The EFCC is already investigating the allegations.
The Code of Conduct Tribunal, an anti-corruption agency established to check corrupt practices in Nigerian’s public service, is currently enmeshed in scandal, as its past and present leaders have been accused of spates of corruption, running into millions of naira.
The tribunal, CCT, was established in 1989 with the motto: Rectitude in public service. Public Service is a trust, don’t abuse it.”
The tribunal serves as a court where public office holders suspected to have violated the code of conduct by, among others, failing to declare their asset as prescribed by law, are prosecuted.
In what appears to be an irony for an anti-graft agency, both the current chairman of the tribunal, Justice Danaladi Umar, and his immediate late predecessor, Justice Murtala Sanni, are accused of corrupt practices, with the former currently being investigated by another anti-graft agency.
Some of the allegations against Mr. Umar include misappropriation of funds, bribe collection, and illicit staff postings.
Bribery allegation
On March 18, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, invited Mr. Umar over an allegation that he demanded a N10 million bribe from a retired comptroller of customs, Rasheed Taiwo.
Mr. Taiwo is being prosecuted at the CCT in suit No: CCT/ABJ/03/12 for allegedly failing to declare his asset while in office.
The retired comptroller had allegedly paid part of the bribe, N1.8 million, to the chairman through the account number of one Ali Abdullahi, a personal assistant to Mr. Umar, who was allegedly recommended for that role by the tribunal boss.
A highly placed source at the EFCC told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Umar earlier failed to honour an invitation sent to him on December 30, 2013 to respond to the bribery allegations against him.
After his refusal to honour the initial summons, the chairman is now expected to report to the commission on March 27 to respond to the bribery allegation, among other corruption charges.
Not just bribery
Aside from the alleged bribe demand and collection, Mr. Umar is also accused by the tribunal’s officials of maladministration and corruption.
On May 3, 2013, three staff of the tribunal – its accountant, Shotunde Adeyinka, and two administrative officers, Lucky Eronlan and Johnson Owopetu – were transferred out of Abuja to Ondo, Bauchi and Katsina states respectively.
The three men, sources and documents available to PREMIUM TIMES show, appealed to the tribunal’s chairman to reverse their new postings.
In his appeal, Mr. Adeyinka said he believed he was transferred because he had privately called Mr. Umar to caution and advise him on the irregularities in the tribunal’s expenditures authorized by the chairman.
He said although the chairman thanked him for the advice, less than 24 hours later, he was relieved of his duties without any stated reason. He said he loafed around the office receiving endless accusations for having the guts to advice the “Honourable Chairman,” before he was eventually transferred.
The three men eventually petitioned the EFCC and copied the Presidency, CCT, the National Human Rights Commission, and the National Judicial Council. Others petitioned were the Senate, Nigeria Bar Association, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, and the Attorney General of the Federation.
The petitions were sent out between May and July, 2013.
The petitioners called for an investigation into the alleged corrupt practices in the tribunal, allegedly masterminded by Mr. Umar, between February and May 2011.
Others accused alongside Mr. Umar are his Special Adviser, Abdulazeez Badisha; Umar Sambo; and Peter Agaba.
In the petition, they accused Mr. Umar of awarding contracts without due process, making full contract payments to contractors instead of mobilization fees, and dysfunctional appointments and promotion without board approval or regards to federal character.
They also accused the tribunal chairman of repeatedly awarding already completed projects. They claimed that most of the companies benefitting from such projects belonged to Mr. Sambo and other cronies of the Chairman who helped in forging receipts to justify their financial misappropriations.
Mr. Umar was also accused of diverting contract funds worth N76.53 million for different contracts between February and May, 2011.
Some of the specific allegations include an alleged illegal payment of N1 million from the commission’s account to Mr. Umar for his wedding ceremony which took place on July 16, 2011.
Another was the alleged disappearance of N24 million belonging to the tribunal that was allegedly found in the Wuse Zone 5 residence of the late chairman and his wife.
The petitioners also alleged that the training and budgetary allocations for the tribunal from 2011 to 2013 have been embezzled by Mr. Umar.
“Investigate the above in the interest of democracy, justice and rule of law,” the petitioners told the EFCC.
Perhaps irked by the petitions sent to the EFCC by the aggrieved officials, the tribunal’s Board of Inquiry invited them to appear before it on July 2, 2013 for, among others, publication of false allegations against Mr. Umar.
Other allegations against Messrs Adeyinka, Eronlan, and Owopetu include: their refusal to proceed on transfer, absence from duty without leave, and failure to follow appropriate measures in seeking redress of their grievances as provided by the Public Service Rule.
Sources at the commission told PREMIUM TIMES that the three men appeared before the panel and were eventually cleared and asked to stay back in Abuja; while their salary arrears were to be paid to them, something which has not been done.
However, allegations of corrupt practices at the CCT did not start in 2013, in fact it commenced a few days after Mr. Umar assumed duties.
A corrupt predecessor
Shortly after his assumption of office on January 24, 2011, following the death of his predecessor, Mr. Umar set up a six-member committee to investigate perceived corrupt practices by Mr. Sanni, his late predecessor.
In a letter dated February 21, 2011 and handed over to the members of the investigative committee which included one of the later petitioners, Mr. Adeyinka, the committee was asked to determine the total sum of contracts awarded, procedures for awarding the contracts, as well as confirmation of the status of companies that contracts were awarded to in the fourth quarter of 2010.
In its investigation, the committee said it discovered diversion of funds of about N111.8 million awarded to pseudo contractors through two staff of the tribunal, Salihu Mukhtar, and Akinola Waheed, the Tender Board Secretary. The diversion, according to the committee was for Mr. Sanni.
The committee’s investigations also showed that majority of the contractors were introduced to the tribunal by Mr. Mukhtar.
The report also indicted Mr. Muhktar as a middleman between the late chairman and the contractors.
Some of the dubious contracts include the installation of security doors, burglary and tilling at N50.94 million; awarded to two different companies owned by one person.
In its report, the investigative committee said Mr. Mukhtar appeared before it to represent the contractor, who was away in India for his wife’s treatment, and told the committee that the money for the contract was paid back to the late chairman’s account.
The committee also exposed the illicit sharing of millions of naira among some senior staff of the tribunal.
The report by the committee stated that Julius Koplang, the Head of Finance of the CCT, said he received N11.32 million from the federal government as 2010 End of Year staff incentive.
He was quoted as saying that since the money was paid into the account of the tribunal, the (late) chairman had the authority to use his discretion in deciding who gets what.
He said the late chairman ordered that all the money be paid to the latter.
The committee also said that after the death of the late chairman, Mr. Mukhtar unlawfully entered the tribunal’s premises at 8:15 p.m. on January 26, 2011.
Acording to the investigative report, when questioned about it, Mr. Mukhtar said he did so with Abudullahi Gwarzo (Personal Assistant to Mr. Sanni) on orders from the late chairman’s wife. He explained that they only found two million Naira in the late chairman’s safe; money that was not paid back to the tribunal’s account.
The committee also discovered that after the death of Mr. Sanni, two deposits of N4 million each were made to the Oceanic bank account of the late chairman by one of the contractors, Adekunle Bello.
The investigative committee also discovered the sharing of tens of millions of naira illegally by senior officials of the commission including Mr. Sanni and the Chairman of the Tenders Board, J.Z Gado, who confirmed to the committee that he received some of the moneys from the Tender’s Board secretary, who may have gotten it from contractors.
The committee, after its investigation, recommended that N8 million paid into the account of the late chairman’s wife be refunded to the tribunal. It also recommended that sanctions be meted out to contractors that offered the bribe; and that all the staff that benefitted from the bribe should return the money.
It is not clear if the tribunal implemented the recommendations. Also, none of its officials indicted for receiving the bribes or benefitting from the other illegalities is being prosecuted.
These are among the issues Mr. Umar is expected to clarify before the EFCC and for which he shunned an earlier summon.
“Yes, Justice Danladi Umar has been invited and he is expected to respond to the commission’s invitation on March 27,” the EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said, explaining that he is only familiar with the N10 million bribery allegation.

