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Legal Troubles: INEC Suspends Bye-Election In Ese-Odo/Ilaje FC In Ondo State

Posted: Apr, 30 2014, 12:04PM

By SaharaReporters, New York

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has suspended the supplementary election in 59 polling units involved in the April 5, 2014 disputed Ondo State Ese-Odo/Ilaje Federal Constituency.
In a statement (today), the commission said its decision followed a suit by the Labour Party against it and seven others at the Federal High Court in Akure asking to be declared the winner of the bye-election.
The commission recalled that at the end of collation of results in the original election, the Returning Officer had declared the process inconclusive because the election did not take place in certain polling units while results of the election at some other polling units were cancelled on account of violence.
“The Labour Party had a total of 23,926 votes while the PDP had a total of 22,628 votes with a difference of 1,298 votes,” the statement said. “The total number of registered voters in the 59 polling units where election did not take place or was cancelled due to violence is 28,952. Consequently the difference in the number of votes earned by the leading candidate and the runner-up (1,298) is less than the number of registered voters who did not have the opportunity of voting at the election (28,952) representing over 16% of the total number of registered voters. The Returning Officer rightly declared the election inconclusive.”
INEC said it subsequently decided to conduct a supplementary election in the 59 affected polling units to conclude the process, in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and its guidelines for the election.

EFCC Press Release: EFCC Arrests Six Suspects For N5.5m Bank Fraud

Five persons have been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over allegation of fraudulent transfer of a total of N5, 550,000.00 (Five Million, Five Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) from an account in Skye Bank.
The suspects, Ademola Okunlola, 36; Tajudeen Oluwanisola, 41; Kolawole Adams, 52; Temitope Pedro, 27; Bayo Olowoyo, 39 and Otunba Biodun Adebanjo, 56, were picked up in different locations in Lagos by operatives of the anti- graft agency for allegedly effecting the fraudulent transfer of N5, 550,000.00 from the account of one Ajani Kareem Musibau domiciled in Skye Bank Plc.
The fraudulent transfers took place on March 3, 2014. One of the suspected fraudsters, Ademola Okunlola, a staff of Skye Bank, Ikeja Branch, Lagos, set the stage for the scam when he covertly used his camera phone to capture the photograph and signature specimen of Musibau.  He accessed his account and sent the details to another staff of the bank: Bayo Olowoyo at the Toyin Street, Ikeja branch.
The duo reportedly sent Musibau's photograph and signature specimen to a member of their syndicate who effected the money transfer into two accounts: N4.1Million( Four Million, One Hundred Thousand Naira) was moved into Adebajo Biodun Olusola's account with Wema Bank, Shagamu branch, Ogun State while N1,450,000.00( One Million, Four Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira only) was moved into another account operated by Temitope Pedro with Guaranty Trust Bank, Ikeja branch.
The suspects were arrested following a petition by the bank.
They will be arraigned in court as soon as investigation is concluded.

Wilson Uwujaren
Head, Media & Publicity
29th April, 2014

 

RE: NIGERIA’S RISE TO THE BOTTOM

RE:  NIGERIA’S   RISE  TO THE   BOTTOM

I  read  with utmost  relish, your commentary on Toyin Dawodu’s   analysis of Forbes interview  with  Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. FORBES actually poured much of accolades on the supervisory  minister in charge of  the  Nigerian economy. The highly-educated   woman  is appreciated for  the turn around  of the  Nigerian  economy. But   what is the point  in celebrating a  national  economy’s  sudden  success  which obviously fails to reflect  on  the lives of  most of  the  citizenry?

Really  and truly, not   fewer   than  fifty    percent of  the Nigerian  population are indigent. Many  are angry and despondent   because they strive  hard at work but  earn  incomes which  do not  meet  their basic  necessities  of life. As  a  result, many  have concluded  in their  minds that if    the  economy is  virile  and vibrant, but  the major  policy-makers fail to draw up  plans to realistically and  effectively look  after  the  teeming  underprivileged  members  of  the  public, then, the  country  will  find  it hard  to be out  of  the woods.

We  all know the Forbes  report was meant  to  paint  Nigeria  in a  brilliant  light, but  concrete  efforts  must  be  geared  towards  total  economic  emancipation  and  deliberate  repositioning  of  the  conscientiously-active  amidst  the  Nigerian  populace,if that  report  in  itself  would  not  suffer  the  unenviable  destiny  of being  confined  to  the  dustbin  as  an effort  in  futility.

