Economy witnessed slower growth output in 3Q – NBS

11:59 PM Business No Comments

Abuja – The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday said that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 6.48 per cent in the third quarter of 2012.

A statement issued in Abuja by Dr Yemi Kale, the Statistician-General of the Federation, indicated that the figure was lower than the 7.37 per cent recorded in the corresponding period in 2011.

Kale said that the nominal GDP for the third quarter of 2012 was estimated at N10.9 trillion, compared with the N9.8 trillion of the corresponding quarter of 2011.

“The economy, comprising two broad output groups of oil and non-oil sectors, witnessed slower growth output in the third quarter of 2012 as a result of declines in non-oil sector output.

“While the oil sector witnessed positive growth for the first time in four quarters, the slower non-oil sector growth was driven by growth in activities recorded in the building and construction, cement, hotel and restaurant, as well as the electricity sectors,’’ the statement said.

Quoting NNPC data, the statement said that the country’s average daily crude oil production stood at N2.52 Million Barrels Per Day (MBPD) in the third quarter of 2012, compared with the 2.38 MBPD in the corresponding quarter of 2011.

It said that these figures, with their associated gas components, resulted in a growth rate in real terms of 0.08 per cent in oil GDP in the third quarter of 2012, compared with the -0.26 per cent in the corresponding period in 2011.

“During the period, activities of vandals and oil theft decreased as a result of intensified surveillance instituted by government in the oil producing areas.

“Moreover, re-entry into previously abandoned fields by some oil majors and renewed production there was responsible for the slight improvement in oil GDP during the period under review,’’ the statement said.

It said the oil sector also benefited from the relative stability in international crude oil market price and the exchange rate of the naira to the dollar during the third quarter of 2012.

“While oil sector contribution to real GDP in the third quarter of 2011 was 14.28 per cent, this declined to 13.42 per cent in the third quarter of 2012,’’ the statement said.

It said that the non-oil sector recorded 7.55 per cent growth in real terms in the third quarter of 2012, compared with 8.76 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2011.

It pointed out that growth in the non-oil sector decreased in the third quarter of 2012, when compared with the figure in the corresponding quarter of 2011.

“This decline was largely attributed to declines in output in the agriculture, telecommunications, wholesale and retail trade and real estate sectors.

“The performance of the major industries in the non-oil sector in the third quarter of 2012 is further analysed to give a better understanding of their contributions to the Nigerian economy.

“Crops produced in Nigeria are classified broadly as vegetables, root crops, cereals, leguminous and cash crops,’’ the statement said.

It said that in terms of output, the real agricultural GDP growth rate in the third quarter of 2012 stood at 3.89 per cent against 5.76 per cent in the corresponding period of 2011.

“In addition to the prevailing (though gradually improving) security challenges facing most agricultural producing states in Northern Nigeria, growth in the sector was also partially affected by floods.

“This is affecting several states across the country to varying degrees.

“However, due to the fact that the peak of the flooding was toward the end of the third quarter, the impact on agricultural production was less observed during the quarter.

“It is conceivable that the full impact of the floods will be more visible in the fourth quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2012.

“NBS’ preliminary analysis suggests that the impact of flooding on agricultural GDP may not be as severe as feared.

“This is because agriculture in Nigeria is such that each crop type has a different gestation period and prevalence in each state, leading to different harvesting periods in different parts of the country,’’ the NBS statement said.

It quoted the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) as indicating that the most affected states were Adamawa, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba and Plateau.

Others that experienced relatively lower levels of flooding were Abia, Ebonyi and Rivers.

“Although some of the affected states are known for the production of crops with significant contributions to crop production GDP in Nigeria, it should be noted that not all parts of these states were inundated by the floods.’’

The bureau said that some of the crops were also grown in several parts of the country other than the states that experienced floods.

“As can be seen from the Socio Economic Survey conducted by NBS in 2011, such crops include cassava, yam and maize which contribute 36.49 per cent, 27.22 per cent and 6.95 per cent to crop production GDP, respectively.

“Cotton (5.89 per cent), guinea corn (5.74 per cent), millet (4.72 per cent), rice (3.48 per cent) and groundnut (3.08 per cent) are other examples of such crops, though with lesser contributions to crop production GDP,’’ the statement said.

It said further analysis indicated that cassava-producing states, which were affected by the floods, contributed 63.59 per cent to the national cassava production, even though as noted earlier, not all parts of these states were damaged by the floods.

“Similarly, 70.55 per cent of national yam production, 71.72 per cent of maize production, 79.42 per cent of rice production and 67.81 per cent of groundnut production can be accounted for by the affected states.

“These percentages represent the proportion of crop production that would be lost if the entirety of states producing these crops were no longer available for agricultural activity.

“As this was not the case, the observed growth in agricultural GDP in Q3 reflects the moderated effects of the flood on real GDP growth,’’ the statement said.

It said that the NBS was working with partner agencies to determine more precisely the socio-economic impacts of the floods.

The statement said the finance and insurance sectors recorded a growth of 4.08 per cent in the third quarter of 2012, compared with the 4.04 per cent recorded in the same period in 2011.

It said the increase in growth of the sector was traceable to the vibrancy in the financial sector, driven by increased lending activities by banks.

“It is also due to continued favourable investment yields in the bond market, which favoured key players in the industry, especially pension fund managers, banks and insurance firms.’’

The NBS statement said that the wholesale and retail trade sector recorded a real GDP growth of 9.62 per cent and a contribution of 18.81 per cent in the quarter under review as against 11.80 per cent growth and 18.27 per cent contribution to GDP recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2011.

“Thus, the sector recorded a decline in growth of 2.18 percentage points in Q3 2012 when compared with corresponding quarter in 2011.

“The decline is attributable to a number of factors such as the decline witnessed in related sectors like agriculture and other manufacturing.

“Nevertheless, the sector is still a major contributor to the Nigerian economy,’’ it said.

The statement said the telecommunications sector recorded a real GDP growth of 31.57 per cent in the third quarter of 2012 as against 35.00 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2011.

It said the decline in growth recorded in the sector was attributable to the poor quality of service experienced during the quarter arising from the adverse weather conditions experienced across the country.

“This sector, which used to suffer from an absence of competition and abuse of monopoly power, is now with alternative options for the consumers.

“This sector is playing pivotal role in the growth of many other sectors through its intensive marketing strategy and value added services.

“The data service is contributing tremendously to the growth of the sector.

“The performance of the telecommunications sector in the third quarter of 2012 compared with previous quarters,’’ the statement said.

It said the real estate sector growth stood at 10.24 per cent in the third quarter of 2012 compared with 10.86 per cent in the corresponding period of 2011.

The statement said that the sector was characterised by two major classes of properties – the low end and the high end.

“The low end comprise of places of low development which are driven by investments from individuals and few corporate bodies mostly in form of residential buildings.

“The high end comprises of those areas where aggressive and high valued investments into real estate properties are made.

According to the statement, the situation at the high end areas is a decreasing demand situation while investments from individuals and some corporate entities still trickle into the low end of the sector.

It said during the third quarter of 2012, manufacturing activities improved for the second consecutive quarter although decreased relative to the same period in 2011.

“It recorded a decrease in growth rate from 7.84 per cent in the third quarter of 2011 to 7.78 per cent in Q3 2012.

“The development is traceable to a number of factors which include: decline in agricultural production which plays important part in producing raw materials to this sector and challenges with the ease of accessing funds.

“Nevertheless, the relatively improving electricity supply situation in the country appears to be boosting the sector,’’ the statement said.

The bureau said business and other services sector recorded a real GDP growth of 9.11 per cent in the third quarter of 2012 compared to 8.52 per cent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2011.

