Since the tribunal declared Aisha Jummai Hassan the duly elected Governor of Taraba State ahead of Darius Ishaku who the tribunal held was not duly elected a candidate of the PDP, I did not see a copy of the judgment until some hours ago.
The tribunal declared the candidate of the APC the governor of Taraba State on the grounds that the PDP candidate was not duly elected such in a valid primaries supervised by INEC. An INEC official testified that when he went to Jalingo to supervise the PDP primaries, he found no one on ground.
At first glance this looks like a sound judgment and a nunc demittis to the rascality of political parties in foisting candidates on us and treating party primaries like their personal picnics. We are all tired of this jamboree. We should all say “serve the PDP right” and sit down. But wait.
Maybe someone is trying to exploit this our angst and “tiredness”. What if a judicial vandalism of our laws is being committed to cure a political rascality? I can’t say that; but what if? Let’s begin by stating the reason given by the PDP for holding their primaries in Abuja: security. The tribunal didn’t buy that, but interestingly, the tribunal sat in Abuja, instead of Jalingo, for the same reason.
It is my considered opinion that party primaries are pre-election matters clearly out of the scope of the tribunal. The tribunal must have reasoned that Governor Darius was not qualified to contest the election by the virtue of section 138(1) (a) of the Electoral Act which states “An election may be questioned on any of the following grounds that is to say: that a person whose election is questioned was, at the time of the election, not qualified to contest the election.”
Assuming without conceding that the qualification being referred to in section 138 supra includes being duly elected during primaries can Darius Ishaku be said not to have been duly elected just because the primaries didn’t hold in Jalingo? And assuming again without conceding that Darius is not qualified to contest the election is declaring the APC candidate the legal thing to do?
Let’s turn to section 140 of the Electoral Act to be guided: “(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, if the Tribunal or the Court as the case may be, determines that a candidate who was returned as elected was not validly elected on any ground, the Tribunal or the Court shall nullify the election. (2) Where an election tribunal or court nullifies an election on the ground that the person who obtained the highest votes at the election was not qualified to contest the election, the election tribunal or court shall not declare the person with the second highest votes as elected, but shall order a fresh election.”
Read this section 140 again and then wonder with me where the tribunal got the legal justification to declare the APC candidate the outright winner of the Taraba gubernatorial election after holding that Darius Ishaku was not qualified to contest.
I agree that the rascality in our political ecosystem is odious but we should be careful not to exchange one rascality with another. You cannot vandalize the law to force people to keep the laws. Let’s be careful before we enthrone disaster in place of madness.
First Baba Isa (FBI) writes from Abuja 07037162029 meandisa@gmail.com 52F84BE5 @firstbabaisa
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Information reaching NF-Reports from says over 15 heavily-armed gunmen Saturday night kidnapped 78 year-old Mrs. Mabel Abiante, in her residence at Ngo, headquarters of Andoni local government of Rivers State.
Mrs. Abiante was kidnapped at about 8.50pm while watching television in her sitting room. She had closed from her shop at about 8.30pm.
Eyewitnesses narrated that the gun men, who shot sporadically, had positioned some of their men around the house while others moved into the sitting room where they whisked Mrs. Abiante away.
The gun men were, however, challenged by one of Mrs. Abiante’s daughters who was home when they struck. But her efforts did nothing to stop the gunmen who used the butts of their gun on her head and right hand leaving her with swollen body..
The kidnappers made their escape through a side of the Ngo River close to the Abiante family house.
They were yet to make contacts with the family as at the time of this report.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Determined to bring joy to shippers across Nigeria as they shop for the holiday season, Red Star Express Plc., the foremost logistics services solution provider in Nigeria is set to roll out its own special holiday offer for Nigerians tagged “pay-less ship more”.
Starting from December 01, 2015 to January 15, 2016, this offer will ensure that customers save as much as 50% on each package using our services.