Reportedly,$ 9  billion was lost  between  2011  and  2013  to  customs waivers  alone  for  instance. These funds, if taken  and  properly  appropriated, could  have been  channelled  towards  social services  and industrial re-engineering  in   this  nation. The  painful  thing in all  of  these  is  that  the  beneficiaries  of the waivers  are  usually  those  Nigerians  who  already  swim  in  multi-billion  naira of  stolen  wealth! ....Helping   the  larcenists  to   safe-keep  their   loot,  you might  say. Again,  those  Nigerian  factories  which moved  to  neighbouring  Ghana   some  years  ago, owing  to  epileptic  power   supply,  are  yet  to  return.  Would  they  ever  return?

Regrettably, a  large  chunk  of  the  population  individually  survives  on  $2  or  less  a   day in a Nigerian nation  replete  with  tales  of  paradoxes.   Many  of our  citizens   are  today   disillusioned  arising  from  the  nation’s   precarious  socio-political  landscape. The  insecurity   levels  are  quite  alarming while  corruption  seems  to  have  taken  up  permanent   residency   amidst   the  Nigerian  crowd. Millions  of adults  now   function  very  much  below  their  optimum  capacity  against  the  backdrop  of  issues  of  inequality  and  gross  violation  of  rights  sometimes.

The   successes  which  Nigeria  has  recorded  in  the  economy  ought   to  be   re-inforced   in  order  to  make  them  appear  in  credible  terms.  We  must   all  wake  up  from  our   slumber  in  such  a  manner   as  to  drive ourselves   and  nation  forward  in  all  positive  ramifications. At  the level  of  morals, we  must  also  strive to  conduct  ourselves  not  in  a  manner  capable  of  depicting  us  as  a  people  yet  existing  in  the  stone  age. Issues  emanating  from  our  collective  value system  in  the past  decades   have raised  serious  questions , which  as  a mater  of  fact, must  be quickly   addressed   scientifically, socio-economically  as  well  as   politically.

Adelowo     Adeniyi,

Kenya president signs polygamy law

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Kenya president signs polygamy law

Apr 29, 2014Online EditorNews0

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Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed into law a controversial marriage bill legalising polygamy.

It brings civil law, where a man was only allowed one wife, into line with customary law, where some cultures allow multiple partners.

Controversy surrounded an amendment to the bill, supported by many male MPs, allowing men to take more wives without consulting existing spouses.

Traditionally, first wives are supposed to give prior approval.

Last month, female MPs walked out of parliament in disgust after their male counterparts voted through the amendment.

They argued that a decision to take on another wife would affect the whole family, including the financial position of other spouses.

The bill was also opposed by Christian leaders who urged the president not to sign it into law, saying it undermined Christian principles of marriage and family.

“The tone of that bill, if it becomes law, would be demeaning to women since it does not respect the principle of equality of spouses in the institution of marriage,” Archbishop Timothy Ndambuki, from the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), was quoted by Kenya’s Standard newspaper as saying.

The marriage legislation has been under discussion for several years and some initial proposals were scrapped at committee stages, reports the BBC.

It has abolished the practice of unofficial traditional marriages which were never registered and could be ended without any legal divorce proceedings.

But plans to ban the payment of bride prices were dropped – although a person must be 18 to marry and this now applies to all cultures.

Obasanjo shielded oil thieves –Alamieyeseigha

Obasanjo shielded oil thieves –Alamieyeseigha

Apr 29, 2014Louis AchiNews, Top Stories0

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• Naval officers, expatriates neck-deep in bunkering

• 50 per cent of oil stolen daily

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had a list of oil thieves in the country but used his executive powers to protect them during his eight-year tenure while both expatriates and naval officers were neck-deep in oil theft.

These allegations were made yesterday by ex-governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyesiegha to members of the National Conference Committee on Public Finance when officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) appeared before the committee.

According to Alamieyesiegha, he facilitated the arrest of some oil thieves in Bayelsa State during his tenure but because of high level conspiracy at top executive levels and with the connivance of NNPC officials, the arrested oil thieves were let off the hook. His words: “I had one experience. Tankers were loaded in Bayelsa. I got the information and laid ambush for them and arrested them. About 14 big tankers and they were handed over to the police.

