How Security Operatives Barred Governors From APC Rally In Ekiti

Efforts by some All Progressives Party (APC) governors to attend the party’s mega rally in support of Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi’s re-election was frustrated on Thursday by armed security operatives who halted their movement to Ado-Ekiti, citing orders from above. The mega rally which was the APC final rally for the Saturday’s governorship election took place at the newly constructed State Pavillion, in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital. The APC governors that were prevented by the security operatives from attending the event are Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi; Governor Rabiu Musa Kwakwaso of Kano; Governor Aliyu Wammakko of Sokoto and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of Edo. While Governor Amaechi’s plane landed at the Akure Airport, he was prevented from entering Ekiti State as he was stopped at Iju, a border town in Ondo State. He returned to Lagos by road after about five hours delay at the spot as the security operatives insisted they had orders from above to ensure he does not enter Ekiti. The armed security operatives rebuffed entreaty from some APC chieftains who pleaded with the soldiers to allow the governor into the state to attend the rally which is within the provision of the Electoral Law. His aircraft was however grounded at the Akure Airport following a ‘fresh order’ barring any plane from landing and taking off from the airport. The aircraft conveying the duo of Governors Kwankwaso and Wammakko was prevented from landing at the Akure Airport, while Edo State Governor, Comrade  Oshiomhole was   prevented from taking off from the Benin Airport. The security operatives that prevented Governor Amaechi were said to have cleared the road for the duo of Minister of State for Defence, Mr Musiliu Obanikoro and his Police affairs counterpart, Jelili Adesiyan, to continue with their journey to Ekiti State. Condemning the development, Governor Fayemi and other APC leaders at the mega rally, described it as a descent to dictatorship, urging Nigerians to resist moves by the federal government to use security operatives to undermine governors and  subvert the will of the citizens. “A situation where State Governors and other citizens can no longer move freely in the country is highly condemnable. This is the height of intolerance. What has happened to freedom of movement, freedom of association, freedom of expression and  freedom of choice, which are well entrenched in the constitution of the country?”, they queried.

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Atiku Warns Against Impunity, Says Nigeria Sliding Into Police State

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned the federal government against turning the country into a police state following the restrictions placed on the way of some All Progressives Congress (APC) governors and party members, to attend the campaign rally for their Ekiti State counterpart today.

 A press statement from the media office of the former Vice President noted that the action of the PDP-led federal government in stopping the governors of Kano, Rivers and Edo from attending the APC governorship campaign rally in Ado-Ekiti, in a Gestapo-like manner is capable of turning Nigeria into a Banana Republic where fundamental rights of citizens are trampled upon with impunity.

 The Turaki Adamawa was particularly miffed at the way the federal government has been dragging the military and police into politics warning "the government must stop instigating state security agents paid from tax payers money against helpless, hapless and law abiding Nigerians."

 The APC top chieftain who promised at the party's recent national convention that he would lead the vanguard to unseat the Jonathan administration he described as inept and incompetent, enjoined "our gallant military men should remain focused on securing and protecting the territorial integrity of our great nation, especially in this time of terror attacks and insurgency across the country."
 Atiku also reminded Nigerians "a government that deprives its citizens from access to jobs and education as manifested by the on-going closure of some tertiary institutions, such as polytechnics, to be shut for nearly a year, has alienated itself from the masses and will definitely suffer the repercussion at the polls, use of force or not."

 He stressed that the only viable alternative to the PDP-led government is the APC, which he said, "is a prescription for socio-political peace, progress, equity, security, unity and national development."

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Abuja Court Stops House Of Reps From Probing Petroleum Minister Alison-Madueke Over N10b Scam