A crewman of a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) AP-3C Orion aircraft looks at a screen while searching for the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 over the southern Indian Ocean March 24, 2014. (Reuters/Richard Wainwright)
Malaysian airlines have announced beyond any reasonable doubt that flight MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board have survived.
The airline has informed the relatives of those on board the doomed flight that the plane is “lost” with no survivors.

The text msg Malaysia Airlines sent to inform Chinese #MH370 families about flight's fate ending in S Indian Ocean pic.twitter.com/Ys3azWL7WB
— Adrienne Mong (@adriennemong) March 24, 2014

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has made an announcement, saying “It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean."
The Boeing 777-200 disappeared from civilian radar screens on the night of the March 8 after taking off from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board, en route for Beijing.
There were reports that military radar picked up an unidentified plane, after the stricken jet lost contact with air traffic controllers, which had made a sharp turn as well as descending to a much lower altitude before heading out into the Indian Ocean.
There have been no confirmed sightings of the plane or any debris that can be conclusively linked to it after an international search that has lasted two weeks. The search over the Indian Ocean entered its fifth day on Monday.
The UK Air Accidents Investigations Branch told the Malaysian authorities that the planes final location was above the southern Indian Ocean.
By this he meant satellite data automatically sent by the stricken plane, concluded that the flight ended in an air corridor over the southern Indian Ocean.

"Using a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort,they have been able to shed more light on MH370’s flight path."
— Mohd Najib Tun Razak (@NajibRazak) March 24, 2014

"Based on their new analysis, Inmarsat & the AAIB concluded that the last position of #MH370 was in the middle of the Indian Ocean."
— Mohd Najib Tun Razak (@NajibRazak) March 24, 2014

“We share this information out of a commitment to openness and respect for the families, two principles guiding this information.”
His somber announcement comes just a few hours after the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot said that an Australian navy plane searching the area had spotted debris floating in the sea and that a ship from the Australian navy, HMAS Success, was just a few hours away and would hopefully be able to identify the floating objects.
Many theories have been put forward by a range of experts on what could have happened to the missing plane. One of the most convincing was by a Canadian pilot, Christopher Goodfellow, who said there may have been an electrical fire on board, which would have disabled many of the plane systems, although not all of them.
The pilots would have dropped altitude quickly and changed course to try and land the crippled plane at the nearest available airport, but before they could do this they and everybody else on board would have been overcome by smoke inhalation, while the plane flew on auto pilot before running out of fuel over the Indian Ocean.
Also earlier today a Chinese plane sighted objects in the search area, but different to those seen by the Australian air crew.
Three areas were identified for operations on Monday, totaling 20,000 square nautical miles with 10 aircraft being used.
While Australia is currently the only country to have a ship in the area, a number of Chinese vessels will arrive on Tuesday together with a further three aircraft - two from Japan and one from the UAE.
While 6 Malaysian ships are in the north part of the southern corridor and HMS Echo, a British survey ship, is in the Maldives refueling and will sail to the southern corridor on Monday evening.

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday in faraway Amsterdam, the Netherlands, admitted he was aware of some financial impropriety in the accounting system of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). He assured, however, that the federal government was doing its best to address the situation.
The president confirmed that $10bn was yet to be remitted by the nation’s oil corporation as claimed by the Ministry of Finance against the $20 billion suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi alleged was missing.
Speaking during an interactive session between him and the Nigerian community in Amsterdam, Jonathan said it was for this reason that he ordered a forensic audit of the corporation.
According to him, there was no way $49.8bn as alleged by Sanusi would have just missed from the country’s financial system within the period the embattled CBN governor was alleging.
To buttress his point, Jonathan observed that the same Sanusi later stood his own claim on the head when he claimed the amount was no longer $49.8bn but $12 billion before alleging that it was $20bn, adding that this amount went viral in the internet.
President Jonathan who further admitted that Nigeria as a country lacked the security architectures to contain the dreaded Boko Haram sect assured, however,  that terrorist activities in the country would be dealt with effectively.
While insurgency is a latter-day development that is alien to Nigeria as a nation, he said, it requires understanding to tackle the global problem.
Jonathan also raised hope on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) when he hinted the Nigerian community of the National Assembly’s assurance to him that the seventh National Assembly was ready to take it successfully through the legislative process, adding that the federal lawmakers were poised to proceed with debate on the PIB as soon as they were through with legislation on the 2014 budget.
On the National Conference, he said his decision to convene the national dialogue hinged on various issues, even as he said that, for the first time, a large representative of youths numbering up to 18 were conscripted to take part in a conference of such nature.
The president said while issues like marginalisation requires frantic discussions, there was no doubt that there was great hope  for a better Nigeria, despite challenges.
The Nigerian community had earlier expressed support for  President Jonathan on Sanusi’s suspension, just as they urged him to sack the suspended CBN governor.
Jonathan further dismissed the criticism of former political officeholders , saying  if such persons had done their duties well while in office the people would not be yearning for what they had already put in place.
He noted that it was unfortunate for persons who have served for eights years or more and also held different positions without achieving anything to come to the public to assume public recognition by joining in criticism.
He noted that, for him, the hope was for a better Nigeria, a bright future that keeps him going despite the crises and concocted speculations that rob the country of its normalcy at certain times.

Malaysian authorities have concluded that the missing MH370 airline carrying 239 people on board went down in the Southern Indian Ocean.
According to the Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak, based on new analysis the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch and Inmarsat, the UK company that provided satellite data, it has been “concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth,” he said.

“This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.”
Here is Prime Minister Najib Razak’s full statement:

“This evening I was briefed by representatives from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).
“They informed me that Inmarsat, the UK company that provided the satellite data which indicated the northern and southern corridors, has been performing further calculations on the data.
“Using a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort, they have been able to shed more light on MH370’s flight path.
“Based on their new analysis, Inmarsat and the AAIB have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.
“This is a remote location. Far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.”
“We will be holding a press conference tomorrow with further details. In the meantime, we wanted to inform you of this new development at the earliest opportunity.
“We share this information out of a commitment to openness and respect for the families, two principles which have guided this investigation.
“Malaysia Airlines have already spoken to the families of the passengers and the crew to inform them of this development.
“For them the past few weeks have been heartbreaking. I know this news must be harder still. i urge the media to respect their privacy and allow them the space they need at this very difficult time.”

