Jonathan Had ‘Acute Abdomen’ Crisis

Doctors who examined and treated President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for the sudden onset of severe abdominal pains in London have certified him fully fit to return home and continue his official duties.

After a thorough evaluation of the President’s symptoms, medically referred to as acute abdomen, the doctors concluded that no surgical intervention was required.

President Jonathan will therefore return to Abuja Sunday evening and will be at work in the Presidential Villa as usual on Monday.

The President is scheduled to depart from London at about 1400 hours GMT and arrive at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at about 2000 hours.

The term ‘acute abdomen’ represents a rapid onset of severe symptoms that may indicate life-threatening intra-abdominal pathology.

According to a posting by New York University Medical Centre: “Acute abdomen” is the medical term used for pain in the abdomen that usually comes on suddenly and is so severe that one may have to go to the hospital. As opposed to common abdominal pain, which can be caused by minor issues such as constipation or gas, acute abdominal pain can signal a variety of more serious conditions, some of which require immediate medical care and/or surgery.”

It can be caused by stomach flu, hernia, appendicitis, pancreatitis, kidney, bladder or urinary tract infection.
(Read more here:http://medicine.med.nyu.edu/conditions-we-treat/conditions/acute-abdomen

Earlier today, the president’s media adviser, Dr. Reuben Abati described as fiction the story that he fell ill in London after a “heavy birthday party thrown to celebrate his 56th birthday” at the Intercontinental Hotel.

Abati, in a press statement expressed regrets that despite the open admittance of the president’s ill health in London, some online organs went ahead to make what he called ” scurrilous distortions of the facts of the President’s indisposition”.

“The truth”, said Abati, ” is that President Jonathan observed his 56th birthday anniversary quietly. For part of the day, he was airborne, in transit between Abuja and London. On arrival in London, he spent the rest of the day in the privacy of his hotel room. It has never been his custom to celebrate birthday anniversaries and no exception was made this year. No birthday party was therefore held for the President in London”. [PMNews]

TOP-8 Nigeria’s Highest Paid CEOs and Their Daily Income

Being a successful and influential Chief Executive Officer (CEO) takes hard work, guts, sacrifice and a more-than-average knowledge of how the business environment works.

LEADERSHIP Friday presents some of Nigeria’s highest paid CEOs and the stories behind their rise to the top, based on authoritative reports, between 2009 and 2012. 

1. CEO, Stanbic IBTC, Sola David-Borha leads the list, with an annual remuneration of N177m – N484,931 daily.

2. CEO, Ecobank Nigeria, Jubril Aku earns N88m annually – N241,100 daily. But the bank reportedly slashed the CEO’s emolument to N38m per annum*, perhaps, as a measure against financial stress.

3. CEO, Mobil Oil Nigeria Limited, Tunji Oyebanji has an annual remuneration of N85m. When broken down, this amounts to a daily pay of about N231,956.

4. CEO, GTBank, Olusegun Agbaje’s annual take-home is a whopping N77m, which equals N210,960 per day.

5. CEO, Oando Plc, Jubril Adewale Tinubu earned N69m, a daily equivalent of N189,041.

6. CEO, Forte Oil Plc, Akin Akinfemiwa has an annual remuneration of N64m, or N175,342 per day.

7. CEO, UBA, Phillips Oduoza had N57m (as at 2010), or 156,164N every day.

8. CEO, Zenith Bank, Godwin Emefiele is also one of the highest paid CEOs of Nigerian companies, however precise data on his incomes was not disclosed. We estimated it on N100m per year**, based on financial results of the bank and its position in the bank’s hierarchy.

READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/52675.html

Pres Jonathan feeling better now, presides over a meeting in London

What happened yesterday was really impressive. The president telling his people that he's not feeling well and undergoing medical attention. A sharp contrast with what obtained in the past. Now we know he's feeling better and has left the hospital. Let's continue this way, keeping the Nigerian people informed. A pic of President Jonathan this morning above (with Baroness Chalker at the Honourary International Investors Council Meeting..

The striding team takes over Lagos

 

Something is going on in Lagos and it will be big courtesy Johnnie Walker. There are hot ladies all kitted up in nice looking F1 jumpsuits literately stopping traffic with their strides. Passersby were taking pictures and having fun watching the team of ladies doing their thing and obviously having a good time while at it and they put up quite a show! All of these ladies were accompanying a very dapper looking Striding Man.  

Keep a lookout! When you meet any of either the Striding Man and the girls or the race cars parked at the mall, take a picture and share using harshtags #imnotdriving #stepup2vip. Continue...

Join the conversation on www.facebook.com/johnniewalkernigeria , Johnnie Walker may hook you up!  you never know..

