Vol. 2 N0. 447 Thursday, September 13, 2012 N150FELIX NWANERI AND OMEIZA AJAYI WITH AGENCY REPORTS

The United States Ambassador to Lib-ya, Christopher Ste-vens, and three other em-bassy staff have been killed in an attack at the consular building in Benghazi, by militants denouncing a US-made film insulting Proph-et Muhammed.

The unidentified armed men, who stormed the con-sulate on Tuesday night, shot at the building and

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Govs undermine judiciary CJN

Jonathan yet to visit First Lady

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NNPC, Ajuonumas family conclude burial plans

US ambassador killed in Libya...well seek justice, says Obama FG puts Army, police on alert

Somalias President survives assassination attempt

PDP blasts ACN, says party lacks integrity

P.13OUR CORRESPONDENT President Goodluck Jonathan is yet to visit the ailing First Lady, Dame Patience, al-most two weeks after she

Adoke accuses SANs of sharp practices

Egyptian protesters on the walls of the US Embassy in Cairo on Tuesday. Inset: Slain US Ambassador to Libya, Amb. Christopher Stevens.

L-R: Deputy Group Chief Executive, Oando PLC, Omamofe Boyo, Senior Vice President, Toronto Stock Exchange, Ungad Chadda and Group Chief

Executive Oando PLC, Wale Tinubu, during the listing of Oando

Energy Resources on the exchange yesterday in

Toronto, Canada.

Dame Patience

Tinubu clears air on US trip

...as wife spends third week in Germany

Tukur

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net2 Thursday, September 13, 2012News

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Governors undermine judiciary CJN

US ambassador killed in Libya as FG puts Army, police on alert

EMMANUEL ONANIABUJA

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar, has raised the alarm that some governors treat the judiciary as an appendage of the executive.

She, therefore, warned that the development could affect justice delivery sys-tem in the country.

Justice Mukhtar also deplored the current situ-ation whereby the state judiciary relied heavily on the executive for the provi-sion of infrastructure and welfare of judicial officers. She described as regret-table the practice where state chief executives were responsible for the welfare of magistrates and other lower courts judges.

The first female CJN raised these concerns at the swearing-in of 25 new Senior Advocates of Nige-ria, SANs, at the Supreme Court in Abuja yesterday.

As a way out of the lin-gering menace, the CJN, who was performing her first major assignment since her appointment, called for partnership be-tween the judiciary and the executive arms of gov-ernment with a view to repositioning the system and setting it on the part of recovery.

To chart a new course for the judiciary, Mukhtar de-clared that henceforth, the National Judicial Council, NJC, would issue a policy

guideline, making it com-pulsory for judicial officers to be computer literate.

She stressed that com-puter literacy would be a pre-condition for the ap-pointment of prospective judicial officers.

The CJN said: It is re-grettable that some state ex-ecutives treat the judiciary as an appendage of the ex-ecutive arm.

By Section 121 (3) of the Constitution, any amount standing to the credit of the judiciary in the Consoli-dated Revenue Fund of the state shall be paid directly to the heads of the courts concerned.

Today, one of the major problems confronting the administration of justice in our democracy is inad-equate funding for the ju-diciary, particularly at the state level.

Inadequate funding and inaccessibility of funds ap-propriated to states judicia-ry in the budget is the bane of administration of justice in the federation.

Mukhtar called for the implementation of com-munity service, non-cus-todial sentences and pro-bation to tackle prison congestion as it obtains in other countries.

An estimated 40,000 in-mates are languishing in various prisons across the country awaiting trials, with about two-thirds not convicted.

Also, the Attorney-Gen-eral of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mo-

hammed Adoke (SAN), has accused lawyers, especially SANs of corrupt enrich-ment through unethical conducts.

Delivering a speech at the inauguration of the new Legal Year yesterday, Adoke shed light on some of the challenges besetting the legal profession; chief of which he said, was the declining ethical standards and discipline at the Bar.

According to him, It is a matter of regret that law-yers, including some SANs routinely engage in un-wholesome practices unbe-coming of members of this noble profession.

He also criticised law-yers for deliberately misleading clients on the strength of their cases to appropriate unearned pro-fessional fees; tempering with clients money; criti-cising judges in the media even where it is clear that they have not read their judgments in order to de-termine the reasoning of the courts and comment-ing on matters that are sub-judice.

The AGF, therefore, charged the new leadership of the Nigerian Bar Associ-ation, NBA, led by Mr. Okey Wali (SAN), to put the is-sue of professional ethics and discipline to the front burner.

We must reinvigorate the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee to deal with the growing num-ber of cases of misconduct that have been referred to

threw home-made bombs into the compound.

Reports from Libya said Ambassador Stevens and his staff were reportedly trying to leave the consul-ate building for a safer lo-cation after it was attacked when the gunmen launched an intense attack, appar-ently forcing back security guards.

A Libyan official in Benghazi told Reuters news agency that the American ambassador and the three staff members were killed when gunmen fired rockets in their direction.

Among the embassy staff killed was Sean Smith, a father of two, who was

employed as an informa-tion management officer.

The names of the re-maining two victims have not yet been released.

The Libyan doctor who treated the late envoy said he died of severe asphyxi-ation, apparently from smoke inhalation, with no other injuries, and that he had tried for 90 minutes to revive him.

It was also reported that attackers raided the empty consulate building yester-day morning, with passers-by freely walking in to take a look at the damage.

Walls were charred and a small fire burned inside one of the buildings.

A Reuters reporter saw

chairs, tables and food lying alongside empty shells.

Some blood stains were also seen in front of one of the buildings. Three cars were torched.

The attack came a few hours after protesters also attacked the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.

The protesters breach the embassy wall and tore down the US flag, which was flying at half-mast to mark the 9/11 attacks.

President Barack Obama condemned the killing and said the US will seek justice.

I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Beng-hazi, which took the lives of four Americans, includ-

ing Ambassador Chris Ste-vens, he said.

In a televised speech at about 0230GMT at the Rose Garden, flanked by the Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, President Obama vowed to bring justice to the attackers, calling the killings outrageous and shocking.

He added: Were work-ing with the government of Libya to secure our diplomats. And make no mistake; we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people.

Chris was a courageous and exemplary representa-tive of the United States. Throughout the Libyan rev-

olution, he selflessly served our country and the Libyan people at our mission in Benghazi.

Hilary Clinton also con-demned the attack, saying there was no justification for it.

We are heartbroken by this terrible loss. Some have sought to justify this vicious behaviour as a re-sponse to inflammatory material posted on the In-ternet.

The United States de-plores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind.

Chris was committed

to advancing Americas values and interests, even when that meant putting himself in danger.

Meanwhile, the US gov-ernment also yesterday said it was taking added se-curity measures to protect its citizens and has ordered a tightening of security at the countrys diplomatic posts worldwide after the attacks.

I have directed my ad-ministration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe, Obama said in a statement.

Part of the measures is

Protesters in Cairo

United States Consulate in Benghazi in flames during a protest by an armed group.

it, the AGF said.Others who spoke on

the occasion were a former AGF and Chairman, Body of Benchers, Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN) and Wali.

The event was witnessed by Governors Kayode Fay-emi (Ekiti), Rauf Aregbe-sola (Osun) and Abiola Aji-mobi (Oyo).

Also present were the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; justices, friends and family members of the newly-inaugurated SANs.

The new SANs include Prof. Yemi Akinsheye-George, Prof. Dakas Clem-ent James Dakas, Mrs. Joy Okungbowa Adeshina, Chief Connie- Ean Aremu, Mahmud Abubakar Mag-aji, Ogwu James Onoja, Garuba Usman Tetengi, Henry Oghogho, Selekeo-wei Larry and Abenny Mo-hammed.

Others are Charles Nwanne Obishai, Lime Chuwudi Illogu, Fran-cis Chuka Agbu, Paul

Ananaba, Akinlaja Dayo Moses, Ahmed Raji, Ad-ekunle Theophilus Oye-sanya, Femi Falana, Rotimi Oluseyi Oguneso, Oluseye Samuel Opasanya, Aduroja Cladius Olumuyiwa, Aliyu Umaru, Illo Katune Sanusi, Rotimi Jacobs and Ndukwe Nnawuchi.

Meanwhile, a newly-appointed SAN, Mr. Abeni Muhammed, yesterday dedicated the legal practice award to the Nigerian hu-man rights community.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 3Thursday, September 13, 2012

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net4 Thursday, September 13, 2012Photo News

FG okays inclusion of military retirees in NHIS

L-R: Representative of the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Pascal Joseph; Convener, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), Mr. Debo Adeniran; Guest Speaker, Primate Olapade Agoro and civil rights lawyer, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, during the 5th Anniversary and Annual General Convention of CACOL in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: OLUFEMI AJASA

Division President, Sub Sahara Africa, MasterCard Worldwide Mr. Daniel Monehin (right) and Head, e-Banking, UBA Plc, Mr. Adeyinka Adedeji, during the visit of MasterCard International to UBA Plc on the introduction of new UBA -MasterCard products in all UBA offices in Africa, recently.