It said the increase in growth recorded in the third quarter of 2012 relative to its performance in the third quarter of 2011 in business and other services was traceable to the higher consumer demands. (NAN)

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FG terminates Lagos-Ibadan Expressway contract

11:59 PM News No Comments

Abuja – More than three years after it was awarded, the Federal government Monday terminated the contract concessioning the Lagos-Ibadan Express way granted to Bi-Courtney Consortium.

In its stead, the federal government engaged the services of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and RCC Nigeria Ltd to carry out emergency reconstruction of the road.

Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen who announced the termination of the concessioning said adequate measures were taken to ensure that the federal government abided by all its contractual obligations.

He said the termination became necessary because of the “serial breaches of the concession agreement by Bi-Courtney Consortium and especially the failure of the company to reach financial close as provided for in the agreement”.

He said in order to avoid the ‘senseless carnage on this important expressway, the Federal ministry of Works has engaged the services of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and RCC Nigeria Ltd to commence work immediately on the reconstruction of the expressway.

“While Julius Berger would handle section 1: from Lagos to Sagamu interchange, RCC Nigeria will be responsible for section 11: from Sagamu to Ibadan. The federal government wishes to assure that while it will continue to uphold the sanctity of contracts entered into by the federal government, it will not shy away from implementing provisions of contract agreements dealing with non-performance on the part of the contracting party” he said.

The minister explained that “The legal implications of this termination have been carefully considered by both the Federal Ministry of Works and indeed the Federal Government. If you recall we have been on this issue for quiet sometime now and we have meticulously followed the concession agreement, the provision of relevant clauses of the agreement. We have complied fully with the provisions of this agreement. We have had cause even in the past to write the concessionaire to detail the breaches which it had committed in this agreement in this particular transaction and we have also followed the minimum and maximum number of days the contractor was expected to remedy the situation but failing which the Federal Government had no alternative but to take this course of action”.

He said the ministry can not gauge the percentage of job done by the company because “this is a concessioned project. In other words it is different from the normal EPC contracts, so the Federal Government in a sense did not make any direct payment to Bi-Courteny in this particular transaction. Bi-Courteny was supposed to raise the fund from the private sector and apply it to the construction of this expressway and toll it for as many as twenty five years, to recoup his investment and this has not happened, and that is why today the concession has been terminated.

“For your information under this concession the construction period is supposed to last for four years and the four years will come to a close in about six months time and right now there is nothing on ground to suggest that the company is capable” he said.







Source - Vanguard news

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PDP, CPC, CAN trade words over merger plan

11:56 PM News, Politics No Comments

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor
| credits: File copy

The Peoples Democratic Party, Congress for Progressive Change and the Christian Association of Nigeria on Sunday traded words on which party was violent and the private jet gift to Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor.

The PDP dismissed the CPC and the Action Congress of Nigeria’s merger plan, insisting that it (PDP) would be the party to beat in 2015.

It also described the merger plan as double jeopardy as each of them was a one-man party.

The CPC said because of its violent nature, the PDP had earned for itself, an appellation, “nest of killers.”

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, the CPC faulted the PDP’s claim that it believed in violence.

He listed activities, which had portrayed the PDP and its government, as being violent.

The CPC’s spokesman said the PDP government in 1999 ordered the invasion of Odi, a predominantly Ijaw community in Bayelsa State.

Fashakin noted that the community was not in any secessionist plot against the Nigerian state.

He recalled that in 2001, some communities, including Zaki-Biam, in Benue State were invaded, leading to the death of 300 people.

The national publicity secretary said, “In the eight-year rule of the same administration (1999-2007), the Nigerian polity virtually became a sanguinary with the unresolved assassinations that characterised everyday living.”

But the PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said no amount of attacks on the President or the PDP would shift the focus of the Federal Government.

Metuh said, “2015 will not be decided by personal insults on those in elected offices nor won on the pages of newspapers.

“It lies in the province of the Nigerian people. No matter their Shenanigans, the PDP remains the party to beat.”

He asked the CPC to address its “consistent trajectory of violence.”

According to him, the ACN is a one-man party, adding that the PDP is not losing sleep over merger plans of the two opposition parties.

He said, “While the PDP is not losing sleep over the merger of the two opposition political parties since it is an exercise in democracy and since both cannot defeat the PDP at elections, it is however not out of place for us to point out the major defects of the merger and why Nigerians will continue to reject it as an alternative to our great party.”

According to him, the ACN is entirely owned by Bola Tinubu and brooks no opposition to his dictates.

Fashakin also criticised President Goodluck Jonathan’s presence, when the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, was presented with jet.

CAN, in its reaction denied that Jonathan bought a plane for Oritsejafor.

The association also stated that contrary to insinuations, the CAN President did not ‘anoint’ Jonathan for the 2011 general elections.

The Public Relations Officer of the 19 Northern States of CAN and Abuja, Mr. Sunny Oibe, made the clarification while reacting to the allegation by the CPC.

Oibe said, “First of all, the allegation is baseless, mischievous and orchestrated by the evil minds to tarnish the soaring and good image of the President of CAN in the person of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor. The reason for all these attacks on Ayo is not because of the plane but because Ayo has been against Boko Haram and had suggested that Muhammadu Buhari should be arrested.

“That is why the CPC is attacking Pastor Ayo who was the only one who said Buhari should be arrested and in an ideal society Buhari should be locked behind bars.”










Source - Punch news

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Oil workers, others warn Jonathan against subsidy removal

11:56 PM News No Comments

President Goodluck Jonathan
| credits:

Workers in the oil sector have cautioned President Goodluck Jonathan against total removal of fuel subsidy without ensuring that the four refineries in the country are fully functional.

The leadership of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers also described the importation of fuel from Ghana and Niger Republic as shameful.

President of NUPENG, Mr. Igwe Achese, and his PENGASSAN’s colleague, Mr. Babatunde Ogun, said these on Saturday in Calabar, Cross River State, at the end of a four-day workshop for oil workers on Petroleum Industry Bill.

President Goodluck Jonathan had on Thursday launched a fresh campaign to totally remove the subsidy on fuel.

Jonathan had while receiving the report of the participants of the Senior Executive Course 34, 2012, of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, near Jos, in Abuja, said, “Why is it that people are not building refineries in Nigeria despite that it is a big business?

“It is because of the policy of subsidy, and that is why we want to get out of it.”

However the NUPENG president noted that while the unions were not against the withdrawal of subsidy, relying almost completely on importation of petrol products would continue to impoverish Nigerians.

According to Achese, the four refineries function at 20 per cent capacity, an indication that the country would continue to rely on importation of the product at higher costs and to the detriment of the citizens.

He said, “Like we keep saying, removal of subsidy or deregulating of the sector without making sure the nation’s refineries are working optimally would still drive this country back into importation of petroleum products.

“We keep saying that importation of products should be a stop gap. There is nowhere in the world that importation doesn’t take place.

“But today in Nigeria, the reverse is the case. Our refineries are all moribund; they are incapacitated. The few refineries that are running today cannot run even more than 20 per cent. That means this nation would continue to import petroleum products and every importation of petroleum product must be sold at a high rate.”

Achese said it was shameful that as the sixth largest producer of crude oil, Nigeria was relying heavily on importation of petrol from countries like Ghana and Niger that had just discovered oil.

Ogun said, “Government came up with Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme and I would ask that it is about one year today. What has it achieved in this nation?

“It is about one year when we went down the street protesting against the removal of subsidy and increase in petroleum prices and government came with that programme, saying it is going to take care of Nigerians and I ask: is anything working today? What has worked? Are we set to deregulate? Are we set to remove subsidy? The answer is no.”