Speaking on this incredible offer, the Managing Director, Red Star Express Plc, Sule Umar Bichi said “our company has enjoyed great loyalty from its customers and we think it is time to reward them. The offer, is for both loyal and new customers who require simplicity in sending their packages at lower rates across Nigeria”
Announcing this unbelievable offer “Pay-Less Ship More” the General Manager Sales, Victor Ukwat stated that “Red Star believes in maximizing the utility of customers. However to appreciate its customers during the festive period, we are out to reward every customer with as much as 50% off their regular delivery spending. We intend to use this promo offer to appreciate our customers for their patronage, strengthen the bond we share, stimulate trial by new customers, and create top of the mind awareness”.
The Red Star promo page is created on the existing website and other social media platforms in order to help customers’ access information easily”.
Red Star Express PLC is a premium logistics company in Nigeria in terms of revenue, network coverage and market share in the domestic and international market. It enjoys a domestic strength of 169 offices in Nigeria, deliveries to additional 1,500 communities, over 1400 highly trained personnel and over 500 vehicle fleet. It prides itself of automatic proof of delivery and advanced technology with all operations done online and real-time. It operates as the Nigerian licensee of FedEx, which is the world’s largest express transportation company, providing fast and reliable delivery to more than 220 countries and territories around the world.
For more information, visit our website; www.redstarplc.com
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Inspirational Artist and One Nation Crooner is certainly not resting on his oars; he’s back with a melodious and groovy Christmas song infused with contemporary feel. The song titled ‘I wanna wish you” relives the Classic Christmas songs, his distinct and powerful voice will keep you dancing all day! We love Christmas!
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Afrique Telecom, Eutelsat and Wikimédia France combine skills in large-scale initiative to extend free access to French-language Wikipedia in Sub-Saharan Africa via Wi-Fi hotspots
PARIS, France, December 1, 2015/ — Free access to Wikipedia
Afrique Telecom (www.Afrique-Telecom.com) is progressively deploying Internet solutions over Sub-Saharan Africa in combination with Eutelsat’s satellite capacity. Its “TamTam” service extends access to the Internet in rural areas using Wi-Fi hotspots for collective access. In a new step announced today, “TamTam” will be used to offer free access to French-language Wikipedia content for many thousands of users. This initiative, starting in French-speaking Africa, supports Wikimédia France’s strategy to promote free access to educational content, in particular through Wikipedia.
In order to offer free, unlimited access, Afrique Telecom has developed a server located at “TamTam” hotspots that will locally host French-language Wikipedia content. The content will be updated regularly via a satellite link provided by Eutelsat.
A major pilot project
Afrique Telecom’s ambition is to roll-out “TamTam” to between 4000 and 8000 hotspots in the next two years. Eutelsat has agreed to finance servers hosted by the first 1,000 hotspots as a springboard that will also measure the impact of the service.
The Wikimedia movement has made a priority of improving accessibility and content creation on Wikipedia for so-called “Southern” countries. There is still a large gap between Northern and Southern countries in terms of the number of readers and contributors to Wikimedia platforms as well as content on Southern countries. French-speaking Africa is a priority action area for the Wikimédia France Foundation, as a complement to its Afripédia project.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, November 30, 2015/ — The new survey from Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT) (http://www.Fortinet.com), the global leader in high-performance cyber security solutions, reveals that insufficient wireless security is a concern for 71% of the Information Technology Decision Makers (ITDMs); hardly surprising given that 29% of the enterprise wireless networks put in place for internal employees, do not have the basic security function of authentication in place.
A significant 16% and 21% of enterprises respectively, overlook firewall and anti-virus security functions when it comes to wireless strategies. Other security measures deemed critical to core infrastructure protection, such as IPS (deployed by 39%), application control (35%) and URL filtering (41%), play a part in even fewer wireless deployments.
When considering the future direction of their wireless security strategies, 56% of ITDMs said they would maintain focus on the most common security features – firewall and authentication while demand for more security is emerging with 22% prioritizing complementary technologies – IPS, anti-virus, application control and URL filtering – to guard against the full extent of the threat landscape.
