Breaking: Senators pass vote of confidence on Saraki

Nigeria Senate President

The Senators has passed a vote of confidence on Saraki who was arraigned and docked by the Code of Conduct Tribunal on a 13 count charges involving false assets declaration.
The Senate which met today, Tuesday, passed the vote of confidence on Saraki amidst rowdy session. Similarly, Senate expects ministerial list from the president as speculations become high as for which prominent competent Nigerians will make the list. Currently, the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly matters, Mr. Ita Enang is already in at the Senate, perhaps to present the ministerial list.
However, following the vote of confidence on Saraki, some pro-Saraki supporters converge at the Senate entrance to chant solidarity songs for Saraki and his deputy Ike Ekweremadu.
The pro-democracy group, Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo Youth Movement, ONYM, led by Mr Uche Nnadi told newsmen that the rally to the National Assembly was also to protest the use of anti-corruption war by politicians for personal gains.
“This despair is caused by the fact that the anti-corruption war which Nigeria in general and Igbo youths have keyed into is being misused by few political elite to fight their political war.
“We must state categorically that it is an act of corruption to use the anti-corruption war for party politics and political benefits,’’ Nnadi said.
He faulted the trial of Saraki by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, saying that he was being persecuted because his emergence as Senate President allowed an Igbo man to be the Deputy Senate President.
According to him, the trial of the Senate President by the code of conduct Tribunal is in contravention of section 3(d) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.
“The same Chairman of the Tribunal Mr Danladi Umar ruled in favour of the principle in section 3(d) on the November 30, 2011 in the case against Senator Ahmed Tinubu.
“And today is insisting on trying the Senate President.
“We know that Mr Danladi Umar cannot overrule himself,’’ he said.
Nnadi, therefore, urged the tribunal to quash the charges against the Senate President and discharge him.
He added that Saraki’s trial was quickly contrived to force him out of office.
“Otherwise why will all this political tension when the man has not been found guilty.
“Our law still upholds a man as innocent until he is found guilty,’’ he said.
The protesters displayed placards: “No to Witch-hunting” and “No to Plot To Destabilize National Assembly”.

The protesters were pushed beyond the first entry point of NASS gate by security operatives who were very polite in discharging their duties

Go to court, Odigie-Oyegun tells Timipre Silva

APC National Chairman

Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the National Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), has told Chief Timipre Silva, one of the contestants in Sept. 22 botched primary in Bayelsa to go to court, “Mr Sylva can go to court because that is what the court is meant for,” the chairman said on Monday in Abuja.
The chairman made the statement while responding to newsmen who asked for his comments on Silva’s claim that he won the botched primary. He said that the party had decided to conduct another primary on Sept. 29. He added that the party’s National Working Committee deemed it fit to provide a level playing ground for all candidates who aspire to public offices in the party.
Odigie-Oyegun declared that the process that led to the Sept. 22 primary in Yenogoa did not meet the standard which the party had set for itself. He said: “we had serious security challenges and the process did not meet the standard which this party has set for itself.
“We have no alternative but to stop the process by ensuring that the chairman of the panel was moved out of the venue with the help of security agencies. “We decided thereafter that there should be fresh primary.
“We have written to INEC on our decision to conduct fresh primary for the Bayelsa governorship election on Tuesday. “We are getting in touch with the Inspector-General of Police and all other security agencies to assist us in ensuring effective security.”

