Exclusive: New Details Point To Foul Play In The Death Of Borno Deputy Governor, Mustapha

Borno Deputy Governor, late Zannah Umar Mustapha

The late Deputy Governor of Borno, Alhaji Alhaji Zannah Mustapha passed away in the early hours of Saturday, August 15, 2015 in a hotel in Yola. He was buried same day at Gwage Cemetary, Maiduguri.

The late Alhaji Mustapha died in his sleep, according to a statement by the Borno State Government. Governor Kashim Shettima expressed ”shock and disbelief” at the sudden passing of his deputy who was on an official assignment in neighbouring Adamawa State.

New details are beginning to emerge on the circumstances surrounding the death of the deputy governor. His staff, who were the last people to see him alive, present details which should raise serious questions.

“We became suspicious and worried when the deputy governor did not come out of the hotel room by 8:30am and we decided to knock on his door, when he was not answering, some of us went to peep through the window forcing it open. 

“We saw that he was lying on the bed clutching the pillow closely, we shouted his name but he did not answer. It was at this stage that we decided to call the hotel staff to open the door. 

“When we got inside, we saw him lying face down, and on close examination, we saw some saliva and blood being discharged from his mouth and we rushed him to the hospital where he was confirmed dead,” an aide said.

According to Mustapha’s aides, he retired to bed at 11pm on Friday and asked them to resume the next morning at 7.30am. After Mustapha was discovered, they rushed him to the Federal Medical Centre in Yola where he was pronounced dead. His corpse was flown to Maiduguri from Yola Airport. He arrived in Borno at 4.10pm.

A medical examiner working with a government establishment, who spoke with The Trent on condition of anonymity, said, “For saliva and blood to be discharged from his mouth points to a number of issues. Primary on the mind of an investigator is to check the deceased’s medical history. Second, is to check the content of his stomach to find out the content of his last meal. Certainly, an autopsy should have been ordered in such circumstances. The position in which the deceased was found also matters. If he was curled up like a baby, it may indicate intense stomach ache, which may have contributed to his passing. An autopsy can still be done.”

The police has said it is investigating the death of Mustapha. Public Relations Officer of the Adamawa Police Command, DSP Abubakar Othman confirmed that investigation on the sudden passing of the deputy governor is on-going. “We have started investigations of what might be responsible for the sudden death of the late deputy governor,” he said.

“In cases such as this, at the end of the day, it depends on the man’s family. If the family drives the process by pushing a complaint, then it would be easy to get to the bottom of the matter. For instance, to perform an autopsy, his body has to be exhumed,” said an investigator who spoke with our reporter on Sunday. “Exhuming his body for autopsy cannot be done without the family’s consent. So, no matter what testimony submitted to the police by his aides who found him dead, if his family is not willing to follow up, then there is little the police can do.” He further maintained that this was a sensitive matter and he did not wish to be named in our report.

The final prayer for the repose of his soul was conducted by the Imam Idaini of Borno, Imam Adam Ibn Elsunusiya who led other prominent individuals, including the Borno State Governor, Mr. Kashim Shettima, the Yobe deputy governor, Mr. Abubakar Aliyu, Adamawa deputy governor, the National Security Adviser, Maj, General Babagana Monguno (Rtd) and other service chiefs who were in Borno and Yobe on a security mission.

In the months leading to the 2015 elections, the late deputy governor was known to raise alarm on the strength of the terrorists waging an Islamist insurgency in the North Eastern part of Nigeria. In November, 2014, Mustapha predicted that Boko Haram would take over the entire North East by January 2015 and the North East would cease to exist.

”If the Federal Government does not add extra effort, in the next two to three months, the three North-Eastern states will no longer be in existence,” Mustapha told newsmen.

Mustapha during the 2015 campaigns called for Northerners not to vote for then, President Goodluck Jonathan. In a highly divisive campaign rally, Mustaha said, ”Any northerner who votes for PDP in the next round of election is not supposed to be called a northerner because such a person is a disgrace to the north.” He went on to say no sane Northerner would vote for Jonathan.

Alhaji Mustafa was in Yola representing Borno Government at the convocation ceremony at Moddibo Adama University of Technology.

Burial photos of Borno Deputy Governor, Alhaji Zannah Mustapha who died in Yola, Adamawa on August 15, 2015 and buried same day (Photo Credit: Vanguard)

Burial photos of Borno Deputy Governor, Alhaji Zannah Mustapha who died in Yola, Adamawa on August 15, 2015 and buried same day (Photo Credit: Vanguard)

Burial photos of Borno Deputy Governor, Alhaji Zannah Mustapha who died in Yola, Adamawa on August 15, 2015 and buried same day (Photo Credit: Africa Spotlight)

Burial photos of Borno Deputy Governor, Alhaji Zannah Mustapha who died in Yola, Adamawa on August 15, 2015 and buried same day (Photo Credit: Africa Spotlight)

Burial photos of Borno Deputy Governor, Alhaji Zannah Mustapha who died in Yola, Adamawa on August 15, 2015 and buried same day (Photo Credit: Kayode Idowu/Punch)

Burial photos of Borno Deputy Governor, Alhaji Zannah Mustapha who died in Yola, Adamawa on August 15, 2015 and buried same day (Photo Credit: Kayode Idowu/Punch)

Trent Online

Nigeria| Opinion: Areas of concentration for President Buhari (1)

By Douglas Anele

If you are a lecturer in any of the tertiary institutions and you have concluded the topics in your course outline, your students would likely ask you for topics to focus their attention on in their preparations for the upcoming examinations.

President Muhammadu Buhari

The motivation behind such request is to enhance targeted reading and reduce the possibility ofspending valuable time on materials that are irrelevant with respect to the examination questions, especially if the topics covered in the course or subject matter were voluminous.

Giving students areas of concentration is helpful for those students that are genuinely interested in their academic work and are determined to perform well. Butwhat has that got to do with President Buhari?

The answer to that question will emerge in the course of our analysis. Meanwhile, I am one of those who wanted former President Goodluck Jonathan to win the March 28 presidential election, and my reasons for preferring him to Buhari were clearly articulated in several essays in this column and elsewhere.

But Buharimaniacs whose exaggerated admiration for Alhaji Buhari beclouded their sense of reasoning believe, wrongly, that anyone who supported Jonathan must either have been bribed or was scheming for political appointment, as if they themselves were immune to such Machiavellian calculations. Such holier-than-thou hasty generalisations and flippant condemnation of supporters of the former President betrays an immature understanding of the imperatives of political choices in a democratic setting.

I am aware that what we have in Nigeria presently is agbata ekee or chop-I-chop democracy in which many of the so-called elected representatives of the people and members of the business and military elite connive to steal as much as they could without considering the plight of suffering compatriots.

I also know that the evolution of top quality democratic culture is extraordinarily arduous – even the United States of America with over two hundred years of continuous democratic practice is still battling with the challenges of democratic governance. The main problem in our own case is that key players in Nigeria’s political arena have continued to repeat the mistakes of their predecessors as if they are completely ignorant of our chequered political history.

Each time a new political dispensation comes into office riding on the goodwill and high expectations of Nigerians, the leaders abandon their campaign promises and begin to see themselves as overlords whose main occupation (or preoccupation) is primitive accumulation. This tendency of not learning anything concrete from the past for better performance in future is euphemistically captured in expressions such as “nascent democracy”, “our democracy is a learning process” etc.Objectively considered, most prominent politicians in Nigeria lack the degree of self-discipline and emotional intelligence required to run a democratic system for good governance.

Therefore, despite the noisy sloganeering and self-exculpatory pronouncements of leading members of the All Progressive Congress (APC), it is unlikely, considering the questionable antecedents of well known carpetbaggers in theparty, that it has the requisite number of creative, courageous, disciplined and responsible politicians to bring about meaningful change in Nigeria at this time.

Going back to our major theme, one must acknowledge that the task before President Buhari is extremely daunting. But since nobody forced him under duress to contest in the last election, since he was the one who worked so hard to be President and Nigerians obliged him, the onus is on him to keep his promises to Nigerians. It is amusing that some so-called intellectuals who claim that it is too early to criticise the President for certain errors of judgement and sluggish one-man-show performance thus far, also claim that he has done extremely well.