They were charged to court and the judge ordered that the product should be tested to ascertain if they were crude oil. “NNPC was invited, they came, took the sample and after a week the result came out as agro-chemical and before I know all of them have been released. I went to President Obasanjo. I even accused him that he is the chief bunkerer; that he should not call me again. “I also accused him that those that are involved are also sitting in this arena and if he pushed me beyond that I am going to mention names.

It became so hot that I was persuaded to follow him to his office. He held my hand and we entered. So, there is actually enough intelligence that is open to the Presidency. He himself, President Obasanjo, started mentioning names. I said ‘oh, you are the chief bunkerer. I confirm, you know them, don’t call me again’”. In another damning indictment, Alamieyeseigha also said that expatriates in the oil sectors are also deeply involved in the illegal activities in the industry and even collaborated with militants to kidnap themselves in the heydays of militancy in the Niger Delta region.

According to him, “In fact, expatriates are more involved in the crime than Nigerians. In fact, some of them even offer themselves to be arrested so that when there is compensation they have a share of it. They are also involved in kidnapping.

“They allow themselves to be kidnapped. Oil companies are invited, their home countries will shout that their men are kidnapped; management of oil companies will now make efforts and pay ransom. “When the ransom is paid they are released and that money is shared among them. So, it is a high level conspiracy that is going on.”

The former governor also accused retired naval officers of being involved in oil theft and stressed that the local boys that are regularly arrested for oil theft are mere “escorts” as they do not have the international connections to sell stolen crude oil.

“The so-called militants we celebrate that tap oil they are only employed as escorts. If there is no buyer, we will not find a seller. The post retirement job of a senior naval officer is bunkering. “None of those boys you see in the Niger Delta have the necessary connections to bring ships to our economic zone to lift. Those that are making the connections are also part of us.”

Alamieyeseigha, who declared that 50 per cent of Nigerian oil is stolen daily, also accused foreign embassies of being aware of the illegal purchase of crude oil from Nigeria. He declared: “In fact, almost 50 per cent of what we produce in this country is being siphoned outside to augment the international market. And where is the oil going? “It is going to those countries and they know the type of oil that is coming out from Nigeria. It is different from others.

The sulphur content here is very low and they know this but everybody is gaining from it. “Let the Federal Government send warning letter to all the embassies that are in this country and give them three months. After three months if we see any ship that is not authorized in our economic zone, especially in the Niger Delta, it will be destroyed.

“Involve the Navy, buy few assault helicopters, buy missiles and after the three months any ship you see inside there by the time you destroy one, two ships, no country will allow their ships to enter and so there will be no buyer.”

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48 Nigerian Prisoners Pass O Level Examination

Posted: Apr, 28 2014, 4:04PM

Forty-eight prisoners who are awaiting trial at the Ikoyi Prisons have passed the November/December 2013 General Certificate of Examination (GCE).
Deputy Controller of Prisons, Mr. Emmanuel Bamidele, who made the disclosure on Monday while receiving members of the Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), said 54 other inmates also wrote the examination but were unsuccessful.
“When they finally regain their freedom, they can seek admission into any university of their choice, since they are awaiting trial,” Bamidele told the NBA members, who were visiting the prison to present gifts to the inmates as part of activities marking the 2014 Law Week.
“The prison has the ‘Rehabilitation, Restoration and Reintegration’ programme, and one of its key objectives is to provide education opportunities for the inmates, so that they can be useful to themselves and the society after leaving the prison.”
He also spoke on the congestion of the prison by awaiting-trial inmates, saying that of the total 1,761 inmates at the prison, only 186 are convicted. The remaining 1,575, he lamented, have been awaiting trial for between five and 13 years.
Chairman of NBA Ikeja, Mr. Monday Ubani, assured the awaiting-trial inmates that they are only a few months away from their freedom, as Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, would soon visit the prison to grant them parole.
“Believe me, this travail would soon be over for some of you, when the Chief Judge visits in May,” he said.
“NBA is in contact with the chief judge and the Ministry of Justice, and we know that names of those to be released are being compiled.”

