With Buhari, hard work ‘ll now pay — Cally Ikpe

VETERAN broadcaster and founder of Civil Empowerment and Rule of Law Support Initiative, Mr. Cally Ikpe in this interview says that despite the myriad of challenges awaiting the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, the incoming administration would be a people’s government. He also explained why he championed a suit challenging those against the usage of Smart Card Readers.

You were behind the law suit  challenging calls for the non usage of the Smart Card Readers during the last general election, can we know what informed that and other forms of support displayed by the All Progressives Congress, APC?

I got attracted by the rare anti-corruption posture of General Muhammadu Buhari. He is someone I see as a sure antidote to the impunity that has characterized Nigeria for too long. All his previous attempts at clinching the presidency had me and my entire family supporting completely. Really, who else has the will to confront corruption like him? Like he said, “if we don’t kill corruption, then corruption will kill Nigeria”.

Some mischievous elements had gone to court to challenge INEC’s decision to use the card reader for the general elections.

Particularly, a suit was filed by the United Democratic Party alleging that the use of the card reader amounted to electronic voting which ran contrary to our electoral laws as enshrined in the 1999 constitution.

We simply asked to be joined in the suit. Yes, I am part of an NGO; Civil Empowerment and Rule of Law Support Initiative. I personally swore to an affidavit that the card reader was in no way tantamount to electronic voting; but rather that the biometric system only served to prevent double registration. I was personally irked by the obvious mischief intended.

But the card readers were generally reported to have malfunctioned and is the basis of several petitions at the election tribunal.

Buhari

It was apparent that this was a case of the hand of Jacob and the voice of Esau. Seeing that the elections didn’t seem to favour the ruling party, its people became restless and at all cost wanted to frustrate the elections from holding or in the alternative, opening it up to the usual manipulation which the card reader served to check.

It was also a situation of preparing grounds for the elections to be nullified once the courts rule that card readers amounted to electronic voting.

The case was adjourned to a later date and as we speak it is still pending. I suspect they have developed cold feet. The usage of the card reader has come to stay.

It would better the electoral process as was seen during the election. Things will keep getting better on that, after all, some of the challenges encountered in its usage were attributed to human error.

So, how do you feel now and what are your expectations?

Impunity will be halted. Subsidy fraud will cease. We were going to get to a point where more than half of our total budget will only cater to the welfare of the executive and the legislators while the rest of the citizenry struggle to stay alive.

In the new dispensation, I hope people will not collect money for contracts they have no intention of executing any more. I am sure it hurts you too, that NEPA makes you pay for power they don’t supply.

It takes only a heartless leadership to look the other way while people are exploited in that inhumane manner.

Hate campaign not responsible for our defeat - Fani Kayode

Mr Femi Fani-Kayode has debunked claims that hate campaign by some members of PDP Presidential Campaign Orgnaisation caused its loss at the March 28 presidential election.

Fani-kayode, who served as Director of Media and Publicity of the organisation, spoke with newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said President Goodluck Jonathan would have lost the presidential election by at least 10 million votes but for the intervention of his campaign team.

He was reacting to recent accusation by the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) that the electoral misfortune that hit the party after the 2015 elections was due to hate campaigns by the party`s campaign organisation.

*Fani

Fani-kayode, who described some members of the party`s NWC as “enemy within us”, alleged that two members of the committee were working for the opposition in the course of the election.

He described most members of the NWC as ignorant of party campaigns, adding that the campaign organisation “stood up for the party, fought for the President and did not betray the cause.”

While calling for the resignation of the NWC, Fani-Kayode defended the media strategy used by the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation.
He also exonerated the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, Gov. Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State of blame in the loss of the party.

Fani-kayode contended that while Jonathan was constantly under serious hostile pressure during the campaigns, the First Lady encouraged the organisation and inspired its members more than anyone else.

“I do not want to rock the boat out of respect for our President and our party elders; otherwise I would say a lot more that will shock the nation and the party faithful.

“I have a whole file on it which we compiled during the campaign. Two members of the NWC specifically were actually working for the APC and were on their payroll’’, he said.

Their job, he added, was to destroy the PDP fortunes, expose its secrets, create discord in its ranks and undermine the efforts of the campaign organisation in the media campaign.

“That is just one shocker and there are plenty more. The time to talk is not now. That time will come.
“You will be shocked by what we know about these people and their sordid efforts to stop Jonathan and betray their own party.

“The truth is that the NWC has to go and I add my voice to that of Govs. Aliyu Babaginda, Sule Lamido, Ayodele Fayose and that of so many other people’’, he said.
He added that there was need for a change at the top if the PDP was serious about forging party unity.

“This is critical to restoring its fortunes, redeeming it and winning the election in 2019.’’
Fani-Kayode, who described the APC media machine as awesome, maintained that for the first time since the establishment of APC, they were put on the defensive by the PDP presidential campaign organisation.