The irrational bias behind this kind of sloppy reasoning is too obvious to go unnoticed. Anyway, whether the President and his supporters like it or not, he must be prepared for constant criticism, because criticism and plurality of opinion are essential ingredients in a democratic arrangement. Of course, democracy is a meaningless hollow concept if dissent is suppressed simply because it might annoy the leaders or puts pressure on them to do their jobs well. The important thing is for criticism to be based on sound logic and relevant facts, and for those criticised to learn from it.

Irrespective of one’s preference during the presidential election, Buhari has assumed office as President, and according to the 1999 Constitution it is his duty, in concert with members of his Executive Council and the National Assembly, to run the country in a manner that would uplift the lives of Nigerians. Like every top political leader, sycophants around President Buhari who are keenly interested in protecting their own selfish interests would be telling him the things he would like to hear and prevent him from having a direct existential acquaintance with the grim reality Nigerians are facing at the moment.

Of course, part of the problem is the unnecessary opulence of public office at the highest levels of government, which tends to prevent occupiers of such office from having a deep understanding of the excruciating pains of poverty, destitution, unemployment and hopelessness among the people. Buhari can shield himself from the deadening effects of the opulence attached to his office by following the exemplary leadership style of Jose Mujica, the President of Uruguay, who demonstrated through personal example that one can be a President and still maintain a simple, humble and selfless lifestyle in the service of the people.

Now, although I did not support his quest for the presidency, I sincerely want President Buhari to succeed. To start with, if during his tenure the incidence of corruption goes down considerably and the hideously corrupt irrespective of who they might be are severely dealt with, financial leakages in the system are blocked, increased opportunities for employment are created, electricity and fuel supply improves considerably, andBoko Haram insurgency and other sources of insecurity nationwide are suppressed, the well-being of Nigerians, including myself and my family, would be enhanced.

Again, the President and members of his family would benefit tremendously from the good name and peace of mind which a solid performance brings in its wake. Leaders who lay the foundation for or bring about positive changes in peoples’ lives are immortalised, such that even when they are dead, they become role models and live on in the minds of the people they have transformed either directly or indirectly.

Supposing President Buhari, after four years in office, succeeds in laying a strong foundation for his successors to build on and Nigeria eventually realises her potential as the greatest black nation in the world, historians will place his name alongside the giants of Nigerian political history, such as Herbert Macaulay, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Sam Mbakwe and Alhaji Ahmadu Bello among others. Finally, a successful tenure by Buhari will enhance Nigeria’s standing in the international scene, where countries are ranked according to the strength of their economies, military capability and level of industrialisation based on science and technology.

In this connection, it is imperative that Nigerians, irrespective of ethnicity, religious persuasion and political affiliation should rally round the President and help him in whatever way they can to make Nigeria great again.

Before I identify areas of concentration for President Buhari, it is important to remind his aides and supporters to stop talking and acting as if the President belongs to them alone or as if they have a greater stake in the Nigerian project than others. In my opinion, every bona fide Nigerian citizen has as much stake as those in Aso Rock and all government houses across the country.

Certainly, the President’s remark about belonging to everybody and belonging to no one is logically incoherent; but if he genuinely wants to succeed, he should consider the entire country as his constituency and treat each geopolitical zone fairly. Those closest to Buhari should allow him room to be himself; they should not suffocate the man by building unnecessary psychological Berlin walls of discrimination and vengefulness around him. Meanwhile, even if APC leaders think that Goodluck Jonathan’s government is the most corrupt in Nigerian history (an assessment which might be mistaken), it is unhelpful for PresidentBuhari and his cohorts to continuously dwell on the issue all the time as if corruption is in the DNA of Nigerians.

Vanguard

CRIME: How I killed my lady friend — 41-year-old spare parts dealer

In Sunday Vanguard of last week, we reported the case of 41-year-old Festus Aimufua who allegedly murdered his lady friend, Ms Rose Aifuwa, on Christmas Day. Aifuwa, a mother of four, was based in Austria but returned to Nigeria with her Austrian passport last December to celebrate the Yuletide with her family. According to the deceased family, Festus allegedly killed their daughter because the deceased was requesting for the money allegedly owed her by the suspect.

Festus-Aimufua,-suspect

They alleged that on that Christmas Day, their daughter insisted that Festus should pay the money but the suspect ran away from the deceased residence, hitting her with his car. It was said that the suspect dragged the deceased under the car till he got to Upper Mission Extension junction where he dumped the mangled body. After the incident, the Austrian government contacted the Nigeria Police and demanded that the matter be properly investigated since the deceased was an Austrian citizen.

Ever since the incident, the police in Edo State has been conducting their investigation and the suspect confessed to have committed the murder, though unknowingly. Sunday Vanguard spoke to the suspect on Friday and he expressed regret for killing a woman who, according to him, he loved. He, however, denied owing the deceased, asserting that the only business he had with her was in February last year and he paid for the goods.

He narrated: “ I am 41 years old and a motor spare parts dealer. I did not kill her. It happened on the 25th of December very early in the morning. There is one boy that help me to pack my goods, the boy was with me. After I dropped my family, I now decided to go and drop the boy. On getting to Upper Mission junction, she called me and asked if I didn’t know that, that day was watch night, and that if I would come to see her. I said I was coming. Immediately I turned my car and drove down to her shop, she had a bar. On getting there I saw some boys there drinking. I called the sales girl there and told her to give everybody drink. The drink amounted to N1,800. Among the boys there one of them knew me, so bought me one bottle. So I told my lady friend that I needed to go and drop the boy with me as he was drunk. I promised her that I will come back. That was how she allowed me go.

“I drove off. We stopped somewhere to have a drink. I equally bought drink for people there. But somehow I decided that I will go home after dropping the boy, but immediately I passed Upper Mission junction, near her place, her call came in. So I told her I was coming and I decided to turn my car to her house. When I got to her place, I took a stick of cigarette from her and told her that I will need to go home early, that some body was in my car. But as I was leaving her door she blocked me. I told her that I guessed she was drunk because any time she was drunk, that was the way she behaved. But the next thing I noticed was a slap, I retaliated. Before that I observed that some body was sleeping somewhere in her room, where I went to collect the cigarette. So I went outside but the boy sleeping there woke up and told me not to leave the house. She went to wake up another person and was telling the person something inside. So the guy came out and said I should not leave the compound. The boy started making calls, so I quickly entered my car and locked the car. I saw her rush towards me but I had pinned the doors already. But she blocked my car and I saw two of the boys trying to drag her out of my way. Then I zoomed off, but I was now asking my boy after we left the compound if I hit anybody. The boy said no, that God forbid. But I was not comfortable because I was really drunk”.

Asked if he was owing the deceased, he said: “The only goods she brought to me was in February, that was when we met. She brought them from Austria. I am not owing her a dime. Not as if we were even fighting but the problem she had was that any time I visited her she will not want me to leave when I wanted to. And that was the argument, especially when she was drunk”.

“After I checked my car very well, I did not notice anything. I went to my friend’s place to inform him of my fear. I now called some body to go to my lady’s house to find out whether I hit some body. The boy went and told me that there was nothing like that. So I became confused. I called my younger brother to help me investigate if she was okay. He called me later to say that he heard she was in hospital and that they had deposited money. He later called me to say that they saw a body at Upper Mission junction and that it was the lady. I called my friends and they said I should go to the police station to report myself. 

“I can’t sleep, I can’t eat. This is somebody we did everything together and I loved her. I did not beat her, I don’t know what happened. After the incident, some youths went to my house to burn it down, all my people left the house. My sisters can no longer open their shops because they are scared. I am not owing her and we didn’t have any problem. I even bought her a bag of rice for Christmas. I did not kill before, I am devastated”.

Vanguard

Nigerian Comedian Akpororo proposes marriage to girlfriend on football pitch

Comedian Akpororo may soon be shedding his bachelor’s garb as he has made his intention known by proposing marriage with a gold ring to his long standing girlfriend, Josephine at a novelty football match organised by him and a band of his celebrity friends in Ibadan.

The novelty match involved two teams which Akpororo’s team lost but the humour merchant won the day as he went down on his knees to present his gold ring to his soon-to-be bride in the presence of his friends who clapped and cheered. The couple hugged and held each other tight while John Legend’s I Give You All of Me took over the air, making the atmosphere as romantic as it could get.

The father of the soon-to-be bride who was present took the mic to announce that the date for the marriage would soon be made known to the public. Laff Doctor, another comedian who was present praised Akpororo for sustaining his love for so long for his girlfriend in face of all tempting challenges.