Pix Of The Day

Love being tan and glowy, especially during the holidays. I always travel with my #KardashianSunKissed!

Update on Adaobi: Man suspected of killing her was her roommate

Found more details about 26 year old Adaobi Michella Obih who was found dead on Tuesday Nov. 19th at an apartment in Columbus, Indiana. The man suspected of killing her, 36 year old Ryan Allen Klug, was her roommate. Adaobi was stabbed multiple times and her throat cut.

From Fox59.com

Police were alerted to Obih’s death after she missed work Monday and Tuesday without notifying anyone. Concerned coworkers contacted her apartment complex to ask about her. Police also contacted the property manager to request a welfare check, according to the arrest affidavit.

A maintenance worked went to check on the woman and said, “It’s not good, there is blood everywhere” after going to Obih’s apartment.

A neighbor said he noticed that the door to Obih’s garage spot was open and had been open for at least 24 hours. Klug, who police described as Obih’s roommate, parked his vehicle there.

The maintenance worker told police there were no signs of forced entry at the apartment and that only two people would’ve had keys: Obih and Klug. The maintenance worker told police he found Obih with a “large amount of blood around her head” and said it appeared clear that she was dead.

Police talked to Obih’s boyfriend, who revealed that he’d texted and called her multiple times but never heard back. The last message he received from her was at 12:17 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 17. When she failed to respond, he went to her apartment, saw her car in the parking lot and knocked on the door. Obih didn’t answer.

A neighbor who lives in the apartment below Obih’s said it sounded like someone was moving furniture during Sunday afternoon. “It went on for more than three minutes,” the neighbor said, adding that it happened shortly before tornado warnings went off for Sunday’s storms.

Police said Klug had texted a pastor asking him to call. When the pastor did so, Klug answered and said he couldn’t talk at the time.

Further investigation found that Obih had been stabbed multiple times and her throat cut. A blood trail went from the woman’s bedroom to Klug’s, and police said it appeared “the assailant attempted to clean up in the bathroom area belonging to Mr. Klug.” They also found a bloody towel in Klug’s sink. Police located a plastic bag containing a bloody sock and other clothes stained with blood, including blue jeans, boxers and a shirt. Police said the “amount of blood on these items was significant.”

Police found a trail of small blood drops leading from the apartment to the garage where Klug parked his vehicle. His 2008 silver Subaru Legacy was not parked in the garage.

Klug works for the Indiana Department of Transportation, and police contacted his supervisor, who told them Klug’s behavior had been “off” lately. He sent a text message Sunday saying, “sick tomorrow, then vacation next two weeks.” His supervisor said the message was out of character and also violated the department’s vacation time policy. Klug did not return texts or phone calls, his supervisor said. He didn’t show up at work Monday or Tuesday.

Klug’s stepmother and father said they hadn’t heard from him for several days.

His brother told police he’d spoken with Klug about two weeks ago. Klug wanted to get back with a girl he’d dated. The relationship ended about a year ago. His brother told Klug to call her; he said Klug discovered she was dating someone else and told him, “I’m losing control.”