Professor of Earth Sciences, Stanford University, United States, Prof. Wayne Loel (left) and Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, at the 4th Emmanuel Egbogah Leagcy Lecture Series on Petroleum Economies, Policy and Strategy at the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday.

L-R: Chairperson, Senate Committee on Gas Resources, Senator Nkechi Nwaogu; Mrs. Anan-aba and new SAN, Paul Ananaba, a Phd student of Babcock University among the recipients at a reception for him in Abuja, yesterday.

ROTIMI FADEYI ABUJA

The Federal Govern-ment yesterday ap-proved the inclusion of military retirees and their immediate families in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) benefit pack-age with the sum of N3.6bn per annum in the first year for the Defence Health main-tenance organisation.

Addressing journalists after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) in Abuja, Minister of Informa-tion, Mr. Labaran Maku, said that the approval followed the recommendation of the technical sub-committee set up by ministries of Finance and Health to include the

military retirees in the NHIS in order to enhance the per-formance of serving mili-tary officers and men.

Maku said that 75,000 military retirees were to start the scheme, while their biometric data had been captured earlier in the year.

He said that the non-in-clusion was posing a chal-lenge in the military health facilities as the retirees continue to frequent hos-pitals, requesting for free medical care as stipulated in the armed forces harmo-nized terms and condition of service while it was also negatively affecting the mo-rale of hose still in service.

Speaking further on the issue, Minister of State

for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada, said that just like what is obtainable with the civil service, the Navy, Air-force and Army personnel and their spouses as well as four children under the age of 18 would benefit from the scheme.

Obada said: When the NHIS was introduced by the Federal Government to ameliorate the hardship by Nigerians in accessing healthcare, the military re-tirees were excluded from the scheme despite the fact that in the Armed Forces Harmonized Terms and Conditions of Service (TA-COS), Chapter 19, Section 19 stipulates that all retired officers shall be entitled to free medical treatment in

armed forces and govern-ment hospitals.

However, the retirees have been left out; and to ensure that we appreci-ate them for the services rendered to the nation, we have brought this memo to Council and it was ap-proved and they have been included also

Also approved yesterday by FEC was the execution of 44 projects across the Niger Delta states of Cross River, Akwa Ibom, River, Delta, Imo, Abia and Ondo under the Niger Delta De-velopment Commission (NNDC) mandate.

Speaking on the proj-ects, Maku said that the government would im-prove infrastructure in the Niger Delta region with the construction of bridges, roads and others.

TORDUE SALEM ABUJA

As the country buck-les up for the 2015 general elections, Nigerians may grapple with crisis bothering on a breach of Section 73 of the 1999Constitution by the Independent National Elec-toral Commission (INEC).

The section of the Con-stitution says that INEC must, after every 10 years, re-adjust (delineate) federal constituencies and senato-rial districts.

But 13 years after democ-racy returned to the coun-try, INEC is yet to carry out the assignment.

The purpose of the section is to make sure a change in the demography of the senatorial districts and federal constituencies is accommodated by par-titioning and rearranging the wards and sections making up the districts.

An earlier motion brought before the House of Representatives by Hon. Beni Lar had sought the immediate execution of the sections by INEC.

The lawmaker had que-ried the delay by INEC in performing this constitu-tional obligation, after 13 years of the countrys de-mocracy.

She said if not quickly and timely done, the issue of constituency delinea-tion could spur a constitu-tional crisis and even liti-gations.

Ms. Lar raised the mo-tion as a response to the re-curring violence that has been confronting Plateau State since 2001.

Ms. Lar, the eldest daughter of second Repub-lic Governor, and former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Solomon Lar, has been a member of the House since 2003.

National News

Approves 44 projects for Niger Delta states

Crisis looms as INEC breaches Section 73

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 5Thursday, September 13, 2012 News

Jonathan yet to visit First Lady

US ambassador killed in Libya as FG puts Army, police on alert

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L-R: Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim; Vice-President Namadi Sambo and President Goodluck Jonathan at the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, yesterday.

deployment of a marine an-ti-terrorism team to Libya to bolster security, a US De-fence source told reporters in Washington.

Violence has threatened to spread to other Muslim countries. As at last night, 24 hours after the attacks in Egypt and Libya, police were firing teargas at angry demonstrators outside the U.S. embassy in Tunisia.

And to avoid the rage spreading to Nigeria, the Federal Government yes-terday put the police on red alert.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, directed police formations to ensure a fool-proof security of foreign embassies and their per-sonnel.

The order is to forestall the likelihood of violence in some parts of the coun-try where peace has been fragile due to a continued rise in Islamic insurgency.

A statement signed by the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, said: Following the recent violent demonstra-tions in some parts of the world linked to a recent US film believed to have of-fended a section of some re-ligious faithful, the Nigeria Police Force has taken im-mediate proactive security

measures to ensure that no similar violence is replicat-ed within our country.

Consequently, the In-spector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, has placed all police formations across the federation on red alert.

The AIG in charge of In-telligence and commission-ers of police in charge of the various Police Special Squads such as the Coun-ter- Terrorism Unit (CTU), Police Mobile Force (PMF) and Special Protection Unit (SPU) have been directed to ensure that their personnel are strategically deployed to prevent and nip all poten-tial crises in the bud.

The police boss assured law-abiding citizens of the readiness and capacity of the force to provide ad-equate security for life and property. They also warned potential troublemakers to stay off the streets, saying the security agencies will bring to bear, the full weight of the law on all laws break-ers.

Meanwhile, a top secu-rity chief, who spoke with an online news agency, Sa-harareporters, said that military commands in Ka-duna, Kano, Sokoto, Borno, Bauchi, Plateau, Yobe, Ad-amawa, Gombe, Kebbi, Ni-ger and Katsina states had also been put on red alert.

He said they were in-structed to bar any open demonstrations by reli-gious groups or political ac-tivities that could provide an opportunity for hostili-ties.

The security chief added that US citizens on official assignments in troubled parts of the North had been alerted to be security-con-scious and to take precau-tions.

The report also quoted a diplomatic source, who did not want his name mentioned as saying that other embassies in Nigeria, particularly those of the Western countries, had also taken similar measures.

The offensive video, produced by a 52-year-old Israeli-American, Sam Bac-ile, has only been partly released online, with many Muslims describing it as blasphemous.

It will be recalled that a Danish newspaper ignited protests across Islamic na-tions in 2005, when it print-ed cartoons lampooning Islam and the Prophet.

One of cartoons depicted him wearing a bomb in his turban.

The images touched off riots across the world, in-cluding Nigeria, in which at least 50 people died.

Stevens was the Ameri-can envoy to the Benghazi-

based rebel movement that overthrew the late dictator, Moammar Gadhafi last year. He had earlier taught English in Morocco before joining the Foreign Service where he worked in the Middle East and North Af-rica.

A speaker of Arabic and French, he was among the first US diplomats sent to Libya in 2007 when the US resumed ties with the oust-ed Gadhafi regime.

Stevens death is the first time a US envoy is being killed in the line of duty since 1979, when the countrys ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs, was kidnapped and killed during an attempt to rescue him.

Before then, Ambassa-dor John Mein had been shot dead by rebels who ambushed his car in Gua-temala City, Guatemala, in 1968, while Ambassador Cleo Noel Jr. was killed alongside senior US and Belgian diplomats by the Black September Palestin-ian militant group, after be-ing taken hostage in Saudi Embassy in Khartoum, Su-dan, in 1973.

Libyas interim leader, Mohammed Magarief, has, however, apologised to the US over the killings, which he called cowardly crimi-nal acts.

Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur said Stevens was a friend of Libya, and we are shocked at the attacks on the US con-sulate in Benghazi.

I condemn these bar-baric acts in the strongest possible terms. This is an attack on America, Libya and free people every-where, Abushagur said on Twitter.

Also condemning the at-tack, Libyas ruling party described it as a crimi-nal and cowardly act and vowed to track down the perpetrators and to main-tain the countrys security and the safety and security of its guests.

The Libyan security forces came under heavy fire and we were not pre-pared for the intensity of the attack, said Abdel-Mo-nem Al-Hurr, spokesman for Libyas Supreme Secu-rity Committee.

UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said the killings were brutal and senseless.

These diplomats were serving not only their own country but the people of Libya and were working for the peace and stability of Libya in the future, he said in a statement.

The United Nations, UN, described the attack as horrific and tragic, add-

ing that it further spotlight-ed the security challenges facing Libyan authorities.

The United Nations re-jects defamation of religion in all forms. But there is no justification for violence such as occurred in Beng-hazi, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Af-fairs, Jeffrey Feltman, told the UN Security Council during a regularly sched-uled briefing on Libya.

Libyas Deputy UN Am-bassador, Ibrahim Dab-bashi, had earlier told the Security Council that an in-vestigation was underway to bring those responsible to justice.

This attack in no way serves the interests of the people or the Libyan au-thorities and cannot be considered as a defense of Islam. This attack gravely damages the image of Is-lam, he said.

