PDP planning to frame Jega, Tinubu, says APC

The All Progressives Congress says it has uncovered a plot by the Peoples Democratic Party to frame the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, in order to justify his sacking.

The APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said at a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday that the PDP was plotting to deposit a huge amount of money into the bank account of Jega and make it appear as if the money emanated from Tinubu.

Mohammed said since the PDP had been unable to stop the use of Permanent Voter Cards and card readers, the next step would be a plot by the ruling party to attempt to undermine Jega’s credibility in the eyes of Nigerians so as to get him sacked.

He, therefore, urged Nigerians to prepare their minds for the allegations that will soon be levelled against the INEC boss.

He said, “There is a plot to transfer a humongous amount of money into the bank account of the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, and then claim that the money came from Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the APC in order to justify the ongoing plan to sack Prof. Jega so that he won’t conduct the elections.

“Beyond Jega, there is also a plan to credit the bank accounts of some key national institutions with huge amounts of money purportedly from our party, the APC, ostensibly to compromise those institutions.”

The APC spokesperson said there was also a plan by some political parties—especially the ones that have adopted President Goodluck Jonathan—to push for the postponement of the elections until the fight against terrorism is won.

He, however, said the true intention of such parties is to ensure that Jega, whose tenure will end on June 30, is no longer in office.

He said, “There is a plan to use some political parties that are satellites of the PDP to push for the postponement of the elections again. The plot is to get the parties to address a press conference to say the elections should not hold in the North-East until September 2015 because of the ongoing counter-insurgency battle there.

“The intention is to make sure Jega’s tenure expires before the polls, so that they can appoint a malleable card-carrying member of the PDP as INEC chairman to conduct the polls.”

PUNCH NEWSPAPER

Pastor Arrested For Impregnating 20 Women In His Church, Including Married Ones

pastor arrested for impregnating 20 women in his church claims God commanded him to have sex with them - and their daughters

Timothy Ngwu says he has 13 children with five wives and his mistresses
Police arrested him for abusing members of congregation 'on will of God'
He was reported to authorities by his wife who grew sick of his adultery
Arrested pastor claims the married women's husbands agreed to affairs
A mother-of-eight claims Ngwu impregnated her - and then her daughter

A 53-year-old pastor who reportedly impregnated 20 members of congregation claims the Holy Spirit ordered him to have sex with them.

Nigerian police have now arrested Timothy Ngwu for abusing the young girls and women at Vineyard Ministry of the Holy Trinity.

Ngwu's abusive behaviour was finally reported to the police by his estranged wife Veronica who grew tired of his adulterous behaviour - and reportedly impregnated her young neice.

A spokesperson for the Enugu State Police command told Naij.com he claims to be obeying the 'spiritual' urge to carry out the will of God, 'irrespective of whether the woman is married or not.'

Ebere Amaraizu added: 'When the woman is delivered of the baby, the child remains in the ministry with the mother for life.'

Ngwu told the same website he has 13 children with five different wives and the mistresses God's 'prophetic' will told him to acquire.

He also claims he never had sex with any married woman unless their husbands consented to the Holy Spirit's request.

Calista Omeje and Assumpta Odo both left their husbands to live with the pastor based on these holy commands.

Mother-of-eight Odo said Ngwu impregnated both her and her daughter, whose age is not known.

And Calista - who has 10 children with her husband - said the pastor impregnated her but the baby died. She also revealed that she 'gave' her daughter to him.

The pastor's brother - who did not want to be identified - said he had warned both Ngwu and his family about the self-proclaimed clergyman's behaviour for a long time but they refused to listen.

He claims the arrest is 'God's wrath falling on his brother', adding: 'God's anger has befallen my brother, we have severally appealed to him to stop what he was doing but he refused.

'He has colonised our compound, bearing children with recklessness. He accused us of being jealous of him because he is doing the will of God.'

Pointing at the church's compound, he continued: 'Look at these buildings here... He has converted all of them to himself in the name of vineyard.

