El-zakzaky’s Followers List 5 Conditions For Peace

  by RemmyAlex

Leaders of Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria yesterday, in Abuja have itemised five conditions for possible truce, chief among them is the immediate release of their spiritual leader, Sheikh El-Zakzaky.

The sect also insisted that the killing of its members by Nigerian soldiers in Zaria, Kaduna State, was unprovoked.

The embattled group’s leaders said:

1. We want the army to hand over our leader, Sheikh El-Zakzaky, to us immediately for medical care. 

2. We ask the military to release all our arrested members. 

3. We ask for the army to stop molestation of our members; all corpses of our brothers and sisters killed by the army should be released for proper Islamic burial. 

4. We want full compensation for the lives lost as well as our properties destroyed;

5. and we want a full-scale investigation and prosecution of culprits involved in the killing of our members.

Giwa said that since the Saturday incident, their members have continued to suffer more deaths with the Tuesday incident when men of the Nigerian Police Mobile Force attacked their members and killed four.

“We had no premeditated plan to attack the chief of army staff as claimed by the army,” said Giwa. “On that fateful day when we were getting set to celebrate the Maulud of our holy prophet at the Husseiniyya prayer ground, the Nigerian Army came and stationed a detachment of soldiers there and the military presence created tension amongst our members. Even when the COAS came to pass, there was no incident at all. But two hours later, soldiers came back and began to open fire on our members. More than 300 people were killed there.” 

- Leadership

MOURINHO SACKED AND IT'S ALL HIS OWN Fault. WHO'S THE SPECIALIST IN FAILURE NOW?

By James Goldman
PREMIER LEAGUE

Getty Images

The Special One has been sacked by the Stamford Bridge club for the second time in his career and with disharmony in the squad rife he has nobody to blame but himself

Deja vu but with a difference. For all the talk of dynasties and domination Jose Mourinho has been sacked as manager of Chelsea for the second time.

But unlike seven years ago, he leaves nothing but a trail of destruction and scorched earth in his wake.

Just seven short months ago Mourinho was cavorting around Wembley, sliding along the rain-sodden turf celebrating victory over Tottenham in the Capital One Cup final, claiming he was very much in it for the long haul.

A few weeks later the Premier League trophy returned to Stamford Bridge after a five-year absence with Mourinho having masterminded a campaign of total domination, his opponents reduced to rubble.

With Christmas approaching, however, his goose is finally cooked. The man who delighted in calling his main adversary a specialist in failure is now a specialist in getting sacked. Real Madrid had enough of him and his attention seeking antics, now Chelsea have dispensed with him for a second time. 

Where and what next for Mourinho is a matter for another day. Perhaps a break will do the 52-year-old the world of good and offer him a much needed opportunity to reflect on where it all went wrong. He won’t have to look further than the mirror.

In the cold light of day the car crash of a season he has presided over is largely of his own making. While he has been pointing the finger at anyone that moves, be it the Football Association, referees and even his now former physio, in the cold light of day he can only reflect that this was a mess of his own making.

The board may have failed to deliver him the players he wanted to elevate a title-winning side to one capable of challenging the La Liga heavyweights and Bayern Munich, but there is no way a team that finished eight points ahead of the pack last season should now find themselves embroiled in a fight to preserve their Premier League status.

Mourinho has turned champions into chumps. Eden Hazard, last season’s player of the year, has failed to score in 27 games. Diego Costa has forgotten where the goal is, Cesc Fabregas could barely spell the word assist at present and stalwarts like John Terry, Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic look like washed up has-beens. 

In 2008, when the friction between Mourinho and Roman Ambramovich forced the latter to sack the former, Chelsea were still in a relatively healthy position. Indeed, a manager as limited and inexperienced as Avram Grant was able to steer the Blues to the brink of the title and was a missed penalty away from winning the Champions League.

Whoever inherits this mess of a squad has a far harder job on their hands. In their present state this current Chelsea team are capable of losing to anyone from Bournemouth to Barcelona. 