Other survey highlights include:
• South African ITDMs said the biggest risk to their organisations of operating an unsecured wireless network is the loss of sensitive corporate and/or customer data, with 69% citing this as a concern (vs 48% of global respondents).
The next highest risk, service interruption, was cited by 16% of ITDMs, followed by industrial espionage (7%), non-compliance to industry regulations (5%) and damage to corporate reputation (4%).
• 7% of ITDMs polled said their corporate wireless networks have no controls whatsoever for their guest or visitors access.
The most common form of guest security access on corporate wireless networks is a unique and temporary username and password (68%), ahead of a shared username/password (20%), a captive portal with credentials (13%).
• Wireless infrastructure governed by a premise-based controller is a thing of the present according to the findings (56%) but this trend will change to cloud-based management asonly 12% of enterprise ITDMs refusing to trust the cloud for such critical management in the future.
Of the cloud-ready respondents, 47% would want to use a private cloud infrastructure for wireless management and 53% would outsource to a third party managed services provider. 20% of those considering outsourcing would only do so provided it is hosted in the same country, leaving 33% happy to embrace wireless management as a public cloud service regardless of geography.
Perry Hutton, Regional Director for Africa at Fortinet, said: “South African IT decision makers are aware of the risks facing their businesses through unsecured wireless networks, and most feel they have taken steps to mitigate these. However, the threat landscape is evolving and attacks such as advanced persistent attacks will target multiple entry points, including the wireless network. There is no room for complacency when it comes to securing the enterprise.”
The findings come from an independent survey of over 100 South African ITDMs at 250+ employee organizations in different sectors including financial services, public sector, health, retail, travel & leisure, manufacturing & construction, FMCG, telecoms & technology. All respondents were sourced from independent market research company Lightspeed GMI’s online panel.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
“There is not a truth existing which I fear or wish unknown to the whole world.” – Thomas Jefferson “When it comes to the truth, the real bias is thinking any one side has a monopoly on it.” – A Barton Hinkle. Three events or incidences prompted me to write this article. First one was the wide dissemination of an article purportedly written by our esteemed professor and Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka in tribute to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, heaping praises on him and giving reasons why he, Tinubu, is such a great political strategist, even though not a saint, and great Yorubaman who rescued Nigeria from the clutches of the evil PDP. When I read the article, I immediately suspected it could not have been the handiwork of Kongi; I responded to my friends, most of who are in the same political persuasion as I am. I was immediately chastised by most of them, their rationalization being that it does not matter who the author is; it was the content that we should accept. I was aghast! So if Prof Wole Soyinka decided to sue the people wrongly ascribing the article to him, what would they then say? Or if the real author decided to sue Prof Soyinka for plagiarism, what would my friends say or do in his defence? We have since learnt that the said article was indeed written by someone else. Second was the case of Col (rtd.) Sambo Dasuki, the besieged erstwhile National Security Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan who is now embroiled in a fight for his freedom after being accused of mismanaging billions of Naira and Dollars meant to purchase arms for the Nigerian military to fight Boko Haram. I remember when this man was appointed, there was so much encomium heaped on him. He was this, he was that; the next best thing to sliced bread; expert in internal and external security, counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency, best soldier in the Nigeria Army, highly regarded world-wide, blah, blah blah!! His CV was as long as my two arms extended; attended hundreds of courses, degrees, certificates, trips abroad, conferences, workshops, seminars, etc. I said to myself then, “This is the end of Boko Haram in Nigeria”. Alas, it turned out he was just there for his pocket and/or to enrich some interested individuals or groups. It goes the same way with 99.9% of our government officials – elected or appointed. They all have the best education and achievements comparable to any and even superior to many in the whole world, but unfortunately with no sense of responsibility and commitment to service to their country and people; ONLY to their own pockets and family. Their education, achievements, accolades and success are then exposed as only a means to get to power and loot the treasury or defraud and oppress their own people; a dearth of leadership, responsibility and sincerity of purpose in this potentially great country that is only too obvious anywhere and everywhere you look. And third, the case of the “29,000 Nigerians awaiting deportation from the United Kingdom, and 500 of them deported in one day, in one chartered plane to Nigeria just a day ago”. Again, I wrote that this is not possible! 