INEC tests card readers today amid controversy

                                                               INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega

The Independent National Electoral Commission will today test the card reader in 12 states amid controversy over the use of the new device in the conduct of the next general elections.

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the opposition All Progressives Congress have been engaging in war of words over the use of the card reader in the forthcoming polls.

While the Director of Legal Affairs of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, had said that the party did not support the use of the device because it is illegal and unconstitutional and that it had not been tested in any election in the past, the APC described the PDP’s rejection of the use of the device as a vindication of its claim that the ruling party was desperate to rig the general elections.

PDP lays fresh ambush against election

                                    National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Ahmadu Adamu Mu'azu

There are indications that the national leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party might have perfected a fresh strategy aimed at stalling the March 28 presidential election.

Investigations by our correspondent in Abuja on Thursday and Friday showed that the ruling party was actually the brain behind those who registered Young Democratic Party and that it may use this new party to achieve its objective.

The new party had on Thursday asked the Independent National Electoral Commission to postpone the forthcoming general elections.

The party said this a day after the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the commission to register YDP as a political party.

At a press briefing in Abuja, the party called on INEC to re-schedule the general elections if it could not accommodate it on its ballot paper.

FG accredits over 300 foreign journalists for elections

                                        Director General, National Orientation Agency, Mr. Mike Omeri

The Federal Government has accredited over 300 foreign journalists to cover Nigeria’s general elections scheduled for March 28 and April 11.

The Director General, National Orientation Agency, Mr. Mike Omeri, who said this in an interview with our correspondent, also explained that more foreign journalists would be accredited before the commencement of the elections.

He, however, added that accredited foreign journalists would be expected to adhere to the agency’s guidelines.

He said, “It’s an ongoing process and about 350 foreign journalists have been accredited already. As they report here, we will give them the guidelines to follow.”

Boko Haram prepares for battle in Gwoza

                                                                                                Nigerian Army

Boko Haram fighters are preparing in mass at their headquarters in the northeastern Nigerian town of Gwoza, Maiduguri, Borno State for a showdown with Multinational Joint Task Force, residents and an intelligence officer told The Associated Press.

A woman, who was trapped in the town since it was seized in July, 2014 told her daughter that the insurgents were urging civilians to leave town to avoid being killed in crossfire in an anticipated major battle.

Hajiya Adama said her mother told her that the insurgents had also released some young women being held against their will, including some made pregnant during their captivity.

N’Assembly slashes own budget by 25%

                                             Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu

The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said on Thursday that the National Assembly has reduced its overhead in the 2015 budget by 25 percent in response to the economic realities in the country.

Ekweremadu said the action would also help to boost the capital expenditure quotient in the 2015 fiscal year.

He said, “This year, because our money is on first line charge and comes as statutory transfer, the executive could not have tampered with it. They brought our overhead the way it should be in the 2015 Appropriation Bill.

“But on our own, we in the National Assembly looked at the state of the economy and decided to cut our overhead cost by 25 percent. We challenged the executive to go back and do the same.

Falana takes over suit seeking Mbu’s removal

                                                                                                   Mr. Femi Falana

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday ordered the service of court papers on the Police Service Commission in Abuja in a suit seeking declaration that an Assistant Inspector General of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu, is unfit to remain a police officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The ex parte application for leave of court to serve the PSC outside of jurisdiction was brought before Justice Ibrahim Buba by a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN).

Falana had on Thursday appeared in court and announced appearance as counsel representing the plaintiff, a lawyer, Mr. Tope Alabi, who filed the case.

Alabi is urging the court to compel the Inspector General of Police; the Police Service Commission and the Attorney General of the Federation to immediately declare Mbu’s office with the Force vacant over alleged abuse of power.

Nigeria needs ‘do tanks’ not think tanks –Obasanjo

                                                       Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday said Nigeria’s   peculiar   challenges   required leaders with requisite experience to tackle them.

He told guests inside the auditorium of his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, during the celebration of his 78th birthday and 2015 annual summit, that there were too many ‘think-tanks’ in the country instead of ‘do-tanks.’

The former President, who looked resplendent in a white flowing agbada,   therefore prayed to “ God to give us leaders that occasion like this deserves.”

