ABUJA- AHEAD of the inauguration of the 8th Senate where a new Senate President would emerge, strong indications emerged yesterday that the National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC and former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu may have bowed to pressure from the Senators that he should allow them elect their own Senate President.
Following insistence on the Senators to have their own Senate President without being under intense pressure from ‘ outside’, former Governor Tinubu who has been a strong supporter of Senate Minority leader and former governor of Benue State may have soft- pedalled on him.
It was gathered yesterday that feelers at the Induction Course for Senators and members of House of Representatives elect holding at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja may not have gone down well with the APC leader against the backdrop that he was also pushing for the House of Representatives Minority leader, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila from the South West for the Speakership position.
While some Senators want the position of Senate president zoned to North Central and preferably, the Chairman, Senate Committee of Environment and Ecology and former governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki, the former Lagos State governor was said not to be comfortable with Saraki with 2019 political colouration.
According to a source, Tinubu was said not to be supporting Saraki now because with such a position, he may be too powerful come 2019 with the support of Senators and some Governors, he may be eyeing the presidency.
At the moment senators prefer Senate President zoned to the North Central with Saraki, because they see in him the qualities they want in the leader which must be a reflection of the members of Senate without external influence.
With Tinubu now dumping Akume, he may shift his support to a candidate from the North East and a source told Vanguard that the Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Ahmed Lawan from Yobe may fit in.
Some influential backers behind Akume led by Tinubu have withdrawn their support mainly because they see he is not a reflection of the choice of Senators and any attempt to railroad him will be rejected.
With different aspirants for the position and divergent support from leaders, indications have emerged that if no compromise was arrived at, the race wouldlikely to be thrown open to the contestants from the north east and north central.
A Senator attending the induction programme for national assembly members at the Hilton Hotel, said, “the issue of senate president is the personal issue of the senators so all leaders who are insisting on producing the senate president should know that it is our affair and not the thinking of APC leaders.
“We are going to ensure that our leader emerges among us and not through any form of imposition from any quarters.
“If care not taken, those insisting on taking all will lose all because the north east has almost succeeded in getting majority members to support its desire to produce the speaker of the House of Representatives and if feelers from the party leadership is anything to go by, Tinubu has told his foot soldiers to ceasefire on the Akume project.”
There is also push for Honourable Yakubu Dogara from Bauchi, North East for Speakership just as from South South, Honourable Pally Iriase from Edo State is also a very strong contender for the position and Honourable Abdulmumin Jibrin from Kano, North West Zone is also eyeing the position. The feeling is that the South West has the Vice President and should not pick the Speaker as well.
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
Senate Presidency: Tinubu Bows To Pressure, Dumps Akume
Oshoala Nominated For Women's Footballer Of The Year
BBC World Service has revealed the five names in contention for its inaugural Women’s Footballer of the Year award.
Asisat Oshoala
Super Falcons forward Asisat Oshoala was nominated for the first edition of the awards on April 26, Sunday, along with Spain’s Verónica Boquete, German Nadine Kessler, Kim Little of Scotland and Marta of Brazil.
The Liverpool Ladies striker, who is also the African Footballer of The Year, confessed that her nomination came as a shock to her.
“I worked hard last year but I am surprised to be nominated and I feel very appreciated. This award is a very good thing for women’s football.
“It can really help us by encouraging other countries to support their ladies more and treat them the same way they treat the men. A lot of people tried to discourage me but I never let that bother me – I did what I want to do.”
Following the BBC’s announcement, Joy Etim, former Falcons coach, described Oshoala’s nomination as “deserving”, Leadership reports.
“It is well deserved for Asisat to be selected among top female players in the world. I hope she wins if she wins it will encourage other younger players, to work hard.
“I trained Asisat. I was with her at the very beginning of her career. I believe she is yet to actualise her full potential.
“She is a very talented player, I am not worried about her fellow nominees, because she has what it takes to win, I hope people vote for her,’’ Etim said.
According to Gracious Akujobi, Super Falcons’ media officer, Oshoala has good chances to win BBC award.
“She is young [and] we all saw what she did at the U-20, she won the most valuable player in the U-20 World Cup, she won Glo CAF awards, she has achieved all these in three years of her career.
“She is a vibrant player, all she needs is our votes we need to vote for her. If it’s going by achievement, she is most deserving of all the nominees, none of them can attain this feat by Asisat.