NNPC/Swiss Traders $6.8 Bn ‘Fraud’: The Facts Of The Matter By Ifeanyi Izeze

By Ifeanyi Izeze

The dramatized outrage in the National Assembly over the $6.8 billion (about N1.07 trillion) alleged fraud involving the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and two Swiss oil traders, could best be described as self–deceit and outright nonsense.  Playing unnecessary partisan politics with the seriousness of this matter is in itself a more serious fraud against the Nigerian people.
The question is: did the Swiss NGO say anything we did not know here? No! Is there anything new in the relationship between the NNPC and the Swiss trading duo, Trafigura and Vitol? Nothing at all! Did it start today? The answer is No! The scheme has been in place since 2009 so giving the wrong impression that it was a Jonathan thing was as usual unnecessary politicization of a very serious crime that has drained our national coffer.
It was a report: “Swiss Traders Opaque Deals in Nigeria,” by a Swiss non-governmental advocacy organisation, the Berne Declaration, that outlined how the NNPC, in connivance with two Swiss oil trading companies- Vitol and Trafigura, drained Nigeria of over $6.8 billion in subsidy payments through shady deals involving lifting of crude oil at prices far below what obtained in the open market.
The meat of the Swiss report was that the ‘exclusive’ partnerships of Vitol and Trafigura with the NNPC gave the two Swiss commodity trading companies over 36 per cent discount off the open market prices of crude oil.
As said, Vitol and Trafigura, two major oil traders in Switzerland, and seven Nigerian fuel importers created offshore subsidiaries referred to as ‘letterbox companies’ to defraud the country of over $6.8bn in subsidy payments between 2009 and 2011 — in addition to such activities as ship-to-ship transfer to create untraceable paperwork in payment of subsidy money to non-existing importers who partnered with politically exposed persons.
Let me now say it here that all the information published by the Swiss NGO in its report, came wholesale from the Ribadu Committee Report which also lifted theirs wholesale from the NEITI 2009-2011 Audit Report. So the dramatised outrage at the National Assembly was mere politics, well rehearsed to either add to the crisis between the old and the new PDP or to support the APC smear campaign against the Jonathan government. The National Assembly would have been taken more seriously if they had rather shouted over the “death and burial” of the Ribadu Committee report or even the implementation of the recommendations of the NEITI 2009-2011 Audit report which uncovered more serious fraud in subsidy payments and most of which were perpetrated by some of these folks in the National Assembly or their political sponsors.
The lawmakers feigned pained that the NNPC was selling crude oil to the traders at give-away price (36 per cent below open market prices). This also was either a deliberate mischief or a clear exhibition of total ignorance of where the fraud/scam in the NNPC-Trafigura/Vitol deal was embellished.
This is where the real fraud is: Under the transaction, the trading companies were expected to lift Nigerian crude oil and in return, supply her with just three refined petroleum products: Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) commonly called petrol, Diesel (AGO) and Dual purpose Kerosene (DPK).
In actual fact there is no question of 36 percent discount in the first instance because the trading companies were not buying the NNPC crude oil but ‘helping’ our disabled national apex oil concern refine its crude abroad. And of course,  in addition to shortchanging the nation of over twenty by-products derivable from processing of crude oil, the NNPC still paid huge charges for the service including to and from haulage.The grey area is in the matching of the worth of crude taken away with the costing methods of the by–products of the refined crude oil including scores of derivatives. It is in the act of balancing the volume of crude lifted and the products returned in terms of volume and value that the fraud lays.
At the time this conspiracy was initiated, there were several outcries that the NNPC and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources used inconsistent and highly subjective methods to arrive at the crude-oil-for-refined-product deal with Vitol and Trafigura, Amsterdam- based Swiss trading or more aptly buying and selling companies. The allegation was then dismissed as a smear campaign by competitors that lost out in the oil-for-products swap deal.
Contrary to what some folks in the National Assembly think, the fraudulent oil –for –product swap trade was conceived, packaged and arranged by two NNPC group managing directors whose tenures ran into each other under Dr Rilwanu Lukman as minister of Petroleum in the Yar’adua administration. The idea was initiated under the late Abubakar Yar’adua whose demise saw Mohammed Barkindo taking over from where he stopped as NNPC GMD.
Shamsudeen Usman and Mansur Muktar as finance ministers (2009-2010) were fully aware of this evil conspiracy which was packaged by the NNPC to look as the only way out of the then incessant fuel crisis in the country.
President Yar’adua did not buy the idea. He raised issues over the costing methods and how the by-products were to be accounted for. But the proponents including Dr. Lukman, the gang from NNPC headed by Barkindo and politically exposed persons in and around the Yar’adua Presidency saw the opportunity provided by the late president’s incapacitation to smuggle the same template that was queried through the back door in the night to Goodluck Jonathan who then as acting president naively approved if only that would make him acceptable to the cabal that held sway at the Presidency then.
So this matter no be Diezani matter at all! It predated the present petroleum minister. Though she, with the express approval of bros, continued the scam maybe even modified it to better serve the new gang occupying the presidency.
Nigerians should be concerned that the approach the National Assembly is taking would not achieve a single result except ofcourse enriching some committee members. I bet Madueke even the Vitol and Trafigura people have more than enough and ofcourse genuine explanation to dazzle or more aptly confuse the National Assembly on this matter. Mark my words!
Truth be told, the method used in arriving at the $6.8 billion being dangled as loss to the nation could best be described as subjective. And depending on the political meter used, the pendulum can swing either to the far more or far less side depending on who is taking the measurement.
How was the cumulative loss in terms of all the derivable by-products generated from processing the volume of crude oil the Swiss traders lifted within the period under review ascertained? How was volume-by volume and then value per value of the lifted crude against the petrol, diesel and kerosene these Swiss thieves returned to us in the swap deal matched and by who? Does the National Assembly have the capacity and even the political will to be honest to do serious work along these lines? It does not.
Honestly, this country needs a change in approach in its efforts to tackle the hydra-headed problem of corruption in government and its agencies. Rather than harass the petroleum minister and everybody involved for few days and just let them go on a clean bill, is it not better to look at ways of retrieving what was stolen from us even if it requires straining or even breaking diplomatic relations with countries where these thieves come from and also where our own thieves bank or invest monies stolen from this nation?
What has the Swiss government done or even said concerning this revelation of massive financial crime that defrauded Nigeria of over $6.8 billion as alleged? Beyond collating data of fraud from our anti-graft agency and publishing it to give the impression they are working, what is Berne Declaration, the Swiss NGO, going to do to compel their government to cooperate with Nigeria tracing and recovering this stolen money and returning same back to Nigeria, if for nothing, at least to encourage us to continue to cooperate with them in future researches/investigations?
We need to take- on some of these countries including America and Britain. It’s not enough rubbishing Nigeria as the most corrupt country in the world meanwhile, the proceeds of this stealing are housed in these countries and are part of what is sustaining their economies. Does our government even have enough morale grounds to take these kinds of action? For where! Forgive me, I think like a village diplomat!
IFEANYI IZEZE is an Abuja-based Consultant and can be reached on:iizeze@yahoo.com

