President Hu Jintao gives his last state-of-the-nation address as China’s leader, admitting the growing contradictions in Chinese societ

SUCH is the secrecy in which China’s Communist Party cloaks itself that Hu Jintao, its leader since 2002, has only twice given a live address to the nation setting out his party’s policies in depth. His second, delivered on November 8th, a week before he steps down, was typically vague. Amid a growing chorus of calls for bolder economic and political reform, both he and incoming leaders favour caution.
Intense security in Beijing and to varying degrees across the country on the day he spoke hinted at the party’s nervousness. Despite a decade of breakneck economic growth, discontent is widespread among the less well-off as well as members of a much-expanded middle class, who want more say in how they are governed. Speaking at the opening of a five-yearly, week-long party congress, Mr Hu extolled the party’s achievements since 2002, but repeated what has become a refrain of China’s leaders: that its development is “unbalanced, unco-ordinated and unsustainable”.

As a farewell gift to Mr Hu, the more than 2,200 hand-picked congress delegates are expected to amend the party’s constitution to enshrine his appeal for “scientific development” (eco-friendly and balanced) alongside the other theories that supposedly guide the party: those of Marx, Lenin, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Mr Hu’s predecessor, Jiang Zemin. There had been speculation before the congress that Mao might be dropped from this list. But Mr Hu paid ritual tribute to the late chairman and his thinking. Party leaders worry about an attempt by a recently purged Politburo member, Bo Xilai, to boost his popularity by appealing to faintly subversive nostalgia for Mao among the poor. But they worry even more that further steps toward “de-Maoification” might prove dangerously divisive within a party already shaken by Mr Bo’s spectacular downfall amid allegations of corruption and a murder cover-up.

In his 100-minute address, Mr Hu warned that corruption could cause “the collapse of the party and the fall of the state”. Leaders, however, have often used such language before. And the few specific remedies he offered are also old hat, though the party has made glacial progress in implementing them: more open government, more democracy at the grassroots and inside the party, and greater emphasis on the rule of law. Mr Hu stressed the importance of political reform, but also of continued one-party rule. The man poised to succeed him as party chief and as president next March, Xi Jinping (see next story), was in charge of drafting Mr Hu’s speech. It probably reflected a commonly agreed position that will be hard for Mr Xi to change, barring an economic or political crisis that affects the balance of thinking.
In recent weeks articles warning that such a crisis might come in the next decade, and arguing for pre-emptive reform, have appeared even in the official press. People’s Tribune, a fortnightly magazine produced by the party’s mouthpiece, the People’s Daily (and sporting Jiang Zemin’s calligraphy on its cover), published one on the eve of the congress by Yuan Gang of Peking University. It put the warning starkly: “A tightly controlled society in which people only do as they are told, are utterly subservient, and in which there is no freedom of action, will meet a rapid end.”
Mr Hu did admit a need for “greater political courage and vision”, and said the party should “lose no time in deepening reform in key sectors”. He repeated calls for “major changes” in the country’s growth model away from reliance on investment and exports towards greater emphasis on consumption. He said market forces should be given “wider scope”, and urged “steady steps” towards making interest rates and the exchange rate more market-driven. But he also spoke of a need to “steadily enhance” the state sector’s ability to “leverage and influence the economy”. Many liberal economists in China have been calling for a loosening of state control over vital sectors, from financial services to energy and telecommunications. Mr Hu said the private sector should enjoy a “level playing field”, but he also said the state should boost its investment in “key fields that comprise the lifeline of the economy”.
There is unlikely to be fierce debate over these issues at the congress. When it ends on November 14th delegates will dutifully raise their hands to approve Mr Hu’s report. The tightly scripted choreography of this five-yearly event shows no sign of changing. As usual there will be more candidates than seats available in a new central committee of around 370 people to be “elected” by the delegates. But behind the scenes, party officials will work to make sure the right people are chosen.

UN experts say Rwanda and Uganda backing DR Congo

UNITED NATIONS — A UN expert panel accused Rwanda's defense minister of being the "de facto" commander of a rebellion in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a confidential report seen by AFP. The report accused both Rwanda and Uganda of arming and supporting the M23 rebels, whose members are former fighters in an ethnic Tutsi rebel movement theoretically integrated into the Congolese military under a 2009 peace deal. This is not the first time the two central African nations have been accused of backing rebels in a proxy war in eastern Congo, allegations they have consistently denied. In June, in an interim report, the same UN panel said it had "overwhelming evidence" that senior Rwandan Defense Forces officers "have been backstopping the rebels through providing weapons, military supplies, and new recruits." In the updated, more detailed report, the experts -- who are tasked with monitoring the implementation of UN sanctions in Congo -- said they have "found no substantive element of its previous finding which it wishes to alter." The report alleged that the M23 "de facto chain of command includes General Bosco Ntaganda and culminates with the Rwandan minister of Defense, General James Kabarebe." The renegade general Ntaganda is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. The report said the government of Rwanda continues to violate the arms embargo through direct military support to M23 rebels, encouraging Congolese soldiers to desert, and providing arms, intelligence and political advice. And in Uganda, senior officials gave support "in the form of direct troop reinforcements in DRC territory, weapons deliveries, technical assistance, joint planning, political advice and facilitation of external relations." The report said Ugandan and Rwandan military units jointly supported M23 in a series of attacks in July 2012 to take over the major towns of Rutshuru territory and a Congolese military base, Rumangabo. During the July clashes, a UN peacekeeper from India was killed. According to the experts, "the rebels expanded their control over Rutshuru territory with extensive foreign support in July 2012 and have recently taken advantage of an informal ceasefire to enhance alliances and command proxy operations elsewhere." They added that "the use and recruitment of child soldiers by armed groups, notably by M23, has increased," with "the enrollment and training of hundreds of young boys and girls" and "certain M23 commanders have ordered the extra-judicial executions of dozens of recruits and prisoners of war." Both Rwanda and Uganda have again denied strenuously that they support the M23 rebellion. Rwandan foreign minister Louise Mushikiwabo accused the authors of the report of mounting a "determined political campaign opposed to resolving true causes of conflict" in the Congo. Her Ugandan counterpart, Henry Okello Oryem, called the report "a joke" and called on the experts to produce their evidence. He told AFP Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will continue mediation efforts in the region, saying leaders there would give no credit to UN report. The M23 rebel fighters were incorporated into the DR Congo army in 2009 as part of a peace deal in the troubled, mineral-rich eastern region. They quit the army this year in a dispute over salaries and poor conditions.

