I will be the last man standing for the PDP--Mark

I will be the last man standing for the PDP--Mark -----says defectors are fair weather friends By Okechukwu Jombo Senate president, Senator David Mark yesterday put paid to speculations making the rounds that he was contemplating joining the All Progressive Congress ( APC), just as he affirmed his unshakable loyalty to the People's Democratic Party ( PDP). Senator Mark stated: " I have no reason to jump ship. I will not leave the PDP. I will be the last man standing for the PDP. The party gave me the platform to be where I am today. " I will stay in the PDP to contribute my quota to the rebuilding and restructuring of the party. This is democracy. Winners emerge and the losers goes back to the drawing board and rejuvenate . Speaking at a special church service to mark his 67th birthday at St. Mulumba Catholic Chaplaincy Apo in ABUJA , the Senate President said: " The outcome of the presidential election in favour of APC is the will of God and majority of NIGERIANS. We, in the PDP have accepted the result in good faith. "Those drifting to the APC now are fair weather friends of the PDP. They are seeking new green areas. When the PDP bounces back, they will seek another return to the PDP. "I believe in PDP manifestos . I will work hard to bring the party back on track. What is important is that we have established democracy in Nigeria". In his remark, the Leader of the Senate, Senator Ndoma-Egba eulogised the President of the Senate for the wisdom he has used to pilot the affairs of the National Assembly adding that his (Mark) continued contributions to socio- economic and political development of the country cannot be undermined . Also, Senator TUNDE Ogbeha prayed God to grant Senator Mark good health, long life and courage in the years ahead. Clerk to the National Assembly, ALHAJI Salisu Maikasuwa praised the Senate president for his resourceful leadership and harmonious working relationship between the management and the political leadership. In his homily, the Parish Priest of St. Mulumba Catholic Chaplaincy, Rev. Fr. Innocent Jooji noted that only God determines the destiny of all human pointing out that "what ever the future holds for each and everyone of us is determined by God, " we should continue to have faith in God."

Over 40 senators not coming back to senate

Over 40 senators not coming back to senate Out of 109 senators currently in the upper legislative chambers over 40 of them are sure not to come back because they are not even candidates in the election Senators likely to be affected, according to findings, are Aloysius Akpan Etok (Senate Committee Chairman on Establishment and Public Service who represents Akwa Ibom North-West); Magery Chuba Okadigbo (Anambra North); Basheer Garba Mohammed (Kano Central); Barnabas Gemade (Committee Chairman on National Planning who represents Benue North-East); Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa (Committee chairman on Health, representing Delta North); Chris Nwankwo (Ebonyi North); and Paulinus Igwe Nwagu (Senate Committee Chairman on Police Affairs, representing Ebonyi North). Others are Senators Nkechi Nwogu (Gas Committee Chairman, representing Abia Central), Uche Chukwumerije (Education Committee Chairman, representing Abia North); George Thompson Sekibo (Committee Chairman on Defence and Army, representing Rivers East); Helen Esuene (Women Affairs Committee Chairman representing Akwa Ibom South); Prof. Benedict Ayade (Cross-River North); Sunday Ogbuoji (Ebonyi South) and Chris Anyanwu (Committee Chairman on Navy who represents Imo East). There are also Ayogu Eze (Committee Chairman on Works representing Enugu North); Senator Victor Lar; Senator Femi Ojudu, Senator Ganiyu Solomon,Victor Ndoma-Egba (Senate Majority Leader representing Cross-River Central,Senator Nnenadi Usman,Senator Muhammed saleh,Aisha Ahassan,Senator Abu Ibrahim, BELLO MOHAMMED TUKUR, ITA SOLOMON JAMES ENANG, LOKPOBIRI HEINEKEN, CLEVER MARCUS IKISIKPO, EDET BASSEY OUT, EDESIRI .E AGUARIAVWODO, EHIGIE EDOBOR UZAMERE, PAULINUS I. NWAGWU, ABUBAKAR ATIKU BAGUDU, NURUDEEN ABATEMI USMAN, SIMEON AJIBOLA, MOHAMMED SHABA LAFIAGI, SULEIMAN ASONYA ADOKWE, SOLOMON SUNDAY AKUKU EWUGA, NUHU. S ZAGBAYI, IBRAHIM MUSA, GYANG PWAJOK

CBN, AMCON to appear before senate on Cecilia Ibru’s N150 Billion assets.

