OYEGUN IN TROUBLE OVER SARAKI, DOGARA

The crisis in the All Prog re s s ives Congress (APC) over its loss of the National Assembly leadership positions is set to worsen as party leaders are spoiling for a war with the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie- Oyegun, on the matter. Odigie-Oyegun, in what amounted to a volteface by the APC had, last Friday, said the party had accepted the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki as Senate president and Hon. Yakubu Dogara as House of Representatives speaker.
The duo had, in defiance of the APC, ran against the party’s official candidates for the positions, Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila. While Lawan had no chance of running against Saraki who was elected unopposed as APC senators, majorly his supporters, were at the International Conference Centre, Abuja for a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Gbajabiamila lost by a slim margin to Dogara.
An enraged governing party had rejected their elections and vowed to punish them. Last Thursday, APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had said the party would soon set up a disciplinary committee to probe the involvement of members involved in the victories of Saraki and Dogara. But fielding questions from State House correspondents in Abuja a day after Mohammed’s statement, the national chairman had described the election of Saraki as the Senate president as legitimate and that the party had accepted its fate. “Of course, he has been duly elected by his colleagues. End of story.

BUHARI ORDERS RELEASE OF $21M TO MULTINATIONAL FORCE

President Muhammadu Buhari said he had directed that $2m of the $100m Nigeria pledged to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) be released within the week to defeat the Boko Haram insurgency.
He disclosed this in Johannesburg, South Africa at the weekend while presiding over a meeting of the African Union Peace Security Council at the ongoing 25th AU summit.
The president told the gathering that Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger were, under the auspicies of the MJTF, already working to defeat the Boko Haram insurgency.
“In this regard, the member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin met recently where far reaching decisions were taken to immediately put into operations, the Multinational Joint Task Force. To this end, the summit approved the immediate provision of $30m for the Multinational Joint Task Force.
“Consequently, out of the pledge of $100 million which Nigeria made to the Multinational Joint Task Force, I have directed that $21 million be released within the next one week,” Buhari said.
He noted that the continent was faced with conflicts of diverse forms as manifested in the crises in Burkina Faso, Mali, Libya, Central Africa Republic, South Sudan and more recently, in Burundi.
Buhari reminded the leaders of the commitment they had made during the African Union 50th anniversary in 2013 to the objective of “silencing the local guns” in Africa by 2020.
He, however, stated that with just five years remaining, the prospect of realizing that objective appeared doubtful “with pockets, individuals country and the continent as a whole.”

HOW OIL BARONS, OTHERS HIJACKED SENATE, HOUSE ELECTION

Tuesday elections of Dr. Bukola Saraki as Senate President and Mr. Yakubu Dogara as House of Representatives Speaker tipped in their favour on account of the intervention of top businessmen, high-profile investors, and some ex-Ministers in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, it was gathered yesterday.
The plots were hatched in Port Harcourt, Lagos, Abeokuta, Abuja and Ilishan, Ogun State by four serving governors and seven ex-governors in what a source described as a bid to “decimate APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.”
Two of the serving governors are from the South-West and one from the North-West, while two of the ex-governors are from the South-West, three from the North-West, one from the North-East and one from the South-South zone.
An influential Emir was also involved in the anti-Tinubu campaign, according to sources. The monarch had first sought Tinubu’s support for Saraki’s bid in a move he described as “politically strategic” for the future of Nigeria.
Sources said that although Saraki had aspired to lead the Senate as a “mere political game which anyone could win,” the contest attracted vested interests because of the anti-corruption agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Some oil barons, especially those indicted in the subsidy scandal, high-net worth investors, and top businessmen were said to have found it difficult to reach out to Buhari.
They decided to form a ring around the new President by hijacking the National Assembly through which they believe they could checkmate and frustrate any anti-Jonathan policies initiated by the Buhari government.
It was learnt that the affected businessmen, some of whom benefited from curious waivers, concessions and unmerited subsidy funds, had reached out to Tinubu to assist them to appeal to Buhari for soft-landing on ongoing investigations but the ex-Lagos State Governor declined to intervene.

ANTI-SARAKI SENATORS DEMAND EKWEREMADU’S RESIGNATION

The crisis set off by the recent election of the principal officers of the National Assembly may be far from over despite the All Progressives Congress’ recent assurance that it has put its house in order.
Aggrieved APC senators, on Saturday, demanded for the immediate resignation of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.
The senators, who are loyal to Senator Ahmad Lawan, the party’s candidate for the Senate presidency, insisted that Ekweremadu’s resignation was one of the conditions that would make the faction to recognise Senator Bukola Saraki as President of the Senate.
The aggrieved lawmakers, under the auspices of the Senate Unity Forum, however, stated that they had nothing personal against Saraki and Ekweremadu.
APC senators had been divided over the leadership of the National Assembly since the controversial elections. The ruling party had chosen Lawan for the Senate presidency and Femi Gbajabiamila as its candidate for the House of Representatives’ speakership in the aftermath of a mock intra-party election conducted on June 6.