“ This is really a great day. We all know Akpororo to be a crazy man but this just blow me away”he joked

SHOCKING: Nigerian Government Grants Visa To ‘ISIS Emir’, A Fugitive Lebanese Cleric (PICTURED)

File: Sheikh Almad Al Assir (AP Photo)

A radical Muslim cleric, Ahmad al-Assir has been arrested by Lebanese authorities as he attempted to leave Lebanon to Nigeria via Cairo.

Assir was apprehended while attempting to travel with a fake Palestinian passport and a valid Nigerian visa at the Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport early Saturday, August 15, 2015 in Lebanon, according to a statement released by General Security.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reports that Assir, who was travelling with another man, was holding a fake passport in the name of Rami Abdul Rahman Taleb, while his companion was holding a passport in the name of Khaled Sidani. The driver who drove Assir to the airport in a Mercedes Benz was later arrested.

Unconfirmed reports said Assir had shaved off his beard and undergone facial surgery. An unverified photo has been circulating in the Lebanese media purporting to show Assir without his signature bread, and it appears that he has had plastic surgery.

Sheikh Assir has been on the run for two years. He was declared wanted in Lebanon in 2013 when his followers clashed with the Lebanese army killing at least 18 soldiers.

The radical cleric was relatively unknown prior to the outbreak of the Syrian war in 2011. But, he quickly gained notoriety as a “a self-proclaimed defender of Sunni rights” due to his fiery anti-Hezbollah rhetoric. Hezbollah is Lebanon’s Shia movement which backs Syria’s President Assad. He had been recruiting his followers to join the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS) in Syria fighting against Assad’s government.

Violence broke out in 2013 when one of Assir’s men was caught with unlicensed weapons in his car at a military checkpoint in Sidon, south of Beirut. In reaction, Assir’s followers opened fire on the soldiers manning the checkpoint sparking a two-day battle between his militants and the army.

According to reports, machine guns and rockets were used on the Lebanese troops by Assir’s men in fierce fighting which ended with at least 18 soldiers and 40 militants dead. Heavy weapons and military-style uniforms were discovered in Assir’s compound.

Assir is regarded as media savvy and is known for his publicity stunts.

The Valid Nigerian Visa

Alexander Mukhtar Dan’Iyan, the editor-in-chief of the 15Past8 Media Group based in New York City, who goes by the name @MrAyeDee on Twitter, says that Assir is the ”unofficial de-facto Emir of ISIS in Lebanon”.

Assir’s fugitive status and his links with ISIS raise serious questions for the Nigerian government. How would a radical Muslim cleric, a fugitive linked to ISIS be granted a Nigerian visa on a fake Palestinian passport? What was Assir’s mission in Nigeria? Who are his contacts in Nigeria? Who was he communicating with in Nigeria? Where was he planning to stay in Nigeria?

Most importantly, who granted his visa and based on what recommendations?

The deadly terrorist group, Boko Haram which has killed over 60,000 in Nigeria and displaced millions from their homes in North Eastern Nigeria had last year declared allegiance to ISIS. The group recently spread its operations to neighbouring countries

President Muhammadu Buhari promised to crush Boko Haram in two months after he took office in May. However, there has been no success story against the terrorist group since Buhari was sworn into office.

Nigeria’s intelligence services should be acting on this important information.

Trent Online

Politics: God has vindicated me – Governor Wike

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike (right) pose for a photograph with the General Overseer of Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Mission Church, Pastor Mouka Lazarus during their church programme in Port Harcourt.

The governor made this statement Sunday at a Service of the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Mission Church, in Port Harcourt.

Mr. Wike recalled the prayer he said to God when his political opponents called him a member of a secret society.

His words: “If you recall I did say, that if I belong to a secret society, I should not win the governorship elections of Rivers State. By the special grace of God, the pastor prayed for me before the congregation, he prayed for me in private, and he has been praying with me up till now. To the Glory of God, the elections came and God Almighty triumphed.”

Governor Wike, who further recalled how the church supported him during his turbulent periods, said he would redeem his campaign promise to carry out renovations in and around the church headquarters premises in Port Harcourt.

He said: “If you recollect, I said that if I win, I would tar the road leading to the church compound and interlock its premises”.

The governor maintained that this would be part of his 100 days in office programme.

The Rivers State Governor said that his administration was the first in history of Rivers State to achieve many road construction progresses despite the heavy rains. He attributed these achievements to the power and grace of God.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike (right) receiving prayers on the altar of the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Mission Church, while General Overseer, Mouka Lazarus (left) praying for a good tenure.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike (left) being introduced to members of the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Mission Church by the General Overseer, Pastor Mouka Lazarus, during their church programme held in Port Harcourt.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike (right) in a handshake with the General Overseer of Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Mission Church, Pastor Mouka Lazarus during their church programme in Port Harcourt.

PT

Nigeria| Politics: ​​APC’s allegations against Jonathan “wild, capable of causing chaos” – PDP

Olisa Metuh

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has described as “reckless, irresponsible and highly provocative”, Sunday’s statement by the All Progressives Congress’ spokesperson, Lai Mohammed, in which the governing party accused the immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan of monumental fraud.

Mr. Mohammed had accused the appointees of Mr. Jonathan of looting over N11 trillion.

But the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a release said the APC has again exhibited its “emptiness and disgusting desperation for public approval”.

The PDP said “in trying to escalate their stock-in-trade of lies, wild allegations and falsehood, the APC failed to understand that their baseless fabrications are capable of throwing an unsuspecting nation into chaos”.

Stating that “the spate of fabrications by Lai Mohammed has become a sickening source of worry for well-meaning Nigerians including those in his party”, the PDP called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC as a party, to call their spokesman to order before he plunges the country into crisis with wild and unsubstantiated claims.

The PDP said instead of engaging in unnecessary playing to the gallery, the APC-led government should get serious with the fight against corruption by investigating and prosecuting corrupt persons, while moving on with the demands of governance, especially in fulfilling their numerous campaign promises for which they were voted into office at the centre.

Nigerian Hacking Governors’ Forum: Activists ask Buhari to probe Akpabio, Amaechi, Dickson, Uduaghan

Seriake Dickson, Godswill Akpabio, Emmanuel Uduaghan, and Rotimi Amaechi, some Nigerian governors hacking telephones. Creative: Mohammed Lere

An Internet freedom advocacy group has written Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari to protest the violation of human rights of private citizens as well as abuse of power by a group of incumbent and past governors.

The group, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria [PIN], in its letter, demanded the President to investigate the politicians for hacking telephones and computers and carrying out illegal mass surveillance on Nigerians.

The protest followed an investigative report by PREMIUM TIMES, where incumbent governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson; ex-governors of Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Delta – Rotimi Amaechi, Godswill Akpabio, and Emmanuel Uduaghan – were named in an extensive mass surveillance and hacking expedition that breached citizens’ rights and violated Nigerian laws.

The politicians acquired high calibre cyber warfare tools from various military contractors across the world, enabling them to carry out illegal surveillance and hacking activities which involves them breaking into target computers and phones to monitor citizen’s private and confidential conversations on communication devices.

The hacking politicians also had ability to spy at private citizens’ online activities or conversations such as email, phone logs, Whatsapp chats and all forms of text/chat messages.

Some of the tools have the ability to secretly turn on victims’ smartphone microphone and camera to record conversations and collect data.

Analysts say information acquired through this backdoor access to people’s private is a weapon for blackmail, and a tool to gain political advantage.

Right to privacy is a constitutionally guaranteed right of every Nigerian citizen and only federal security institutions are allowed to acquire cyber warfare tools in Nigeria. And when they did, the National Security Adviser must issue a mandatory End-User Certificate, a protocol all the hacking politicians violated in their procurement of hacking tools.

“The concerns of abuse PIN has consistently raised has once again been confirmed by the Premium times report. PIN has been unequivocal in her demand for protection of online rights of citizens even in the face of security challenges Nigeria currently faces,” PIN, the first civil society body to protest the illegality said in its letter to the president

“PIN’s position is that any form of interception, even those for the purpose of security, requires judicial oversight and legislative processes must come first.”

PIN is currently leading an effort with the NetRightsNG coalition for Nigeria’s Digital Rights and Freedom law to ensure that Citizensrights as established in the 1999 constitution of Nigeria are guaranteed online.

