Friday, 27 September 2013
NANS elect new Senate President, impeach, ban fugitive Deputy Senate President for LIFE
By Maxwell Adeyemi Adeleye
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) wishes to inform the general public that it now has a new Senate President. His names are Comrade Nyanabo Maxwell from the University of Port Hacourt, Rivers State. He replaced late Donald Onaukwogwu who died in a ghastly motor accident while on his way to the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State sometime in June.
The Senate sitting where Nyanabo emerged as Senate President took place on the 27th September, 2013 at the University of Portharcourt, Rivers State. The new Senate President is the current Students’ Union President (SUG) of the University of Porthacourt, Rivers State (UNIPORT).
In a related development, the Deputy Senate President of NANS, comrade John Shima has been impeached by his colleagues for gross misconduct, financial misdemeanor and an act capable of tarnishing the image and integrity of the revered association. Shima, a student of Benue State University, Markurdi was also banned for life from participating in all NANS activities.
Amongst the allegations leveled against John Shima are but not Limited to the underneath:
-That John Shima called for a Senate sitting in Portharcourt, and before the commencement of the sitting, absconded having discovered that his evil plans and secrets have been revealed; thereby abandoning in the process, Senators that came from virtually all tertiary institutions across the country for the sitting,
-That John Shima colluded with some character-riddled former NANS leaders to collect from the Rivers State Government, of the sum of N24million to stage anti-President Goodluck Jonathan mass protest in Portharcourt,
-That John Shima, having discovered that his secrets have been revealed to the no-nonsense NANS National President, Comrade Yinka Gbadebo, sent some men of the under world to eliminate him (the President) after paying them the sum of N1.5million for the hatchet job,
-That John Shima, has for months before now, been parading himself as the Acting Senate President of NANS despite yet to be inaugurated to act in that capacity,
Meanwhile, after the impeachment and decimation of John Shima from office, NANS Senators unanimously elected Comrade Henry Mark from Benue State University as their new Deputy Senate President.
The sitting was observed by the NANS President, Yinka Gbadebo and virtually all the members of his executive council.
The Senators at the end of their sitting called on the Federal Government and the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to for the sake of tomorrow’s leaders whose destinies are being delayed and future being ruined by the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by ASUU, meet and resolve their dispute in order for their ivory towers to be reopened for academic activities.
Maxwell Adeyemi Adeleye is the Media/Editorial Consultant to Yinka Gbadebo, President, NANS.
Maxwell_adeleye@yahoo.com
27 September, 2013.
Ekiti South must produce the next Governor - Adeyeye
Afenifere Chieftain and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant in Ekiti State has described as non-negotiable, the desire of the Southern Senatorial District of the State to produce the next governor.
Adeyeye, who made this known while addressing PDP leaders and members in Ikere, Emure and Ise/Orun Local Government Areas of Ekiti State today, added that; "We are not saying if we go into free and fair contest, we won't defeat those aspirants from other zones, but fair is fair and equity and fairness demand that the Southern Senatorial District that has not produced governor since Ekiti State was created should be allowed to produce the next governor.
The governorship aspirant had as part of his sensitization tour visited Efon, Ekiti West, Ijero, Gbonyin, Ekiti East Local Councils and he visited Ikere, Emure and Ise/Orun Local Councils today.
While addressing a mamoth crowd of party members in Emure-Ekiti, the headquarters of Emure Local Government, Adeyeye said; "any PDP member that is saying there won’t be zoning of the Ekiti State governorship election is either ignorant of the party’s Constitution or is just being mischievous because of his or her selfish personal ambition.
He said the founding fathers of the PDP knew what they were doing when they enshrined in Chapter 1:7 Sub Section 3c of the party’s Constitution, that: "the party shall pursue its aims and objectives by adhering to the policy of rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices in pursuance of principle of equity, justice and fairness.
"Therefore, I am saying it categorically here that it is the turn of the South and I, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye will by the grace of God, fly the flag of our great party next year and send the present occupants of the State Government House back to Ghana where they came from."
Also speaking in Ikere-Ekiti, immediate past State Secretary of the party, Hon. Gboyega Akinola said; "the Central senatorial district already had eight years (1999-2007). By 2014, the North would have completed eight years and it will be natural that the next governor comes from the South."