 Details

ADRA Donates Relief Materials To Flood Victims In Makurdi the Benue State capital

nwfhAS part of its commitment to humanitarian cause, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church under its relief arm, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) has donated relief materials valued at N2.1 million to victims of flood disaster in Benue State. Associate Director, ADRA Ife, Osun State, Pastor Daniel Oriaku while presenting the items yesterday at the LGEA, Wurukum camp in Makurdi said, the gesture was aimed at reducing the sufferings of the victims. The items donated to the camp include: 43 bags of rice, 20 bags of beans, 20 bags of garri, 240 liters
of palm oil, 615 packets of Maggi, 15 cartons of toilet soap, 40 bags of salt and 40 packs of tissue papers.

www.tivyouthcongress.blogspot.com

NIGERIAN PIPELINE BLAST 15 FEARD DEAD IN ABIA STATE AS 25 SUFFERS VARIOUS BURNS

No fewer than 15 persons have been confirmed dead and more than 25 suffering various degrees of burns from fire said to have resulted from an alleged vandalism of pipelines at Umueke village in Abia state. Commissioner for Petroleum and Solid Minerals Development, Chief Don Ubani, who confirmed the incident, which he said occurred on September 23, expressed surprise that people could still break pipelines despite several warnings against such acts. Ubani said that hospitals treating the injured vandals have an obligation to report them to law enforcement agencies warning that traditional rulers in whose domains incidents of vandalism occured, "should be prepared to identify such hoodlums for appropriate actions by the government or face the consequences of nonchalance". LEADERSHIP learnt that the state governor, Chief Theodore Orji, had on receiving the information about the fire incident, sent his deputy, Sir Emeka Ananaba, to the area to assess the level of damage. He expressed regrets over the loss of lives, saying that pipeline vandalism was a very costly venture which people should desist from engaging in to save their lives.The deputy governor said that it was high time people stopped having that notion that they could live on criminal activities such as pipeline vandalism, and added that those with criminal tendencies should have a rethink and engage in legitimate means of livelihood. According to him, incidents of pipeline vandalism have become a source of worry to the state government with its attendant loss of human lives and revenue accruing to the federal government, and pointed out that the state government has been supporting the security agencies with logistics to fight the menace. Ananaba wondered why people should still engage in pipe line vandalism even with stories of dire consequences that people have faced while scooping fuel from broken pipeline in several places across the nation. He advised parents to restrain their children and wards to refrain from criminal activities.

Fresh clashes between the DR Congo's army and a group of mutineers erupted Sunday in the eastern...

Fresh clashes between the DR Congo's army and a group of mutineers erupted Sunday in the eastern province of Nord-Kivu, defectors said, a day after fierce battles near a gorilla park.
"We're on the ground. We've been confronting the FARDC (the Democratic Republic of Congo's military) since this morning three kilometres (two miles) from Bunagana ... where we were yesterday," Vianney Kazarana, a spokesman for the mutineers' March 23 Movement, told AFP by telephone.
"The FARDC are using combat tanks. We're resisting. We're at the front, we're facing the enemy."
Nord-Kivu governorate spokesman Celestin Sibomana told AFP that since 1200 GMT fighting has been going on between national troops and mutineers at the strategic hill location of Mbuzi, which faces the Rwanda border, as well as at Chanzu, close to the Uganda border.
But the "road leading from Rutshuru to Bunagana, at the border with Uganda, is open," he added.
"The FARDC is controlling and securing the zone. But the population have been displaced from Bunagana, which is now deserted," he said.
Mutineers have been pushed back "to the end of the Virunga National Park, close to the border with Rwanda," said the spokesman.
The two sides have been mired in tit-for-tat clashes in the remote jungle region for weeks.
The mutineers are former rebels who were integrated into the army under a 2009 peace deal but started to defect en masse, complaining of poor treatment.
On Saturday, fighting broke out when the mutineers attacked army positions in the Rutshuru area near Virunga National Park, home to more than half the world's 700 or so mountain gorillas.
The toll arising from the attacks were uncertain.
Sources close to the army spoke of two dead and several wounded among national troops, according to Omar Kavota, vice-president of a Nord-Kivu non-governmental organisation.
"They also mentioned several mutineers killed," said Kavota.
"We recorded 13 wounded FARDC who were admitted Sunday to the general hospital of Rutshuru.
"Among them, four who are seriously injured were flown this afternoon by a MONUSCO helicopter to intensive care in Goma," he added, referring to the UN peacekeeping mission.
Kinshasa accuses former rebel leader General Bosco Ntaganda, wanted by the International Criminal Court for enlisting child soldiers, of leading the mutiny.

2015: ACN, CPC Consider Options to Dislodge PDP

With three years to go before the 2015 presidential election, opposition parties have started considering a number of options on how to join forces to wrest power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.

The stumbling block to their goal, however, is the much-speculated presidential ambition of the leader of the Congress for Progressive Change, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), who is considered a threat to the plan of forging a working relationship between his party and the Action Congress of Nigeria.

But the renewed romance between the ACN and CPC seems not to have ruffled the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, with its national publicity secretary, Olisa Metu, waving it off as a distraction to the party’s commitment to transform Nigeria.

The last effort at an alliance of the two parties before the 2011 presidential election fell through due to irreconcilable differences between the leadership of the two parties.

Source told THISDAY at the weekend that some stalwarts of the two parties are considering the viability of the Buhari candidacy with the ACN national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as running mate in the next poll.

If he runs in 2015, Buhari would have contested the presidency for a record four times since 2003 when he first took part in the presidential race on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party.

In the run up to the 2011 election, he stated that the contest will be his last, but in recent months speculation has been mounting that he may once more throw his hat into the ring come 2015.

Though Buhari is yet to take a clear stand on whether he would contest the 2015 presidential election, saying that he will continue to play an active role in the polity, his comment last week in Niger State warning PDP not to rig the 2015 election otherwise there will be bloodshed, was a pointer that he might take another shot at the presidency.

The snag in the Buhari-Tinubu ticket, if it becomes a reality, it was gathered, is that the CPC leader, who will be 73 by 2015, might be considered too old for the race in a world where younger elements are emerging leaders in other nations.

Considering this a setback, younger elements in the ACN and the CPC are canvassing another team, comprising former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and a close Buhari ally, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, and the governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola to fly the alliance ticket should things work out between the two parties.  Fashola, by 2015, would have served out his two terms as governor.

THISDAY gathered that following exploratory talks between both parties, a situation that saw Buhari visiting Tinubu on May 6 for further talks, members of both parties are concerned over whether Buhari would still present himself as a presidential candidate of the CPC.

One CPC member involved in the alliance talks between the CPC and ACN said the talks between the two parties were still ongoing, however, noting that Buhari’s political future was casting a cloud over negotiations.

The source said the young Turks in both parties, nonetheless, have been meeting to work out a Plan B.

“Our game plan is to present two younger elements for the presidential ticket. We are thinking that el-Rufai and Fashola will make a perfect combination. But we don’t know the game plan that Buhari and Tinubu have.

“el-Rufai is popular among the northern youths and Fashola’s commendable performance makes him the perfect match for the former minister. This is what we are thinking of at the moment, but there could be changes in the future,” the source said.

According to him, the younger elements in the both parties are worried that the alliance talks between CPC and ACN may be moving towards a joint presidential ticket comprising Buhari and Tinubu. 

“A joint Buhari-Tinubu ticket would mean closing the doors to the younger elements that have something to offer in the next dispensation,” he added.

On the terms of the talks between CPC and ACN, the source said, “From the initial talks, what is on the ground is an alliance and not a merger. We are discussing the possibility of presenting a unified presidential candidate and cooperating in subsequent elections and not an outright merger where one party will be subsumed by the other.” 

Asked to clarify what he meant by an alliance, the source said, “By cooperating during elections as contemplated in the 2015 presidential election,” adding, “the details are not known yet; with time, everything will become clearer.”

The CPC national secretary, Buba Galadima, when contacted on whether Buhari would contest the 2015 presidential election, simply said, “Buhari is a leader in CPC.

“He is qualified to contest for the presidential election, but the decision depends on him. You just wait and see as everything unfolds after all, power is from Allah.”