CBN, AMCON to appear before senate on Cecilia Ibru’s N150 Billion assets. By Okechukwu Jombo The last may not have been had over the N150 Billion in assets and cash said to have been forfeited by the erstwhile Managing Director of the defunct Oceanic Bank Plc on her conviction of bank fraud by the court of law It was reliably gathered that the Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics, Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption has invited the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) amongst others to appear before it to respond to a petition alleging certain irregularities perpetrated in the execution of the failed bank consolidation The Committee is also interested in the recovery of assets from loan defaulters and convicted Managing directors of the then oceanic bank Plc, intercontinental Bank Plc, Union Bank Plc, Afri Bank Plc and Bank PHB According to the correspondence from the Senate committee, the petition alleged that the funds and properties recovered by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission were not remitted to the banks and the properties and shares were never advertised for sales nor the proceeds remitted to either the banks nor AMCON The letter of invitation by the committee which was signed by Senator Victor Lar said of particular interest are the assets of Cecilia Ibru under the plea bargain with the EFCC which was alleged to have never been accounted for. The former MD was convicted of bank and securities fraud by a federal high court judge presided over by Justice Dan Abutuin Ikoyi, Lagos. She forfeited Two aircrafts worth $100 million, properties in Dubai, South Africa, London and Abridged Shares In listed Nigerian Companies The committee investigative hearing which is billed to take place today at the hearing Room 438 also summoned the Managing Director of Ecobank Plc formerly Oceanic bank to come along with statements of account from AMCON, NDIC or CBN under the bank consolidation from 2009 till date The MD of Ecobank is expected to also show proof of transfer of assets/shares/cash from AMCON to Ecobank plc Also expected at the hearing is the Ag. Director General of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), Munir Gwarzo, and the Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde,

Ekweremadu Urges Pilgrims to Pray for Peaceful Elections, Fall of Boko Haram

Ekweremadu Urges Pilgrims to Pray for Peaceful Elections, Fall of Boko Haram By Okechukwu Jombo Deputy Senate president , Senator Ike Ekweremadu has enjoined Christians participating in the2015 Easter Pilgrimage to Jerusalem to pray for the peaceful conduct of the2015 general elections. He also charged them topray for the total fall of the Boko Haram insurgency while in the holy land. Senator Ekweremadu spoke during the flag-off ceremony of the 2015 Easter pilgrimage toIsrael, Greece and Rome at the Akanu Ibiam International airport, Enugu, yesterday. Praising the courage of the Nigerian military in the ongoing war against the Boko Haraminsurgency and terrorism, Ekweremadu noted that with God, Nigeria would havepeaceful elections contrary to the negative predictions in some quarters. Hesaid: “I want to ask you to pray for our country, especially for apeaceful, free and fair 2015 general elections and concerning the war againstinsurgency and terrorism. With your prayers, God will not only grant uspeaceful elections, but will have only good men and women elected into offices. “Today our soldiers are doing very well in the onslaught against Boko Haram in the North East. Onbehalf of the people of the South East, I commend their gallantry. But whilethey are engaged in the physical warfare, I urge you to take the spiritualwarfare for the soul of the country and fall of Boko Haram to the holy land." In a relateddevelopment, the Deputy President of the Senate has described the departure ofthe pilgrims from the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, as a dream cometrue. He therefore commendedPresident Goodluck Jonathan for upgrading the Enugu Airport to an international status, adding: “As the then Chief of Staff, Government House, Enugu, part of my responsibility then was to coordinate pilgrims leaving from Enugu. ‘’ One evening, I got a call that the vehicle taking our pilgrims to Port Harcourt had an accident and some people died. “When years later, I found myself in the Senate, one of my visions was to ensure that the people of South East would not have to travel for pilgrimage from outsideEnugu; all of us at the National Assembly and the South East political leaderscontinued to pursue it until late President Musa Yar’Adua sanctioned it andPresident Jonathan saw to its fruition”. He assured that the Jonathan Administration would see to the completion of theinfrastructural transformation of the Airport and called on the pilgrims topray for the President. While encouraging the pilgrims to hold their heads high in the holy land, he urged them to be good ambassadors of Nigeria and desist from any actions capable of tainting the image of the country