The PENGASSAN boss also lamented that a task force set up on refineries, for which the unions were members, had submitted its report without their input.

He said, “We have heard that the task force on refinery which we as a union are also members, has unfortunately gone to submit a report that was not properly reviewed by all members of the committee and here we are hearing that various recommendations were made.”

Meanwhile, a civil rights group, Anti-Corruption Network, has called on the Federal Government to rescind its decision to remove fuel subsidy, saying the group will “shut down Nigeria” using all legal means including civil disobedience if the government goes ahead with the plan.

However, the Executive Director of ACN and a former member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dino Melaye, who issued the threat in an interview with journalists on Saturday in Abuja, said the group would prove to the government that Nigerians were no fools.

He said, “The plan for total removal of petroleum subsidy is an invitation to anarchy. I dare the Federal Government to remove total subsidy. Any attempt to effect total removal of subsidy, we also promise them totalGbege and articulate wahala.

“We will shut down Nigeria and we do not need the organised labour movement such as the NLC and TUC to do this. We are very ready and prepared for them. Enough of all these draconian and anti-people policies which are not in tandem with modern democratic governance.”










Source - Punch news

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Flood committee nets N12bn – Sambo

11:54 PM News No Comments

Vice-President Namadi Sambo
| credits: File copy

Vice-President Namadi Sambo said the private sector-driven Flood Relief Committee led by Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Olisa Agbakoba has raised N12bn to assist flood victims in some parts of the country.

The Vice-President, who stated this in Kaduna on Saturday, also said the Federal Government had approved N400m for the rehabilitation of flood victims in Kaduna State.

Sambo, who had a meeting with flood victims in the state, said President Goodluck Jonathan had approved the dredging of the Kaduna River as part of efforts to check the menace of flooding in the state.

He said, “The token grant of N400m is only part of the support that we will continue to provide to the state.

“All the farmers in Kaduna State will be supported with improved seeds and other requirements so that during this dry farming season, we will boost and replace what we have lost in the agricultural sector.

“I am also pleased to inform you that the President has directed the Minister of Water Resources to map out the Kaduna River for dredging and also approved the sum of N37bn to complete the Gurara Water Irrigation Scheme.”










Source - Punch news

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Soldier filmed colleagues killing captives in Maiduguri – Report

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JTF spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa
| credits: www.newsrescue.com

International news agency, REUTERS, on Sunday reported that it was in possession of an amateur video showing Nigerian soldiers shooting unarmed captives in broad daylight in Maiduguri, Borno State.

It said the video was sent to it by a soldier, who claimed to have witnessed the shooting. Reuters quoted the unnamed soldiers as saying that he was present when the soldiers shot the captives about two weeks ago.

Maiduguri is the seat of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, and there have been many clashes between military operatives and the sect members.

The report said, “In the grainy footage, a man sits down next to three or four corpses piled together on the roadside. He pleads for his life while soldiers shout at him and a crowd looks on a few metres away. “Please don’t fire,” the man says in Pidgin English.

“He tries to stand up and get onto the back of a pickup truck to the left. A Nigerian soldier shouts “come out”, and drags him off it, shoving him on the ground.

“One of them kicks him in the head. Then he and another soldier aim assault rifles at him. Four gunshots are heard and the man lies still next to the others.”

According to Reuters, another video from the same source, which he said was taken after the executions, shows soldiers piling up about 24 bodies in two heaps on the ground from the back of a military truck.

Nigerian army spokesman, Colonel Mohammed Yerima, told Reuters that he had not seen the video but that the events must have been staged.

“How can they do that? It is not possible. This is the Boko Haram tactics. They will do the killing, say it’s the military and then Amnesty International and so on will blame us. It’s not possible for Nigerian troops to act in this way,” Yerima was quoted as saying.

There have been several allegations of improper conduct against the Nigerian soldiers in the Joint Task Force in charge of maintaining peace in the North-East where Boko Haram members have staged many attacks.

But the military has always denied complicity in the crisis in the zone.

The Guardian of London on November 2, 2012 reported a similar case of soldiers shooting dead many during raids in Maiduguri, quoting witnesses and hospital staff.

According to the reports, three witnesses said soldiers from the JTF raided several neighbourhoods in Maiduguri late on November 1 and arrested or shot dead dozens of young men.

“More than 30 bodies were brought in by the JTF and most of them were young men,” The Guradian quoted one nurse at a hospital in the town, Yagana Bukar, as saying.

Amnesty International said in a report released on Nov. 1 that the JTF had committed human rights abuses in its fight against Boko Haram.

The report said the JTF had carried out executions in the streets and tortured people without charges ever being brought.










Source - Punch news

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Subsidy stays in 2013–Jonathan

11:52 PM Business, News No Comments

PRESIDENT GOODLUCK Jonathan on Sunday assured Nigerians that the subsidy on petroleum would stay in 2013.

However, the President was silent on whether there would be an increase in the pump price of petrol or not. Our correspondent reports that the president’s assurance does not preclude an increase in fuel price. He adds that the President’s promise will remain valid even if the fuel price is hiked and government doesn’t fully remove subsidy.

“If we are going to remove subsidy from January, as you are afraid we will do in January, we couldn’t have made provisions for it in the 2013 budget. We have made provisions from January till December,” Jonathan said during the Presidential Media Chat aired live on network television and radio.

Fielding questions from a panel of interviewers, the President dwelt on a range of burning national issues including the convocation of a Sovereign national Conference, the 2015 election, and constitution amendment.

He said he was misunderstood when he said last Thursday that subsidy must go for development to take place in the oil sector.

“Why is it that people are not building refineries in Nigeria despite that it is a big business? It is because of the policy of subsidy, and that is why we want to get out of it,” the President had said while receiving the report of the graduating participants of the Senior Executive Course 34, 2012, of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, near Jos, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

But the President said on Sunday that he did not say the country was deregulating its oil sector. ‘‘I did not say we are deregulating. But all what we are saying is that if we are to get to that level of Canada, the policy that existed in January, which is public-private sector driven, we have to adopt that in Nigeria,” he said.

On the shortage of fuel and the return of queues at filling stations, the President said Nigerians should bear with his government.

He said, “This situation can manifest in different areas, some people may have the product and decide to manipulate the system so that they can get more money.

“I am asking Nigerians to bear with us. I got the report from the ( Aig) Imokhuede committee on Friday, an advanced copy of the report. The arguments by the marketers is that it is government that is owing them. (But) the preliminary report we have indicates that they owe the government.

“They (oil marketers) are businessmen; they could decide to manipulate the system to get more money. I got a copy of the report. We will look into it. Experts are being brought in to do forensic audit. The human element is there, and we have our own challenges. I believe that by the time we finish sanitizing the oil sector, the issue of fuel queue will be put behind us for good.”

Jonathan, however, said Nigerians would have to wait till 2014 to know whether he would contest in the 2015 presidential race or not. He nonetheless noted that four years four years was too short to make an impact.

“Four years is a very short time for a person to make an impact. Immediately you start talking about elections. Give us time. Before you start asking Mr. President whether he will contest elections, wait until 2014. Give us some time to make sure that myself and my cabinet work,” he said.

He said it was too early to ask “a sitting President whether he will contest elections or not.”

The President added, “This is one of the reasons we agitated for this single tenure issue. If a President tells you today that I am contesting it will generate a lot of issues; I am not contesting will also generate a lot of issues.

“If I say I am not contesting some of my cabinet ministers will even resign and go because most of them, if not all of them, are qualified to contest the position. So we have a four year tenure which is quite short, because if you look at the African scenario, it ranges from 4 years to seven.