Efforts by the House of Representatives to probe how Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke spent over N10 billion of public funds to hire jets for personal pleasure suffered a temporary setback today as Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed of the  Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the federal lawmakers to stop the investigation. Justice Ramat Mohammed gave the order at the resumed hearing of the legal action instituted by the Minister against the House of Representatives and the Senate to stop  the plan by the House Committee on Public Accounts to carry out the probe on June 25, 26 and 27. Counsel to the plaintiffs, Mr. Etigwe Uwa (SAN) had asked the court for a preservative order pending the hearing of the substantive suit. He had urged the court to make the order, alleging that a letter dated May 23, 2014, by the House Committee on Public Accounts, inviting his clients for the probe, constituted a disrespect for the court. The plaintiffs are in their substantive suit, asking the court to declare that the National Assembly and the House of Representatives, who are the two defendants in the suit, lack the power to summon them without the consent of President Goodluck Jonathan. The judge in his ruling said the Committee on Public Accounts had no genuine reason to continue the probe on June 25, 26 and 27, 2014, having been aware of the pending suit seeking an order to restrain them from carrying out the investigation. He said the filing of the suit did not amount to usurping the legislative power of the National Assembly as the House Committee had argued in its letter. “The court has inherent power and the duty to intervene to protect its integrity in determining its processes; and the second defendant is bent on interrupting the processes filed in this suit. I hereby direct parties to maintain status quo in the matter from now till the next adjourned date when the matter will be heard,” the judge said. Justice Mohammed said the House of Representatives, in its letter, portrayed itself as if it could not be sued in court, adding that the court was created by section 6(1) of the constitution and given the judicial powers in section 6(6)(b) of the same constitution to determine “disputes between persons or between governments and between governments and persons”. The judge, who quoted the letter of invitation sent to the plaintiffs in his ruling, also dismissed the contention of the House that the suit filed by Alison-Madueke and others amounted to a usurpation of its legislative power. His words: “In fact the quoted portion of the second defendant’s (House of Representatives) letter is simply saying that the suit before this court is an usurpation of its powers under the constitution. The second defendant went as far as calling the conduct of this suit ridiculous and disrepute. “The House of Representatives, [2nd defendants] have issued a second letter to the plaintiff inviting her to appear before its Public Accounts Committee. In the said letter of invitation, the House of Representatives  said it derived its powers from section 4 of the 1999 constitution adding that such powers cannot be usurped by anybody or agent of government as such usurpation would bring the House into great disrepute and ridicule. “Now the 2nd defendant is bent on proceeding with the probe even when it is not only aware of the matter in court but also sent a legal representation. While agreeing that the House is acting within its constitutional powers, where any of its powers is challenged in court, the court can intervene and is so empowered by the provisions of section 6 [1] and [b] of the 1999 constitution. “This provision of the constitution gives the court the powers to determine dispute between persons, government and its agencies and I have not seeing or come across any law that says the National Assembly cannot be sued in court. “No institution should be restrained from carrying its constitutional duties but where in this case, the defendant is aware of the pendency of this case but desires to proceed with the issue before the court, the court has inherent powers to intervene. “Accordingly, I hereby order that all parties should maintain status quo pending the hearing of the suit which is adjourned to July 3, 2014. While I agree that the legislature has constitutional powers to exercise, I cannot, however, agree that where any of the powers of the legislature is being challenged in the court of law, the court should turn its back to the plaintiff for the fear of being accused of usurping the legislative power of the National Assembly.” Counsel for the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Sadauki had earlier urged the court to refuse the application for an interim order insisting that it would amount to determining the relief of the plaintiffs in the substantive suit. He also refused to give an undertaking as requested by the plaintiffs’ counsel that the probe would be stopped pending the determination of the suit, stressing “I cannot stand here and give an undertaking that an arm of government will not carry out its constitutional duty.”

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Confab Recommends Life Imprisonment For Corrupt Public Officials

Except otherwise decided, henceforth, judicial officers convicted of corruption or perversion of justice will be liable to 50 years in prison and loss of all official entitlement including gratuity and pensions without an option of fine. The National Conference sitting in Abuja said on Thursday that the decision was based on the examples of some Asian countries where the enactment of such laws helped to restore sanity, reduce corruption, abuse of office, instill due process and the rule of law. Still on corruption, Conference resolved that legislation be enacted by the Federal Government that would stipulate life imprisonment for anyone found guilty of stealing pension and any public fund. These resolutions followed thorough consideration of the Report of the Committee on Civil Society, Labour, Youth and Sports headed by Mrs. Bola Ogunrinade and Comrade Issa Aremu as deputy chairman. Conference equally resolved that a law be enacted by the Federal Government to provide for life imprisonment with hard labour for any person convicted of rape; while other laws should be enacted to criminalise the use of children for child labour and for alms. It was also resolved that henceforth, any group of workers that remain on strike for more than four weeks shall not be entitled to and not be paid salary for the period and any other time after the four weeks. To revive the education sector, Conference proposed 26% allocation for education in annual law at the federal, state and local government levels. It is believed that with such increased allocation, the ailing educational system would be revived and sustained. Conference also agreed that government provides an intervention fund as a matter of priority to revitalize abandoned skill acquisition and vocational training centres throughout the country. To boost employment in the country, delegates resolved that athe National Directorate for Employment (NDE), the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), the Community Services Women, and Youth Employment Project (CSWYE) and Graduates Internship Scheme be merged into a single national job creation agency. Conference in taking the decision, said this would lead to a coordinated job creation approach. Conference observed the growing incidence of casualization in the economy that is driven in part by employers’ penchant to cut cost and enhance profitability. It said currently, most employers of labour do not respect the legal provision that after six months of work, the casual workers must be permanently employed. To circumvent this law, such employers resort to terminating the appointment of employees after a couple of months and then quickly re-engaging them on a fresh contract. It was therefore resolved that all multinational companies and government agencies that have employed casual workers for more then six months should be mandated to take immediate steps to convert them to permanent workers. On the National Youth Service Corps, Conference said it should be split into three phases for it to be repositioned for relevant youth empowerment. It said the first phase will be a one month orientation; followed by six months of primary assignment, integration and industrial exposure; and lastly, five months of vocational and entrepreneurial skill acquisition.