500 Nigerians who are unwilling to go home packed in one plane, with how many guards? At what cost to the British Government? I was again buttonholed by some people who think they are more patriotic than I am (the same trait that our rulers have always had, yet loot the country and deprive their people the dividends of democracy and a developed nation). As it turned out, only 48 Nigerians were deported that day, with probably more to come in batches. Where did our journalists and reporters get the 500 figure from? Nowhere, but they just have to enhance or embellish the news so that they can sell papers, and the gullible people swallowed the lies, as they know they would. The more I read our newspapers and the social media, listen to our politicians and civil servants, and notice often knee-jerk, misinformed reactions of my people, I have come to believe that my people just do not want to hear the truth. They really just want to be lied to, beautiful lies that make them feel good, make then forget their sorrows and the sins committed by them and against them, that make them seem to be part of their often corrupt and totally immoral governments and fit with what they really want to believe. Trying to tell the truth to our people is absolutely futile. Trying to tell people the truth after they have been lied to their entire lives, as Nigerians have been lied to almost since their Independence, isn’t really worthwhile at all, it just gets you called a reactionary. In fact, they turn you into the Liar, and make you start questioning your own insanity and integrity. Many people only hear what they want to hear. Anybody that provides them lies is telling the “truth”. It is a psychological trait. I will admit that in philosophy, Truth is very relative. There is no absolute Truth, but in saner societies, some kind of Truth-based ideology and tenet has been the defining and engaging foundation to their development as better societies for their (and other) people to live in. I have never before encountered a people and country where Truth is so much in short supply as to be completely non-existent as Nigeria. There is a deliberate dearth of Truth and fact, not the least aided by devilish politicians, unconcerned civil servants, selfish businessmen/women, and, wait for it, the society (people) itself. I have always written that there is no Truth in Nigeria; nobody tells the Truth; nobody wants to hear and accept the Truth; the Truth is often hard to find or discern from the loads of information, or misinformation that is often spewed out on a daily basis by all sectors of the Nigerian society. We all want to hear what we want to hear, and this is what our rulers use to keep us ignorant and in bondage. Most of our leaders are intelligent (intelligent only enough to know how to pull the wool over the eyes of the rest of us and how to loot the treasury and still appear like heroes); but why are they like that? We were clamouring for a graduate President a while ago; then we had one with late Yar ‘Adua (B Sc Chemistry) and then, presto! Another one with a PhD in Zoology, Dr Jonathan; and Nigeria suddenly became an educated elite country; then what happened? Education is not a prerequisite to good governance, I have come to appreciate. It helps, but ONLY if the person has a good heart towards his people. That’s leadership. Nigerians like sensational news and the ruling class knows this, so they spin us load of lies and we buy it hook line and sinker. They ALL TELL LIES. The newspapers that are supposed to feed us with correct information are even worse, bunch of lazy journalists who are easily compromised to write stories that suit the ruling elite, but manipulative of the gullible masses. All they know how to do is cut and paste. Imagine publishing that 500 illegal immigrants deported when in actual fact it was only 48. They cannot even verify the news before going to print. We as a people don’t like taking responsibility for our own actions; someone else has to be blamed for their inadequacies. Hence Dasuki now was trying to implicate his boss and others. Examples abound in Nigeria. Have we ever heard of any ruler, ex-ruler (president, governor, LG chairman, minister, etc.) come out and admit culpability for their actions or inactions? No, they are all hiding under some cover or the other, shifting blames to one another and obfuscating and perverting the course of justice. Some even go as far as seeking court injunctions from corrupt judges to prevent investigation and arrest. Some cases against these so-called leaders have been in courts for over 10 years with no end in sight as to logical judgement or even a decision. Is that the Truth? But our leaders and even followers will cling on to the “Rule of Law”. Why does the rule of law apply when it comes to