Every Validly Registered Voter Will Get PVC says INEC Chair

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will spare no effort to ensure that every validly registered voter get his / her Permanent Voter Card (PVC) to be able to exercise their franchise in the 2015 General Election.

INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, gave the assurance; adding that the Commission had reached a comfort level to boldly say the forthcoming general election will be free, fair, credible and transparent, and will be of far higher standard than what was achieved in 2011. He spoke on Thursday when he played host at the Commission’s head office to Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for West and Central Africa, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas.
Professor Jega said the challenges experienced during the third phase of PVC distribution and Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in some states were transient and do not threaten the Commission’s readiness to deliver superlative elections in 2015.
Explaining what INEC has been doing to meet up to this target, he said: “Since the 2011 elections, the Commission has devoted a lot of time and energy to keep on improving the processes and setting up policies and mechanisms that can help us have remarkably better elections in 2015. We’ve done quite a lot…Of course, there are challenges; and we have to acknowledge these challenges. One of the key things we have done is that we have updated the register, we have cleaned it up and we have been working very hard to produce and distribute what the law says we should – Permanent Voter Cards. We have gone very far with this. So far, we have produced PVCs and distributed them in 24 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and we have also done an update of the register in those states.
“The last phase of the distribution of PVCs and updating the register was to cover the remaining 12 states. I must say with regret that we experienced some challenges in the production of those cards within our defined time schedules, and this has necessitated adjustment of the timeline for distribution of the cards. Whereas we had wanted to distribute the cards within the same period in all the remaining 12 states, we now have to stagger it in order to ensure that we have all the cards before they are distributed. And, of course, people have been very anxious and many have been disappointed – not just by the change in the timetable for distribution of the cards but also by the logistical challenges and operational delays experienced in the field. But these are minor challenges as far as we are concerned. We are absolutely sure that before the February elections, every validly registered Nigerian will have his / her PVC to be able to exercise their voting right. And we are doing everything possible to ensure that happens.”
On the readiness of INEC to deliver superlative elections, Professor Jega said: “We have reached a comfort level to say categorically that we will deliver credible, free, fair and transparent elections in 2015 that will be much better than what we did in 2011. Our hope and prayer is that in those areas where there are security challenges, the challenges will be minimised and sufficient normalcy and stability restored for us to be able to conduct elections; so that at the end of it all, we will be satisfied as Nigerians that we’ve conducted the best elections in the history of our country.”
The Chairman noted, however, that getting the best standards of elections is not the sole responsibility of INEC. “We know that whatever we do as an Election Management Body (EMB), we cannot guarantee peaceful conduct of elections unless there is an equal commitment by the political parties and the candidates. In our engagement with political parties, we constantly put the issue on the table, and we are trying to find ways and means of ensuring this.”
The visiting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General stressed Nigeria’s place as a strategic member of the global community. He said the country “must set the standard for others to follow because Nigeria has a special place in West Africa and, indeed, Africa.”
Dr. Chambas, who is also a former President of ECOWAS, added: “2015 will be a year in which we will witness some very significant elections in West Africa. In addition to Nigeria, we have elections in Togo, Cote d’ivoire, Guinea, Burkina Faso. These are all countries that, within the ECOWAS context, are very significant. Some of them, for example Cote d’ivoire, Guinea and even now Burkina Faso, will be conducting election post-conflict. So, we expect to face some challenges there. It is in that context that we hope that Nigerian elections will be standard setting, so that we can hopefully use the expertise from Nigeria to support these other countries in the region.”
The Resident Coordinator of the UN Systems in Nigeria, Dr. Daouda Toure, accompanied the Special Representative to INEC offices.

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Why PDP’ll never rule Lagos –Tunde Salau

Hon Tunde Salau represented Epe Federal Constituency on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) be­tween 2003 and 2007 before defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In this interview with REMI ADEFU­LU, he declares that having tasted the two parties, the APC boasts of the appropriate vehicle for the actualisation of the Nigerian project. Excerpts:
Do you think your party is suf­ficiently prepared for 2015?
There are certain things about facing an election. The first thing is to do your home work thoroughly, getting yourself ready be­fore you put your manifesto and plans into action. So far, in Lagos State, we are faced now with conducting credible primaries for prospective aspirants, with a view to coming out with our best to face the general elec­tion. At the national level, we have so many aspirants contesting. The modality for pick­ing the candidates, through the modified pri­maries, was conceived by the elders of the party. The intention is to produce a candi­date that will be acceptable, somebody that has what it takes to deliver Nigeria from her current state of helplessness, a person who will be able to deliver the party’s manifesto as clearly anticipated. This is because at times when a candidate has a totally differ­ent idea, it brings about a situation where people get confused and they tend to shift the blame to the party. The most important is getting a candidate that is a thinker, a doer, somebody who knows what Nigeria needs at this juncture, somebody prepared to take on Nigeria’s problems without fear or favor. That is what Nigeria needs now.
APC parades notable presiden­tial aspirants, don’t you see this as a challenge?
You could see from the turnout at their outings, especially the rally of all rallies in Benin. You saw the massive turnout of Be­nin residents and the presidential hopefuls. You saw the way they chatted. It shows they have a good frame of mind. Somebody must be picked and that person must be credible, acceptable to the generality of aspirants. We can’t be equal. Naturally, when someone superior is picked, you kowtow and let go. There is a natural tendency that you would like to work with that person, you are full of good will and all that because you believe in that person. Whatever you have as solution, that person has same in terms of solving whatever problems or ills of the society. If a person emerges and the person is seen to be credible enough and representative enough of a fairly large number of constituents, I’m sure there won’t be any problem. The party is fully in charge of the situation. At the re­cently concluded constitution review meet­ings of the party, I can assure you all these things were taken care of. Look at the people APC currently parades. We have Atiku, Bu­hari, Kwankwaso and Tanbuwal. All these are very credible people. We are not talking about a wishy washy thing, we are talking about high grade, high caliber representa­tives. Believe me, they can face anybody anywhere, Jonathan inclusive in any elec­tion. All we are praying for is to have a cred­ible, open, fair and just election, so that at the end of the day, Nigerians can boast that the leaders we have produced came through our votes, not through rigging. That is why INEC must be extremely careful so that this election does not turn to something we never prayed for in this country. They predicted that Nigeria will break, Nigeria can never break, if the will of the people is seen to have manifested in terms of results declared when elections were concluded, when their wishes are seen to have manifested. When this does not happen, you are giving room for all kinds of chaos and all the things we don’t wish for in this country.
In picking APC’s presidential candidate, would you support con­sensus or primary?
(Takes a heavy breath) Hmm, the issue of consensus is democratic. Before, we used to have a system where you picked delegates from the various wards and constituencies. Sometimes, these delegates, may be about 10 come together and pick one out of them as a super delegate. Would you say that is not democratic? It is democratic. Some­times, there are various factors you bring into consideration when picking a candidate for the party. The candidate must represent the people, he must represent the party. These are aggregates you consider in pick­ing a candidate. Consensus is for people, not for machines. Consensus is the aggregate opinion from various party constituents. In­stead having a jamboree, that was why the party deemed it wise that may be it would be better to have a modified kind of primaries.
When the modalities are out, it will enjoy the support of APC card carrying members because we have our style of doing things, a style that does not promote rancor. It does not give room for mud slinging. Look at PDP, they are faced with their problems. Be­lieve me , the problems are not small. They have never been able to manage their mem­bers. Everybody is on his own. In the PDP boat, you have about one million captains. That is why they will never win Lagos State. What makes a party thick is not because it occupies the Federal Government, it’s what they represent. What they offer the people. What people see them to be. Are these seri­ous people? No, they are not. In Lagos State, they can’t even manage a local government, talk less of managing a state.
I know what the party entails especially as regards Lagos. They are not people to be worried about. They have showed that they don’t have the attribute to govern Lagos. They are not organised; they are not people of repute. I don’t think they have done anything cred­ible or worthy of mention. Meanwhile, in the APC we have a record of performance. Asiwaju did extremely well, handed over to Fashola who did extremely well too. It is a big challenge. It’s a big challenge to who­ever is coming in to take over from Fashola. By the grace of God, it’s going to be an­other APC governor. Between Tinubu and Fashola, we have seen a century worth of development. I’m talking of something un­precedented in the history of Lagos since its creation. Look at all the various infrastruc­tural development, look at all the areas you never thought you could get access to.
Roads are being constructed on a daily basis, drain­ages are been built and many more. All these are happening in a state that half of it was virtually sinking as at 1996/97 due to failed infrastructure. Some parts of Somolu and others were virtually cut off from the rest of the world. Some of these areas are where the majority of the people are living; Iyana Ipaja, Command, Idimu, new Idimu, Ejigbo, Ikotun, Abaranje, Ijegun were virtually cut off from civilization because hitherto there were no good roads. The best roads you can boast of now in Lagos now transverse LASU to Iyana Ipaja, and that is where the masses live. This is not an elitist government, and that is not saying the elites are forgotten. Development is taking place simultaneously across the state.
There is a lot of discontent in APC in Lagos over 2015 guber poll, won’t this be a challenge?
I have never seen a party where you don’t have aspiration and I’ve never seen a party where people are not passionate about their aspiration. Once you have a passion for your aspiration, some heat must be gener­ated. What is happening in the party now is overblown. There is no hitch, no rancor. People have been orderly. I’ve not heard of threats in the APC. What is happening is that people are more aware politically. People want to beat the achievements of Tinubu and Fashola, so there is healthy competition in APC. We don’t turn ourselves into punching bags. Whoever emerges at the end of the day believe me, will be acceptable to all. Why people like us believe in APC is because it is service – oriented party. It’s a party that’s fully committed. Fashola hardly sleeps, I know this for a fact. It’s about Lagos. Once you start something good, you will want to be seen to be carrying on that good work throughout, so that you are being seen to have delivered on your party manifesto. You would have been seen to have carried out the proposal you presented to people. I can as­sure you that there won’t be problems. At the end of the day, somebody would emerge and that person will be acceptable.
How do you then react to the al­legations that you are supporting Senator Obanikoro of PDP?
(Takes a deep breath and laughs) It’s laughable. We don’t share the same politi­cal ideology. We will never do because I’m more of the progressive bent. Events of 2007 will readily tell everybody that we are not in the same political camp. The issue of moving to PDP is zero. I’m fully committed to my party, APC and I believe we are winning this election hundred percent. I’ve been working assiduously just like other leaders towards presenting a better candidate who will deliv­er more than Fashola. Whoever named me among those behind Obanikoro must have reasons for doing so. For the records, some days ago I was at a meeting attended by the former speaker of the House of Assembly, Jokotola Pelumi and a governorship aspir­ant, Dr. Leke Pitan which was at the party’s elders meeting at Eredo Local Council De­velopment Area, where I presented 40 mega phones to various wards and even gave them half a million naira to enable them mobilize for voters registration exercise. I’m not one of them and I will never be one of them. To Koro, I say go and have some one else to do your job for you, I’m not in that kind of cat­egory.
Do you think the APC can man­age the fallout of the party prima­ries?
There must be fallout at every primary. People have aspirations and people must have passion to fuel that aspiration. I’m not contesting, no election should be taken as do or die affair.