See map showing the approximate location of the plane below:

Former Jigawa State governor, Senator Saminu Turaki escaped lynching  over the weekend when some vehicles carrying President Goodluck Jonathan’s poster in his  convoy were attacked in the ancient city of Hadejia in  the state.
The incident happened when the former governor visited the city to witness the turbaning ceremony  of the new Talban Hadejia, Alhaji Abdulfatai Tahir.
The irate mobs were said to have attacked Turaki after sighting President Jonathan’s poster in some of the vehicles in his convoy and suspected that he has come back to the state to campaign for the president.
Senator Turaki who recently launched his new political movement in the state tagged, “Saminiyya Halacci” refused to tell his thousands of supporters the political party he belonged to.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP an eye witness, Mustapha Shehu said, no body sustained injury during the attack but windscreen of some vehicles were smashed with stones.
Reacting to the incident, former member representing Guri/Birniwa federal constituency Hon Abba Anas who was part of the convoy condemned the attack and described it as sponsored.
Abba Anas accused Jigawa State government of sponsoring the attack. The ex-governor warned that, such dirty politics would not go down well to future of the state.
Also in a swift reaction to Abba Anas allegation The Special Adviser to Governor Sule Lamido on Media,Adamu Muhammad Usman described the allegation as a base less which lack any iota of truth.
“It is unfortunate that they are linking the government with attack on Saminu Turaki’s’convoy in Hadejia.When his convoy was attacked in Gumel two weeks ago was it government that sponsored it? When his convoy was attacked in Baturiyya a week ago was it government that sponsored that? The truth is that Saminu did not achieve anything in Jigawa in eight years. The people cannot stomach his failure with his latest attempt to come back to politics in the state” said Usman
“His purported attempt at politicise the turbaning ceremony in Hadeijia was what might  have  anger of the youth. The truth is that Lamido’s’performance has endeared him to the people of Jigawa and he remain their leader.”

Five homosexuals were apprehended and stripped naked yesterday, Monday March 24, at the Ekurede Urhobo axis in Warri, Delta State, Nigeria.

According to report, a popular guy identified only as GP invited his gay lover that came all the way from ovie palace road, Effurun in Delta State. GP met this fair and handsome gay lover through another gay man that lives around ekurede urhobo street popularly known as Power. On the faithful evening GP was in his house with this gay importee and some other of his friends whom are not gay. GP then told his friends who are not gay to excuse him and his visitor in order for them to discuss serious matters.


GP's friends now left leaving him and his visitor alone but unfortunately one of the departed friends returned to GP's house having forgotten his house key but beyond his wildest dreams, he saw GP and his visitor doing some 'sucking things'. He then interrupted them the scene, seized GP visitors phones and laptop and threatened to expose them. GP and his visitor pleaded and GP's visitor promised to offer him 30,000 Naira the following day before left.

GP's friend then returned the valuables he collected from his visitor instructing him not to release them until he gets the 30,000 naira. GP's visitor now went to his area and brought a group of young men who then stormed GP's area and reported the matter to ekurede urhobo community chairman Chief Vincent Okudolor claiming that GP's friend stole his phones and laptop and other valuables.

This prompted the interrogation of GP's friend who caught them in the act. During his interrogation, the young man could not keep anything hidden anymore and then narrated his ordeal and because he had returned the valuables he collected to GP before he was captured,this made it all clear that he didn't steal them.

The chairman who was shocked over the news, sent his boys to get GP and his other gay friends.

Six of them including GP and his visitor were apprehended and taken to the community town hall and others scampered. Five of them were stripped naked and flogged in the presence of a large crowd but GP's visitor bought his way out by paying huge amount to Ekurede community youths.

The remaining 5 were given an option of paying a fine of N100,000 which included being paraded around the community with a 'gay' inscription tag on them, or risk being submitted to the police, charged to court and risk 14 years imprisonment.

Student of Olabisi Onabanjo University Who Disguised Himself As A Mad Man Just For Rituals, Caught in Ibadan


It seems God is out to expose evil doers in the ancient city of Ibadan, Oyo state.
Just less than a week after the Soka Ritual Factory was discovered, two ritualists have been discovered, in different areas in the same Ibadan.


A source who was present at the first location where the ritualist was paraded took the pic above and those after the cut. He also explained how the young man, yet to be identified met his water-loo.


The photos after the cut are very graphic, Viewer discretion is highly advised. According to the ireporter, the incident happened at Adebayo Hospital Road, off Ring Road, Ibadan.




The young man in question is said to have paraded the area for sometime now as a mad man, and was well known. However, his cover blew when a resident noticed an expensive blackberry phone with him, and raised alarm, indicating that there was more to the mentally deranged man than meets the eye.


As a result, residents apprehended the young man in question. He was searched and an ID card, identifying him as a student of Olabisi Onabanjo University was found on him. What raised more suspicion however was that he had with him two expensive blackberry phones, and another expensive phone. They also found with him a list, which after been tortured he confessed were his clients whom he sold human parts to.
As expected the crowd descended mercilessly on him. He was about to be set ablaze when the police arrived and took him away.


See more photos below:











The incident happened around noon , and the man was taken away about an hour later. However, MDB had been recently informed that the young man eventually gave up the ghost and didn't survive the lynching.
Similarly, another ritualist was paraded at Oni and sons road also along ring road in the same Ibadan, today.
He is said to have been found with a human tongue, but MBD's reporter was not present at the scene, and little is know of the ritualist's fate at the moment.

Also, residents of Challenge-Iwo Road axis woke up to the headless body of a young man dumped by the roadside. A small riot is said to have ensued afterwards as youths took to the streets to protest the ritual killings reported in Ibadan in the last one week.
Security personnel were however dispatched to the area after reports got to the governor of the state, Gov. Ajimobi, and calm was restored.
Photo below:

Ibadan based prophet, Wale Olagunji of Divine Seed of God Chapel Ministry has revealed that he hasn’t taken his bath in 13 years because it was God’s instruction.

He further disclosed that he was also instructed to separate from his wife and abstain from sex.
“Even thought I haven’t had my bath in 13 years, I don’t smell and I still look neater than those who bathe regularly. Early 2000, the Lord told me to stop taking my bath, separate myself from my wife and that I should stop taking all those soft drinks and wines. And since then I have diligentlyobserved all those things. Whoever God wants to use for certain purposes on earth, there is a serious price attached to that calling. So I believe that is the price I am paying. As I am talking to you now, I have not taken my bath. If you want me to show you evidence, I will show you; I have not taken my bath since 2001 till this moment.” He told City People Magazine.
When asked how he manages to remain hygienic and healthy, the prophet said“,That is the work of the Holy Spirit, I don’t have face towel, I don’t clean my body with anything. I wake up, and I just wear my clothes, water has not touched my body since 2001. I know it sounds mysterious, but when you look at Isaiah Chapter 20 verse 1 to 5, the Lord told Isaiah to walk bare-footed, without clothes, and to be naked for 3 and half years. If the Lord Almighty should say, Wale Olagunju, do likewise, I am sure people will say the man is mad.”
Wale Olagunju bagged a Bachelors of Art Degree in Theology and became a Prophet in 1993.