The Nigerian Hacking Governors Forum scandal blew open following the hacking of Bayelsa state governors Italian cyber warfare contractor, Hacking Team, in early July.

PREMIUM TIMES’ investigation revealed further abuses by Messr. Akpabio, Amaechi, and Uduaghan.

Mr. Akpabio is the current minority leader at the Nigerian senate, while Mr. Amaechi is a close ally of the president, Mr. Buhari.

Read PIN’s full statement below:

PIN WRITES PRESIDENT BUHARI OVER GOVERNORS AKPABIO, UDUAGHAN, DICKSON AND AMAECHI’S SPYING ACTIVITIES ON PRIVATE CITIZENS

PIN has written a 2-page letter to Nigeria’s President Buhari to protest the violation of human rights of private citizens as well asabuse of power by some Governors in Nigeria. The letter is based on earlier work on the subject of Internet Freedom by PIN, and follows an investigative report published by Premium Times, where incumbent Governor Dickson of Bayelsa State , ex-Governor Amaechi (Rivers State), ex-Governor Akpabio (Akwa Ibom State) who is also the current Minority leader in the Nigeria’s Senate, and ex-Governor Uduaghan (Delta State) were said to have engaged in illegal surveillance and hacking activities which involves them breaking into target computers and phones to monitor citizen’s private and confidential conversations on communication devices.

The letter was to demand that President Buhari use his good office to protect the rights of citizens by Investigating and bringing to Justice every one found culpable in these illegal activities.

Copied in the said letter were; the Vice President, Senate President, Speaker house of representative, Chief Justice of the Federation, Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Justice, National Security Adviser, National Human Rights Commission, Femi Falana Chambers, Nigeria Bar Association, United Nations Human Rights Commission, Freedom House International, Department of State Security Services, United Nations Secretary General, and Amnesty International. According to the Premium Times report which quoted sources from the National Security Adviser’s office and some of the governments under investigation, the illegal practice of intercepted calls and hacked phones and computers gave these public servants backdoor access to many people’s private lives, at the expense of taxpayers they swore to serve. Right to privacy is a constitutionally guaranteed right of every Nigerian citizen.

As part of Paradigm Initiative Nigeria’s Internet Freedom Advocacy efforts, PIN raised an alarm when it was reported in the media that the Nigerian government under president Goodluck Jonathan invested massively in surveillance equipment as reflected in 2013 and 2014 National Budget. PIN published two Policy Briefs on May 29,2013 and November 29, 2013, to identify the underlying issues and raise public awareness on the implications of these activities. In addition to this, a Freedom of Information request was made to demand contract details of purchased surveillance equipment as listed in the country’s national budget for 2013 and 2014. The request was denied, following which PIN approached the Court in order to pursue justice.

The constitution is the supreme law in Nigeria and it does provide for freedom of speech, association, rights to privacy, etc. of every citizen. National Security has become a ready excuse for Government to acquire sophisticated technology with capability to monitor and spy private citizens’ online activities or conversations such as email, phone calls and all forms of text/chat messages. The concerns of abuse PIN has consistently raised has once again been confirmed by the Premium times report. PIN has been unequivocal in her demand for protection of online rights of citizens even in the face of security challenges Nigeria currently faces. PIN’s position is that any form of interception, even those for the purpose of security, requires judicial oversight and legislative processes must come first. PIN is currently leading an effort with the NetRightsNG coalition for Nigeria’s Digital Rights and Freedom law to ensure that Citizens rights as established in the 1999 constitution of Nigeria are guaranteed online.

If you would like more information about this topic or further project description on PIN’s Internet Freedom Advocacy work, please call ‘Boye on +234 9 291 63 01 or mail boye.adegoke@pinigeria.org

PT

Verification of Buhari, Osinbajo’s assets yet to begin – Code of Conduct Bureau

President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have not commenced the process of having the Code of Conduct Bureau verify details of their declared assets, ahead of making them public, the head of the bureau has said.

Sam Saba, chairman of the code of conduct office, said the bureau was prepared to commence the verification of assets declared by the president and vice president, but said CCB was awaiting a convenient time for the two leaders to carry out the exercise.

The bureau said none of two steps used for verifying assets has been implemented in the case of Messrs. Buhari and Osinbajo, nearly three months since they took office.

“Both the conference and the field verification exercises are pending,” Mr. Saba said in an interview with the Punch, published Sunday.

He said a conference verification involves the examination of the particulars of an asset, while field verification requires physical validation of the listed property.

“For instance, if you say you have three vehicles, let us see the registration numbers. We don’t have to see all the details. Once we are able to see the receipt of the purchase of the vehicle or the registration documents, we are satisfied,” Mr. Saba said. “But we still have to see it physically and that is the second stage which we call field verification.”

The Constitution does not compel office holders to declare their assets publicly, but amid an increasing scale of corruption, more Nigerians have intensified calls for asset details of senior government officials to be made open as an important step in combating graft.

Messrs Buhari and Osinbajo’s election campaign centred on rooting out corruption, and the two leaders pledged to voluntarily declare their assets on assumption of office.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (opposition before the elections) also assured that its president – unlike former Peoples Democratic Party presidents, Goodluck Jonathan and Olusegun Obasanjo – would declare his assets. Umaru Yar’adua, also a PDP president, declared his assets promptly on taking office in 2007.

In June, PREMIUM TIMES reported how President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo ignored a recommendation of the Ahmed Joda transition committee that they declare their assets publicly as they took office.

The committee suggested that a public declaration of assets would be a “quick win” for the administration.

Reacting to growing calls for the president to fulfil his election pledge, his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, on June 6, assured that Mr. Buhari would make the report of his asset declaration public soon after verification by the Code of Conduct Bureau.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has said that in fulfilment of one of their campaign promises, his declared assets and those of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will be released to the public upon the completion of their verification by the Code of Conduct Bureau,” Mr. Shehu said.

He added: “There is no question at all that the President and the Vice President are committed to public declaration of their assets within the 100 days that they pledged during the presidential campaign”.

The 100-day period since the new administration came to power lapses in September.

The chairman of the Code of Conduct bureau, Mr. Saba, told Punch that the first step of the verification will commence once “it is convenient for Mr. President and his vice for us to go and do it”.

PT

Politics: Why Abdulsalami Abubakar, others met Buhari – Fayose

Ayo Fayose, Ekiti state governor.

The Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has said that the visit of the National Peace Committee led by a former military head of state, Abdulsalami Abubakar, to President Muhammadu Buhari should be taken as a warning against dictatorship.

He said it was a tactful reminder to the president that he was not presiding over a military government.

Speaking through his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Lere Olayinka, on Sunday, Mr. Fayose hinted that he was aware of plans to destabilise his government because of his stand on national issues.

“Opposition is one of the roots on which democracy stands and any president or governor that does not want opposition will eventually become a dictator. I want to state without fear or favour that I will continue to speak the truth no matter whose ox is gored,” Mr. Fayose noted.

“Nigeria belongs to all of us and no one can intimidate me or the good people of Ekiti State who freely and overwhelmingly gave me their mandate. Democracy as a form of government thrives on our ability to ask questions and get answers from leaders.”

He urged President Buhari to listen to the wise counsels from the General Abdulsalami’s Committee saying, “the Peace Committee has reminded the president that he is not heading a military government and with the calibre of Nigerians in the Committee, their wise counsel should not be ignored.”

According to him, members of the committee are Nigerians who do not need personal favours from the president and so should get the message very clearly that he is being told not to act as a dictator.

“Rather than concentrate and make a difference within his 100 days in office, the president’s greatest achievement so far is harassment of PDP leaders, appointment of his in-law and kinsmen into sensitive positions, selective fight against corruption and arrest and detention of INEC officials who worked in States won by the Peoples Democratic Party,” Mr. Fayose said.

“Fighting corruption should not be synonymous with convicting Nigerians on pages of newspapers. Rather, the judiciary and other relevant agencies should be allowed to do their jobs without any direct or indirect interference from the President and his party.

“Corruption must be fought in accordance with the laws of the land because going against the laws of the land and the oath taken by the President to respect the constitution in itself is corruption.”

Nigerian, Freeman Osonuga, shortlisted to travel to space

A Nigerian Freeman Osonuga, has been shortlisted as one of the lucky persons to travel to space.