Incredibly, dragging the side away from relegation trouble becomes the primary objective before the new incumbent can even begin to think about restoring harmony and forging a path to the latter stages of this season’s champions League.

Mourinho’s behaviour has warranted the sack. He has been asking for it ever since the seven-minute monologue following defeat to Southampton back in October. For the first time this season he has what it appears he has wanted all along; a break from Chelsea and a break from football.

South African protesters insist on Zuma’s resignation

By Editor

 

President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma

IT is certainly not yet uhuru for the South African President Jacob Zuma as calls for his resignation is far from been over This followed massive protests across the cities in the country where protester demanded Zuma’s immediate resignation, the demand they premised on the economic turmoil the sacking of the much respected Finance Minister, Nhlanhla Nene, triggered off. President Zuma was left badly bruised when he fired Nene last week in favour of little-known green horn David van Rooyen, who was removed after only four days in office. An earlier call for Zuma’s resignation by some groups and financial analysts was on Tuesday rebuffed by his party, ANC.

Zuma’s African National Congress (ANC) party, which has ruled since the end of apartheid in 1994, won the general election easily last year but could lose power in some major municipalities at local polls in 2016.

A protester, Theresa Giorza while speaking with AFP said, “We had such hopes in 1994 because of all the struggles to remove apartheid. “There were good leaders in place, and support for ANC at home and abroad. “Over time, lots of people started to feel it was going wrong. It has gone from bad to worse. Now it’s just rotten.”

The debacle over finance ministers triggered a market rout and fuelled opposition to Zuma, who has been buffeted by corruption scandals, a dire economy and charges of tarnishing Nelson Mandela’s legacy. Handing Van Rooyen the key finance portfolio fuelled fears that corrupt Zuma loyalists were calling the shots in government.

“This was another attempt to blunt the instruments of democracy,” said Zwelinzima Vavi, one of the march organisers.

“They wanted to grab the treasury for the interests of (those) who are eating from the carcass of our state.

“Jacob Zuma has demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that he doesn’t have what it takes to be a leader of a sophisticated democracy and economy.”

In one of the biggest crises of his rule, Zuma was forced into a dramatic U-turn, sacking Van Rooyen and re-appointing Pravin Gordhan, who was finance minister from 2009 to 2014.

During the debacle, the rand collapsed to historic lows as foreign investors pulled out and government bond yields jumped in a bout of pessimism over the future of Africa’s most advanced economy.

Hidden Fee Charges, others, a concern To Nigerian Students And Their Parents

By Editor

 

The international education market is fast expanding in scope and size. Undoubtedly, Nigeria is an ultra-rich hunting ground for foreign schools. Some see sending their wards abroad to study as a status symbol, others are doing so owing to the increasing lack of access in Nigeria tertiary institutions. Many of these foreign institutions are constantly wooing Nigerian students. The implication of this is that both good and bad are in equal measure. While some of these school placement agencies are merely looking for unsuspecting parents and students to fleece, the chances of hidden charges popping up in the course of the students’ academic odysseys remain high.

Why some opine that most Nigerian students study abroad just for the sake of status symbol, other stakeholders disagree with such assertion, insisting that foreign academic training remains the best especially in the area of professionalism, work etiquette amongst others.

Mrs. Ebi Obaro, President of Maple Education Canada Inc., and a member of Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council, is a firm believer of the later. According to her: “Maple does not have hidden charges. Right from the outset when we counsel our clients on admissions processing, we tell them what our charges are, hence, they sign an agreement called Initial Consultation Agreement (ICA), which explains our fees”. Saliently, Maple education is the only agency in Nigeria that ensures that a reputable staff of the agency travels with the students to their studying destination so as to host days of counseling sessions with the students where they are guided on major discourse such as cultural shock, need to constantly maintain good grades, among others.

However, several reasons necessitate Nigerian students questing to study abroad, such as lack of admissions, strike, unqualified instructors, lack of good infrastructures and facilities. To this end, The Guardian has beamed its searchlight on a few of them.