prosecution but does not apply when the crimes are being perpetrated? The truth forces one to question the foundational beliefs one holds. If enough erroneous foundational beliefs can be manufactured in one’s belief system, the harder it will be for them to accept the truth when it stands right in front of them. People adhere to religion because they don’t want to have to change their foundational beliefs. I think everyone is guilty of feeling susceptible by some facet of the world around us, something out there could indeed force us to look at the world differently and we are all uncomfortable with that idea. Fear of the unknown is a powerful stimulus to continue in the same direction even if doing so is a bad idea. In present times, continuing down our shared road to ruin just to feel contented with ourselves is a really bad idea. The truth should set you free; that is the familiar tenet. So why do our people actually choose to keep themselves imprisoned? Why do we consider the truth to be a menace? Most importantly, who made us think this way and why? What are being kept secret from us and why? Why do we desire CHANGE, but are not ready to CHANGE? Your guess is as good as mine. I shouldn’t care anymore, but I cannot help myself. It is my country and my people, anyway I look. Tell the Truth always!!!!
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
I am often amazed at the proclivity of some idle persons for claims that are not only exaggerated but also completely baseless. These ambitious individuals are usually used by paymasters to spin all sorts of specious tales whilst hiding behind the mask of non-governmental organisation, civil society or pressure group of various nomenclatures. Their ostensible motivation is public interest, but their real goal is to get back at perceived enemies of their sponsors and, perhaps, gain some popularity for themselves in the process. One group that appears to have mastered this art is so-called Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
An examination of the group’s activities, compared to its stated objectives, shows that SERAP is little more than a terribly misguided set of noisemakers. While the group is touted as a non-profit organisation established “to promote transparency and accountability in the public and private sectors through human rights”, recent developments have shown that the organisation is nothing but a bunch of attention-seeking opportunists. In fact, one doubts if it is really an organisation and not a “one-man battalion” with the unseemly prominence of one Adetokunbo Mumuni who is believed to be the body’s Executive Director.
Anyone who has been following this SERAP’s press releases and “media noise” would easily understand what I am talking about. The latest in the series of uncouth debates generated by the group is its false alarm about the recovered Abacha loot. In a statement made available to the public on November 29, 2015, SERAP alleged mismanagement of the recovered funds and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to probe ex-minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. How do you call for the probe of someone who facilitated the recovery of the loot and ensured its judicious disbursement?
Alluding to records purportedly obtained from the World Bank, Mumuni in SERAP says it is “closely studying and scrutinising with a view to discovering whether the documents contain details that Nigerians would like to see and whether the information correspond to the facts on the ground.” In the same breath, however, he calls for the probe of the former minister of finance. Isn’t it instructive that that the ramshackle of a group has proceeded to pass judgement while acknowledging that it had not done due diligence to conclude its scrutiny and investigations?
Contrary to SERAP’s claims that the disbursement of the fund was not monitored, the World Bank indeed monitored how the money was spent, together with a group of Nigerian and Swiss NGOs. Beyond monitoring, they issued a report which is well documented at the World Bank. The gist of the entire process has been in the public domain for about a decade. Apparently, the bank has furnished SERAP with the relevant documents in this regard, and the latter is attempting to twist the information to defame Dr Okonjo-Iweala and sully her reputation.
The World Bank specifically stated in one of its reports that the monitoring and analysis of repatriated fund utilisation was undertaken both at the macro level and at the micro level. While the macro level involved analysis of general budget expenditure trends, the micro level deployed a field survey of randomly selected projects funded under the program. In its December 2006 report, a 58-page document [http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTNIGERIA/Resources/Abacha_Funds_Monitoring_1221.pdf], the World Bank clearly affirms that in spite of expected difficulties recorded in the joint monitoring exercise – being the first of its kind – the process was largely successful. It earned a seal of approval from the government and civil society, both of whom acknowledged that they have found the exercise valuable.
