Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Senate panel insists on helicopter for FRSC : We don’t need it, says Chidoka

Mr. Osita Chidoka
The Senate Committee on Federal Character has insisted on providing N2 billion in the 2011 budget for purchase of helicopter for the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) even as the agency said it does not need one. Speaking during budget defence by the commission yesterday, Chairman of the committee, Senator Smart Adeyemi (PDP, Kogi West) said the provision must be included in the budget as the agency is in dire need of helicopter to check the spate of accidents in the country.
Adeyemi said “We are going to include N2 billion to buy helicopter for Road Safety. If we have to cut from other sector to get a helicopter for Road Safety, I do not think it is too much.”
But in his explanation, Corp Marshal of the FRSC, Mr. Osita Chidoka said the FRSC does not need a helicopter for its operation as it requires more patrol vans to prevent accidents on the roads.
He said “We do not need a helicopter at the moment. What we need are patrol vehicles that will ensure our presence for every 50 metres from an accident scene.”
In the same vein, N2 billion has been provided for the launch the Nigerian Communication Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) One being built in China to replace the lost Satellite.
Speaking during budget defence yesterday at the Senate, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Dere Awosika said N2 billion is provided in the budget as part payment for 40 per cent of the insurance premium requirement for NIGCOMSAT in preparation for the launch.
The Senate also frowned at the award of N1.4 billion contract by the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) for the construction of underwater vessel.
An official of the institute, Nnena Denna, said the contractor has been paid 90 percent of the money “only for them to come up with series of excuses for the delay in the contract.”

Police detain cleric over Jonathan’s posters

Sheikh Abubakar Jibril
Prominent Islamic scholar in Sokoto Sheikh Abubakar Jibril was arrested by the police on Monday afternoon and was flown to Abuja yesterday over what police sources said was the defacing of some campaign posters of President Goodluck Jonathan. The Sheikh, who is the Chief Imam of the Farfaru Juma’at Mosque in Sokoto, was arrested with his two sons, his driver and a domestic aide, according to relations and the police. Spokesman for the Sokoto police command ASP Al-Mustapha Sani said policemen on patrol arrested Sheikh Abubakar and the others while they were using black paint to deface the posters of the president and his deputy at some roundabouts in Sokoto metropolis at about 5pm on Monday.
Sani said they were arrested over inciting public disturbance and have been transferred to the Force Criminal Investigation Department in Abuja.
In Abuja, the Force Public Relations Officer DCP Olusola Amore confirmed that five people including Sheikh Abubakar were being held at the Force CID and that they were arrested for allegedly defacing the posters of the PDP presidential candidate and his running mate. He said they were also suspected of inciting dislike for Jonathan and of acts capable of fanning the flames of public disturbance.
Others in detention are Abba Abubakar Jibrin, Bello Abubakar and AlhajiAbubakar Jibrin. Security sources told Daily Trust that they were flown to Abuja by a chartered plane. The FPRO said the suspects will be charged after police investigation is completed.
Wife of Sheikh Abubakar Jibril, Hajiya Safiya Jibril has called on Federal Government to release her husband saying he is not a trouble maker but a peace loving person.
She said her husband had gone out on that day, Monday February 28 and that she was at home when she received information that he had been arrested at about 4.30 pm.
“Sheikh is a not a trouble maker, he is a peace loving. He is an Islamic scholar and preacher and advocate of education. He is father of over 50 children. He caters for relatives and the converts. Those in authority should fear God and release my husband and others.”
But a civil society activist, Ibrahim Tudun Doki described the arrest as political intolerance by the Jonathan regime. Tudun Doki, who is a House of Representatives candidate of the Congress for Progress Change [CPC] recalled that General Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign billboard was destroyed in Port Harcourt, Rivers State last week and that the police did not arrest or charge anyone to court for the action.
Meanwhile, a coalition of 51 organisations in Sokoto State comprising Imams and preachers yesterday condemned the Sheikh’s arrest. Speaking to Daily Trust in Sokoto, their spokesman Alhaji Shuaibu Kaoji said it was outrageous that the police even had to move the Sheikh to Abuja.
He said they were at the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 10 to lay their complaint, but were told that he had gone to Kebbi State. According to him, a committee of seven persons from the 51 Islamic organisations were therefore sent to Birnin Kebbi to meet the AIG on the issue.

Shema orders arrest of Lado, Yar’adua

Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State has ordered the arrest of the court recognised governorship candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Senator Yakubu Lado and his running mate Abdulaziz Yar’Adua after a clash last night.

Daily Trust learnt that the governor’s order was issued after his supporters clashed with those of Senator Lado clashed in Makauraci village on Katsina-Kano road. The governor was returning from a campaign outing just as the CPC candidate was rounding up his own rally.
Lado, Daily Trust learnt, has since left for Kaduna to attend the CPC’s rally in North-West geo-political zone. His phones were switched off when our reporter called.
Governor Shema, in a statement issued over the clash by his Senior Special Adviser of Diplomatic and Society Relationship Sada Salisu Ruma, said the supporters of Lado and Abdul’aziz Yar’adua ambushed the governor’s convoy, destroyed three vehicles and injured the governor’s supporters in the process.
Ruma said in the statement that Lado and Yar’adua were seen directing thugs to attack the governor’s convoy, adding that the governor has since ordered the state commissioner of police Alhaji Sabo Ibrahim Ringim to arrest the CPC chieftains and prosecute them.
But when contacted on phone last night the CPC chairman in Katsina state Dr Yusha’u Armaya’u told Daily Trust said they were on their way to Kaduna for the zonal flagging off of the party’s campaign were flags will be given to the candidates of the party.
He said the governor should go ahead and arrest Lado and his running mate if he thinks intimidation and oppression will pay.