He, however, added that the PDP “must remain free of acrimony, united and focused”, stressing that they must “throw out the bad eggs in the NWC.

“In order to survive over the next four years as a party, we must make the necessary changes at the top; otherwise we will be utterly decimated.
“The present leadership of the party, particularly its information organ, has no chance of standing against an APC Federal Government because they are weak and lack understanding and courage.

“They will be savaged beyond belief and torn apart if they try it because they do not have the stomach, the grit, the appetite or the wherewithal for a long drawn fight’’, he said.

He held that instead of preparing to defend the party faithful and fortunes of its members over the next four years, they were making allegations and alienating many party leaders

Man hit hammer on neighbour's forehead

A 56-year-old man, Patrick Amam, who allegedly hit one Nanya Dutse with a hammer on her forehead, on Thursday appeared before an Apapa Magistrates’ Court, Lagos. Amam, a resident of No.99, Orodu St., Ajegunle, Apapa in Lagos, is standing trial on a charge of assault. The Prosecutor, Cpl. John Iberedem, told the court that the accused committed the offence on May 6 at his residence.

Iberedem said that Amam unlawfully assaulted Dutse by beating and hitting her with a hammer on her forehead, which caused her bodily harm. “The complainant said she mistakenly poured part of the water she had fetched from a well on the body of Mr Amam’s wife who was standing by the same well. Dutse said that Amam’s wife did not give her the opportunity to apologise to her, only for Amam’s wife to be shouting and insulting her.

“The complainant said that the woman went into her apartment and reported the matter to her husband who came out with a hammer in his hand. “Dutse said the accused did not even listen to her side of the story, instead he pushed her away and hit her on her forehead with the hammer in his hand, ” Iberedem said. The prosecutor said that the offences contravened Section 171 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Section 171 stipulates three years’ imprisonment for assault occasioning harm. However, the accused pleaded not guilty of the charges preferred against him. The Senior Magistrate, Mr G.L. Otepo, granted the accused bail in the sum of N50,000, with one surety in like sum and he adjourned the case till May 18 for mention.

Adorable! Davido Shares His Baby Picture On Instagram

Davido is not new to “breaking the Nigerian Internet” with his Instagram posts. He was at it some hours ago.

The superstar took to his Instagram some hours ago to share a picture of himself and elder sister while he was still a baby. How cute.

In the snap, Davido was the baby being carried by his elder sister, Sharon Adeleke. This picture has gone viral and everyone seems to have one thing or the other to say about it.

Baby Davido in snap with Elder sister, Sharon Adeleke

Interesting! 

Jonathan’s govt not cooperating with its transition committee - APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has insisted, for the umpteenth time, that the Jonathan Administration is not cooperating with the party’s Transition Committee, while describing PDP’s spokesman Olisah Metuh as a man with an incurable disdain for the truth.

”We say, with all sense of responsibility, that as of today, May 14th 2015, just about two weeks to the May 29th handover date, no shred of information as to the status of governance from any Ministry, Department or Agency of government has been given to our Transition Committee,” the party said in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday
by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

Jonathan-Lai

”If that qualifies, in Metuh’s lexicon, as cooperation, then there is a problem somewhere. We dare Metuh or anyone for that matter, to controvert the fact that not a line of handover note has been handed over to our Transition Committee. Until then, Metuh has egg on his face,” it said.

APC restated its earlier advise to Metuh to urgently undertake a crash course in how to be an opposition party spokesman so he won’t talk or write himself into avoidable trouble in the days ahead.

The party admonished the PDP spokesman to always cross-check the information available to him in order to separate rumours from facts, saying had he done that, he would not have issued the statement in which he tried to cast aspersion on the APC by accusing it of ”fabricating lies” over the issue of the Jonathan Administration’s
non-cooperation with the APC’s Transition Committee.

”Metuh decided to put his foot in his mouth when he latched on to the statement made by our Transition Committee Chairman, forgetting that in making his statement, the Chairman was only acting the statesman
that he is by not saying anything that will put the federal government in bad light.

”A discerning party spokesman, rather than a rabble-rousing one, would have understood the elder statesman’s stand for what it is instead of using it as a peg to issue a needless, hollow statement that puts his party and government in bad light. We had decided to allow sleeping dogs to lie, but now that Metuh has stirred the
hornet’s nest, it is time to put out the facts for Nigerians to judge.

”What happened was that, following the request by our Transition Committee to meet with them, they invited us to what was the first formal meeting between both Transition Committees. But the meeting was a mere photo-op, as it yielded nothing concrete as far as handover notes are concerned.