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Democracy In Danger As Nigeria Comes Under Creeping Fascism, APC Raises Alarm

Being the text of a World Press Conference addressed by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Oyegun,in Lagos on Friday, June 20th 2014

I have called this World Press Conference today to alert Nigerians and our international friends of the grave threat posed to our democracy and indeed the very survival of our nation by an increasingly-tyrannical federal government.

Less than 48 hours after I released an open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, warning him to halt the impunity in Ekiti and not to plunge Nigeria into a political crisis, the federal government has now overreached itself and turned Ekiti into a war zone, where constitutional guaranteed rights have been suspended.

The final electioneering campaign of our candidate in the Ekiti election, Gov. Kayode Fayemi, provided the perfect setting for the Jonathan-led administration to bare its fangs with a series of arbitrariness and unconstitutional acts that threaten the very fabric of our democracy.

First, several APC Governors were prevented from attending the rally. The helicopter that was to ferry Gov. Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State from Benin to Akure was denied permission to take off by the aviation authorities apparently acting on ''orders from above''

Then while the plane bearing Gov. Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors' Forum, was allowed to land at the Akure Airport, his convoy was stopped by soldiers at the border of Ondo and Ekiti state, and ordered to return to Akure by the leader of the troops, an army captain who said he was under orders not to allow him into Ado Ekiti and threatened to shoot him if he defied his orders.

Gov. Amaechi was detained along the road in the bush for as long as it suited the soldiers before he was forced to return to Akure. While the Governor was being detained on the road, the convoys of the Minister of Police Affairs and the Minister of State for Defence sped past and were not stopped by the troops.

But the worst was yet to come. On arrival in Akure Airport, he found out that the airport has been shut, leaving him stranded. By the time other Governors, including Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and Ibikunle Amosun of Rivers, and party leaders including myself, Chief Bisi Akande and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu arrived at the Akure Airport for their onward journey to their various destinations, they discovered that the airport has been shut, apparently on the same nebulous ''orders from above''.

Thus, all the party leaders and supporters who came to the rally from across the country, including Sokoto, Abuja, Kano, Owerri, Port Harcourt and Lagos, were forced to travel by road back to their destinations, with the dangers inherent in such night journey.

Against the background of my narration, and the over-militarization of Ekiti State ahead of Saturday's election, many questions come to mind

1. If one of the candidates in the election could be prevented from holding his final rally with the full compliment of his party leaders and supporters, a treatment that was not meted out to other candidates, can we honestly say that a level playing field has been provided for all the candidates in the election?

2. If a state Governor, despite the high office he occupies and the constitutional immunity from arrest which he enjoys, could be detained and ordered around by security agents, what fate will befall ordinary Nigerians under this administration that is increasingly sliding into fascism?

3. If key institutions of state can be abused so brazenly just to stop the opposition from moving freely because of a state governorship election, what will happen during next year's general elections?

4. Where in the world are airports shut at the whims and caprice of the ruling party just to punish the opposition? Is it not true that in recent times, the airports in Kano and Gombe, among others, have been shut just to prevent the opposition from using them?

5. If an army captain and his troops can enforce unlawful orders, as was done when Gov. Amaechi and other key leaders of our party were denied their constitutionally-guaranteed rights of free movement, free assembly and free speech, just to mention a few, can't the same troops be given orders to hijack ballot boxes or tamper with the electoral process in Ekiti on Saturday?

Doesn't this give a cause for concern in view of the over-militarization of Ekiti State ostensibly to provide security for the election but now obviously to stifle the process and rig the election?