'He sacked his betrothed wife who has three children for him and embarked on impregnating married women and young girls. Look at the whole compound littered with children of different sex and age.'

'All members of the vineyard are fools, how can a woman abandon her husband for another man in the name of worshiping God and practice adultery? I cannot get myself involved in this matter.

'Let them sort themselves out with the police but I want the ministry to be shut down completely,' he added.'


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2979585/Nigerian-pastor-arrested-impregnating-20-women-church-claims-God-commanded-sex-daughters.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490


http://www.kenyan-post.com/2015/03/oh-god-pastor-impregnates-over-20-women.html?m=1


Pix 1 The pastor was arrested for abusing the young girls and women (pictured) - some of whom were married

2 Pastor: Timothy Ngwu (second from right) allegedly impregnated 20 members of his congregation because 'God told him to'

3

Senate In Rowdy Session Over Obanikoro’s Screening

The Senate had a rowdy executive session for about two hours on Wednesday as a result of attempt by Senate President, David Mark, to convince his colleagues to give Musiliu Obanikoro an easy passage, in accordance to the tradition of the upper chamber in the screening of former senators nominated for appointment as ministers.

The Senate had over the years adopted the “take a bow” treatment for nominee ex-senators. Obanikoro was a member of the upper federal legislative chamber between 2003 and 2007 on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy. His name is among the eight new ministerial nominees before the Senate for consideration.

Members of the opposition All Progressives Congress in the Senate had, last week, vowed to oppose the confirmation of Obanikoro.

Our correspondent learnt that Mark, shortly before plenary and in a bid to ensure that the tradition of the Senate was not broken, immediately ordered a closed-door executive session to iron out the differences between Obanikoro and the opposition senators before the ministerial screening.

One of the senators from the South-West geo – political zone, who preferred anonymity, told our correspondent that the executive session was rowdy while it lasted.

He said, “The Senate President pleaded with us to respect the tradition of the senate by allowing Obanikoro and two other former senators, who would be appearing before us for screening to just take a bow and leave.

“We told him such gesture would not be extended to Obanikoro because of the two petitions against him that were forwarded to the Senate leadership, which he must address in a question-and-answer session.

“The insistence of the senate president that he would not preside over a chamber where the tradition that predated him would be destroyed led to a rowdy session which lasted for over one-and-a-half hour.”

The senator explained that it took the intervention of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, to resolve the issue.

According to him, Ekweremadu suggested that the screening and confirmation of Obanikoro should be postponed till a further date pending when the opposition would have a change of mind.

Another senator, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party from the North-Central, who also spoke anonymously, confirmed to our correspondent that the screening of Obanikoro had been postponed till next week due to the issues raised against him.

He said, “The opposition senators stuck to their guns that the nominee must address the allegations levelled against him but the Senate President insisted that he would never allow such things to happen.

“We however resolved to suspend the screening of Obanikoro and three others till next week Tuesday, if the opposition senators would not insist that he must be asked some questions. “

The senator further explained that the leadership of the red chamber resolved to take the former Minister of State alongside three others next week.

However, when the Senate resumed plenary, the senate president did not explain the reason for the closed-door session.

“The senate at the executive session discussed issues of national importance,” he said.

Meanwhile, four nominees- Messrs Patricia Akwashiki (Nasarawa State); Nicholas Ada (Benue State); Augustine Akobundu (Abia State); and Fidelis Nwankwo (Ebonyi State), answered questions from the senators except Akwashiki, who was a senator.

Ada, a professor of education, while responding to questions, said that lack of qualified teachers was responsible for the production of ill-equipped graduates.

He noted that students from “miracle centres” and those who cheat in examinations, and get higher grades usually constitute a great menace to the society as they would do everything to manipulate the system upon graduation.

He said, “So, what we simply do is to try as much as possible that the teachers training programme for the school system is strengthened because what the teacher fails to do, is an irreparable loss and what he does well gives credence to the entire process.

“I would suggest that we go back to the basics. In the time past, we had Grade Two Teachers Training programme; teachers were trained in specific areas. The totality of the teachers was well groomed and he came out as a very refined person.”