However, the PDP said it was not bothered about the rumoured alliance between the two parties. According to the PDP spokesman, Metu, “As a party, we are determined not be bothered by the unholy alliance of the ACN and the CPC whose ultimate target is to distract our irreversible commitment to the transformation of Nigeria.”

THE NIGERIAN JOINT TASK FORCE,(JTF) BURST BOKO HARAM'S HIDOUT IN JOS.

The military, police and members of the State Security Services were all involved in the joint security effort.
A statement by the spokesman of the STF, Captain Markus Mdahyela, revealed that the hideout was discovered by the security operatives following intelligence reports on a location where six women and 11 children of alleged Boko Haram members were kept in solitary confinement.
 According to the statement, arms and ammunition and improvised explosive devices were recovered from the hideout while one of the improvised explosive devices, detonated during the operation but no casualty was recorded.
“The first operation on Thursday 17th May, led to the rescue of six women and eleven children while items recovered from the bungalow include a laptop, external hard disk, eight cell phones, 23 SIM cards and 19 improvised explosive detonators, the statement read.”
The women and children were all rescued for further investigation and rehabilitation, the statement adds.
On further search in the early hours of Saturday, Captain  Mdahyela, stated that, one ak 47, four magazines fully loaded with 7.62mm special and 150m rounds of 7.62 special , 347 rounds of 9mm were also discovered.
Other items recovered are eight bags of urea nitrate fertilizer, two generators, four improvise explosive devices, 395 snipper ammo, 60mm cortex blue wire and other dangerous weapons.

More ammunitions

The Special Task Force statement warned citizens not to allow their houses to be used by terrorists as it will be demolished
It also advised landlords and agents to thoroughly screen tenants and report suspected persons to appropriate security agencies.
Meanwhile, the terrorists’ hideout and environs have been placed under heavy military surveillance.
Plateau state has witnessed repeated bomb explosions claimed by the fundamentalist sect that has been raging an insurgency in the northern part of the country.

FORMER MINISTER KICKS AGAINST DIALOGUE WITH BOKO HARAM

Speaking at a public lecture in honour of late Ijaw nationalist, Adaka Boro, in Abuja,  Mr Fani-Kayode said there is an urgent need for the federal government to bring the current security challenges under control by bringing the full weight of the law to bear on all terrorists.
The sect has in recent years being staging insurgency against the Nigerian government, using series of suicide bombings and strategic bomb blasts, jail breaks, attacks on police stations and academic institutions across the northern part of Nigeria.
Also speaking at the occasion, chairman of the Ijaw youth council, Abuja branch, Mr Francis Tambai appealed to youths from the north not to allow themselves to be used by persons who are bent on destroying the peace of the nation.
Vice-president, Namadi Sambo at a recent function in Abuja, declared that the federal government is willing to engage in dialogue with the sect.
More details to follow soon.

JOINT TASK FORCE (JTF) ARRESTS HIGH PROFILE BOKO HARAM COMMANDER.

Nigeria military task force (JTF) on Friday arrested a high-profile Boko Haram operational commander, along with his wife and five children, during a raid at his residence on Farawa Babban Layi Street in the northwest Nigerian city of Kano.

The arrested operation commander was identified by Nigerian authorities as Suleiman Mohammed, a Yoruba tribe member from Ogbomosho in  southwest Nigeria. Sophisticated weapons were recovered during the raid, including a rifle, 10 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), three pistols, and 1,000 rounds of live ammunition. No shots were fired during the raid on Mr. Mohammed’s home. 

The arrests are welcome news for the government after a spate of high-profile bombings and shootings across northern Nigeria, violence that has claimed thousands of lives since the Islamist group Boko Haram began its rebellion in 2009. Boko Haram, whose official name in Arabic translates as”People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad,” seek to overthrow the secular Nigerian government and replace the current Constitution with Islamic sharia law, at least in the Muslim areas of the north. Recently, Boko Haram spokesmen have offered to open dialogue with President Goodluck Jonathan, but Boko Haram has shown little room for compromise regarding its main mission, and Nigerian military operations against the group seem likely to continue. State police commissioner Ibrahim Idris confirmed the arrest of the sect leader, adding that “the arrest came after a tipoff by the society agencies, through the information from the general public of suspicious movement of the people into the sect leader house.” 
“Yes, security agencies successfully arrested the top sect leader in the state, whom we’ve alleged to be the operational commander of the sect in the state. {The] investigation commences after the arrest,” Mr. Idris told reporters. 
He explained that the security agencies suspect the arrested sect leader was behind a series of attacks against security forces, Christian churches, and the killing of other innocent citizens.
Police say that they have recovered more than a dozen IEDs from the premises of  Bayero University since the bomb attack of April 29 at the university.
Lt. Ikedichi Iweha, the spokesman of the joint military task force (JTF), also confirmed the arrest of the sect top profile leader.

MTN,ETISALAT AND OTHERS,FINED MORE THAN $2M BY NCC

UAE-based telco Emirates Telecommunications Corp has been fined more than $2m for failing to meet minimum service standards in Nigeria. The Nigerian Communications Commission said it has fined the country’s mobile-phone operators a cumulative 1.17bn naira (One Billion, One Hundred and Seventy Million Naira, $7.4m) due to their

inability to meet the quality of service mandates of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Three other telecommunications operators fined by NCC are MTN Nigeria, Airtel and Globacom  as penalty for poor services  rendered to their different subscribers in the months of  March and April 2012.

Details of the penalties already communicated to the different operators indicate that MTN Nigeria Communications and Etisalat, will pay the sum of N360,000,000 ( Three Hundred and Sixty Million ) respectively while Airtel is to pay the sum of N270,000,000 (Two Hundred and Seventy Million Naira). Globacom, on the other hand attracted a penalty in the sum of N180,000,000 (One Hundred and Eighty Million Naira).

All the operators are expected to pay the penalties on or before May 21, 2012 or be liable to payment of additional N2,500,000 ( Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira) per day for as long as the contravention persists.

The penalties are as a result of the contravention of the provisions of the Quality of Service Regulations by the NCC as the operators failed to meet with the minimum standard of quality of service including the key performance indicators, KPIs.

The Commission has in line with the provisions of the regulation, monitored the performance of the operators on the different parameters as provided and the result showed that the service providers  are in contravention of the provisions.

Paragraph 13 & Schedule 3 Paragraph 2 of the Quality of Service Regulation 2012, provides that any company which contravenes this provision will be liable to pay fine as follows:  The sum of N15, 000, 000. 00 (fifteen million naira only) for each parameter for a service contravened in the month of March, 2012.

In addition, a further sum of N2, 500, 000 (two million five hundred thousand naira only) for each parameter for a service for each day the contravention continued throughout the month of April, 2012.

The Nigerian arm of UAE based telecom Etisalat said in 2010 it would spend up to $500m on its network next year, as it looks to double its customer base to 12 million.

Etisalat faces stiff competition in Africa's most populous nation from South Africa's MTN Group and India's Bharti Airtel.

Etisalat started full commercial services in Nigeria in October 2008 after buying a 40 percent stake in a new Nigerian telephone operator from Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Co.

