Ambode emerges best performing Governor

Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode

The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, is leading other Governors in the poll organised by the African Leadership Magazine to determine Nigeria’s top performing Governor.

The poll, tagged: “Good Governance Polls for Nigeria’s Top Performing Governor,” started two weeks ago with Governor Ambode maintaining the lead.

So far, he has scored 36.1 per cent of the total vote casts.

The Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, is trailing Governor Ambode with 25 per cent of the total votes cast.

The poll, according to its organisers, was designed by the group as part of its strategic engagement tool to monitor performance and gauge the mood of the electorate in Nigeria in line with its objective of providing credible information and support to leaders in Nigeria and Africa at large.

The Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, is in the third place with 8.8 per cent, while Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, is in the fourth position with 7.9 per cent of the total vote casts.An overwhelming 35 per cent popularity rating for Governor Ambode, among other governors, clearly shows his popularity as he continues to deliver good governance, promoting infrastructural development and people-centred policies that better the lives of the people of Lagos.

The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, sits in the fifth position with 5 per cent, while as at press time, voting is still ongoing and is expected to close in the next four days.

New Heartland boss hopes club avoid relegation

The new chairman of Heartland, Chibuzo Etuemena, has said he hopes to ensure the Owerri club are not relegated this season.

‘The Naze Millionaires’ languish in 18th place on the 19-team table with 30 points from 27 matches.

“Heartland are already confined to relegation by end of the season. I know for sure, that not many people would want to take the risk, which I want to take, but I strongly believe that with God all things are possible and I am determined to do my best,” the new chairman vowed.

“I am not a magician but I’m an optimist and I believe that there is nothing that God cannot do.”

Etuemena also announced the appointment of five new officers into the management team.He disclosed that he has ensured the players are paid three months’ salaries owed them.

These include Promise Nwachukwu, who is now the club’s sporting director; Cajetan Nkwopara as director of media and Mobi Oparaku as team manager.

Others are Ramson Madu, who was appointed head coach and Emmanuel Uzoma Emelu as welfare officer.

RERUN: APC wins Imo north senetorial, 2 state constituencies in Imo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Mr Ben Uwajumogu of the All Progressive Congress (APC) winner of Imo North Senatorial District rerun election held on July 28.

Uwajumogu scored 56,076 votes to defeat Mr Athan Achonu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 43, 815 votes.

Prof. Arinze Agbogu, the INEC Returning Officer for Imo North Senatorial District, who announced the result in the early hours of Friday, said the outcome was a summation of scores of July 23 and that of July 28 exercise.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that Uwajumogu, had scored 48,921 on July 23, while Achonu, of the PDP, scored 40, 142 votes which made INEC to declare the rerun inconclusive.

Similarly, INEC declared Mr Nkenna Nzeruo of the APC winner of Oru East State Constituency, while Mr Collins Chiji also of APC was declared winner for Isiala Mbano State Constituency.Agbogu said that available data before him showed that Uwajumogu had majority of lawful votes cast, and therefore returned elected for the Imo North Senatorial District.

The two state constituencies’ elections were equally declared inconclusive due to reported cases of violence that marred the exercise in some communities in the two areas on July 23.

Uwajumogu told journalists in Owerri that he was highly elated over the victory, adding “my gratitude goes more to Gov. Rochas Okorocha whose structure helped me to win this senatorial election’’

Budget Padding: The road to constitutional dictatorship

One cliché that has lately drawn interest among Nigerian newsmakers and observers is the controversial phenomenon of “Budget Padding.” Given the way Nigerians are wont to glamourise crimes, or take for granted issues thrown at them by the political class, it is not surprising that very few Nigerians have been able to interrogate the phrase to give a definitive meaning to it.

Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and the just sacked Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Rep. Abdulmumin Jibrin, recently refocused attention on the issue.

Jibrin had drawn the first blood a week ago after he was removed as chairman of the appropriation committee when he accused Speaker Yakubu Dogara and three other principal officers of padding the 2016 budget. According to him, his opposition to the alleged padding and other supposed malfeasances of the Speaker and his allies was the reason for his forced resignation as chairman of the appropriation committee.