On his part, Akobundu, a retired colonel in the army, said the best way to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency was the introduction of the multi-nations military taskforce, made up of soldiers from Benin Republic, Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Nigeria.

“The solution is making sure that we maintain the coalition with our coalition partners to make sure that we rid our nation and their own countries the menace of Boko Haram.

“At the same time, we talk about fighting terrorism through carrot-and-stick. What is going on is the stick. And concurrently, I believe that the Federal Government through the statutory agencies are doing everything to make sure that these Nigerians who have been displaces are given sense of belonging.”

The screening of Obanikoro (Lagos); Hauwa Lawan (Jigawa); Kenneth Kobani (Rivers) and Joel Ikenya (Taraba) has been shifted to Tuesday next week.


http://www.punchng.com/news/senate-in-rowdy-session-over-obanikoros-screening/

Did Jonathan Distribute Dollars To 25 Bloggers In Lagos?

So, President Goodluck Jonathan said he was hosting 'Nigerian youths' in Lagos over the weekend at the Eko Hotel Hotel & Suites. Anyone reading this should know that I believe in the principle of supporting the individual, not the party. I had been a big fan of GEJ that despite so much being said about the corrupt nature of his administration and the news spreading everywhere that he's been busy buying everybody deemed important to his winning the 2015 election, I still saw him as an innocent man who has been widely misrepresented. However, If these allegations that the President and his handlers have compromised and corrupted more and more people during this election period is anything to go by, then they might have already initiated some Nigerian bloggers into that cult! First, talking about the so called meeting with Nigerian youths, it beats my imagination how politicians(APC,PDP, APGA, whatever!) would just rally round a few youths and paint a picture that they represent the entire millions of Nigerian youths populace. It's only your good youth-oriented initiatives that can have far reaching effects on almost every Nigerian youths, if not at all. The last time I checked, the biggest hall inside Eko hotel can only accommodate five thousand heads. One of the shocking news filtering out after the Sunday, March 1st event was how a barrage of youths were complaining of not being paid because they came late to the event. So, I asked one of my colleagues who went to report; 'is it that the rest of the youths were paid to attend the event in order to see Mr. President address them?" But that's a topic for another day. The annoying information I'm being inundated with is that the bloggers I earlier mentioned (about 25 of them) specially invited to the event were allegedly given N50K(Fifty Thousand Naira) after the event. This was in addition to the N200K(Two Hundred Thousand Naira) allegedly doled out to this same set of bloggers in American Dollars at an earlier secret meeting and lunch with the President at the State House, in Marina Lagos. At the state house meeting, according to one of the bloggers who attended; here is how President Jonathan was said to have addressed these 25 bloggers which he described as the 'key social media publishers and editors' while having lunch with them; "Where is Doyin (Okupe) and Reuben (Abati) ,they both stood up..I wish to apologize to you all (the bloggers), because we as a government have not spent a dime on social media. Please don't blame Abati and Doyin if you have not been getting the type of supports that you need. I have come to realise the important role the social media play in information dissemination..Minutes after we must have spoken now, most people in UK, US and across the globe will be reading about this meeting..You, more than anything else plays a more bigger role than all the other conventional media .Your followership is huge especially among the youths who constitutes over 65 percent of our population. Let me assure you that our dealings with the social media practitioners will change in my next term..I'll work with you." As at the time of publishing this opinion, all SMS and calls put through to the Presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati's number was not replied. Politics is a dirty game and I so hate opposition being vindicated, but I hope this allegations are not true, otherwise Lagos state governor, Babatunde Fashola's might be vindicated over his recent accusation that the President is desperate, saying; "he(GEJ) was here(Lagos) for 5 days meeting with different people and groups, distributing money in dollars." Now, not a few colleagues are already discussing everything that went down. But because even though I'm a blogger, I'm still practicing in the conventional media, which according to GEJ, his '25 chosen and anointed bloggers' are now more important than, let me protect their names and I'm not even allowed to reveal my source as I was trained in journalism school. But you can be sure this development is already brewing some disappointment reactions in some quarters of the media especially from those who swear they are in the know about these baptism of corruption allegedly carried out by the President and his handlers on the bloggers. A colleague with an evening newspaper, who also claim to have privy information on happenings during the meeting shares his reaction; "About 25 of them (bloggers) met with our daddy. I heard before they left State House, our ATM daddy dispensed American quid to all of my friends who were opportune to share lunch with him. My fear: more and more people are being corrupted and compromised!" Another print journalist and blogger states; "25 people out of millions of them? They didn't even form a quorum! GEJ has not done anything worthy to be celebrated in his six years of ruling Nigeria! Now tell me why we need to talk good of such a man! The 25 people should get the America quip as my brother has tagged it and do the right thing! Don't sell your conscience because of a token. If these government has performed; the proliferation of bloggers wouldn't have been!" If indeed, Jonathan made the above statement, what I've just got to say here is that utterances and moves such s the above from him are part of the reasons the oppositions often accuse him of not being 'intelligent enough', because the truth is, there are thousands of key players in the new media industry and every blogger no matter how small, is part of the web of content sharing/syndication which makes the new media the force it has become today. However, to invite just 25 bloggers and call them 'key social media publishers and editors' in the industry, to me is very ridiculous and further exposes GEJ's much touted ignorance. You don't even have to give bloggers money. If you do well enough, they'll write well about you. Thanks to a corruption tolerant government, It's no longer news that this corruption scourge has wrapped it self tight around every sector in Nigerian(the media inclusive), and with what allegedly happened at the meetings with GEJ, obviously those so bloggers are going to take front seat on the trend of social media corruption from this time onward, even if Jonathan does not return to make it a reality as he seemed to have promised them at the meeting. What some of us will not stop doing is sounding the alarm to media practioners beit conventional or new, that collecting any gratification is unthetical and unprofessional; it will make you spell a thief as a chief. http://www.splendormag.com/2015/03/did-jonathan-distribute-dollars-to-25.html?m=1 (Quote) (Report) 3 Likes (Like) (Share)