“For all my years in the service, no one had ever taken away from us the right to recruit the Cadre B officials. And that was why I protested very vehemently,” Mr. Parradang said.
Despite raising at least N710 million from poor applicants, recruitment consultant, Drexel Limited, and interior ministry authorities released only N45 million for the conduct of the screening into the Nigeria Immigration Service, which ended in fatalities, a member of the supervisory board told senators Thursday.
At least 16 job seekers died in stampedes across Nigeria on March 15, sparking widespread outrage and calls for the removal of the Minister of Interior, Patrick Abba Moro, and Comptroller General of Immigration, David Parradang.
The Secretary of the Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Services board, S. D. Tapgun, told the senate committee on interior investigating the exercise that 710,000 people registered for the test, according to figures provided by the consultant, Drexel Limited. The board had no independent means of knowing the exact figure, he said.
Lawmakers heard how despite raising the huge amount, the board and the ministry still had no funds to conduct the exercise.
The secretary of the board, Mr. Tapgun, said funding was a serious challenge, and gave the impression it was the main reason the minister, Mr. Moro, refused suggestions that the exercise be staggered and conducted separately based on cadres.
Mr. Tapgun said the board estimated the exercise to cost N201 million, but after collecting N710 million, the consultant, Drexel, only released N45 million for the exercise to be conducted.
In a letter read at the hearing, the consultant had made it clear that by the terms of their agreement, it was the responsibility of the board or the ministry to fund the recruitment, as it was only contracted to provide online registration services.
The N45 million released by the firm, was regarded merely as a discretionary contribution, a disclosure lawmakers said was one of the clearest signs the government board had lost control over a firm it claimed to have hired.
Testimonies given yet at the hearing Thursday point to an exercise hijacked by the minister, Mr. Moro, who is yet to respond at the hearing. Save the secretary, other speakers said they were not duly informed of plans for the recruitment that turned deadly in the end.
The Comptroller-General, Mr. Parradang, denied knowledge of the planning for the exercise and said his suggestions were brushed aside. Another member of the board made similar claim.
In his first official comment since the disaster, Mr. Parradang said his first information about recruitment into an organization he heads, came from a newspaper advert.
PREMIUM TIMES had reported exclusively about a letter of protest by Mr. Parradang after the newspaper publication.
Speaking Thursday before the Senate committee, the immigration boss said he raised the letter after telephone conversations with all key members of the board, during which those contacted denied knowledge of the advert calling for applications.
One member of the board, Mustapha Karim, who also testified at the hearing, also said he was not aware of the plans, neither was the recruitment ever discussed at any of the board’s meetings as should have been the case.
The board member said he and other members of the board only knew of the plans after being shown a copy of the agreement for the recruitment between the interior ministry and Drexel Limited.
Mr. Karim said the agreement was signed by the minister, Mr. Moro, without the knowledge of the board. The second signature, purportedly by the former secretary of the board, Mr. Attahiru, may have been forged, he said. Mr. Karim told lawmakers Mr. Attahiru had personally confirmed to him that he never signed the document.
The Immigration boss, Mr. Parradang, said one of the most outstanding breaches of the exercise was the decision by the planners to take over the recruitment of both the senior and junior cadre, unlike past practices whereby the supervising board takes charge of the senior cadre, while Immigration Service recruits the junior cadre. The minister, Mr. Moro, is the chairman of the board.
“For all my years in the service, no one had ever taken away from us the right to recruit the Cadre B officials. And that was why I protested very vehemently,” Mr. Parradang said.
On why he did not complain about the anomalies, or initiate a process to abort the planned recruitment when it was clear the exercise did not follow the expected practice, Mr. Parradang said “It is very clear from my presentation that why we could not stop this process was because we were not the drivers of the process.”

Barely one week after corpses and virtually dead victims were uncovered in a kidnappers den in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, a man described as a  Muslim cleric, Isa Salaudeen, was, allegedly, caught slaughtering  a woman,  identified as Chiwendu Nkwocha, in his room at Ori Eru, Idikan area of the city.
But, before he slaughtered  his victim, the cry of the woman reportedly attracted neighbours who came to her aid.
The suspect was said to have cut deep into the neck of the woman who was  rushed to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.
Eyewitnesses narrated that it was the persistent call for help from the victim that prompted them to run to the scene.
The suspect was said to have pretended performing evil exorcism on her when he suddenly took up a knife and started cutting her neck.
The first knife the attacker used, as Sunday Vanguard gathered, was blunt and the suspect replaced it with a  dagger.
But, before much harm could be done,  help came the way of the woman.
An eye witness  said, “People heard the lady’s  shouts from inside the house and kicked the door open  only to find that  the “Alfa” had pinned her to the floor and was already cutting her neck. The “Alfa”  ran out of the house when the first person broke in. The woman’s neck was already cut.
The head would have been totally cut off if help hadn’t come”.
A resident of the area, Taiwo Agunlofi, said angry youths in the area  caught the suspect  after trying to escape.
“Were  it  not for timely intervention, the Muslim cleric would have been lynched by angry youths,” he added.
It was further learnt that the victim was brought to Salaudeen by her boyfriend for “spiritual cleansing”. Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Olabisi Ilobanafor, confirmed the incident, saying the suspect was already in custody and had made useful statements.