Polish President, Broni-slaw Komorowski, said Al-Qaeda may have played a role in the killing. Its pos-sible that what happened is tied to worrying devel-opments in Eastern Libya and probably also in Egypt where we see extremist ac-tivities by Al-Qaeda play-ing on peoples emotions, Komorowski told report-ers, citing an intelligence report by Polands interior ministry.

was flown abroad for med-ical treatment at a Ger-man hospital.

There were speculations that the President would use the opportunity of his visit to Malawi and Botswana to make a quick trip to Ger-many to visit his wife at the

Horst Schmidt Klinik in Wiesbaden for a first-hand assessment of her current state, but he returned to Abuja on Tuesday without making the trip to Europe.

The President, however, presided over the Federal Ex-ecutive Council, FEC, meeting in Abuja yesterday and did

not show any sign of stress.He reportedly told some of

his aides that his wife is alive. The Minster of Petro-

leum, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, who was also rumoured to be receiving treatment for a potentially serious health condition, was also at the meeting,

dressed casually in jeans and appeared to be in high spirit.

The continued silence about the condition of the usually visible First Lady had led to a rash of specula-tions in the media with her poor health attributed to sev-eral reasons, including food poisoning and appendicitis.

Some reports said she had a surgery to have a fi-broid removed. Another ver-sion said she underwent a tummy tuck operation.

National Mirror, however, learnt that the President had refused to visit his wife in order not to give any cre-dence to the speculations about her health condition that had gained attraction in the media and on social networking sites.

When the information about the First Ladys hos-pitalisation emerged about a fortnight ago, the offi-cial line was that she went abroad to rest and recover from a hectic schedule dur-ing the African First Ladies conference held in Abuja.

The media team at the Presidency is also reported to be in a fix as they have been rendered powerless on the matter following initial security concerns.

National Mirror learnt that the Presidency was

deeply concerned about the competence of doctors at-tached to the Aso Rock Villa Clinic after it emerged that they apparently misdiag-nosed the First Ladys ail-ment even when her condi-tion turned serious.

Mrs. Jonathan had been flown to Wiesbaden, Germany, as her condition grew worse shortly after returning from Dubai and was diagnosed and treated for food poisoning.

Hospital sources at Horst Schmidt Klinik had said that the First Lady had suc-cessfully undergone an op-eration to remove the rup-tured appendicitis and she had been placed on a course of antibiotics to treat a po-tentially serious infection.

The situation is similar to the information blackout in 2009 when the late Presi-dent Umaru YarAdua fell seriously ill and was treated in Saudi Arabia and later at the same Horst Schmidt Klinik before his death.

The Revenue Mobili-sation Allocation and Fiscal Commis-sion, RMAFC, yesterday attributed Nigerias rising debt profile and budget defi-cit to the countrys inability to diversify its economy.

RMAFC said this in Asaba at a two-day advo-cacy workshop for Nigeri-ans from the South-South zone with the theme: Eco-nomic Diversification and Enhanced Revenue Genera-tion.

The communiqu issued at the end of the workshop and signed by Chairman of RMAFCs Diversifica-tion Committee, Dr. Casmir Anyanwu, condemned the dependence of all the tiers of government on alloca-tions from the Federation Account.

It said that failure to di-versify the economy had also accounted for infra-structural decay, high un-employment and high pov-

erty rates in the country.The communiqu added

that although tourism busi-ness was capital intensive, it had enormous potentials to rake in huge revenues for the country if properly exploited.

The communiqu reads in part: To strengthen the nations economy and diversify its revenue base, priority attention should be given to agriculture, manu-facturing, solid minerals and tourism sectors.

Agriculture in the coun-try has over the years been bedevilled by poor policy designs, absence of prioriti-sation and duplication and inconsistencies in policy formulation and implemen-tation.

The Federal Govern-ment needs to evolve policies that will promote small holder farmers and to pursue agriculture in line with the concept of agro-business.

ROTIMI FADEYIABUJA

President Goodluck Jonathan has prom-ised to host members of the Team Nigeria Special athletes at the just-conclud-ed Paralympics Games in London, to a special recep-tion at the State House on Saturday.

The President also prom-ised to host the Falconets for their brilliant perfor-mance at the FIFA Women U-20 Championship in Japan where they came fourth.

The Minister of Infor-mation, Labaran Maku, who disclosed this, said the President was delighted and impressed by the su-perlative performance of members of the Team Ni-geria Special athletes and asked all cabinet ministers to attend the reception.

He said the reception would send a clear message

that all athletes were im-portant.

At the London Games, the Nigerian Special ath-letes won 13 medals, made up of six gold, five silver, and two bronze medals.

On the overall medals table, Team Nigeria fin-ished 22nd in the world, and placed third in Africa behind Tunisia and South Africa who placed first and second.

Maku noted that that the special athletes brought smile on the faces of Nige-rians who were seriously hurt by the poor perfor-mance of the able-bodied athletes.

He said: They have wiped away our tears. The message they have sent is that we need a greater pas-sion in what we do. Their performance confirms that every citizen is important. The reception will send a clear message that all is im-portant.

EFCC lacks political will to fi ght corruption Offi cial

Reliance on oil, cause of Nigerias economic woes RMAFC

Jonathan hosts Paralympians, Falconets Saturday

LEONARD OKACHIE

The Principal Detec-tive Superintendent of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commis-sion, EFCC, Pascal Joseph, has said that the perceived ineffectiveness of the com-mission in the fight against corruption was as result of its lack of political will.

He disclosed this yester-day, while representing the Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Larmode, at the fifth anniversary/annual general convention of the Coalition Against Corrupt

Leaders, CACOL, at the Event Arena, Oregun, La-gos.

Responding to ques-tions by participants on why some people who have been indicted in several corruption cases have not been prosecuted, Joseph explained that EFCC could only investigate cases, but could not at the same time perform the duty of the court.

He said: EFCC cannot perform magic. We are hu-man beings. We should also contribute to the per-formance of EFCC. When your relation is invited

or investigated, dont go to court to get injunction. That is not helping EFFC. We must have to gather information to enable us do our work very well. We need the cooperation from the society.

Earlier in his keynote ad-dress, prominent politician and religious leader, Pri-mate Olapade Agoro, said that the only way to win the battle against corruption in Nigeria was for the govern-ment to first of all divorce itself from all elements of corruption.

Agoro spoke on the topic: A flurry of corrupt practic-

es, Bouquet of probes, tor-rents of scandals, litany of Indictments, near-nil pun-ishments: What hope for Nigerian anti-graft drive?

He said: We are yet to find a government that will face the decent of gov-ernance in the interest of the common masses. Cor-ruption could be nipped in the bud by a leader that is desirous and committed for the well being and wel-fare of the masses. Corrup-tion is the worst enemy of humanity. It is even worse than death. I will say it is the worst of human rights abuse.

Education for all by 2015 not feasible NCCE

An accident scene at Bolingo junction on Olusegun Obasanjo Way in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

The Executive Direc-tor, National Prima-ry Healthcare Devel-opment Agency, NPHDA, Dr. Ado Mohammed, has disclosed that the Federal Government would spend N1.6bn on the vaccine against meningitis tagged MenAfriVac immunisation campaign.

Mohammed said this in Abuja yesterday at a stake-holders conference on MenAfriVac.

He said the money would be used to procure vac-cination cards, vaccines, injection materials, waste disposal materials and Ad-verse Events Following Im-munisation, AEFI, kits.

In 1996, Nigeria had 15,000 death cases from meningitis; in 1999, 25,000 cases while in 2011, 1,000 cases were recorded, prov-ing the fact that epidemics of meningitis have reduced rapidly in the country.

Thousands of people die of meningitis annu-ally, hence the total target population for MenAfriVac in Nigeria is 80 million and the estimated annual vac-cine to be made available is 17 million.

This time around, the Federal Government wants the disease to be totally eradicated in the country, especially the most vulner-able states, the executive director said.

Mohammed disclosed that the vaccine would be given to persons between 16 and 29 years old and would last for 10 years, unlike the 1996 conventional vaccine which was for three years.

He urged stakeholders to use all effective means to sensitise the public to the need for immunisation, adding that the aim of the programme would be de-feated if enough awareness was not created.

MOJEED ALABI

Nigeria may not be able to achieve the vision to get all Ni-gerians educated by 2015 because of lack of adequate teachers.

The Executive Secre-tary of the National Com-mission for Colleges of Education, NCCE, Prof. Muhammed Junaid, said this yesterday as the guest lecturer at the 36th convoca-tion lecture of the Federal College of Education (Tech-nical), Akoka, Lagos.

He said research had confirmed that Nigeria needed about 1,320,135 more teachers to effectively fill the vacuum created by the dearth of skilled teachers.

Junaid, who spoke on the theme; Teacher Educa-tion: Quality, Standards and Control in Nigerias Trans-formation Agenda, said Nigeria produced 64,000 teachers annually, adding that taken into consider-ation the needed figure it would take about 20 years to reach the target.

He, therefore, urged the Federal Government to pro-vide more facilities for the existing colleges of educa-tion to increase their car-rying capacity to increase enrolment.

The NCCE executive secretary said his commis-sion, since he took over the

mantle of leadership in 2007, had introduced many measures to improve the quality of teachers and the curriculum to meet the modern classroom require-ments.