His assertion, however, quickly drew the attention of critics who queried why he had to wait till he was removed from office before spilling the beans.

Taking a cue from the assertions of Rep. Jibrin, President Obasanjo upon a visit with President Muhammadu Buhari again took a direct hit at the National Assembly when he said that the Jibrin incident had again confirmed his past assertions that there were rogues and armed robbers in the National Assembly.

Obasanjo’s assertions undoubtedly drew from his experience of dealing with the National Assembly during his period in the Presidential Villa. In one case, he had an incumbent President of the Senate investigated and charged to court after he and some other members of the committees on education of the two chambers were indicted for soliciting for bribes to pass the budget of the Federal Ministry of Education.

However, what has shaken many friends and foes of the former president is the claim that the most brazen act of corruption in recent Nigeria history involving the legislature did not emanate from the National Assembly, but from the executive branch of government.

It was an irony of sorts for someone like Senator Adolphus Wabara who was himself allegedly offered double the amount to support the amendment. Wabara claimed he was offered double the normal N50 million even after he was indicted by the executive branch of government in the N54 million bribe for budget scam in the Federal Ministry of Education.The Third Term fiasco during which members of the House of Representatives supportive of the constitution amendment for a third term for the president and governors were offered N50 million apiece till date continues to be cited as the most repugnant act of corruption ever in the Fourth Republic of Nigeria.

A number of other principled legislators also refused the bribe and were to shine like stars in that dark period of licentious legislative lampoonery supposedly crafted by the executive branch. For their principled stances, they were denied return tickets and many others like Temi Harriman, the only House member from the ruling party from the South-South who fought third term, simply walked away from the ruling party.

Senator Joy Emodi for her opposition was made to confront the political treachery that has been symptomatic of politics in Anambra State in her bid for a return ticket on the platform of the PDP.

The Third Term project and the seeming acquiesce of the Obasanjo presidency to the fiasco remains in the view of many, including this correspondent, the major failure of the Obasanjo administration.

Otherwise, President Obasanjo has remained almost head and shoulder above his successors.

Whether President Obasanjo or Jibrin or whoever, no one has been able to give a classic definition of the phrase, budget padding.

The seeming determination of the executive branch to force the term into the consciousness of Nigerians remains deceptive.

Given the provisions of Sections 80, 81 and 82 of the Constitution, the National Assembly cannot be said to have padded a budget that it has a right to work on. Stopping the National Assembly from padding, adjusting or shrinking the budget would inevitably make the legislature a rubber stamp. It would mean taking away its most important duty of controlling the purse and turning the executive branch into a dictatorship.

UN condems barbaric Boko Haram violence in Nigeria

Militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), has vowed to bomb more oil pipelines beginning from first week of August.

The group warned oil workers and foreigners still in the region to vacate or risk their lives.

The group which has claimed respon­sibility for recent spate of bombings of oil facilities in the region said it has had enough of the dishonesty and tricks of the Federal Government, as it claimed the peace talk or dialogue purportedly initiated by the Federal Government was a delay tactics to enable the gov­ernment take delivery of arms includ­ing drones expected to arrive by end of August from the United States.

“This whole thing makes us to won­der what kind of country is this? We can all see that President Buhari-led govern­ment is a fraud. They are not serious about any dialogue. But they make it look as if the Niger Delta Avengers are the ones not ready for dialogue.

“Mr. President, you can purchase all the drones in Europe and the United States of America, it won’t stop the Niger Delta Avengers from bringing the country’s economy to zero.

“The worst you can do is to kill poor innocent people which the military is good at, but you should know that the Nigerian economy will suffer, as you will not be able to export one litre of crude in the Niger Delta. Just intensify the oil exploration in the North East. As for the ones in the Niger Delta, forget about it because the Nigerian govern­ment won’t export a drop from our land,” the militants bragged.

But the military has read the riot act to the militants to desist from attacking oil installations or face the consequences of their criminal actions.

Commander of Operation Delta Safe, Rear Admiral Joseph Okojie who gave the warning in Asaba during a courtesy call on Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State vowed that the multi-service task force was prepared to tackle any criminal action within the Nigerian maritime area.