“Some countries have five years, like South Africa, some seven years, others six years of double tenures, but we operate what we copied from the United States of America.”

The President said a sovereign national conference could not be convened now.

He said, “When you mention the word sovereign, people get frightened. The basic thing I believe, as a President who has taken an oath to defend the constitution of Nigeria, is that whatever we do, we should keep in line with the constitution, and the citizens should send their views on the constitution to the National Assembly.

“If today we jettison the provision of the constitution, we will run into anarchy and the best option is to keep in line with the provision of the constitution.”

Commending the constitution review by the National Assembly, he said that Nigerians were being allowed to debate all issues.

Jonathan said “You expose issues to all Nigerians, individual groups, religious groups, social cultural groups, ethnic groups, youth groups and all other patriotic groups have the opportunity to make inputs to the constitution.”

On the call for referendum, the President said that what the National Assembly was doing had the elements of a referendum.

He said, “What we are doing has satisfied the issue of referendum. Because in a referendum we would want to know the opinion of people, the thinking of the people on a particular subject matter.

“What the National Assembly is doing is that they are going from state to state, from constituency to constituency, from zone to zone to collate the thinking of the people, in terms of the provisions of the constitution in the areas that affect them.”

The President also said that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), had been working on the report of the Justice Belgore Committee on constitution review.

Jonathan said that he would not comment on issues that were being discussed in the ongoing constitution review.

The President acknowledged that Nigerians had rejected the single tenure he suggested given their reactions to the idea.

“I made that statement on a single tenure, just to solve that problem of the overheating of the polity. But I believe from the reactions so far that Nigerians feel that the best thing to do is to maintain the double-tenure (system). That is why we made sure that we sanitise our electoral system. Of course you can agree with me that that is one area where we have done very well,” he said.

On the Soku/Oluasiri oil row between Bayelsa and Rivers states, Jonathan said even though he was an indigene of Bayelsa he would not influence the process.

He said, ‘‘I am Bayelsan by birth and all my life, I have lived in Rivers State. I have more friends in Rivers than Bayelsa. The issue has to do with boundary, the area you are talking about is a boundary between Rivers and Bayelsa.

“Before Bayelsa was created, Nembe and Kalabiri fought over the boundary. It is a very sensitive area. I have already directed all the relevant agencies to go and do their work professionally. Frankly speaking, revenue mobilisation is independent; it even took the government to court. I will not influence anything to favour Bayelsa State.’’










Source - Punch news

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Uncertainty surrounds Reps’ report on Lawan, Otedola

11:51 PM News No Comments

Mr. Femi Otedola, and a lawmaker, Farouk Lawan
| credits:

Six months into the investigations by the House of Representatives on the controversial $620, 000 bribery allegation, the report is still not ready, The PUNCH has gathered.

As at Sunday (yesterday), when The PUNCH checked with the House Committee on Rules and Business, the committee had neither been briefed on the report of the probe nor had any document been submitted to it.

“There is uncertainty over the fate of this report.

“It is seven months running since the House started this investigation, but we no longer know what is happening,” a senior lawmaker confided in in Abuja on Sunday.

The bribery transaction involved a four-time legislator (1999 to date), Mr. Farouk Lawan, and oil businessman, Mr. Femi Otedola.

Otedola claimed to have given Lawan the bribe in the wake of the April fuel subsidy probe by the House to remove the names of Otedola’s two firms from the list of indicted companies by the committee.

Lawan headed the ad-hoc committee mandated to conduct the probe.

The panel uncovered how fraudulent marketers colluded with government officials to rob the nation of over N1.07tn in subsidy scams.

The House had mandated its Committee on Ethics and Privileges in June to investigate the allegation and submit a report within 21 days.

Findings, however, indicated that despite several assurances by the House that the report would be produced, there was none as at Sunday.

Three weeks ago, a member of the Committee on Ethics and Privileges, Mr. Victor Ogene, announced that the panel would lay the report as “soon as the House resumes from the Sallah break”, but nothing happened.

The House resumed from the Sallah break on November 6.

Ogene, who in response to inquiries by our correspondent, said the report was ready, added that the committee was merely awaiting “scheduling” by the House.

When our correspondent contacted the Chairman of the panel, Mr. Gambo Musa, he declined to speak on how far he had gone with the investigation.

“I don’t want to say anything. This is not the right time; you get me?

“There is nothing to say,” Musa told The PUNCH on the telephone.

When asked about the right time he would speak, he remained silent.

The PUNCH checked with the Committee on Rules and Business, which had the responsibility of scheduling committee reports and other legislative activities for the floor.

The chairman, Mr. Albert Sam-Sokwa, told our correspondent that so far, there had been no contact between his committee and Musa’s over the progress of the $620,000 probe.

He said, “The committee has not brought it (report) to me.

“It is still with the committee. If they bring it, mine is to cause it to be laid for consideration by honourable members.

“For now, my committee has nothing to do with it because no report has come to us from the Committee on Ethics and Privileges.

“Maybe, they are putting final touches to the report.”










Source - Punch news

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Monguno, Kashamu berate Obasanjo on Jonathan, Boko Haram criticisms

11:49 PM Politics No Comments

A Peoples Democratic Party stalwart in Ogun State, Buruji Kashamu, on Sunday, said former president Olusegun Obasanjo lacked the moral right to criticise President Goodluck Jonathan administration’s over the handling of corruption and the Boko Haram insurgency in the North.

Also, former Petroleum Resources Minister, Alhaji Shettima Monguno, has faulted Obasanjo’s comments.

Both spoke against the backdrop of the recent statements credited to Obasanjo.

The former president had on the occasion to mark the 40th anniversary of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor as a clergyman, criticised Jonathan’s handling of corruption and the activities of Boko Haram.

Kashamu, in a statement in Abeokuta said Obasanjo’s administration, which did not do better in tackling corruption and terrorism in its eight years, laid the foundation for the country’s current travails.

He said, “Perhaps, the point should be made – and poignantly too – that the earlier Obasanjo purges himself of his messianic postures, the better it would be for him and the nation at large. He is quick to recount his exploits while in office. But the truth is: the foundation of some of the challenges that we are grappling with today were laid during his last years in office.”

The PDP chief further accused Obasanjo of pursuing a personal and selfish agenda by his criticisms of the Jonathan administration.

However, Monguno, while speaking to journalists in Maiduguri, Borno State, on Saturday, submitted that Obasanjo had no moral right to criticise Jonathan

He said, “Somebody who wanted to extend his tenure beyond the constitutional term; tried his very best to extend but was rejected, is now advising government to do the wrong thing”.

The former Petroleum Minister noted that Obasanjo’s prescription of military action the type he unleashed on the Odi community during his reign in 1999 would only compound the problem.

Monguno said, “I do not agree with our former President that Jonathan should use force, or use the military to crush what they always call the Boko Haram.”

According to him, even in the military, soldiers do not want to go to war unless it is absolutely necessary.

He noted that even the United Nations does not use force in situations like this and advised Obasanjo to look back on his military and political way of life.

Monguno said rather than use force, Jonathan should explore peaceful means of resolving the Boko Haram threat.










Source - Punch news

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Our traffic law is here to stay – Fashola

11:48 PM News No Comments

Governor Babatunde Fashola
| credits:

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola on Sunday foreclosed the possibility that the new road traffic law, which banned operations of commercial motorcyclists (okada riders) from popular roads among other drastic measures, would be reviewed.

The governor expressed satisfaction with the enforcement of the law and said its health and safety objectives were being met.

Fashola, who spoke during the commemoration of his 2,000 days in office at Ikeja, Lagos added that many policies aimed at improving driving culture, safety and protecting lives on roads are contained in the law.

