Former Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State who was declared the winner of the disputed All Progressives Congress governorship primary last week has accepted the cancellation of the exercise by the leadership of the party.
Timipre Sylva
His campaign team, however, boasted that he would win the next primary.
The Timipre Sylva Campaign Organisation described the invalidation of the primary as unfortunate.
A statement signed on behalf of the campaign team by Mr. Doifie Buokoribo, on Tuesday, however, said Sylva would abide by the party’s decision because as a loyal party member, he believes in the supremacy of the party.
The campaign organisation, in the statement titled, “We will win again,” told supporters to remain calm and steadfast, saying, “Ultimately, our victory is sure.”
The statement by the campaign team read in part, “The cancellation of the September 22 primary, where Chief Timipre Sylva was overwhelmingly voted by the APC family in our state to be the governorship candidate at the December 5 governorship election, is unfortunate.
“But as loyal and faithful party folks, we have the serenity to accept the decision in the larger interest of our great party. We urge our teeming supporters to remain peaceful and unruffled, rest assured that all is well.
“Ultimately, our victory is sure. Our hope cannot be annulled. Our mission to rescue Bayelsa State from the grip of maladministration and underdevelopment is a task that must be accomplished.”
It urged delegates to turn out more than ever on Wednesday to repeat the “overwhelming endorsement you gave Sylva on September 22.”
Though there had been fears that Sylva might head for the courts to stop the new primary, sources said influential members of the party prevailed on him not to take any action that would be inimical to the interest of the party.
Sylva was said to have dropped the idea of going to court and decided to participate in the fresh primary to safeguard the interest of the party ahead of the December 5 governorship election.
A former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, says President Muhammadu Buhari, who is a Fulani man, is sympathetic towards Fulani herdsmen.
Femi Fani-Kayode
The former minister said this in a Facebook post titled, ‘Herdsmen from hell’ while reacting to the abduction of a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
Fani-Kayode said Buhari had in the past referred to Fulani herdsmen as ‘my people’. He, therefore, argued that he was not surprised that Fulani herdsmen were hardly arrested despite their many acts of violence.
He said, “In the last few years the Fulani herdsmen have attacked, ravaged and pillaged many rural communities south of the River Niger and they have slaughtered and raped thousands of innocent people in the South-South, the South-East and the South-West.
“We recall how, after a violent clash between them and some Yoruba farmers in Oyo State in 2000, General Buhari (as he then was) led a strong delegation of northern leaders to see the late Governor of Oyo State, Lam Adeshina. On arrival, Buhari put the question to him: ‘Why are your people killing my people?’ This was a classic case of a Freudian slip.
“The Bible says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The general had spoken his mind. Governor Adeshina was shocked with disbelief and he responded by telling Buhari that he was rather surprised that a former Head of State would refer to one ethnic group as his people while referring to another as someone else’s.”
Fani-Kayode, who was the spokesperson for former President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign organisation, said Buhari had never shown concern for the plight of the people of the South.
He said this was why it took Buhari 48 hours to react to Falae’s kidnap.
Fani-Kayode said it was possible that Buhari knew those behind the abduction Falae because the herdsmen released Falae 24 hours after the presidency condemned the abduction. He noted that no one had since been arrested for Falae’s kidnap.
He added, “Another curious twist to the tale is the fact that it took the Buhari administration two days to make any formal announcement on Falae’s abduction and just the day after they (Presidency) finally did so, the elder statesman was suddenly released.
“The question is this: who is pulling the strings from behind the scenes and who is attempting to test our resolve and test the waters?”
The Peoples Democratic Party chieftain said Falae’s claim that the Fulani herdsmen had links with Boko Haram should not be ignored.
He said the Fulani herdsmen were a security threat and could easily cause crisis in the South-West having populated the entire region under the guise of selling cattle.
As the nation awaits President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial list, the President on Tuesday said he would head the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
President Buhari
Buhari dropped the hint in one of the interviews he granted one of the foreign media in his hotel shortly before departing New York.