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Imo PDP groups blast Araraume, Ahamba, others over ward congress

Critical stake­holders in the Peoples Dem­ocratic Party (PDP) Imo State Chap­ter yesterday urged the national leadership of the party to ignore and dismiss calls by “some disgruntled and frus­trated governorship aspirants” who want the result of the re­cently concluded ward congress in the state cancelled.

Describing the petition­ers as agents of destabili­zation who may actually be mercenaries for the op­position; the stakeholders insisted that a free and fair congress held in the 305 wards of the state.
The stakeholders under the aegis of Forum of Elect­ed Ad Hoc Delegates, Imo PDP Renaissance Group and Imo PDP Stakehold­ers Forum in a statement signed by Chief Peter Oke­rie, Mrs Helen Chukwu and Chief Ike Obasi, described the petitioners as bad losers who wanted to reap from where they did not sow.
“They never cam­paigned. They were not as­pirants. They did not spon­sor people. They merely thought that they will be anointed from Abuja as they had boasted. But the real power holders at the grassroots have taught them a lesson”, the groups said.
They regretted that the petitioners included Chief Mike Ahamba, Senator If­eanyi Araraume, Senator Chris Anyanwu and Hon Bethel Amadi, saying they were misled into believing that they could emerge vic­torious without campaign­ing.
“They relied on their long stay in Aso Rock. They drop Mr President’s name. They relied on their frequent appearance on pages of newspaper and television. They took the grassroots for granted and that is why they crashed”, the groups argued.
They enjoined the Na­tional Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu and the NWC not to give ear to the petition as it lacked merit.
According to them, the ward congress did not only follow due process, the re­sults were a true reflection of the wishes of genuine PDP members in the state.
They noted that even if the election is conducted 10 times, the outcome would still be the same as the pe­titioners are known to be serial governorship failures and bad losers.
They warned the peti­tioners to desist from de­stabilizing the party as they had done in the past before they were pardoned and re­admitted to the PDP.
“Looking at their unsa­voury antecedents as po­litical prostitutes who jump from one party to another it is our considered advice to them to desist from any act that will endanger PDP’s march to Douglas House in 2015”, they said.

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PDP reverses self on Adamawa, Ebonyi

Less than 24 hours after the inauguration of caretaker com­mittees for Adamawa and Ebonyi States chapters of the party, the PDP NWC has re­versed itself and re­called the constituted caretaker committees.

National publicity sec­retary of the party, Olisa Metuh said it “ reviewed the state of the party in Ad­amawa and Ebonyi states in the light of the appeals and interventions of critical stakeholders together with remorse demonstrated by the executives.”
Saturday Sun checks however revealed that the party’s recant on Adamawa was informed by threat from 23 lawmakers in the state Assembly to dump the PDP for the APC.
On Adamawa, the party announced the suspen­sion of Chief Joel Madaki and Barrister A. T. Shehu, Chairman and Secretary of the party.
The statement also an­nounced the dissolution of the ward congresses in La­gos, Cross River and Oyo states and fixed Monday for a fresh congress in the respective states.
The statement further said “In the case of Cross River, all suspensions by the state chapter have been lifted and all members of the party in the state are now free to participate in all party activities including our congresses.”

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Boko Haram: Assert yourself now, NBA chief charges military

When it comes to legal practice, the voice of Mrs. Miannaya Aja Essien (SAN), is a voice that commands respect. She became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2007, making her the seventh lady in Ni­geria to attain that prestigious rank. She is also a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK).

