Tender apology or go to jail, Supreme Court Justice who accused Amaechi of bribery told

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has given Justice Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court one week to withdraw the bribery allegation he made against Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, or be ready to go to jail for contravening the Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offence Act 2000. The demand is contained in a statement issued on Thursday in Port Harcourt, signed by State APC Chairman, Chief (Dr.) Davies Ibiamu Ikanya.

The statement berated Justice Okoro “for his wild and baseless allegation” as contained in his letter to the National Judicial Council (NJC) following his recent arrest by the Department of State Service (DSS) for alleged corruption.

The party noted that while the judgement in the Rivers State governorship election dispute was given by the Supreme Court on January 27, 2015, Justice Inyang Okoro in his letter to the NJC claimed that Rt. Hon. Amaechi tried to bribe him on February 1, 2015 to influence a ruling made four days earlier, adding that it took him nine months to alert the public about the alleged bribery attempt.

“One does not need a soothsayer to see that Justice Okoro is very confused and thinks that by mentioning the name of Amaechi in his letter, he would deceive Nigerians and play down the gravity of his sins and crimes against Rivers State people and Nigeria as a whole,” Rivers APC said.

Continuing, the statement said: “If we may ask Justice Okoro, why should Amaechi or anybody attempt to bribe him for an election upturned by both the Tribunal and the Appeal Court? An election widely condemned by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the international community and both local and foreign observers who monitored the shambolic exercise in the course of which over 200 of our members were slaughtered like chicken just to install Chief Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in power at all cost?”

Rivers APC drew Justice Okoro’s attention to the provisions of the Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offence Act 2000, which makes failure to report bribery or a bribery attempt a crime that attracts both a fine and a jail term. Below are the relevant provisions of the said Act:

(23)-(1) Any public officer to whom any gratification is given, promised, or offered, in contravention of any provision of this Act, shall report such gift, promise or offer together with the name, if known, of the person who gave, promised or offered such gratification to him to the nearest officer of the commission or police officer.

(2) Any person from whom gratification has been solicited or obtained, or from whom an attempt has been made to obtain such gratification, in contravention of any provision of this Act, shall, at the earliest opportunity thereafter, report such soliciting or obtaining, or attempt to obtain the gratification together with the name, if known, or a true and full description of the person who solicited, or obtained, or attempted to obtain the gratification from him, to the nearest officer of the commission or police officer.

(3) Any person who fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with sub-sections (1) and (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand naira or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both fine and imprisonment.

“For failing to report the fictional bribery attempt by Amaechi, Justice Okoro has committed an offence that attracts up to two years imprisonment. We are hereby giving him one week to retract his worthless and satanic letter and apologise to Amaechi or we may be forced to set in motion a machinery to invoke the Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offence Act 2000,” Rivers APC said.

The party commended the DSS for taking the bold step to bring corrupt judges to justice. It urged the NJC “not only to assist the Federal Government in this fight against crimes against our nation but to also overturn the injustices meted to the various states and organs by these agents of darkness in the Judiciary, as this is the only way to atone for the blood of our dead members shed with impunity during the discredited 2015 elections in Rivers State.”

Obiano does not deserve this Campaign of Calumny.

By James Eze

Recently, the social media suddenly caught flame with stories screaming about how the Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano is a failure.

 In what looks like a massively funded smear campaign; pay-per-tweet mercenaries and scores of social media trolls who are mere puppets dancing to drums from Nnewi had risen like a soulless mass of trumpeters to shout at the top of their voices that Willie Obiano is a failure.

What is the meaning of the word failure? What makes a leader a failure? Does it mean that once cyber trolls get paid they lose the cognitive capacity to modify the hate message they are given?

It is such a shame that people who collect blood money to assassinate the character of leaders cannot even apply a simple logic to their campaign of hate. It is appalling that these fellows cannot reason that when people who have not paid attention to the affairs of Anambra State in their thousands of previous tweets and facebook and blog posts suddenly begin to generate tons of hate materials against the governor, the world would instantly know that they are doing a hatchet job.

They do not know that no serious minded Nigerian who suddenly reads ten identical tweets condemning one individual will immediately smell foul play in the emerging pattern. These guys need to return to re-calibrate and relearn the fundamentals of reasoning and logic because the game has gone a few notches higher, really.