Global stocks rise, as oil prices edge upward

Stockbrokers on New York Exchange

Global stocks rose yesterday, while oil edged away from multi-year lows, though concerns about the potential impact of a widely anticipated increase in U.S. interest rates later this week kept investors nervous.

Oil reversed early falls and the euro rose against the dollar. Worries emanating from the high-risk U.S. corporate debt market about the prospect of a Federal Reserve rate hike on Wednesday weighed on low-rated euro zone government bonds.

Wall Street looked set to follow Europe and Asia higher, according to stock index futures ESc1 1YMc1.

European shares opened higher, after hitting 2-1/2-month lows on Monday when oil prices fell to their weakest since 2008, and were last up almost 2 per cent.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.3 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei stock index .N225 ended down 1.7 percent at a 7-1/2-week low and Chinese stocks .SSEC .CSI300 lost 0.3-0.5 per cent.

Brent crude LCOc1 rose, as prices close to 11-year lows brought in bargain-hunters. The global benchmark for oil rose 58 cents to $38.50 a barrel. It fell on Monday as low as $36.33, its weakest since December 2008. A fall below $36.20 would take it back to levels last seen in mid-2004.

Prices have been falling for weeks due to a global glut of oil and, in the northern hemisphere, a mild start to winter.

Low oil prices and worries about higher interest rates have sent shockwaves through the energy-dominated U.S. high-yield corporate bond markets.

Almost $2 trillion of debt sold by energy and mining companies since 2010, much of it in the form of high-yield or ‘junk’ bonds from small shale gas firms, is facing a wave of credit rating downgrades, and defaults are rising

Losses this year, as measured by the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG.P), are around 12 per cent, in what some investors see as an echo of the 2008 credit crisis.

Credit market concerns have also pushed the yield premium of short-term Italian and Spanish bonds IT2YT=TWEBES2YT=TWEB over German benchmarks DE2YT=TWEB to their highest since July.

“On the one hand, if you saw a material rise in corporate bond defaults, you could expect spreads to be wider than they are today,” Mark Dowding, co-head of investment grade debt at BlueBay Asset Management, said.

“But if you are going into this world of rising defaults, all things being equal central banks will need to do more policy accommodation, so actually it raises the prospect of the ECB needing to do more QE,” or quantitative easing.

The first U.S. rate rise since 2006 is largely priced in, with the Fed expected to increase its targeted rate range to 0.25-0.5 per cent from the current zero to 0.25 per cent.

The dollar index .DXY, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of its peers, held steady. The euro EUR= rose 0.1 per cent to $1.0997, having climbed as far as $1.1059, while the yen JPY= weakened 0.1 per cent to 121.11 per dollar.

“Given all the concerns, there is a risk that the Fed could opt for a dovish rate hike and downgrade the path for future rate increases,” said Yujiro Goto, currency strategist at Nomura.

Platini to boycott Fifa ethics hearing on corruption

Platini

Suspended Fifa vice-president Michel Platini will boycott an ethics committee hearing into allegations of corruption tomorrow.

Lawyers for the Frenchman, who is also president of Uefa, believe the “verdict is already announced”.

He is accused of receiving a £1.35m “disloyal payment” from Fifa president Sepp Blatter – who is also banned and facing ethics charges over the claim.

Both deny wrongdoing and were due to have personal hearings on Friday.

Blatter, 79, has compared the investigation against him to “the Inquisition”, while 60-year-old Platini’s attempt to lift his 90-day provisional ban from football denied by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 11 December.

A verdict could come as early as 21 December, although both men could then submit further appeals.

Platini still hopes to be a candidate to replace the outgoing Blatter in the world football governing body’s presidential election on 26 February – but can only stand if he is cleared.

Port Harcourt /Aba train service kicks off

By Ann Godwin, Port Harcourt

Rotimi Amaechi

THE Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has kicked off Aba-Port Harcourt mass transit train service, saying governance should be separated from politics.

Amaechi explained that the Federal Government was determined and ready to partner with the Abia State government to bring development in the state irrespective of its political party affiliation.