*‘How Jonathan got it wrong’
*On 1979 Constitution: We were misguided
*Speaks on the new political order Nigeria needs and Ohanaeze crisis
By Clifford Ndujihe & Ikenna Asomba
We are in the process of another constitution making.  If you agree, what’s your take on the arrangement?
Let me correct the impression that we are in the process of another constitution making. The National Conference, as constituted by the President, lacks the capacity to draft a constitution to be submitted to the people for approval through a referendum. It doesn’t have the capacity, so it does not entail a constitution making at all. That is something we have to realise, arising from the nature and type of the conference as constituted or established by the President.
The reason for this is that the conference is not established by virtue of any law enacted by the National Assembly. The convocation, its composition, its functions, its modus operandi are not catered for by  law. It is established entirely by virtue of the inherent powers of the President under Section 5 of the constitution. With its limited functions, its establishment is within the immediate powers of the President. The conference not established  under a law enacted by the legislative authorities of the country cannot adopt a constitution. It lacks the capacity to draft a constitution that will be binding on everybody as law.
At best,  what do you think would come out of this exercise?
Nothing, it’s just a talk-shop. We must realise that it’s a talk-shop. It’s functions are merely deliberative and advisory. So, there is no harm in talking. If they talk for three months, something good may come out of it but, certainly, not the adoption of a new constitution.
As it is, how can we make the best out of the present arrangement for the good of the country?
We have to decide first: what do you want as a country? What we want is a new, better and united Nigeria. That is what we want. There is no way you can get it from this conference. Even if you talk for one year, there is no way you can get it in this conference, we must all realise this. You can get something, but not a new and united Nigeria. You can’t because of the limitations of this conference. It has no powers, it has only functions.
There is a difference in law between powers and functions. This conference doesn’t have the powers to bind you and me, to affect the legal relations of you and me, or the legal rights of you and me. It doesn’t have the powers, that is what powers entail. It has only functions, deliberations, talking. You can talk for one year but what can come out of the talking is another matter.
You are one of those who convinced President Jonathan to go for National Conference.  But the way you sound, it’s as if you are disappointed with the turn of things…
That is correct. I led the delegation of The Patriots to the President on August 29, 2013, and I think we were able to persuade him. The so-called u-turn made by the President is as a result of that meeting. But the conference we asked him to convene is totally different from what he has now established. There are totally two different things.
We were looking for a conference that will have the power to adopt a new constitution for Nigeria, that will be submitted to the people at a referendum for approval. That was what we were asking for, and we were asking for a conference of ethnic nationalities. I will come to that later.
On the first aspect, what we have now that the President has given us is a conference that lacks power to adopt a new constitution that will be submitted to the people at a referendum for approval. What the President said, in his speech at the inauguration about referendum is so confusing. I don’t know what the President means.
He said:  “Let me, at this point, thank the National Assembly for introducing the provision for a referendum in the proposed amendment of the constitution. This should be relevant for the conference if, at the end of the deliberations, the need for a referendum arises. I therefore urge the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly to speed up the constitutional amendment process especially with regard to the subject of referendum.”
What does this mean? How can the need for a referendum arise when the conference does not have as its purpose the adoption of a constitution? So, what are you subjecting to a referendum? When we talk about referendum, it’s in relation to a constitution. So, how can the need arise when the purpose of the conference is not the adoption of a constitution and when the conference lacks competence to adopt a constitution?
The President, at a time, was talking about subjecting the outcome of the conference to the consideration of the National Assembly…
You mean for the National Assembly to subject it to a referendum? No, that’s not what this conference states. When you critically examine that statement by the President, it is deliberately intended to confuse.
Some people have said that the President based the conference on modalities or template established by the Senator Femi Okuronmu Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference.  Do you agree?
Yes, to a large extent. If you read the report, it was the Okuronmu committee that recommended that there are two alternatives that the conference should be based on. One, is to establish a conference that will be authorized by an enabling law of the National Assembly and that the alternative is to establish a conference by virtue of the President’s inherent powers. But the President went for the alternative to constitute a conference based on his inherent powers. On this regard, The Patriots had written a letter to him to say ‘please, don’t go for this inherent powers because that will not meet the demands of the country.’
Our demand is for a conference that has the capacity to adopt a constitution. But the President went for the alternative put to him by the Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC). So, to some extent,  PAC is responsible for this because they put the alternative to him and he grabbed it and landed us in this situation that we are now.
Your critics say that you are responsible for all these problems we have.
What problems?
They said the President acknowledged your immense capacity to turn things around and nominated you into the Okuronmu committee but you didn’t take up the appointment. They said that if you had taken up the appointment, your input would have helped to make the modalities better. How do you react to this?
That position is misconceived as I said in my press statement on this issue of my appointment. At the time we met with the President, he promised he was going to do something. I never anticipated that I will be made a member of the committee, not to talk of being the Chairman.
And the reason I gave was that, one, I am 83, and in very bad health and cannot go across the country. I have prostrate cancer, which I have been fighting for the past couple of years. Every year, I go to Britain twice to consult with my oncologist. As you are aware, cancer is stubborn. So, I am surviving on injections. I said I couldn’t, given my age and my state of health.
I explained that I couldn’t afford to go round the country with the committee. From Bayelsa to Sokoto, Sokoto to Maiduguri,  Maiduguri to Enugu, Enugu to Benin,  Benin to Lagos… I said I couldn’t. I gave that as a reason, that in any case, I think there is an option for a younger person. These are the reasons I gave and I then nominated Chief Solomon Asemota (SAN). They initially rejected him but eventually appointed him.
They have a reason for choosing Okuronmu. They wanted the type of conference that they have now established. They were looking for somebody who will go along with them. Then Okuronmu was good choice for them. Asemota refused to go along with their plan. That is what I would have done if I were there. He submitted a minority report which was suppressed. Asemota was denied the right to present the minority report.
The fact that Asemota submitted a minority report was acknowledged by the appropriate authorities. And the Asemota minority report contains exactly what I wanted, what The Patriots wanted. And attached to it is a bill- The National Conference and Referendum Bill – prepared by The Patriots and submitted to the presidency, two years ago, but they refused to look at it. Instead, they have continued to deny that there was a minority report, when the fact is, there was. So, you can see, it’s not my fault.
I couldn’t serve, and I nominated somebody to be there, who presented the views that I would have presented if I was there but they suppressed it. They denied Asemota the right to present it, which is a terrible thing. That is a sign that would have destroyed the whole thing if we had wanted to press on with it. A minority report submitted, you acknowledged receipt of it and you came out publicly that it never existed, that it was not submitted.
Everyone denied it; from Okuronmu to Reuben Abati presidential spokesman. They castigated the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for saying that there was a minority report. They said there was none. So, anybody who is blaming me for that is being unfair.
Nigerians were aware you travelled to London for medication but after you came back you appeared very  strong, holding meetings with Igbo Leaders of Thought. So the impression was that you are strong, that, at least, you could have managed to serve, that if you presented the issue instead of Asemota, it would have carried more weight.
When government had already made up its mind on what it wanted? It would amount to fighting in vain. You see, government had already made up its mind on what it wanted. It was just looking for somebody who would go along with it. They found that man in Okuronmu. Why didn’t they make me Chairman? Although, I would also have refused, why didn’t they make me Chairman?
They knew that I wouldn’t have gone along with the plan. I would have said, no, that’s not the kind of national conference that will thrust this country forward. It’s even obvious from the terms of reference what they wanted.
You seem to be calling for conference of ethnic nationalities. Don’t you think it is cumbersome? How do you think what you are advocating for would go without causing problem in the country?
Without causing problem? That’s where we run away from our problems. We are always running away from our problems. When we talk about unity, why is unity a predominating and hunting problem in Nigeria? Why is it, when it is not? In a place like England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and even in the United States, why is it not a problem there? Would it have been a problem, if Nigeria is a country composed of one people like say the Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Ijaw, instead of a country composed of over 380 ethnic nations? Is that not the crux of the problem? Why do you want to run away from that fact?
You know as a fact that Nigeria is not one nation. It hasn’t become a nation even though that is the hope of all of us. When it will become a nation we don’t know. We are pretending that Nigeria is a nation. You read the President’s speech at the inauguration, he was running right through that Nigeria is a nation. Nigeria is not a nation yet. Chief Obafemi Awolowo described Nigeria in 1947, in his book, ‘The Path to Nigeria’s Freedom that “Nigeria is a mere geographical expression.” Yes, that was what it was, and that  is what it is up till today.
So, the President saying that Nigeria is a nation from the time of its birth in1914, by the amalgamation of two colonial entities into one big colonial entity called the colony and protectorate of Nigeria, means he has no idea at all of what a nation means. This is not a nation. But the reason the quest of making it a nation is a problem is because it is not composed of one people.
If it had been only made up of the Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Efik, Ijaw, we won’t have these problems. Because these are already nations. They are made up of one people. So, you see, we have in Nigeria over 350 nations, and the problem is to coalesce them into one; and you don’t want to agree to that, you think you can get over it by calling Nigeria a nation, when it is not.
The fact remains that Nigeria’s problem has been to coalesce the over 380 nations into one. It’s not an easy problem. It has a number of problems, difficulties. One is the uncertainty about the character, number and identity of the people in the country. Two is the difficulty of devising a way to demand the equality of representations. How can you say that an ethnic nation comprising of 10,000 people should have equal representation with an ethnic nation comprising of 40 million people? It’s not equitable.
Then you have the problem of rancour. The fact is that if you conceive the conference on the basis of ethnic nationalities, that will throw up the number of delegates to maybe 1,000 or more. There is also the problem of the rancorous conflict among the ethnic nations, between the  small and big ones. And there is another problem harped on by the President, an issue-based representation at the conference by the ethnic nationalities.
You run the risk, that the country might break up, that it might splinter into all the various ethnic nations. I don’t think that fear is founded because the problem of unity in Nigeria is not insoluble. If not attended to, it’s insoluble because the problem will be there. And the fear that this problem if attended to will make the country disintegrate is not enough. Then what we are saying is that the problem is insoluble.
So, these are the main problems. And I don’t think that these problems are not amenable to rational solutions. Come to terms with it, you will find out that there is no problem in this world that is insoluble. There is none. So, there is no reason running away from the problems. Come to terms with it, apply your mind to it, this has always been my philosophy. There must be an answer to every problem.
The more problems you have, the more it challenges you, your mind, your intellect. Apply your mind, apply your intellect and you will find the answer. Therefore, Nigeria must come to terms with how to coalesce the over 380 ethnic nations into one. We must have to, not by running away.
So, how do we coalesce the ethnic nations into one nation?
By recognising the existence of these ethnic nations and bringing them together, and trying to foster mutual understanding and mutual cooperation among them. That is something that is beyond the resources of private individuals. The Ethnic Nationalities Movement and The Patriots have tried to organize the ethnic nationalities conference, which was held February on 11 and 12, 2014 in Abuja.
We tried bringing all the ethnic nationalities together but the cost involved was beyond our resources. We needed a lot of money to bring together 387 ethnic nationalities. That is a job for government, if it believes there lies the key to the problems of this country. So, there is no need pretending. Why are we running away?
You played an active role in the drafting of the 1979 Constitution that entrenched the present unitary system of government which destroyed the 1960 and 1963 Constitutions. So, why did your team supplant true federalism with the unitary system of government, which many Nigerians now see as the problem of the country?
I have explained this several times at public fora that we went for the unitary system of government at that time, largely because the federal system presupposes separate constitutions for the federal and the  constituent governments. That’s the idea of federalism which was observed in the 1960 and 1963 constitutions. We abandoned it in 1979 and went for a unitary constitution, one constitution for the Federal Government and none for the  state governments. That was a fundamental departure from the principles of federalism.
It is a unitary constitution more or less in the devolution of powers. The Federal Government is all powerful. Its powers are all-encompassing. We took 50 per cent from the concurrent list of matters and merged them to the exclusive list. We also went to residual matters, took almost 50 per cent and put it in the exclusive list. We took so many other things.
And why did we do that? We must take into consideration the circumstances in the country at that time. In 1976, ’77, ’78, everybody was talking about unity. So, we thought the best way to achieve that unity was to create a powerful centre, and we thought that once you have a powerful centre with so much power, you will achieve unity. That was the situation at the time. You don’t blame us because you must take into account the circumstances at that time.
The feeling that people had was that unity was overriding and that you could achieve it by putting so much power in the centre. We were misguided and that’s the truth.  At a number of public statements, I have frankly admitted that we were misguided, that we were guided by the feelings at the time in the country. It turned out that putting too much power at the centre was an invitation for disunity. Yes, that was what happened, disunity. Struggle for control at the centre  with all that power led to disunity, and that is what landed us to where we are today.
Over time now, there seem to be a disagreement between the Igbo Leaders of Thought which you lead and the Ohanaeze over this National Conference. What is the meat of the issue?
You must take into account how the Igbo Leaders of Thought originated. There was division within Ohanaeze following the Ohanaeze election of January 12, 2012. And the matter is still in court. When the Okuronmu committee was set-up, the Ohanaeze distributed a memo to the committee at Enugu and Umuahia, and demanded that the two people claiming to be President-General and Secretary-General on the basis of the election, that their mandate was protected.
We are saying, ‘you are not the President, we don’t accept you because we believe that the election was invalid’. And it was in that circumstance that various appeals were made to me that I should step in, that what the so-called Ohanaeze submitted to the Okuronmu committee does not represent the views of the people.
So, to step in, I wasn’t calling a meeting of the entire Igbo, I was calling a meeting of leaders of thought, the think-tanks. So, the meeting was of people who could sit together and put together the ideas of Ndigbo on a new constitution for Nigeria. And I made it very clear from the beginning, that I would like us to operate this as The Igbo Leaders of Thought under the auspices of Ohanaeze and the President-General was invited to the initial meetings of the Igbo Leaders of Thought.
Specifically, the meeting decided to write a letter to President Jonathan protesting the Okuronmu committee’s report, which had not been released at the time, but we had a copy. Asemota was not even given a copy because of his disagreement with the others over the minority report. But he managed to get a copy from one of their members. And that was how we got a copy. Immediately, The Patriots wrote a letter of protest to the President and The Igbo Leaders of Thought also decided that the letter be written to the  President, in protest of the recommendations of PAC.
So, the letter was prepared in the name of Ohanaeze Ndigbo with the Park Avenue address, Enugu and the President-General was there. I invited him to my house in Enugu, we discussed, and he was also present at the meeting of The Igbo Leaders of Thought. And he suddenly said that he would not sign, because the letter was to be signed by himself and myself.
He said he won’t sign the letter written in the name of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. He said he would need two days to consult with his executives. We said, ‘why do you have to consult? This thing is so clear.’ But he insisted on consulting, which provoked a lot of criticisms, opposition from the meeting. After that, I said, `look, the man is asking for just two days, just give him two days. `So, he was given two days to consult.
Several days later, he came back to say he won’t sign. So, we had to change the letter from Ohanaeze Ndigbo to Ndigbo. We didn’t use the Igbo Leaders of Thought. So, that’s point number one that it was the President-General that refused to sign. I have said that what we are doing is under the auspices of the Ohanaeze and that our meeting will be transferred from Zodiac Hotel venue to Ohanaeze secretariat.
At the meeting I had with him in my house in Enugu, I said to him that it’s my intention to ask, you the  President-General to convene a peace and reconciliation meeting of Ohanaeze. I want you to bring unity to Ohanaeze, instead of all these divisions and factions’. When I put this to the notice of the Igbo Leaders of Thought, the leaders of the other factions said they will not accept such peace and reconciliation meeting, if the notice for the meeting was signed by Chief Gary Igariwey, the President-General.
Emeka Onyeso, the leader of the other faction, said the same thing, Prof. Elo Amucheazi said the same thing and the consensus was that the letter be signed by leaders of all the various factions- Igariwey, Onyeso, Amucheazi and myself. That was what was agreed. Then, when I met Igariwey in my house, initially, he objected, but later he agreed that the notice calling for the meeting should be signed by all.
I on my own eventually decided to add two people – Archbishop Obinna and Archbishop Elekwanwa. So, I prepared the notice calling for the meeting with all these signatories. When I gave it to Igariwey, he objected again. But these other people due to their magnanimity, said they didn’t mind, they didn’t want to sign anymore, but that it will be alright if the notice was signed by me and Igariwey.
So that was what was agreed and Igariwey was there. So, I passed on the notice and said ‘go and amend it’, but till today, Igariwey has not returned the letter, the meeting we have never had.
When people talk about the Igbo Leaders of Thought and the Ohanaeze, this is exactly what happened. At the meeting, the peace and reconciliation meeting was discussed, I said I didn’t want to go into the reasons for the demand for the election to be invalid, let us put it aside.
The five Eastern governors said they have set up a committee under Senator Ben Obi to look into this, and Ben Obi’s committee recommended that these two individuals, that’s the President-General and the Secretary-General should  stay in office for six months and after that election should be held. We said no, let them stay on for the two-year term prescribed by the constitution, after that, election should be held.
And at that meeting Dr. Uma Eliazu said, no, that everything should not be swept under the carpet. That a committee should probe it to find out whether the election is valid or invalid. But I said, let’s not go into all that again but they insisted that it be put to the vote. An overwhelming majority supported their view. So, that was what was decided. But like I said, the peace and reconciliation meeting was never held.
So, are you saying that the peace and reconciliation meeting should be convened as a matter of urgency?
No, that has been overtaken by events. It’s overtaken. Igariwey and his executive rejected it.
How do we make the 2015 elections free and fair?
I hope it will be. The problem about free and fair election is that in Nigeria, we attach too much importance to the stakes. National elections have become a matter of life and death, a do-or-die affair because the stakes are so much. May be if we have a new constitution that will reduce the powers of the President, it will be less a do-or-die affair.
At the moment, the stakes are too high, which makes free and fair elections almost impossible. As long as the present constitution stays, I am not optimistic that any election in this country will be free and fair. The 2011 election was said to be free and fair to some extent but the fact remains that to do away with rigging in this country is very difficult.
What do you make of the Boko Haram insurgency and the rising wave of insecurity in the country?
It’s a tragedy. I believe that Boko Haram is a subject of politics. Some northern political and religious leaders are definitely behind it. I have tried to explain in various newspaper articles the difference between militancy and insurgency. Boko Haram is a clear case of insurgency, it’s not just a militancy like the Niger Delta thing. In Niger Delta, it was a case of militancy for good reasons.
They had good reasons for their uprising because of what was done to them by the regime of President Obasanjo. They were not taking arms against their country, which is insurgency. Boko Haram is a clear case of insurgency. They said they want the Nigerian constitution based on Islamic laws. They don’t want democracy, they want theocracy, that’s what they are fighting for.
How do you think government can win the war?
My attitude is fight them and try to subdue them. I supported the emergency declared in the three North-east states as a way of subduing them. Unfortunately, it hasn’t proved successful because of the support they have. It’s an international ring or network of terrorism. That is what is happening in Nigeria today. You think you are fighting only local Boko Haram? No! There is an international network organization behind them, and, of course, with the support of local politicians and religious leaders.
The government has solicited the support of the European Union, which agreed to support with a tune of $10 billion.  How far do you think that will go?
I don’t know. I am not sure, I don’t think it’s a question of money.
What about intelligence?
Yes, intelligence is very important. You need to improve your intelligence to be able to effectively counter the sources behind them. I don’t think the intelligence we have presently in the country is enough to counter the Boko Haram insurgency. So, if the money from the EU is to boost our intelligence in the fight, then, that is good. I think the United States has also promised something.
What’s the way forward for Nigeria?
The way forward is that the new, better and united Nigeria presupposes a new constitution anchored on the people. That’s is why I don’t think the National Conference, as presently constituted, will lead us there. I say it very clearly that the way forward is to make a new beginning under a new constitution anchored on the people. That’s the way forward. We need to establish a new political order in place of the existing order.
That is the way forward. There is no other way. Not this conference, you stay there for three months talking, talking about what? About every subject under the sun? Again, the complication is unity. Why did you exclude unity?. The conference is supposed to renegotiate the terms of our unity, that is what it is, so why did you exclude unity? Again, unity has so many ramifications. Let them talk, if you want to talk, and that is what they are doing.

