger State has a population of over four million, civil service strength of about 40,000. We get N1.5 billion from federation account and even with that, we still have to borrow to pay 40,000 people against over 3 million people that we need to cater for‎. So I strongly believe and honestly we should look at it. It is nobody’s fault that the price of oil has gone down. It is nobody’s fault that the revenue has gone down. We are facing difficult times but hopefully things will improve.

“But we should all make sacrifices. I’m willing to make sacrifices, all my appointees are willing to make sacrifices. We have shown example by cutting down our expenditure. We have cut down the operation of the expenses of the government house from N150 million a week to N20, 25 million a week. So, we have cut down government house expenditure by over 70 percent and I mean these are all sacrifices.

“We have saved some money. We are doing a bit of projects including the federal roads, the Suleja-Minna Road is motorable now and very soon we will start working on Bida. I was asked at a function yesterday where I got money from. But the truth is we just have to improvise. We have to save to move in.

“I read somewhere we are going to reduce salaries but is not true but we engaged labour and we are still talking to them. We have laid the cards on the table. We are not hiding anything. We are very transparent as much as we can but the truth of the matter is that I cannot give what we don’t have. I wish I had, personally if I had, I would have paid from my pocket but I can’t”, he said.

Asked whether he would probe the financial spendings of his predecessor, Babangida Aliyu, governor Bello said “There is an ongoing investigation. We have recovered some pension funds that were misappropriated though not much. Investigation is still on. I believe the team has met with the former governor. I don’t want to interfer with their investigations.”

Speaking on the religious uprising in Rafi local government area of the state on Sunday which resulted to imposition of curfew after claiming one life, the governor who bemoaned the situation set to an investigative panel had been constituted to get the details of what transpired.

“The situation was unfortunate in Pandogari. I think someone posted some blasphemous stories about the Prophet and of course, you know, the sensitive nature when it comes to religion and one person was killed‎ later on.

“We heard that either police or the army shot a civilian and three or four people lost their lives. We have instituted an investigative panel to investigate what happened so that we can address the situation.

“The deputy governor and my team are there at the moment. The situation is calm now. We will await the outcome of the investigative panel so that we mitigate against this happening next time. This is is unacceptable and whoever is involved will be severely punished”, he said.

FG sets up technical C’ttee on fuel price hike

ABUJA – Following the recent agreement reached with organized labour with regards to the hike in the pump price of fuel, the Federal Government has constituted a Technical Committee to look into labour’s grievances arising from the price hike.

The committee is also to examine other consequential and/or ancillary matters thereon.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation, David Babachir Lawal disclosed this in a late-evening statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

The statement was signed on his behalf by the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, in the OSGF, Mohammed Bukar.

The composition of the Committee is made of members from both labour and the government.

From the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, the members of the committee are Peters Adeyemi, Amaechi Asugwuni, Ibrahim Khaleel, Igwe Achese and Segun Efan.

Those drawn from the Trade Union Congress TUC are Augustine Etafo, Alade Bashir Lawal and Abdullahi Sale.

On the side of government are the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige who would serve as the chairman of the committee.

Others are the Minister of state for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, his counterpart in Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Solid Minerals, Kayode Fayemi as well as Chairman, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, Chief R. O. Egbule.

Other members are representative of Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, representative of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Prof. Adamu Kyuka Usman who would serve as Secretary.

According to the statement, the Committee will be inaugurated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation today.

2% of Nigerians own 90% bank deposits — NDIC

As a major indicator of wealth distribution in Nigeria across income groups, a mere two per cent of Nigerians own 90 per cent of total deposits in Nigerian banks.

This represents the wide gap between the rich and the poor in Nigeria, which continues to pose major socio-economic development challenges to the nation.

Director of Research and International Relations at the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, Alhaji Mohammed Umar, disclosed this at the Businessday Capital Market Development Annual Conference in Abuja, yesterday.

His words: “Our current deposit insurance coverage is N500, 000 for the Deposit Money Banks. And some people have said that it is low. I can tell you that it is very adequate for the majority of accounts.

“It will interest you to know that it covers over 90 per cent of accounts in the country. Indeed, Nigerians who have more than N500, 000 in their accounts are just two per cent.