GLORIA OKON:THE TRUE STORY

Gloria Okon was caught in 1985 with heroin in Nigeria and died in very controversial circumstances.

FULL NAMES (alternate names): Miss Gloria Okon

BIRTH AND EARLY DAYS

She was born in 1950.

HER ARREST

On the 22nd April, 1985, a petite society lady, Gloria Okon, was about to board a Nigeria Airways aircraft WT840 (Lagos-Kano-London) at the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano State when she was arrested with substances suspected to be heroin and other hard drugs (the National Security Organization, NSO or Nigeria’s secret intelligence agency is often mentioned in her arrest). Tucked in internally were 56.70 grammes of the substances. She was also caught with the sum of N20,000, 60 pounds sterling, $301 and 19,000 Italian lira. The customs officers and drug law enforcement agents were very excited to have nabbed her, not because they had caught her alone but because they would also be stars of the show for a while as all the arrests were being made by their counterparts at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. But their jowls of excitement were pangs of sheer agony for the 35-year-old Okon. Why?

The year was 1985 and anyone caught with drugs would face the death penalty, no stories. That was the provision of the Decree 20 put in place by the junta of General Muhammadu Buhari . She was going to die, and she knew it. Stunned and stupefied at her sudden stare at death, Okon became an unwilling and helpless star before the nation’s news-thirsty media. Newspapers and magazines contained her story and the radios gave the chilly broadcast. For many who read the story or heard the announcement, it was not a big deal they thought, she was going to be executed like others. But then, there would be a twist in Okon’s story that would turn her into the most mysterious drug pusher in Nigeria’s history. What happened next still remains very bizarre even 30 years after.

DEATH

On the 28th April, six days after her arrest, the most unexpected happened: Gloria Okon died in custody. From an ordinary ‘heroin suspect’, the sudden demise of Okon led to what is now one of the most enduring narcodramas in Nigeria. She did not just die, she died in very questionable and mysterious circumstances. The Buhari regime would not bury the case and an investigation was launched into the matter, with a judicial commission of inquiry given the complicated task of unraveling all the circumstances surrounding the very suspicious death of Okon who gave up the ghost at the Aminu Kano Hospital, Kano.