He said nobody from the Southern Senatorial District would support any aspirant from other zones, saying; "We have competent sons and daughters in the South who can be governor of Ekiti and we won't throw this opportunity away because if we do, our children will not forgive us."
Other PDP leaders who spoke in the same vain were 80 year old former Secretary to the State Government, Chief Afolabi Ojuawo, former Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon Taiwo Olatunbosun, Chief Kingsley Omodara, among others.
The tour continues tomorrow with the governorship aspirant visit to Moba and Ido-Osi Local Government areas.
Adeyeye, who made this known while addressing PDP leaders and members in Ikere, Emure and Ise/Orun Local Government Areas of Ekiti State today, added that; "We are not saying if we go into free and fair contest, we won't defeat those aspirants from other zones, but fair is fair and equity and fairness demand that the Southern Senatorial District that has not produced governor since Ekiti State was created should be allowed to produce the next governor.
The governorship aspirant had as part of his sensitization tour visited Efon, Ekiti West, Ijero, Gbonyin, Ekiti East Local Councils and he visited Ikere, Emure and Ise/Orun Local Councils today.
While addressing a mamoth crowd of party members in Emure-Ekiti, the headquarters of Emure Local Government, Adeyeye said; "any PDP member that is saying there won’t be zoning of the Ekiti State governorship election is either ignorant of the party’s Constitution or is just being mischievous because of his or her selfish personal ambition.
He said the founding fathers of the PDP knew what they were doing when they enshrined in Chapter 1:7 Sub Section 3c of the party’s Constitution, that: "the party shall pursue its aims and objectives by adhering to the policy of rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices in pursuance of principle of equity, justice and fairness.
"Therefore, I am saying it categorically here that it is the turn of the South and I, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye will by the grace of God, fly the flag of our great party next year and send the present occupants of the State Government House back to Ghana where they came from."
Also speaking in Ikere-Ekiti, immediate past State Secretary of the party, Hon. Gboyega Akinola said; "the Central senatorial district already had eight years (1999-2007). By 2014, the North would have completed eight years and it will be natural that the next governor comes from the South."
He said nobody from the Southern Senatorial District would support any aspirant from other zones, saying; "We have competent sons and daughters in the South who can be governor of Ekiti and we won't throw this opportunity away because if we do, our children will not forgive us."
Other PDP leaders who spoke in the same vain were 80 year old former Secretary to the State Government, Chief Afolabi Ojuawo, former Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon Taiwo Olatunbosun, Chief Kingsley Omodara, among others.
The tour continues tomorrow with the governorship aspirant visit to Moba and Ido-Osi Local Government areas.
New York Judge Orders Jimoh Ibrahim To Pay $10 Million For Defaulting On Aircraft Lease
US District Judge Katherine Forrest has ordered a controversial Nigerian businessman, Jimoh Ibrahim, to pay over $10 million for failing to meet his obligations on two aircraft he leased for the operations of his Nigerian air traffic business that is now grounded. Mr. Ibrahim had personally guaranteed the leased aircraft on behalf of his defunct airline, Air Nigeria.
SaharaReporters obtained a ruling by Justice Forrest in which she ordered the shady Nigerian businessman to pay up the initial $8 million owed to Aersale Inc., the owners of the leased aircraft. In addition, the judge ruled that Mr. Ibrahim must pay interests on the lease as well as legal fees.
Delivered in the form of a summary judgment, the ruling criticized the Nigerian businessman for seeking to find loopholes to enable him to disown the lease guarantee. She ruled that his legal schemes could not invalidate the lease agreement.
Mr. Ibrahim had challenged the authenticity of the lease document he had personally signed on behalf of Air Nigeria. He claimed that some pages of the lease document were not initialed. He also claimed that the passport number used on the document was from one of his expired passports. In addition, he tried to shift the blame for his business decisions on the moribund airline’s former managing director, Kinfe Kassanye, claiming that the former MD misled him into signing the lease.
But an unimpressed Judge Forrest dismissed Mr. Ibrahim's pleadings, describing the case as a straightforward issue of breach of contract. She added that Mr. Ibrahim did not deny that he signed the lease and was well aware of its implications.