The minister while speaking during the ceremony in Port Harcourt yesterday, said the train, which would run between Port Harcourt and Aba would enhance commercial activities and foster integration among the people of Rivers and Abia states.

He further disclosed that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari plans to revive the railway sub-sector and achieve a system that is modern, safe and affordable.

He said the project would serve as a vehicle for sustainable development, social harmony and political stability.

Amaechi added: “I wish to inform you that the Federal Government is opening a space for public-private initiative in the transport sector.

“The government through the public- private partnership initiative will redevelop the major railway stations within the country, under the railway modernisation programme, government will achieve an efficient rail network.”

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Strengthen your research outfit for effective policy formation Sanusi tells CIBN

By Helen Oji

..Onasanya urges banks to be wary of another bubble
The former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Dr. Joseph Sanusi has stressed the need for the chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) to strengthen and reposition its research unit to enable it assert firm position on government’s monetary and fiscal policies.

Besides, the outgoing Group Managing Director/CEO, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Bisi Stephen Onasanya, also warned that Nigerian banks need to be extremely cautious and careful with the current financial challenges to avoid creating another bubble and burst in the system,

Sanusi, who made the statement at the 3rd CIBN Valedictory Lecture organized for the outgoing Group Managing Director/CEO, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Bisi Stephen Onasanya, submitted that the institute, going by its growth trajectory, has a significant role to play in sharpening government policies and decisions especially in the current economic quagmire.

“The institute should develop full financial independence and self sufficient in its activities not relying on the CBN or banks to sustain its activities so that it can come up boldly about economic policies.

Sanusi added; “You need to implore and strengthen your research department so that you can influence and make contributions on government’s fiscal policy decisions. The institute have a strong role to play in the economy. It is a well respected institute so you should make your honour felt especially at this challenging time.”

While delivering a speech at the 3rd CIBN valedictory lecture entitled ‘Banks, Bankers and the Imperatives for Sustainable Banking’, Onasanya, who warned that Nigerian banks needed to be extremely cautious and careful with the current financial challenges to avoid another bubble and burst in the system, however urged banks to be stronger to fund and develop the real sector rather than chasing profitability by all means even with destructive tendencies.

“A failed bank eventually hurts depositors, and by its implications for the health of the industry, the larger economy. In this context, and learning from my 30 years’ experience in banking, the scenarios playing out in the last couple of months strikes me as the replay of the activities leading to the 1999 banking system crises.

Russia seeks compensation for its downed plane

By Editor

Russia has demanded payment for its warplane downed last month by Turkey near the Syrian border. A top Russian diplomat said yesterday that Turkey should pay compensation for the Russian warplane it shot down, a call Turkey had rejected.

The downing of the Su-24 and the deaths of two Russian servicemen strained the traditionally warm relations between the two countries.

Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov said that it still expects Ankara to apologize, pay the compensation and provide guarantees that it will never happen again.

The Russian Su-24 was on a bombing mission near the Turkish-Syrian border with a two-man crew when it was shot down on November 24. One of the pilots was killed, while the second was rescued. A Russian marine was killed during the rescue operation.

Turkey said the jet violated its airspace but Moscow had denied that claim, saying that it would show the jet’s black box to international experts to prove its point.

In Ankara, a Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman, Tanju Bilgic has said that Moscow should not expect apology or compensation. “If (Russia) guarantees that there won’t be a violation of Turkish airspace, a similar incident won’t happen again.”

Earlier this month, Russia imposed economic sanctions on Turkey, including a ban on foodstuffs imports and recently took the issue of Turkey’s deployment of troops in Iraq to the U.N. Security Council.

Rival Libyan leaders hold national unity talks in Malta

By PHOTO: AFP

THE heads of Libya’s two rival parliaments have met for the first time. Agila Salah, from the internationally recognised congress in the eastern city of Tobruk, and Nouri Abusahmen, from the Tripoli-based General National Congress, held talks in Malta. But the expected signing of a UN plan for a national unity government has been put back till today.