Freeman Osonuga

Osonuga, a Medicine and Surgery graduate from Olabisi Onabanjo University, was selected through the Rising Star programme, launched at the One Young World Summit 2014 in Dublin. The programme invited both One Young World Ambassadors and outstanding members of the public aged 18-35, to nominate themselves to take on the trip of a lifetime.

Osonuga is a 2015 WIRED Innovation Fellow. He will be speaking live on stage at the WIRED 2015 conference scheduled for October in London.

In late 2014, at the peak of Ebola epidemic in West Africa, he worked as a volunteer and worked with the African Union team of Ebola responders for six months in Sierra Leone.

Vanguard

Crime: I ‘ll do it again if… says man who beheaded pastor

By Emma Una

A 27-year-old man, Cyril Ojar, who beheaded James Eni, a pastor of an Evangelical church at Old Netim in Akamkpa Local Government Area of Cross River State, has remained defiant, stating that he would do it again if the same circumstance arose.



Cyril, who is in detention at the Cross River State Police Command headquarters at Diamond Hill, told Vanguard that he was on a stroll around the Pastor’s house, when the man got angry and chased him with a machete.

The suspect said he over powered the pastor and chopped off his head.

Cyril said: “I went to stroll near his house on Friday, but there was nobody in the house. I went there again on Sunday afternoon and he saw me and chased me. He cut me in the head with a machete.

“When he tried to cut me again, I wrestled with him and both of us fell on the ground. I collected the knife and murdered him.”

Cyril, whose head had no mark of a machete cut, said he was angry that the pastor wanted to kill him even after he had ran away from his house.

He said: “To teach the man a lesson, I killed him. In case of next time, I will do it again.”

He’s a hardened criminal—Police

However, Police spokesman for Cross River Police Command, Hogan Bassey, disputed Cyril’s account, stating that the suspect was a hardened criminal, who has been breaking into houses in Old Netim.

Bassey said: “When he went to the pastor’s house to steal for the second time, after he stole from the place the previous Friday, it angered the pastor who chased him. But Cyril overpowered the man and cut off his head.”

He said after killing the pastor, Cyril escaped to Akwa Ibom State, but was traced to his hideout by the police, who arrested and brought him back to Akamkpa, where he committed the act and from there to the police headquarters, where he was being detained.-

Vanguard 

Boko Haram: Nigerian Air Force pilots smoke out terrorists from bunkers

NAF

In the continued onslaught against terrorism in the North East, Nigerian Air Force pilots smoked out Boko haram elements from their fortified bunkers deep inside Sambisa Forests at the weekend.

Competent security sources said that the raids were part of efforts aimed at ensuring that the marching orders issued by President Muhammadu Buhari for the military to annihilate the deadly terrorists and their activities in the next three months is complied with.

In series of videos Alpha jets and attack helicopters were seen raining explosives on some targeted locations hidden under trees and open warehouses.

Unlike the standard bunkers that are fortified chambers built below the ground with reinforced concrete, some of the fortifications destroyed by Nigerian Air Force were not set below the surface of the ground but were mostly covered by logs and tree trunks.

The mission is being accomplished by the recent deployments of fighter jets and attack helicopters in the North-East.

A senior fighter pilot said that “The Nigerian Air Force pilots are in high spirit as they even compete to fly the aircrafts to defend their fatherland in their aggressive and patriotic determinations to end the Boko Haram ‘rubbish’ as soon as possible.”

It was further gathered that the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar had challenged NAF pilots to prove their worth by displaying their skills and expertise in combating enemies from the air.

While addressing the pilots recently, Abubakar said the raid would be sustained consistently and aggressively until the insurgency was brought to an end in Nigeria.

The Air Force raids commenced after weeks of reconnaissance by surveillance aircraft in the mission area. The deployed F-7NI, Alpha jets and attack helicopters are intended to degrade the fighting capacity of the terrorists

Vanguard

Nigeria: I still miss Abiola, says IBB @ 74

General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd),

TWENTY-TWO years after annulling the June 12, 1993 presidential elections, former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), yesterday, said he still misses the winner of the historic polls, late Chief Moshood Abiola, who died in government detention in 1998.

To show how he sorely miss his erstwhile friend, Babangida, who turned 74 today, said last week he searched for one of the letters Abiola wrote him and re-read it.

Babangida spoke at an interactive session with journalists in Minna, Niger State ahead of his 74th birthday anniversary.

Asked if he was missing his friend, MKO Abiola, Babangida said: “Let me see, last week, I dug out one of the letters he wrote to me and I read it. So, that shows that I still miss him.”

In the engaging interview, the former military ruler also opened up on his response to the coup plot led by Major Gideon Orkar in April 1990, the Dimka coup plot in 1976, his assessment of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration and comments that he is from Oyo State instead of Niger State.

Babangida, who commended the Federal Government on its renewed offensive against the Boko Haram insurgency, also gave the government high marks in terms of performance.

He said: “So far, I am confident that they are doing well. They have identified the problems and they look resolute in confronting these problems head-on and there are a lot of people in the society who are offering a lot of sound advice on what to do.”

On PDP

Asked how he felt as a leader of a former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that is now in the opposition and whether the PDP could return in 2019, he said: “I think one of the good things we are experiencing in this country is that for 16 years there has been democracy and democratic practices in the country.

“A lot of things must have gone wrong somewhere and the right judges are the people and the people have spoken. I think it is natural they needed a change after 16 years and they did what is right. They did not go wild, they did not fight anybody; they used their ballot papers to change the government. I think this is the beauty of what happened"

“I look forward to such practices in the next 50 years of democratic practice in this country. I hope they learn from their mistakes, what they did wrong, what they did right and what they can do now to re-launch their party.”

On his reaction to President Buhari’s vow to recover stolen funds from the nation’s treasury, Babangida said: “During the tenure of my boss, President Obasanjo, he had a similar strategy and to be fair to him, he made a lot of recoveries. So, we should support this present Federal Government, which is trying to do the same to achieve the same objective. If that objective is pursued reverently, I believe it will achieve some degree of stolen funds.

“You talk about oil theft, I am sure President Buhari is resolute to stamp out all those and to bring to book all those who have tampered in stealing our oil.”

How I escaped Orkar coup

On how he escaped death during the Gideon Orkar coup, he recollected: “I can remember very well that I had some loyal officers, who were supposed to be my protectors and my bodyguards. Initially, they told me to leave but I told them no, I am not leaving anywhere but they remained steadfast and later I took my family outside Dodan Barracks and joined my guards.

“So, we went out of Dodan Barracks and we went to a safe house where we got in contact with loyal troops. May God bless Sani Abacha. Sani Abacha was the Chief of Army Staff. He got in touch with me, I got in touch with him and we sat down and talked on what we were going to do. Abacha and I rallied the loyal troops and then I left my safe house and joined Abacha in his house. That was how I escaped.”

Vanguard

Editorial| Politics: Fashola and the enemy within

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

As a Muslim with a religious rebuff for pigs and its products, former Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State would have been so pained to equate the corruption allegations against him as tantamount to a duel with a pig.

Fashola and Tinubu

“When you wrestle with a pig, the pig gets happy and you get dirty,” the former governor said in a statement issued last Thursday in his response to the allegations against him. Remarkably, he did not mention who the pig is or the quarter from where the allegations against him are coming from.

However, his assertion has rekindled the repeated claims of the internal political chasm between him and his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC and the camp of the political leader of the state, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

It is thus instructive that upon the sensitivity of the issues involved, that supporters of the two immediate former governors of Lagos State have pledged to remain quiet and speak off the records on the issue. The swirling allegations of corruption, moral ineptitude and political grandstanding have come at a particularly sensitive time for political stakeholders in Lagos State.

As the former governor alleged in his rebuttal, he is not in search of a job, a claim that inevitably leads to insinuations that the allegations were being made to deny him what many consider as his deserved place in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Remarkably, Fashola’s enemies it is believed, are especially found among his political household, the platform upon which he progressed through two terms of Nigeria’s most cosmopolitan state.

Sources in the Fashola camp lay the charge at those within his political fold who attempted to stop his bid for a second term. At that time, his “brothers” came through the True Face of Lagos, a shadowy movement that sought to damage his political standing through allegations of corruption.

Party officials who like senior officials in the Tinubu and the Fashola camps understandably chose to speak off the records deny a party role in the unfolding crisis which they cite as an ego war within the party.