Emefiele CBN Governor
“What we found is that this two per cent Nigerians have 90 per cent of banks’ total deposits. Look at that – two per cent Nigerians own 90 per cent of total banks deposits, while the remaining 98 per cent have just 10 per cent of total deposits.  What that tells you is that the gap between the rich and the poor has continued in this country.”

Alhaji Umar added that there were about 70 million bank account holders in the country.

The total bank deposits stood at N17.2 trillion, as at December 2015, according to a post on the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, website.
Earlier in his address, the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, urged Pension Fund Administrators, PFAs, to invest more in the nation’s capital market, with a view to deepening it and ensuring better returns on contributor’s funds.

He said: “Deepening Nigeria’s Capital Market through Maximum Utilization of Pension Funds is a conversation our country must continue to have in order to ensure that the impressive pool of savings we have been able to mobilize over the last decade is put to productive use for inclusive economic growth.

“We are confident that with greater participation by PFAs and return of retail investors, our capital market will emerge as one of the world’s biggest and most liquid market capable of supporting the socio-economic development of our country.

“We are delighted that the National Pension Commission, PenCom, has been very proactive in making the necessary adjustments to the guidelines that allow PFAs sufficient flexibility to determine their optimal strategic asset allocation.

“The draft new regulation on investment of pension fund assets allow the investment of up to 30% in equities (for Fund type 1) and up to 45% in corporate debt securities (for Fund types 3 and 4). As a whole, we believe the adoption of a multi-fund structure is a very positive development that should produce economies of scale, risk diversification and further deepen the Nigerian capital market through pension portfolios and management strategies of PFAs.


There is, therefore, an urgent need for the draft guidelines on multi-fund structure to be approved.

“The question is: Based on the current asset allocation by Nigerian PFAs, are they paying sufficient attention to generating the necessary returns to provide sustainable benefits to contributors? Can we say that Nigerian PFAs have achieved an optimal strategic asset allocation or explored all viable investment outlets?

“March 2016 data from PenCom shows that Nigerian PFAs invest only 8.16% of their assets in the domestic listed equities market and 1.24% of their assets in foreign equities.

1,000 policemen to secure $1.04bn Abuja-Kaduna rail

The Federal Government, yesterday, said it would mount over 1,000 policemen to secure the Abuja-Kaduna rail before and after the flag-off by President Buhari in the first week of July this year

The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, stated this during a test-run and inspection of the new train from Idu Station to Kubwa in Abuja.

 

He said: “We need about 1,000 policemen to secure Abuja-Kaduna rail and we are getting the policemen from the Nigerian Police Force to secure the rail-line, to ensure that everybody is safe, from Idu station to Kaduna and Kaduna station to Idu on a daily basis.

“Everybody will be protected in and out of the train. The reason we may delay a while is because we have to take into consideration the religious obligation of Mr. President so that we are able to bring him to flag off for commercial activities by first week of July, 2016.”

Chibok girls: Military launches Operation Crack Down to mop up Sambisa forest

Abuja—The Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, General Gabriel Olonisakin, yesterday in Lagos, raised the hope of Nigerians, particularly parents of the female students that were abducted from the Government Secondary School, in Chibok , Borno State, by terrorists two years ago, of their possible rescue, saying the troops were combing the Sambisa forest where most of the girls were suspected to be.

 

 

This came as Nigerian Army said its troops recorded a breakthrough when 77 members of the Boko Haram sect surrendered to soldiers of the 122 Task Force Battalion, even as 245 civilian hostages particularly women and children abducted by the terrorists while scores of the terrorists were killed.

Speaking with journalists while commissioning some projects put in place by the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ette Ibas, as part of activities marking the 60th anniversary of the Navy, the CDS revealed that the Military recently launched a special operation code named ‘Operation Crack Down’ to accomplish this aim.

He said the operation was a mop-up operation and a final onslaught against the Boko Haram insurgents, informing that the Military had deployed both ground and aerial operations, deep inside the Sambisa Forest, with the aim of completely routing all enclaves of Boko Haram and to rescue the abducted Chibok girls and other victims as well.