6. Is President Jonathan aware of the treatment being meted out to elected Governors under his watch. If so, what he is doing to stop this madness before it gets out of hand?

These are some of the questions agitating our minds and, indeed, the minds of all Nigerians.

Now, let us place the events of the past 24 hours side by side with the events of the past few days leading to the elections in Ekiti viz:

1. On June 8th 2014: Our supporters, armed with nothing but brooms, were engaged in a peaceful procession on the streets of Ado Ekiti when they were attacked by gun-totting policemen acting on ''orders'' from above. One of them was killed and when Gov. Kayode Fayemi attempted to intervene, he was teargassed and threatened with arrest by the Mopol Commander

2. Within the past three days, two aircraft, one a Beechcraft 1900 and another a Hawker 900, made a total of three trips to the Akure airport ferrying cargoes of money for the Ekiti election. When one of these cargoes burst open, naira notes with wrappers bearing the name of a popular bank spilled out. The offloading of these cargoes, which were then loaded into bullion vans heading for Ado-Ekiti, was supervised by Minister of State for Defence, Mr. Musiliu Obanikoro, as widely reported in the media and yet unrefuted. Placed against the background of a statement credited to a PDP leader that huge amounts of money have been made available by the FG for the Ekiti election, this raises huge concerns.

3. Last week,over 200 boxes of electoral materials were intercepted by security agents in Ekiti. INEC quickly claimed that the boxes contained wasted materials, contradicting the story by the driver of the vehicle carrying the materials. To date, Nigerians have yet to be provided with full and credible information on these suspicious materials.

4. On June 18th, a pro-Fayose and PDP gang was busted in a resort owned by Fayose's Campaign Manager thump printing ballot papers ahead of Saturday's election. The 22 young men, who were arrested, were also caught preparing INEC form EC8.

5. Under the guise of providing security for the election, Ekiti State has been turned to a war zone, with thousands of armed policemen and troops as well as fearsome armoured personnel carriers dotting the entire Ekiti landscape. Never before has an election been held under such armed invasion! The truth is that security for any election does not have to be so invasive, except it is programmed to achieve one thing and one thing only: to intimidate voters!

Against this background, my party, the APC, doubts very seriously whether a free, fair, credible and transparent elections can be held in Ekiti on Saturday .

Beyond the elections, we are concerned that the PDP-led federal government has grown so desperate to capture Ekiti State at all cost that it is willing to do anything, and I mean anything, to scuttle the electoral process and even threaten the very survival of our country.

In view of this, we have resolved to:

1. Alert all Nigerians to the antics of the federal government in witch-hunting the opposition through an egregious abuse of power as well as abuse of national institutions. We urge all the good people of our dear nation to speak out against this unprecedented acts of desperation and impunity. Never in the history of our democracy has a sitting Governor been so shabbily treated as was meted out to Gov. Amaechi on Thursday. Not even in the days of the abhorrent military rule were such brazen abuse of national institutions committed by the federal government.

2. We call on our international partners to condemn this growing impunity by the ruling party and the government it controls at the centre. Actions have consequences, and whoever fails to condemn the acts of impunity being perpetrated by the central government will not have the moral right to condemn the reactions that such actions may elicit.

3. We state clearly that our party will not accept the outcome of any election in Ekiti State that does not comply with the best practices. The people of Ekiti must be allowed to vote freely and without molestation for the candidates of their choice on Saturday, and the votes must not only be counted, but they must count.

Also, we want to call the attention of Nigerians to the fact that under the Electoral Act, troops are not supposed to be deployed to polling stations. Also, police personnel deployed to polling booths are not expected to carry arms. All these stipulations of the Electoral Act must be strictly adhered to on Saturday.

We also have it on good authority that a detachment of troops will be sent to the Ekiti State House on Saturday to escort Gov. Fayemi to vote and then put him under virtual house arrest thereafter. This is totally unacceptable.

Finally we need to ask: What is the role of the Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, in the Ekiti election? Is he now the chief enforcer for the PDP? It is important to clarify this issue.

4. We urge President Goodluck Jonathan to live up to his pledge, made several times over, that he would always ensure that elections held under his watch are free and fair, and that his ambition is not worth the life of any Nigerian. The President should call his dogs of war to order before their precipitate a serious crisis in Ekiti.

5. We remind the President not to allow Nigeria to unravel under his watch, through acts of omission or commission. We urge him to take a lesson from history, and to realize that the crisis of 1965, 1983 and 1993 all started from the South-west over elections that were either manipulated or annulled. Our country is still reeling from the effects of those crises and we cannot afford to plunge the nation into another crisis.