One associate of Fashola who spoke yesterday completely denied the involvement of the party in the crisis, which he however, traced to the same forces he claimed were responsible for trying to deny their patron a second term.

“It is the same people and you know they wanted to deny him a second term, but they could not, and this time, they will not succeed.”

He noted that the Tinubu camp had recruited the incumbent governor, Akinwunmi Ambode to push the battle against their man noting that the release of the information on the website contract could only have been divulged from within.

It is no secret among political partisans that Fashola was not supportive of Ambode before the primary and he was believed to be inclined to Supo Shashore, who served as a commissioner in the first term.

Fashola, however, made up and took prime position after the primary and campaigned vigorously for Ambode. However, the bad blood that was set before the primary it is said has not healed.

Remarkably, an associate of former Governor Tinubu also denied the role of the party and his political patron in the unfolding crisis which he told Vanguard yesterday was essentially an anti-corruption campaign being waged by a concerned civil society organisation.

In a comment laced with deeper warning of possible things to come, the source said yesterday:

“You have not heard anything, this is not our battle because you have not heard the story of the burial of one million vests meant for the campaign of a former governorship aspirant, you have not heard the story of contract inflations, you have not heard many things,” the source said as he gave warning of the camp’s ownership of a dossier on the immediate former governor.

On the prospect of President Buhari damning the consequences and picking Fashola as a minister to represent Lagos, a source in the Tinubu camp said:

“The person to be chosen must be acceptable by the people of Lagos and the ruling party. So if he (Fashola) is to be picked is it because he is acceptable to the party, or is it because he is a saint or what? The president can only pick him at his own peril,” he said noting that the former governor is only a political disadvantage saying that Fashola lost his ward and local government during the last local government election.

Fashola’s seeming political naivety is now the chorus of his political enemies who are alleging that Governor Ahmed Tinubu handed over to him a political structure that was in full control of the state. According to them, the political family at the time of the Tinubu-Fashola transition was in full control of the complement of elected officials in the National Assembly and the State House of Assembly.

Fashola they claim, however, handed over to his successor a divided political heritage given the ascendancy of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which won six House of Representatives positions and – seats in the House of Assembly.

The accusations against Fashola are, however, seriously vitiated by what critics claim as a heritage of performance in government, security.

Vanguard 

Corruption: Petition against Fashola: No one is sponsoring us

Mr. Debo Adeniran is the chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL). In this chat, he dismisses insinuations of being sponsored to smear the image of former governor of Lagos State, Mr Raji Babatunde Fashola.

Debo

What actually informed the petition is a small business we got from the Lagos State government in 2009. Since 2009, we have been communicating to the Lagos State government over the suspicion that contracts could have been inflated and a number of malfeasances could have been going on within the procurement and award of contracts in Lagos State.

We sent our petition to the Lagos State House of Assembly; we also sent a copy to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. The House of Assembly set up a panel to look at the complaint but the Lagos State government went to court to stop the investigation. They (Lagos State government) got an injuction to stop the House and the House wrote to us that they could not continue with the investigation.

The EFCC said they had invited some directors and principal officers to give their explanation but they (EFCC) did not give us any feed back on the interrogation they did. Since then, we have been reminding the EFCC. May this year, we paid them (EFCC) an advocacy visit but they did not have any cogent thing to tell us. We were not to be threatened nor intimidated.

When we got wind that Mr Fashola could be a member of the federal cabinet under President Muhammadu Buhari, we wrote to the president that Fashola has a lot of explaining to do regarding the contracts awarded when he was governor of Lagos State.

We decided to write to the president not to consider him and that he (Buhari) should ask the anti-graft agency to investigate the allegations leveled against him (Fashola) and prosecute him (Fashola) if found wanting.

Then talking about us being sponsored; if we are being sponsored by what we want to do, we would be glad to have such sponsors. We do not have sponsors, we are actually looking for sponsors so that we can dig deep into the affairs of Lagos State, to bring out more facts and figures that we can lay our hands on. The protest will not end until we are answered.

We do not have resources that is why we are limiting it. Nobody is sponsoring us. We want people who are interested in the better life for Lagos State to come out and sponsor us, but as long as they will not tie a string to the sponsorship. What we will not do is to blackmail people.

Vanguard

Tribunal: How APC allegedly rigged Ogun guber polls – Witnesses

Gboyega Isiaka and Gov Amosun

Some witnesses of the Ogun State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at the Governorship Electoral Petition Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta have revealed how the April 11, election was allegedly rigged and manipulated to give victory to Governor Ibikunle Amosun of the All Progressive Congress, APC.



The PDP and its candidate, Prince Gboyega Isiaka had dragged Amosun to the tribunal, claiming that the election was fraught with irregularities in nine local councils and urged the tribunal to declare him the winner of the election.

The witnesses who were cross-examined, Thursday, by counsel to Amosun led by Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, that of the APC, George Oyeniyi and Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Oluwadare Ogunnaike said they witnessed how the election was rigged and manipulated.

The first witness, Aliu Musa who identified himself as a polling agent at Idi Ota in Alapoti ward in Ado-Odo/Ota local government argued that the result of the election was counted and announced at Ado-Odo Police Station instead of the polling units. He also told the court that he got the information of where the result was collated and announced the following morning from members.

Also, the Chairman of the PDP in Odeda Local Government, Tosin Oyekan while being cross examined also alleged irregularities in the local government adding that he visited seven out of 115 voting units in the local government.

Another witness, Ademola Adejumo who claimed to be the monitoring officer of PDP during the election also held that no election was held in ward 5 of the local government and that no result was declared.

Also, Bunmi Awodeyin who also adopted her statement on oath, told the court that though, she didn’t brief the lawyers, she could confirm what was contained in the statement was the true representation of what transpired in her polling unit.

She argued that many people from Northern Nigerian were brought to pooling unit for voting without proper accreditation.

All the witnesses adopted their written statements on oath and the Tribunal, however adjourned till Monday in continuation of the hearing.

Vanguard

Politics: Fayose alleges plot to destabilise his govt

Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, said, weekend, he was not unaware of the sinister plot to destabilise his government because of his strong stands on national issues. He also vowed not to be cowed by threat from any quarter.

Gov. Ayo Fayose

Fayose in his characteristic manner urged President Muhammadu Buhari to be mindful of the body language of those hailing him today, stressing, “the president should be cautious enough to know that the former head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar led National Peace Committee tactically told him to tread cautiously and be mindful of the fact that he is not heading a military government.”

A statement by the governor’s special assistant on public communications and new media, Lere Olayinka, said, “opposition is one of the roots on which democracy stands and any president or governor that does not want opposition will eventually become a dictator.

“I want to state without fear or favour that I will continue to speak the truth no matter whose ox is gored. Nigeria belongs to all of us and no one can intimidate me or the good people of Ekiti State who freely and overwhelmingly gave me their mandate. Democracy as a form of government thrives on our ability to ask questions and get answers from leaders.”

The governor urged the President to listen to wise counsel from the General Abdulsalami Abubakar led National Peace Committee saying; “the Peace Committee has reminded the president that he is not heading a military government and with the calibre of Nigerians in the Committee, their wise counsel should not be ignored.

“These are Nigerians who don’t need personal favours from the President and he should get the message very clearly that he is being told not to act as a dictator.”

Fayose said the President should also know that Nigerians are not interested in any honeymoon, but their well-being. His words, “rather than concentrate and make a difference within his 100 days in office, the president’s greatest achievement so far is harassment of PDP leaders.”

Vanguard

Nigeria: How I escaped death in Orkar’s coup – IBB

General Ibrahim Babangida (Rtd.)

Retired Gen. Ibrahim Babangida has revealed that officers and men loyal to his regime assisted him to escape late Major Gideon Orkar’s coup against his administration on April 22, 1990.

Babangida made this known on Sunday during his 74th birthday chat with journalists in Minna.

“Some officers and men loyal to me insisted and took me out of Dodan Barracks to a safe house where we met other officers and men,’’ he said.

Babangida said that the officers again moved him to the house of late former Head of state, Gen. Sani Abacha, while soldiers fought the coup plotters and eventually defeated them.

The former military Head of State commended the conduct of the last election which resulted in the triumph of the people’s aspiration for change, adding that Buhari was a winner of people’s popular mandate.