If common sense had not taken flight, how could anyone give you money and hand you a few tweets with identical headlines and ask you to go to town with it and you head to cyberspace to push it out without even thinking of the need to sound slightly different from others? And what really do they mean when they say that Obiano is a failure? What are the basic manifestations of failure and how does Obiano fit into that frame of reference?

Pray, does a man who in less than one year in office cleaned up Anambra State of crime and criminality fit into this frame? Hitherto, Anambra was an anathema. A taboo! Forbidden! Somewhere people dreaded to visit; a geography which inhabitants deserted for their own safety. But Obiano had wiped the state clean without spilling blood; chased kidnappers and armed robbers out of town, cleaned up Upper Iweka and restored the confidence of Ndi Anambra in the home-state and the pride of Ndigbo in this frontline Igbo state. How does that make Obiano a failure? Somebody please tell me!

Does a man who started an Agricultural Revolution that has placed Anambra on the agricultural map of Africa qualify as a failure? Only yesterday, the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe, the governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, governor of Kebbi State and chairman of Agricultural Committee, Senator Atiku Abubakar Bagudu all stormed Coscharis Farms in Anaku, Ayamelum Local Government Area to witness first-hand the impressive partnership between the State Government and Coscharis Farms that was midwifed by Obiano. As the monstrous Combined Harvester deployed on the expansive rice farm of Coscharis Farms revved to life, the visitors were full of praises for governor Obiano’s powerful vision. The chairman of the Coscharis Group, Dr. Cosmas Maduka spoke even more tellingly about the import of Obiano’s vision, lauding him for making his 29 year-old dream come true.

Speaking with an emotion-laden voice Dr. Maduka said “His Excellency, Governor Willie Obiano is the person we should give all the credit for making this a reality because when we talk about providing leadership it is all about the government providing the enabling environment for businesses to thrive. When he first came into Anambra State, he took care of criminals, kidnappers. Today we have people from the Netherlands, India and Australia working in this farm for two years without any incident. That was the first important thing he did. These people would not have come. Creating the enabling environment; because we don’t have the expertise to do what we wanted to do.” Pray, with a testimonial like this from one of the leading investors in Nigeria, why would anyone in his right mind adjudge Willie Obiano a failure? Somebody please tell me!

Does a man who built six bridges simultaneously in two years while the country’s economy was sliding into a recession deserve the tag of failure? In the past two years Obiano has built the following bridges – Arroma Bridge (Awka), Kwata Bridge (Awka), Amawbia Bridge (Amawbia) Ebenebe Bridge (Awka North), Aguleri-Otu Bridge (longest in the South East) and Iyiora Bridge (Anam). All these bridges are there for everyone to see. In the history of Anambra State and I dare say, most parts of Nigeria, this is a record. That is the reason some local folks refer to Obiano as “oji bridge eme ogo,” which loosely translates to “the one who has demystified the tough task of building bridges so much that he now dispenses it as a mere token to deserving folks.” How does this fit into the dark narratives that seek to paint Obiano as a failure?

Somebody please tell me!

Again does a man who increased the salaries of workers by 15% at a time when other state governments were borrowing commercial loans to pay salaries qualify as a failure? I don’t think so. Does a man who granted amnesty to 25 prisoners and gave each the sum of N1m to help them find their footing in the society at a time Nigeria is in a recession qualify as a failure? I don’t think so either! Does a governor who has signed away all his salaries as a donation to charity qualify as a failure also? Perhaps only in the imagination of some money-grubbing social media denizens who live on hand-outs from Nnewi. 

Perhaps too, it would help these social media gremlins who live in Lagos and other cities and so are completely unaware of the sterling performance of the Obiano administration in Anambra to remember that they cannot write the story of Anambra State with their smartphones in a distant land. Mbanu! That story will be too tongue-tied to echo through the hills and the caves of Ogbunike and Owerre Ezukala! And if ever it forces its way to our ears, it will speak in a tone too muted to force understanding.

Trade Union Inaugurates State Care-Taker Committee.

*As Comrade Dumebi Eluaka Emerges State Chairman

Okonta Emeka Okelum, Asaba, Delta State

The national leadership of the Union of Tipper and Quarry Employers of Nigeria (UTQEN) has inaugurated a state caretaker committee for the Union's Delta State chapter.