The President was in New York to participate in the 70th United Nations General Assembly.
“I will serve as the Minister of Petroleum Resources myself,” Buhari told his interviewer.
The nation’s petroleum sector has been said to be enmeshed in corruption with millions of dollars said to be missing in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
Shortly after assuming office, Buhari sacked and replaced the management of the company.
The new management had started a general reorganisation of the firm.
Buhari had on Monday said the trial of those who looted the NNPC would commence soon.
Meanwhile, ministerial list that President Muhammadu Buhari will submit to the Senate on Wednesday (today)will not contain all the members of his proposed cabinet, THE PUNCH has learnt.
Buhari was inaugurated on May 29, having defeated former President Goodluck Jonathan in the presidential election held in March.
Investigation by one of our correspondents on Tuesday revealed that what would be transmitted to the Senate this week would not be a complete list of nominees.
A top government official familiar with the arrangement confided in one of our correspondents that Buhari would send the names of the nominees to the Senate in batches.
“What the Senate will be getting on Tuesday or Wednesday will not be a complete list. The names will be sent in batches but quite a number will be on this first list while others will be compiled and sent later,” the source said.
The President may have decided to send the names in batches in order to meet the September deadline he set for himself rather than waiting to compile the full list and fail to beat the deadline.
Efforts made by one of our correspondents to get an insight into the list of the first batch of would-be ministers did not however yield any positive result on Tuesday.
The issue of the list has however been generating concerns among members of Buhari’s delegation to the 70th United Nations General Assembly holding in New York.
Many of the politicians on the President’s delegation who felt they might be considered for ministerial positions were getting in touch with Nigeria intermittently on the telephone for latest information on the list while they also kept making themselves visible for Buhari.
Some of them who could not hide their anxiety were heard asking Nigerian journalists if they had latest information on the list.
Prominent chiefs of the All Progressives Congress on the President’s delegation include a former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi; a former Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi; and a former member of the House of Representatives, Abike Dabiri-Erewa among others.
Meanwhile, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said on Tuesday that his leadership would not employ vendetta in the screening of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s wise men.
Saraki, who stated this in his welcome address to his colleagues at a plenary after their six-week recess, expressed confidence that Nigeria’s economy would experience a turn-around with the appointment of ministers.
He said, “As we await the list of ministerial nominees this week, I believe the presence of ministers will create the space for greater policy engagement with the executive arm of government.
“It will also enable us to begin to respond in a more systematic manner to the various economic and social challenges before us, especially through our various committees that will also be constituted soon.
“On this note, I want to urge you all my colleagues to ensure that what is uppermost in our minds as we begin the constitutional task of screening of ministerial nominees is the overall interest of our country, informed by the enormity and the urgency of the challenges before us.
“Once the list is submitted, let us ensure that we treat it with dispatch and thoroughness. We must not be held down by unnecessary politicking.”
The police in Edo State on Tuesday arraigned two men before an Egor Magistrate’s Court for allegedly raping and assaulting a 12-year-old girl in Egor local government area of the state.
Names of the suspects were given as Festus Owie (20) and Blessing Ebiminor (21).
They were arraigned on a three-count charge of defilement, rape and assault and the offence was committed on October 26, 2014 at 46, First Oromina Street, off Siluko road, Benin City.
The offences contravene Sections 218 and 222 of the Criminal Code Cap 48, Vol II, Laws of the defunct Bendel State of Nigeria, 1976, applicable in the state.
The charges read, ” That you, Festus Owie (aka Ebo) on or about October, 2014, at about 1200 hours at No. 46, First Oromina Street, off Siluko road, Benin City, in the Egor Magisterial district did unlawfully have sexual intercourse with one Beauty (surname withheld) aged 12 years, by inserting your penis into her vagina and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 218 of the Criminal Code Cap 48, Vol II, Laws of the defunct Bendel State of Nigeria, 1976, as applicable in Edo State.