Soccer Match Fixer Claims He Helped Nigeria Reach 2010 World Cup – PM News, Lagos

Posted: Apr, 29 2014, 4:04AM

Wilson Maj Perumal

By PM News, Lagos

A Singaporean match-fixer has claimed the he helped Nigeria and Honduras qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Wilson Raj Perumal, a self-confessed match-fixer who was part of a syndicate that has been placed at the heart of a sophisticated network responsible for fixing hundreds of matches around the world, claimed in a new book that he assisted Nigeria reach the World Cup through his activities.
In his book, he detailed a meeting with a football official in which he promised to help Nigeria qualify for the World Cup in return for free rein in organising three warm-up matches and a cut of the money Fifa provides for hosting a training camp during the tournament.
First, he claimed to influence three players on his payroll to help Nigeria to victory in one of their qualifiers. Then he claimed to have promised the Mozambique FA a $100,000 bonus if they were able to hold Tunisia to a draw, to stop Tunisia from leapfrogging Nigeria and seizing automatic qualification. Mozambique secured an unlikely 1-0 victory.
“My plan had worked and I was the unsung hero of Nigeria’s qualification to the final rounds of the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa,” writes Perumal. “Ferrying Nigeria and Honduras to the World Cup was a personal achievement. ‘Fuck,’ I considered. ‘I got two teams to qualify for the World Cup but I cannot tell anyone.’”
He also claimed to have attempted unsuccessfully to bribe referees at the World Cup itself. Perumal, who served a year of his sentence in Finland after promising to co-operate with the authorities, claimed to have had a hand in or profited from fixed matches all over the globe, from Latin America to Serie A.
Perumal admitted to being part of a syndicate that fixed a string of international friendlies by bribing corrupt officials and compromised players, but this is the first time that he has claimed to have influenced World Cup qualifiers.
Perumal was arrested in Helsinki in 2011 and sentenced to two years in prison. He agreed to co-operate with the authorities and implicated his fellow Singaporean Dan Tan, alleged to be at the heart of the fixing and gambling ring that placed bets on illicit Chinese markets.
Last year Europol alleged that more than 380 professional matches in Europe and more than 300 matches played in Africa, Asia and central and South America were under suspicion as the scale of the activities of match-fixing gangs from eastern Europe and Asia became clear.
Perumal’s book, written in conjunction with the investigative journalists Alessandro Righi and Emanuele Piano, details the huge sums of money he won and lost – up to €3m in a single night – and the huge reach of the match-fixing syndicate.
Perumal also alleged that during a trip to England in 1995 he tried unsuccessfully to bribe two Premier League goalkeepers. Perumal was rearrested last week in Finland on an international arrest warrant. The arrest is believed to relate to an earlier conviction in Singapore, rather than to match-fixing.
Kelong Kings, by Wilson Raj Perumal with Alessandro Righi and Emanuele Piano, is available to buy as an e-book. A self-published paperback will be on sale shortly.
Culled from Guardian UK

Nigeria’s Nollywood Star Actor, Writer And Director, Amaka Igwe Is Dead

Posted: Apr, 29 2014, 4:04AM

By Saharareporters, New York

Renowned writer, actress and director of Nigeria’s Nollywood movies Amaka Igwe has died after an asthma attack in Enugu, Nigeria according to several sources.
Mrs. Igwe reportedly died on the set on a soap opera she was directing in Enugu state after she suffered an asthma attack yesterday.
Saharareporters could not confirm from her husband and the Nigerian Actors guild President the exact circumstances of her death. A former President of the Nigerian Actors Guild , Segun Arinze told Saharareporters that he received the heartbreaking news this morning but he stated that he could not confirm the details as calls to Amaka's husband telephone number wasn't going through.