The event supervised by the Union's national leadership and the Delta State executive of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) witnessed a large turn out of the Union's members drawn from it's 17 LGA chapters.

The care taker committee inaugurated yesterday at the premises of the Trade Union Congress secretariat brought to an end the over three years squabbles rocking the union.

The current wave of peace the union breaths now is a function of the collaborative efforts of the Union's national leadership, proactive engagement of the Delta State Trade Union Congress, as well as, support of the Delta State Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism.

Earlier, in his welcome address, the Delta State Chairman, Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Lawson Efenudu, thanked the UTQEN members for their peaceful conduct during these trying period of the Union's impasse.

His gratitude also went to the security agencies, Delta State Peace Mediators and state government agencies, whose inputs and efforts helped the Congress and the union attain it's current peaceful status registered.

Prince Tony Ikenwaso Ijeh, National Secretary, UTQEN, expressed gratitude over the peaceful end of the crisis that almost rocked the union.

This caretaker committee inaugurated today, will pilot the affair of the state's union till the national leadership set up an electoral committee for the next Union's state election, Prince Ijeh noted.

Comrade Buter John, UTQEN National Public Relations Office, called up members of the state caretaker committee, while the national secretary led the committee members through taking oath of office.

Presenting his acceptance speech, Comrade Dumebi Eluaka, the Union's state committee chairman, noted that his loyalty and commitment to the union's national leadership is firm and promised to take the union to greater heights.

Within the last few years, I increased the Union's LGA chapters from two to seventeen and will make sure we spread to other council areas.

Under my leadership, the union will partner with the Delta State Government, at creating more wealth and job creation opportunities for Deltans and vast entrepreneurial potentials.

I will extend hands of fellowship to all stakeholders of the union, past leaders and will employ all available means to unite all aggrieved members within the union, so as to sustain enduring peace in the state, Comrade Eluaka said.

Those who will pilot the affairs of the union with Comrade Dumebi Eluaka include, Comrade Patrick Usi, State Vice Chairman; Chief Comrade Moses Ukuedorjor, State Secretary; Comrade Uche Osuya, State Assistant Secretary.

Others include Comrade Ndidi Okoagbor, State Treasurer; Chief Comrade Sunny Shaguolo, State Financial Secretary; Comrade Okolo Onyema, Auditor; Comrade Peter Oshirho, State Taskforce Chairman; Chief Comrade Oni Enem, State Public Relations Officer; Comrade Stephen Rhevwa, State Organising Secretary.

Press Release

DECLARATION OF ACTION AFTER THE EXTRA ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING OF THE NATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY CONSULTATIVE FORUM ON PEACE AND SECURITY ORGANIZED BY CIVIL SOCIETY LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY CENTRE (CISLAC) WITH SUPPORT FROM NIGERIA STABILITY AND RECONCILIATION PROGRAMME HELD IN KANEM SUITES, UTAKO DISTRICT, ABUJA ON THE 6th DAY OF MAY, 2016

Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) with support from NSRP held an extra ordinary General Meeting of the National Civil Society Consultative Forum on Peace and Security with specific focus on the blasphemy killing in Kano as well as the militancy activities in the Niger Delta region. 

The meeting was attended by the Chief of Army Staff represented by the Commander of Operation Pulo Shield, Bayelsa, Niger Delta Development Commission, Ministry of Niger Delta, National Security and Civil Defence Corps, Ministry of Budget and National Planning, National Human Rights Commission, Peace Corp of Nigeria, Women and Youth groups, Diplomatic Community, Faith Based Organizations, NGOs, Media Practitioners as well as experts in the peace and security sector. 

After exhaustive deliberations we, the participants:
Recognize That we live in a society governed by clearly stated rules and laws.

When such crimes of high magnitude or any at all, are allowed to go unpunished for any reason, we risk descending into a state of lawlessness and anarchy where anyone can assume the role of judge, jury and executioner. The rule of law must prevail. 

We urge all security agencies to ensure that they carry out a thorough investigation into the events that led to her untimely death and ensure that the perpetrators of this crime are brought to face the full wrath of the law

Also Recognize That Islam frowns at any mob action, as there are laid down procedures for apprehending anyone who breaks the law of the land. Even where blasphemy is committed; the woman should have been taken to the police station instead of being brutally attacked.