President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday described governors of states where there are prevailing security challenge as bad leaders, saying they have failed the people.
The President, who addressed party members at the North East Peoples Democratic Party ‘Unity Rally’ in Bauchi, Bauchi State, said the governors who have deceived the people for long would soon be exposed.
He wondered why governors would come to Abuja to complain about bad leadership when they preside over affairs in their respective states and could not ensure that their children are properly educated.
According to him, they pushed the youths into the hands of those who are manipulating them now because the governors have failed to educate them and now they have turned against the society.
President Jonathan said: “Sometimes, governors will come and say we have some issues because of bad leadership.
“Bad leadership from whom?”
The President continued: “If we have security challenge either Boko Haram, kidnapping or whatever, these are people who couldn’t go to primary schools, who couldn’t go to secondary schools and they have no homes and criminals now recruit and use them.If you see them, they wear rags but they carry rifles that are worth more than N250,000 and somebody give them food to eat so that they can have strength to kill.
“The federal government does not control primary school.
“The federal government does not control secondary education and a governor has been on seat in that state for eight years and there are people that can’t go to secondary school and you say bad leadership.
“Who is a bad leader?
“Is it the federal government?
“I make sure each state has a University.
“That is the responsibility of the federal government and I have done it.
“Somebody cannot do his job for eight years, he still has so many children who could not go to primary school, who could not go to secondary school and you open your mouth to talk about bad leadership.
“Is it the federal government or Mr. President that will put your children in the primary school and secondary schools?
“I have done my part
“We will make sure that we fund these Universities.
“So, a state governor that his people don’t go to school and all of them now carry weapons to kill people, you should be shameful to talk about bad leadership.
“They are deceiving Nigerians and that must end.
“We must expose ourselves to all Nigerians but that time is not today.”
President Jonathan therefore enjoined all governors to ensure that all their children are enrolled in school up to secondary level.
He also assured party members that the PDP is the only party that is truly democratic where they can achieve their political ambitions without having a ‘godfather’. According to him, more than 60 per cent of Nigerian politicians who are great mobilizers are in the ruling party, urging them to continue to support the party. He added: “Let me reassure our PDP family that nobody should deceive you. “PDP is the only democratic party. “PDP is the only party where God is our common father. “You don’t need any ‘godfather’ to make you get what you want. “More than 60 per cent of Nigerians are in PDP. “No matter how people use the media to deceive you, we know ourselves. “We know the politicians in this country. “We know who is a politician, who is a mobiliser. “More than 60 per cent of these people are in PDP. “PDP will continue to rule. “We will surely reclaim Adamwa State. “If some people are leaving, they are just leaving with one vote. “Adamawa is for PDP and we will surely reclaim Adamawa State. “The North East is for PDP.” Also speaking at the rally, the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu; Vice President Namadi Sambo; Senate President, David Mark; and other party chieftains all enjoined the members to continue to support President Jonathan and to return their states in 2015. Others at the rally were PDP governors from the zone; the PDP Governors’ Forum chairman, Governor Godswill Akpabio; Chief Tony Anenih; and top government functionaries.