“That you, Blessing Ebiminor, on or about October, 2014, at about 1200 hours at No. 46, First Oromina Street, off Siluko road, Benin City, in the Egor Magisterial district, did indecently assault one Beauty (surname withheld) aged 12 years, against her consent and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 222 of the Criminal Code Cap 48, Vol II, Laws of the defunct Bendel State of Nigeria, 1976, as applicable in Edo State.
The suspects pleaded not guilty and the Presiding Magistrate, Igho Braimoh, insisted that the case must go on despite pleas that the first accused person has paid the victim the sum of N100,000 to withdraw the case.
Braimoh adjourned the case to October 19 for further hearing.
ABUJA–SENATE President,Bukola Saraki,Tuesday,reiterated that his trial by the Code of Conduct Tribunal,CCT,was being influenced by people outside the National Assembly who were not comfortable with his emergence as Senate President
But he said the ‘intruders’ were fighting a lost battle as they were not National Assembly members to effect their desired leadership in the Red Chamber.
Bukola Saraki
This was even as he disclosed that the screening of the ministerial nominees being awaited by the Senate would not be business as usual,vowing that the exercise would be thoroughly carried out.
Speaking while welcoming senators back,after six weeks of recess, Saraki insisted that his travails in the hands of the anti-graft agency were the handiwork of those he referred to as “powerful individuals outside” the legislature.
“I wish to reiterate my remarks before the Tribunal, that I have no iota of doubt that I am on trial today because I am the president of the Nigerian Senate, against the wishes of some powerful individuals outside this Chambers,”he said.
In an apparent reference to the outsiders,the Senate President said: “The laws of Nigeria does not give any consideration to any other forces outside the Senate in the election of its President.
“And to yield the ground on this note, is to be complicit in the subversion of democracy and its core principles of separation of powers as enshrined in our constitution.”
“This, in your wisdom, is what you have done by electing me to be the first among all of you who are my equals,”he told his colleagues.
He said the activities of the powerful individuals outside the legislature would not deter him,vowing that he would always defend the independence of the legislature.
He also noted that too many people have fought and died for the democracy being enjoyed in the country today,adding: “We would not be honouring them and their memories if we allow the sad chapters of our history to continue to repeat themselves like a bad curse.”
“As for me, I am prepared to do my duty in defence of our democracy and in safeguarding the independence of the National Assembly. My duty, as I see it, is to do justice and honour to the memory of those who have paid even higher prices to give us this democracy and this constitution.”
“Primarily as a senator of the Federal Republic and as Senate President, I owe it to this Senate to stand strong in the face of relentless persecution.
“I invite all of you to stand with me to defend this Senate and preserve its sanctity.
“Ultimately, our legacies would not be defined by how long we stay here and in whatever position; but by what we did with this great opportunity that our people have given us by the grace of Almighty God,”he stressed.
But he commended President Muhammadu Buhari, for refusing to interfere in the election of the National Assembly leadership “even in the face of enormous pressures on him to do so.”
He said the action of the president “proved quite concretely that he is indeed a born-again democrat.”
Speaking on the awaited ministerial screening, Senator Saraki said: “As we await the list of ministerial nominees this week, I believe the presence of ministers will create the space for greater policy engagement with the Executive Arm of government and enable us to begin to respond in a more systematic manner to the various economic and social challenges before us, especially through our various Committees that will also be constituted soon.
“On this note, I want to urge you all my colleagues to ensure that what is uppermost in our minds as we begin the constitutional task of screening of ministerial nominees is the overall interest of our country, informed by the enormity and the urgency of the challenges before us.
“Once the list is submitted, let us ensure that we treat it with dispatch and thoroughness. We must not be held down by unnecessary politicking. The enormity of our national challenges at this time does not give room for pettiness or politics of vendetta,”he charged senators.
The Senate President added:”This is an auspicious moment for us to rededicate ourselves to all that which will advance our nation,move us closer to the dreams of our founding fathers and our attain ourdestiny as the greatest nation of the black race on the planet.