“The fact that she is nominated shows that her effort is appreciated and we are hopeful that she will win, she has what it take earned it.”
The winner of Women’s Footballer of the Year award will be revealed on BBC World Service on May 26 after being decided by a public vote. Voting is open and closes on May 11, 2015.
Ex NDDC Commissioner Jailed For Stealing Transformers Worth N220m
The former Commissioner representing Akwa Ibom State on the board of the intervention agency, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Pastor Godwin Moffat Eyo was today convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment by an Akwa Ibom State High court for stealing 56 transformers worth N220, 176, 320 meant for oil producing communities in the state.
Godwin Eyo
The accused was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on 56 counts bordering on stealing and conversion of 56 electricity transformers released to him by NDDC for distribution to communities in Akwa Ibom State.
On Monday in Uyo, he was found guilty on 37 of those counts by Justice Idongesit Ntem-Isua and sentenced to three years imprisonment on each of the counts.
He was however discharged and acquitted on 19 counts. The sentences are to run concurrently.
The convict was said to have applied for 90 electricity transformers and four generators from NDDC for Akwa Ibom State sometime in February, 2006.
Approval was given for 70 transformers but he allegedly diverted same to his house in Eket on the pretext that there was no space to accommodate the newly issued 70 units of transformers at the NDDC office in Uyo.
He was thereafter said to have sent only 14 Units to NDDC office in Uyo while he withheld 56 units which he could not account for till date.
The price of the 56 transformers are put at N220, 176,320.
One of the counts reads, “That you Pastor Godwin Moffat Eyo being a former Akwa Ibom State representative on the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on or about 14th April, 2006 at Uyo in the Uyo Judicial Division did fraudulently steal a 300 KVA/33/0.415 Transformer Serial No. 1712496 valued at Four Million, Eighteen Thousand, Five Hundred and Sixty Naira (N4,018,560.00), property of NDDC and thereby committed an offence of stealing contrary to Section 399 and punishable under Section 404 of the Criminal Code Cap. 38, Volume 2, Laws of Akwa Ibom State, 2000.”
GMB's Inauguration Committee Chairman Appears In Court
A report on Scoopng.com indicates that Timipre Sylva, the ex-governor of Bayelsa state and head of President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari inauguration committee, will appear in court today.
Timipre Sylva in one of his court appearances
Sylva has an ongoing corruption and money laundering case to the tune of N19.2 billion.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had accused Sylva of using three companies to commit the money laundering offences between 2009 and 2012 when he was governor of Bayelsa State.
The companies are Marlin Maritime Limited, Eat Catering Services Limited, and Haloween- Blue Construction and Logistics Limited. Others charged with Sylva are Francis Okoburo, Gbenga S. Balogun, Samuel Ogbuku.
The EFCC instituted 42 counts of money laundering against the accused persons before Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Sylva, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, will co-chair the 2015 Presidential Inauguration Planning Committee.
Meanwhile, recent reports that surfaced in the media indicates that Sylva is among several candidates in Bayelsa preparing to participate in the state’s governorship election scheduled for February, 2016.
APC Issues A Statement On Buhari’s Ban Of AIT
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has just issued a statement that all accredited media are free to cover the president-elect’s activities.
The party said that all media that have accreditation, including the African Independent Television (AIT), can cover Muhammadu Buhari’s activities.
Read the statement below:
“The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that all accredited media organizations in the country, including the African Independent Television (AIT), are free to cover the activities of the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
READ ALSO: Buhari Clamps Down On AIT
In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the incoming Buhari Administration will not discriminate against any media organization, irrespective of its role during the electioneering campaign leading up to the recent polls.”
The party meanwhile enjoined all media organizations to observe the highest level of professional standards in carrying out their duties.
”There is a Code of Ethics guiding the practice of journalism in Nigeria, and this demands every journalist to ensure a strict adherence to the highest levels of ethics and professionalism in carrying out their duties.
”There must be repercussions, within the realms of the law, for media organizations which have wantonly breached the Code of Ethics of the journalism profession and turned themselves to partisans instead of professionals. But such repercussions will not include barring any accredited media organization from covering the activities of the President-elect,” the party said.
The president-elect yesterday, April 27, prevented the AIT from covering his activities.
The decision caused mixed reactions in Nigerian society. Some claimed undue pressure on press freedom and a return to dictatorship, while others stated that Buhari had a right to do this.
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