He said that the media and youths in the country contributed their quota in immeasureable ways towards the realisation of this change.

Babangida called for continuous support for the current administration in order to achieve the dividends of democracy.

“I urged Nigerians to support the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari in order to tackle the challenges of the country.

“I also support the move by the Federal Government to recover the country’s stolen fund as way to wipe out corruption.

“I call on the general public to support President Buhari’s fight against corruption and insecurity in the country”, he added.

Vanguard

Boko Haram: They're back: Boko Haram's return under Buhari

In less than three months of Buhari's reign, the gory era of terrorism is back in Nigeria.

The US remains one of Nigeria's long-standing partners against terrorism

This is not the Nigeria that Muhammadu Buhari promised us in the build-up towards the presidential election. Neither is it the one he promised after he had won.

In a nationally-televised speech, hours after his declaration as president-elect, Buhari had told Nigerians: "Boko Haram will soon know the strength of our collective will."

Fast-forward three months, and it instead looks as if it was the Boko Haram commander who directed that statement towards the Nigerian people.

In less than three months of Buhari's reign, the gory era of terrorism is back in Nigeria, and the insurgents are furiously striking the people again and again.

Inside Story: Battling Boko Haram
In the week of July 5, there was not a single day without an attack. In the preceding week, 145 people were murdered in twin raids in the northeastern Borno state.

On July 16, Boko Haram suicide bombers detonated bombs in Gombe, another state in the northeast, killing 49 people at first count.

In its most recent attack, the insurgents killed at least 47 people in Borno in a trademark bomb blast on August 11.

The constant fear of Boko Haram attacks is not only palpable in the northeast.

Attacks and death threats
In July alone, there have been bomb attacks in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina and Plateau as well.

In the southwest, a Lagos-based journalist, Adeola Akinremi received a death threat from the sect in May.

While Boko Haram may not be seizing territories and controlling local governments at it did under the rule of the former President Goodluck Jonathan, its attacks in the last month - plus a death toll now nearing 1,000 - are a negative turnaround from the victories recorded in the final weeks of Jonathan's presidency.

For much of the Jonathan years, the overriding public complaint about the war against Boko Haram was focused on how the president positioned himself in the aftermath of attacks.

A few weeks before the presidential election, Jonathan - helped by a coalition of Nigerian, Chadian, Nigerien, and Cameroonian forces - seemed to make up for his shortcomings by nearly exterminating Boko Haram from northern Nigeria.

Jonathan may have handed over a battered federal purse with external and domestic debts to the tune of $63.7bn to his successor, but he managed to hand over an insurgency challenge that was lower in scale and intensity than the one he met.

Botched progress
Buhari has no excuse for botching all the progress that was recorded before his ascendancy.

It is not known what spell Buhari has cast on Nigerians, but the loss of nearly 1,000 lives in almost two months has not generated the kind of admonishment Jonathan faced in similar circumstances.

The pattern of recent attacks has been almost monotonous: identify a crowded location, hit it with a suicide bomber.

He may not have danced away at campaign rallies immediately after Boko Haram attacks like his predecessor, but he has yet to personally visit a single blast scene, and official government statements on the killings have been sparse.

Aside from relocating the military command centre to Borno state on his first day in office, travelling out of the country to solicit the help of world leaders in battling the insurgents, and sacking his predecessor's service chiefs and national security adviser, Nigeria can hardly point to a single Boko Haram success story under Buhari.

Therefore, it is no surprise that questions are being asked in the media if Nigerians are more lenient with Buhari on Boko Haram.

On July 20, Buhari travelled to the United States for what was obviously a very important engagement with Barack Obama, and partnership strategies for combating the insurgents was one of the headlines of their bilateral talks.

It was an important trip. The US remains one of Nigeria's long-standing partners against terrorism, committing at least $34m in equipment and logistics support for Nigerian, Chadian, Cameroonian, and Nigerien forces.

That excludes a $5m contribution to the Multinational Joint Task Force.

Buhari's fight
But it is actually at home that Buhari's greatest work against Boko Haram lies.

The pattern of recent attacks has been almost monotonous: identify a crowded location, hit it with a suicide bomber.

The president will do well to concentrate his greatest energy on boosting local surveillance capacities in the entire northern region in order to pre-empt attacks and foil them.

But Buhari does not need to be told what to do.

On April 1, in one of his first interviews as president-elect, BBC's Peter Okwoche asked him if he had thought about how to go about fulfilling all his promises to Nigerians.

And this was his response: "I think I wouldn't have made the promises if I didn't know how to fulfil it".

Now, Boko Haram is asking quick-fire questions of a pledge Buhari made in an interview with CNN to "effectively deal with them in a few months when we get into office".

If he truly had a plan for fulfilling that particular promise, now is the time to unleash it on the beasts of Nigeria's northeast.

Fisayo Soyombo edits the Nigerian online newspaper TheCable.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

Source: Al Jazeera

Politics: Jonathan shortchanged Buhari before handing over’ - Lai Mohammed

Lai Mohammed, APC Spokesman

For all the years that his party was in opposition, Alhaji Lai Mohammed was a thorn in the flesh of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). As his party’s spokeman, he took on PDP on every issue. Now that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is in power, Mohammed has not lost steam. He is still firing from all cylinders. In this interview, he speaks on why President Muhammadu Buhari is biding his time before appointing ministers; the row over INEC chair and other issues. Musa Odosimokhe reports.

Why has the President not appointed ministers over two months after he assumed office?

Frankly speaking, I think we will be unfair to the President on the issue of ministerial appointment. The President was elected for a term of four years. If he spends four months planning what he is going to do in four years, I don’t think it is out of place. When you appoint ministers, they don’t come to office with their own agenda. Ministers are handed the government agenda and party manifestoes to implement. It is the government that says this is my blueprint. This is what I want you to do in education, health or agriculture. We all agree that ministers can as well contribute to it. It is the responsibility of the government or President to have a blueprint. It is the blueprint that the ministers are going to implement. In the past, ministers had been appointed within two or three months that the president assumed office, but what has been the result? What has been happening is that they are either removed, reshuffled or you have to relieve some of them because they cannot perform. The President as far as I am concerned was short-changed by the last administration. The Transition Committee that he set up was not allowed to function the way it should. In short, handover notes were not handed over to us until May 26. It was then that we knew what we were inheriting. That is why the President is taking his time, calling every ministry, and asking to be briefed. Again, there has been some useful effect to not appointing the ministers because if they have been in place, the President will not have access to the information he has. The permanent secretary would have reported to the Ministers. The perm secretary would not be able to see the president directly, except through their ministers. All the information that we are hearing about $600 million being diverted might have been buried. The information by the Ministry of Mineral Resources that touts have taken control of the industry, if that kind of briefing had not taken place, the people will not get to know. I think Nigerians should look beyond this obsession for ministers. At the end of the day, the President will be held responsible for the quality of his policy. And it will not be a credit to him that he appointed ministers within one month and things did not work. I believe that the President is being thorough, very meticulous because he really wanted to know what he is inheriting before he appoints ministers. Basically, if he appoints ministers today without knowing what is on ground, what is the brief that the President is going to give? All the report that the President is getting is forming part of the blueprint that he is working on. He has promised us September and it is just around the corner.

Does that explain why he has not also appointed the Chief of Staff, SGF etc?

You see, The Chief of Staff and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), are people that relate daily with the President. So, the President must appoint people that he has confidence in. I believe that the President has the prerogative to choose who he wants. If he has not found a suitable person, they should give him more time. At the end of the day he would be held accountable for any decision he takes. He has assured us, and I am sure when he will come out with the appointment, Nigerians will applaud him. They will applaud him, just like they applauded the appointment of the MD of NNPC.

Nigerians and investors are worried that there is no clear cut policy direction of government on the economy for now; what path is government towing?

I think the economic direction of the government is very clear, even from the manifesto of the party and also from the steps taken by our government. When people say they are worried about the economic direction or policy of the government, I begin to wonder what the problem is because the action that has been taken, would determine largely the economic direction of government. Nigeria’s economy depends on oil, for the 70 per cent of its total revenue. Unless you get that industry right, the entire economic policy will wobble. I think getting the reform in the petroleum sector right, has been the pointer to what government direction is heading. Not only do we a have world acclaimed reformer and expert at the helm of affairs in the NNPC today, but we have also taken certain bold steps. This shows that even the refineries that were not supposed to be working, by 2016 they will reach 90 per cent capacity. And when you look at the economy today, what you spend on oil accounts for more than 40 per cent of your foreign exchange expenditure. Now, if you get your oil industry right, with the refineries working, you need to import less. And then you also spend less money. The Federal Government has issued a statement directing everybody to pay into Treasury Single Account (TSA). If you ask me, what is the economic direction of this government? I will say transparency and accountability.