”In fact, what we met at the so-called meeting was far worse than what we had thought. Whereas we had hoped to get their handover notes on May 14th (the date they had indicated to us informally), they told us point blank that the notes won’t be ready until May 24th. Because this date falls on a Sunday, that means we won’t be getting the
handover notes until May 25th, just four days before the May 29th handover date

”How do they honestly expect us to peruse thousands of pages of handover notes, ask pertinent questions and seek necessary clarifications within four days? Because we want a smooth transition, we asked if we could meet with some of the ministers pending the release of the handover notes, but they said no. When one of their members even suggested that the whole process be fast-tracked, they did not budge.

”Despite this set back, we decided not to put the whole issue in the public domain, until the babbling Metuh decided to look for trouble, describing the deliberate stonewalling by the Jonathan Administration as cooperation,” it said.

APC assured Nigerians that whether or not the Jonathan Administration cooperates with it during the transition, the party will live up to expectation by providing purposeful governance.

Emir of Kano Reveals How $12.5bn Disappeared Under GEJ

Emir of Kano reveals that under Goodluck Jonathan’s rule more than half a billion dollars in oil revenues were disappearing every month in the unknown direction. Thus, up to $40 billion could have been diverted from treasure during five years of GEJ rule.

You can suspend a man, but you cannot suspend the truth, told the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, reacting to the results of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPS) audit conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In his article in the Financial Times titled “Unanswered questions on Nigeria’s missing oil revenue billions” Emir of Kano reminded that he was fired by Goodluck Jonathan from the post of the head of Central Bank of Nigeria for exactly the same thing PricewaterhouseCoopers specialists did – questioning where around $ 20 billion in oil revenues have gone instead of the national treasury.

Emir Muhammad Sanusi II stated in his article that it raises serious questions that should be addressed to the  outgoing government officials of highest level including Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke –and  he also says Diezani Alison-Madueke doesn’t have anything to tell in defense. In case these officials are guilty of embezzlement they must be charged, insists Muhammad Sanusi II, claiming that “Nigerians did not vote for an amnesty for anyone”.

“Contrary to the claims of petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, the audit report doesn’t exonerate the NNPC“, claims Emir of Kano, “it [PwC audit report] establishes that the gap between the company’s oil revenues between January 2012 and July 2013 and cash remitted to the government for the same period was $18.5bn.”

Emir of Kano also revealed one of the embezzlement schemes which made it possible to divert several billion dollars in the unknown direction.

The so-called kerosene subsidy scam included $3.4 billion withheld by NNPC to pay for subsidies on kerosene to bring it to a price of 50 naira per litre. But common Nigerians have never seen any effect to that, having to pay up to 140 naira a litre, because this subsidy on kerosene simply didn’t exist in the 2012 and 2013 budgets.

The other way of diverting money from national treasure was through the NNPC’s subsidiary company, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company which paid only $ 100 million for oil assets worth at least $6.8bn.

“It was extracting crude worth billions of dollars but yielding very little revenue for the treasury”, told Emir of Kano, claiming also that “of the $18.5bn in revenues [for 19 months] that the state oil company [NNPC] did not send to the government, about $12.5bn appears by my calculations to have been diverted”. Thus, at least $0.65 billion were diverted monthly. Hence, it is easy to calculate that up to $40 billion could have been diverted during the outgoing president’s five-year term, if that trend was continuous throughout his rule.

Earlier Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has spoken exclusively to Al Jazeera following his sacking by Goodluck Jonathan.

“I’m not afraid [to be jailed]… the only way this country will change is if people stop being intimidated by the state,” he said.

Sanusi, who was suspended by the President Jonathan over allegations of misconduct, has rejected the claims against him, insisting he was removed for highlighting alleged widespread corruption in the oil and gas sector.

Mad woman gives birth to twins in public

AN unidentified female lunatic on Wednesday at the busy Eku junction in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State gave birth to a set of male and female twins with the assistance of concerned female citizens in the area.

It was gathered that the lunatic who is a regular face in the community, normally solicit for alms from street to street and sleeps at any available shelter within around the community.

Recounting the delivery process, Beatrice Ejeta, a staff of Shepherd Care International Orphanage home, stated that she was at home when the proprietor of the orphanage home called her and others that a mad woman at the Eku junction was in labour.

According to her, “I was initially worried if she would comply with us trying to assist her but when I signaled her to come with my hand, she responded. With the assistance of some female shop owners around the junction, we were able to hold her still and I coordinated the delivery with the male twin coming out leg first.

“We were delighted when the first baby came out thinking that was all and released our grip on her only for us to notice that as she trekked to an adjourning junction, another baby was coming out. Immediately, we ran back to her and delivered her of the second child which was a girl.”

Though a community source disclosed that nobody has claimed responsibility for her pregnancy, the source stated that the babies were taken to the Eku Baptist Government hospital for medical attention.

Confirming the presence of the babies in the hospital, the Public Relation Officer, PRO of Eku Baptist Government hospital, Mr. Sagay Tuoyo stated that though he has not been fully briefed on the matter, the hospital is equipped with facilities to handle the immediate demands and challenges of the babies.