INVESTIGATIONS

The judicial commission of enquiry working on the Okon case was headed by Justice CNO Ubbaonu of the Kano High Court. It began its sitting in Kano almost three months (precisely 5th Monday, August) after she died. Other members of the panel were:

Wing Commander PG Asemota
Tunde Oloko, a university don
JI Obianwu, who was the secretary
The case was so serious that the Inspector-General Etim Inyang was mandated to ensure there is a reasonable conclusion to the case and to make sure all the mysteries are solved. The commission was to carry out three main tasks:

Make proper inquiry as to the arrest and death of Gloria Okon
Determine whether during the period of her arrest and custody, if any person(s) contributed to her death through acts incidental to the case
Make suitable recommendations
But that would never happen: on the 27th of that same August, the military regime of Buhari was toppled by General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and till date, no one knows how it all ended and the demise remains a mystery. However, it must be stated that before she died, Okon reportedly confessed and revealed a ‘big baron’, as a matter of fact, a customs official said of her revelation:

‘If carefully handled, she may lead us to the big brains behind the business.’

But before Okon could even mention the name of her mentor or sponsor, she was stone-dead. According to those who investigated her case and questioned her, the only clue she left was simply the name ‘Bassey’. Ibrahim Coomasie was the commissioner of police for Kano State and he stated that it was almost impossible to track her mentor because Okon did not give the second name of Bassey or even an address, so the investigation met a dead end. The address that was listed against her name, 21 Cole Street, Surulere, Lagos was found to be non-existent.

However, it must be pointed out that although Okon was just one of the many female carriers arrested, she was the only drug mule very willing to cooperate and say it all, revealing all information on her sponsors. But before she could utter anything, she was gone. An autopsy conducted stated the cause of death as food poisoning. There was no time Okon showed any sign of ill-health, she was quite healthy when she was arrested as the public inquiry found out but according to Misharck Okitiakpo, a customs officer who kept her in custody, Gloria Okon fell ill just a day after she was arrested. Okitiakpo also explained that on the day she was arrested (22nd), Okon made a request for rice and beans which she was given. But on the 23rd and 24th, she was rushed to the hospital after she complained.

But that is where Okitiakpo’s accounts stopped. He did not explain or was unable to explain what happened from the 25th to the 28th when Okon finally breathed her last. Okon had been in the custody of the Customs until the 25th when she was handed to the police. Therefore, it is not precisely clear whether she was poisoned while with the customs or under the police custody where she eventually died. In an interview with The Guardian in May 1985, Coomasie said Okon had changed saying:

‘…the late suspect was not talking when she was brought to the police and did not make any statement to the police, when the police took custody of Okon, she looked weird and neither ate nor talked. ’

But later, she was given some egusi soup by the police (egusi with what? Abi she drink the egusi ni, police no tell us that one). The police also said she took some bananas and tea after the egusi. Amazing food combination: egusi, banana and tea.

The mystery of Okon’s case was further deepened when no one showed up to claim her, not even one relative showed to identify her as a suspect or even her corpse. According to Babadisa Ciroma, an assistant commissioner of police (ACP) who was in charge of Okon’s interrogation said no one paid her a visit while in custody or even when she was admitted at the hospital. That was not all, 39 days after her death Okon’s corpse remained unclaimed at the Murtala Muhammed Hospital Mortuary where it was deposited. This prompted the police force Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to issue a notice that her remains might be treated as unknown if it not claimed after seven days of warning to the general public. Apparently embarrassed by the mysterious death of Okon in custody and to prevent a repeat, the government compelled state police commands to transfer suspects and exhibits in cases of hard drugs to the Force CID Headquarters in Lagos by ‘the most expedient means’.