Nigeria: EFCC Files Fraud Charges Against Hembe, Deputy

 An Abuja High Court yesterday approved the arraignment of Iorwase Herman Hembe and Azubuogu Emeka Ifeanyi on May 17 over alleged diversion of public funds.
Hembe and Ifeanyi were serving as chairman and deputy chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market and Institutions respectively before a bribery allegation by the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Arunma Oteh, during the public hearing on the activities of SEC, led to their
replacement. Ruling on the application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) seeking leave to prefer criminal charges against the lawmakers, Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar held that the application has merit based on the proof of evidence.
In the two counts charge brought by counsel to the EFCC Mr Onjefu Obe, the anti-graft agency alleged that Hembe and Ifeanyi converted to their own use the sum of $4095 given to them by the SEC as traveling allowance to a conference in Dominican Republic in October, 2011.
The offense is contrary to section 308 of the Penal Code Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The lawmakers had denied both allegations in their statements to the EFCC.

NJC reinstates Salami as President Court of Appeal

After considering the report of an adhoc committee set up to resolve the crisis within the judiciary, the National Judicial Council resolved to reinstate the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, who was suspended by the council on August 18, 2011.




The NJC rose from a two-day meeting on Thursday with a resolution to reinstate the embattled president of the Court of Appeal, after a nine-month impasse.

Although there was no official statement from the NJC, a source privy to what transpired at the meeting informed our correspondent that the council had forwarded a recommendation for Salami's reinstatement to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Efforts to reach the Council's spokesman, Mr. Soji Oye, were unsuccessful as his phone was switched off.

The source, who did not wish to be named, said that the decision was taken in a bid to reach a consensus on the matter.

A previous meeting on February 29, 2012, to consider the recommendation that Salami should be reinstated made by the 29-member Judicial Reform Committee, headed by a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Muhammadu Uwais, had ended in a deadlock.

The Committee was raised by the CJN, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, on October 14, 2011.

Salami's reinstatement was specifically recommended by a sub-committee of the panel made up of Justice Mamman Nasir, Justice U. Kalgo and Justice Bola Ajibola.

The February 29 meeting had failed to reach an agreement on Salami's reinstatement, mostly due to sharp divisions among the members.

It was gathered that council members seen as loyalists to the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, were at the vanguard of the opposition to Salami's reinstatement.

Following its failure to arrive on a decision on Salami's fate at the February 29 meeting, the Council set up an ad hoc committee to facilitate a quick resolution of the matter.

The adhoc committee was headed by Justice Aloma Mukthar, who is expected to succeed Justice Dahiru Musdapher as the CJN.

The ad hoc committee was mandated to resolve the contentious issues and report back to the council.

According to a source, the adhoc committee advised Salami to withdraw suits he had filed to challenge his suspension, but as at the time of filing this report, there was no indication that the cases had been withdrawn.

It will be recalled that the NJC had on August 18, 2011, suspended Salami for refusing to apologise to the council and Katsina-Alu after a panel of the council said he breached the code of conduct by lying against the CJN.

The NJC had suspended Salami despite a pending suit he filed at the Abuja Federal High Court to challenge the reports of two panels, headed by Justice Umaru Abduallahi panel, and Justice Ibrahim Auta, respectively, which investigated him and Katsina-Alu for alleged misconduct.

The sub-committee, headed by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, in its report, recommended that Salami should tender a written apology to both Katsina-Alu and the Council.

The Auta's committee also recommended that Salami be cautioned, following which a letter of caution was sent to him.

The Auta panel had found Salami in breach of Rule 1(1) of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers.

However, Salami had refused to apologise to the NJC and Katsina-Alu, and instead went to court.

He asked the Abuja FHC to set aside the proceedings and findings of the investigation panel headed by Abdullahi and the recommendations of the panel headed by Auta.

Salami asked the court to declare that the setting up of the NJC Investigation Committee and its composition were in gross violation of the principles of natural justice, and his constitutionally guaranteed right to fair hearing under Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(as amended) and is therefore unconstitutional, null and void.

Salami had cause to head for the court again after his suspension by the council, which also asked the President to retire him from service.

Jonathan had approved the suspension and appointed Justice Dahiru Adamu as the Acting President of the Court of Appeal.

Kicking against the President's action, Salami dragged Jonathan, alongside the NJC and others, to the Abuja FHC, asking the court to declare the appointment of an acting PCA by the President as illegal and unconstitutional.

He also asked for an order directing that all actions in respect of his suspension be stayed and that the status quo ante bellum be maintained by all parties pending the determination of the suit.

Salami's suit is currently before the Court of Appeal, after the FHC stayed proceedings to allow the appellate court answer some questions.

Meanwhile, a former President of Court of Appeal, Justice Mustapha Akanbi has described the resolution to reinstate Salami as a triumph of justice and the rule of law.

In a telephone interview with our correspondent in Ilorin on Thursday, he said the development was a sign of hope for Nigeria and the nation's judiciary.

Akanbi said, “Justice and rule of law have triumphed. We are very happy at the development and that God and truth have revealed themselves. There is hope and bright future for Nigeria and for the country's judiciary. I commend the judiciary and those who are responsible for that position.”

However, the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State has said it will challenge the NJC' recommendation.

The party urged President Goodluck Jonathan not to act on the NJC recommendation until all the cases pending in court on the matter were dispensed with.

In a statement by the state Chairman of the party, Alhaji Ganiyu Olaoluwa, the PDP said, “What was done at the NJC meeting of today (Thursday) simply amounts to an affront on the judicial system and the import is that, if members of the Bench could ignore pending court matters, other Nigerians will be right to do so, and the country will surely head for a state of anarchy.”

ARUNMA OTEH:- RAN SEC AS A ONE MAN SHOW-MANAGEMENT TEAM

The SEC management team which comprised of the Executive Commissioner, Operations-Daisy Ekineh; the Executive Commissioner, Finance and Accounts-Lawal Sani Stores, the Executive Commissioner, Legal and Enforcement-Charles Udora; and the Director of Human Resources-Useni Dauda, gave this indication at the public hearing on the near collapse of the capital market by an ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
On the controversial recruitment of some Access bank staff as contract staff for the commission, all the members of the management team stated that, they were not informed of the Ms Oteh’s decision to recruit the two bank staff into the commission on secondment.
The Head of the Human Resources of the commission, Mr Daudu said he had written a letter to the DG to inform her that employing contract staff is alien to the commission and that the commission could either regularize the employment of the staff or let them go.
“When the DG resumed duty in SEC, she came along with some staff and then we did advise that those staff have to go through the process of employment. We recommended contract appointment. Approval was given with the aim that later on all those who were employed will be collated and passed on to the execute management for recruitment approval. But till now the board have not discussed the matter,” Mr Daudu said.
In responding to this issue, Mrs Oteh said in recruiting contract staff, she did not violate any law of the land.
She however, promised that the matter will be discussed in the next executive meeting.
Unknown donors/partners of Project 50
The ad-hoc committee also probed Ms Oteh on the 2011 Project 50 event organised by the commission to celebrate the 50th year anniversary of capital market regulation in Nigeria.
The committee had on Monday, demanded information on who were the financiers of the event but Ms Oteh promised to come along with the list of donors for the event which she said was part of a market development initiative.
The SEC boss however failed to mention the donors who contributed funds to the event.
“I will bring out a list if I can find it among the documents. I think the questions (of the probe panel) have moved to HR, to mergers and all of that and I am trying hard to make sure that I respond very accurately. We can make that submission, as I said previously,” she said.
After failing to submit list of sponsors, Ms Oteh said the event was not financed by donors but that SEC wrote to its partners to inform them of the needs for the event and that each of the partners including Reuters, Bloomberg handled different needs of the Project.