He said, “We are experiencing more voluntary compliance and we are seeing progress towards improved driving culture and our ultimate goal of safety of lives and property on our roads.

“Between July, before the law came into force, and September 2012, of the 13,322 people attending our Drivers’ Institute, 11,986 had good vision, while 1,346 representing about 10.1% had bad vision.

“They have been referred for corrective action such as glasses to improve their vision and return them back to the road, safer, for themselves and other road users.

“From the 25 General hospitals, the reports of accidents of okada dropped from 646 to 525 cases in September, a 18.73 per cent eduction while deaths recorded between the same period dropped from 14 to 8, a 42.86 per cent reduction.

“From the office of the Commissioner of Police, the reported incidents of crime generally perpetrated by okada, especially robberies, dropped 30 per cent in September and by 60 per cent as at the end of October, when compared to the month of July, before the law came into force.

“These for me are signs which suggest that the health and safety objectives of the law are being met. I do not believe that it is the desire of the people of Lagos to continue to tolerate a transport business model that is unarguably injurious to the society.”

The governor said his administration would continue to improve on transportation by providing more buses and building more road networks.

He said, “Because of the modest progresses in our public transportation, I remain convinced that the legacy of public transportation that you and the next generation of Lagosians deserve is one that puts us on the global map of City-States for the right reasons and not one that condemns us to a dependency on the signs of poverty that we import from Asia.

“It is a system of buses and rail transport supported by ferries that will solve our problems.”

Fashola also told Lagosians at the event that his administration was making progress in other areas to improve their welfare.

He said the Mile 12-Ikorodu Road expansion and other 185 inner roads had been financed and awarded while the construction of 584 housing estates in Agbowa and 1,404 others had commenced across the state.

“In the area of education, I am happy to report that our state is now in the top 10 of the 36 States that are in the forefront of public education revival, and we are the only state in the South West in the top 10 this year.

“During the last 100 days, we launched one of the projects that we designed to ensure that our women do not lose their lives while giving birth,” the governor said.







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D-8 summit: Jonathan leaves for Pakistan

11:48 PM News, Politics No Comments

Abuja – President Goodluck Jonathan will leave Abuja tonight for Islamabad, Pakistan to attend the summit of Heads of State and Government of the Group of Eight Developing Nations (D-8) which opens tomorrow.

In a statement by special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, said the President will be accompanied on the trip by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

He said besides participating in the summit of the D-8 meeting, President Jonathan will also hold bilateral meetings in Islamabad with the Presidents of Pakistan, Malaysia, Turkey, Iran and Egypt whose countries also belong to the D-8.
Other D-8 nations are Nigeria, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

The D-8 was established in 1997 to foster developmental cooperation amongst member-countries and its objectives include promoting trade and economic cooperation amongst its members, improving member states’ position in the global economy, diversifying and creating new opportunities for them in international trade relations, enhancing their participation in decision-making at the global level, and improving the standards of living of people in the eight member-countries.

The President will also meet with Nigerians living in Pakistan before returning to Abuja on Friday.







Source - Vanguard news

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AMCON saved 90% of job losses in banking sector – Chike-Obi

11:45 PM News No Comments

LAGOS — THE Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, weekend, said its intervention in the banking sector saved 90 per cent of employees that would have lost their jobs in the banking sector.

The corporation also decried the adoption of due process and bureaucratic process of getting things done in Nigeria, saying: “Despite the implementation of massive bureaucracy, corruption has not declined in the country.”

Managing Director, AMCON, Mr. Mustapher Chike-Obi, who stated this at the second Investors’ Forum organised by FBN Capital in Lagos, said: “Do we need all the bureaucracy to get our things done better? We should be result oriented. We must build roads whether with or without due process. We don’t have good roads in Nigeria.”

On AMCON’s intervention in the banking sector, he, said: “People thought we came to take over the banks, not knowing we intervened to prevent Nigerian banks from collapsing and helping depositors from losing their money. Also, our intervention helped 90 per cent of the employees in the banking sector from losing their jobs because these banks were in serious negative balance sheet. What we have accomplished now is to take their balance sheet to zero position.”

Faults regulatory agency over fixing of tariff

While commenting on power, Chike-Obi, said: “ I have been asking everybody who knows about power why we have a regulatory agency that set tariff for Nigerian power? It seems to me that in Nigeria today over 90 per cent of electricity is not regulated. It is not even generated and since diesel is unregulated, that means the power is largely unregulated in terms of tariff.

“Nigeria also seems to me to be one place in the world where you do not need an electricity tariff because if the tariff gets too high people can switch back to their generators and there is a corrective mechanism from too high energy prices.

“I bring this up because I look at all the preferred bidders or winners in Gencos and Discos and it struck me that I did not see a single one of them with genuine international financial partners. They all have good technical partners and they all have plans to raise money from Nigerian banks but I wonder looking at the quantum of money needed in the power sector, if the quantum of money can be raised locally without genuine international financial help.

“That is the question I do ask and am really concerned about it because power is very essential for this country. We need to know whether we should be setting types or be encouraging people that can generate, transmit and distribute power and then charge whatever they like because only in that I believe personally that we can get what is required.”

On how things are done in Nigeria, Chike-Obi said: “ When I came back to Nigeria from USA where I lived for many years, I was told this is how we do things and that I need to follow due process. This is how we do things and all that. Don’t bring your American attitude. We have to follow due process and transparency is the kind of word they use and all that.

“I used to tell them but these ways of doing things have not worked for this country. We have a massive bureaucracy called the Bureau of Public Procurement. You have to go through many things before you satisfy them. But do we need to go through all these things before we get things right? Our people are not concerned about results. This process of doing things has not helped us in many ways. It must be changed and we must be conscious of results Some Nigerians are not concerned about results. All they want is due process that does not produce any result and corruption keeps rising.

“ At AMCON, we need brand new computers which will cost $12 million and I was told we need to advertise to do this and that and it took us two years to get the computers because of due process. This is not good for this country.”








Source - Vanguard news

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Eagles to earn N15m each for Nations Cup title

11:45 PM Sports No Comments

Each Super Eagles star could earn as much as $100,000 should they win the AFCON in South Africa.

“Incentives will not be the Super Eagles problem at the Nations Cup,” a top official simply informed MTNFootball.com at the weekend.

“If they go all the way and win the competition, they will each take away about $95,000 and when you add that to their daily allowances of around $5,000, you will have about $100,000.

File Photo: Super Eagles

“And the chief coach (Stephen Keshi) will get double this amount.”

In the proposed budget for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations, each Super Eagle player will earn $10,000 for a win in the first round, where they are drawn against defending champions Zambia, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.

This would translate to $30,000 each if they win all three first round matches, the same amount they also received when they qualified for the quarterfinal of the 2010 tournament in Angola.

However, in Angola, the bonus was a winner-take-all one in the sense that the players were paid $30,000 each for going past the first round rather than being paid per game.

The team’s win bonus will then be reviewed upwards as they move up in the knockout stage of the biennial competition.

Victory in the quarterfinal will fetch each player $15,000, while victory in the semi-final will see them $20,000-a-man richer.

And should the Eagles clinch Nigeria’s third Nations Cup trophy inside the magnificent Soccer City in Johannesburg on February 10, each player will pocket a win bonus of $30,000.










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Merger: We are not losing sleep, PDP tells ACN, CPC, others

11:42 PM Politics No Comments

ABUJA—THE national leadership of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has again boasted that it would not lose sleep over the planned merger of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, and other opposition political parties ahead of the 2015 presidential election.