source. saharaReport

Bulletproof Cars: Reps Recommend 3-year Jail Term For #Oduah

The minister of aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, compelled the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to purchase the two BMW bulletproof cars that cost N255m, lawmakers have stated.

They added that Oduah should face the consequence of spending public money on unbudgeted expenditure such as the purchase of the cars: a three-year jail term and a fine of N100, 000.

These are part of recommendations of the report of the House Committee on Aviation which investigated the allegation that the minister asked NCAA to purchase two armoured BMW cars for her at the rate of N255m.

The report reads: “That the contract for the purchase of the cars was not listed in the budget by NCAA, the agency compelled by the minister to make the purchase, and was not listed by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

“That spending public funds on unbudgeted projects attracts three years in jail and a fine of N100, 000 as stipulated by the ICPC Act.”

As exclusively reported by LEADERSHIP, the lawmakers also disclosed that the NCAA did not comply with the Fiscal Responsibility Act on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) as it has not been remitting its IGR to the federation account contrary to Section 177 of Nigeria’s Financial Regulations (2009).

The report, which was laid two weeks ago but is yet to be considered by the House, also states that Oduah committed contempt of the parliament by approving a sum in the 2014 budget when it has not been presented to the National Assembly, adding: “The minister’s poor supervisory role led NCAA into unilaterally appropriating funds against next year’s budget. The above is an indirect contempt of parliament, even so that the president and commander-in-chief has not submitted to the National Assembly the 2014 Appropriation Bill.”

Going further, the committee indicted Oduah for approving an overinflated contract by approving a sum for the cars which international auto dealers have described as a “rip-off”.

“The minister has not addressed why the NCAA paid a price tag that auto dealers in the US and UK described as ‘a rip-off’.  It is a fact that each of the BMW cars should cost no more than $167,000 which is approximately N36 million.

“Aviation minister approved NCAA’s request to procure 55 operational vehicles valued at N564.665 million; there is no evidence to show that the Hon. Minister presented NCAA’s request to FEC for its approval. Further, the attempt to procure now and pay later is against the extant laws of the federation.”

They therefore recommended that “the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should review the continued engagement of the Hon. Minister for Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, having contravened the 2013 appropriation and approved revised thresholds by exceeding her approval limit of N100m with the purchase of 54 vehicles valued at N643m”.

On the finding of the panel that the cars allegedly purchased were different from the ones they inspected, the legislators recommended that the “Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other relevant anti-corruption agencies further investigate the discrepancies and the chassis number DW68032 of the vehicles on the one reported to be delivered and the one inspected by the committee, and, if found wanting, prosecute all persons/institutions involved in the transaction”.

The report also asks the company from which the cars were purchased, Coscharis Nigeria Limited, to pay the value of the waiver for the two BMW armoured cars, having been found to have lied about the federal government giving it waiver on the cars.

It states: “Coscharis Nigeria Limited should be investigated on the issue of waiver, source and exact cost of the two (2) BMW vehicles supplied to NCAA.  It should be made to pay the waiver value into the treasury account.

“Coscharis Motors Limited claimed that the Federal Ministry of Finance granted it import duty, VAT, ETLS, CISS and port charges waiver to import two (2) bulletproof BMW armoured cars. This claim is false.”

The lawmakers also found that there were: “No copies of advertisements or solicitations for bids published in at least 2 national newspapers and the website of NCAA as well as any procurement journal. No copies of bids submissions registers and duplicate copies of receipts issued to bidders on submission bids. No minutes of public bidding for technical and financial proposals, including list of CSOs and professional observers. No copies of bids evaluation by the sub-technical committees of the Tenders Board, and copies of minutes of meetings of the Tenders Board approving the winning bidder.”