Azazi blames Boko Haram attacks on PDP

The National Security Adviser, Andrew Owoye Azazi has blamed the rise of insurgence by the fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram in the country on the internal wranglings of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and other political parties.
The retired General made this known during the second day of the South-south economic summit where the collapse of the nation’s security challenge was deliberated on.
Tracing the rise of Boko Haram’s attack, the chief security adviser to the president stated that “the extent of violence did not increase in Nigeria until when there was a declaration by the current president that he was going to contest.”
“PDP got it wrong from the beginning, from the on-set by saying Mr A can rule, Mr A cannot rule ……according to PDP’s convention, rules and regulation and not according to the constitution and that created the climate for what has manifest itself, this way.”

He added that there is some level of political undertone to the problem.
He also noted that the bombings, suicide attacks and jail breaks that have been raging the northern part of the country “could be traced to the politics of exclusion of the PDP in the region.”
Blaming the notion of anointing candidates and the ‘do or die’ attitude of the political party, Retired General Azazi asked why “is it possible that somebody was thinking that only Mr. A could win, and that if he could not win, there would be problems in this society?”
“Let’s examine all these issues to see whether the level of violence in the North East just escalated because Boko Haram suddenly became better trained, better equipped and better funded, or something else was responsible.”
“It takes very long for somebody to be a sniper,” Mr. Azazi said.
He affirmed the level of sophistication of the group but also gave assurance that the government is aware of all their doings in a bid to addressing the issue. “I can assure you that Boko Haram can garner that level of sophistication over time, if it has not got it already. There are a lot we know that they are doing, and there are a lot that could be done to address the problem.”
“But, then I must also be quick to point out that today, even if all the leaders that we know in Boko Haram are arrested, I don’t think the problem would end, because there are tentacles. I don’t think that people would be satisfied, because the situations that created the problems are not just about the religion, poverty or the desire to rule Nigeria. I think it’s a combination of everything. Except you address all those things comprehensively, it would not work” he added.
On a final solution, the security adviser discourage just the use of force but called for a collective effort to address the economic problems of the north saying “it is not enough for us to have a problem in 2009 and you send soldiers to stop the situation, then tomorrow you drive everybody underground. You must look at what structures you need to put in place to address the problem holistically. There are economic problems in the North, which are not the exclusive prerogative of the Northerners. We must solve our problems as a country.”
He noted that the relationship between national security and development is inseparable, because “one cannot do without the other” the NSA said.

Ex-Convict BODE GEORGE Penetrates NAMADI SAMBO, As a Prelude to the 2015 General Elections

As a prelude to the 2015 general elections smart players in the political arena are already positioning themselves for vantage positions. One of these smart alecs is allegedly said to be former vice chairman (South West) of PDP and ex-convict Chief Olabode George. The former military administrator of Ondo State and retired naval chief, is now a in a new-found alliance with the vice president, Architect Namadi Sambo. The thrust of this strange relationship between the two is not far-fetched as Bode George, known to be a very deft political player, is strategically angling himself for plum positions in the scheme of things when Namadi Sambo’s 2015 presidential ambition finally rolls out.
Having run foul with his former boss and President, Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Bode George deems it fit now to swiftly make moves by way of fraternizing with another political heavyweight in order to still belong substantially in the PDP hierarchy. That heavyweight, if he can be called that, is the architect0turned-politican and incumbent vice president, Namadi Sambo.

Fresh facts abound on Bode George’s regular and frequent visits to Namadi Sambo’s official residence to discuss the possible modalities for actualizing Namadi Sambo’s 2015 dream. Bode George’s nocturnal visits to Sambo have become so rampant that many are wondering what type of fraternity could have suddenly transpired between the two if not for selfish and unfettered gains on the side of Bode George whose conviction for embezzling billions of Naira as chairman, NPA, almost sent him out of relevance in the PDP both at the national and state levels.
Interestingly, with all Bode George’s unwholesome record, he still belongs as a member of the PDP Board of Trustee, which some see as very laughable, and indeed rather unwise of the party as big as PDP.
Whatever Bode George may be planning to achieve with his new alleged alliance with Namadi Sambo, the end result will be very glaring to all when it begins to manifest.
A group of international and independent observers recently added bite to some of the strange developments within the rank and file of the party PDP. They were so graphical and detailed in their observations as you will read hereafter.

“It was commendable to see the ruling party PDP demonstrate such political maturity as a pacesetter to other parties in Nigeria. They were well organized and as independent and international observers we congratulate the PDP for a good Convention.
However, it is most unfortunate that a particular character cast a negative shadow and stigma on this assembly of leaders of the political class at various levels. The man happens to be an ex-convict who is a board of trustee member of the party and has returned from serving a prison term for gross embezzlement of government funds in billions!
Firstly, we find it difficult to believe that the PDP could accept for such a man to continue in the board of trustee and sit with eminent distinguished personalities like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and other accomplished politicians who have impeccable records. This could never happen in any other country in the world. In the USA, he would have resigned without being requested and would have left active partisan politics. The man was not just present at the convention but was moving around and trying very hard to be relevant and conspicuous.
It was very smart of those working with the President that they did not allow him to move close to the President for recognition or it would have amounted to the President endorsing and celebrating criminality!
The PDP must realize that the whole world is watching Nigeria and how it handles its anti-graft drive since corruption has been identified as the major factor militating against sustainable development of all the various sectors in the country.  As the ruling party and the largest party in Africa, the PDP ought to be a pacesetter in this anti-corruption effort. Foreign countries within the International community are committing billions for Nigeria to fight corruption and would like to see some visible efforts in this regard to justify the funds from donor agencies. We also observed that the ex-convict was part of the planning committee and benefited from allowances and payments for the Convention.
The PDP needs to look into this as a matter of urgency and the new Chairman must prove his mettle by taking this issue on to ensure that this case will be seen as a litmus test for his administration. We therefore recommend that the ex-convict be suspended from the party immediately to demonstrate the party’s zero tolerance for corruption.
He should be removed as a member of the board of trustees of the party to serve as a deterrent to others who may wish to loot government coffers.
He should be stripped off the National honour he received several years ago, (CON) so as not to ridicule the award and embarrass those distinguished eminent citizens who proudly share the same honour. When a man is honoured and he abuses such privileges and commits a financial crime which leads to prosecution with conviction, and serves the prison term, he has dishonoured the award and should be stripped off it immediately. This is the way it is done in any other countries in the world and should serve as a deterrent to other distinguished persons who are ex-convicts.
We therefore expect President Jonathan to address this immediately as the world is waiting for his response to this celebration of criminality in public.
Most importantly, the President should not be persuaded into granting a Presidential pardon to an ex-convict who has looted government funds shamelessly as this would make a mockery of the anti-corruption stance and we the International community would reconsider the funds we are sending to Nigeria to fight this cause.
We also understand the man has not refunded the stolen loot and if he has, it is better to make it public as there are government properties that he is supposed to have sold without authorization or rendering account of the funds of the sale.
We advise the Presidency to desist from permitting ex-convicts from visiting the Presidential villa and attending meetings with eminent citizens therein.
Nigeria should be able to manage without an ex-convict running affairs for the PDP at any level. It is a disgrace and the man’s performance at the National Convention of the PDP last week was a great show of shame. There are other resourceful men and women in the party.
We are looking forward to some steps to address this situation within the PDP and would appreciate their cooperation for the best interest of good governance and anti-graft for a better Nigeria where International investors could operate. We are taking this case as a special one to gauge the sincerity of the government and party’s anti-graft stance.
The group continued in yet another letter on their position on Chief Bode George’s many atrocities and why he should not be allowed near any seat of government, let alone holding offices as high as that of a BOT member of PDP. It reads in part…
www.tivyouthcongress.blogspot.comhttp://tivyouthcongress.blogspot.com/

Google launches storage service for personal files

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) - Google is hoping to build the world's largest digital filing cabinet in the latest attempt to deepen people's dependence on its services.