Libya has been in chaos since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. Amid the turmoil the country has become a major departure point for some of the thousands of migrants travelling to Europe.
BBC reported that there had been international concern that the Islamic State group was taking advantage of the instability to expand inside Libya.

The meeting in Malta between the two men came after weekend talks in Rome in which world powers urged Libya’s warring factions to stop fighting and back a unity government.

Whether they will sign is far from certain. Mr Salah pleaded for more time, warning that “acting hastily would lead to more problems in the future.
For his part Mr Abusahmen said “we will not accept foreign intervention against the will of the Libyan people” referring to the UN-backed deal.

There are divisions within both parliaments on the UN accord. One GNC member said the two leaders were attempting to forge a separate deal without UN involvement.

Bye Bye to APC in Bayelsa —Dickson

By Samuel Oyadongha & Emem Idio

Yenagoa—Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State says the defection of over 2,000 members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state marks the gradual winding up of the APC in Bayelsa State.

But the APC governorship candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, through the Director of Media and Publicity of Sylva-Igiri Campaign Organisation, Chief Nathan Egba,  advised its members in the state to be wary of the antics of the PDP to lure them to its fold.

Dickson, who alongside chieftains of the PDP received the decampees in Yenagoa, said the action of more defectors from the APC to the PDP was an indication of the fact that the machinations of the APC have been exposed as displayed in the governorship election in the state.

The returnees, according to the governor, were deceived by the leadership of the APC, noting that, now that they have known the truth, they have retraced their steps to the PDP.

Assuring the returnees of the readiness of the leadership of the PDP to give them a sense of belonging, Dickson said the umbrella was big enough to accommodate them.

On the violence that marred the conduct of the re-scheduled governorship election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, he said the APC should be held responsible, noting that instead of preparing people for the election, the APC was preparing the innocent youths for violence.

“This ceremony of receiving APC defectors is most significant, because it signals the winding up of APC in Bayelsa State, which is known as operation winding up APC in Bayelsa. I listened to your reasons for being deceived into the APC fold, so you all shall be carried along in the new government and as your fathers, we believe you have not done anything wrong.”

Similarly, Dickson said that as the governor of the state, he was prepared to receive everyone, and all political parties, including defectors from the APC and Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM unconditionally.

He commended youths from Ekowe and Amassoma as well as women for their gallantry in resisting the soldiers who collaborated with militants in carting away ballot boxes at gun point on the election day and even daring to wait and vote by midnight amidst threats, winning their units.

Don’t fall for PDP’s antics, Bayelsa APC warns members

Meanwhile, the Sylva-Igiri Campaign Organisation, SICO, has advised its members in the state, to be wary of the antics of the PDP, to lure them to their fold.

Director of Media and Publicity of SICO, Chief Nathan Egba, in a statement in Yenagoa, said, that the advice became necessary in view of the “devious plans” of the PDP to entice members of the APC in the state.”

According to him, “Among such plans is the recent act of inviting unsuspecting APC members through their relations and friends to PDP gatherings.

“Such people are then immediately paraded before television cameras and other means of mass media, as new APC decampees, with a view to making the general public believe that Governor Dickson is gaining popularity, whereas, the reverse is the case.”

Corruption: EFCC moves against Odili, others

By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor

ABUJA—The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is set to reopen the trial of high profile politicians whose corruption cases had either been delayed or put in abeyance as a result of court injunctions.

A top management officer of the EFCC told Vanguard, yesterday, that the commission under the leadership of acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu, was bent on reopening all the corruption cases involving top politicians, who were shielded by the court through perpetual injunctions that had temporarily tied the hands of the commission from prosecuting them.

Odili

Top on the list of those whose cases are to be reopened, is former Rivers State Governor, Dr. Peter Odili, who secured a perpetual injunction from a Federal judge barring the EFCC from investigating his eight-year tenure over alleged graft.

Justice Ibrahim Buba had granted a perpetual injunction restraining the EFCC from probing graft allegations its operatives levelled against the former governor.