According to him: “The operation is progressing. Part of its benefit was the recent rescue of one of the Chibok girls and another one as it were, earlier. The operation is ongoing and we will continue to move into Sambisa until we rid that place of all terrorists. As long as that is on, we will continue until we clear the whole area. We will continue to ensure we step up our game.”

Giving detail of the operations, Acting Director of Army Public relations, Col. Sani Usman said, “Nigerian troops deployed in Operation Lafiya Dole and their neighbouring counterparts under the Multinational Joint Task Force have been very busy clearing the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists in their respective areas of responsibilities. In the process, they were able to rescue quite a number of abducted persons, arrested suspected Boko Haram terrorists, recovered weapons and equipment.

The troops of 81 Battalion and 251 Task Force Battalion,  25 Task Force Brigade on 30th May 2016,  received 79 persons  who claimed to have been kept captives by Boko Haram terrorists at Ngwalimiri village but escaped at their location.

IPOB/Army clash: Relations move victims from hospitals to unknown places

MANY relations of injured victims of the Biafra Day clash between security operatives and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, in parts of Anambra State were believed to be moving them out of the hospitals where they were initially admitted for treatment to unknown places for fear that members of the state’s Joint Security Task Force might be hunting for them.

This came on the heels of an allegation by the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule Law, a civil rights group, that security operatives shot, killed, picked corpses and buried the victims in unknown places.

Vanguard gathered that between Monday and yesterday, scores of shot victims were removed from some of the hospitals where they were admitted after the clash and taken to undisclosed clinics within and beyond the state by their relatives and sympathizers.

Some of the relations said they received information that the victims might be arrested on their hospital beds if they were found in the hospitals.

According to them, apart from high medical bills and other financial challenges, there were fears that soldiers might storm the hospitals to abduct them.

In the meantime, the chairman of board of trustees of INTERSOCIETY, Mr. Emeka Umeagbalsi, said that investigations by his organization showed that the casualty figures were swelling in number on a daily basis.

He said that information at the disposal of the organization showed that 14 critically injured persons were at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, 15 at the Multicare Hospital, Nkpor and nine at St. Mary’s Hospital, Nnewi.

He also said that there were scores of others in other private hospitals, such as Crown and St Michael Hospitals in Nkpor, while others were at Okija, Asaba, among other places.

Meanwhile, the Secretary General of Igbo Improvement Union, Chief Edozie Njoku, yesterday, urged the Federal Government to address the issue of MASSOB and IPOB carefully and without bias.

In a statement made available to Vanguard, Njoku said IPOB did not do more harm than the herdsmen, who had been ravaging parts of the country and yet security operatives had not reacted the way they did to IPOB.

He said: “The Fulani herdsmen are committing more harm than the IPOB and MASSOB and there has not been any reprisal from the Federal Government. Those of us who supported the president during election must now start crying out and we want to say that enough is enough.

“There is no justification for soldiers to kill innocent protesters. The president is supposed to be father to all Nigerians and my advice is that he and his advisers should re-strategize on how to deal with issues of this nature.”

Catholic priest denies arrest

Meanwhile, residents of Nkpor near Onitsha were yesterday allegedly thrown into panic, while some ran away from their homes to take refuge  inside the bush following alleged sporadic shooting by soldiers, who invaded the place at about 7.30p.m.

The incident, according to an eye witness, took people who were returning from the day’s business activities by surprise.

The soldiers were said to have on arrival started shooting into the air to scare people away which made  some to pass the night inside the bush, from where they were making calls to their friends and well-wishers to narrate their ordeal.

Calls to Vanguard by two of the victims alleged that the soldiers came to arrest the parish priest and catechist of St Edmund’s Catholic Parish, Maryland, Nkpor Agu in Idemili North Local Government Area, Rev. Fr. Dave Ojukwu and Ejima Ofoegbu respectively.

However, when newsmen visited the church yesterday morning, the parish priest, Rev. Ojukwu was seen walking around the church and when asked to confirm his alleged arrest by soldiers, he said nothing like that happened, adding that he had received a lot of calls from well-wishers about his alleged arrest.

According to him: “You can see me walking around the church. I am doing this  to dispel the rumour that I was arrested yesterday  night. I want to tell you that nothing like that happened.  Nobody arrested me.”