In this interview with LUKMAN OLABI­YI, the senior lawyer analysed various issues affecting judiciary and legal profession in the country, especially, the current crisis rocking the judiciary in Rivers State and its effect on the masses.
She pleaded with Governor Rotimi Amae­chi and the National Judicial Council (NJC) to let go of their personal interest and consider the interest of the masses. Essien spoke on this and other issues affecting the development of the country. Excerpts:
The Judiciary in Rivers State seems to be in limbo, no thanks to the deepening face-off between Gov­ernor Amaechi and the NJC. What is the way forward?
The courts should be opened so that the litigants will have access to justice. The man­ner in which it is achieved is immaterial. What is important is the interest of the society. I can tell you that the consequences so far have been devastating. Litigants, lawyers and the society at large have been badly affected. You can im­agine what those detained for bailable offences or awaiting trial have been going through.
What challenge would this pose to the judiciary especially as the 2015 elections itch closer?
This is quite a conundrum. Without the courts, issues arising from pre and post-pri­maries will suffer. There will be nowhere to resolve disputes and let us not forget that these cases are quite time sensitive. This will also ap­ply to main elections although the Federal High Court can handle some aspects of election mat­ters.
Many have said that there is a de­cline in the Judiciary compared to the days of Oputa, Kayode Eso, Idig­be etc, do you share this view?
No. Times have changed and the law has been developing tremendously as well as the personnel that man the judiciary. We have many judges and justices of this generation who have equally proved their mettle. Yes, Justice Oputa, Justice Kayode Eso and Justice Idigbe made their marks and their judgments were always brilliant. However, presently we have many who are just as good. Also, remem­ber that the drive towards an expeditious and efficient judiciary has been put in place by our various rules of court and practice directions to enhance justice delivery. These rules and practice directions are dynamic and have met challenges faced by litigants and lawyers in the conduct of their matters especially those that are time sensitive.
Also, many have canvassed spe­cial constitutional courts for corrup­tion cases; do you think there is need for this especially when every court can deal with constitutional aspects of cases before it?
I do not think so. The solution does not lie in establishing special constitutional courts but rather to empower existing judges by making their conditions of service more comfortable and by appointing more judges so that they can deal with the volume of work. I must add that when appointing judges, emphasis should be on a transparent appointment process that places emphasis on merit rather than quota.
What are your expectations of the new CJN?
We expect His Lordship to build on the im­mense achievements of his predecessor, espe­cially on the issue of corruption, and we know we can expect a more active and robust judici­ary which will further enhance justice delivery.
2015 is at hand, what roles do you expect of the NBA in a pre-election year and the forthcoming general elections?
NBA has always monitored elections and spoken its mind on crucial issues relating to pre-and post-elections. With what has hap­pened in some states where elections have been held? I expect the NBA to be more vocal.
Mass failure recorded in this year’s Bar examination is a confirmation that the standard of legal education is on the decline, how can this be im­proved?
The mass failure cannot be attributed to the law school programme that runs for about one year. The problem is more fundamental and has to do with the quality of law gradu­ates being churned out from the numerous law faculties. If the foundation is poor, there is no magic the Law School can perform. You have undergraduates who probably should not have got to study law in the first place but somehow managed to get in maybe with the post-JAMB assessment stage or otherwise. You also have some law faculties that are not accredited or lost their accreditation due to the quality of their faculties. I have interviewed lawyers who cannot speak proper English or cannot com­prehend basic instructions. How do you expect them to pass?
The Director-General of the NLS, Mr. Olanrewaju Onadeko, who was our lecturer in 1984/85, has raised the standard and the inherent deficiencies in the quality of the uni­versity education came to the fore. I also read in the dailies that the failure rate was more pronounced among those who were re-sitting the exams. From the news reports, the secre­tary is said to have stated that over half of the students who were taking the exam for the first time (57.01 per cent) passed while the failure rate was high among the re-sit candidates with about 1168 out of 1335 students who registered failing the examinations while 88 students recorded ordinary pass. Also, 26 of the re-sit students recorded conditional pass. Those are details most people don’t have.
I think the Law School is on the way to rais­ing those standards the average lawyer com­plains have fallen. Thus all the clamour for probes etc cannot be justified once an analysis for the failure as stated by the Law school is considered. The quality of the law faculties and the programmes they run should be looked into.
Insecurity of lives is one of the greatest challenges facing the coun­try especially with the latest attack on Adamawa State by the dreaded Boko Haram, how do you think this can be tackled within the interna­tionally accepted best practice?
The defence budget has always been quite significant and is always one of the largest. The Nigerian Army has the personnel. The major role of the military and other law enforcement agencies is to secure the lives and property of the citizens. As far as I am concerned, Boko Haram has declared war against Nigeria and this is how it ought to have been considered from the outset. With the latest attack on Mubi, the Army needs to assert itself and tackle the in­surgency. They should convince us that the ac­colades they win when they are on international assignments are well deserved.
The last appointment of Senior Advocates of Nigeria had no female lawyer on the list. What does this say about the status of women in the profession?
To start with, all applicants, whether male or female, are subject to the same assessment cri­teria by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Com­mittee. This year, only one lady applied out of the initial 169 applicants. I further understand that she did not scale through one of the filtra­tion stages.
So, the problem is not with the status of women in the profession, rather more ladies need to apply to increase the odds. I must con­fess though that it takes a lot of hard work and determination. There are no short cuts.
You were on record to have emerged as Chairman, NBA Section on Legal Practice at the NBA Annual General Conference in Owerri re­cently. But the NBA President imme­diately annulled the Council of the Section, alleging that the electoral process was undemocratic. What re­ally happened?
The NBA SLP is made up of lawyers who hold tenaciously to all due and democratic pro­cesses. All I can say is that all processes and procedure relating to the elections were strictly followed and adhered to. As a senior member of the Bar, it will be inappropriate for me to say more as I am aware that the issues have been placed before the Federal High Court and the High Court in Owerri to determine.
Some members of the Council have rushed to court to sue the presi­dent. This is rather unusual in a pro­fessional body like the NBA which should have its internal mechanisms for resolving such minor disputes. Should this be encouraged?
First of all, I don’t agree that some members of the Council rushed to court. I know that there were efforts to resolve the issues with the presi­dent. Let us not forget that disputes are a fact of life without which lawyers would not have work! It may be considered unusual that they went to court but that depends on your per­spective. As lawyers, if issues arise and efforts by senior members of the Bar to resolve them don’t succeed, any aggrieved person has a right guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to seek redress in a court of law instead of justifying one’s actions with different (and changing) reasons in the pages of the newspapers. To the best of my knowledge, there is no laid-out internal mechanism the NBA has for resolving such disputes. Maybe with this, the Bar may wish to consider setting up such a mechanism.

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Supreme Court sacks Taraba Acting Governor

The Supreme Court yesterday nullified the impeachment of Taraba State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Sani Abubakar Danladi and ordered his immedi­ate reinstatement.

Meanwhile, in compli­ance with the judgment of the apex court, the Federal Government through the office of the Attorney Gen­eral of the Federation and Minister of Justice has di­rected the Acting Governor of Taraba State, Alhaji Gar­ba Umar, to immediately hand over the reins of gov­ernance of the State to Mr. Sani Danladi, and ensure a smooth transition, in order to prevent a vacuum and guarantee the maintenance of constitutional order.
A statement by the So­licitor General of the Fed­eration and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Alhaji Abdullahi Yola on behalf the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Bello Ad­oke [SAN], equally called on the Inspector General of Police to take necessary steps towards the provision of adequate security in the state in order to prevent any breach of the peace and en­sure the sustenance of law and order.
The statement reads:
“The attention of the Honourable Attorney- General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has ‘been drawn to the Judg­ment of the Supreme Court delivered today, 21st No­vember, 2014, nullifying the impeachment of the Deputy Governor of Taraba State, Mr. Sani Danladi by the Taraba State House of Assembly due to the viola­tion of applicable constitu­tional provisions and extant rules.
Pursuant to the said Judgment, the Honourable Attorney- General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, CFR hereby directs the Acting Governor of Taraba State, Alhaji Garba Umar, to im­mediately hand over the reins of governance of the State to the said Deputy Governor, Mr. Sani Dan­ladi, and ensure a smooth transition process, in order to prevent a vacuum in the governance of the State and guarantee the maintenance of Constitutional order.
The Honourable Attor­ney-General of the Fed­eration equally calls on the Inspector-General of Police to take necessary steps to­wards the provision of ad­equate security in the State within this transition period by the Nigeria police Force in order to prevent any breach of the peace and en­sure the sustenance of law and order.”
In a unanimous judg­ment of seven justices of the Supreme Court read by Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, the court held that the dep­uty governor was not given fair hearing by the panel.
Other justices on the panel are Samuel Onnogh­en, Bode Rhodes-Vivour, Kumayi Aka’ahs, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun and John Okoro.
Reading the lead judg­ment, Justice Ngwuta said: “In effect, at all material times, the appellant, Alhaji Sani Abubakar Danladi re­mained and still remains the deputy governor of Taraba State and he is to re­sume his interrupted duties of his office forthwith.”
In addition, the court fur­ther held that right from the composition of the seven-man panel the appellant was denied fair hearing just as it equally declared as illegal the sitting of the 19 members of the state House of Assembly at a guest house belonging to the ma­jority leader to prepare the impeachment notice.
According to the apex court, the sitting should have been at the hallowed chambers of the House add­ing that the the law makers breached section 188 of the 1999 constitution.
Justice Ngwuta de­scribed the impeachment panel as kangaroo panel adding that there was a conspiracy between the impeachment panel and the law makers.
He held that Danladi was denied the opportunity to prepare his defence or present his case before the panel.
Justice Ngwuta said fur­ther: “My noble Lords, the impact of what happened in the panel on the country’s impeachment jurisprudence is too alarming to contem­plate.
“Here is a panel that had three while months to in­vestigate the serious allega­tions of gross misconduct against the appellant, a dep­uty governor of the state. For no apparent reasons for the indecent haste, the panel completed its sitting and prepared and submitted its report to the Taraba State House of Assembly [be­tween September 28, 2012 and 3rd October 2012], a period of six days inclusive of the first and last dates.
“From the undisputed facts of this case, one has the inevitable but disturb­ing impression that the panel composed of the re­spondents was a mere sham and that the removal of the appellant from office was a done deal as it were.
“In my view, the respon­dents, in their purported in­vestigation of the allegation made against the appellant merely played out a script previously prepared and handed over to the panel.
“The most disturbing as­pect of the kangaroo panel is that it was headed by a man described in the pro­cesses before this court as a barrister- one barrister Nasiru Audu Dangiri.”The third member of the panel was also described as a banister- one barrister R.J. Ikitausai.
“If these two men are ac­tually members of the noble profession to which your Lordships and my humble self, by the grace of God have the honour to belong and not people who, for self-aggrandizement adopt­ed the nomenclature “bar­rister” , the harm they have deliberately perpetrated in this matter is so serious that the attention of the Disci­plinary Committee of the Bar ought to be drawn to it.
“Impeachment of elect­ed politicians is a very se­rious matter and should not be conducted as a mat­ter of course. The purpose is to step aside the will of the electorate as expressed at the polls. It has implica­tions for the Impeached as well as the electorate who bestowed the mandate on him. “Whether it takes one day or the three months prescribed by law, the rules of due process must be strictly followed. If the matter is left at the whims and caprices of politicians and their panels, a state or even the entire country could be reduced to a status of banana republic.”

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NGE president, Femi Adesina, advocates free press

National President of the Nigerian Guild of Edi­tors, NGE, Mr Femi Adesina yesterday shed light on the country’s media practice and devel­opment, with emphasis on the challenges facing the industry over the years.