The commission, however, filed an appeal against the ruling, which was described as strange by legal pundits. But the appeal has not made progress since it was instituted over four years ago.

However, the top EFCC operative vowed in an interview with Vanguardthat all stumbling blocks to reopening the cases and similar ones would be removed by the Magu administration at EFCC with a view to bringing the former governor to book.

The top operative said that the new Criminal Justice Administration Act of 2015 has removed the stumbling blocks to prosecuting those who looted the nation’s treasury.

The senior management official of the commission said: “Let it be made clear that the EFCC will go after all cases that are deserving of investigation. There is nothing like perpetual injunctions anymore in our criminal administration justice code.

“We have a duty to investigate all cases since we are empowered by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to investigate all such corruption-related cases and that is what we are asked to do.

“We are empowered by Section 15 of the new Criminal Justice Administration Act to investigate all cases irrespective of injunctions. We cannot be stopped,” the official said.

The source confirmed that top officials in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, who abused their office by fritting away huge national cash and assets would be summoned to clear the air on why they breached public trust.

Among those slated for questioning are former Minister of Finance & Coordinating Minister of the Economy in the last Administration, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and some former officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, who handled the disbursement of funds to the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA.

Asked when the officials would be summoned, the official said no date had yet been fixed, adding, “I will find out and get back to you.”

In the meantime, the EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, has established a Procurement Fraud Unit, PFU, to strengthen the fight against corruption in the country.

The Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement to Vanguard, last night, that Magu made the disclosure in Abuja yesterday during a meeting with leaders of a coalition of civil society organisations.

Uwujaren said that Magu expressed concern over the increasing rate of procurement fraud and told his guests that the PFU would contribute immensely to the anti-corruption battle when it became operational.

“I am so concerned about procurement fraud. I am thinking of establishing a unit dedicated to procurement fraud. When put in place, it will go a long way in checking corruption,” Magu said.

How Rivers people received lawmakers’ sack

By Jimitota Onoyume

Nullification of the election of three senators in Rivers State and 12 members of the House of Representatives who were all elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the Appeal court is dominating discussions in virtually all parts of the state.

In drinking spots, commercial buses and several other places the main talk is the judgement of the Appeal court. Some people expressed strong fears that the development could heighten security tension.

Fear of insecurity: A resident in Dioub area, Mr Tuotamuno, said if about 100 persons lost their lives during the last   general elections as alleged by the All Progressive Congress, APC, when it held its Black   Rivers day rally, then there was need for people to worry about what the security situation might turn out to be during the rerun elections ordered by the Appeal court.

Adequate security

“I am just disturbed. I hope there will be adequate security for the elections. We saw the crisis that marred the Bayelsa govenorship poll in Southern Ijaw “, Tuotamuno said.

Another resident of the same Dioube area, who gave his name as Stephen, said there was no need to panic as government will certainly have measures in place to arrest any ugly situation during the elections.

I won’t be distracted —Wike

Wike

Meantime, in what looked like a veiled reference to the court verdict, Governor Nyesom Wike said he will not be distracted from the goals he had set out to achieve for the state.

The governor, who spoke during inspection of some of his projects, said his mandate derived from the massive votes from people, stressing that they came out in their large numbers to vote for him.

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Anambra NASS polls: Umeh, Ekwunife back to the trenches

Uba, Nwoye, others free

By Vincent Ujumadu

FOLLOWING the nullification of the March 28, 2015 National Assembly election for Anambra Central senatorial district, the two major opponents in the poll, Chief Victor Umeh, former national chairman and candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA  and Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are back to the trenches. They are peparing for another showdown. The rerun election is likely to take place in March, next year.

Soon after the declaration of Ekwunife as the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Umeh went to the tribunal to challenge it. After months of legal fireworks at the election tribunal sitting in Awka by the two parties, the tribunal headed by Justice Naya Aganaba, declared that the election substantially met the requirements of the electoral act and that Ekwunife was duly elected.

Not satisfied with the decision, Umeh appealed against the judgment and the Appeal Court judges nullified the election on the ground that it did not meet the required standards.