Ohanaeze flays killings

In another development, the pan-Igbo cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has condemned  the killing of members of MASSOB  and IPOB,  saying it is outrageous and traumatizing.

A statement by the Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Joe Nworgu, and made available to Vanguard, yesterday, stated that they were unimpressed and unconvinced by the talk of provocation.

The Igbo group therefore urged the Federal Government as well as the Anambra State government to set up an investigative panel with a view to finding out what happened on Monday, May 30, 2016.

According to them, the attack on innocent people by the security operatives on a day the pro-Biafra activists were peacefully demonstrating was uncalled for.

“What level of provocation will warrant the firing of tear gas, without first calling on a crowd to disperse? The tear gas was followed by a salvo of gunfire with live-bullets.All Nigerians and indeed all people who like humanity must condemn in its entirety this heinous display of brutality. This is everything except gallantry,” they added.

They also noted: “The two organizations are sworn believers in non-violence. They  say, and we believe them that they were totally unarmed at the time of the onslaughts. The Igbo nation is outraged and condemns these killings in strongest terms. Such never happens whether under the military dictatorship or democracy. Ndigbo are known democrats from time  immemorial. We believe in competition. We are not a violent people.

“We are unhappy with the continued bloodletting visited on our people and want such nefarious events to cease forthwith.”

Condoling with the families of those killed and sympathizing with the injured, the Igbo group warned that such events should never occur in their land.

False allegations

Spurred by the statemement accredited to the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase,  IPOB has accused the  IGP  of allegedly making false allegations against the group, saying that his directive to the police to disarm its members was a way of “providing the smoking gun” with which the Department of State Services, DSS, would convince the judge trying its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, that IPOB was a violent organisation.

IPOB made this known in a statement by its Spokespersons, Emma Nmezu and Dr. Clifford Chukwuemeka Iroanya, yesterday.

“You can tell all the lies in the world and try to manufacture evidence for your colleagues in the DSS so that they can use it against the leader of IPOB, but the incontrovertible fact is that nobody can stop the restoration of the nation of Biafra,” they said, wondering why Arase had not reacted to the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari that armed Fulani herdsmen be disarmed and their sophisticated weapons taken away from them.

Archbishop Obinna reacts

Meantime,the Catholic Archbishop of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Anthony J. V. Obinna, has reacted angrily at the way he was linked to the protest march of loyalists of  IPOB, and  MASSOB, in Anambra State.

Speaking exclusively to Vanguard in Owerri, yesterday, Archbishop Obinna said he chose to react “for the sake of those, who may have been misled by internet or media reports about my presence in Onitsha, on May 30, 2016.”

The Archbishop explained that he left Owerri for Anambra State, for the funeral of Rev. Sr. Innocentia Ehirim at the Immaculate Heart Convent, Nkpor.

“After the Holy Mass and the burial of the Rev. Sister, and in the process of returning to Owerri through the same Nkpor-Onitsha route through which we came, we noticed that burning tyres had been set up by youths blocking and preventing the normal flow of traffic,” Obinna recalled,stressing that he was accompanied   on the trip by a good number of priests, religious and laity, since the late Sr. Innocentia had worked for 10 years in the Archdiocese of Owerri, before her later postings.

“From Ihiala, signs of unrest began to be seen with unusual road blocks. In my case, we arrived at our destination without much inconvenience.”

I remain PDP’s chairman, Sheriff tells court

The embattled Senator Ali Modu Sheriff has told a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, that he remained the National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

He described the Caretaker Committee headed by Senator Ahmed Makarfi as a group of “usurpers” and a “contraption” set up in defiance of valid court orders.

Sheriff, through his lawyer, Mr. Ajibola Oluyede, is conse-quently asking the court to hold that only he could preside over a convention or meeting to chose party leaders.

PDP had sued Sheriff, Professor Adewale Oladipo, who was PDP National Secretary; Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC; Inspector-General of Police and Department of State Services, DSS, before Justice I. Liman.

The judge had restrained Sherriff and Oladipo from parading themselves as Chairman, Secretary or members of the National Executive Committee, NEC, or National Working Committee, NWC, of the party until the suit was determined.