Adesina who is also the Managing Director and Editor- in-Chief of the Sun Publishing Ltd spoke glow­ingly on the topic: “Media Ownership and the Chal­lenges of Free Press” at a news makers interactive programme organised by the Association of Veteran Journalists (AVJ) in Os­ogbo, the Osun State capi­tal, where he pointed out that the media, world over, had always operated under undue influence by both pri­vate and public owners, not­ing that the interference has been posing a lot of threat to free press and media devel­opment.
He lamented that free press, which would have facilitated robust journalism practice and its attendant effect on the socio-political and economic development, has been at the mercy of ownership, stressing that both public and private me­dia owners tend to apply censor on their outfits, based on their predetermined mo­tives, thereby making it dif­ficult for media houses to operate within the limits of the ethics of the profession.
“Ownership always has a role to play in the opera­tion of the media house. But when ownership intrudes too much in the editorial powers of the paper, it can easily die,” Mr Adesina said matter of fact.
“The danger is that, such ownership influence or in­terference can erode the credibility of the paper and make it unpopular, and this has been the bane of media growth and development globally,” he added.
He, therefore, cautioned against such influence through what he described as censorship and urged the owners to give their media managers and editors a ‘free hand to run their organisa­tions with professionalism.
Adesina, however, attrib­uted media owners’ pen­chant to influence their me­dia outfits to what he called predetermined motive which is mostly business, noting that without such in­fluence, they might not be able to achieve the motive.
He, however, commend­ed a few owners who have given free hand to their me­dia leaders to run the outfit professionally which, he en­thused, has also helped the growth of their outfits. He cited the former governor of Abia state and publisher of The Sun newspapers, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu as one of such.
The media guru also cau­tioned that journalists must endeavour to maintain their professional ethics and in­tegrity by eschewing any form of compromise so as not to drag the profession in the mud, especially when they are under pressure to do the bidding of their bosses.
Still speaking on the chal­lenges of free press, Adesina also lamented the menace of social media in the industry and cited instances of on­line operators who feed the reading public with wrong and fallacious information on their sites. He, there­fore, called for control and regulation by social media experts and their organisa­tions to ensure sanity in the system.
He also bemoaned me­dia professionals’ inability to own media houses, due to financial incapacitation, saying that as a result, pri­vate owners dominate me­dia ownership scene.
“In Mexico, Colombia,  and some others, drug lords and cartels own media hous­es and determine what to be published, leading to under reporting and abuse of the ethics of the profession,” he said.
“Low free press rate is a global challenge as only 14 percent of the world has free press. In other words, censorship is an issue in the media industry. Until media professionals set up and own media houses, the system remains the same,” he added.
Adesina also bemoaned media owners’ lackadaisical attitude towards protecting journalists. According to him, journalists’ welfare is never given a top priority by many media owners, adding however that there are a few exceptions in Nigeria.
“This also goes a long way in negatively affecting press freedom and ethical conduct because some jour­nalists would compromise the ethics of the profession to be able to survive”, he stressed.
Still harping on the seem­ing impossibility in achiev­ing absolute free press, he noted that even if media professionals own media houses, they could also tend to bend the rule, as they, too, would want to achieve their motive to survive in the competitive industry, noting that freedom always has its boundaries.
He concluded that: “no press freedom can be abso­lute. We must live with it.”

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Boko Haram: Our leaders have failed Nigerians – Hassan Sunmonu

President Goodluck Jonathan has been advised to sack the nation’s defence chiefs following pro­longed Boko Haram’s declara­tion of a caliphate in northern parts of the country.

Giving the advice in an interview with Satur­day Sun, former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Hassan Sunmonu, accused the military and the nation’s leadership of failing Nigerians by not being able to subdue the insurgency.
The labour leader, who was also the immedi­ate past Secretary-General, Organisation of Af­rican Trade Union Treaty (OATTU), urged the president to sack all the service chiefs including the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Alex Bade.
“Armed forces leadership has failed Nige­rians. They should go. Nigeria is being made a laughing stock over how our soldiers are running away from battle front. It has never happened before. It is an insult, Boko Haram is now carving out a caliphate within Nigeria and our soldiers can’t overrun them. This is a big shame,” he declared in this interview with TUNDE THOMAS.
The labour leader also spoke on other na­tional issues. Excerpts:
What is your reaction to the pre­sent state of insecurity in the country, especially the Boko Haram attacks?
What is happening in Nigeria today calls for serious concern. Our leaders should be sober and reflective. We have never had it so bad that a group of terrorists can be unleashing so much terror on the country, especially the North east­ern axis of the country.
What is baffling me, however, is why it is difficult for the Nigerian soldiers to defeat these terrorists.
I still find it difficult to believe when I read in the newspapers or watch television seeing how Nigerian soldiers are running away from battle against Boko Haram. I find it difficult to believe that soldiers can run away from battle front. It is very depressing seeing our soldiers running away from Boko Haram terrorists, and then seeking refuge in neighbouring countries like Cameroon, Niger and Chad. This is nothing but a mockery of Nigerian soldiers. Is this not the same Nigerian Army that has been taking part in several peace keeping operations in other parts of the world since 1960s. I don’t understand what is happening.
Who are these Boko Haram terror­ists? Why does it appear as if they are superior to our soldiers? Who are their sponsors? Are Boko Haram ter­rorists bigger than Nigeria?
I shed tears for Nigeria, how can a terrorist organisation be declaring a caliphate in Nigeria, and yet our leaders and the military can’t subdue them?
Although, I’m not a military strategist, hon­estly I believe something is wrong somewhere. The most annoying aspect of all these absurdi­ties is that our leaders are pretending as if all is well. Their preoccupation now is about 2015, how to contest and how to win re-election. No­body is talking about the Chibok girls again. Over 216 girls have been missing for over six months and yet our leaders still have the courage to be dancing and celebrating. All their attention now is on 2015. This is a big shame.
Strange things are happening in our country. How can soldiers run away from battle front? Even local hunters put up resistance and defend their domains against external invaders or ag­gressors in those days.
God forbid, what now happens in case of external aggression or invasion of Nigeria by any other country? This is why I say our lead­ers should have been sober instead of gallivant­ing all over the place deploying propaganda to hoodwink Nigerians about their so-called achievements.
How do we resolve the Boko Har­am threat?
Jonathan should fire all the service chiefs in­cluding the Chief of Defence Staff. The leader­ship of the Armed Forces has failed Nigerians.
The president should put those who have the fighting spirit in charge. Enough of rheto­rics. Nigerian troops should wake up from their slumber, and government should also provide them with all equipment and tools required to win the war against Boko Haram.
It is immoral of our leaders to be talking of 2015 without solving Boko Haram’s problems. Is it not the highest level of insensitivity on the part of our leaders that while suicide bombers are having a field day killing innocent Nigeri­ans almost on daily basis, they are strategizing on 2015.
Should our leaders not be strategizing more about how to crush Boko Haram rather than thinking about 2015. This is why I have been saying that we don’t have statesmen among the crop of present political leaders in Nigeria. For statesmen, they think first about the nation, its survival, well-being, growth and development, but for our leaders, they are politicians and that is why they are more concerned about 2015 and how to win election.
Are you saying that it is wrong for our political leaders to be talking and strategizing about 2015 now?
The timing is very wrong whether our lead­ers want to accept the reality or not, we are in a war situation.
Boko Haram has become a big festering sore, and now almost on a daily basis, these ter­rorists unleash terror on Nigerian state and her citizens. Is it not an insult that Boko Haram has declared a caliphate in Nigeria?
To set up another state within the entity called Nigeria, and our political leaders and de­fence chiefs seem to be clueless in finding an answer to the problem. That is why I said our leaders should have been sober. The other day you see President Jonathan and others at Eagle Square dancing and celebrating when the Presi­dent declared his intention to seek re-election. Yet a day before, 47 school children were killed by a suicide bomber at Potiskum in Yobe State.
These politicians dancing and celebrating, are they not parents? That Abuja declaration’s celebration by the President and members of his political party is a show of shame.
President Jonathan’s focus now should have been how to recover Nigeria’s lost territories from Boko Haram. His concern should have been how to bring back the abducted Chibok schoolgirls. So, one wonders why the president and the PDP are involved in this show of shame. It spreads across all the political parties. Their pre-occupation now is 2015 and nothing else. Is it not when you still have the nation called Nigeria that you can have election? Leadership has always been a big problem for Nigeria. This is not the Nigeria of the dream of the nation’s founding fathers. Nigeria as at today needs re­demption. The nation needs statesmen and not politicians who are only out to plunder the na­tion’s resources. Look at the fat salaries and al­lowances being collected by our political office holders. It is outrageous. Nigerian lawmakers earn salaries bigger and fatter than that of some nation’s presidents.
Do you then support calls by some people that salaries and other emolu­ments being collected by political of­fice holders should be reviewed?
The jumbo pay being collected by these politicians is simply outrageous, and this is why politics of do-or-die will continue to be with us for a long time to come. People are desperate for political offices and appointments because of perks of office.
There should be a drastic reduction in sala­ries and allowances being collected by politi­cal office holders. While these politicians earn fat pay and also allocate allowances of various sorts to themselves, some of them, especially state governors still find it difficult to pay civil servants. In some states, workers are being owed for months – this is very sad. It is a big shame that in spite of all resources available to us as an oil producing country, our leaders can’t still pay workers living wages. But you see these leaders leading opulent lifestyles.
My recommendation is this, any state that owes workers salary arrears should be declared bankrupt.
What is your reaction to the state of Labour Party in Nigeria? Some have expressed views that the party is now dead with the recent defec­tion of Governor Olusegun Mimiko and some lawmakers elected on the platform of the party to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?
It is unfortunate that labour leaders have not been vigilant and also devote their attention to Labour Party. Both leaderships of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and Trade Union Con­gress, TUC, have not been actively involved in the running of Labour Party, and this is one of the reasons for the party’s weakness. NLC and TUC leaders should put their heads together and rescue Labour Party.
I also blame NLC and TUC for allowing pol­iticians to hijack Labour Party in the first place. Labour Party is a brain child of Nigerian workers and as such, the party is supposed to be owned by the Nigerian workers. Labour Party is sup­posed to be one of the biggest parties in Nigeria, but unfortunately this has not been so because labour leaders have been devoting much of their attention and energy to union matters.
We need to rescue Labour Party. The party must become vibrant. Some other veteran labour leaders and I are ready to offer our advice and support on how to make the party strong.
It is our intention to ask the incoming new exco of NLC that will be elected in February 2015, their agenda for Labour Party. When we know their plan, we will then see how we can come in to offer our advice on how to make the party very strong.
What is your assessment of Nige­rian workers’ welfare under this de­mocracy?
Workers are not being paid deserved wages. Democracy and presidential system of govern­ment we are practicing has pauperized Nigeri­ans. Those people that are enjoying democracy are the politicians, political office holders who are earning jumbo pay. When last was salary review carried out? Inflation is galloping. Work­ers total take home pay is grossly insufficient to sustain workers and their families.
We should jettison presidential system of government. It is too expensive. We should re­turn to Parliamentary System of Government. Democracy in Nigeria today is too expensive.
Some people have claimed that the labour movement is no longer vibrant as it used to be, what is your view on this?
Leaders will always come and go, and things can never be the same every time. The good news is that in three months time, a new execu­tive will be in place to steer the affairs of the Ni­gerian Labour Congress, NLC.
Nigerian workers now have the opportunity to elect a new set of leaders. The trade union movement must at any time fulfill its mission. It doesn’t matter who is in leadership. If that mis­sion is not being fulfilled, then workers can elect new leaders. No two leaders can be the same. We have individual differences, but what should be of paramount concern to any labour leader is the issue of welfare of workers.