PRESS RELEASE: Ngige, Ubah, Nwoye Want Anambra Guber Poll Cancelled

Chris Ngige of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah of the Labour Party (LP) and Mr.

By APC Publicity Unit

The Anambra State Governorship Election may have lost any iota of credibility as three of the four major political parties that participated in the election have called for the cancellation of the election.

Senator Chris Ngige (OON) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah of the Labour Party (LP) and Mr. Tony Nwoye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have called for outright cancellation of the governorship election, saying it was marred with serious irregularities.
In a joint statement, the governorship candidates said: ““We are of the candid view that the sham election does not reflect the wishes and aspirations of Anambra voters. Our call for the cancellation of this election is reinforced by the public admission by Professor Attahiru Jega, the INEC Chairman that some INEC staffs sabotaged the conduct of the election. This call for the cancellation of the election would have been unnecessary if INEC had postponed the conduct of the election after becoming aware of the sabotage of the election by INEC officials.”
In an earlier world press conference, Senator Ngige complained that there were grave irregularities that marred many aspects of the election in at least four local councils considered by all as his strongholds, adding that there was a pre-determined plot to disenfranchise his supporters and ensure that he did not win the election.

Specifically, Ngige named Idemili North Local Government Area, Idemili South Local Government Area, Awka South Local Government Area and Ihiala Local Government Area as the areas worst hit by the electoral malfeasance. These areas have 377, 875 registered voters of the total 1, 784, 536 registered voters. He said the election in some wards in Ihiala Local Government Area was riddled with fraudulent malpractices, calling for its cancellation.

Ngige pointed out that the manipulation that characterized the Maurice Iwu led INEC has resurfaced in Jega’s era.

Ubah in an interview with AIT said that while the election in the Nnewi area was free and fair, the poll was plagued by irregularities in most parts of the state. He accused Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) of massive corruption of the electoral process with state resources, saying the recently approved N36 billion supplementary budget was deployed to induce voters and electoral officials.

On his part, Nwoye who was visibly angry while speaking on AIT, described the election as the worst he had witnessed in his lifetime. Nwoye has every reason to be embittered; even as a candidate being voted for, he was unable to vote for himself. But he was only one of the many voters whose names were not in on the voters’ register. Also affected was PDP stalwart, Chief Arthur Eze.

Nwoye said the election was a pre-meditated plot to throw up the APGA candidate, Chief Willie Obiano, adding that the APGA leadership deployed the security agencies to protect riggers and closed their eyes to mindless inducement of voters.

There were strong indications of a systematic plot to disenfranchise voters sympathetic to Ngige, as election materials meant for areas where he has strong support base were not delivered or got to the polling stations late. In other areas, result sheets meant for polling units were deliberately mixed up or were not delivered at all. It took the personal intervention of Ngige and his team for materials to be delivered to his Alor town around 11 a.m.

INEC Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega admitted that his staff compromised the process especially in Idemili North Local Government Area but declined to order re-run in the entire local council, leading APC, Labour and PDP among others to pull out of today’s rescheduled election in Obosi comprising 65 polling units.

In also calling for total cancellation of the election, APC’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the call supersedes the party’s early call for a rerun in four local government areas. The APC said INEC inexplicably used a voters’ register totally different from the one it gave to political parties ahead of the election, adding that the new register did not contain the names of most of the registered voters in the state.

His words: “After consultations with our agents as well as with local and foreign observers, we have discovered that what we earlier complained about was a child’s play, compared to the widespread disenfranchisement that was orchestrated by the same body given the responsibility of ensuring a free, fair and creditable election on Saturday.

“We discovered that INEC has set up a multi-layer arrangement to ensure that most voters in the state were disenfranchised, apparently acting out a script to manipulate the result of the election in favour of a certain candidate. Where voting materials were supplied, the commission provided wrong voters’ register.”

The APC said that “coming after the charade in Delta, this is a serious development that raises questions about the ability of INEC to conduct free, fair and transparent elections anywhere in Nigeria. It is particularly serious because if people who registered to vote are not able to do so, and even the votes of those who managed to cast them do not count, then anarchy is looming.”

The party called for a probe of INEC “to determine why it has taken it upon itself to sabotage its own elections, even when people are determined to endure the orchestrated inconveniences and shun all acts of violence, as was witnessed in Anambra on Saturday when people waited patiently and peacefully, only to go home in total disappointment.”

“This is a new low for INEC,” APC observed, warning that “unless something is done urgently, the electoral commission may plunge Nigeria into a crisis from which it may not recover,” APC warned.