However, Sheriff and Oladipo, in a motion on notice before the court, are arguing that those who sued them in PDP’s name lacked “the authority and locus” to institute the suit on the party’s behalf.

They are also praying the court to discharge the ex parte order restraining them from holding their offices.

They said Justice Liman made the order on May 24, 12 days after Justice Ibrahim Buba of the court’s Lagos division restrained the party from conducting elections into offices of Chairman, Secretary and Auditor.

According to them, PDP is a corporate entity and can only be “invoked” by the National Executive Committee, of which they (Sheriff and Oladipo) are principal officers.

They said PDP NWC, which is still under their control, did not instruct anyone to file the action on the party’s behalf.

They said that only the NWC was responsible for the day to day administration of the PDP and had the authority to institute or instruct anyone to file a suit in the party’s name.

Breaking: Buhari cancels visit to Ogoni land- Government Source

President Muhammadu Buhari has canceled at the last minute a visit planned for Thursday to the oil-producing Niger Delta, which has been hit by a wave of militant attacks, a government source said.

 

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will instead visit the restive southern region to launch a cleanup program of the Ogoniland, an area badly hit by oil spills, the source said, without giving a reason for Buhari’s cancellation, reports Reuters.

Buhari had already skipped a visit to the commercial capital Lagos in the south last month at the last minute.

Posters with his picture had been already hung up to welcome the president before his spokesman cited “scheduling” difficulties.

It would have been the first visit of the former military ruler to the Delta since taking office in May last year. Critics have accused Buhari, a Muslim from the north, of ignoring the predominately Christian south.

The southern Delta swamps have been hit by a series of militant attacks on oil and gas pipelines which have brought Nigeria’s oil output to a 20-year low.

Hours after the announcement of Buhari’s visit to the swamps on Tuesday the Niger Delta Avengers militant group, which has claimed several attacks on Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell facilities, issued a warning to oil firms that their “facilities and personnel will bear the brunt of our fury”.

The Avengers have accused Buhari of ignoring local problems.

Buhari said on Sunday the government would hold talks with leaders in Nigeria’s main oil-producing region to address their grievances, in a bid to stop a surge in pipeline attacks.

Residents in the swamp areas have for years complained about oil industry pollution and about economic marginalization by the government.

Local officials and Western allies such as Britain have told Buhari that moving army reinforcements to the Delta region would not be enough to stop the attacks and that the population’s grievances should be dealt with.

Breaking: Two soldiers feared killed in suspected militants attack

SUSPECTED militants on Wednesday evening attacked a military houseboat and allegedly killed two soldiers at Efe-Ugbokodo area in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State.

A security source, who spoke to Vanguard on phone, said the attack occurred around 6.30 p.m.

“I cannot give you details of the incident but I can confirm to you that a military houseboat was attacked by suspected militants.

“I cannot confirm the number of causalities to you right now as details of the incident is still trickling in, but am sure that later today, we would get details on the true position of things,” the source added.

Vanguard learned that only two soldiers were guarding the houseboat when the militants, who understand the terrain very well struck.

Majority of the soldiers were said to have gone on their different beats in the creeks and the militants studied their movement.

We are not part of Biafra, says Delta SSG

ASABA-THE Delta State Government, Wednesday said the people of the State are not part of the proposed Biafra Republic, reaffirming their belief in one and united Nigeria.

In a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Chief Festus Agas, urged the people of the state to remain law abiding and go about their normal business without fear.

Agas said; “we object in its totality, the inclusion of Delta State without our consent in the proposed Biafra Republic.

“This clarification has become necessary to avoid any confusion or misunderstanding regarding the status of Delta State in the renewed Biafra agitation.”

Continuing, he said; “while some communities in Delta state may have cultural affinity with the people of the South East , it is clearly a patent error for anybody or group to suggest or insinuate that Delta state or more specifically the Anioma people have been or are part of the South East that is supposed to make up the proposed Biafra Republic”.

Frowning at the renewed agitation of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, for the realisation of independent State of Biafra, he said the campaign which has been in formal of rallies in the South East, often extends to to the South South State, notably Rivers and Delta.