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You can’t go wrong with furniture business –Eke, MD, Great Unbeat Allied Company

Individuals, no matter how poor they are, would always budget to get pieces of furniture to enhance the outlook of their interiors. This definitely creates an immense opportunity for the jobless Nigerian youths, who could embrace the vocation and learn the craft of qualita­tive modern furniture making.

Prince Eke George Nnaemeka, Manag­ing Director of Great Unbeat Allied Com­pany Limited (GUACL), is one furniture dealer that is ready to confess to anyone that cares to listen that furniture business is indeed one line of venture that would never disappoint anyone that ventures into it.
According to him, running a furniture shop is a very lucrative business because home and office decors are endlessly in demand. “You can never run out of cus­tomers business because people will al­ways be looking for something to deco­rate their homes and offices with.”
Prince Eke, initially like a rolling stone, was doing all manner of jobs to survive. According to him, he started fending for himself at the age of 18 when he sojourned in Lagos. Although he came to Lagos with nothing, he ab­horred being a liability to any of his relations hence he took up a menial job of a dish washer in a restaurant at Toyin Street, Ikeja.
“My father was a teacher and a re­tired headmaster. I lost my mother at a very young age and I feel her death con­tributed a lot to my shortcomings in life. I made my papers in secondary school­ing but I had nobody to sponsor my edu­cation at tertiary level, so I went on to face the struggle of building my future. I started fending for myself at the age of 18. So, I decided to come to Lagos on my own, and I was employed in a res­taurant at Toyin Street, Ikeja as a sales boy. My relations in Lagos didn’t like the idea of me serving in a restaurant, so I was urged to go into trading.”
He first delved into sales of textile materials, shuttling between Aba and La­gos. At a point, he travelled to Benin Re­public in search of greener pastures. Over there. he traded in bicycle spare parts. But fate seems to have laid his turning point in furniture business.
“I started up trading with only N13, 000. I was struggling until I pleaded to be given goods on credit to one woman who is a major dealer in lining materi­als at Aba. Later, I met a friend who is based in Benin and begged him take me to there. He agreed. When I got to Benin my friend suggested that we run a joint busi­ness. In Benin, we traded in bicycle spare parts and other industrial material. Until we mutually agreed to split the business, after which I decided to switch into the furniture business.
My fortune changed when I started up in furniture making and sales. This is the business that God has used to turn my life around”, Prince Eke confessed.
Another small scale furniture dealer, Mrs Comfort Ubah, of Fab-Furnitures Limited highlights that glamorisation of tastefully furnished interiors beamed from TVs and splashed on magazines and newspapers, has resulted in people’s de­sire to beautify their living spaces and ex­press their identities through their décor.
She continues: “Nothing quite com­pares to the rewards of having your own successful store. Among the benefits of opening your own home décor store is being able to choose the products you will sell. No matter what you choose to sell, your store will be an expression of your creative spirit and business savvy. You can create a beautiful place that you are proud to call your own. You might choose to fill your store with home and office accessories, furnishings, or oth­er household items – from artful furniture, to cabinets, linens, fancy lamps, pillows, paintings, rugs, curtains, chandeliers and many more. I also advise you sell prod­ucts on consignment as you’ll have less risk than most types of retail businesses because you can fill your home store with inventory without paying until it’s sold.”
Another essential tip needed to get a head start in this line of venture is to “build up a solid contact base so you can get to work quickly after opening”, says Julius Obikwelu of Czar Furniture.
Some of the contacts, according to Julius, may include interior designers, Home and office builders, architects, art gallery owners, carpet companies, paint entrepreneurs, thrift stores.
Further, Mr Obikwelu harps on the need to secure an ample space to serve as the showroom and office where “as a furniture entrepreneur, you transact with your clients and potential customers”.
Some other vital start-up tips, ac­cording to Prince Eke, is to register the venture with the necessary government agency like the Corporate Affairs Com­mission (CAC). “This is very important, or else your company will be considered illegal which will greatly hamper your op­erations.”
Calling out on the need for youths to embrace entrepreneurship, Prince Nnae­meka Eke urged those aversive towards starting their small business to think twice and start up something because that could the avenue God wants to use to bless them. Eke upheld that one sure means to excel as an entrepreneur is to imbibe hon­esty as a policy.
“Our youths should aspire to be re­sourceful and believe in themselves. Many fold them choose to fold their hands looking up to somebody to help them, but I believe God would do just that when you start up something. They should be creative and endeavour to hang out with friends that they can learn from, and are better than them. That is one way to learn, grow and be successful in life and in busi­ness.”
He adds: “I believe it is not secure going into paid employments because it could end one day. And when it termi­nates it could be too late searching for another job. So it is far better to go into small businesses like furniture making and sales. It is very easy to do business if you have honesty as your watchword. It’s not wise to be focused on making money rather it is truthfulness that makes a busi­ness grow.”

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C-R-O-S-S F-I-R-E-! Enyimba’ll dent Dolphins’ record –Udoh

Nigeria’s latest all-time goal king, Mfon Udoh, has sensationally declared that Enyimba Interna­tional Football Club of Aba would retain the Federation Cup trophy it won last year after tomorrow’s final against Dolphins Football Club of Port Harcourt inside the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos.