He said the military has the mandate of President Muhammadu Buhari to secure the waters in the Niger Delta region covering part of Ondo, Edo and the entire Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers as well as part of Akwa Ibom states against security and economic threats.

Meanwhile, the Concerned Militant Leaders (CML) has claimed responsi­bility for the attack on the Nigerian Na­tional Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline, which occurred on Monday, at Obotim Ikot Ekong village in Akwa Ibom State.

Also, the CML said the Liberian ship, which its “rugged sea warriors” seized on Tuesday, July 19, 2016, on Bakassi Peninsula Nigerian waterways, would not be released, adding that the vessel would be named after Biafra.

Spokesperson of the group, General Ben, stated this yesterday, while react­ing to the statement by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-General Tukur Buratai that the militants would be attacked, if government’s efforts to dialogue with militants proved futile.

General Ben claimed no active militant group has engaged the Federal Government in any discussion, warning that any individual who works against the collective agenda of the militants would regret his or her action.

Joji said by blowing up oil pipelines and destroying other key facilities that affect the economy of the Nigeria, the militants have declared war against the Nigerian state, and therefore should not be pitied.However, former Managing Direc­tor of the defunct Nigerian Airways, Captain Mohammed Joji said Buhari should not romance the militants by going into dialogue with them. He said government should engage them “fire for fire.”

Captain Joji said the militant group has not only inflicted incalculable pains on Nigerians, but also about to cripple the nation’s economy.

While lamenting that the activities of the Avengers was responsible for the scarcity of aviation fuel, the aviation expert said if the the ‘madness’ was al­lowed to continue, it would ground the aviation industry, which would in turn ground the economy.

“Fuel scarcity in the aviation sector is a sabotage by the so-called Niger Delta Avengers, so pipeline vandalism must be brought to a halt if the crisis must end.

“I am not an advocate of negotiations with a terrorist group. The Federal Gov­ernment should forget about democracy and go fire for fire with the Avengers,” he said.

In a related development, former minister of mines and steel, Chief Sarafa Tunji Ishola enjoined President Buhari to quickly summon an emergen­cy Council of State meeting to address the prevailing insecurity.

Ishola said the president should not wait until the insecurity in Niger Delta, the agitation for Biafra Republic in the South East and the continuous killings of innocent Nigerians by herdsmen, spi­ral out of hand before convening such a meeting.

“Allowing insecurity to persist beyond the current level may spell doom for Buhari’s administration, because the level of poverty in Nigeria today is just too high that people are only tolerating his administration temporarily.

“If he should allow Nigerians to run out of patience and revolt against his administration, that may spell doom,” the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain said.

The ex-minister explained that the president should not think the rising insecurity in the country was something he and his All Progressives Congress (APC) could solve alone.

“Buhari needs wisdom from former Heads of State and other elder states­men who have ruled this nation before him. So, he needs to call the Council of State meeting as a matter of urgency, with security matter as the sole agen­dum.”

Ishola noted that it would be a great error on the part of Buhari to think that the method he used about 31 years ago as military Head of State is what he would use now as civilian president.

“This is a democratic dispensation, you have to carry along critical stake­holders and also have listening ears, if not the insecurity will get out of hand. And if you are talking about diversifica­tion of the economy, tell me, which foreign investors will go to a country to invest where they are throwing bombs, kidnapping people and demanding huge ransoms?” he queried.

Niger Delta militants promise to blow up more oil factories

Militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), has vowed to bomb more oil pipelines beginning from first week of August.

The group warned oil workers and foreigners still in the region to vacate or risk their lives.

The group which has claimed respon­sibility for recent spate of bombings of oil facilities in the region said it has had enough of the dishonesty and tricks of the Federal Government, as it claimed the peace talk or dialogue purportedly initiated by the Federal Government was a delay tactics to enable the gov­ernment take delivery of arms includ­ing drones expected to arrive by end of August from the United States.

“This whole thing makes us to won­der what kind of country is this? We can all see that President Buhari-led govern­ment is a fraud. They are not serious about any dialogue. But they make it look as if the Niger Delta Avengers are the ones not ready for dialogue.