Meanwhile, the ‎foundation of stone of BIM-MASSOB Secretariat has been laid at Ubulu-Uku and Ibusa in Aniocha South and Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State respectively by the presiding Bishop of Jesus the Shepherd Ministry, Dr. A.S. Mogekwu.

‎Reacting to the violent clash, the Delta North Zonal Leader of the Biafra Independent Movement (BIM) and Movement for Actualization sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Mr. Chinedu Anieifeobu, supported by his Commander of Security, Prince Ignatus Adiliajana, who supervised the inauguration of the new secretariat in Ubulu-Uku, and the Delta Central Zonal Leader, Mr. Uju Christian, dissociated BIM-MASSOB from the alleged killing.

They wondered why some agitators under IPOB became violent and condemned the dangerous twist the agitation had assumed.

Jonathan arrives hometown, Otuoke

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has arrived his hometown, Otuoke, according to a reliable source.

The president was welcomed by friends and well-wishers at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers state, earlier today when he arrived from his multi-city speaking tour.

Nigerians on Wednesday, took to the social media, reacting to the arrival of former President Goodluck Jonathan back to the country, after spending several weeks abroad on a multi-city speaking tour in the United Kingdom, United States of America, Côte d’Ivoire among others.

  

More oil woes as militants blow up Chevron’s wells

Nigeria’s oil production suffered another decline as the militant group, Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, attacked Chevron’s facilities, yesterday.

This came as leaders of besieged Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South-West Local Government Area, Delta State, yesterday, and called on the Federal and Delta State governments, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, and other humanitarian organizations to come to the assistance of thousands of refugees of the current crisis in the kingdom.

This is even as Niger Delta elders raised the alarm that some unpatriotic but powerful individuals with an agenda to destabilise President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and return Nigeria to the dark days, are responsible for the spate of bombings of oil facilities in the area, using a faceless group known as Niger Delta Avengers.

The NDA attacked  Chevron’s oil wells at Dibi, Warri North Local Government Area, while soldiers, who had laid siege to Oporoza and other Gbaramatu communities in Warri South West Local Government Area, in the last five days, were carrying out cordon-and-search operations for arms and ammunition.

Ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, who seems to be the chief target of the Joint Task Force, JTF, in the Niger Delta, in a statement, claimed he had relocated from Gbaramatu Kingdom, but it appears the military does not believe him.

NDA claims responsibility

Claiming responsibility for the attack, Niger Delta Avengers on its twitter handle @NDAvengers, said:  “With the heavy presence of 100 gunboats, 4 warships and jet bombers, NDA blew up Chevron oil well RMP 23 and RMP 24 at 3. 44 am this (yesterday) morning.

“This is to show the whole world that the Nigeria military is good in harassing innocent Nigerians. RMP 24 and RMP 23 are Chevron swamp highest producing wells.”

Confirming the incident, a security staff of the company told US on phone that the head office of the company had been contacted on the incident and efforts were on to curtail the spill.


A source told US:  “It was in Warri North, Egbema Kingdom, at Opia/Ikia axis, around Dibi/Olero. It started from around 3:15 a.m. until around 4:45 a.m. this morning (yesterday). There was no shoot-out heard.”

Oil production dips further

The blowing up of the oil wells  came at a time crude oil price at the international market declined from $50 recorded last week to $49 per barrel on market pessimism over whether the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, could cut a meaningful agreement at its meeting in Vienna on Thursday.

According to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, sources, the country’s oil production has gone below 1.2 million barrels recorded early this week.

At press time, we could not confirm the combined production capacity of Chevron’s RMP 23 and RMP 24 facilities attacked by the militants, as the company’s Director of Communications, Sola Adebawo, declined to comment. In response to Vanguard’s enquiry, he said; “Thank you for your enquiry. We cannot comment on security matters. Regards.”

 

This is the third attack launched on Chevron’s facilities in less than three months.

Apart from decline in oil production, the spate of pipeline attacks have also threatened power supply across the country, which relies on gas from some of the ruptured pipelines to power the plants.

In the last four months, the country has recorded over eight pipeline attacks on facilities belonging to the NNPC and IOCs. Some of those affected by the attacks include Chevron, ExxonMobil, NNPC, Agip and Shell.

Oil trades  1% lower

Meanwhile, oil traded one per cent lower at around $49 per barrel on market pessimism over whether OPEC could cut a meaningful agreement at its meeting in Vienna, today.