INEC’S readiness and many questions

INEC’S readiness and many questions Okechukwu Jombo, writes that INEC Chairman Professor Attahiru Jega has continuously contradicted himself about his readiness for the election, leaving room for many questions. When the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission,INEC Prof. Attairu Jega, appeared before the senate to defend himself against the use of card readers to conduct elections he didn’t know that he was deliberately telling Nigerians that he was not in any way ready for the election if it had held in 14 February . His utterance during the encounter sold him out to the extent that he accepted when he said it was a blessing in disguise that the election was shifted to March 28 . He even revealed that up to one million Permanent Voter Cards PVC are yet to be printed where they are being produced. He also said only the military can sanctify the rescheduled election date. These facts show only one thing which is that INEC was not prepared for the earlier date. What can one make of his statement that the problem is not with the production of the PVCs but with the collection.In all he said over 66 million PVCs have so far been produced and sent to the states even when most states still insist they don’t have it. According to him, the 66 million already produced have been distributed to the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja for collection by their owners. He said the postponement of the elections by six weeks was a blessing in disguise as it will enable the commission to distribute the PVCs before the commencement of the general election in March And that it will enable them conduct Field evaluation-National Commissioners will visit all the state offices between Feb 11 and 19 to conduct evaluation and comprehensively determine the level of preparation in the field Following the field visit on Feb 20 and 21, the commission he adaded together with heads of departments and directorates of units will conduct a comprehensive assessment to determine what specific additional things need to be done before March 28 On Feb 24 they are to hold a meeting of the inter- agency committee on election security in order to discuss security arrangement for the rescheduled election On march 4, to hold a meeting of the commission with all the resident electoral commissioners to review progress of additional things done to finalise arrangement for the March 28 and April 11 elections The priotised areas of focus for the next six weeks has been identified the key areas are as follows Collection of PVCs’’This is an area which has attracted wide public commentaries and where collection rate has not been to the satisfaction of many Nigerians. The period of collection has been extended for four weeks to March 8 and all efforts are to be made to improve collection by voters with regular update with the rate of collection made public . He added that the collection rate nationwide has averaged 75.94 per cent ‘’ To organise mock tests of the card readers in each geopolitical zone and the ICT department in conjunction with the voter registry and electoral operations department mandated to immediately draw up plans for this and our decision is to now use this opportunity and identify polling units and do a mock test of the card readers particularly in each of the six geopolitical zones. Already we have conducted some specialised tests with partners in Nigeria in Texas USA and the card reader has passed in all the 13 test categories conducted in terms of its durability and versatility. ‘’ To organise additional training for adhoc staff especially those who are to handle the card readers and our electoral institute has already been mandated and they have already provided methodology and budget for doing this. ‘’To intensify voter education and public entitlement on Election Day procedures ‘’Resident electoral commissioners to intensify arrangement for election day transportation in consultation with the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the context of an MOU, which we have already signed with the union. All these are things that is to be done for a smooth election to be held yet they were not done before 14 February but Jega had told Nigerians that he was ready for the election. He told the council of state that he was ready when he briefed them about the shift in date he also told the Media he was ready but for a letter from the Military raising security concerns . At every forum Jega had continually painted a picture that he was ready even though he kept coming up with issues to indicate the contrally. Briefing the council of states before the Shifting of the date he said ‘’As of Monday, February 2, 2015, the total number of PVCs for the 36 states and FCT, which have been produced, delivered and taken to them for distribution to voters is 66,323,850 or 96 per cent of the total. ‘’ As at this date, there are balances of Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) cards for 7 states, which have been produced and shipped but would arrive thus: for 4 states expected on February 3rd, and for 3 states expected on February 4th. The total number of cards in this category is 1,365,552 or 1.98 per cent of the total. ‘’ There are PVCs, which have been stolen before they were collected by their owners, or which were damaged, or which were for people who have done transfers, and which the commission had decided to reproduce. These are being done here in Abuja. The total number in this category is 1,144,074 or 1.66 per cent. ‘’ As at February 3, 2015, out of the 66,323,850 PVCs already taken to the states for distribution, a total of 45,098,876 or 65.81 per cent of the total have been collected by voters (Attachment 2). Thus, about 34 per cent of the PVCs are yet to be collected by the voters. Our initial methodology for distribution of PVCs, given budgeting constraints, was: to distribute PVCs at the polling unit level, where registration took place, for 3 days, at the end of which, the remaining PVCs were taken to INEC LGA offices, from where voters, who could not collect, would be able to collect them until January 31, ‘’ 2015. Evidently, many voters did not, or could not, collect at the INEC LGA offices. In the past 3 weeks, in response to public complaints, we have introduced additional measures to help increase the rate of collection before the elections. For example, we have extended the period of collection on weekdays and introduced collection on weekends; we have further decentralised collection from INEC LGA offices to the Ward level; and we have shifted the deadline for collection from January 31st to February 8th. ‘’ If necessary, this can be further extended, but we prefer to cross the bridge when we get to it. We have also introduced innovative web and SMS-based facilities that would enable voters to find out whether they are on the register of voters, which polling unit they are registered in, and which ward they could go to collect their PVCs ‘’There are a couple of key questions to address: first, should INEC not conduct elections until every registered voter has collected his/her card? It is virtually impossible for every registered voter to collect his card (ill-health, travel, apathy, indolence, death, etc.). Second, what rate or percentage of collection is acceptable for an election to take place (51%, 75%, or 90+%)? In this case, whatever percentage is agreed upon, it would imply that a date for the election could not be fixed until it is attained. ‘’ Our assumption is that, since in the recent verifiable electoral history of our country, voter turnout in any election has never come close to 65 per cent, PVC collection rate of this irreducible minimum percentage point would or should be acceptable for the conduct of elections. More so because by the scheduled first date of the 2015 general elections, i.e., February 14, the rate of PVC collection would have by far exceeded this. At the end of the day the election dates were shifted only for him to appear before the senate and announce that they have distributed 66million PVC which means since the shift noting has been done the same number of PVC before the shift in date is even lesser than now. From the forgoing its either Jega doesn’t know what he is doing or he is outrightly lying for a reason Nigerians are yet to know