ANAMBRA: APGA claims victory

AWKA — The All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA yesterday claimed victory in last Saturday’s Anambra gubernatorial election just as the major opposition political parties in the contest kicked, alleging wide scale irregularities.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, however, alleged sabotage on the part of some staff of the commission who he claimed derailed the commission’s plans for smooth delivery of election materials to some sections of Anambra Central Senatorial district.

Ngige,Obiano,Ubah and Nwoye

Meanwhile, the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and its candidate in the election, Comrade Tony Nwoye were divided yesterday over the conduct of the poll. While the PDP praised the poll for being well conducted, Nwoye at a press conference in Awka denounced the poll as rigged.

The muttering of the opposition parties nonetheless, the National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh claimed that the victory of the party in the gubernatorial election was well deserved.

He dismissed allegations by the candidates of PDP, APC and LP that the election was rigged as a non-issue saying APGA won convincingly because the people have absolute confidence in the party and its candidate.

Umeh addressed a news conference in Awka in reaction to the complaints by the three major contestants that the election was rigged by Governor Peter Obi with the support of some corrupt INEC officials who deleted names of their supporters from the voters register among other allegations.

Umeh told newsmen that he was surprised by the three parties’ claims that they were cheated in the election, saying their claims were untrue.

He said that unlike the previous elections in the state, there was no incidence of ballot box snatching, violence or other irregularities to warrant anybody faulting the exercise.

“As far as I am concerned the election is free and fair, those people crying blue murder have inordinate ambition. By tomorrow when the result will be out I will face them. I challenge anybody who cares to analyze the results carefully and they will realize that APGA won in those councils where it had won other elections in past polls. There is no need whatsoever for any of the candidates to fault the exercise,” Umeh said.

He said that APGA “is not scared of their threats to go to court because APGA had been in court since its inception and cannot be afraid of litigation.

“What Ngige is doing now is his stock in trade since he has become a serial gubernatorial contestant and as I speak to you now he is still in court over the 2010 election.

“For Tony Nwoye, he was not even in the race. This is a man whom the Supreme Court revalidated his candidacy in less than a week to the election. He only campaigned for four days in the whole of Anambra state and can not claim to have been rigged out of an election he was not actively involved,” the APGA Chairman who is the  party’s State Collatting Officer, said.

Before his address, the three major candidates, Tony Nwoye, PDP; Ifeanyi Ubah, Labour and Chris Ngige, APC; had at separate press conferences denounced the conduct of the poll and called for its cancellation.

Opposition candidates in joint conference

The trio subsequently last night addressed a joint press conference where they made a joint call for the cancellation of the polls. They alleged that they would not accept any result from the election as conducted last weekend.

Ubah faulted the outcome of the election, saying that having won convincingly at his Nnewi North local government, which is the stronghold of APGA (the home of Ojukwus), he was confident that he would have won in the entire state had APGA not rigged the poll.

He alleged that APGA bought votes at N10,000 each within Nnewi and the money was distributed to willing voters by a principal officer of the State House of Assembly.

Rejecting the outcome of the election yesterday, Nwoye told a news conference in Awka that the “the election is far below average and cannot be said to be free and fair” adding that “it was heavily manipulated by INEC in collusion with security agents in favour of Governor Peter Obi’s preferred candidate, Willie Obiano.”

I’ve never seen this kind of rigging — Nwoye

Nwoye said: “I have been involved in many elections in this country since my secondary schools days and particularly in 1993 presidential election where Moshood Abiola emerged, I have never seen this type of rigging. I have never seen an election where the military men and police were harassing and intimidating voters, assisting the INEC and APGA agents to chase away the PDP members at the collation centres to write results.”

Nwoye was, however, countered by his party’s national secretariat which praised the conduct of the election.

A statement released by the National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh while commending INEC for the good conduct of the election said: “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hereby commends President Goodluck Jonathan for providing adequate security and the enabling environment for the conduct of credible, free and fair governorship election in Anambra state last Saturday in spite of any perceived hitch(es).

“In the same vein we commend the entire people of Anambra state and all stakeholders who played key roles in ensuring peaceful and orderly conduct of the process.

“While we now await the official result, we wish to express our satisfaction that the election was conducted without disturbances, despite the massive importation of political thugs by the All Progressives Congress (APC) as well as their heinous plots to introduce violence to disrupt and rig the poll having discovered that they have been rejected by the people.

“We also commend the candidate of our great party, Comrade Tony Nwoye for his resilience, grassroots appeal and credible outing which brought him to the forefront in the race despite having only two weeks to campaign. This is evident in the results so far released in which he roundly defeated the candidate of the APC who has been campaigning for four months before our candidate. The PDP is indeed happy with Comrade Tony Nwoye’s performance so far.

“While we charge all our members to continue to remain calm and focused, we wish to state that our final position on the election will be made known when the  overall result is declared by INEC.”