There is no jungle justice in Islam. Therefore, this is an act of criminality and those arrested in this respect must be treated as such.

Express our Deep Concern that like a storm from the blues, a new militant group, Niger Delta Avengers, NDA took the region by surprise when it announced its formation on February 3. It launched a website and social media page, which it uses to publish statements of its activities, including its February 10 blow up of the Bonny Soku Gas Line which carries natural gas to the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas plant and an independent power plant at Gbaran. 

This was followed by a major destabilizing attack on the Forcados 48-inch export pipe­line at the Forcados export terminal. 

Note that the attacks, among others, have no doubt had a devastating effect on the country’s oil revenue projection in the 2016 budget. Besides, the activities and statements of the group have led to restiveness in the region, a signpost of a return to the pre- 2009 militancy level.

Curiously, no known face or name has claimed the leadership of the NDA apart from one Col. Mudoch Agbinibo who has been signing press releases on behalf of the group. 

Security agents however, believe that Mudoch is a pseudo name and faceless like the notorious Jomo Gbomo of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND, fame.

Also Note that the near collapse of social values, failure of leadership at all level, and neglect of the youth is now a current problem in Nigeria.

This vice now increases the spate of unemployment, abject poverty; illiteracy, frustrations and the resurgence of many militant and terrorist groups in different part of the country.

What then will be sustainable if amnesty is the does not seem to be the lasting solution to the problem in the region considering the unabated activities of the militants despite the amnesty programme, a more creative measures should be taken.

Further Note that In halting grammar, rambling syntax and embarrassingly poor English, the avengers have used their online resources to articulate the basis of their discontent with the Buhari administration.

They are angry over the continued marginalization of the Niger Delta, the unjust allocation of oil licenses to persons from non-oil producing areas, and hounding of officials of the Jonathan administration by the present regime. 

The NDA is also miffed about environmental pollution and scrapping of the Maritime University at Okerenkoko.

Some have denounced the insurgency as a rally of miscreants, but the campaign has proven to be deadly with attacks on oil infrastructure despite the heavy military presence in the area.

It is crystallizing into an all-out war against the nation’s economic lifeline. Shell has shut down its Forcados terminal. 

Chevron’s Escravos operation has been breached.

ENI and Exxon Mobil have declared “force majeure,” even as Shell and Chevron move their staff out of the Niger Delta. 

We Commit to engage gate keepers in the region to request the NDA to unequivocal terms channel their grievances without perpetrating acts that could be interpreted as an attempt to enthrone instability and render the country ungovernable. 

Whilst it is part of democracy that people should air their views, however jaundiced, they should, all the same, not translate grievances into violence and bloodshed. 

Those in the creeks, whose only political education comes from the misguided verbiage of clannish role models, should be cautious not to become cannon fodders for mischief-making.

Just as it is true for the insurgents, the army should not be provoked into violence-inciting actions as the collective punishment of the Niger Delta people suggests. 

We Affirm that this NDA insurgency speaks volumes about the fact that the Niger Delta challenge is far from over. 

And it must be tackled urgently and sincerely in the national interest. Certainly, there has been no serious effort on the part of government to tackle the Niger Delta development crisis beyond palliatives, vague gestures and empty rhetoric.

There are no good roads; the East-West Road has been abandoned; the water is polluted and electricity supply is still a luxury where it exists at all. 

Good schools, from primary to secondary, not to talk of tertiary institutions, are virtually non-existent. 

In other words, the people of the Niger Delta remain impoverished.

We Endorse the forging of community policing partnerships and implementing problem-solving strategies to necessitate assigning new responsibilities and adopting a flexible style of management.

Traditionally, patrol officers have been accorded lower status in police organizations and have been dominated by the agency’s command structure. 

Community policing, in contrast, emphasizes the value of the patrol function and the patrol officer as an individual. It requires the shifting of initiative, decision making, and responsibility downward within the police organization. 

The officer must become responsible for managing the delivery of police services to the community. Patrol officers are the most familiar with the needs and concern of their communities and are in the best position to forge the close ties with the community that lead to effective solutions to local problems.