Dolphins has won the trophy in all its four previous finals but Udoh said tomorrow’s encoun­ter will be a different ball game.
“Last year I was with Akwa United and we lost to Warri Wolves in the semi-final of the Federation in Bauchi. It was such a painful loss. But I’m happy that my present team, Enyimba is in the final of the com­petition this year after winning the trophy last year” Enyimba’s Udoh began in a recent chat in Port Harcourt.
“My fans should expect a more spectacular Mfon Udoh on the day of the Federation Cup final. By the grace of God, I hope to give them what they want. They would get value for their money because I’m going to thrill them with beautiful football” he added.
Reminded that Dol­phins FC has won the trophy four times and has never lost in the final of the competition while Enyimba has played in four previous finals; won twice and lost two, the prolific striker who scored 21 goals in the just concluded Glo Premier League season to set a new national record retorted:
“Well, records are set and records are broken. Without sounding im­modest, Jude Aneke set a record of 20 goals in the Nigeria League three years ago, today the record has been broken; Dolphins has set a record of winning the Federa­tion Cup four times and has never lost in the final; that record can still be broken.
“We (Enyimba) can be the first team to beat Dolphins in the Federa­tion Cup final and that way we would set a new record. So records are set and records are broken. With our current form, I believe that we can overcome Dolphins in the Federation Cup final. We’re going to play the match with our shoul­ders up as the defending champion. We’re going out there to retain our trophy, so we’re not go­ing to give Dolphins any chance at all.
“We were chasing both the league title as well as the Federation Cup; unfortunately we lost the league title and right now we’re left with the Fed­eration Cup as the only trophy to show for our effort in the season and we’re not going to let it slip away. We’re going to do everything within our limits to make sure that we retain the trophy.
Asked to what extent he and his teammates were motivated to win the Federation Cup trophy, Udoh said:
“We’re relying on self motivation. We’re playing for ourselves, for our pride. We’re playing to boost our individual profiles. The problem of funds is not peculiar to Nigerian League; in fact, Nigerian League is not that bad, at least we’re earning our monthly sala­ries. So that’s not really a problem.
“Dolphins are a big side and Enyimba is also a big side. So when two elephants meet, the grass suf­fers. We’re talking about a cup final; a case of winner takes all, so we’re going to see a highly explosive match.
Udoh who has scored two goals on the road to tomorrow’s final is confident that he would score in tomorrow’s epic final against Dolphins.
“I’ve scored just two goals in this year’s Federation Cup so far, and a total of 23 goals in all competitions this sea­son. But I look forward to scoring two goals in the final of the Federation Cup” he predicted.
On the extent to which Enyimba would rely on goalkeeper Chijioke Ejiogu whose specialty in stopping penalties is legendary, particularly, in the Federation Cup competition, Udoh remarked thus:
“Yes, it’s true that a team could rely on a particular player to win its matches; but you cannot really rely on a goalkeeper because we, the attackers, have to do our best to score goals.
The job of a goalkeeper is to help defend the goals. So we have to put the team in front by scoring the goals and then make the defenders and goalkeeper work by defending the goals.
So I think the presence of Chijioke Ejiogu in our team is big boost for Enyimba because his experience would count a lot having won the trophy many times and having been in the final of the competition many times.
He’s a lucky one because he has not lost in the final of the Federation Cup. Just as Dolphins have not lost in the final of the competition; at least we can boast of a history maker in our team too in the person of Ejiogu.
But in a swift counter, his Dolphins’ counterpart, Emem Eduok, vowed that his team will maintain its one hundred per cent record in the Federation Cup final match.
He said Enyimba will bite the dust like all other teams that met Dolphins in the team’s four previous final appear­ances in the Federation Cup competi­tion.
“Before we started the Federation Cup competition, I tasked myself that I was going to win the trophy for Dol­phins. So I started playing out my heart from Day One and I gave everything for us to reach the final” Eduok revealed.
“I cannot afford to lose the trophy no matter the opposition in the final; and I have no apologies to anyone that thinks otherwise. Having reached the final, I have to win the trophy for Dolphins” Emem vowed.
“It’s interesting to hear that Dol­phins have never lost in the final of the Federation Cup. It shows that there’s something about Dolphins as a club. However, I’ve personally made up my mind to win the trophy for my team and I’ll do everything to achieve that feat. Enyimba is a good side no doubt, quite formidable, but I believe that we have what it takes to defeat them. And I know that the God that has always done it for Dolphins, will do it again” Eduok concluded.

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Anyansi commends LMC

Chairman of Enyimba FC of Aba, Chief Felix Anyansi Agwu has given a part on the back to League Management Company (LMC), even as he dubbed his club as the real champions of the Glo premier league that ended last weekend.

Enyimba who finished second behind Kano Pillars last weekend secured a 3-1 victory over Pillars in the last game of the season at home to the delight of their fans.

Speaking after the match, Anyansi said the five-star performance put up by his team in the last day of the season is a confirmation of the fact that he had a better team.
“This last game was on television and it was watched live all over the world. Who­ever saw the game will agree with me that Enyimba are the real champions. We took Pillars to the cleaners in a match in which there was nothing like home advantage,” Anyansi said.
The seasoned football administrator was equally full of praise for the organizers of the league-the LMC declaring that the Nduka Irabor led body has done well end­ing the season on a glamorous note.
Anyansi pointed out that the nation’s   domestic league is a difficult one and as such the LMC deserve kudos for doing a good job of it.
“Our league is getting better under LMC. I m impressed with the job they (LMC) are doing,” Anyansi said.
Enyimba will next season feature in the money spinning CAF champions league alongside Pillars. The Peoples Elephants remain the only Nigerian club to have won the continental trophy having done so back to back in 2003 and 2004.

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I RESPECT COACH IKHANA, BUT I’M NO PUSH-OVER – EGUMA

This year’s Federation Cup final match holds out a lot of promises considering the pedigree of the two teams involved.