According to Reuters, Gary Ross, a veteran OPEC watcher and founder of US-based PIRA consultancy, the market was getting more pessimistic not only about “non-OPEC but also about OPEC supply.

“The main story today is the one of declining output. The global demand is still growing strongly and that works in OPEC’s favour,” he said.

The 13-member OPEC will, for the first time, meet with Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s new oil minister, who has been outspoken about not reducing oil production.

Gulf OPEC members, including Saudi Arabia, are looking to revive the idea of co-ordinated oil-output action by major producers.

Gbaramatu leaders beg for aid for stranded refugees

Secretary of Egbema/ Gbaramatu Foundation, Jude Ukori, who expressed shock at the development, said: “We want to appeal to those behind these activities to desist. Egbema is not home to militancy and we do not want to be part of it.

“We have always co-operated with security agencies where we have what they need, but we are not security agents and we do not have what it takes to face whoever is behind these destructions; we can only appeal for peace.”

On the situation of the refugees created by the crisis, spokesperson of Gbaramatu Traditional Council, GTC, Chief Godspower Gbenekama, who castigated the state government for allegedly looking the other way while soldiers terrorized the people, admitted that the invasion by soldiers was taking its toll on inhabitants.

He said panic-stricken residents of Oporoza, who fled to neighbouring Azama community, had been rendered homeless without medical care for about four days, while those who managed to find their way to Ogbe-Ijoh, Warri and other places were also roaming the streets.

Chief Gbenekama, who called on the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, to come to the aid of Gbaramatu people, asserted:  “There is humanitarian crisis on ground now. I have been calling NEMA on phone, I am not getting them and the whole of Gbaramatu is locked down.

“Though, a few of the people that fled into the bush had found their way to Ogbe-Ijoh, Warri and other places, many are still trapped in the forest.

“As I speak, there are many refugees in my residence in Warri, it is difficult catering for them, the whole place is full, they cannot even find where to sleep and feeding is another problem.

“That is for those who managed to get to Warri.  What of those still stranded in the bush?  It is more difficult for them, no accommodation and medical care and I am surprised that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, who rode on the back of Gbaramatu people to power, is sleeping in Asaba, while soldiers are bullying those that voted him to power.”

Invasion affecting WAEC, NECO candidates

Speaking in the same vein, Chairman of Kokodiagbene community, Sheriff Mulade, said: “The invasion by soldiers affected the on-going school certificate examinations organized by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO).

“Hundreds of students, who ran into the bush because of the invasion, are yet to be accounted for, while the academic session has been disrupted.”

He said because of the prevailing situation, schools in the area had shut down and appealed to both the federal and state governments to step in and arrest the situation.

Youths disown Avengers

Youths of Urhobo, Itsekiri, Isoko and Ndokwa oil producing ethnic nationalities in Delta State have also dissociated themselves from the rage of bombing of oil assets by the NDA, warning the militant group to stop dragging the name of the Niger Delta in the mud.

Youth presidents of Urhobo, Itsekiri, Isoko and Ndokwa ethnic groups stated their displeasure at a joint meeting in  Warri  to take a collective stand on the militant group.

The communiqué, signed by Terry Obieh and others, read: “You cannot engage in one wrong to cure another wrong, and to that extent, the purported Avengers’ struggle is actuated by over ambition, which we cannot identify with.

“There are more peaceful ways to draw the attention of government to a cause, however germane, and not through the unconscionable and mindless destruction of  facilities that serve the entire nation.

Oshiomhole appeals to NDA to stop blowing pipelines

Ahead of President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Rivers State for the clean-up of oil spillages in Ogoniland today, Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has appealed to the Niger Delta agitators, especially the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, to stop attacking oil and gas installations in the region.

Oshiomhole made the appeal, yesterday, while speaking with State House  correspondents after a private meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said: “When you are dealing with security issues, the options are not best discussed in the media. What I can say is that this President deserves the support of everyone and there is no part of Nigeria that can be better off without the other part.

“The sooner we accept this reality the better for all of us. The days of ethnic champions and imaginary divides will not help anyone. I believe that the President has shown leadership. He has shown determination to keep the country going. For once, we are enjoying respect  in world capitals, on different continents.