AGF, NSA, EFCC TRADE ACCUSATION OVER CUSTODY OF RECOVERED ABACHA LOOT

Offices of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are trading blames in court over which one of them is in custody of what was recovered from the money looted from the nation’s treasury by the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha.
While the EFCC said the recovered funds could be accounted for by the offices of the AGF and the NSA, they have both denied knowledge of what has been recovered and where it is being kept.
The claim among the three Federal Government’s offices is captured in the court processes they filed in reaction to a suit filed by a group, the Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), seeking information about the state of the recovered loot.
LEDAP, in 2011, instituted the suit under the Freedom of Information Act after the EFCC (earlier named as the sole defendant) refused its request for the information.
It later joined the AGF and the NSA when the EFCC, in a counter-affidavit, said it was only offices of the AGF and NSA that could account for the recovered looted funds.
An EFCC official, Austin Emmumejakpor, said in the counter-affidavit of March 5, 2012, that he was “informed that remittances relating to the estate of the late Gen. Abacha were coordinated by the offices of the National Security Adviser and the Attorney-General of the Federation and not the respondent (EFCC) as erroneously thought by the applicant.”

BE PATIENT WITH BUHARI, NORTHERN ELDERS FORUM TELLS NIGERIANS

The Northern Elders’ Forum has urged Nigerians to be patient with President Muhammadu Buhari in fulfilling his campaign promises. The forum said the President met a damaged economy that would take time to heal.
Buhari, who succeeded Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, was sworn in on May 29.
In an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, the Secretary of the NEF, Professor Ango Abdullahi, said while there were high expectations from the electorate, they should also note that Buhari came into power at a time the economy was bad.
He said, “There are so many challenges. Sometimes, I am sympathetic to how this country had been so run down almost to ground zero and Buhari is expected within the shortest time possible to lift it from its knees. It is not going to be easy at all.
“We understand that the coffers are empty and now he has so many things that are outstanding that require funds. These funds cannot be found in our treasury and they are not in our foreign reserve.
“It is a huge job, and to that extent President Buhari will need the understanding of Nigerians. Perhaps, those who understand the enormity of the problems should be able to give him a little more room to come to grips with the gigantic tasks ahead of him.”
The former Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University noted that while the potential was there, the actual means were not immediately available for Buhari to execute some of his programmes that required immediate actions.

SGF: APC LEADERS ROOT FOR ONU

Top leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are reportedly appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint the first elected governor of Abia State, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu as Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF).
THISDAY gathered that the clamour for Onu’s appointment began after the presidential and National Assembly elections when the South-east failed to produce any senator on the APC platform for possible election as the Senate President.
It has also emerged that Buhari may appoint a former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige as Minister of Health.
Onu, who was one of the few Nigerians to bag a doctorate degree in chemical engineering without a Masters degree, was in 1991 elected governor of Abia State on the platform of the National Republican Convention (NRC).
He also served as the first chairman of the conference of elected governors, and among other reforms, appointed non-Abians into the state civil service as a way of uniting Nigeria.
THISDAY gathered that the APC leaders believe that Onu towers above several other politicians from the South-east in terms of experience, exposure and integrity.

MILITARY ALONE CAN’T END INSURGENCY – OBASANJO

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said the use of only military operations to tackle Boko Haram activities in Nigeria and other violent groups across the world cannot end insurgency.
A statement on Friday by the African Export-Import Bank, indicated that the former president said this during the bank’s 22nd Annual General Meeting held in Lusaka, Zambia.
Obasanjo, speaking about conflicts in Africa, also said the crises werecaused by failure to address certain social problems in the society such as educational disparity.
Afrixembank’s spokesman, Obi Emekekwue quoted Obasanjo in the statement thus, “He proposed a carrot and stick solution to the conflicts on the continent through an approach involving military solutions and social development since a purely military approach would not work.
“According to Obasanjo, a situation, such as in Nigeria, where one section had an educational attainment level of 79 per cent while another had only 19 per cent, created room for conflict.”
The former president also called on Nigeria and other African countries to pursue economic integration on the basis of regional economic communities rather than doing so with the over 54 countries on the continent.

BUHARI CONSIDERS BALANCE IN SGF CHOICE

Three All Progressives Congress (APC) chiefs and a seasoned bureaucrat are in the race for Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to make up his mind on who gets the job. Besides, he is battling to stave off pressure.
Those either interested or being strongly recommended for the SGF are ex-Governor Rotimi Amaechi (South-South), ex-Governor Ogbonnaya Onu (South-East), APC National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun (Edo) and a former occupant of the office, Amb. Babagana Kingibe.
There is a bureaucrat from the North-East whose name was not immediately known yesterday.
There are three issues Buhari is trying to resolve:
•should the SGF go to the Northeast or the Southeouth/Southeast?
•should he be a cosmopolitan young element or an experienced bureaucrat? and
•how to avoid the “way and manner in which a former SGF turned the office into an ethnic enclave and destroyed the ethos of the civil service”.
The former SGF reportedly politicised appointments, resulting in a situation whereby two people were given letters for an office.
The President is said to be concerned about geopolitical balance in appointments.
The power sharing in the Executive and the Legislature so far has shown that only the South-South is yet to be accommodated.

Don’t take bribe, Aisha Buhari tells President’s men

The wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha has warned those around the President not to use their position to curry favours, but to key into his agenda of fighting corruption and insecurity.
Speaking while she hosted women and youths to a ‘thank you’ dinner, Mrs. Buhari said the success of the administration would depend on how the people around the President conduct themselves.
According to her, there should be a better representation of women in all arms of government in order to ensure that their concerns are better articulated.
She said: “There was nothing that people did not say about the past administration. It is not Jonathan that is not good, but the people around him.
“So, the people that are going to be around General Buhari have to be very careful because this election ended peacefully.
“We are praying and hoping that people around him should know that it took him 12 years to get to that position and they must know that they are coming to serve the masses, not General Buhari in person.  It is the people that are around him that will determine the political health of our state.
“There was nothing that people did not say about the past administration. It is not Jonathan that is not good, but the people around him.