The PDP, while noting that the proposed move was an action in futility, however, described it as the coming together of dictators, and urged the ACN to resolve what it called the sore question hanging around its one-man ownership by former governor of Lagos State, Chief Bola Tinubu.

In a statement signed yesterday in Abuja by the National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, PDP also queried what it described as the CPC’s consistent trajectory of violence as raised in the party’s reaction to their merger deal, which it described as good for democracy, instead of dressing up fiction as historical facts or taking the usual descent to the gutter.

The statement read in part: ‘’While the PDP is not losing sleep over the merger of the two opposition political parties, since it is an exercise in democracy and since they both cannot defeat the PDP at elections, it is, however, not out of place for us to point out the major defects of the merger and why Nigerians will continue to reject it as an alternative to our great party.

‘’The onus is entirely on these two parties to accept these glaring facts and seek ways out of the situation or to continue with the delusion that the merger of brood of dictators does not disguise its relish for the funeral train, is what Nigerians need at the moment.

‘’The ACN is entirely owned by Bola Tinubu and brooks no opposition to his dictates. It is no secret that the governors of Lagos, Osun and Ekiti States as well as the woefully failed candidate of the party in the recent Ondo governorship election were Tinubu’s direct imposition.

“It is also a fact that Tinubu unilaterally chased out Ope Bamidele who won the primaries for Ekiti Central senatorial district and imposed his preferred candidate. Nigerians can still remember how Tinubu’s wife made her way to the Senate.”

”The comments of the cross section of Yoruba leaders on the recent victory of the Labour Party in Ondo State against an earlier call by the ACN for regional integration as the pivot of its campaign is an unmasked rejection of the ambition of one man to lord over an entire region.

“Does the ACN have a constitution beyond what Tinubu dictates? For a start, Tinubu’s position as the leader of the party has no place in the constitution of the ACN yet the man usurps the functions of the party’s constitutional structures, rendering the officers redundant.

“The National Working Committee of the ACN which is supposed to meet every two months according to section 7, 18a & c of its constitution has only met twice in February and August this year, while the de facto NWC meetings hold daily at Boudillion, Lagos Court of Tinubu, the emperor.
‘’Is that how to run a party that wants to give Nigeria its president?” If the spokesman of a political party cannot issue a release except what an emperor that enjoys an unconstitutional party title dictates, would he not resign and assume responsibilities as an aide to the emperor and allow an independent mind to anchor the publicity of the party?

“Again, is that possible in a party where the emperor holds the power of life and death? That is the only reason Lai Mohammed will continue to enjoy endless term of office as much as he pleases Tinubu.‘’The fact of the merger is that of a double jeopardy as the case of the CPC is worse. Apart from the collywobbles of one man dictatorship, the party’s violent antecedent, and the unrepentant posturing of General Buhari, the owner of the party, as again captured in his parable of the bloody baboon and monkey earlier this year in Kaduna, is a recipe for a road to Somalia. That is not the preference Nigerians will ever imagine.

‘’At the bottom line , Nigerians are faced with the worst form of indecent propaganda from the duo of Lai Mohammed and Rotimi Fasheki whom Bola Tinubu also donated to the CPC. It is either they are attacking and insulting the President, the National Assembly or other institutions of democracy or losing sleep and get more rabid when their shortcomings are pointed out or are engaged in the illusion of an all powerful merger that will take over Nigeria.‘’Unfortunately, these two men are political neophytes who cannot win councillorship elections in their respective wards against the PDP. These are green horns whose clout will at best fetch spokespersons of local government chapters were they members of our great party.

‘’No amount of attack on the President or the PDP will shift our focus from delivering on our mandate. 2015 will not be decided by personal insults on those in elected offices nor won on the pages of newspapers. It lies in the province of the Nigerian people. No matter their Shenanigans, the PDP remains the party to beat.”







Source - Vanguard news

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Nigeria’s external reserves hit $46bn – Sanusi

11:41 PM Business, News No Comments

LAGOS — Nigeria’s external reserves have risen to $45.68 billion, which is the highest in more than two years.

Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, disclosed this at the 46th annual dinner of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), weekend, in Lagos.

CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

According to Sanusi, “as at close of business today (Friday), our foreign reserves stand at $45.68 billion. We have kept exchange rate stable within our announced band of N155 +or – three per cent.”

The external reserves as at the end of October were $42.67 billion. This implies that the reserves rose by $3.01 billion or 0.7 per cent between October 31 and November 16.

Further analysis showed that the reserves had been rising persistently since August 6 when it recorded the last decline from $36.579 billion to $36.408 billion. Also when compared with its level of $38.59 billion on August 10, 2010, the new level of $45.68 billion represents the highest level of the reserves in 27 months.

In his keynote address, Sanusi said the increase in external reserves was necessary to protect the economy from external shocks arising from decline in crude oil prices and emphasised the need for fiscal restraint and fiscal consolidation.

He said: “It is important not to be complacent and it is important to recognise that there are dark clouds in the horizon and it is extremely important to start building and continue building the fiscal buffers, go into a period of strong restraints and serious fiscal restraints and consolidation. We must continue to build up the external reserves and protect the economy from external shocks to oil prices and focus on the strength and resilience of the banking system.

“In a year that government removed 50 per cent of fuel subsidies, where you have very high increase in international food prices and energy prices, where you have general instability and where we had forecast that inflation might reach 14.5 per cent in August, inflation is still under 12 per cent. As at September, inflation was 11.3 per cent, but we expect that there might be an inching up in food inflation figures expected to come out on Monday, but because of the tight monetary conditions we have kept we now have a moderation in core inflation.

“We now have high reserves of more than a two-year high, stable exchange rates, relatively benign inflation, but obviously, very high interest rates and lending rates in the money market.”

Outcome of recent banking reforms

Speaking on the outcome of the recent banking reforms, he said: “The IMF has just concluded a financial stability assessment programme and they are extremely impressed by the work that has been done. They were able to pronounce that we have put the banking crisis behind us. The Nigerian banking industry with average capital adequacy ratio of 17 per cent is one of the highest in terms of capitalisation in the world.

“The banks have strong liquidity position. We have worked with governance issues. While the rest of the world is still debating what they would do with universal banking, we have broken up the universal banks. We have set up an AMCON that has not just bought NPL, but has recapitalised the banks and we are happy to say that a few months ago, Spain has copied that model.

“AMCON had to put in nothing less than N2.3 trillion just to fill the hole that had been left by the management of banks, and when I talk about hole, I am talking about negative capital. If that N2.3 trillion had not been put in, what would have been lost was N30 trillion in deposits and interbank. Many of the banks that were safe and healthy would have been brought down by the banks that had taken money from them. And many people don’t realise the implications of that.

“In addition, while the costs are there, the actual cost to the federal treasury that would have come under the central bank’s balance sheet is N500 billion over 10 years, with present value of N300 million, which is less than half of what NDIC would have paid to insured depositors alone. The rest of the money is coming from the sale of assets by AMCON, but a significant part is coming from the balance sheet of banks. Nigeria is the only country that has made the banking industry itself pay for the cost of its clean up.

“Banks are not set up to invest in government bills alone, banks are not set up to use depositors’ funds to bet on the capital and real estate markets, banks are set up primarily to mobilise savings and move these savings into the real economy where real production, real jobs and real income are created.










Source - Vanguard news

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Eagles strikers on fire

11:39 PM Sports No Comments

Super Eagles strikers in Europe at the weekend put more pressure on Coach Stephen Keshi as they kept on scoring goals for their various clubs.

CSKA Moscow striker Ahmed Musa scored his eighth goal in the Russian league in Sunday’s 3-0 spanking of Amkar Perm.