He said: Our engage-ment with the colleges of education has also brought out the need to keep in closer touch with the col-leges on especially matters that relate to the quality of teaching and learning.

Our once-in-a-while accreditation exercise does not give us sufficient ground to guarantee the po-tential employers of NCE graduates that they have been thoroughly prepared for the job of teaching in our schools. To be able to do this more effectively, we introduced a number of quality-enhancing initia-tives to the teacher educa-tion programme.

The event, which was chaired by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academ-ics and Research), Univer-sity of Lagos, UNILAG, Akoka, Prof. Babajide Alo, preceded the main convo-cation scheduled for today where 800 graduates would be awarded national certifi-cate of education.

The Provost of the col-lege, Dr. S. O. Olusanya, appealed for more funding to enable the college bet-ter perform its statutory roles.

FG votes N1.6bn for meningitis eradication Agency

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net6 Thursday, September 13, 2012National News

NNPC, Ajuonuma family, conclude burial plans

Crisis as Imo FMC rejects patientsCHRIS NJOKUOWERRI

More than 60 pa-tients have so far been reportedly turned back at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri, for lack of admis-sion space in the hospi-tal following the refusal of hospital personnel in state-owned hospitals to work.

National Mirror learnt that the FMC has between

13 to 15 wards including an amenity ward, but our source said the wards are no longer enough to accom-modate the influx of patients from both state-owned and referral hospitals in the state.

The Imo State Universi-ty Teaching Hospital (IM-SUTH), Orlu, under the auspices of the Joint Ac-tion Committee of Health Workers and health per-sonnel at the General Hos-pital, Umugunma have been at loggerheads with

the state government over irregular payment of sala-ries, a situation which had paralysed health services in the state.

It was gathered that the unresolved development has now overstretched the facilities at the Federal Medical Centre thereby resulting in the FMC man-agement to reject patients in the hospital.

Efforts made by our correspondent to contact the Medical Director, Dr.

(Mrs.) Angela Uwakwem, proved abortive as she re-fused to answer her calls.

However, a close source to the management, who would not want his name mentioned, con-firmed the story, saying that there was a case of a woman whose husband was brought to the hospi-tal yesterday, but there was no space to admit him even though her hus-bands situation was very pathetic.

UDEME AKPAN

The Nigerian Nation-al Petroleum Cor-poration (NNPC) and the Ajuonuma family have concluded plans for the burial of late Dr. Levi Ajuonuma, the former spokesman of the apex oil company this weekend.

A visit to the Ikeja home of the late Ajuonuma yes-terday showed that every-body was busy carrying out one assignment or an-other. Only one riot police-man and other security personnel were seen at the compound.

A family source, who does not want his name in print said: There is no-body at home now. Madam was around but she has just gone out to do some things in town.

When contacted, the widow of the deceased, Mrs. Sophie Ajuonuma, said in a telephone inter-view that the funeral cer-emony will commence by

3.00 pm on Thursday, Sep-tember 13, 2012, with a ser-vice of songs at Harbour Point, Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos.

She said the final burial rites and interment will take place on Friday, Sep-tember 14, by 12.00 noon in his home town, Awalla autonomous community near Isiekenesi in Ideato-South Local Government Area of Imo State.

A family source said: The family mood is get-ting better than before. Everyone was sad when the incident took place, mainly because his body was not recovered. But with the collection of the corpse, family members were relieved to now work toward giving him a befit-ting burial.

Investigation showed that the NNPC has paid his financial entitlements to the family and the fami-lies of other victims who died in the Dana air crash. The corporation has also taken active part to ensure

that the burial ceremony was a success.

Spokesman of the cor-poration, Mr. Fidel Pepple, who confirmed the devel-opment said: The NNPC has performed statutory roles expected of it in line with its conditions of ser-vice. It is not proper for us to mention figures. It is sufficient to say that we have performed our statu-tory roles in this circum-

stance. We are also taking active part in the burial.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 7Thursday, September 13, 2012 National News

Cross section of Senior Advocates of Nigeria during their swearing in ceremony at the Supreme Court in Abuja, yesterday. INSET is Chief Femi Falana (right) and Chief Francis Agbu, during their elevation as Senior Advocates of Nigeria. PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

Levi

KAYODE KETEFE

A federal high court sitting in Lagos yesterday restrained the Indepen-dent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from deregistering the Na-tional Conscience Party (NCP).

This restraining order was given as an interim measure by the presid-ing judge, Justice Okon Abang, while ruling on NCPs application for in-terlocutory injunction to restrain INEC from deregistering any political party pending the deter-mination of the suit chal-lenging the power of INEC to do so.

The restraining injunc-tion is made to be opera-tive till the final determi-nation of the suit.

The judge, however, qualified this restraining order by stating that other political parties who are not parties in the suit can-not benefit from it.

Justice Abang said; The order of the court is only binding on the par-ties before it.

The judge also said the order must be endorsed with Form 48 (Notice of consequence of disobedi-ence of court order) and should be served person-ally on INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega.

The implication of this is that if the respondents fail to obey the restrain-ing injunction, they would be liable to be charged for contempt of court which might lead to terms of im-prisonment.

INECs lawyer, Mr. Ad-eniyi Lawal, however, gave an undertaking that NCP would not be deregistered pending the determina-tion of the suit.

The judge said; Based on the consent of all par-ties, an order of court is hereby made restrain-ing the third defendant (INEC), its agents or priv-ies from deregistering the first plaintiff pending the determination of the sub-stantive suit.

Counsel for the Nation-al Assembly, Mr. Wahab Shittu, had earlier with-drawn his preliminary ob-jection to the suit and his opposition to the granting of the interlocutory in-junction.

The military Special Task Force (STF) on Jos crisis yesterday paraded three armed rob-bers who were said to be specialists in car snatching.

One of them was iden-tified as a student of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaira.

Parading the suspects yes-terday at the STFs headquar-ters in Jos, spokesman of the task force, Captain Salisu Mustapha, said the suspects were arrested on Tuesday at about 11.00 pm by men of the special Task force at Dogon Karfe area of the city.

He said his men received information from one Mr. Nandom Nazing of the Ni-gerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) that his car, a white Peugeot 206, was snatched at gun point at the British America Junction of the Jos North Local Government Area by suspected armed robbers.

Mustapha further said that his men while pursu-ing the robbers called the checkpoints along the route and the car was intercepted in early hours of yesterday at the Police Staff College check point Bukuru Ex-pressway by men of the STF.

Captain Salisu, who gave the names of the suspects as Jeremiah ThankGod, 26 ; Elijah John and Gabriel Dakup, 20, said they were found in possession of two locally-made pistols and two handsets and are un-dergoing preliminary in-vestigation.

He said the suspects and items recovered along with the owner of the car will be handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.

The STF further called on members of the public to continue to provide it with useful information to nip in the bud criminal activities in the state.

At least one man was killed while four others were injured yesterday as a gang of armed robbers engaged members of the state Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in a gun battle in Agulu com-munity in Anaocha Lo-cal Government Area of Anambra State.

The News Agency of Ni-geria (NAN) learnt that the police killed one of the rob-bers while four others were arrested.

Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Rela-

tions Officer (PPRO), Mr. Ra-phael Uzoigwe, said the sus-pected robbers were those who killed two vigilante members at Ogidi in Idemili North local Government Area, earlier in the day.

He said pump action guns, which were stolen from the deceased vigilante men, were recovered by the police from the gang.

Uzoigwe said that other items recovered from the gang include one AK-47 riffle, three magazines, 16 rounds of ammunition and a Mitsubishi L-300 bus used

for robbery operations.The gang was also re-

sponsible for previous rob-beries and kidnapping op-erations in Nkpor, Umuoji, Ojoto and Nnobi.

Sometimes, they oper-ate between Abatete, Neni, Agulu ,among other neigh-bouring communities.

Our target is to get night life back in Anambra, es-pecially during the forth-coming Christmas period and we must do it; that is the target of the Police Com-missioner, Mr. Ballah Na-sarawa.

Court bars INEC from deregistering NCP

One killed, four injured in gun duel with police

STF arrests three armed robbers in Jos

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net8 Thursday, September 13, 2012South West

Gov. Ajimobi

Review Lagos traffi c law, groups beg Fashola

Ive no hand in N47.1bn theft, Akingbola tells courtFRANCIS FAMOROTI

Former Managing Di-rector and Chief Ex-ecutive Officer, CEO, of Intercontinental Bank Plc (now Access Bank), Erastus Akingbola, yester-day broke his silence when he stepped into the witness box of an Ikeja High Court and denied all the criminal charges preferred against him.

Looking unruffled in the box, Akingbola said he did not authorise any agents or

employees of the distressed Intercontinental Bank to transfer any funds on his behalf or on behalf of any company.

The former bank chief had been charged by the Economic and Finan-cial Crimes Commission, EFCC, along with one of his close aides, Bayo Dada, with fraudulent practices and alleged stealing of about N47.1bn.

Akingbola, who testified for the first time yester-day, said the allegations

are false... because I never posted, received or autho-rised any such amount and I did not receive or see any money.