While Dolphins Football Club of Port Harcourt has played in the final of the compe­tition on four previous occasions and won all, Enyimba International Football Club of Aba, two times Africa club champion, has won the trophy twice with this year’s final as its fifth in the last six years.
And aside from having seasoned coaches, both sides parade the two deadliest strikers in the domestic league. Mfon Udoh who set a new all-time record of 21 goals in the domestic league this season is ex­pected to spear-head the Enyimba attack, Emem Eduok who netted 20 goals in the league this season would lead the Dolphins’ onslaught.
In this exclusive chat, Dolphins’ head coach, Stanley Eguma ex­haustively x-rayed the chances of both teams in tomorrow’s epic final encounter, billed for the Tes­lim Balogun Stadium in Lagos. We present the excerpts for your Saturday delight. Happy reading.
How does it feel being in the final of the Federation Cup once again?
I must first of all thank God almighty for giving us life and the privilege to come thus far in the Federation Cup competition. At Dolphins Football Club, we set a target for the team this season and it’s been so far, so good. We’ve not done badly in the league and we’re in the Federation Cup fi­nal; and God willing, I believe we shall cap our season with the trophy.
The Federation Cup is a competition I’m very conversant with having fea­tured in the tournament many times in the past. I must say it’s a competition in which I’ve made my mark right from 2001 when I won my first trophy in the compe­tition with Dolphins Football Club. When I left Dolphins and went to other clubs, I still made remarkable marks in the same tournament. It’s very interesting that once again, I’m in the final of the competition with Dolphins against a big team like Eny­imba International. For me, it’s another remarkable achievement and I think I de­serve commendation.
And what do you think is your chance against a side like Enyimba?
I see this year’s Federation Cup final as a very exciting one considering the pedi­gree of the two teams involved. Everybody knows that Dolphins Football Club boasts of a rich tradition in the Federation Cup having won the trophy four times. Eny­imba on its part is the most successful club in Nigeria. So, a Federation Cup final that pitches the two clubs against each other promises to be a thriller.
It’s on record that Dolphins has never lost in the final of the Federation Cup and Enyimba has not only won the trophy twice but also has a record of being in the final five times in the last six years. And Enyimba being the title holders, we at Dol­phins expect a tough opposition from them and it’s going to be the climax of football this season. We at Dolphins are very eager to face the challenge. We know the pitch at the Teslim Balogun Stadium. And playing against Enyimba, I know that we’ll live up to expectation.
We’re aware that it takes more than or­dinary effort to fight a team like Enyimba. But it’s important to point out that Dol­phins have more experience and pedigree in the Federation Cup than any other team in the domestic league in recent times. Ac­tually the league title eluded us this season. We now want to throw everything we have into the Federation Cup to ensure that we win something to compliment our efforts this season.
Talking about Dolphins’ pedigree in the Federation Cup; is there any special strat­egy that the team adopts for the competi­tion?
When you make your recruitment, you look out for players that have the character and the necessary skills; and you then work on them to play as a team. The Federation Cup is like sudden death. You either win or lose. You don’t approach the matches in Federation Cup like the matches in the league. We approach every Federation Cup match as if it is Cup final; as if you’re see­ing the trophy. Of course, you know that, in a cup final it’s win or lose. So we’re al­ways conscious of the fact that we could be eliminated today irrespective of the quality or pedigree of the opponent.
Again we try as much as possible to study our opponents very well. We have players with different kinds of mental­ity. There are players that are traditionally Federation Cup specialists. Such players may not play well in the league matches, but once you field them in Federation Cup matches, they would give you their best. Again there are some coaches that forget to prepare for penalty shoot-outs when they’re playing the Federation Cup, espe­cially when they’re pitched against the so called underdogs.
We try to guard against such things. That is why during our pre-season preparation, we play friendly matches with teams in the lower divisions. These are some of the technical strategies we adopted to survive those teams.
A player like goalkeeper Chijioke Ejiogu that is reputed for his ability to stop penalties and for actually helping Dolphins win the Federation Cup many times is now with Enyimba, your oppo­nent in the Federation Cup final. Does that bother you?
Yes, we’re taking him into consider­ation in our preparation since we’re play­ing against Enyimba in the Federation Cup final. We know that he‘s a very good goalkeeper; one of the best in the country; very calm, calculative and confident with sharp reflexes. On a good day, Chijioke can be a stumbling block to a team. When you’re up against such a goalkeeper, you don’t undermine his ability. We know his strengths and as well as his weaknesses. Chijioke has been with us at Dolphins and I can assure you that we know how to get the ball past him. In fact, he (Chijioke) was a better goalkeeper when he was with Dolphins than now. But that’s not taking anything away from him as a good keeper. We’d never underrate him. We know his strong points when it comes to penalties. And we know those things we need to do to unsettle him in the goalpost. We know his qualities as a goalkeeper but it would still come down to his current form. But we also have penalty stoppers in our team as well as good penalty takers. We’re pre­paring for the game and if it goes into pen­alty shootout, fine. I’d love to win within the regulation time. But if it gets to penalty shootout, we’re prepared for it. If you must win, you must prepare to win all round; in­cluding penalty shoot-out.
You’re going up against a seasoned coach in the person of Kadiri Ikhana. How do you intend to cope with the chal­lenge?
Kadiri Ikhana is one of the coaches I re­spect a lot in the country because he has contributed a lot to the development of Nigerian football. He has achieved a lot as a player and as a coach. One good thing about him is he always makes a mark in every club he handles. I think he has qual­ity. The high-point of his career was when he guided Enyimba to win the CAF Cham­pions League in 2003 and was awarded the Africa Coach of the Year. He’s back with Enyimba and the team is also doing very well; so one cannot undermine the quality of Coach Kadiri Ikhana. However, at Dol­phins, we have a tradition, and personally as a coach, I believe that if I work very hard, no matter the quality of the opposi­tion, I’d always make an impact. Coming against a coach of Kadiri Ikhan’s standing, I should expect a very tough match. I also expect that Coach Ikhana knows that play­ing against a team handled by me is not going to be a walk-over. So I believe the stage is balanced and both teams are even­ly matched. It would be difficult to predict where the Federation Cup trophy would go. But I can only predict that it is going to be a highly competitive match and at the end, the better and luckier side will win.
Don’t you see Enyimba denting Dol­phins’ unbeaten record in the final of the Federation Cup this time round? Exactly what would you tell your players on the need to maintain the team’s record of not losing in the final of the Federation Cup?
In the game of football, anything can happen. In as much as I’m working hard to see that I keep the record of Dolphins of not losing in the final of the Federation Cup, I equally imagine that the reverse could be the case because it is football. At the end of the day I would want to maintain the record of Dolphins as well as my own record because I also have not lost in the final; but football is not mathematics. If it happens the other way round, I would still thank God for getting to the final which is not an easy thing. Whatever happens, I’d accept it in good fate.
Finally, this year’s Federation Cup fi­nal is going to pitch two players that have been outstanding in the domestic league this season in terms of goal-scoring; that’s talking about Mfon Udoh of Enyimba International of Aba and your own (Dol­phins) Emem Eduok. No doubt you’d ex­pect Emem to do the damage to Enyimba, but how do you stop Enyimba’s Mfon from doing same to your team?
Honestly speaking, it is a very good de­velopment in Nigerian football that these young lads are making very impressive marks. I can talk elaborately on Emem because Mfon Udoh has not played under me. From the much I’ve seen and read about Mfon Udoh, I give him kudos and I see him as a very promising player. He caught my attention when he was with Akwa United where he started to a mark in domestic league before he joined Eny­imba. At a time I was trailing him with the intent to sign him on. Fortunately for him, he signed for Enyimba, and ever since he has been doing very well. I must confess that he’d be a big task for us (Dolphins) to contend with. We know that he would want to prove that the mark he has made in the league this season is not a fluke; that he deserves all the accolades. I’m aware that he would pose a big threat to my team in the Federation Cup final, we’re very conscious of that.
In the case of Emem, he has been like a child to me. He was practically nobody when I brought him from Akwa United when they were playing in the lower league. I saw the talent he has and I said to myself, this is the kind of player that one could develop. He joined us in 2010 and since then I’ve been working on him. There was a time he had offers to travel abroad and I was among those that scut­tled the trip because I knew that he was not ripe for foreign deal then and I wanted him to learn all the rudiments of the game and gain the necessary experience first. As God would have it, last year, the na­tional team coaches spotted him and took him to the Junior World; that was the na­tional U-20 team coached by Coach John Obuh.
He came back from that tourna­ment with some experience that has im­proved his game. After that tournament he had one or two offers from Germany and Switzerland but those offers were not good enough, so he came back and I continued my work on him. Now I can confidently tell you that he is ripe for any league abroad as well as the national team. I know his character and mental­ity. I know his strengths and weaknesses. He’s a player that can also wreck a team on a good day and I think he’d be a threat to Enyimba in the Federation Cup final. If they underrate him they’d be doing that at their peril because he’s a player bubbling with a lot of energy and he has the capac­ity to take on any opponent on a good day.
That he was able to score 20 goals in the league this season is not a surprise to me; that’s why I have always recommended him to the national coaches of the under-age teams. I think he’s even ripe to play in the Super Eagles but it’s up to Coach Stephen Keshi. However, if Coach Keshi would maintain his ideology of giving the players in the domestic league a chance, I believe at the end of the day, he won’t regret giving Emem that opportunity. If given the chance too, I think that Emem would do well. And for the Federation Cup; I expect Emem to live up to expec­tations.

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Ebola: PZ Cussons introduces antibacterial product

Following the need to maintain an ‘Eb­ola’ free country as declared by the International community, PZ Cussons Nigeria has launched an antibacterial dishwashing liquid: Morn­ing Fresh liquid into the market.

According to the company, it is also a way to meet the demands of consumers in the dish wash category because the strong grease-cutting power, makes it more eco­nomical to use whilst being gentle on the hands.
Speaking on the new pack­aging and the new variant, the Marketing Director, PZ Cussons Family Care, Ms Sandy Griffiths, said that the company is committed to giving its consumers new and exciting experiences through continuous innovation that will ensure the availability of quality products that would guarantee easier dishwash­ing.
According to her, the new Morning Fresh has a unique fragrance and variants that will eliminate cooking odours leaving the kitchen refreshed.
“This product, no doubt gives the consumers choice and now comes in three ex­citing variants, including the original fresh, zesty lemon and the new antibacterial variant.

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T.B Joshua asks court to stop coroner inquestinvestigating his church building collapse

The founder of the Synagogue Church of All
Nations, Prophet T.B. Joshua yesterday asked
the Lagos state High Court in Ikeja to stop
proceedings of the coroner inquest set up by
the Lagos state govt to look into the
circumstances that led to his church's
building collapse on Sept. 12th which killed
116.
T.B Joshua, who filed the appeal through his
counsel, Olalekan, Ojo, also asked the court to
declare that his invitation to appear as a
witness before the coroner was a breach of his
right to fair hearing, as no case had been
established against him before the coroner.
T.B Joshua who was supposed to appear
before the coroner yesterday, through his
counsel, asked the coroner to suspend
proceedings pending the outcome of the case
he just filed against it which is to be called up
for hearing on December 3rd.
The coroner, Magistrate O.A. Komolafe
however declined his request saying no one
had served him court document to that effect.

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Harp Music Nite: Owerri & Onitsha toexperience Harp Flavour-ed weekend

The Harp Music Nite rocked Benin, Port
Harcourt and Aba and they were left with what
can be best described as “Undiluted Harp-
iness Moments”
This weekend, Owerri and Onitsha are up! On
Saturday 22nd November, Owerri will play host
to Harp and the award winning artiste who is
always Thankful; Mr. Flavour N’abania as they
both raise the roof at Ibari Ogwa
Entertainment World.
Then it’s on to Onitsha on Sunday 23rd
November where Harp Premium Lager will
again excite fans at Dollyhills Hotel.
There will be lots of Harp branded giveaway
items up for grabs and not forgetting loads of
other exciting ways to win SUPER prizes
courtesy Harp Premium Lager.
It definitely will be a Harp Flavour-ed weekend
for Onitsha and Owerri so don’t be told, BE
THERE!
Harp is made for Real Padis. So show up with
your best buddies in Owerri and Onitsha as
Harp prepares to treat you to another mind
blowing night of Harp-iness.
Follow all the excitement and stand a chance
to win tickets to the show by following us on
twitter, www.twitter.com/HarpNigeria and
also by liking our Facebook
page, www.facebook.com/HarpNigeria
Harp is not for sale to persons under the age
of 18. Drink Responsibly

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Photo: Adaeze Yobo steps out in sexy rippedjeans

Looks tasteful to me...You like?

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Would you rock Yvonne Nwosu's grey hair?...(photos)

Looks hot! The top fashion designer recently
unveiled her new look - silver/grey! Would you
try it?

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Sunmbo Ajaba gets loving message fromhusband as she turns a year older

He posted a collage of her pics and wrote that
sweet message...

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Photos of the little girl who was viciously assaulted by a maid

You've watched the heartbreaking video well
here's the face of the little girl who was
brutally beaten by a maid. Not sure when it
happened exactly but they say it happened in
Uganda and that the girl's parents had the
maid arrested after the father (pictured with
his kids) beat her so mercilessly that she had
to be admitted in the hospital. Some LIB
commenters say the maid got three years in
prison for assault on a minor. Thankfully, the
little girl is okay today. Another pic of the
little cutie after the cut

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“I don’t like to talk about being a father" -Flavour opens up...