The Internet search leader's latest product stores personal documents, photos, videos and a wide range of other digital content on Google's computers. By keeping their files in massive data centers, users will be able to call up the information on their smartphones, tablet computers, laptops and just about any other Internet-connected device.

Google announced the long-rumored service Tuesday. Available immediately, Google Drive is offering the first five gigabytes of storage per account for free. Additional storage will be sold for prices starting at $2.49 per month 25 gigabytes.

Google Inc. will be competing against similar storage services offered by Microsoft, Apple and rapidly growing startups such as Dropbox.

TY Danjuma`s Oil Wells & The Murmuring Of Nigerians

Theophilus Danjuma is not a person the Biafran people will forget in a hurry. He supervised the brutal killing of General Aguiyi Ironsi, the first military head of state of Nigeria. He was among the troops that invaded the 
Biafran territory during the civil war and was fabled to be heartless in the discharge of his duties towards Nigeria.
Theophilus Danjuma became a general in the Nigerian Army and it was said that he convinced Obasanjo to become Nigeria’s head of State after the assassination of fellow Biafran killer man, General Murtala Mohammed in 1976.
During the Obasanjo recycling presidential jamboree, Danjuma posited that if Obasanjo fails to win the 1999 presidential election, he will run away from Nigeria. Obasanjo won the election and rewarded him with the post of Minister for Defence and charged him with dismantling the military structure capable of truncating his democracy.
The sharing of national cake of oil block to PDP party men in the most non transparent manner is one of the  fallout of the Nigerian brand of dictatorial democracy. Oil blocks worth about $2billion dollars auction value could be sold to a party faithful for as low as $500million dollars  .The facilitators share the difference  between the auction value and the real value among themselves  in the ratio of 50:50. Or 60:40 in favor of the awarder, the facilitator or the government middleman who could be fronting for the strongman  in the state house..
Theophilus Danjuma  got his on a platter of gold. Late Head of State  Sani Abacha awarded the Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 246 to SAPETRO in February 1988. The block covers a total area of 2,590 square kilometers .SAPETRO partnered with Total Upstream Nigeria (TUPNI) and Brasoil Oil Services Company Limited (Petrobas) to start prospecting on OPL246.  Akpo, a condensate field was discovered in April 2000 with drilling commencing in 2001. In 2006 Danjuma divested his investment in Akpo oil field to China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) for $1Billion dollars .However, Danjuma still had some conscience left in him. He paid tax of $500million dollars to the Nigerian state and had about $500 million dollars remaining. He then released $100 million dollars to the Nigerian people in the form of foundation for social responsibility projects. This sum as  paltry as it seems is better than nothing. General Danjuma should do well to bring out more for the impoverished Nigerians.
This is where this former Biafran killer man towered above his fellow oil block commandeers. There are so many Nigerians from all the six geopolitical zones who have oil blocks. They include former presidents, former governors, former ministers, party chieftains, friends of government, serving and retired military officers especially service chiefs etc .To date there is no record of what they did with the proceeds of their oil blocks. They are building more estates, more refineries, factories etc outside the shores of Nigeria, especially Europe, America and the Middle East and recently South Africa. The rest of their proceeds they use to purchase INEC officials, impose candidates on the electorates, rig elections and throw fabulous victory dance and thanksgiving services. Others engage in frivolous constant reburials of long dead ones, constant acquisition of new wives, concubines , jets, private mansions all to the mockery of impoverished and ‘ancestrally cursed‘ fellow countrymen.
If all the people who cornered the nation’s resources in the name of oil blocks decide to bring twenty percent of their loot, the nation could raise about $40 billion dollars in a week. This amount translates to N6trillion naira, which is more than the entire Nigerian budget of $31 billion dollars for 2012.
How can a few set of Nigerians be so heartless, wicked and insensitive to the hungry faces around them that they  cannot device a veritable means of giving back to the impoverished  suffering ‘son of a bitch ‘countrymen what they obtained through processes that is far from transparent, it is shortof being called fraudulent. Danjuma received knocks when he announced what he did with his own commandeered resource. Nigerians called him a thief, but if Danjuma is a thief, what of the others who sat on their own oil proceeds never considered returning any back to the people. A friend of government who owns oil block took a young girl friend to Dubai in 2010 and gave her a gift of $1million dollars just to prove his everlasting love for the nagging babe. That is the kind of expenditure they do with their oil loot.
A lot of Nigerians have died in hospitals because they cannot pay medical bills, others have taken to robbery because they cannot see any gainful thing to do while another group takes to prostitution to raise money to pay school fees. Others are seeking for academic sponsors for educational improvement but cannot find. The list is endless and there is frustration palpable everywhere in Nigeria, yet a few Nigerians are so insensitive that they cannot surrender part of their loot back to the Nigerian masses from which they fraudulently commandeered their resources.
Danjuma had the  conscience to surrender a part of what belongs to Nigeria which Obasanjo gave him when they were sharing the never ending national cake. Others should follow suit. They should repatriate these loots back home and use them to establish affordable universities, hospital services and other ventures capable of reducing frustrations on the streets. Others should equally build roads in their villages, provide transformers, pipe borne water for communities across Nigeria. There is equally need for scholarships for indigent students, sponsoring medical trips for acid victims and other traumatic and life threatening victims.. Some could fund sports and build sporting facilities for recreational and sports development purposes. Others could   sponsor activities that brings up talents in the people. The list is endless. Farmers need to be given free or highly subsidized fertilizers; seedlings and storage facilities need to be built.
These oil block commandeers should as a matter of urgency borrow a leaf from  Theophilus Danjuma , repent from insensitivity and take urgent steps to give back to the impoverished, frustrated Nigerians what they collected through the back door. Failure to do so and urgently too, a time will come when even God will engineer the people against them and there will be no end to their calamities.
www.tivyouthcongress.blogspot.comhttp://tivyouthcongress.blogspot.com/

TIV YOUTH CONGRESS: Full Report of the Ad-Hoc Committee on the subsidy...

TIV YOUTH CONGRESS: Full Report of the Ad-Hoc Committee on the subsidy...: The Federal Government had informed the nation of its inability to continue to pump endless rampant of money into the seemingly bottom...

Full Report of the Ad-Hoc Committee on the subsidy regime in Nigeria

The Federal Government had informed the nation of its inability to continue to pump endless rampant of money into the seemingly bottomless pit that was referred to as petroleum products subsidy. It explained that the annual subsidy payment was huge, endless and unsustainable. Nigerians were led to believe that the colossal payments made were solely on PMS and HHK actually consumed by Nigerians.
Government ascribed the quoted figures to upsurge in international crude price, high exchange rate, smuggling, increase in population and vehicles etc. However, a large section of the population faulted the premise of the Government subsidy figures, maintaining that unbridled corruption and an inefficient and wasteful process accounted for a large part of the payments.
To avert a clear and present danger of descent into lawlessness, the leadership of the House of Representatives took the “bold and decisive action of convening the first ever Emergency Session on a Sunday (8th January, 2012), and set up the,Ad-hoc Committee to verify the actual subsidy requirements of the country.