Eight-goal Musa is now two goals behind league leading scorer Aleksandr Kerzhakov of champions Zenit Saint Petersburg.

The Nigeria international, who is now played as a centre forward by his Russian army club and not as a winger, scored the second goal of the match in the 73rd minute. He also assisted Cauna for the third goal in the 90th minute.

Obafemi Martins returned from a disappointing Super Eagles outing to net his fifth goal for Levante in the Spanish La Liga yesterday.

Martins opened scoring at hosts Deportivo La Coruna after 40 minutes to restate his case for a place on Nigeria’s squad for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Similarly, Super Eagles prolific scorer, Ikechukwu Uche smashed a fantastic brace for Villarreal CF in Spain’s Segunda División as the Yellow Submarine won 3-0 against Racing Santander at El Sadinero.

The forward’s first goal on Saturday arrived on 39 minutes while he completed his brace 14 minutes later.

Uche was substituted after 79 minutes as the Villarreal manager, Julio Velaquez Santiago shuffled his pack to protect his side’s lead.

Also Saturday in the English Premier League, Osaze Odemwinge’s header sank the European champions, as Westbrom defeated Chelsea 2-1 at Hawthorns.




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No negotiations with Boko Haram – Jonathan

11:38 PM News No Comments

LAGOS — President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, dismissed insinuations of a secret dialogue between the administration and the Boko Haram just as he declared former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s invasion of Odi in Bayelsa State in 1999 as a failure that did not help to curb militancy in the Niger Delta region.

Speaking on nationwide television media chat, the president also gave a robust defence of the administration’s fight against corruption as he set a 2014 date on the decision whether he would contest the next presidential election or not.

In the two-hour broadcast session on television and radio network, President Jonathan also pledged to align himself with Nigerians if the citizens choose to retain the two-term tenure system for executive office holders.

President Goodluck Jonathan (middle), flanked from left by Mr. Ikeddy Isiguzo (Vanguard), Mr. Muhammed Kudu Abubakar (Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Mrs. Gbemi Olujobi (National  Mirror) and Mr. Martins Oloja (The Guardian) during the Presidential Media Chat at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday.

The Media Chat programme anchored by the Nigeria Television Authority, NTA’s, Kudu Abubakar had the Chairman of the Editorial Board of Vanguard, Mr. Ikeddy Isiguzo, Editor of The Guardian Mr. Martins Oloja and Gbemi Olujobi, Editor Saturday Mirror, as panelists.

The President denied insinuations of the declining dominance of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the country following consecutive election losses in Edo and Ondo states.

He also rebuffed reports of the cancellation of the contract between the administration and Manitoba Hydro Limited for the management of the transmission lines of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN.

Questions were also drawn from Nigerians through text messages and twitter. In one of such questions where the sender said the president would go down in history as the best president if he fixes the Benin-Ore Road and solves the power problem, Dr Jonathan responded that he would be the best president.

Asked to respond to claims of backroom dialogue with Boko Haram following the group’s offer for dialogue, President Jonathan said:

“Presently, government is not dialoguing with any group. There is no dialogue between the Boko Haram and government. Though there was a news item talking about dialogue, but the Boko Haram group is yet to come out. So there is nobody to dialogue with.”

Against the claims by former President Obasanjo that more force as was used in Odi would have helped to dislodge the Boko Haram insurgents, President Jonathan said:

“I can give you the narrative of what led to the Odi crisis. The peak of the militancy was when 12 police officers were killed, that was cold blooded murder and that made the Federal government to now invade Odi. After that invasion, myself and the governor entered Odi, ordinarily, the governor and his deputy are not supposed to move under such situation, but we entered and saw some dead people. Most of the people that died in Odi were mostly old men, women and children, none of the militants was killed.

Odi invasioin was a failure

“If bombarding Odi was to solve the problem, then it was never solved and of course if the attack on Odi had solved the problem of militancy in the Niger Delta, then the Yar’ Adua government would not have come up with the Amnesty programme. So, that should tell you that the attack on Odi never solved the militancy problem and we had more challenges after that attack on Odi.”

Responding to a question on whether he would be contesting the 2015 presidential elections, Dr. Jonathan replied:

“I plead with journalists; it is too early to ask a sitting president whether or not he will contest elections and this is one of the reasons we agitated for this single tenure issue. Because if a president tells you today that he is contesting election, it will generate a lot of issues. If I say I am not contesting election, my cabinet members will easily resign and go because all of them are qualified to contest that position.

“There is a four-year tenure which is quite short if you look at the African scenario. Most other African countries have six years and some seven years. Four years is very short time for a president to make an impact. Immediately you start talking about elections, you get diverted, give us time. Before you ask Mr. President whether he will contest or not, give me time. I don’t want to distract members of my cabinet.

“To know if I would contest again, I will ask you to wait till 2014. Give me some time for me and my cabinet to do our work. I do not want to distract my team in our quest.”

Asked if his party, the PDP was losing its dominance in the polity following two straight losses in gubernatorial elections in Edo and Ondo States, he said:

“It is even dangerous for this country if PDP, for example, should control all the states. Then there is no democracy and that is one of the challenges that we have conducting PDP primaries, because in some states, you look at the primaries as the election before the election. Immediately you secure the PDP ticket, you are already the governor, it is not in the best interest of this country.

“The PDP worked very hard, the PDP got second position in Ondo election and in some of them, the difference was quite narrow. Except for Imo State, in Ondo and Edo states that you mentioned, we contested against incumbent governors.

“If you look at the whole scenario around Ondo State, Mimiko, himself was a PDP man. When Mimiko contested the election the first time, his running mate was the state chairman of the PDP. It was more like a PDP family but divided into two, so that I don’t see that as a major challenge to PDP. It is all for PDP to go back in that state and put its house in order. I believe that in the next election, the PDP family will come together and PDP will rule Ondo State. We will win naturally immediately we put our house in order because we are all PDP members.”

On corruption

On the issue of graft, President Jonathan said his administration’s major imprints in the battle against corruption had been positive, noting that the battle was started by attacking electoral corruption which he noted was the mother of all corruption.

“We decided to sanitise the electoral system, dealing with corruption associated with the electoral process. In most cases, people manipulate themselves into office; state governors, local government chairmen and others manipulate themselves into offices without being voted for, thereby posing as problems for the country.

“We are aware that dealing with corruption associated with the electoral process will ensure that corruption is dealt with totally.

“We have done very well on various fronts in terms of fighting corruption. We have sanitized the fertilizer subsidy process; we have tried in sanitizing the electoral process; we have now started the audit of the oil sector, pointing to the fact that we are in the process of sanitizing the sector.

“If you ask the average Nigerian, they will say it is all because of corruption, and that because of corruption that is why there is a pot hole somewhere and that accidents are caused by corruption. We just believe that everything is caused by corruption. The retreat we conducted and are applying to do certain things including correctional orders, you will be surprised that most people who voted, gave corruption less than 20 per cent.

“But in terms of perfection, we believe that corruption is the cause of all our problems. Corruption is there and we will continue to fight corruption, no doubt about that. But this government has tried to investigate the corruption associated with the elections, we have sanitised it, the corruption associated with procurement of fertilizer is enormous, we have sanitised and we are now dealing with petroleum products, we will go ahead and sanitise it. We will surely sanitise this country.”

The Manitoba contract

Asked if the contract with Manitoba has been cancelled, the president said: ”Manitoba’s contract has not been revoked. There were some issues raised because of misunderstanding. In 2006 when privatization started, Manitoba and others also bidded and as that time the BPE that handled the whole transaction noticed that there were some confusion and they placed procurement of Manitoba as a consultant to manage our transmission and set the process the proces of the privatization.