He absolved himself of any culpability in the theft of the multi-billion Naira said to have been siphoned through fraudulent trans-fers to his foreign ac-counts.

Led in evidence by his counsel, Chief Felix Fagbo-hungbe (SAN), Akingbola, who is the fifth defence witness in the proceedings,

told the court that he did not convert Intercontinen-tal Bank Plc funds fraudu-lently to Tropics Securities Limited.

Admitting that prior to his trial, he was the chair-man of Tropics Securities, he said he did not autho-rise, sign or pay any money to Tropics Finance and he was not aware of the trans-actions or purchase of shares that led to fraudu-lent practices.

The witness told Justice Habeeb Abiru that he was

not involved in the day-to-day running of the compa-ny and he was not the exec-utive director in charge of shares in Intercontinental Bank.

He said: Intercontinen-tal Bank has 200 branches within Nigeria, 57 in Gha-na and many subsidiaries. So there are about 10 ex-ecutive directors that have autonomy and are checked through countersigns by other executive directors.

Akingbola said the al-leged transactions were

carried out by the Execu-tive Director in charge of Investments and Subsid-iaries, Mr. Yinka Adebiyi, who he had not seen since he left the bank on August 14, 2009.

He, however, said that he was reliably informed that Adebiyi had been declared wanted by EFCC.

Abiru adjourned further proceedings till Septem-ber 26, to enable the EFCC counsel, Mr. Emmanuel Ukala (SAN), cross-exam-ine Akingbola.

TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

The Federation of In-formal Workers Or-ganisations of Nige-ria, FIWON, and the United Okada Stakeholders Forum yesterday called on Lagos State Government to review its traffic law.

Addressing a press con-ference in Lagos, General-Secretary, FIWON, Comrade Gbenga Komolafe, urged the administration of Governor Babatunde Fashola to re-view some parts of the law in order not to inflict pains on the masses.

He said: The penalties imposed on infractions of these laws are also rather highhanded. When a law imposes a fine of N20,000 and above, more than the minimum wage and/or jail term of three years for simple road contravention, there is an open invitation to corruption for the per-sonnel of the implementing agencies and penury for the people. Whatever the good intentions of the govern-ment might be, these penal-

ties are rather draconian. We therefore plead that

the state government should return this law to the state House of Assembly for a comprehensive review dur-ing which all stakeholders including commuters and ordinary members of the public, apart from transport unions, would be encour-aged to make useful inputs.

The hush-hush manner, un-der which this very impor-tant law was enacted in the first instance, leaves much to be desired.

In his address, the Pro-tem Chairman of United Okada Stakeholders Forum, Tony Keroro, also called for review of the law.

He said: We call on La-gos State Government to

urgently review downwards the number of routes from which we have been banned by returning the bill to the state House of Assembly for a more inclusive, participa-tory parliamentary process at the end of which we would have a more acceptable law that will truly serve the best interests of the largely ma-jority of Lagosians.

Zenith Bank and Visafone Communi-cations Limited have launched EaZyMoney to consolidate their leading roles in the evolving cash-less society project of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

Speaking at the launch, the Executive Director, Zenith Bank, Mr. Peter Amangbo, said it repre-sented a remarkable step in the banks drive to play a leading role in the emerg-ing cashless society being spearheaded by the CBN.

According to him, mobile money services through EaZyMoney have

the potential to serve as the easiest route to the fi-nancial inclusion of the unbanked segment of the economy.

He said: We are proud to be working in strategic partnership with Visafone on this mobile money ini-tiative and we feel that the combination of innova-tion and customer focus for which Zenith Bank is so rightly recognised, com-bined with the financial strength and trust with which the bank is held will be a unique and successful partnership.

Amangbo said the part-nership with Visafone was

in line with the banks promise of working in the best interest of customers of both organisations in providing them with in-novative financial services and a platform that deliv-ered convenience, safety and accessibility to custom-ers.

Also speaking, the Chief Operations Officer, COO, of Visafone Communica-tions Limited, Mr. K. V. Srinivasa, said the launch represents a remarkable opportunity for our com-pany to provide a secured and dependable platform to drive the cashless society project.

L-R: Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar; Ekiti State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Dayo Akinlaja (SAN), Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, and human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), shortly after the inauguration of new Senior Advocates of Nigeria at the Supreme Court in Abuja, yesterday.

KEMI OLAITANIBADAN

Governor Abiola Aji-mobi of Oyo State has said that his administration would send a bill to protect women and children against violence to the state House of Assembly for passage into law.

Ajimobi said this yester-day at the opening of a two-day national summit of the Oyo State Officials Wives Association, OYSOWA, at Kakanfo Inn, Ibadan.

He said the bill had be-come imperative as a legal instrument to guard against violence against women, children and other vulner-able people.

The governor, who said there had been no rampant cases of violence against women and children in the state, disclosed that the bill would serve as a pro-active measure against such un-wholesome practices.

He expressed regret that the African tradition re-garded women as weaker vessels and objects of use.

Ajimobi, however, said the 1995 Beijing Conference had redrawn the map of women participation in af-fairs of their different soci-eties.

The governor said that despite social, cultural and religious inhibitions on the

way of her ability to flourish alongside her male counter-part, the woman had, since the conference, risen to a po-sition of reckoning in global affairs.

He said in Nigeria today, there was now a great leap in the perception of the place of the woman.

The governor said his conviction about the im-portance of women in the family, society and the na-tion, explained the prime of place women occupied in his administration.

Ajimobi said beyond ap-pointment, his administra-tion had empowered more than 1,000 women to boost their economic status and activities, adding that the state health programmes had also placed emphasis on women, especially on maternal and child health.

He said the summit would serve as an auspi-cious moment for his ad-ministration to express to the whole world its commit-ment to the cause of women and its modest contribution to global affirmative action of gender sensitivity.

The governor commend-ed the organisers for their efforts at mainstreaming the cause of women and con-tributing their quota to the advancement of the society.

The governors wife, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, said OYSOWA was created to synergise the efforts of wives of all political and public office holders in the state to complement the ac-tivities of their husbands and to advance the cause of the womenfolk in the state.

She said the summit with the theme: Developing the total woman through care, aimed at celebrating the exceptional gifts of woman-hood.

Ajimobi seeks law to protect women, children against violence

Zenith Bank, Visafone begin mobile money services

KEMI OLAITANIBADAN

The South-West chap-ter of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), yesterday faulted this years national honours awards list as re-cently released by the Fed-eral Government.

Also, the group rejected the planned introduction of N5, 000 notes into the econo-my by the Federal Govern-ment through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The South-West CNPP, in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan, the state capital, at the end of its monthly meeting and signed by its Chairman, Al-haji Yinka Olona and Secre-tary, Mr. Gboyega Adeniji, respectively, said that this years national award was not in any way based on merit.

According to the CNPP, it was unfortunate that the Federal Government had deviated from what used to be the criteria for qualifica-tion for the award.

South-West CNPP con-demns in totality this years national honours award

list. The body described it as a show of shame by the Federal Government con-sidering the makeup of the list, it said.

The conference further said that there was the need for the Federal Government to defend the list of benefi-ciaries of the 2012 national honours award, saying, We challenge the Federal Government to spell out the criteria used for the nation-al honours award.

It is unfortunate that merit is no longer cele-brated in Nigeria but me-diocrity and that is why honours are being shared between the Federal Gov-ernment and their co-horts, it noted.

On the planned intro-duction of N5, 000 notes, the CNPP urged all well-meaning Nigerians to speak out now and condemn the planned introduction in the overall interest of the nation.

It maintained that the planned introduction of the N5, 000 notes was against the wishes of the Nige-rian masses and should be rejected by patriotic Ni-gerians as it would work against their welfare.

South-West CNPP fl ays national honours list

Ondo PDP drags Chief Judge to courtHAKEEM GBADAMOSIAKURE

The People Demo-cratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State has dragged the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Seinde Kumuyi, to court over his alleged membership of the Labour Party (LP).

In the writ of summon filed by the party through its counsel, Dapo Agbede, the party wants the chief judge to stop adjudication in matters involving the party and its members.

The party in the suit was challenging the continued

stay of Justice Kumuyi in office as the chief justice of the state despite allegedly being a member of a politi-cal party.

Similarly, the opposition party sought a declaration that the alliance between the chief justice and the governor of the state to prevent the governorship candidate of the PDP, Chief Olusola Oke, from canvass-ing for votes through an ex-parte order is contrary to section 40 and 221 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nige-ria and Electoral Act 2010.

In the originating sum-

mons filed by a team of law-yers, the court was asked to determine; Whether hav-ing regard to the office of Justice Kumuyi and active member and sponsor of Labour Party, it is lawful for him to enter an agreement with Governor Mimiko to employ judicial process and in particular ex-parte order to castrate, inhibit, frustrate and restrict the plaintiff s candidate from campaigning and canvass-ing for votes under its plat-form.

The party called the at-tention of the court to sec-tion 87 of the Electoral Act

and sought from the court to determine if it is within the powers of any court in Nigeria, including high courts to interfere in the do-mestic affairs of a political party.