For a full report of the Ad-Hoc Committee click here to view

And two months after the fuel subsidy saga, Nigerians waited anxiously for the outcome of the report.
On Thursday the April 19 2012, the Chairman of the House of Representative ad-hoc committee that investigated the management of the country’s fuel subsidy scheme, Farouk Lawan on Thursday said that attempts were made to influence the outcome of the committee’s report.
Addressing a press conference at the National assembly, Abuja, Mr Lawan said the pressure came from government officials and oil marketers.
“Yes, there was pressure, pressure from so many quarters,” he said.
Though Mr Lawan refused to disclose the names of the government officials who pressurized him and his colleagues in the committee, he said the officials said they were concern of the effect the report will have on the country.
He said that his committee made it clear to those mounting pressure on them that as far as they are not guilty of short changing Nigerians, there was no need to panic.
Also speaking at the meeting, the spokesman of the Houses of Representative, Zakari Mohammed assured Nigeria that the House of Representatives will ensure that the report, when adopted by the house is fully implemented.
After months of delay, the Lawan-led House of Representatives ad hoc committee on the subsidy regime management, on Wednesday, submitted its report with recommendation that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) indicted oil marketers and companies that refused to appear before the panel to refund the sum of N1.067 trillion to the nation’s treasury.
The House has, however, slated next Tuesday for the consideration of the report.
Executive summary of the report made available to journalists on Wednesday recommended that, “marketers that had short-changed Nigerians were identified and recommended to make refunds within a time-frame of three months.
“Civil servants were to be sanctioned in accordance with the civil service rules as well as under extant laws; management staff and top government officials were based on the gravity of their offences, to be reprimanded, re-deployed, dismissed and in specific cases prosecuted for abuse of office and fraudulent practices.”
The committee also recommended the refund to the treasury, the sum of N1,067,040,456,171.31 from the underlisted for various violations; NNPC (kerosene subsidy) N310,414, 963,613; NNPC (above PPPRA recommendation) N285,098,000,000; NNPC (self-discount), N108,648,000,000; marketers (total violation of petroleum subsidy fund) N8,664,352,554; companies that refused to appear, N41,936,140,005 and PPPRA, excess payment to self, N312,279,000,000.
To this end, the panel recommended that the sum of N806,766 billion be budgeted as subsidy for 2012, adding that “we also proposed a budget amount of N806,766 billion for the 2012 fiscal year for payment of subsidy on PMS and kerosene.”
The committee, also in its report, recommended that “NNPC be unbundled to make its operations more efficient and transparent and this, we believe, can be achieved through the passage of a well-drafted and comprehensive Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).”
The committee as well recommended that all those on the management board of the NNPC directly involved in the in-fractions identified for 2009 to 2011 be investigated and prosecuted for abuse of office by the relevant anti-corruption agencies.
The panel further indicated that NNPC was found not to be accountable to anybody or authority, saying that “the corporation, in 2011, processed payment of N310.4 billion as 2009 to 2011 arrears of subsidy on kerosene, contrary to a presidential directive which removed subsidy on kerosene in 2009.”
The panel also reprimanded the chairman and entire members of the board of PPPRA from 2009 to 2011 for their decision.
Allegation of doctored report
A group Legislative Integrity Assembly said on Wednesday that the report of the House committee into the probe of fuel subsidy was “apparently doctored” following conflicting details about the report in the media in recent weeks.
The group, in a statement said that it noticed a number of inconsistencies having followed the snippets of information released on the committee’s report in recent weeks.
The group said that it had followed closely the situation in the ad hoc committee since it concluded its public hearing on the matter, adding that lots of inconsistencies have come out of the House in recent times.
The group, which claimed to have seen the original recommendations of the committee, said that the report submitted by Mr Lawan to the House on Wednesday was an “edited, doctored report.”
“The list of indicted companies suddenly got shortened within 24 hours. This country is in trouble if this is allowed to go unchallenged. It just confirmed that probes in this country are not to be taken seriously,” the group alleged.
It said it was not entirely taken by surprise by the doctoring because a major newspaper reported on Wednesday that there might be “eleventh hour” changes in the report following outcries generated by media reports of its recommendations.
The Guardian had reported on Wednesday that allegations of doctoring of the report had stirred a controversy in the House.
The report said there were speculations that the leadership of the House had seized the report of the Lawan committee with a view to effecting some changes. The newspaper, however, quoted House spokesman as saying that the allegations are not true.

Accidental missile discharge hits building in Port-Harcourt

Nigerian Air Force jet accidentally hit a building in the Woji area of Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Friday.

The explosion which occurred early in the morning, led to panic in the busy district.
The Rivers state police commissioner,  Mohammed Indabawa,  confirmed the incidence saying the missile was accidentally-fired from an Air-force jet on routine maintenance at the Air-force mechanic hangar in Port Harcourt.
According to the police boss,  the misfired missile hit an uncompleted building three kilometers from the jet, resulting in  a blast that sent residents panicking.
So far, no death or injuries have been confirmed.

NIGERIA MAY FOR THE FIRST TIME PRESENT A FEMALE CJN:-As Dahiru Musdapher set to quit office on July 14, 2012

Indication has emerged that Nigeria may get its first female Chief Justice when the current occupant of the office, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, quits office on July 14, 2012.

It was learnt that the outgoing CJN may have recommended Mariam Alooma Mukhtar, a female, who is the most senior Justice of the Superme Court to succeed him.

If eventually appointed, Mukhtar who hails from Kano State will be major boost for interests campaigning for women to occupy sensitive positions.

She recently rejected her nomination as the Chief Judge of The Gambia, perhaps in anticipation of her being made Nigeria’s first female CJN.

Mukhtar is the first female Justice of the Supreme Court. She was born in 1944 and was called to the Nigerian Bar on June 26, 1967.

Her profile on the website of the Supreme Court also reads, “She was called to the English Bar in 1966 and later called to the Nigerian Bar in June 1967.

A thorough Legal Professional, Hon. Justice A.M Muktar had served as: Pupil State Counsel, Ministry of Justice, Northern Nigeria (1967) Draftsman, Office of the Legal Draftsman, Interim Common Service Agency Magistrate Grade I, North Eastern Government (1969 – 1973); Chief Registrar, Kano State Government Judiciary (1973 – 1977) Judge – High Court of Kano State (1977) Justice – Court of Appeal (1987) Presiding Justice – Court of Appeal (1993 – 2005).

A Life Member of the International Association of Women Lawyers, Hon. Justice Aloma Mariam Muktar has been a Justice of the Supreme Court (JSC) since 2005.”