Will ensure that advocacy for a new approach to the Niger Delta issue in the region and the country shall enjoy lasting peace. Such an approach should provide for a more sustainable protocol for managing the expectations of the region vis a vis the exploitation of the vital resources there. 

Some observers have already likened Niger Delta Avengers to Boko Haram.

In some respects that is true but in other respects, Niger Delta agitation can at least be tackled in a rational manner.

For instance, the Avengers are demanding that the 2014 National Conference’s recommendations as pertains to the region should be revisited.

One of them is the increase of the derivation fund from 13% to 17%.

Another recommendation calls for the setting up of a special intervention fund for the region.

Other parts of the country may not be happy with some of these recommendations and may not view the Conference that made them unfavourably, but the government can still discuss these matters in the National Assembly and other councils.

A good starting point is to provide effective coordination for all the ongoing remediation efforts in the region.

Way Forward

Shall Effectively mobilizes CSOs, key actors and the media to build collaborations, corporations to use its various radio platforms to advocate for dialogue as a panacea for sustainable peace and development as well as advocate for regular meetings to resolve issues of conflict that might affect all parties using a platform.

Will Support that the immediate, short, medium and long term intervention that will strengthen accountability and justice mechanism from security agencies, provide space for dialogue and interaction in various communities as well pressure the media to balance reportage to reduce misconception, perception and stigmatization of any group of people in Nigeria.

Agreed that Social media offers exciting possibilities for early-warning systems as well as violation reporting and monitoring activities.

Such systems should be approached with caution, however, as new media can just as easily be used to spread inflammatory rumors and false information.

Trusted citizen monitors should be culled from experienced, preexisting early-warning networks originally developed at the community level for monitoring ongoing tensions.

Signed:

Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani)
Executive Director
Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)
Abuja

Idris Musa
Centre for Justice and Peace
Abuja

Jaye Gaskia
Praxis Centre
Abuja

Ariori Jemina
Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria
Abuja

Niger Delta Avengers: I Don't Know Them....Speaker, DTHA

* They Are A Faceless Group

Okonta Emeka Okelum, Asaba, Delta State.

Condemning the recent multiple bombings of the dreaded Niger Delta Avengers, Rt. Hon (Chief) Monday Ovwigho Igbuya, Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly, has distanced himself from the group.

Fielding questions from journalists, today, about the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers, said he doesn't know the dreaded group.

During the first anniversary press briefing of the 6th Assembly, he described the freedom fighters as a faceless group.

I don't know who the Avengers are, I can't speak of what I don't know, Rt Hon (chief) Igbuya noted.

Their activities have affected us so badly and impacted our economy negatively, he observed.

Responding to questions on the legislative romance with the executive and the State Governor specifically, the speaker affirmed that the relationship is cordial and fruitful so far. 

Come 2019, there will be no election in Delta State, as it will be, what in his words he described as 'Okowa Carry Go' electoral affair cum business. 

Speaking as a PDP chieftain, as a political leader from the Urhobo nation, come 2019, Okowa will win in my ward, Local Government Area and Senatorial District, the Speaker boasted. 

Surprisingly, speaking further, on the Niger Delta Avengers, Rt Hon Igbuya urged the Federal Government to set in motion, mechanism to commence dialogue with the dreaded group, he termed faceless. 

The Speaker cited as overall benefits of the sixth assembly to Deltans, as the fall out and on going implementation of the 2016 Delta State Budget Appropriation Act.

Funding and related financial constraints were cited by the Speaker as the most crushing challenges the sixth assembly is contending with.

This is the reason for all parliamentary administrative lapses and staff welfare challenges you have heard and read of, but soon we will overcome them all, the Rt Honourable assured.

Earlier in his press statement, Rt Hon Monday Igbuya noted that the sixth assembly received a total of twenty three (23) bills, of which, ten (10) were passed into law.

A total of thirty five (35) motions were received and approved, eighteen (18) reports have so far being received and adopted as well as, a number of other issues are before different committees for consideration, the Speaker affirmed. 

Rt Hon Monday Igbuya told newsmen that the governor has so far assented to five bills, with four bills forwarded to the state governor, Sen Dr Arthur Ifeany Okowa, for his executive assent.