In his deposition before the court, the Director of Publicity of the party, Mr. Ayo Fadaka, said there were plans by some ren-egades of the PDP to secure an injunction to stop the candidate of the party.

He alleged that there is unholy alliance between the LP and the chief justice to derail the electioneering campaigns of the PDP.

ABIODUN NEJOADO EKITI

Local government workers in Ekiti State yesterday de-clared an indefinite strike following the refusal of the state government to accede to their request for the pay-ment of N19, 300 monthly minimum wage and other welfare packages.

The council workers, under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Local Govern-ment Employees (NULGE) who came in their numbers from the 16 local govern-ment areas of the state, con-verged on the state NULGE Secretariat at Ado Ekiti, the state capital, before they marched on the streets.

However, the peaceful protest took another turn

when riot policemen, in a bid to prevent the placard-carrying protesters from accessing the Governors Office, attempted to dis-perse the protesters with tear gas canisters.

Among inscriptions on the workers placards were: Fayemi, Dont Use our Money for Foreign Invest-ment; Fayemi has for-gotten his Promises to the

Masses; Fayemi is Crip-pling Local Governments in Ekiti State and Fayemi is not a Friend of the Mass-es.

State NULGE President, Comrade Dele Augustine Ajayi said: We demand for our right. We demand the minimum wage which is being paid other categories of civil servants in the state in the past five months.

Ekiti council workers protest, begin indefi nite strike

Stakeholder wants governors to emulate AregbesolaLow knowledge of HIV/AIDS worries Ogun govtWALE FOLARINOSOGBO

Chairman of the Confer-ence of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) in Ni-ger State, Alhaji Ibrahim Isah, has called on state governors in the country to emulate the developmental programmes of the Osun State governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola.

Isah, who made the call yesterday in Osogbo, while speaking during a courtesy call on the governor, said the call became imperative in view of the regenera-tive economic revival pro-

grammes being executed by Aregbesola.

According to him, the feat achieved by Aregbe-sola in less than two years in office with meagre re-sources was one that can only be achieved by a gifted politician with exceptional natural ability.

Buttressing his submis-sion, Isah said the confer-ment of leadership award on the governor by CNPP in May this year was based on merit through a thor-ough assessment process that singled him out among

the 36 governors of the fed-eration.

He also commended the governor for his ethical revolutionary initiatives locally referred to as the Omoluabi concept, which is geared towards creating a new generation of patri-otic, selfless and disciplined leaders that are required to achieve a rebranded Osun State and Nigeria.

His words: The CNPP annual award is our own way of encouraging and putting our elected public officers on their toes.

Ogun State govern-ment yesterday ex-pressed worry over the low knowledge of HIV/AIDS among residents while stigmatisation was high in the state.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Olaokun Soy-inka, spoke in Abeokuta at a programme tagged: Dis-semination of Ogun State HIV and AIDS Epidemio-logical and Sexual Behav-ioural Survey Findings.

The News Agency of Ni-geria (NAN) reports that the 2010 sentinel survey in Nigeria indicated that an estimated 75, 142 people

were infected in 2010 while the figure rose to 124, 000 in 2011.

The commissioner said the state had always de-pended on the National HIV/AIDS and Reproduc-tive Health Survey (NAR-HS) for relevant data.

He, however, said that the state would henceforth rely on the Enhancing Nigerias Response (ENR) document to bridge the gap.

Soyinka said the non-conduct of the NARHS had made the response to the pandemic challenging.

The commissioner also said that the HIV/AIDS

programme team in consul-tation with DfID agreed to multi-round survey NAR-HS methodology.

The study is now called the State-specific AIDS Reproductive and Child Health (SPARC) survey which was last conducted in 2011, he explained.

He added that the survey would henceforth be car-ried out every two years.

The Director of the state Action Committee on AIDS (OGSACA), Dr Ranti Olade-hinde, said knowledge of HIV was 14 per cent while stigmatisation rate was 97 per cent.

Osun State Immunization Officer, Mrs. Adeosun Francisca, immunising an intending pilgrim, during the immunization exercise marking the final preparation of airlift of Osun pilgrims in Osogbo, yesterday.

Our health and medi-cal workers deserve CON-MESS and CONHESS pay-able to their counterparts at the state level.

Ajayi said the indefinite strike became necessary following the refusal of the state government to accede to the council workers de-mand. We have followed the due labour dispute re-quirements of giving no-tices for 21 days, 14 days and seven days.

Ajayi, whose agitation for the workers rights, was

echoed by NULGE National Officer, Chief Oluyemi Esan and Ekiti State Nige-ria Labour Congress (NLC) Chairman, Comrade Ayo-deji Aluko, said the work-ers would not renege until their demands are met.

This is as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the state, compelled by the situation, called on Gover-nor Kayode Fayemi, to re-sign from office following his inability to perform his roles and abdicating his responsibilities.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Thursday, September 13, 2012 9South West

The Obinato Com-munity in Amesi, Aguata Local Gov-ernment Area of Anam-bra, was on Tuesday thrown into mourning, following the mysterious death of three persons in a 14-feet underground wa-ter tank.

An eye-witness told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that a fourth per-son escaped death in the incident which occurred at about 9 am in an un-completed one-storey building allegedly owned by one Alex Muorah, a La-gos-based businessman.

The witness, who gave his name simply as Chuk-wuebuka, named the deceased as Augustine Dimude, 33, a carpenter; Onyebuchi Ezemokwe, 22 and Chidebere Ezendu, 21.

He said that Ezemokwe and Ezendu, who were contracted to wash the tank with some chemicals bought by Muorah, died of suffocation.

I am frightened and worried because we have never seen this type of death before in this town, Chukwuebuka said.

The Chairman of Umu-dim kindred, Mr. Gilbert Obidiegwu, who also con-firmed the incident, said shortly after Ezemokwe went into the water tank, he shouted, prompting

DENNIS AGBOENUGU

Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State has flagged off the distribution of health commodities worth about N780m to health facilities.

The commodities were donated by Partnership for Transforming Health Sys-tems (PATHS2).

The health commodities included 24 units of 40 KVA generating sets, air condi-tioners, blood banks and lab-oratory equipment, among others.

Speaking at the distribu-tion of the commodities, Chime, who was represented by the Commissioner for Poverty Reduction, Mr. God-win Ogenyi, stressed the need for beneficiaries to put

the facilities to good use.The Commissioner of

Health, Dr Fidelia Ugwu, said that the occasion was the most recent interven-tion in the area of health commodity support from the PATHS2.

According to her, PATHS has been working in part-nership with the Ministry of Health since 2003, add-ing that the partnership had been instrumental to activi-ties such as the development and structuring of the Dis-trict Health system, health commodities support and capacity-building.

Dr. Ugwu said: The in-terest of Governor Sullivan Chimes administration in the health sector has pro-vided the much needed at-mosphere for collaborative work which has encouraged

partners such as PATHS2 to continue with its part-nership in health sector re-form.

The Team Leader of PATHS2, Dr. Onivo Efe-Alu-ta, said that PATHS2 and its predecessor programmes, the PATHS and Health Com-modity Project (HCP) stand out in working closely with the state Ministry of Health

According to him, through PATHS and HCP, the Department for Interna-tional Development (DFID) Provided health commod-ity support worth over 2m spread across three phases.

He said: This resulted in the initiation and implemen-tation of Drug Revolving Fund (DRF) scheme in 278 health facilities, including public and faith-based clin-ics.

DENNIS AGBO ENUGU

Deputy Leader of Enugu State House of Assem-bly, Hon John Ukuta, has said that the loca-tion where the crude oil is being drilled by Ori-ent Petroleum is within three communities in Uzo-Uwani Local Gov-ernment Area of the state.

Ukuta, who hails from Iga, where the oil was allegedly deposited, is representing Uzo-Uwani state constituency.

He flayed the Anam-bra State Government for claiming the owner-ship of the location, in-

sisting that the oil was discovered in 1952 by his grandfather who was a parliamentarian in the First Republic.

Ukuta said the oil de-posit was specifically located in three com-munities of Iga, Ojo and Asaba - all in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area.

The lawmaker said: Enugu State and Anam-bra State governments had, at a meeting or-ganised by the National Boundary Commission in Akwa, made their submission to the com-mission.

Given the conten-tious issues in the sub-missions of the two parties, the commission

advised them to wait for its finding before taken further action.

Ukuta, however, said that Kogi State had now joined Anambra and Enugu for the agitation for the ownership of the land because the three states have contagious borders

He advising all par-ties to wait for the re-port of the commission rather than resulting to self help.

Ukuta said Enugu State had boundary doc-umentary evidence to buttress its legitimacy to the land, calling on the Federal Government not to cede the location to Anambra.

Three found dead in 14-feet underground tank

Anambra cant claim ownership of crude oil location Lawmaker

Enugu distributes N780m equipment to health facilities

CD wants Elechi investigated for alleged corrupt practices

L-R: Managing Director of Eminite Nigeria Limited, Mr. Alberto Tenorio; Abia State Governor, Theodore Orji and a director in the company, Mr. Jeo Okorafor Nwogu, during a visit to the governor in Umuahia, yesterday.