“Former heads of state are probably shareholders in some companies I don’t think they own any company of their own but no matter what, these companies bidded and they will be assessed technically so you will not know if it is owned by a former head of state or not.”

“The companies that qualify technically will now go into the financial round.

Investment in refineries

President Jonathan also said that the present fuel crisis across the country would be resolved only if private investors were attracted to build refineries in the country.

He said the administration was working towards adopting the Canadian model. According to him Canada has 16 refineries owned by private individuals, but managed under a deregulated system.

He maintained that for the private sector to be encouraged to invest in building refineries, the issue of subsidy must be resolved.

“For those people who have been given licenses to build refineries do so, the government must be seen to resolve the issue of subsidy, as people will be concerned about what gets to them after investing huge resources in that venture,” he stated.

He appealed to Nigerians to exercise patience and bear with the government, saying that the government has commenced the process of sanitizing the oil industry and that when the process is completed, the issue of fuel scarcity will be addressed.

He said, “There are a lot of issues associated with the current fuel situation in Nigeria. There is also the human factor. In Benin Republic, for example, there is no fuel queue, but all their fuel is from Nigeria. When we are through with sanitizing the oil sector, the system will improve and fuel queues will go away.”




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New constitution should encourage autonomy – Educationists

8:00 AM Education No Comments

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu
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As the National Assembly begins the review of the 1999 Constitution, educationists have called for transformation in the education system, MOTUNRAYO ABODERIN writes

In both chambers of the National Assembly, there has been a remarkable consensus that the 1999 Constitution should be amended. Conceding to this decision, educationists said the review would not be complete if some areas of the education sector weren’t restructured.

An Independent National Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Lai Olurode, said, “I believe the review is long overdue. However, the method adopted will not make us achieve our desired outcome, especially based on how constitutions are reviewed in other developed countries. People must feel a sense of real active participation. The review going on is just being done on the superficial level. It is not based on clear-cut guidelines. There is no representation.

“A constitution must have legitimacy before it is accepted. The 1999 Constitution was forced on us by the military. There was no effective participation by the people. If we must review the constitution, there should be legitimacy.”

Olurode said that the review must encourage autonomy in the nation’s education sector. “The constitution should be reviewed to give states the power to control their own resources and decide how many universities they can manage. The autonomy given to the education sector should be a constitutional matter. I don’t think Nigeria allocates up to 13 per cent of its revenue to education. Meanwhile, countries such as Ghana allocate up to 31 per cent. There should be a constitutional backup whereby 30 per cent of the revenue generated by each state is pumped into the education sector. This is the only way we can revive the sector. We should realise that the development of a nation is linked to the education sector.

“In addition, the constitution should favour gender balance. No gender should be favoured over the other, even in the allocation of power in our education sector. And appointment of vice-chancellors should be decided by students,’’ Olurode said.

Olurode said that it is essential for the federal, state and local governments to exercise their powers separately. “The demands of the people should be respected and there should be devolution of power from the centre to the state. There should also be financial devolution. People want a government that can be trusted. However, with all sense of fairness, the Federal Government has done more in devolving power to the states. State governments should reciprocate and devolve power to local governments. These local governments should have a sense of power.

“Also, INEC should be given the power to sanction political parties that violate their constitutions. Once these are done, the country will move forward. The political system is over-populated. I think Nigeria has one of the largest if not the largest political representation in the world. So much money is being pumped into this sector,” he said.

Unlike Olurode, a lecturer of International Relations at the Redeemers’ University, Mowe, Ogun State, Femi Adegbulu, said the constitution review is a jamboree and waste of time.

He said, “I’m not interested in the review. Those in power would end up implementing their own views. The constitution we have is not people- friendly. It is not a constitution by the people and for the people. Even if the constitution was to undergo any amendment, it would be a cosmetic amendment. Issues that are germane to development would not be considered.

“Education, an important sector which should take priority over other sectors, has been sidelined. Is the percentage allocated to the sector in the national budget enough to revive it? Will that amount of money move us forward? Look at how bastardised the sector is. Let us stop deceiving ourselves. We are just wasting time and money on unnecessary things and in my opinion, the review is unnecessary. No one is thinking of how to build the country. Nigeria needs leaders that are people-oriented. Our leaders should be put in power based on their intelligence and experience.’’

Adegbulu stressed that Nigeria cannot get the best of the constitution until it is restructured. “What we need now is not a review but for public positions to be made less attractive so that people who are intelligent can go there and implement effective policies. Even though President Barrack Obama won the American presidential election, his opponent went ahead to congratulate him. He said that Obama was the people’s choice. Leaders in those countries want to serve the people. But in Nigeria, leaders go into politics to steal money.

“We don’t need any constitution review; we want less emphasis on the centre. Public seat should be restructured and made less attractive,” he said.

A Chief Lecturer and Deputy Provost of the Tai Solarin College of Education, Omu-Ijebu, Ogun State, Cornelius Onanuga, said the review is long overdue.

“Nigerians felt the current constitution was contrived by the military, not minding that the members of the said military are also Nigerians. Some other Nigerians not belonging to the military also participated in the making of the constitution. In this kind of situation, if the agitation for review is not attended to, the people will continue to see the document as ‘theirs,’ not ‘ours.’ This will continue to haunt the document. Again, involving the people in the process of the review is good. It will give a sense of ownership and participation to the people. Those apparent issues and the ones that were not envisaged by the current constitution should now be addressed by this exercise,’’ he explained.

Analysing some areas of the constitution that should be amended in order to boost the education sector, Onanuga said, “The issue of placing the ‘ownership’ of public primary schools on the three tiers of government – federal, state and local governments – is anomalous. That is why teachers are treated like ‘orphans.’ There is need to correct the anomaly. To streamline matters, the review may consider leaving primary education administration to the local governments; secondary education to the states; and tertiary education to the Federal Government. Language policy on education may also be considered for inclusion to save Nigerian Languages from extinction and address the peculiar nature of our country as a multilingual nation.”

He urged the National Assembly to be objective in the amendment. “The National Assembly should be sincere in seeing this process through. This is not a time that people pursue selfish agenda. The national interest and the overall interest of Nigerians should be our focus. Anything short of this will make the whole effort an exercise in futility.”

Also speaking, the Chairman, Fafunwa Educational Foundation, Mr. Kayode Alo, said the review should be amended in a way that the education sector would be protected. “The federal and state governments should be held liable. Both governments should spend at least 26 per cent of their budgets on the education sector.

“The issue is not the review itself but the spirit behind it. We should all see Nigeria as our home. It’s time we corrected our mistakes,” he said.

Meanwhile, the National President, Government College Ibadan Old Boys Association, Chief Biodun Jolaoso, described the 1999 Constitution as a miserable inheritance from the military.

He said, “It is a constitution that is not backed by democratic principles; so we expect some of the sections to be flawed and subject to review. The legislative arm of government has told us in clear terms that it is within its purview to review the constitution. I am not so sure that the members of the legislature are representative enough to reflect the views of the larger majority of our people. I would have preferred all nationalities, including the minorities and the oppressed, to slug it out at a conference.

“Personally, areas of concern that should be addressed include, concentration of too much powers at the centre, including the lopsided revenue sharing formular. Some of the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy in Chapter II of the constitution should be made justifiable, especially issues affecting education ; derivation should go to 50 per cent from 13; only viable states should be created; allocation to local governments should be direct and not through the states; No to state police because of abuse; stiffer restriction on party registration; theft of petroleum products and vandalism to attract capital punishment; and the Vice-President should succeed the President automatically in case of death or incapacitation.”







Source - Punch News

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