“All that we seek for our country is achievable in our life time if we all play our part and forsake our old ways. But the least we must do is to ensure that while we are here, we are able to lay the necessary foundation for our children and their children to live a more prosperous life.”
Saraki charged senators to sit up to their constitutional responsibilities,vowing that the Senate under his watch will exercise it functions without fear or favour.
BENIN—SIX-YEAR-OLD Miss Sharon Eghobamien, a pupil of Eriya Group of Schools, Ihogbe, Benin-City, Edo State, was playing in her mother’s shop when three randy male students of the School of Nursing, Benin, swooped on her, whisked her away to a hideout where they defiled her.
SIX-YEAR-OLD Miss Sharon Eghobamien, a pupil of Eriya Group of Schools
That was on the May 25, 2015.When she was questioned by her mother, Mrs. Rachel Eghobamien, a petty trader, who observed that her daughter was always complaining of abdominal pains, frequent urinating and defecating, she opened up on how the three students usually whisk her through the window, took her to their hostel and rape her.
She gave the names of the suspected rapists as Kennedy, Paul Aghama and Jeffery, saying they carried out the escapades whenever she (Mrs Eghobamien) was not around. Suspicion: Mrs. Eghobamien told Niger Delta Voice that she became apprehensive that something grave might have happened to her daughter when she noticed that she was not walking normally and always complained of abdominal pains, urinating frequently and defecating.
Charge ofdefilement
“I begin to question her and she then told me that whenever I am not in the shop, these boys always took her away through the window to their hostels to defile her” “I took her to the Central Hospital Benin where she was examined by a doctor and it was discovered that she had been defiled and her hymen was already broken. I then reported the case at the Aideyan Police Station, Benin City and from there it was transferred to Esigie Police Station, the section in charge of defilement cases in Benin.”
Strange development
She disclosed that while the matter was still with the Edo State Police Command, where the suspected students were detained pending police investigation, something curious happened.
Her words, “While police officers at Esigie Police Station were carrying out discreet investigation to unravel the intrigues behind the defilement as instructed by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. James Ezike, the suspects and their cohorts concocted a frivolous petition to the office of the AIG, Zone 5.”
Mrs Eghobamien, a casual worker at the School of Nursing, said while the suspects under investigation by the state Police Command were in detention, some officials of the School of Nursing, Benin approached her to withdraw the case from the police.
She said she refused and they deprived her from removing her things from the school until date. Consequently, she said that her life was threatened and following the boasting from the suspects that they have some powerful individuals, who would use their positions to influence the Office of the AIG, Zone 5 investigating the case to give them a safe landing, she decided to consult a Benin based legal practitioner, Olayiwola Afolabi, on the issue.
Incredulous police report: Afolabi in a petition to the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, appealed to him to allow an independent panel of police investigators in- charge of defilement matters other than those from the office of the AIG Zone 5 to conduct fresh investigation into the case.
He said that some powerful persons used their positions to influence the office of the AIG, Zone 5 to sweep the heinous crime under the carpet and more so, cases of rape fall under the purview of the state Police Command.
The solicitor asserted, “To our greatest chagrin, our client was told that the said investigation report contains among other things that her daughter, who is only six years old is the one responsible for her broken hymen by using instruments to penetrate her vagina; this fact only points to one direction – that the boasting of the suspects was true.”
“The curious thing about this matter is that while the case was pending at AIG Zone 5, Ministry of Health officers that oversee the School of Nursing called our client to come with her daughter that was defiled. After our client and her daughter had made statement to them, they began to ask her what exactly she wanted with the case at the AIG Zone 5, using her words.
“We have laboured to bring before the Inspector General of Police the various intrigues associated with this case due to the fact that the family of the victim has no money but we believe the Inspector General of Police is only our hope in this matter,” he said.