“Mr. President, you can purchase all the drones in Europe and the United States of America, it won’t stop the Niger Delta Avengers from bringing the country’s economy to zero.

“The worst you can do is to kill poor innocent people which the military is good at, but you should know that the Nigerian economy will suffer, as you will not be able to export one litre of crude in the Niger Delta. Just intensify the oil exploration in the North East. As for the ones in the Niger Delta, forget about it because the Nigerian govern­ment won’t export a drop from our land,” the militants bragged.

But the military has read the riot act to the militants to desist from attacking oil installations or face the consequences of their criminal actions.

Commander of Operation Delta Safe, Rear Admiral Joseph Okojie who gave the warning in Asaba during a courtesy call on Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State vowed that the multi-service task force was prepared to tackle any criminal action within the Nigerian maritime area.

He said the military has the mandate of President Muhammadu Buhari to secure the waters in the Niger Delta region covering part of Ondo, Edo and the entire Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers as well as part of Akwa Ibom states against security and economic threats.

Meanwhile, the Concerned Militant Leaders (CML) has claimed responsi­bility for the attack on the Nigerian Na­tional Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline, which occurred on Monday, at Obotim Ikot Ekong village in Akwa Ibom State.

Also, the CML said the Liberian ship, which its “rugged sea warriors” seized on Tuesday, July 19, 2016, on Bakassi Peninsula Nigerian waterways, would not be released, adding that the vessel would be named after Biafra.

Spokesperson of the group, General Ben, stated this yesterday, while react­ing to the statement by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-General Tukur Buratai that the militants would be attacked, if government’s efforts to dialogue with militants proved futile.

General Ben claimed no active militant group has engaged the Federal Government in any discussion, warning that any individual who works against the collective agenda of the militants would regret his or her action.

Joji said by blowing up oil pipelines and destroying other key facilities that affect the economy of the Nigeria, the militants have declared war against the Nigerian state, and therefore should not be pitied.However, former Managing Direc­tor of the defunct Nigerian Airways, Captain Mohammed Joji said Buhari should not romance the militants by going into dialogue with them. He said government should engage them “fire for fire.”

Captain Joji said the militant group has not only inflicted incalculable pains on Nigerians, but also about to cripple the nation’s economy.

While lamenting that the activities of the Avengers was responsible for the scarcity of aviation fuel, the aviation expert said if the the ‘madness’ was al­lowed to continue, it would ground the aviation industry, which would in turn ground the economy.

“Fuel scarcity in the aviation sector is a sabotage by the so-called Niger Delta Avengers, so pipeline vandalism must be brought to a halt if the crisis must end.

“I am not an advocate of negotiations with a terrorist group. The Federal Gov­ernment should forget about democracy and go fire for fire with the Avengers,” he said.

In a related development, former minister of mines and steel, Chief Sarafa Tunji Ishola enjoined President Buhari to quickly summon an emergen­cy Council of State meeting to address the prevailing insecurity.

Ishola said the president should not wait until the insecurity in Niger Delta, the agitation for Biafra Republic in the South East and the continuous killings of innocent Nigerians by herdsmen, spi­ral out of hand before convening such a meeting.

“Allowing insecurity to persist beyond the current level may spell doom for Buhari’s administration, because the level of poverty in Nigeria today is just too high that people are only tolerating his administration temporarily.

“If he should allow Nigerians to run out of patience and revolt against his administration, that may spell doom,” the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain said.

The ex-minister explained that the president should not think the rising insecurity in the country was something he and his All Progressives Congress (APC) could solve alone.

“Buhari needs wisdom from former Heads of State and other elder states­men who have ruled this nation before him. So, he needs to call the Council of State meeting as a matter of urgency, with security matter as the sole agen­dum.”

Ishola noted that it would be a great error on the part of Buhari to think that the method he used about 31 years ago as military Head of State is what he would use now as civilian president.

“This is a democratic dispensation, you have to carry along critical stake­holders and also have listening ears, if not the insecurity will get out of hand. And if you are talking about diversifica­tion of the economy, tell me, which foreign investors will go to a country to invest where they are throwing bombs, kidnapping people and demanding huge ransoms?” he queried.