The Nigerian nation was supposed to hear from the judicial commission of inquiry by the end of August and shed light on the case but by the end of August, a new leader was in place and he was a military president: IBB. The late lawyer Gani Fawehinmi attempted to resurrect the case but this put him on a path of direct clash with Haliru Akilu and Kunle Togun, two of IBB’s most dreaded security agents. No one was ever charged over the death of Gloria Okon.

THE CONTROVERSIES

In the absence of a conclusive investigation, so many tales have been spun by many so as to fill in the gaps. According to some, Okon never died, the corpse presented was all a ruse and part of a grand conspiracy. In June 2009, Professor Taiyemiwo Ogunade, in an interview with THE NATION said of the Okon case:
‘Gloria Okon is actually Chinyere, that’s her real name. She married Charles “Jeff” Chandler, the fellow who killed Nzeogwu and was killed a day later. Chinyere, Maryam and Princess Atta were young friends who hung out together. They all married into the military, because the military was a proud and respectable profession then. Charles Chandler, who was Tiv, married Chinyere who I think is from Imo State. IBB married Maryam from Asaba and Mamman Vatsa married the princess. So Chinyere became a widow and resorted to trading between UK and Nigeria. And then she was caught with drugs; Mamman Vatsa was the person who put Chinyere on the next available flight from Kano to London – and then claimed that she was dead by parading a dead woman picked out of the mortuary. Dele Giwa later found out that she was in London having delivered a baby by another man. He sent a French photographer to the place and they saw Maryam Babangida at the event. Kayode Soyinka brought back the photographs. Dele was sitting across the table from Kayode examining the photos taken of “Gloria Okon” (Chinyere, Richard Chandler’s wife) at the naming ceremony in London. Maryam Babangida was there. And then a letter parcel was delivered to him and he said excitedly that it must be from “Mr. President” referring to the discussions he had with IBB days earlier. The bomb exploded and severed his lower abdomen; he died a few hours later.’

Some others say Dele Giwa knew that Okon was Maryam Babangida (or even IBB)’s drug mule and wanted to blackmail IBB, which is why he was killed. Newswatch has denied any link between their late founder who was killed by a parcel bomb in 1986.
Tom Mbeke-Ekanem in his book, Beyond the Execution: Understanding the Ethnic and Military Politics in Nigeria insisted the corpse sent to Calabar to Okon’s family was a fake corpse and that the family returned it saying it was not the corpse of their daughter, but that the authorities insisted the corpse was that of Okon. The claim was that the real Okon was freed to go live overseas and replaced with an unclaimed corpse brought in from the mortuary. The crazy controversies around the case prompted the Federal Government to make attempts to unearth everything thus launching the public commission.
According to others, she was a drug mule for the former Nigerian First Lady Maryam Babangida shuttling between the USA and Britain and she was killed so she would not squeal. As it is now, the truth is hanging somewhere, and the only way I think Nigerians will eventually get to know the truth is when a government comes and re-opens the case and declassifying all the documents relating to the case. Whether that will take 10 or 100 years, no one knows. But before then, the story of Gloria Okon is one eerie chapter that will continue to haunt the world’s largest black nation.


http://naijarchives.com/gloria-okon-the-story-of-nigerias-most-mysterious-drug-pusher/

SERAP's Lawsuit Is Nothing But A Political Tool - Okonjo-Iweala

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has blasted the civil society group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) for instituting a lawsuit against her over her failure to provide information about how the alleged missing N30tn was spent.

According to Premium Times the minister described the suit as fake, and said it was “the latest in the campaign of falsehood and politicization of the economy by persons and groups who are getting more desperate by the day, because the economy, despite their propaganda, was still standing and will continue to stand”.

SERAP had instituted the case against the Minister for “failure to provide information about spending of the alleged missing N30trillion”, which the group said represented “some accruable income to the Federal Government in the past four years”.

READ ALSO: You Are The Worst CBN Governor Ever – Okonjo-Iweala Blasts Soludo

The suit, filed at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, followed a Freedom of Information request by the civil society group to the Minister dated February 2.