Armed men, believed to be soldiers, Friday evening, raided one of the residences of Major Hamza Al Mustapha (rtd), former Chief Security Officer to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha,  located at Durbin Katsina, Kano metropolis, leaving in its wake sordid tales of rights violation and molestation.
The heavily armed men, who reportedly came in trucks and  tanks,  allegedly cordoned  several streets leading to the house and seized the occupants who were mostly women and children in an operation that lasted 60 minutes.
Al-Mustapha’s younger brother, identified as Hadi, is also said to be a resident of the house.
Eyewitnesss said the ‘soldiers’ came in trucks and tanks and, immediately they gained entrance into the building, ordered everyone around to lie face flat on ground and, at gunpoint, conducted a thorough search of the building.
“One Abubakar, reportedly  a cousin to Major Al-Mustapha, was maltreated by the troops. He is recuperating at a private hospital, a  witness  recounted.
The eyewitness revealed that  the wife of Hadi, Al Mustapha’s  brother, was  forced, at gunpoint, to conduct the armed men round the expansive building, adding that “the traumatized housewife was immediately taken to a hospital shortly after they left”.
Another source stated: “The invading forces were not friendly, not even the children were spared as the house  was ransacked inside out all in the name of searching for an imaginary cache of arms”.
The source added, “The same treatment was meted to those outside. I heard their leader, a colonel, during a telephone conversation, telling the person at the other end that they had  not found anything incriminating  and  that it seemed  the information (they had) was not accurate”.
Speaking on the development, Hadi disclosed that the family was evaluating the damages done by the men, stressing: “We intend to come up with details of what happened and the action to follow in due course.”
The outgoing military spokesman in Kano State, Captain Ikediche Iweha, while reacting to the story, declared: “ Haba, we don’t  invade houses. If  the story you are telling is correct, then it must be the usual routine checks.
“In any case, give me time to verify the matter and get back to you”.
As at press time the spokesman did not call back. He is on transfer to 3rd Armoured Brigade, Jos.