The judge also denied Mr. Ibrahim's request to have Air Nigeria named as the main defendant in the case.
The ruling has been certified, and Judge Forrest has asked the plaintiffs, Aersale, Inc., to file papers in the form of a motion detailing the full scope of the company’s interests and costs. The firm’s filings are expected to include how much it cost the company to hire attorneys to file and pursue the lawsuit against Mr. Ibrahim.
Air Nigeria collapsed a few days after a Dana Airways flight crashed in a Lagos suburb, killing all passengers on board as well as some people on the ground.
A whistleblower who worked for Air Nigeria, John Nnorom, provided SaharaReporters with detailed information of the depth of the airline’s financial and technical crises. Mr. Nnorom and other anonymous staff sources told SaharaReporters that Air Nigeria would have sustained a tragic air crash because Mr. Ibrahim was more interested in carting away profits than in maintaining the aircraft in his airline’s fleet. They also revealed that he owed numerous service maintenance providers and lessors huge sums of debt.
The revelations compelled the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority to revoke the airline’s air worthiness certificate, leading to its collapse.
A New York-based lawyer told SaharaReporters that Aersale, Inc. would likely seek the seizure of Mr. Ibrahim's private jet as part of a broader strategy to recouping debts owed to them.
(Photo) Osun Retires Shotdown Osogbo.
Shabaab mocks Kenya, threatens more attacks
Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab rebels have threatened more attacks against Kenya, taking to Twitter to mock the country after Islamist gunmen attacked a Nairobi shopping mall, killing at least 67 people.
"The mesmeric performance by the Westgate Warriors was undoubtedly gripping, but despair not folks, that was just the premiere of Act 1," the group said in one of a string of messages posted on Twitter overnight. The Shabaab has said it was responsible for the assault on Westgate, which saw a group of gunmen walk into the part Israeli-owned mall at midday Saturday and gun down shoppers and staff.
Another Shabaab message said it had been "a great pleasure to have had you completely enthralled for more than 100 hours. What a wonderful audience you've been!". It also boasted that the "Kenyan government is still in disarray", saying it "won't be until several months when it fully comprehends exactly what took place at Westgate".
Shabaab chief Ahmed Abdi Godane said the Nairobi mall carnage was retaliation for Kenya's military intervention in Somalia. Kenya invaded southern Somalia to attack Shabaab bases two years ago, and later joined the 17 700-strong African Union force deployed there.
Meanwhile, Islamic extremist group that killed scores of people at a Nairobi mall attacked two Kenyan towns near the Somali border, killing three people. The leader of the Somali group affiliated with al-Qaeda said the attacks will continue until Kenyan troops are withdrawn from Somalia.
The leader of al-Shabaab said in a message that there is no way Kenya can "withstand a war of attrition inside your own country". "Make your choice today and withdraw all your forces," said Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, also known as Godane, in a new statement posted on the internet late on Wednesday.
"Otherwise be prepared for an abundance of blood that will be spilt in your country, economic downfall and displacement." Al-Shabaab attacked Nairobi's upscale Westgate mall on Saturday and held it for four days in a siege in which at least 67 people were killed. Forensic experts from around the world, including the US, Britain and Germany, continued their work on Thursday reconstructing events in the crime scene including by carrying out fingerprint, DNA and ballistic analysis.
Early on Thursday, al-Shabaab fighters attacked the border town of Mandera, killing two police officers, injuring three others and destroying 11 vehicles, said regional police chief Charlton Mureithi. On Wednesday night, al-Shabaab attacked the border town of Wajir, 390km southwest of Mandera. One person was killed and four wounded after a gunman opened fire and threw grenades.
Kenya has suffered many such attacks by al-Shabaab along its 682km border with Somalia but they take on new significance following the Westgate Mall attack. The Kenyan government said the international response is being coordinated by the international police agency Interpol, which sent an incident response team that arrived in Nairobi on Wednesday.
Interpol official Jean-Michel Louboutin said his team includes disaster victim identification and data specialists who will carry out real-time comparisons of evidence collected inside the mall against the France-based agency's database on DNA and fingerprints from its 190 member country network.