CHRIS NJOKU OWERRI

The Campaign for Democracy (CD) has called for inves-tigations into the alleged corrupt practices leveled against Ebonyi State Gover-nor Martin Elechi and his deputy, Chief Dave Umah.

The group also called on President Goodluck Jona-than to remove his name from the list of those to be honoured by the govern-ment.

In a statement made available yesterday to Na-tional Mirror in Owerri, the Imo State capital, the CD Chairman in the South-East, Dede Uzor A Uzor, said the corruption and ir-regularities in award and execution of contracts lev-

Ezendu to go for his res-cue.

Ezendu, who was also trapped, shouted for help which attracted Dimude, a passer-by near the build-ing to go for his rescue, but he too was also caught up.

The fourth person, Ebere Oraekwe, collapsed on the ladder while trying to rescue the three other trapped persons who later died, Obidiegwu said.

Obidiegwu said that it took the effort of yet another rescuer who cov-ered his nose with clothes before climbing down the tank to bring out the vic-tims who were rushed to a hospital where they were pronounced dead.

He, however, noted that Oraekwe was receiving treatment at the National Hospital, Mkporogwu, while the corpses of the deceased were deposited at Visitation Mortuary, Umuchu all in Aguata Lo-cal Government Area.

The community which had yet to recover from the shock, however, said they suspected foul play in the death of the three young men because such inci-dent had never happened in the village.

They appealed to the police to arrest Muorah, whom NAN learnt left for Lagos that morning, for in-vestigation to help unravel what actually happened.

They wondered why

Muorah should purchase what they termed danger-ous chemical and failed to supervise the cleaning of the tank personally, even as the building was unoccupied.

Meanwhile, the care-taker of the uncompleted building, Ferdinand Ezen-du, has been detained at the Umuchu Divisional Police Station.

The Anambra State Po-lice Public Relations Offi-cer, Mr Raphael Uzoigwe, who could neither deny nor confirm the incident, promised to contact the Umuchu Divisional Police Station on the incident.

As at press time, how-ever, no contact was estab-lished with Uzoigwe.

eled against Elechi should be investigated.

The statement reads: We are disturbed at the monumental corrupt al-legations leveled against Governor Elechi, the oldest governor in Nigeria, who supposed to be leading by example.

CD wants to call on anti-graft agencies to in-vestigate the alleged award of contract for the dualisa-tion of a section of Enugu/Abakailki Expressway to the company allegedly owned by his deputy, Chief Dave Umahi, to the tune of N7bn without any evidence.

It is also worrisome that Ebonyi State could be extorted and dragged into perpetual indebtedness by the present administration by borrowing N20bn from the capital market while the state government has failed to execute the proj-ects initiated by it.

Most worrisome is the alleged award of con-tract for the reconstruc-tion of Ogbaga Road to the governors firm, M&J. The contract was initially awarded to the governor by his predeces-sor, Sam Egwu, which El-echi allegedly re-awarded to himself to the tune of N2bn.

CD, however, called for the removal of Elechis name from those to be honoured by the Federal Government, saying: Time has come when Ni-geria should stop celebrat-ing corruption.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net10 Thursday, September 13, 2012South East

L-R: Permanent Secretary, Delta State Ministry of Transport, Mr. Austin Odiete; Commissioner for Transport, Mr. Ben Igbakpa and Director of Administration, Mr. Amos Okafor, at a stakeholders meeting on the ban of operations commercial motorcyclists in some major cities of the state, in Asaba, yesterday.

DESOPADEC boards dissolution pitches lawmakers against UduaghanSOLA ADEBAYO AND PRINCE AMOUR UDEMUDE

The fragile peace be-tween the executive and legislature in Delta State snapped yester-day following the dissolution of the board of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, by the House of Assembly.

The action had pitched the lawmakers against Governor Emmanuel Udu-

aghan. DESOPADEC is saddled

with the responsibility of managing 50 per cent of the 13 per cent derivation com-ponent of the state monthly revenue earnings from the Federation Account.

The dissolved board head-ed by an Itsekiri, the gover-nors kinsman, Mr. Oritsuwa Khogho, was inaugurated in August 2011 for a renewable term of three years.

The House sacked the board yesterday without re-course to the executive, cit-

AMOUR UDEMUDEASABA

Ahead of the 2015 governorship elec-tion in Delta State, the people of Anioma, Delta North senatorial district have concluded arrangements to begin campaign across the 25 councils in the state.

A legal practitioner, Mr. Alex Onwuadiamu, said in Asaba yesterday at the launch of a signpost and symbol of Anioma Agen-da, the group champion-ing Delta North governor-ship cause, that all was now set for aggressive cam-paign to every nook and cranny of the state.

He said: By this com-missioning, we are flag-ging off the campaign for 2015 for the Anioma Agenda and our campaign shall be a non-stop cam-paign until an Anioma son or daughter is installed as the governor of Delta State come 2015.

Yes, it is the inalien-

able right of the Anioma people to occupy the office of the governor of the state in 2015, but very impor-tantly, we cannot achieve this without the support of our brothers and sisters in Delta South and Central.

Appealing for support, cooperation and under-standing from the two senatorial districts on the quest by the Anioma ethnic nationality, Onwuadiamu disclosed that the group would soon organise semi-nars, workshops and sym-posiums on Hope, Unity, Togetherness and Love, and the need to support the Anioma Agenda.

Earlier, before cutting the tape, a retired Deputy Inspector-General of Po-lice, Chief Donald Ugbaja, and the leaders of the group, committed the 2015 Anioma Agenda to God.

Ugbaja said it was al-ready sealed in heaven, even as he appealed for the unflinching support and understanding of the other two senatorial districts.

South-South must produce Defence Minister Group Flood alert: Weve nowhere to go Residents

Delta north begins campaign for 2015 governorship

Crime: Bayelsa security outfi t arrests 100 suspectsEMMA GBEMUDUYENAGOA

Barely three months after its establish-ment, the Bayelsa State special security squad codenamed: Operation Doo Akpo, said it had ar-rested at least 100 suspects for engaging in criminal activities in the state.

The Commander of the security outfit, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Bello Ahmed, disclosed this yesterday in Yenagoa when Governor Seriake Dickson visited men and officers of the Operation Doo Akpo at its operational base.

He said the suspects had been handed over to the police for further investi-gation and prosecution.

Ahmed said over 200 distress calls from inhabit-ants of the state led to the arrest of the suspects.

The commander noted that personnel of the out-fit were redeployed from the Force Headquarters, Abuja, Bayelsa, Lagos, Rivers and Borno states, the Marine Police, includ-ing 40 civilian drivers.

Ahmed expressed the determination of the out-fit to tackle the security challenges in the state, just as he solicited for more logistics such as the construction of obser-vation towers, repair of generating set of the out-fit and provision of iden-tity cards for members for easy identification.

Earlier, the governor, who spoke through his deputy, John Jonah, urged officials of Operation Doo Akpo to conduct their ac-tivities in a manner that would improve the image of the police.

Cautioning the outfit against pitfalls of its pre-decessor, Operation Fa-mou Tamgbe, established by the former administra-tion, Dickson said govern-ment was poised to imple-ment a zero policy on crime and violence to cre-ate a conducive environ-ment for socio-economic activities in the state.

He said: We have ac-knowledged a reduction in cult and other criminal ac-tivities in Yenagoa and its environs.

EMMA GBEMUDUYENAGOA

The Chairmen Forum of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the eight local government areas of Bayelsa State has called on the Federal Government to cede the vacant position of the De-fence Minister to the South- South geo-political zone.

The group appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan not to appoint a northerner

as the minister, since he had already picked one as the Na-tional Security Adviser, NSA.

The Chairman of the group, Michael Ogbere, made the call in an interview with our correspondent in Yena-goa.

Ogbere said it was improp-er for Jonathan to appoint all his security aides from the North, noting that the Presi-dent should not succumb to pressure from the North and the PDP.

He said the South-South region was concerned about the Presidents decision to bal-ance the equation with a fair and competent hand to take charge of affairs in the Minis-try of Defence.

Ogbere praised the NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), for his efforts since he assumed duty.

He recalled that the NSA was a former aide-de-camp to former military President Ibrahim Babangida.

Despite an immediate evacuation order is-sued to communities living on the plains of the Riv-er Niger, the residents of flood-prone areas in Delta State said they would not relocate.

The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, on Monday issued an immedi-ate evacuation order to resi-dents living along the plains of River Niger.

It warned of the risk of un-precedented flooding of the

River Niger plains due to wa-ter from the Kainji and Jebba hydro dams.

The agency urged the resi-dents of the communities to move to higher grounds for safety and listed Niger, Kogi, Kwara, Kebbi, Anambra and Delta states as those at risk.

But at Cable Point in Asa-ba, a community located in Oshimili South Local Govern-ment Area of Delta State, sev-eral residents said they were not aware of the imminent

flood warning.On the bank of the River

Niger at Cable Point, several young men dredged sand from the riverside into a wait-ing truck, popularly called 911 or tipper.