The APC meanwhile, in a reaction to the development called for total cancellation of the election result saying that delivery of materials to strongholds of the APC was sabotaged.

In its reaction articulated by the party’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said:

“After consultations with our agents as well as with local and foreign observers, we have discovered that what we earlier complained about was a child’s play, compared to the widespread disenfranchisement that was orchestrated by the same body given the responsibility of ensuring a free, fair and creditable election on Saturday.”

Jega meanwhile yesterday alleged sabotage on the part of its officers during the election.

Speaking on AIT yesterday, the electoral chief said that a particular officer who masterminded the derailment of the distribution of election materials to Idemili North Local Government Area of the state has been identified and would be prosecuted.

He said:

“We made all the preparations and decentralised the process of distribution of materials in order to ensure that they get to the polling units in time for the commencement of the election. That was before Saturday.

“Unfortunately and regrettably – we are humans. We can do all the preparations, but if people are determined to subvert the process, one way or the other they will subvert it.

“So, they used our staff. I think we should be very careful when we have a staff of about 12,000 in INEC, when one person has committed an offence and then you use it to generalise or condemn everybody in INEC.

“Our Electoral Officer in charge of Idemili North Local Government, for inexplicable reasons, messed up the distribution of ballot box papers and result sheets. That was the cause of the delay in the distribution of materials in Idemili.

“All materials were to have been distributed by Friday evening, but for some odd reasons, they made sure that they held onto some of the result sheets, and they also gave wrong result sheets to different polling units.

“For Anambra election, as we did in Edo and Ondo, every polling unit has a unique result sheet. So, you cannot take one result sheet to a different place, because it will not work.

“I assured the stakeholders when we met in Awka that materials must get to the polling units before commencement of election.

“So, when we discovered at about 1am that there was this mix-up, and we tried to reach the Electoral Officer and the supervisor and there was confusion, and we knew something was fishy, we said there would be no deployment until we sorted out the problem.

“As I speak, we have handed over the Electoral Officer to the police because clearly what he did is a sabotage of the electoral process, including the Local Government supervisor.

“It took us until about 1pm to be able to sort out what they had jumbled up. We communicated with the community as at 1pm that we were ready to distribute to all the other wards, and materials were distributed.”

The three opposition candidates of PDP, APC and LP, at a joint press conference vowed to reject whatever result that would be announced by INEC from the elections in AnambraState.

The three candidates had earlier in the day expressed their dissatisfaction with the outcome of the election which is yet to be announced by INEC as at press time last night.

Ngige who was flanked by the other two and spoke on behalf of the trio said:  ”Our stand is that Saturday election was characterized by  fraud, malpractices  and massive irregularities and we call on INEC to put in place another process to conduct a fresh election to enable the people of Anambra elect their governor that will take over from the present governor on March 17 next year.

“The irregularities clearly noticed included the  omission of the names of many voters in the registers presented for the election in the  over 4,000 polling units.

We were assured that the process will be free and fair during the stake holder’s meeting with the INEC Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, but little did we know that they had planned to disenfranchise many of our supporters by deleting their names from the register everywhere in the  local government areas. It was so massive and we hereby reject the voters registers used for this election.

“We were assured by the INEC chairman that the electoral process would be transparent but we experienced was to the contrary.

“Thirdly we discovered that result sheets were translocated other than the purpose for which they were meant. For instance some result sheets meant for some polling booths in Idemili were taken to another area even when they were coded.

“There were massive. harassment and intimidation of voters and our party agents. The party agents’ accreditation cards were described as fake and they were hounded out hence we had no agents at most poling booths.

“There was massive deployment of money by APGA through its serving commissioners, party chieftains, contractors and some other individuals who  were deployed to pay each voter as much as N10,000 to vote for APGA.

“Having noticed the various flaws …we have come to inevitable conclusion that this commission is determined to go back to its old ways and that the  much gains made in 2011 election is being reversed.

“We, therefore, urge the INEC to cancel the charade called election conducted in Anambra and deploy transparent officials including a new Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC to conduct a fresh election in the state.

“No election result should be announced as the elections have not been concluded. What they are doing now is an exercise in futility.

“We are peace-loving people in Anambra state and they should not provoke the people to violence. A word is enough for the wise.”

Both Ubah and Nwoye said they all agreed to take a common position on the issue, insisting that the election should be cancelled.

TMG faults calls for cancellation

The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) said yesterday that it would not subscribe to total cancellation of the Anambra Governorship Election.

The TMG is one of the observer groups that monitored the election held on Saturday across the state.

The TMG Chairman, Malam Zikirulahi Ibrahim, who was reacting to the problem in Idemili North where the election did not hold on Saturday and was rescheduled for Sunday.