"Whether it be through comparison of information against Interpol's global databases, or the issuance of a notice to identify a victim, locate a wanted person, or seek additional information about suspects, we will offer all necessary assistance to help bring those responsible to justice," Louboutin said in a statement. He added that Interpol is also ready to mobilise additional support if needed, including from its counter-terrorism and criminal analysis units Al-Shabaab said the Nairobi mall attack was not only directed at Kenya, but was also "a retribution against the Western states that supported the Kenyan invasion and are spilling the blood of innocent Muslims in order to pave the way for their mineral companies", according to the statement from Godane.
There has been a global response to the mall attack, with forensic experts from several Western countries working Thursday to investigate the mall site, said Kenyan police spokeswoman Gatiria Mboroki. She said she had no details on what the experts had found so far in the bullet-scarred, scorched mall and that their work was expected to take a week
PDP will win Ekiti in 2014 - Adeyeye
Afenifere Chieftain and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governoship aspirant in Ekiti State, Prince Dayo Adeyeye has described the PDP's victory in the 2014 governorship election as a forgone conclusion, saying; "Ekiti people are already tired of being governed by deceit."
Adeyeye, who was addressing PDP leaders and supporters at Otun-Ekiti, headquarters of Moba Local Government and Ido-Ekiti, headquarters of Ido/Osi Local Government urged greater unity among members of the party.
He said: "I have been to nine local councils already and with what I saw, I am convinced that PDP will win the 2014 governorship elections."
Speaking further, Adeyeye, who said all members of the party should continue to work together as one family; said; "Ekiti people are looking up to us to deliver them from those who came from Ghana to fritter away the resources of the State and put it under the yoke of debt.
"I have received several calls from people saying they won't forgive us in the PDP if we allow the present government in the State to stay beyond October 15, 2014.
"The teachers, local government workers, civil servants, health workers, market women, farmers, students are all angling for a PDP government and by the grace of God, they will have it next year.
Therefore, let us continue to be one big family the way we have been and continue to support our president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, who is the leader of our great party."
While saying he was prepared to rescue Ekiti from what he described as "bondage of debt", the governorship hopeful said it was untrue that the State owned university, the Ekiti State University (EKSU) had moved to number 18 in the Webonomics ranking of universities in Nigeria.
He said; "As at today, despite that they merged three universities into one, EKSU is rated 59 by Webonomics and 47 by the National University Commission (NUC).
"Funny enough, they defending the merger of the three universities they met in Ekiti into one while a State like Kano is funding three universities conveniently."
Adeyeye, who was addressing PDP leaders and supporters at Otun-Ekiti, headquarters of Moba Local Government and Ido-Ekiti, headquarters of Ido/Osi Local Government urged greater unity among members of the party.
He said: "I have been to nine local councils already and with what I saw, I am convinced that PDP will win the 2014 governorship elections."
Speaking further, Adeyeye, who said all members of the party should continue to work together as one family; said; "Ekiti people are looking up to us to deliver them from those who came from Ghana to fritter away the resources of the State and put it under the yoke of debt.
"I have received several calls from people saying they won't forgive us in the PDP if we allow the present government in the State to stay beyond October 15, 2014.
"The teachers, local government workers, civil servants, health workers, market women, farmers, students are all angling for a PDP government and by the grace of God, they will have it next year.
Therefore, let us continue to be one big family the way we have been and continue to support our president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, who is the leader of our great party."
While saying he was prepared to rescue Ekiti from what he described as "bondage of debt", the governorship hopeful said it was untrue that the State owned university, the Ekiti State University (EKSU) had moved to number 18 in the Webonomics ranking of universities in Nigeria.
He said; "As at today, despite that they merged three universities into one, EKSU is rated 59 by Webonomics and 47 by the National University Commission (NUC).
"Funny enough, they defending the merger of the three universities they met in Ekiti into one while a State like Kano is funding three universities conveniently."
Jonathan is entitled to seek second term - Senator Arise
Former Senator, representing Ekiti North, Ayo Arise has described as needless and a distraction, the hues and cries
over the second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan, saying; "By law, the president is entitled to seek a
second term as president of Nigeria."
Senator Arise, in a release issued in Ado-Ekiti today said; "By virtue of section 137 (1) (b) of the 1999 constitution as amended, which provides that a person elected to the office of president at any time for two previous elections shall not be qualified for subsequent election as president of Nigeria, President Jonathan is constitutionally qualified to seek second term in 2015 because he had only been elected as president once."