Can the refineries be optimally utilized to set the economy in the right direction?

As a matter of fact the Kaduna refinery is capable of producing five million litres per day and that is at a loss.

Is it not better to sell them to people who can run them? What about the subsidy issue being raised regularly?

I don’t share your position. Take the issue of timing, there was a time in this country, when the refineries were working and we were exporting refined products. So, why can’t we go back to that era? Without prejudice to those who want to set up refineries, if we sell these refineries today, if they work in the hands of the new owner, it is either they improved on their equipment or the work ethic has changed. I don’t think selling is the only solution. It can work, and we can reach the capacity of 20 million litres a day. I think it will solve our problem. Nigerians don’t even know how much fuel they consume in a day. We are told it is 30 other say 40 million but all we know is that when we reviewed the package only five companies were involved, now it became seven. What Buhari has read and there has been of lot of literature on this, he is yet to be convinced whether there is subsidy or not. If we refine oil locally, the issue of subsidy will not arise at all. Today, if we import the entire 40 million litres that we need, it means we are subsidising the entire 40 million litres if there is any at all. But, if our refineries start working, if we need to import at all, it is only the balance that we are going to import. We seem not to understand the mathematics, when oil was selling at $140 per barrel, Okonjo-Iweala told Nigerians that we were subsidising with N72 per litre. She said this is because the cost of crude accounts for 80 percent of the cost of refined product. Therefore, if we are paying subsidy of N72, when oil was sold at N140, the subsidy that will be available now, when oil is sold at N50 or under N50, should be an improvement. The President wants to be sure that where there is subsidy at all and if there is how do we cure it. And the best way to cure it in my view is your local production capacity. So far, he has not been convinced on the argument for subsidy removal. The issue of subsidy is not a close issue. There are many schools of thought on the issue.

Members of the PDP have accused the President of being selective in the anti-corruption war; how accurate is the allegation?

The President has said no member of my party will escape justice. Now, people, especially PDP members are saying the war against corruption is selective. That only PDP former governors are being probed and I said it is not true. Murtala Nyako was an APC governor, he is facing the EFCC. Silva, Goje are under probe, so that argument is not valid. The truth of the matter is that if there is going to be a probe, and it is going to affect everybody, for every one APC member, there will be 10 PDP. Let us face the truth, who were on the board of NNPC were they APC people? How many governors did APC have compared to PDP? Even at the height of our glory, we had only 14 governors, they had 22 governors. Who had been in power for 16 years? Who made all the appointments? It is only natural that they should top the list.

What do you make of the row over the acting INEC chair, Mrs. Amina Zakari, who Prof. Jega handed over to? The PDP is insinuating that she was given the job to manipulate the forthcoming governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States.

People are not seeing the appointment of Hajia Amina Zakari in correct perspective of the law. They are not divorcing the person of Mrs. Zakari from her position as a national commissioner. The Constitution is very clear on who can be the chairman of INEC. The President alone can nominate the chairman of INEC. And the only condition attached to it, is that he must be a person of integrity and must not be under 50 years. Look at Mrs. Zakari, forget that she was a national commissioner. The President could today like Jonathan did the other time, pick somebody from outside the commission and make that fellow the chairman of INEC. It is also clear that if he can make a substantive appointment, he can also make an acting appointment. In other word, he can nominate the chairman of INEC. The law also inferred that I can nominate whoever is going to be the acting chairman. There is no law that says that the acting chairman must be an INEC commissioner. Mrs. Zakari, and I keep telling them this argument would have held water if she is a new appointee by us. Mrs. Zakari was appointed by the PDP government. Whether she is related to Buhari or not is irrelevant. We met her there; she was the most senior and Jega handed over to her. When her tenure expires she just became an ordinary Nigerian like me and you. Her appointment as acting INEC chairman has nothing to do with her past as a former national commissioner. Just like Buhari could have appointed you in acting capacity. And unless they can tell me, if the law gives him power to appoint a substantive, that he cannot appoint an acting chairman. They know and are only being mischievous. It would have even been a different case, it the law says that only a national commissioner can become the chairman. The we would say, you cannot become chairman because your tenure has expired. When Jega was appointed, he was from the university.

As to the elections in Kogi and Bayelsa, a President must never be intimidated. Once you are convinced of the correctness of your position, you have checked with the Ministry of Justice and you have not violated the law, no matter the noise, just remain focused. And that is where the issue of Mrs. Zakari comes again, she is not our appointee, we met her in office. There is no record that she has been biased. But, if you allow them to intimidate you, the next person you are going to bring, won’t that person be an appointee of the President?

What is the guarantee that the elections in Kogi and Bayelsa will be free and fair? In addition, what are you doing about electoral reform?

If you had listened to the President, he keeps saying that there will be free and fair elections under him. For the electoral reform, if not for the adoption of the Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) and the Card Reader, he would have not won. Clearly, we will uphold the innovation. Our government is going to improve on the level of transparency that helped us to get to power. The President has said so, even in his inaugural address that the electoral reform will ensure that henceforth, government will be elected solely on the wishes of the people of Nigeria. I don’t think the government is going to micro-manage any particular agency responsible for election. We came to power on the back of a ‘free and fair election'; I think it is morally right to ensure that the elections do not come short of expectations.

What have been the President achievements since assuming office?

If you look at the areas which we have based our campaign, security, corruption and economy, I think he has achieved a lot in these areas. If you look at the area of security, he has succeed in channelling international, national and regional supports in the fight against Boko Haram. We now have a rejuvenated Nigeria army, that is far more purposeful and mechanical to tackling the challenge of Boko Haram. We now have the Multi-national Joint Force (MNJF) to combat the insurgents. We have been able to impress it on the US to review its law to allow their troops to come and train our personnel to combat the menace. We are of the view that Boko Haram cannot only be combated with weapons, but we are looking at the underlying causes of what have made the ideology attractive to young men. This we believe is the economy, the lack of jobs and things like that. I think it is a step in the right direction that the Vice President is visiting the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), to give them hope. I think the facility by the World Bank of $2.1 billion will go a long way in making the Boko Haram fight successful.

It is true that in recent time there have been cases of suicide bombings in the Northeast, anybody who is familiar with insurgency phenomenon, will know that it normally happens when insurgency is on its way out. A year ago, about 14 local governments were under the full control of Boko Haram in Borno State alone. They had their emirs and collected taxes, they even hoisted their own flags, today you cannot find such a thing.

But Jonathan was able to handle them…

There is no doubt Jonathan did a lot, but we kept the pace. We could have lost territories back to them, but we have not lost one inch. We have been able to dislodge them from the Sambisa Forest. What we have now is lone suicide bombers. I believe that the new crops of Service Chiefs, many of them have intelligence backgrounds which they will deploy to the combat.

On the economy, I think the trip to the US has been largely successful. We have been able to get commitment in the area of power, agriculture and health. We have been able to secure almost $11.5 billion commitment and we have been able to get 20 committed business interests of international repute to invest in our economy. Locally on the economic side too, I think we must give credit to the government for the bailout package. Without it many of the states would have been on strike by now. There would have been massive industrial unrest. What the President did much more, I think is the restructuring of the commercial bank loan for 20 years tenure. Most state governments were choked, they were spending between 20 and 30 per cent of the allocation servicing debts. Now, they have enough money not only to pay salaries but to embark on projects.

I think in the area of transparency and accountability, he has encouraged lots of people, to come and invest in Nigeria. The cost of doing business in Nigeria is now far cheaper than it used to be. Again, the President’s directive that all payments be made into a treasury single account will also help in enhancing the economy.

On the war against corruption, the President has achieved a lot. He is one person that has the political will. And sincerely there is enough laws in Nigeria to address the issue of corruption and bad government but what has always been lacking is the political will to tackle it. There is no new head in ICPC or EFCC but all of a sudden they have reopened all cases, all because there is a man at the top that will not stop them from doing what they ought to do.