EFCC finds N1.5b in Shuaibu’s accounts, denies exclusion from pensions probe

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has hinted that it had traced N1.5 billion of the allegedly siphoned N4.56 billion pension funds from the Office of Head of Service of the Federation to the account of Dr. Sani Teidi Shuaibu, the former Director of the Pension Accounts in the office.
In its proof of evidence at the Federal High Court, Abuja, which an operative of the EFCC and Team Leader of Pension Fraud Investigation, Aliyu Habibu Adamu, swore to, and obtained by The Guardian last night, the commission explained how it traced the amount to the account of the indicted pension administrator.
Shuaibu is being prosecuted along with 39 others for the scam.
The document revealed the complicity of some banks in the mess in the pension office.
The driver of Dr. Shuaibu, named as Lawal Abdullahi, was also indicted. A cheque book of a non-functioning filling station, which Shuaibu allegedly used to siphon the N1.54 billion was found in the driver’s house in Gwagwalada, a suburb of Abuja.
The proof of evidence also indicated that Abdullahi admitted during interrogation by EFCC that on several occasions he collected money on behalf of Shuaibu and handed same to him.
The document showed that Shuaibu was one of the signatories to the pension accounts, the only person that endorsed payment instructions sent to the banks for payments and, who, the banks confirmed payments from.
He was accused of signing and confirming several fraudulent mandates for fictitious contracts, fraudulent collective allowances, re-reimbursement to states, ghost pensioners and other forms of fraudulent activities.
The former pension chief, the document further showed, used the accounts of five people, Abdul Mohammed, Stanley Iwu, Aliyu Bello, Udusegbe Omoefe Eric, and Mrs. Phina Chidi, to siphon the money. These individuals were said to be beneficiaries of some of the fraudulent mandates; and they allegedly confessed to have remitted the proceeds to Shuaibu either directly or indirectly through some of his companies and associates.
Shuaibu’s driver also confessed to have received monies from these five persons severally and handed them to his boss.
One of the companies, Riba-Ile Petroleum Limited, one of the assets recently seized from Shuaibu by the EFCC, is an idle filling station, which bank account the N1.54 billion was launched.
The cheque book of this same account was the one found in Shuaibu’s driver’s house.
“Aliyu Bello and Abdul Mohammed confessed to have remitted the funds to him through Riba-Ile Petroleum Limited while Abdul Mohammed confessed to have remitted some through Smart Investments account on Shuaibu’s directives. Riba-Ile was discovered to have a turnover of over N1,540,000,000 in the account, with several cash deposits, while the filling station of Riba-Ile Petroleum Limited has not been operating,” the document read in part.
It further revealed that the account of the filling station, which cheque book was found in Shuaibu’s house was operated with a fictitious name, another person’s passport, a different person’s signature, but was operated by Shuaibu.
The account officer, Ibrahim Abubakar Sadeeq, in his statement to the EFCC, allegedly admitted that the account was operated by Shuaibu, who usually confirm to him all payments made in and drawn out of the account. He also confessed that he had on several occasions, collected money from  Abdullahi (the driver); and on the directive of Shuaibu, using fictitious names, deposited the funds in the account of Riba-Ile Petroleum Limited.
The EFCC also discovered that the sum of N35 million was paid to Muha Motors through Riba-Ile’s bank account on April 3, 2009. Mohammed Muhamud, the owner of the firm, said in a statement to the EFCC that the amount was paid to him by Shuaibu as part payment for Brifina Hotel.
He told the EFCC that the money was meant for Chief Anthony Azewaputa for the hotel, which is located in Durumi, Abuja.
“Although the total sum of N399 million was said to be the value of Brifina Hotel, and the amount for which it was sold to Shuaibu, investigators traced N359 million as payments made to Azewaputa by Shuaibu through Muhamud in regards to the purchase of Brifina Hotel.”
Meanwhile, the EFCC has refuted reports in sections of the media that the Senate had directed the Nigeria Police to probe its former Chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri and the incumbent, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde for wrongdoing in the pension probe.
It said the reports also claimed that the commission had been directed by the Senate to hands off further investigation of pension matters.
In a statement yesterday, the commission, said “these assertions which made banner headlines in some national dailies were gross misrepresentation of what transpired at the public hearing of the Senate Joint Committee on Investigations into Pension Administration on Tuesday, April 17, 2012.”
The EFCC said: “At no time did the Senate committee or the Senate as a whole ordered the police to probe Lamorde and Waziri. Neither did it request the EFCC to hands off pension matters. Reports to the contrary, may have been promoted by interests to achieve certain nefarious ends.”
The statement, which was signed by Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, Acting Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, said Waziri and Lamorde appeared at the hearing in response to invitations by the committee. “For Lamorde, it was his second time. When he first appeared before the committee some weeks back he was confronted with a document that alleged that he collected estacode to travel to the United States (U.S.) for a biometric capturing exercise by the Pension Task Team, a claim which he vehemently denied.
“The EFCC chairman stated that he had never travelled abroad on any biometric capturing assignment neither did he receive any estacode from anybody for that purpose.   Even the head of the Pension Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, who was present on the occasion, confirmed that Lamorde did not travel and did not collect a kobo in estacode,” Uwujaren said.
He said the puzzle over who collected the money was resolved on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 when the chairman of the panel, Senator Aloysius Etok announced that his committee, after careful investigation following Lamorde’s denial of any involvement in collecting estacode for any trip abroad, had found the person that used the name of the EFCC chair to collect estacode for the biometric capturing exercise.
He said Christian Madubuike, an official of the Police Pension Office was unveiled by the committee as the one who received the money that was supposedly meant for the EFCC chairman, according to the claims previously made in documents tendered to the Committee.
And in his open testimony, Madubuike confirmed that his account was used to collect the money listed against the name of Lamorde and that he collected the money and handed same to Mr. John Yusuf, an Assistant Director in the Police Pension Office who is also a member of the Maina-led Pension Task Team.
www.tivyouthcongress.blogspot.comhttp://www.tivyouthcongress.blogspot.com/

CPC supports Buhari’s ambition for 2015

Opposition party, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has thrown its weight behind the ambition of its national Leader, General Muhamadu Buhari to contest the presidential election in 2015.
The presidential Candidate of the CPC in the 2011 general elections, Muhammadu Buhari, reportedly declared his intention to re-contest the seat in the 2015 general elections while addressing the party’s supporters in Kaduna on Thursday.
The two-times presidential aspirant, vowed to continue relevant political activism in the run to the 2015 general elections saying “I am still in until the polity is sanitised and people enjoy the fruits of democracy at all levels of government” he told the party supporters.
The party in a statement signed by its national publicity secretary, Engineer Rotimi Fashakin on Saturday, affirmed the party’s position on General Buhari’s recent announcement to run in the election and it also declared its readiness to merger with other political parties ahead of the election.
The party in the statement noted that exactly a year ago, General Buhari, after the 2011 presidential election, declared never to contest in subsequent elections again.
But owing to what it described as “the leadership deficit and the truncation of the hope of the common man through the pervasive injustice in the land”, the party’s leadership claim it has brought “immense pressure on General Buhari to rescind his earlier stance on Nigeria’s tempestuous politics”, hence the renewed support from the party.
CPC further argues the relevance of its national leader in the nation’s polity, noting that “the Nigerian nation has been tottering as a result of the besmirched reputation of an inept, dishonest and egregiously incompetent political leadership.”
The party re-affirmed that for as much as General Buhari is granted ‘the enablement by God’; he “shall continue to actively participate in the politics under the Nigerian nation-space.”
Merger talks
The statement also revealed that the CPC is already in merger talks with some political parties ahead of the next general elections, stating that “it is in alliance and possible merger talks with other progressive coalition partners in order to give true meaning to democratic governance within the Nigerian polity.”
It however refused to disclose parties involved in the talks saying that “it is our considered opinion that it would be rather pre-emptive to speculate at this time what the choice of these coalition partners shall be.”
Merger talks between the party-formed in 2010-and the Action congress of Nigeria (ACN) failed to present a joint presidential candidate, weeks ahead of the 2011 presidential elections.