Arase overrules AIG
Following the petition from the legal practitioner, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, reverted an earlier report from the AIG’s office, which stated that the six-year-old girl penetrated her private part with instruments. He directed the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Chris Ezkike, through his Principal Staff Officer, Idowu Owohunwa (ACP), to step up investigation into the case.
…Residents flee Omoku, Obrikom communities …LG chair blasts security agencies for incompetence …Youth leader absolves police, tells off LG chair
By Davies Iheamnachor & Gift Nwankpa
OMOKU—UNIDENTIFIED gunmen have run amok in Rivers State, killing at least 15 persons at Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, ONELGA, of the state in the last few weeks. The gory massacre has sent shivers down the spine of residents. The armed men, apparently seething with rage that over 200 cultists renounced cultism in the area, took aim at Omoku community lately, shooting sporadically and exterminating the lives of innocent people in all their three raids.
Cult clash
Niger Delta Voice gathered that, indeed, about 200 cultists, formerly of the Icelander Cult, terrorizing the area, openly repudiated their membership of the group at a Peace and Prayer programme organized by the ONELGA Youth Forum. The development restored hope to the people of the area, as many residents who relocated from the area returned when they heard about the wind of change blowing in the community.
Transient respite: However, the relief was temporal, as barely one week after the entreaty programme, the gunmen returned in full swing shattering the fragile peace enjoyed by the people for less than 30 days. The gangsters exterminated five persons that renounced cultism, penultimate Sunday, in Omoku town. They also invaded Omoruyi Street in the same community at about 9.00 pm and killed another five persons.
The Sunday incident raised palpable tension in Omoku town with people scampering to bed earlier than usual. A source told Niger Delta Voice that some of those who allegedly disowned cultism in the peace programme were not faithful to their promise.
Youth leader laments killings:
A youth leader in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government, Mr. Bright Abali condemned the deliberate killings of the innocent people as a senseless murder.
Abali, one of the youths that organized the peace programme where the cultists purportedly repented, said the level of killings in the area, especially after over 200 cultists turned their back on cultism was affecting the community. He said: “Politics have come and gone we should not continue to carry dead bodies, we cannot continue like this. I call on these masked gunmen to sheath their sword. Let it not look as if they deceived us.”
Fresh strike: While citizens were bemoaning the Omuku invasion, cultists struck, last Wednesday, at Obrikom community, killing six persons. Sources said the cultists opened fire soon as they stormed the community and like Omoku episode, Obrikom villagers were currently moving out of the under attack town.
LG chair blames security agencies, peace organizers: Contacted, chair of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government area, Mr. Austin Ahiamadu, blamed the security agencies over the killings, stressing that the security agencies refused to live up to expectation in securing lives and properties in the area
Security agencies
He also criticized the peace reconciliation rally held in the area by a group, stressing that it was wrong to organize such programme without involving the local government council. He disclosed that the council had organized a security and peace meeting with both the security agencies and community stakeholders to proffer solution to the root cause of the crisis.
Big deception
Ahiamadu asserted, “The boys have not repented, if they had, why do they kill people, how will people who claim they have repented still be killing our people over nothing. “What they did was just a mere deceit, how would they organize a peace move without the knowledge of the local government,” he added.
Ahiamadu called on the state government and security agencies to re-double efforts in retuning normalcy, pointing out, “The situation is getting out of hand here.”
Youth chair tackles LG chair
The chair of ONELGA Youth Forum, Kingsley Ogumike, took the local government boss to the cleaners, accusing him of leading the people from a promised land.
“How would he know what his happening here when he rules from outside the local government area, he will not know the efforts of the police because he is not around, we did our best and deserve commendation, we sent invitation to everyone, including him but he was not around to receive it. God knows where is ruling the local government from,” he said.
Police vow to fish out criminals
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kimo Musa, who confirmed the killings, said police were currently investigating the incidents.
Musa said that the police were on top of the situation and would unravel and bring the culprits to book. He enjoined the people of the area to go about their normal businesses and make available any useful to the police.