President Jonathan Sacks Political Adviser, Ahmed Gulak

President Jonathan Sacks Political Adviser, Ahmed Gulak - PREMIUM TIMES

Posted: Apr, 29 2014, 12:04PM

By PREMIUM TIMES

President Goodluck Jonathan has sacked his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, with immediate effect, presidential spokesperson, Reuben Abati, has said.
No reason was given for the removal of Mr. Gulak, a man well known for complementing another presidential aide, Doyin Okupe, in launching verbal attacks on critics and opponents of President Jonathan.
However, Mr. Abati, in a statement posted via his twitter handle @abati1990, quoted President Jonathan as thanking Mr. Gulak for his services to the present administration and wishing him success in his future endeavors”.
“A replacement for Alhaji Gulak will be announced in due course,” Mr. Abati said.
PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately ascertain why the presidential adviser was fired.
But Mr. Gulak recently got into a bitter political fight with Akwa Ibom state Governor, Godswill Akpabio, as well as the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party.
At the end of a recent party meeting in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital, Mr. Akpabio and the state executive of the party criticised Mr. Gulak’s visit “to inaugurate a sectional and unknown Support Group in favour of our dear President without bothering to pay any courtesies to the state leadership of the party.”
The party accused the politician of playing “ignoble and contemptuous role” in the affairs of the party in the state and warned him to desist from further interfering in the affairs of the PDP in Akwa Ibom.
In November 2013, Mr. Gulak threatened to resign if Mr. Jonathan failed to make himself available for the forthcoming 2015 election.
He claimed at the time that there was no alternative to Mr. Jonathan in 2015 as far as the Nigerian presidency is concerned.
A PREMIUM TIMES investigation had in 2013 listed Mr. Gulak among a growing list of Nigerian business and political elites who ran or still run secret offshore companies and accounts where they either hide their wealth to evade taxes, launder money or commit fraud.
Mr. Gulak, who dealt in the supply of fast boats, radial systems and naval communication equipment as well as military hardware to the Nigerian government, was linked to a secret shell company in the British Virgin Islands, one of the world’s most notorious tax havens.
Taking advantage of the loose laws in several jurisdictions, shell companies like Mr. Gulak’s are easy to form and owners can remain anonymous while using nominee directors as fronts and deploying the corporations to hide ill-gotten assets, launder funds, dodge litigations or evade tax.
The sacked presidential adviser declined to respond to the allegation at the time, and the Nigerian government failed to open an investigation.

Mother of Girl Brutalized By Drunken Policeman Lands In Psychiatric Care

Posted: Apr, 28 2014, 12:04PM

A drunken policeman aims at Funmilayo

The grieving mother of Funmilayo Adebayo who was brutalized by a drunken policeman in Lagos last December landed in psychiatric care last Thursday, family sources told SaharaReporters at the weekend.
The video clip of the horrible incident recently went viral on the Internet, showing a drunken policeman who was subsequently identified as Tafa Mohammed, brutalizing two women at Lewis Street, Obalende, in Lagos.
Family sources said the mental state of Bose Williams deteriorated following the incident last December.  Although she was said to have developed prior symptoms in 2007, her children said her condition was under control until she saw the video of Mohammed’s brutalization of her daughter.
The sources said that since that time, Mrs. Williams always displayed pictures of the incident next to her pillow, sobbing.
His eldest son, Segun Adebayo confirmed that his mother had found it impossible to remove images of the incident from her head, and suggested that the horrific incident escalated her ill-health.
Early on Thursday morning, she was said to have repeatedly mumbled to herself about the incident until she left her room to go and sit outside in the rain.  She was then taken away for psychiatric care in Yaba, Lagos.
Mobile policeman Mohammed, of Unit #20 in Lagos, was discreetly filmed by a citizen video photographer, reportedly in December 2013, beating up a street food vendor.
Witnesses said her offence was that the vendor had refused to sell fish to him because it was the policy to sell the fish with food, which he was not buying.
The policeman, who was reeking of alcohol, according to the witnesses, took on both the vendor and another female customer who was buying food from the same vendor at the time, tossing the customer into a nearby pond of putrid water. Two women are involved in the story here: vendor and customer, Funmilayo Adebayo. 
At a point in the report, Mohammed is seen pointing his rifle at one of the women.  A second policeman appears to support him and they both threaten witnesses with their weapons, with the back-up firing shots into the air to show he was not joking.
The incident is said to have resulted in internal injuries for  Funmilayo, whose mother now also seems to have been pushed off the edge into serious mental health issues.   Her current condition is unknown.