“Part of the challenge we are facing today is that quite a number of our young people are out of jobs, even in our budget, the President on his own, without prompting, decided to devote as much as half a trillion naira to social investments that targeted at the poorest among us.

“We do not need to be security experts to accept the universal truth that wherever there is insecurity, there will be no investment  because no investor will go to where he is unsafe. And where there is no investment, poverty will be endemic because there will be no job for our people.

I appeal to all of us in the South-South, we need to wake up. It is for our own self interest that we make the region unsafe for investments. The assets being destroyed are not just national assets, it is our own assets. It is what makes the South-South the hub of the Nigerian economy and we should not neutralize it through whatever pretenses. There is something Abiola said which I think is apt in this case, that is: if a tree falls in the forest, chances are that it can only kill somebody in that forest,  not somebody at home.”

Army should release seized students, others – NAGS

National Association of Gbaramatu Students, NAGS, in a statement by the president, Seiyefa Ekpemupolo, in Warri, enjoined the international community to come to the aid of their people, following the siege and invasion of the kingdom by the Nigerian military.

It said: “We have to raise the alarm about the torture, pains and suffering being meted to our people by the military which had laid siege to our kingdom. We condemn the invasion, as our people are neither militants nor members of the Avengers. We call on the United Nations to call President Buhari and his occupational army to order.

“Our students are out of school following the invasion and cannot prepare or sit for the common entrance and junior WAEC that will start in days,” it said.

It’s plot to   destabilise  Buhari’s admin— N-Delta elders

Meanwhile, Niger Delta elders, yesterday, raised the alarm that some unpatriotic but powerful individuals with an agenda to destabilise the Muhammadu Buhari administration and return Nigeria to the dark days, were responsible for the spate of bombings of oil facilities in the Niger Delta using a faceless group known as Niger Delta Avengers.

The elders, who spoke at a media briefing under the aegis of Concerned Niger Delta Elders, in Abuja, alleged that the sponsors of the bombings were uncomfortable with the pro-development and anti-corruption drive of the present administration and had, therefore, adopted sponsored attacks to create chaos to bring Nigeria backward for their selfish interest.

“We are fully aware that those vested interests, who have held Nigeria back for so long, will not give up without a fight. They will sow divisions, sponsor vile press criticisms at home and abroad, incite the public in an effort to create chaos, rather than relinquish the vice-like grip they have on Nigeria,” the elders said.

The National Coordinator of the elders under the aegis of Concerned Niger Delta Elders, CNDE, High Chief Mike Ekayama Loyibo, who read the position of the elders, described Niger Delta Avengers as faceless, destructive elements bent on destroying the common heritage and the mainstay of Nigeria.

The elders said they were fully in support of the current efforts of Buhari to bring development to the region and would not support any form of destruction, which had crippled the transformation of the area in the past and caused untold hardship for innocent persons in the communities.

Lobiyo said: “While acknowledging that violence is not a solution to any human problem, we throw our weight behind the President to take decisive actions in addressing the issue, seeing that the vandals are sabotaging the efforts of Mr. President to bring speedy development to the Niger Delta.

“We advise that the Niger Delta Avengers join hands with forward-looking citizens to appreciate the obstacles we as a country have overcome and the progress the country has made under the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari this far, to help strengthen the plans the government had put in place to return Nigeria to the path of progress.”

Navy ‘arrests, quizzes’ NNPC pipeline bombing suspects

The Nigerian Navy ship, NNS DELTA, has interrogated seven suspects over various criminal activities in the coastal region of Delta.

Flag Officer Commanding, FOC, Central Naval Command, Muhammed Garba, told journalists, yesterday, at the Warri Naval Base that the suspects were apprehended in the last one week in Batan community and environs, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta.

He said five others were yet to be interrogated, while seven Cotonou boats and 490 metric tons of illegally refined diesel were also apprehended in the period.

Garba said five of them were interrogated for alleged involvement in the recent bombing of the NNPC installations.

The Naval boss explained that one of the suspects was involved in the alleged killing of two soldiers on May 10 at Batan community, while the last suspect was being quizzed for extortion.