Saraki/Presidency Cold War: Senators avoid C’ttee Chairmanship

As the Cold War between the presidency and the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Saraki over the later’s emergence as the Senate President rages on, a good number of the Senators have allegedly rejected heading Committees to avoid what they described as witch-hunt.
The tradition before now was that Senators and members of the House of Representatives lobby to become Chairmen of some of the Committees perceived to be juicy so as to better their lots.
But Vanguard gathered that some of the Senators especially those from the All Progressives Congress, APC, who played prominent role for the emergence of Dr. Saraki have allegedly decided not to take any Committee Chairmanship to avoid facing any form of persecution from some of the party leaders.
One of the APC Senators told Vanguard on strict condition of anonymity that the Cold War between the Senate President and some leaders of the APC was all about 2019 Presidential election.
He claimed that some of the Senators suspected to have played any role in the emergence of Saraki as the Senate President were strictly being monitored by those who felt embarrassed and defeated in the election for the senate president, adding that they have decided to set trap for them during the oversight functions.
Besides, he said that many of the APC Senators from the North have started having problems with their governors over 2019, and that some of the governors have contributed to the crisis between Dr. Saraki and the APC leadership.
The Senator who was rumoured to be eminently qualified to chair one of the juicy Committees because of his knowledge on the sector said that he alongside other Senators have decided not to accept Committee Chairmanship to avoid any form of persecution by some of the party leaders that felt wounded in the election of the senate president.
He said, “Some of us (Senators) especially the APC Senators have decided not to accept Committee Chairmanship. Those who felt aggrieved over the election of Senate President have decided to embark on a witch hunt and they want to use the Committee to achieve their devilish plans.
“They have planned to use the oversight functions to blackmail us and you know when you are blackmailed whether rightly or wrongly, the public will have a negative impression about you and we don’t want to create that room at all.
“You can see what is happening between the Senators and the governors especially in the North. Some of the governors who have their eyes in 2019 have started fighting their senators.
“One particular governor alongside a former governor that lost the bid to become the APC presidential candidate and one person that arrogates to himself the position of the party leader has decided that the present senate leadership did not have peace and have blackmailed the leadership before the presidency.
“You know that Saraki made sure that the APC did not have a Muslim/Muslim ticket and the party leaders that did not benefit from that have been angry with him (Saraki). The other one felt disappointed that he was not supported during the APC presidential primaries after their alleged initial agreement before they dumped the People’s Democratic Party.
“You also know that we have only one canonized person in this country who believes that every other person is corrupt. When you are even talking to him and explain your position, he will not talk but only to be watching you because he has already made up his conclusion.”
The APC Senator explained that whatever was happening in the party was because of the 2019 elections, stressing that it was perceived by some of the party leaders that allowing Saraki a breathing space would jeopardizes their ambition in 2019.
He noted that with the present composition of the party, if President Muhammadu Buhari decides not to contest the 2019 presidential election, there was the fear that Saraki has the brightest chance to emerge, alleging that it was the contributing factor in the crisis.
He also claimed that those who have become uncomfortable with the way things were going were making every effort towards ensuring that they blackmailed the senate president before President Buhari.
“Saraki for now has the support of majority of those who decide elections in the North. Both in Sokoto, Gombe, Zamfara and some other states in the North. If he maintains the structure till 2019, there is the fear that he would definitely emerge as the party’s presidential flag bearer.
“Those who are interested in the position are aware of this and especially three of them, one from the South west, a former governor and a serving governor who are all interested are making sure that they blackmail him before President Buhari. You know the President believes that he is the only corrupt-free person in this country”, he stated.

He, however, said that if nothing was done to reconcile all the aggrieved members and accord the required respect to the office of the senate president, it would affect the chances of the party in the 2019 elections, adding that already the public have started having a negative impression on the APC

Mina stampede: 54 Nigerians confirmed dead

Fifty-four Nigerians have been confirmed to have died during Thursday’s stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia NAN reports. The confirmation was given by Alhaji Abdullahi Mukhtar, Chairman, National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) on Monday at a news conference in Makkah.

Saudi emergency personnel stand near bodies of Hajj pilgrims at the site where at least 717 were killed and hundreds wounded in a stampede in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, at the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia on September 24, 2015. The stampede, the second deadly accident to strike the pilgrims this year, broke out during the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual, the Saudi civil defence service said. AFP PHOTO / STR

No fewer than 717 pilgrims died and 805 others injured in the stampede when the pilgrims trooped to perform the ritual of the symbolic stoning of the devil. Mukhtar said 61 other Nigerian pilgrims were injured during the incident. He said 42 of the deceased pilgrims were transported to Saudi Arabia by state Pilgrims’ Welfare Agencies, while 12 came through Private Tour Operators
He said the deceased were from Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Cross Rivers, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Sokoto, Yobe, Taraba, and Zamfara. The chairman also said that out of the injured 61 pilgrims, 16 were transported by Private Tour Operators and the remaining 45 by state Pilgrims’ Welfare Agencies.
He said the commission was still investigating to ascertain the number and condition of some pilgrims who have gone missing after the incident. MuKhtar said the commission had set up three committees to condole with the families of the deceased, arrange befitting burial for the deceased and to collate information from eye witnesses.

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Watford 0-1 Crystal Palace

Trial of treasury looters begins soon – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari said, yesterday, in New York, United States of America, that the prosecution of those suspected to have looted the Nigerian treasury will begin soon.
The President also restated his determination to fully sanitize the oil industry and make it totally free of corruption and shady deals.
President Buhari spoke at a meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 70th General Assembly of the United Nations.He recalled that he had to reorganize the corporation by appointing a new management, saying it was one first necessary step to take.
President Buhari also expressed gratitude to the Chinese President for the country’s assistance to Nigeria in curbing crude oil theft, even as he applauded China’s interception of shiploads of crude oil stolen from Nigeria.
He said: “We know your stand on corruption, and we are grateful. Your continued cooperation in curbing oil theft from Nigeria will be appreciated.”
President Buhari also hinted that the Nigerian military had been re-trained and re-equipped under his administration, stressing that this was responsible for the steady gains the military has recorded against Boko Haram.
Also speaking, President Jinping told President Buhari that China, which is already handling many projects in Nigeria in areas like railway, airports, agricul-ture, and in the Mambilla hydro-power project, among others, will increase its investment in the country’s agricultural sector to support the achievement of domestic food security.
He also promised further Chinese investments in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, and more support for human capital development