Oblivious of the an-nouncement by NEMA, a middle-aged woman, appar-ently owner of a kiosk by the river-bank, was busy selling bread, cigarette, alcohol and other items to the sand dredg-ers.

ing gross incompetence by the management of the com-mission.

But members of the board have refused to comply with the resolution of the Assem-bly.

The House, in a motion by Mr. Eric Joe from Isoko South Constituency 1, which was unanimously adopted, asked members of the board to hand over to the Secretary of the agency, Mr. Ede Og-horo.

But it was gathered that Uduaghan has directed members of the Khogho-led board to ignore the House and go about their normal duties without fear of intimi-dation or harassment.

Findings yesterday indi-cated that Uduaghan was un-happy that the House acted independently.

Government House sourc-es told our correspondent that Uduaghan was upset that the lawmakers acted

beyond their ambit as dic-tated by the law establishing the agency and that it sent a wrong signal to some of his key loyalists on the board.

The governors position doused the tension generat-ed by the action of the House as stakeholders in the state initially assumed that the dissolution had Uduaghans backing.

The belief was that the House, which comprises loy-alists of the governor, lacked the courage to take such ac-tion without support of the executive.

However, members of the board were seen in their of-fices in Warri at press time yesterday, obviously repudi-ating the resolution of the House.

One of them, the Commis-sioner representing Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality, Mr. Mi-chael Diden, said the resolu-tion of the House was not binding on the board, adding that only the governor could dissolve the board.

Assembly cant sack us Board members

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 11Thursday, September 13, 2012 South South

WOLE ADEDEJIILORIN

About 10 suspected armed robbers yes-terday attacked a branch of one of the first generation banks in Share, Ifelodun Local Govern-ment area of Kwara State, killing two members of a local security outfit.

Eye witnesses said the

suspects, who operated in three vehicles, stormed the bank at about 10.30 am. They carted away undis-closed sums of money.

The witness said the community was thrown into panic for about the two hours that the robbery attack lasted.

Many residents were said to have been injured in the process as the sus-

pects shot sporadically in all direction.

It was learnt that when the local police division could not contain the rob-bery attack, the Oke Oyi Police Division in Ilorin East Local Government Area was quickly contact-ed to help block the sus-pects escape route

The robbers, however, engaged the police in a gun

battle that left the Divi-sional Police Officer (DPO) with gunshot on his left arm

The police spokesman, Mr. Femi Fabode, con-firmed the incident, adding that two vehicles, a Sienna bus and another brand of vehicle, with a long range rifle, were abandoned by the suspects before they escaped.

Plateau generates N4.5bn in seven months JAMES ABRAHAMJOS

The Plateau State Gov-ernment generated N4.5bn from Janu-ary till July this year, an of-ficial has said.

Chairman of Plateau Board of Revenue (BIR), Dr. Rauta Jat, told journalists yesterday in Jos, the state capital, that the feat was very remarkable.

Jat said: We are happy that we are maintaining the monthly collection of above N600m in our drive to hit the N1b monthly revenue targets.

The statistic shows that the bulk of the revenue came from Pay as You Earn (PAYE) of N2.99bn with the highest, N826.5m recorded in March.

Jat said Ministries, De-partments and Agencies

(MDAs) generated N640.4m.She said that the board

was leaving no space to de-faulters and would record 100 per cent compliance by tax payers.

Jat said: Another plus for the board was the liai-son offices we opened at La-gos and Abuja, where we got some substantial amount of money.

We are still working to-wards opening a liaison of-

fice in Kaduna soon, while others will come in due course towards improving our collections.

The chairman added that ground rents and capital gains would soon be intro-duced towards improving the revenue profile of the state.

She said: I am sure by the time such taxes are in-troduced; we shall no doubt surpass the N1bn target we set for ourselves.

Remodeled Jos Airport terminal ready Nov

2015: Naabba cant speak for North, says Group

Flood submerges 178 houses in KadunaTwo killed, DPO injured in

Kwara bank robbery attack

Why jail break persists Prisons boss PRISCILLA DENNISMINNA

The Assistant Comp-troller-General of Prisons in charge of Zone D, Alhaji Abubakar Falke, has attributed the per-sistent attempted jail break by prisoners to neglect by the 36 state governors.

Falke, who stated this while decorating senior of-ficers recently promoted with their new ranks, said the neglect was also respon-sible for the dilapidated facilities on the prisons na-tionwide.

He said the Nigerian Prison Service was left un-supported by the governors, adding that most of the prison structures in Nige-

ria were built in the 1800s by colonial masters.

Commending the Min-ister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed, for do-nating two vehicles to the prison service recently, Fal-ke appealed to the state gov-ernors to assist the service particularly with operation-al vehicles as done to other security agencies.

He said: I personally solicit for assistance to Nigeria Prison Service. I urge the governors to see the sacrifice we are doing and give us new vehicles as they are doing to other se-curity agencies. At least, we should have our old vehicles refurbished for effectively service delivery.

JAMES ABRAHAM JOS

The multi-billion nai-ra remodeled termi-nal building of the Yakubu Gowon Airport in Jos will be ready by Novem-ber, the Airport Manager, Mr. Jim Opotu, has said.

Opotu told journalists yesterday in Jos, the Pla-teau State capital, that when completed, the build-ing would give passengers the desired comfort to fly in

and out of the airport. He said: The remodel-

ling of the terminal build-ing is part of the transfor-mation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan admin-istration.

The contract was sched-uled for completion in June, but the rain and security challenges made that im-possible. Now the deadline is November.

The airport manager said that plans were under-way for the establishment

of an airport village where various kinds of businesses would be carried out.

Opotu said that already, some corporate organisa-tions had indicated interest to partner with the airport in that respect.

He named the corporate bodies to include First Bank plc and Globacom Nigeria Limited, expressing hope that the partnership would boost non-aeronautical rev-enue bases.

The manager said the

airport had enough land that private companies and individuals could develop or utilise to establish busi-nesses such as hotels, filling stations and gardens.

He said: We also hope to meet with tour operators and consultants to partner with them on tourism devel-opment, which will bring in chattered flights.

Opotu stated that the main goal was to generate more revenue for the airport and shore up its fortunes.

AZA MSUEKADUNA

A group under the aegis of Democrat-ic Advancement Option (DAO) yesterday warned former Speaker of the House of Represen-tatives, Hon. Gali Umar Naabba, to stop speaking for the North ahead of the 2015 presidential election.

The group was react-ing to a report credited to Naabba in which he claimed that 2015 would be disastrous for Presi-dent Goodluck Jonathan if he contests the presi-dential election against the North.

The group, in a state-ment signed in Kaduna by its Executive Director, Alhaji Abdullahi Garba, asked the former Speaker to exploit internal dispute resolution mechanisms within the Peoples Demo-cratic Party (PDP) rather

than heating up the polity.The group said inves-

tigation revealed that the Federal Government is currently handling all is-sues surrounding the 2011 post-presidential election violence, including provi-sion of succor for victims and their families.

The group said: We therefore urge Naabba to desist from being con-frontational and that as a member of the PDP, he ought to have explored all channels, including seeking audience with the highest hierarchy of the party to advise them on his observations.

But because he was af-fected by the post-election violence, he chose to go public to blackmail Presi-dent Jonathan into com-pensating him alone, con-trary to what is currently being planned for all the post-election violence vic-tims.

AZA MSUEKADUNA

Hundreds of peoples were rendered homeless yesterday in Kaduna metropolis, fol-lowing a downpour that de-stroyed their homes.

It was learnt that no fewer than 178 houses were destroyed by the rain.

The victims have, how-ever, vacated their homes to stay with their relatives in safer places.

Executive Secretary of Ka-duna State Emergency Man-agement Agency (SEMA), Ishaku Dogo Makam, said

178 houses were affected without casualties.

Makam identified flood flash point areas as Abuba-kar Kigo Road, Rafin Guza, Nasarawa, Bashan Road, Tudun Wada and Unguwan Rimi GRA.

He said: After our as-sessment of these areas with the National Emer-gency Management Agen-cy (NEMA) and the Red Cross, we confirmed 178 homes submerged. We have not heard of any reported death or injury. We are writ-ing a report to the govern-ment, so we can be helped to set up camp for victims.

L-R: Executive Secretary, Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Shadrack Barub; Adamawa State Deputy Governor, Mr. Bala Ngilari and other officials, at the donation of relief materials by Yoruba community to Adamawa flood victims in Yola, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net12 Thursday, September 13, 2012North

OBIORA IFOHABUJA

Fireworks between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) over the claims of former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu that he was invited by President Barrak Obama to attend the convention of the US Democratic Party contin-ued yesterday as the PDP asked ACN to apologise to

Nigerians for taking them for a ride.

In a statement by the PDP national publicity sec-retary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party advised ACN to rise above roadside sophist-ry and accept that the party and its national leader trad-ed on fraudulent claims when they lied to Nigerians that Tinubu was sent a gold card invitation by the Dem-ocratic Party of the United States to attend its recent national convention.

Reacting to a statement by the ACN national pub-licity secret