The group’s suit followed the disclosure by former Central Bank Governor, Charles Soludo in an article that over N30trillion was missing, or stolen, or unaccounted for, or simply mismanaged under the minister’s watch.

As trustee of public funds, SERAP said Okonjo-Iweala has a legal duty to render account on the missing trillion to the beneficiaries (Nigerians) of the trust, if and when called upon to do so.

Advertisement

So far, the group noted, she has “failed, refused and/or neglected to provide the Plaintiff with the details of the information requested”.

But, the Minister in her reaction through a statement on Tuesday by Paul Nwabuikwu her spokesperson, said the group had brought “a politically motivated suit” against her “based on the discredited N30 trillion allegation by Professor Charles Soludo”.

READ ALSO: Senate Accuses Okonjo Iweala Of Destroying Nigeria’s Economy

Characteristically, the minister’s statement was unsparing of the civil society group with a heavy dose of tongue lashing, saying the suit “confirms that SERAP is nothing but a political tool of the opposition hiding behind the façade of advocacy”.

“Like their previous efforts, this latest one will fail because Nigerians can see through their antics. We look forward to meeting SERAP in court,” the statement declared.

It would be recalled that the refusal of Okonjo-Iweala to explain her role in the purported missing money, led the group to file a lawsuit against her.

Follow NAIJ.COM on Twitter!

JiJi.ng – Sell phones, cars, clothes, furniture to real people

Write review and get real money – Tips.naij.com

Two Reasons Jega Cannot Be Removed- Lawyers

Following the ongoing drama about plot to remove the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, some legal practitioners have given two reasons why the umpire will remain in office.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega

The Nation on Tuesday reported that legal practitioners have told President Goodluck Jonathan to shelve any plan to send the INEC chairman on terminal leave because it cannot be accomplished.

READ ALSO: Olisa Agbakoba Reveals What Jega’s Removal Will Cause In The Country

The legal experts said there is no law or regulation that compels political appointees to proceed on terminal leave; and the timing is “inauspicious and not strategic.”

Meanwhile, the legal experts’ advice emphatically said “political appointees are not subject to terminal leave”.

It is believed that with the legal obstacle, the Presidency may have dumped the option of asking Jega to go on leave even though the President had earlier stated that he has the power to remove the INEC boss, but also cleared the air that, Jega has not done anything to warrant his removal.

A government official, who did not want to be named, said Jega will not be removed or asked to go on leave, revealing that the comment of the supervising Minister of Information, Mr. Edem Duke, has caused disquiet in the cabinet.

The official said some ministers believe that Duke’s inexplicit response to questions on Jega’s fate last Friday has been heating up the polity.

Recall that Duke said though Jonathan has no plan to sack Jega, “this is not to say that, if it is time for INEC chairman to naturally exit his office, then the natural course of public service rule will not take place when he has reached the age of retirement or exhausted his tenure.”

“I think we have been having this apprehension on Jega’s fate because of the politics which beclouded non-renewal of the tenure of ex-INEC Chairman Prof. Maurice Iwu. I think in managing Iwu’s exit, those behind it did not look at the legality of the process in asking him to proceed on leave,” the source said.

READ ALSO: Don’t Remove Jega – Civil Society Tell Jonathan

The government official further revealed that the Presidency was advised against allowing Jega to go on terminal leave because the “timing of the agitation is inauspicious and non-strategic,” but another top government official has said President Jonathan will not remove or ask Jega to proceed on terminal leave, noting that he has told the nation of his position and he will stand by his words.

Recall that there have been rumoured plots to remove the INEC chairman following his parley with the country’s major opposition party, the All Progressive Congress (APC).

The call for Jega’s removal became intense when group and some alleged concerned Nigerians started raising questions about the closeness of the electoral commission boss to the opposition party although it was the opposition that initially blew the trumpet on the alleged plot to send Jega on terminal leave.

However, President Jonathan had earlier assured Nigerians and the international community that he has no plan to sack Professor Attahiru Jega, ahead of Nigeria’s general elections slated for March 28 and April 11.