He said that West African countries and Britain were worried about developments in Nigeria.

Reiterating his commitment to the country, Obasanjo said each time he travelled to these countries, he was usually inundated with enquiries about Nigeria’s security, political and socio-economic challenges.

Chibok girls alive – Jonathan

                                                                              President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed confidence that the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in their hostel   in Chibok, Borno State last year are still alive.

Jonathan, who also said that his chance of winning the March 28 presidential poll was slimmer than in 2011, based his position on the fact that terrorists would naturally   display the corpses of the girls if they had been killed.

He spoke while featuring on Kakaaki, a breakfast programme on a private television station, African Independent Television.

Reiterationg his promise that the girls would be rescued alive, Jonathan said, “The good story is that they ( insurgents) have not killed them   because when terrorists kill, they display the corpses   to intimidate the people.

Police fire shots at protesting UTME candidates

Hundreds of candidates wishing to sit for Monday’sUnified Tertiary Matriculation Examination escaped death in Jos after they were fired at by policemen called to maintain law and order.

This happened on Wednesday after they went berserk following the inability of the authorities to release examination slips to them.

The candidates had gathered at the Murtala Mohammed Way office of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board following announcements that they should come for the details of their examination centres.

One of our correspondents gathered that the candidates were asked by JAMB officials to leave their slips and come back later to collect their details.

Police arraign engineer for N1.4m fraud

                                                                           Ikeja Magistrate’s Court

A civil engineer, Oyebanjo Adeshina, has been arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court for allegedly defrauding one Anthony Obi of the sum of N1.4m.

Adeshina was said to have committed the offence in September, 2014 at Olowu Street, Ikeja.

Our correspondent learnt that Adeshina had borrowed the money from Obi for a project, with a promise to sell a Toyota Camry 2007 model belonging to him and refund the money from the proceeds of the sales.

He was, however, said to have defaulted on his promise and further issued a dud cheque to the complainant. He was subsequently arrested and arraigned on four counts of stealing, obtaining under false pretences and forgery.

The police prosecutor, Inspector Joe Egbo, said the offences were punishable under sections 409, 312, 285 and 363 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.

Man accused of raping neighbour’s pregnant wife

                                                                                    Tinubu Magistrate’s Court.

Twenty-five-year-old Monday Maule has been accused of raping one Mrs. Chinyere Samuel, his neighbour’s wife, who is eight months pregnant and has four children.

Maule was said to have committed the act on Monday, February 23, 2015.

It was gathered that Mr. Samuel, Chinyere’s husband, was not always at home due to the nature of his job. Samuel, a Ghanaian by nationality works with a Chinese construction company and hardly returns home to his family.

Our correspondent learnt that Maule allegedly committed the act by sneaking into the couple’s apartment during the early hours of the day (5am) at Friends Colony Agungi, Lekki, Lagos.

Policemen groan over delayed inauguration of apartments

                                                                                            One of the buildings

An Assistant Superintendent of Police, who lives in police college barracks, Ikeja, Lagos State, has likened his family’s stay in the college over the past five months to a sojourn in a refugee camp.

The officer, who did not want his name in print for fear of being dismissed, said they had been suffering from one ill health or another, since they were moved into one of the dormitories in the barracks. Apart from the family, it was learnt that some residents had contracted cholera because of the unhygienic nature of the surroundings.

PUNCH Metro gathered that about 54 families living in two buildings on the college premises were relocated to four dormitories in September 2014 when the renovation of the quarters began.

The officer was one of the lodgers, who were worried about the college authority’s refusal to move them back to the buildings since December when the renovation was reportedly completed.

Ogun demolishes N34m FG building

                                                                                  Scene of the demolition

The Ogun State Government on Tuesday demolished a building worth N34m belonging to a Federal Government agency, Public Complaints Commission, in Abeokuta, the state capital.

The building, which was still under construction, had become a pile of rubble when our correspondent visited the site, located opposite the governor’s office, Oke Mosan.

Bulldozers and trucks belonging to the state government were also stationed at the site.

About four officials of the state government from the Ministry of Urban and Regional Planning were also present, supervising the demolition.

One of the officials who declined to disclose his identity to journalists, said the structure did not have the approval of the state government.