Flavour is a new dad but it's not something
he's comfortable talking about. I've tried to
get info from him but he wasn't forthcoming.
In an interview with Saturday Punch , Flavour
said fatherhood is not something he's
comfortable talking about. He also said he's
not ready for marriage and explained why he
flaunts his body on social media. Excerpts
below...
"I don’t like to talk about being a father but I
don’t have any plans for marriage right now
and it is because my career is very
demanding. I would always want to spend
time with my family and it is not something I
can do now because I am all over the place. I
was raised in the proper way with my parents
always watching over me and I want to do
the same to my family. For now, I don’t want
to get married.”
About why he flaunts his body on social
media, Flavour said;
“If I am not doing music, I love to work out
and when I do that, I am confident enough to
show my body on my social media accounts.
If you call me a sex symbol, you are not
lying. I feel it is a good thing for people to
believe in themselves and be confident. I
believe in hard work and it shows in my
music and the way I work out at the gym. I
exercise a lot and take out time to keep fit
and maintain my physique,” he said.

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I am ready for police invitation- AminuTambuwal

There were reports yesterday that the
Inspector General of Police was making plans
to 'arrest' the speaker of the House of
Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, over
Thursday's drama at the National Assembly.
The speaker, in a statement released by his
media adviser, Imam Dalhatu, says he's ready
for any invitation by the police. Find his
statement below...
The attention of the Hon Speaker, House of
Representatives, Rt Hon Aminu Waziri
Tambuwal CFR, has been drawn to
publications in the media to the effect that
the Inspector General of Police has ordered
that he, Speaker, be invited to the Force
Headquarters and that he be arrested if he
resisted.
The Honorable Speaker wishes to state that he
is a law abiding citizen of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria who has no immunity against arrest
and prosecution except privileges as may be
provided by the Legislative Powers and
Privileges Act.
Accordingly , the Hon Speaker states for the
records that he is available, ready and willing
to answer any lawful invitation from any of the
Security agencies on any matter for which they
may require his attention.
The Speaker expresses dismay at the
unprofessional conduct of the Nigerian Police
in the attempt to stop him from accessing the
House of Representatives chambers on the
20th November 2014 to preside over the
Special Session of the House on the State of
Emergency Extension requested by Mr
President, for which he had recalled members
from their working recess.
Most disgraceful is the false statement later
issued by the Police in which they claimed
that in the lawful exercise of their duties “ Alh
Aminu Tambuwal CFR, arrived the venue with
a motley crowd,who broke the cordon,
assaulted the Police and evaded due process”.
This blatant falsehood coming from a law
enforcement agency, that is expected to be
neutral and lawful, is unfortunate, to say the
least.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Hon Speaker
came to National Assembly accompanied by
Hon Members as is customary during any
sitting of the House. They all came with their
official vehicles but were disallowed from
driving into the premises. Certainly Hon
Members, who arrived the precinct of the
National Assembly in response to a call to
perform an urgent, critical national
assignment, cannot be described by any self
respecting institution as “a motley crowd"
It is important to remind the Nigeria Police
Force that as a public institution that provides
common services for all the arms of
government, they must not allow themselves
to be used by one of the arms to undermine
the others.
Malam Imam Imam @imamdimam
Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs to
the Hon Speaker

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Looks like the body of the missing NAUstudent may have been found

I wrote 'looks like' because I am not 100%
sure but I got a mail from a student of the
school claiming that the body of Annabel
Nzubechukwu Edeh, the Nnamdi Azikiwe
University who went missing on Sept 17th
after going home with a man she met at a
club was found yesterday in Awka.
If I'd seen a pic then I can confirm 100% but
there's no pic to corroborate the story. But
according to the source, her body was found
with her breast missing. Will bring details
later...

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UNILAG undergraduate tells howshe was raped by Ndi Okereke’scousin

There's a fairly known society girl and ex-
model who was raped by some guy from a
prominent Lagos family. When I heard about
the incident and approached her to report the
story and put the guy on blast, she refused.
Begged me not to because she didn't want
the embarrassment and stigma of being a
rape victim. This guy got away with rape.
Ladies, if a man rapes you, you need to speak
out. If he gets away with raping you, he will
find another victim because he'll believe he's
untouchable. Please don't let him get away
with raping you.
Now to this story, a cousin of former DG of
the Nigerian Stock Exchange Ndi Okereke-
Onyuike, Prince Daniel Okereke, 37 (pictured
above), has been arrested for raping a 22
year old UNILAG undergraduate named
Arinola. And she didn't keep quiet. She fought
back by first destroying his property, then she
got him arrested. She tells her story after the
cut. Please read...
Written by Chioma Igbokwe for Saturday Sun
"When we got to his house, I told him
that I was not interested in having sex
with him, he called two of his security
guards to help him to tie me up and seal
my mouth. He then brought out his belt
and started flogging me,” says Arionla, a
300 level student who alleged that she
was raped by a man, later identified as
the cousin of former Director–General of
the Nigerian Stock Exchange(NSE),
President, Ndi Okereke-Onyuike.
The suspect, Prince Daniel Okereke, 37,
was alleged to have lured her into his
home at Mende, Maryland, Lagos,
subdued her with the aid of his security
guard before he pounced on her and
raped her severally.
Saturday Sun learnt that after the
several rape sessions which lasted for
more than 30 minutes, Prince Daniel
ordered Arionla to pick her bags and get
out of the house. Abused and bitter,
Arionla was said to have started
destroying the property in his house and
also flinging same out of the compound.
In the process, the car that belonged to
one of the neighbours was destroyed.
Not aware of what could have led to the
fracas, the angry neighbour alerted the
police attached to Area F, Ikeja who
arrested Arionla and accused her of as­
sault. On listening to both sides and
overwhelming bruises on Arionla’s body,
a case of attempted rape was
established and Prince Daniel was
arrested and later released on bail while
Arinola was rushed to the Lagos State
University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja for
examination and treatment.
Saturday Sun further gathered that when
Arinola and her family discovered that
the case was as good as closed by the
police attached to Area F Command,
Ikeja, she reported the matter to the
State Criminal Investigation Department
(SCID), Panti that ordered his re-arrest,
having sighted the original copy of the
lab test which proved that she was
forcefully defiled and the cause of the
wound on her body.
Still recovering from the scars that had
disfigured her beautiful body, Arinola,
6ft tall, and who can be best described
as a model, claimed that she saw Prince
Daniel as a harmless elder brother who
cared about her ailing health.
According to Arinola, 22, and a student
of University of Lagos, Akoka, she met
Prince Daniel through an online dating
site, early last month. “We became
friends online and I gave him my
number. He kept calling requesting to
see me in school and I kept giving him
one excuse or the other. He actually
said that he wanted me to be his friend
and I declined that I am a student and
should be allowed to face my studies.
“On November 6, 2014, he called me
that he was in my school compound. I
was sick and told him that I was about
to head to the pharmacy to get drugs.
He volunteered to drive me to the
pharmacy. I was impressed and grateful
for such a kind gesture. After buying the
drugs, we drove to the fast food and
bought food. He asked me to join him to
a seat out joint where I can relax and
eat the food. I was surprised when he
drove straight to his house at Mende,
Maryland.”
He said that I will be the one to the bear
the shame since the world will ask what
I was doing in his house when I was
supposed to be in school,” Arinola
narrated.
“When it dawned on her that the prince
is a beast in sheep’s clothing, Arionla
stopped struggling and parted her legs
for the Prince. “He raped me severally
till he was satisfied. He later removed
the ropes and ordered me to get out of
his house. I was in pains and knew that
since the law will finally release him
because of his status, I needed to
destroy anything within reach. It was the
neighbours whose car was destroyed
that alerted the police at Area F, Ikeja.
“I wrote my statement and went to the
hospital for examination. I was not sur­
prised when I was told that he was
granted bail the same day. My family
had to report the matter to Panti and he
was re-arrested.”
Still dressed in his royal white dress as
at press time, Prince Daniel, a
businessman, who is also related to
Nigerian actress, Stephanie Okereke,
blamed the devil for the act. “I am so
ashamed of myself. We are family of
professionals whom you know very well.
I don’t know what got into my head. I
am sorry and plead for forgiveness,”
Daniel, who said he was single and still
searching, pleaded.
When asked why she destroyed the prop­
erty in his house, Prince Daniel said:
“She thought I was going to force her to
have sex with me. She started
destroying everything which is so
expensive,” he said specifically referring
to his Chandelier lighting hanging in his
living room.
When further asked if he eventually slept
with her, Prince Daniel said: “Yes, I did.
I am very sorry, I need a way out.”
Confirming the story as at press time ,
Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth
Nwosu said that the suspect would be
charged to court for rape and assault.
According to him, the report got from
Lagos State University Teaching
Hospital, Ikeja, showed that there was
actual penetration in the course of the
squabble. “He will be arraigned along
side with one of the security men who
assisted the suspected to subdue Tope.
Meanwhile, the police is still on the trail
of one of the security guards who also
participated in assisting the man to tie
her up.”

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