2015 Elections: Jonathan Will Win Amid Violence – US Ambassador

2015 Elections: Jonathan Will Win Amid Violence – US Ambassador A former United States’ ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, has warned of likely large scale violence in the March 28 and April 11 polls. A new report published and released by the US’ Council on Foreign Relations and authored by Campbell, said the 2015 elections may “precipitate violence that could destabilise Nigeria.” The report noted that the US government was at a loss as its influence on the Nigerian government has waned over the years. “The upcoming elections are a rematch of the 2011 elections between the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan (a southern Christian) and Muhammadu Buhari (a northern Muslim and a former military chief). Tension between Washington and Abuja is higher than in 2011, largely over how to respond to the radical Islamist insurgent group, Boko Haram, which is steadily gaining strength in northeast Nigeria,” it said. According to the report titled, ‘Nigeria’s 2015 Presidential Election: Contingency Planning Memorandum Update,’ Jonathan will face a stiff competition from Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) in the March 28 presidential poll. “The APC is stronger than its predecessors (Action Congress of Nigeria and Congress for Progressives Change) and reflects a splintering of the political classes. The government’s inability to defeat Boko Haram, the economic hardships brought on by falling oil prices, and a growing public perception that the Jonathan administration is weak have fueled support for the All Progressives Congress. Though the APC’s voter base is in the North, it enjoys support all over the country, unlike the opposition in 2011,” Campbell stated. He, however, pointed out that Jonathan had significant advantages over Buhari. According to him, the President is “is at the centre of extensive patronage networks; he has access to the government’s oil revenue; and he and his party largely control the election machinery and ballot-counting infrastructure.” Though the former US ambassador to Nigeria said would-be voters in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe were likely to cast their votes for Buhari and the APC, he tipped the incumbent President to win the poll. “It is uncertain whether any provisions will be made for voters in the three northern states placed under a state of emergency because of Boko Haram, as well as the estimated one million people displaced by the insurgency. These displaced voters would likely support Buhari and the APC; their exclusion would benefit Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Thus despite the strength of the opposition, Jonathan remains the likely—but not certain—winner.”

You are not God, Jonathan campaigners tell Obasanjo

You are not God, Jonathan campaigners tell Obasanjo The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation has told former President Olusegun Obasanjo to stop playing God over his numerous criticisms of President Goodluck Jonathan. The organsiation was reacting to the claim by Obasanjo that President Jonathan was planning to perpetuate himself in office. Apart from this, the former President also accused Jonathan of planning to cause chaos if he lost the March 28 presidential election. But the Director of Media and Publicity of the organsiation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, debunked the allegations, saying the former President under whom he served as Minister of Aviation and Special Assistant on Public Communication, was trying to play God. Fani-Kayode, who spoke at a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday, accused his former boss of trying in vain to control President Jonathan. He said the problem between the two members of the ruling party had nothing to do with Nigeria, and called on the former President to leave Nigeria out of the issues between him and the President. He said, “The bottom line is this: President Obasanjo’s grouse with President Jonathan is personal and it has nothing to do with Nigeria. “He should leave Nigeria out of it and let us all be. If he has a personal score to settle with Jonathan he should not do so at the expense of the peace and stability of Nigeria. “If he wants to stop Jonathan then let him attempt to do so through the democratic process and through the ballot box and not through foul and unconstitutional means. “We said it before and we will say it again: gone are the days that any President can be tele-guided and controlled because we have all come of age. “We continue to hold President Obasanjo in high esteem but his recent actions and utterances are beyond the pale. He has been unfair to Jonathan, to Nigeria and even to himself. “Most importantly the days of intimidating others with his harsh words and overbearing influence are long over. Obasanjo is not God. “Only God is God and He alone determines the fortunes of men and the destiny of nations.” Fani-Kayode said that after Jonathan came to power, Obasanjo did not only try to control and tele-guide the President, but he also asked him to do a number of things that he said were simply wrong and unacceptable. Asked to tell Nigerians those issues, he refused. He merely said that the President would speak on the matter anytime he likes.