‘Mbu never said police should kill civilians’

                                                                                           Joseph Mbu

The Police Public Relations Officer, Zone 2 Command, CSP Gbenga Adeoye, says the Assistant Inspector General of Police, , Mr. Joseph Mbu, never ordered the killing of 20 civilians for every policeman killed during his visit to the Ogun State Police Command.

Adeoye in statement on Tuesday said the purported claim was “gross misinformation,” adding that those criticising Mbu should have watched the video which he said was in the public domain before berating him.

The statement read, “For the interest of the people of Zone 2, comprising Ogun and Lagos states, and the Nigerian public , they should go to Youtube to listen to what the AIG said in Ogun State.

EFCC arraigns captain, 22 others for oil bunkering

                                                                                                   The suspects

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday took 20 men including one Captain Daniel Lebile before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly dealing in petroleum products without lawful authority.

The accused persons were arraigned before Justice Ibrahim Buba on three counts in relation to the offence.

Apart from Lebile, the others are Ala Ibanibo, Wole Ajayi, Adesunloye Fani-Kayode, Michael Mgbanwa, Segun Ekundemi, Johnson Mashebinu, Ndidi Benjamin, Bright Nwaezuoke, Blessing Omoviye and Kayode Ireti.

Others are Chuks Isiwepkweni, Friday Nchikpa, Peter Bayo, Ubom Amos, Zuopamo Embiowei, Olabamerun Owolemi, Adams Husseini, Ebisingha Timmy and Godwin Oputeh.

The accused persons were arraigned alongside their vessel, MV Long Island, and their companies, Afa Global Impex Services Limited and GFL Marine Service Limited.

Nigeria targets cargo imports from Niger Republic

                                     Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, Mr. Hassan Bello

Nigeria is targeting over three million metric tonnes of imported cargoes from Niger Republic through improved seaport efficiency .

The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, Mr. Hassan Bello, disclosed this at an interactive session with journalists in Lagos.

Bello said Niger Republic, a landlocked country, was annually importing the said amount of cargoes through Togo, Republic of Benin and Ghana.

He said, “We are talking with Nigerien shippers. We want them to import their cargoes through our ports. Already, we have lost a tremendous amount of money to other African ports through cargo diversion.”

INEC to test smartcard readers in 12 states

                                 Resident Electoral Commissioner, Lagos State, Mr. Akin Orebiyi

The Independent National Electoral Commission has said that smartcard readers would be tested in 12 states chosen from across the six geo-political zones of the country to assess their efficiency ahead of the general elections.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Lagos State, Mr. Akin Orebiyi, disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Lagos on Wednesday.

According to the INEC boss, Lagos and Ekiti states have been chosen for the exercise in the South-West which would feature voters presenting their Permanent Voter Cards for accreditation and verification.

Orebiyi explained that the exercise would enable the electoral body to identify challenges that may rear its head on the election days with a view to correcting them.

Tinubu, Fashola, others to hold one-million-man march

                                                                                                  Tinubu and Fashola

In a bid to neutralise the effect of the visits of President Goodluck Jonathan to Lagos, chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, led by former Governor Bola Tinubu and Governor Babatunde Fashola, will on Saturday hold a one-million-man march.

Lagos, which has the highest number of voters in the country, will be a major battleground between the Peoples Democratic Party and the APC.

Addressing journalists in Lagos on Wednesday, the Lagos State coordinator of the APC Campaign Organisation, Mr. James Faleke, said the walk would begin from Maryland through Allen Avenue and end at Alausa, behind the Ikeja City Mall.

PDP planning to frame Jega, Tinubu, says APC

                              National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Lai Mohammed

The All Progressives Congress says it has uncovered a plot by the Peoples Democratic Party to frame the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, in order to justify his sacking.

The APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said at a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday that the PDP was plotting to deposit a huge amount of money into the bank account of Jega and make it appear as if the money emanated from Tinubu.

Mohammed said since the PDP had been unable to stop the use of Permanent Voter Cards and card readers, the next step would be a plot by the ruling party to attempt to undermine Jega’s credibility in the eyes of Nigerians so as to get him sacked.

Editor's Report

Editor's corner