Bode George appears at President’s rally

Chief Olabode George
Ex-convict Chief Olabode George sat prominently in the VIP stand yesterday at the PDP’s presidential campaign rally in Lagos, which was addressed by President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Mohamed Namadi Sambo and other bigwigs of the ruling party. Sitting alongside George were ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo, former presidential aspirant Mrs. Sarah Jibril, serving ministers, captain of industry and PDP leaders from across the state. It was the first time that George, who completed a two year jail term for fraud last Saturday, had appeared publicly alongside the president. As it were, a presidency source said last night that Chief Olabode George’s presence at yesterday’s PDP presidential campaign rally in Lagos took President Jonathan.
Gorge had stormed the Tafawa Square,   venue of rally, in a PDP-embroidered Agbada along with his supporters, only three days after he regained freedom from the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons, Lagos. President Jonathan acknowledged George’s presence in his introductory remarks. But the presidency source insisted that the PDP chieftain turned up at the occasion without the knowledge of the Presidency.
The source said the President would have preferred that George stayed away from the venue of the rally considering the controversies surrounding the reception organised for the PDP chieftain after his release, but that  “there was nothing the President could have done to stop him.”
“Mr President was not aware that Chief Bode George was one of those guests packaged for the event by the organisers. I am sure the organisers took the president unawares. I think the thinking of the President is to allow the ex-convict give his support in the background for now,” the source said.
Addressing the poorly-attended rally, Dr. Jonathan gave reasons why the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  led Federal Government is keen on winning Lagos, saying the city is very important to the economic recovery of the nation. He said Lagos is too important to be ignored, adding that he has been visiting Lagos regularly in the recent past to familiarise himself more with opportunities in the city state.
He said the PDP wanted to move Nigeria forward economically, saying the commerce of Lagos which contributes more than 50 percent to the nation’s economy needs to be stimulated first to get the nation’s economy back on track.
“I am always feeling bad about deterioration of federal infrastructure in Lagos. We have open lands, houses and road infrastructure. I am not happy with the current state of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Road and so many other federal roads in Lagos.  We have set up a committee to look at the grey areas and see what Lagos State Government can handle and what the Federal Government could do effectively,” he said.
Jonathan also urged the people of Lagos to vote for his party’s governorship candidate Dr. Ade Dosunmu in order to make it easier to transact business between the state and Federal Government. He described the PDP governorship candidate in Lagos as his anchorman, saying, “We need a dependable anchorman in Lagos for our dreams and wishes to become a reality.”
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported yesterday that the turnout at the Lagos rally was an indication that President Jonathan’s support in some states is still shaky.
It said, “While many expect President Goodluck Jonathan to win Nigeria’s April election, a visit to an opposition stronghold shows the leader holds a shaky grasp in some states.
“Jonathan came to Lagos on Tuesday with Vice President Namadi Sambo as part of his campaign to travel to each of the oil-rich country’s 36 states ahead of the April 9 election. However, the stands remained empty at the massive Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos state during the event. The crowd that was there saw many local unemployed youth fighting and trying to pickpocket those attending.
“Lagos is held by the Action Congress of Nigeria, the nation’s strongest opposition party. Jonathan is the candidate of the ruling People’s Democratic Party.”

Prof. Jalingo dies at 67


The Vice Chancellor of Taraba State University, Professor Ahmed Usman Jalingo died yesterday at the age of 67 in his house at Kano. Jalingo died after a brief illness. Announcing his death, his son, Mubarak Ahmed said his father had been sick for about two weeks. The deceased attended the Jalingo elementary school, Ramat College, Yola, Leeds University, UK and the University of Edinburg. He was appointed Vice Chancellor of the Taraba University in 2008. He is survived by one wife and five children.
Meanwhile, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has mourned the late Vice Chancellor, describing him as an inspirational personality. Professor Jalingo was an Assistant Secretary of the ACF.  This was contained in a statement issued by Mr. Anthony Sani, the forum’s national publicity secretary. In a telephone interview with Daily Trust, the Vice chancellor of Bayero University Kano, Professor Abubakar Rasheed also described Jalingo as an intellectual colossus, whose contribution to scholarship cannot be surpassed. He said the don was a great political scientist, who after a brief stint in politics returned to the classroom despite pressure for him to stay on.
Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, the Attorney General of Sokoto State, a former secretary of the ACF, described the deceased as a very humble and down-to-earth person. He said the late professor related very well with people irrespective of age difference, difference in ideology or creed.
According to the Attorney general, Jalingo was always encouraging people, especially the youths through scholarships. Alhaji Inuwa maintained that the late scholar was a detribalised Nigerian and a patriot.
Alhaji Lawal Idris, his former colleague at ACF, described Jalingo as a friend and a very responsible person.  According to him, the late don was among the elders committee of the CPC, who gave wise counsel. He prayed Allah to grant him eternal rest.