6 Finally, we urge the good people of Ekiti to go out and vote massively for the candidates of their choice on Saturday. They should not allow the overwhelming presence of security agents to intimidate them, if that is what their deployment was programmed meant to achieve. They must defend their votes to the hilt and reject any attempt by a band of desperadoes to choose their leaders for them. After all, ultimate power flows from the people.

Chief John Oyegun National Chairman All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos, Jan. 20th 2014

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Soldiers Abduct Fayemi’s Campaign DG, Finance Commissioner…As PDP Begins Rigging Ekiti Guber Polls

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has raised the alarm over the role of the military in Saturday's governorship election in Ekiti State, following the arrest of APC leaders by soldiers on the eve of the election. In a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the part said armed soldiers arrested the Director-General of the Fayemi Campaign Organization, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, and the state Commissioner for Finance. Mr. Dapo Kolawole, on the eve of the poll. It said both Daramola and Kolawole were arrested in their country homes in Ire and Iloro respectively, and that their whereabouts remain unknown as at the time of this report. ''The role being played by the military in the Ekiti elections gives reason for concern, because an institution that is supposed to unite Nigerians has descended into the area of partisan politics and it is now seriously undermining democracy,'' APC said. ''Whoever the misguided soldiers in Ekiti are working for, they should know that their actions can only destroy the nation's democracy. We therefore call on the military hierarchy to defend the integrity of the institution by calling the partisan soldiers in Ekiti to order before it is too late. The consequences of a rigged election in Ekiti will reverberate far beyond the state,'' the party said. It reiterated its earlier warning that the APC will not accept the outcome of an election in which the military and other security agencies skewed the whole process in favour of a certain candidate, to the detriment of others. ''The APC seeks no favour from any individual or institution for Saturday's elections. What we demand is a level playing field for all the candidates, and a conducive atmosphere for the people of Ekiti to cast their votes without harassment or intimidation,'' APC said.  

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Security Agents Clamp Down On APC Leaders, Deport Journalists From Ekiti

 The All Progressives Congress (APC) has alerted Nigerians and the international community to the massive clampdown on the party's leaders as well as journalists during Saturday's ongoing governorship election in Ekiti state. In a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said Mr. Awodolu and 22 others were arrested at Egbe-Ekiti and taken to Ikere-Ekiti ; two leaders were arrested from Ilawe while 11 others were picked up from Ado-Ekiti. It said those arrested at Ado Ward A units 1, 6, 8 and 11 include Charles Fashuba, Tolu Ajayi, Elesun, Olu Hero, Gboyega Fabuero, all of whom were pointed out to security agents by one Femi Ogunleye, a member of the PDP. APC said those arrested, who are the party's leaders at their ward and local governments, were apparently being picked up to prevent them from casting their own votes, monitoring the election and subsequently being present at the collation centres. ''Ekiti has witnessed a massive turnout of voters despite the massive deployment of troops and policemen, ostensibly to provide security for the election but in reality to intimidate and harass voters to stay away from the polling units. ''Now that the strategy of the PDP-led federal government has failed despite their over-militarization of the state, they have unleashed security agents on the leaders of the APC to prevent them from monitoring the collation of results,'' APC said. The party said the same security agents have also descended on journalists who were duly accredited to cover the election, with at least five of them forcefully taken to the boundary of Ekiti and Kwara States by a detachment of police men led by Mopol Commander G.B. Seleke It listed the affected journalists, who were arrested at Ifaki Ekiti by over 50 mobile policemen, as Jadesola Ajibola of Inspiration FM; Toyin Yusuf, Oyetunji Ojo, Akin Ogunsola, and Aremu Awolola, all of the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC). APC also said security men, who said they were acting on ''orders from above'', locked out voters and election officials at the Ekiti state government college, Ado Ekiti (wards 13, unit 18) are agitated. The party listed some of the other infractions as including the following: - The names of APC members are clearly missing on the list brought by INEC officials to Wards 3 and 4 Gbonyin LGA - Harassment of the fiancee and aged father of the campaign manager of Fayemi, Hon. Bimbola Daramola, by gun-wielding security agents. - Plan to burn ballot boxes if APC should win ward 2 Ifaki unit 7, LGA Ido-Osi - Fake soldiers purportedly from the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, acting under the command of PDP chieftains, are harassing and intimidating  voters in Ekiti State. It called on local and international observers to pay urgent attention to the infractions and ensure they are rectified in the interest of a free and fair election in Ekiti State.

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