On the morality of the alleged promise made by the president not to seek re-election in 2015, Arise, who had earlier appeared on a Channels Television programme where he maintained the same stand said; "The beauty of democracy itself is that there is always two sides to a coin. If today I promise that I won't run for senate and tomorrow dynamics change and I decide that most of my promises I have not been able to achieve them, and constitutionally I am still empowered to run, what is wrong in explaining that gentlemen, I have changed my mind and I still want to run for the second term that I am entitled to under the law?"
He said President Lyndon Johnson, who became the United States President after President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 was re-elected in 1964. He only declined to run for second term in 1969 on account of ill health not because he was constitutionally barred from doing so, and it is on record that he died in 1973, four years after he left office. Senator Arise also said another United States President, Theodore Roosevelt, who became President when William McKinley was assassinated; was elected to full term. He did not seek re-election but he sought to be re-elected for another term four years after he left office.
"Therefore, anyone saying that President Jonathan does not have rights to seek re-election is not being sincere and I want to say it categorically that the decision as to whether or not he wants to seek re-election is for the president to make, not one that can be forced down his throat," he said.
While calling for restrain among politicians, Senator Arise said; "The reality is that whether the president runs or not, there will always be struggle for power. "But the question we should be asking is that; those people in the opposition party that are moving around, do they have something better to offer Nigerians? "All these noise here and there, are they about development of Nigeria and its people or about power, power and power?
"Politicians in Nigeria should therefore be guided by the laws of the land and desist from heating up the polity unnecessarily just because of quest for power. "In Ekiti State for instance, there is a monster that is called 'see and buy.' The people in government now introduced it during the 2011 elections. Now it is the mentality that if you must win election in Ekiti, you must be loaded. "Painfully, we are turning Nigeria into a country of politicians and that will not augur well for us as a nation, and we politicians should be mindful of how we pursue our ambition to grab power."
Senator Arise, in a release issued in Ado-Ekiti today said; "By virtue of section 137 (1) (b) of the 1999 constitution as amended, which provides that a person elected to the office of president at any time for two previous elections shall not be qualified for subsequent election as president of Nigeria, President Jonathan is constitutionally qualified to seek second term in 2015 because he had only been elected as president once."
On the morality of the alleged promise made by the president not to seek re-election in 2015, Arise, who had earlier appeared on a Channels Television programme where he maintained the same stand said; "The beauty of democracy itself is that there is always two sides to a coin. If today I promise that I won't run for senate and tomorrow dynamics change and I decide that most of my promises I have not been able to achieve them, and constitutionally I am still empowered to run, what is wrong in explaining that gentlemen, I have changed my mind and I still want to run for the second term that I am entitled to under the law?"
He said President Lyndon Johnson, who became the United States President after President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 was re-elected in 1964. He only declined to run for second term in 1969 on account of ill health not because he was constitutionally barred from doing so, and it is on record that he died in 1973, four years after he left office. Senator Arise also said another United States President, Theodore Roosevelt, who became President when William McKinley was assassinated; was elected to full term. He did not seek re-election but he sought to be re-elected for another term four years after he left office.
"Therefore, anyone saying that President Jonathan does not have rights to seek re-election is not being sincere and I want to say it categorically that the decision as to whether or not he wants to seek re-election is for the president to make, not one that can be forced down his throat," he said.
While calling for restrain among politicians, Senator Arise said; "The reality is that whether the president runs or not, there will always be struggle for power. "But the question we should be asking is that; those people in the opposition party that are moving around, do they have something better to offer Nigerians? "All these noise here and there, are they about development of Nigeria and its people or about power, power and power?
"Politicians in Nigeria should therefore be guided by the laws of the land and desist from heating up the polity unnecessarily just because of quest for power. "In Ekiti State for instance, there is a monster that is called 'see and buy.' The people in government now introduced it during the 2011 elections. Now it is the mentality that if you must win election in Ekiti, you must be loaded. "Painfully, we are turning Nigeria into a country of politicians and that will not augur well for us as a nation, and we politicians should be mindful of how we pursue our ambition to grab power."
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