Shortly after the outcome of the judgment filtered into Awka, many people converged in groups to discuss the matter, while others went jubilating in the various local councils that make up the senatorial zone.

While some said that Umeh  ought to have been declared winner by the Court of Appeal,  others said the decision of the court to order for a rerun of the election within 90 days was fair to both parties in view of the alleged irregularities  that  characterised the polls.

Mixed views

However, there were those who expressed happiness that the rerun election would be conducted on a clean slate as there would no longer be ‘order from above’ to decide who should go to the Senate to represent Anambra Central as was the case on March 28.

I will win rerun polls — Umeh

Uche Ekwunife acknowledging cheers from supporters

Expressing happiness at the decision of the Appeal Court, Umeh boasted that he would win the rerun election.

His words: “I am happy that the Court of Appeal did not sustain the electoral fraud that took place in Anambra State on March 29 during the collation of the results from the seven local government areas. By coming with a decision that election should be repeated is an improvement over the previous impression created that the election was good and that Uche Ekwunife, won.

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ExxonMobil launches excellence reward scheme for A-Ibom schools

By Tom Moses

EKET—IN line with its commitment to the development of education, ExxonMobil, a major oil company in Nigeria, has launched an academic reward programme to encourage excellence in public primary schools in Akwa Ibom State.

It was gathered that 5,011 pupils have already been selected for the reward that will see the best 10 academically performing pupils in each class from primary one to six across 85 schools, receive mathematical sets, pencil pouches, water bottles and exercise books.

Speaking during the pilot presentation of the items to pupils in primary schools drawn from the company’s neighbouring local government areas of Eket, Ibeno, Esit Eket and Onna, at a ceremony held in Eket, Joint Venture Maintenance Manager, Mike Attah, reiterated the company’s history of partnership with the state government culminating in the upgrade of facilities in both primary and secondary schools.

“In the last four years, we have commitment of over N57 million under the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC/MPN) Mobil Producing Nigeria Joint Venture Secondary Scholarship targeting indigent students from Akwa Ibom State.

“In addition, over N4 billion had been spent on the NNPC/MPN Joint Venture Undergraduate Scholarship to Nigerian students and it may interest you to know that 50 percent of this amount or N2 billion has gone to students from Akwa Ibom State.”

42 S’East, S’South groups parley on rallies for true federalism

By Emeka Mamah

Enugu—A coalition of 42 South East and South-South groups, yesterday, met in Enugu State, to finalize plans for the mega rallies to sensitise Nigerians towards “restructuring the country along the lines of true federalism.”

According to the organisers, the rallies earlier planned to hold in 13 cities and towns in the South East, would now hold in 20 cities and towns within the two zones.

Speaking, the convener of the meeting and the founder of Igbo Youth Movement, IYM, Evangelist Elliot Uko said, that the peaceful marches for true federalism had become important since the country had been run as unitary administration, imposed by the military since 1966.

He said:  “For 49 years, Nigeria has been boiling consistently, sometimes silently seething with rage inside; sometimes the lava would hot up and the hot coke gushes out like a volcanic eruption.

“Imposed peace of 1970 has worn out, everybody is on edge. June 12, 1993 election would not have been annulled if Nigeria was practising true federalism. It was annulled because of the winner-takes-all altitude of any holder of central power in Nigeria, which keeps the stakes so high that the struggle for centre is usually fierce and victory usually vindictive.

“The Niger Delta militancy and Boko Haram, among others, would never have happened if Nigeria practised true federalism where regions are free to develop their zones, according to their culture, faith and style. We have been deceiving ourselves for too long.

“With Boko Haram still on the rampage in the North East and Shiite Muslims wahala erupting now in the North West, added to the Biafra agitation in the East, you’ll wonder why any sensible person will want Nigeria to continue with this unacceptable 1999 Constitution. The belief of the Federal Government that force will quench this tension is false and counter-productive.

“Nigeria clearly needs a new constitution, one built on true federalism. This unitary structure is clearly not working.”