Pastor’s Daughter, Who Converted To Islam Set To Marry Her Lawyer 

Posted: Apr, 28 2014, 11:04AM

Aishat (Charity) Uzoechina

By Sani Tukur

Aishat (Charity) Uzoechina, the 26-year-old daughter of Pastor Raymond Uzoechina, who converted to Islam last year, is set to wed.
The Executive Director of Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, Ishaq Akintola, whose organization has kept tab on the convert for months, said Miss Uzoechina is set to marry on May 2.
Mr. Akintola, a professor at the Lagos State University, said in a message posted to a discussion forum moderated by MURIC, that Miss Uzoechina would be marrying the lawyer who handled her case after her conversion to Islam became controversial.
Mr. Akintola’s message reads as follows:
Salaam All,
Remember Sister Aishat? She is the pastor’s daughter who reverted  to Islam last year and the father raised hell in Niger State. MURIC has been monitoring her progress.
She is to wed on Friday, 2nd May, 2014.
Guess who is the proposed husband? Barrister Tijani, the lawyer whom MURIC got to handle her case in court.
Isn’t this worth celebrating?
Details of the arrangement for Miss Uzoechina’s marriage ceremony are not immediately available.
PREMIUM TIMES could not reach her and her fiancé for comments.
Background
Miss Uzoechina, a student of the Federal Polytechnic, Bida, converted to Islam on February 13, 2013, angering her family and sparking a religious controversy in the country.
Following her conversion, she dropped her first name (Charity) and adopted Aishat in its place.
Fearing for her life, she stopped school and approached a Shariah court in Niger state, asking for protection from her parents.
The court asked the Etsu Nupe, Yahaya Abubakar, the spiritual and political head of the Bida emirate in North-Central Nigeria, to take her into custody.
However, her father, Pastor Uzoechina, and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) tried to take her back from the Etsu Nupe, accusing the Emir of abducting and forcibly converting the student to Islam.
But the Etsu Nupe and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) insisted that Miss Uzoechina voluntarily converted to Islam and on her own sought refuge at the Etsu Nupe’s palace in Bida out of fear she might be harmed.
Miss Uzoechina was quoted at the time as saying her conversion to Islam was “strictly personal, gradual and well thought-out.”
“I joined Islam purely on my own terms. I love the character of Muslims that I have related with, particularly the way they behave. You know Muslims believe in God,” Miss Uzoechina, told OnIslam.net at the time.
“I have Muslim friends and I watched what they do, that enticed me to join Islam.”

Vice President's Brother Dies In Abuja Auto Accident

Nigeria : Vice President's Brother Dies In Abuja Auto Accident

Posted: Apr, 27 2014, 2:04PM

President Goodluck Jonathan on a condolence visit to VP Sambo today

The immediate younger brother of Nigeria’s Vice President, Namadi Sambo has died in a ghastly road accident in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
The VP’s brother, Sabo Sambo died on Sunday when his vehicle veered off the airport road in Abuja. The car hit a tree before exploding and instantly killing the former pilot according to eyewitnesses.
Mr. Sambo was a pilot in defunct Nigerian airways, he listed his expertise as flying Boeing 737 aircrafts according to his profile on linkedin. He later became the CEO of  Manyata Engineering Services Ltd an aviation consultancy business he started 7 years ago.

The VP had just returned from a trip to Tanzania, tonight he  received President Goodluck Jonathan on a condolence visit.
In 2012, President Jonathan younger brother, Meni, also died of an undisclosed ailment in Abuja.

Top APC Official In Ogun Beats His Mistress For Refusing To Attend Party With Him

Posted: Apr, 27 2014, 11:04AM

Victoria

Bayo Awosanya, a prominent member of the All Progressives Coalition in Ogun State, has gone underground after he allegedly battered his mistress who asked to be identified simply as Victoria. According to the victim and a police source, Mr. Awosanya beat his girlfriend over her failure to join him at a social party over the weekend.
 The victim, who has a child with her alleged assaulter, told SaharaReporters that she was determined to end the relationship.

Our police source said the APC official had asked Victoria to meet him at a “house warming” party, but got uncontrollably furious when he returned from the event and found her still at home. As the mistress attempted to explain her absence, Mr. Awosanya dealt her several blows to the face and head.

The victim, who showed serious head wounds, explained that she had fallen asleep after receiving Mr. Awosanya’s telephone call, waking up only after the party would have been over. Irate, the APC official reportedly pummeled her with punches before bashing her head into a glass-window steel grille, telling her it was time for her to die.

In an interview with SaharaReporters on Friday, the victim, Ms. Victoria, said she had tried to escape the assault, but Mr. Awosanya grabbed her hair weave-on and violently pulled it out. She added that the APC official was fond of physically maltreating her. Ms. Victoria stated that she could no longer remember the number of times Mr. Awosanya battered her. She told a correspondent of the website that the last beating was too gruesome because she feared he was about to kill her. She vowed to end her relationship with the politician.

She said Mr. Awosanya had given her a vicious beating in 2008, two days before their “introduction ceremony,” a prelude to traditional marriage. She explained that she had often postponed their marriage plans due to fear of the politician’s horrible temper and his possible involvement in “fetish” and a dangerous lifestyle.