In a telephone Interview, Ibrahim said that in spite of the problem, INEC performed well in some other areas where elections held.

“From our observation, we know the commission tried, but we also know areas where elections need to be repeated.”

“We, however, believe that INEC could have done better by holding the re-scheduled election on a working day instead of a Sunday, considering the religious belief of the people of the area.

“Our concern is that anything worth doing is worth doing well.”

Ibrahim advised INEC to let the entire World see that the issues arising from the Anambra poll were appropriately addressed.

 The details of the results of the election, according to Epoke, lecturer at the University of Calabar is as follows:

Aguata LGA: APC 5275; APGA 11,180; LP 1129; PDP 4,275; PPA 1574. APGA won

Ayamelum: APC 1827; APGA 9121; LP 624; PDP 5,681; PPA 31.  APGA won

Anambra East: APC 1418; APGA 15,300; LP 511; PDP. APGA won

Anambra West: APC 2,478; APGA 5,128; LP 321; PPA 148. APGA won

Anaocha: APC 3,174; APGA 14,563; LP 733; PPA 138. APGA won.

Awka North: APC 1,712; APGA: 5,385; LP: 474; PDP 3,943; PPA 122. APGA won

Awka South: APC 6,596; APGA: 9,206; LP 1,648; PDP 5689; PPA 208. APGA won.

Two female undergraduates stripped for robbery in Calabar

CALABAR—TWO  female undergraduate robbery suspects and their male partner in crime were battered and stripped naked in Calabar, Friday afternoon, for attempting to rob a businesswoman of  N1.5 million.

The three suspects operating in a Golf car were accosted by a taxi driver at about 4pm along the Murtala Muhammed Highway by the Cross River State new secretariat, while their driver and one other suspect escaped.

The gang reportedly ambushed the businesswoman who had gone to withdraw the N1.5 million at a bank along Calabar Road, near the Watt market, where they approached her to join their cab and the woman who appeared eager to arrive home because of  the money she had withdrawn  immediately accepted and boarded the taxi.

Trouble started as she got to her destination and discovered that the taxi driver became unwilling to allow her alight from the vehicle. The robbery suspects were said to have brought out guns and asked her to cooperate with them if she did not want to get hurt.

The victim told Vanguard, “The suspects told me to cooperate with them and quietly hand over the N1.5 million or I would be killed.” She said she suddenly became “angry in the spirit because this money is contribution money and my members who want to share the money on Sunday so they could get their Christmas things early would not believe me. So I was ready to die and began to raise alarm in the vehicle and calling for help”.

She said her shouts attracted the attention of a taxi driver who decided to give the Golf car a hot chase until he overtook and blocked the vehicle at Atekong Drive”.

The driver of the five-man gang and another suspect escaped by quickly alighting from the car and running across the highway and then jumping the perimeter fence of the new secretariat. She added, “These two ladies were apprehended by the people who came to see what was the trouble between the two taxis. They began to beat them when they heard what they had done to me.”

The suspects who were thoroughly beaten and stripped were later handed over to police who came to the scene. Vanguard learnt that the ladies confessed that they were students of Ebonyi State University and members of a syndicate which left Abakaliki in Ebonyi State to Aba in Abia State.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations officer of the State Police Command, Mr. Hoggan Bassey confirmed that the three suspects were in police custody, saying they would soon be charged to court.

His words, “nemesis has caught up with them. They are being investigated and so far they have confessed that they used to hang around bank premises with their car, shouting one chance, one chance and waiting for people coming out of the bank with money.

“The Cross River State police commissioner Shola Shodipo has promised armed robbers, kidnappers and other criminals a raw deal this Christmas season. Cross River State is the most peaceful state in Nigeria and we are prepared to compromise the crime free status of the state.”

Vanguard

Ngige rejects Anambra Governorship Election result, heads for Tribunal

All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the Anambra State governorship election, Senator Chris Ngige, has rejected the result and decided to head for the Election Tribunal.

Ngige is placing a distant third behind Chief Willie Obiano of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Comrade Tony Nwoye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but is expected to leap to the second position after today’s rescheduled election in 65 units of Obosi Ward 7, Idemili North LGA, which is regarded as part of his stronghold but where voting had to be postponed due to late arrival of materials.

News Express had earlier reported Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, as appealing to Senator Ngige to accept the result in good faith and support the winner in the overall interest of the state.

Ngige has, however, rejected the advice. “APC candidate Senator Chris Ngige rejected the result of Anambra Governorship election and (has decided to) head to Tribunal,” Law Mefor, a member of his campaign team, announced on Facebook. He promised to soon provide details for the decision.