A sixty-year-old man, Malam Umaru of Jerin Duwatsu Village, Wanke district of Gusau local government has slapped his wife, Inno, to death following a matrimonial disagreement.
The incidence according to the village head, Magaji Hamidu, occurred when the deceased protested against the alleged perpetual injustice shown by the husband in favouring the senior wife on issues relating to matrimonial affairs.
The late Inno, according to sources, had always complained about the attitude of her husband who always personally fetched water for the senior wife who, though did not give birth to any child for him, often instructed the children of the late Inno to fetch water for her.
LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that, Malam Umar was blessed with 12 children from the late Inno through forty years of matrimonial life, while the senior wife had no issue.
The village head however suggested that, the husband was probably provoked by the confrontational attitude of the late Inno and slapped her when she was openly venting her anger  on him.
The state’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Lawal Abdullahi, confirmed the incidence saying that the accused would soon be charged to court.

In search of justice, a group, Council For Eastern Justice, CFEJ, has
initiated moves to drag embattled Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria,
CBN, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to the National conference over the
beheading of Gideon Akaluka, an Igbo trader in 1995, and other killings of
people of Igbo extraction.
Akaluka, a young Igbo trader, allegedly desecrated the Koran. He was
arrested after his wife allegedly used pages of the Koran as toilet paper
for her baby. After the police locked him up, a group of Muslim
fundamentalists broke into the police station cells, beheaded Akaluka, and
paraded his bodiless head around the streets of Kano.
Sanusi, and eight others were arrested and locked up for the crime, on the
orders of the then Head of State, General Sani Abacha. Investigation by
the authorities revealed that Sanusi was the kingpin of the murderous
gang.
CFEJ said through its spokes person, Chief Sylvanus Emeka Okeke said the
intention is to draw attention to the series of unresolved killings of
Igbos in the North and to seek for justice.
“We are doing this to draw the attention of the unresolved and the
continuous killings of Igbos in the North under the watchful eyes of
Northern Leaders.”
According to him, “Akaluka was beheaded in 1995, several other Igbos have
been killed in the North and no one seem to have been punished for such
dastardly act. This cannot continue to happen if we really want to live as
one in this country.”
“We want to know what Sanusi knows about the killing and if there are
those who knew about it still alive today. We want justice for Akaluka and
others and we want the wanton killings of Igbos to stop,” Okeke Said.
The group said it is sending a petition to the South East Delegates at the
on-going National Conference.
Okeke said, “we are sending a petition to the South East delegates at the
National conference and we will articulate all the unresolved killings of
Igbos in the North.”
He noted that, “Ndi Igbos have suffered in the Northern Part of Nigeria.
Often times they are killed, their businesses destroyed and no one is held
accountable yet we talk of one Nigeria. The National Conference would
decide if indeed Igbos are free and save to live anywhere they choose to
in our current entrapment called Nigeria.
Pointblanknews.com recalled that, Sanusi, an alleged Boko Haram
sympathizer, and proponent of the controversial Islamic Bank, played a
role in the murder of Akaluka. The Abacha regime locked him up for two
years for the murder of Akaluka.
Sources hinted that shortly after returning from Khartoum, Sudan where he
earned a degree in Sharia and Islamic studies, at the International
University of Africa, Sanusi became a recluse and immersed himself in the
Koran and became a teacher of the Hadith as espoused by the Wahabbists.
Wahhabism is an ultra-conservative branch of Sunni Islam. It is a
religious movement among fundamentalist (with an aspiration to return to
the primordial fundamental Islamic sources Qur`an, Hadeeth and Scholarly
consensus (Ijma)) Islamic believers. Wahhabism was a popular revivalist
movement instigated by an eighteenth century theologian, Muhammad ibn Abd
al-Wahhab (1703–1792) from Najd, Saudi Arabia.
Sanusi, who is alleged to detest the President Goodluck Jonathan’s
administration, because according to him, it is anti-islam, was part of a
nine-man clique of extremists who had a huge following.
A source said, “when Sanusi returned from Sudan where he associated with
very extreme personalities, he was not a happy man. he was treated like an
outcast in royal circles because his grandfather, was deposed as Emir of
Kano. So his anger grew. “
During that period, the incident of desecration of the Koran by the
Akalukas surfaced. According to our source, during that period the Abacha
government was not comfortable with the activities of the extremists in
Kano, who they view with suspicion.
The regime, it was gathered, silently assassinated a lot of them. Said our
source “ When Akaluka was locked up, Sanusi and eight others mobilized
some extremist mob who stormed the prison and killed Akaluka. The regime
identified the masterminds, so mandated its hit squad to eliminate the
nine, including Sanusi .”
Pointblanknews.com gathered that eight of the masterminds were
assassinated by Abacha, but for the intervention of former First Bank
chairman, and father of Christmas Day bomber, Alhaji Umar Mutallab and
others.
“ It was Muttallab and the rest who were heavy sponsors of Islamic
activities who prevailed on Abacha to spare Sanusi. They are argued that
since he has gone through a lot, treated like a pariah in the royal
circles because his grandfather was deposed, he should be spared. So They
decided to remove him from Kano to Sokoto where he was locked up for two
years.” Said the source
It was further learnt that after his release from prison, Sanusi was
handed over to Mutallab who pushed him into banking because he(Sanusi) had
a degree in Economics from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU). From there he
moved to the United Bank for Africa, and the First bank, from where he
rose quietly until late President Umar Yar’Adua recruited him to head CBN
and spearhead the introduction of the Islamic Bank.

An operative who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Unit had arrested several internet fraudsters,with their loot refunded to victims.

Do you know that the flesh of late General Sani Abacha was cut and send to Germany and another body part cut and send to the United Kingdom? Well, these are some of the revelations one of his closest men back then is letting out. General Jeremiah Useni (rtd) gives detailed information about what happened:

It's no secret that you always had your time with him in the evenings. Achacha's last 24 hours before his death, how were they like? What actually killed Abacha?
Well, it is true that I always saw him in the evening. One thing I made sure was that I never took official matters to him. I never went there to gossip. As I said, we had been long time friends. Some times I would wait up till 11pm or 12 mid-night so that he would have finished with all those people who would normally take their problems to him. I think that day I just came back from Gusau and I was feeling tired and I thought I would take the evening off. But once I came in, I got a telephone call from the Villa that they were waiting for me there. I think it was the day (late) Yasser Arafat came to Nigeria and Abacha was to receive him. In fact, by the time we finished Abacha himself was very tired because he slept all through the evening on our way back from the airport.

So I told people that the man was tired they should allow him rest. So I went back to meet him around 10pm or so and I left him around 2:30am. The next morning around 10:30 I think I had two administrators with me in the office when another call came. They said they were waiting for me at the Villa and I got a bit upset that why must they always wait for me at the Villa, every time they are waiting for me, they are waiting for me. When I got to the Villa, they said Abacha died. I said, died? But I was with him till very late.

People said all that, about apple poisoning him, some women poisoned him and all that. There is an autopsy report on what killed him.

But the autopsy report could bee doctored to protect him?
Doctored how? They cut his body and sent to Germany. The report that came back said Abacha died of natural causes. They cut his body again and sent to the United Kingdom, the report that came back said he died of natural causes. The man had been ill any way.

They (the military council) by-passed you because they felt you had a hand in his death?
Yes! I was suspected, and they made Abdulsalami head of state, though militarily, I was the most senior officer at that time.