Mr. Awosanya was in line to become an executive member of the APC after a party congress that held yesterday.

Ms. Victoria accused the APC politician of practicing different kinds of religions out of desperation. She added that he engages in all manner of rituals in a desperate bid to advance his political goals and financial interests.

She disclosed that Mr. Awosanya had once forced her to swear to a “fetish” oath in which she had to pledge never to sleep with another man except after his death.

Ms. Victoria disclosed that she and Mr. Awosanya have a two-year old baby named Jomiloju.

Officials of the Ogun State police command claimed that they could not find Mr. Awosanya to arrest him, but a police source told SaharaReporters that they knew the politician was in town. The source added that the alleged batterer was expected to be present at his party’s state congress where he was going to be inaugurated as the APC’s financial accountant.

“We know where Chief [Awosanya] is, but our commander doesn’t want to be involved in this palaver,” our police source said.

Former Ondo State PDP Chieftain,Emerges APC Chairman

Former Ondo State PDP Chieftain, Isaac Kekemeke, Emerges APC Chairman

Posted: Apr, 27 2014, 12:04PM

Isaac Kekemeke, a former chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State, yesterday emerged the new chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) at the State Congress held in Akure.
Kekemeke, also a former Secretary to the State Government under the late Governor Olusegun Agagu, scored 499 votes to narrowly defeat Professor Ade Adetimehin, who scored 497.
Other contestants were Soji Bello, Gbenga Adesida and Claudius Daramola.
The event, which was held at the B-Kay multipurpose hall on Ilesha express road, was witnessed by the party supporters from the 18 local government areas of the state.
SaharaReporters observed that the State Congress began with the accreditation of delegates under the watchful eyes of security agencies, which mounted surveillance on strategic locations at the venue.
Our correspondent reports that many of the delegates had a tough time at the entry gate into the hall as they were subjected to heavy scrutiny by officers of the 'Kako Security Guards' who took their time to check for any incriminating materials.
The tight security was critical in view of the party’s recent experience during the ward congresses where a party supporter was shot dead as a result of poor security.
Edwin Ajogun, led men of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to provide adequate security at the venue.
Fatai Alo, Secretary of the Committee of the State Congress, told SaharaReporters that close to 1292 delegated from the 203 wards in the state were expected to attend the Congress.
Nonetheless, there were members of the party who served as delegates who felt short-changed. Addressing journalists the party's chairman in Idanre local government area, Victor Alalabiaye disclosed that he was unable to find his name on the delegate lists.
Protesting over the issue, Alalabiaye described it as a means to disenfranchise he and his people from voting, having being invited to be a delegate for his local government area.  Many people from his area were seen protesting along with him.
Earlier, a contestant for the Office of the Publicity Secretary of the Party, Omo'ba Abayomi Adesanya, revealed that five wards in Okitipupa area were also short-changed and prevented from voting.
The issue of names been doctored and people prevented from voting had initially raised controversy among the delegates and party supporters who visibly refused an election to hold.
Speaking to Newsmen shortly after he was pronounced winner of the chairmanship contest, Kekemeke described the election as having been devoid of manipulation, declaring his emergence as the APC chair in the state as a change for a new era.
"A new phenomenon of change has appeared in the affairs of the opposition party,” he said.  “I would like to sound a note of warning to the powers that be both at the state and federal level that as from now on they will have a constructive opposition that will ask those in government to account for their deeds and misdeeds.
"My primary aim is to reconcile the various tendencies in the APC. We are one family. We will make sure we visit all the nooks and crannies of the state to ensure we make a strong, united, indivisible APC that is ready and set to take over the government of Ondo State."
Also addressing journalists, the former deputy governor of Lagos State and Chairman State Committee on State Congress, Femi Pedro, said the election was conducted under the watchful eyes of agents of each contestant, security personnel and officials of INEC who ensured that the election was free and fair.
Pedro added that although there were heated arguments that could have resulted into crisis, the party was able to manage them with the heavy presence of agencies at the venue.
He further revealed that the party was ready to wrest power from the incumbent Labour Party government led by Olusegun Mimiko.
"The emergence of a new executive in the state has revealed that the days of the Labour Party government in the state are numbered," he said.
SaharaReporters gathered that other party positions will be filled through consensus, which has already been agreed.