Now, where was SERAP when these reports were published and jointly attested to by international observers, government representatives, and reputable Civil Society Organisations? The monitoring exercise involved bodies like the Nigeria Society of Engineers, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Action Aid International, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, among others. It is laughable that an organisation which claimed to have been in existence since 2004 has only just woken up in 2015 to raise issues where none exists. How daft and desperate can people be? Well, the good news is that SERAP and its sponsors are about to be revealed for who they really are. So Nigerians will not be deceived anymore by their antics.
It will be recalled that this same Mumuni in SERAP was used to call for the revocation of Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment on the board of GAVI, owned by Bill and Melinda Gates, for spurious claims that the former minister favoured GAVI while in office. The silliness of SERAP is made glaring when one considers that the money in question was not Nigeria’s money in the first place. It was GAVI’s donation to Nigeria for the immunisation of Nigerian children, for which GAVI later discovered inappropriate use of $2.2million of the funds and therefore called for a refund of that amount. An official release of GAVI’s finding was published on its site several months ago to set the record straight on this transaction [http://www.gavi.org/Library/News/Statements/2015/Reimbursement-of-misused-amounts-identified-in-Gavi-Cash-Programme-Audit-in-Nigeria/]. Little wonder that despite the sponsored hullabaloo made by SERAP and it’s media cronies, GAVI did not even accord their noise a glancing attention.
I think it’s high time Mumuni, his hurting sponsors and SERAP shut up or go get another prey. That Okonjo-Iweala woman is too smart and too formidable a target for their puerile and uncoordinated stratagem. And the Nigerian people are a better informed audience than Mumu gives them credit for.
Issachar Odion is a Political Scientist writing from Port Harcourt.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Monday Igbuya, on Tuesday labelled his victory at the Court of Appeal as triumph for the common man and for democracy.
He also described his victory as significant for the development of the state, particularly Sapele Constituency.
In a statement in Asaba, Igbuya not only praised the judiciary for dismissing Felix Anirah’s case but said his election was a well-deserved mandate.
He thanked the people of Sapele for the confidence reposed on him.
“My confidence in the nation’s judiciary is renewed. The court judgment went in my favour despite the speculation that the outcome will go in favour of my opponent whose party is at the centre”.
Igbuya also described the April election as the most transparent ever seen in the history of Sapele,
“God saw me through the challenging times of the electioneering process, the litigations that followed and of course my emergence as first Urhobo speaker in Delta State.
He urged the people to support him to succeed especially as Speaker of the sixth Assembly.
“I am grateful to the people of Sapele Constituency for the mandate as demonstrated in their overwhelming votes to the PDP in the April election”.
Igbuya while extending a hand of fellowship to his opponent and brother from Sapele, said now that the litigations are over, he should join him in the task of developing Sapele Constituency.
Igbuya said the victory would spur him to work harder to improve the welfare of the people of his constituency
He noted that he is inspired by the victory at the Appeal court, promising to continue to serve the House of Assembly which he is the Speaker with the fear of God.
“I am grateful to God for this victory. He has never failed me. This is not just my victory but that of Sapele, Delta State and the House of Assembly. My heart is filled with great joy” the statement added.
Appeal court sitting in Benin-city, Edo State Tuesday upheld the ruling of the Election Petition Tribunal, Asaba which declared the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Monday Igbuya winner of the April 2015 House of Assembly election for Sapele constituency.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has dissociated himself from the N60bn arms deal involving the immediate past National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd).
Saraki in a statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, stated that contrary to report published in an online medium, SaharaReporters, he has never had anything to do with purchase of security equipment because in his entire political career he never served in any committee or body which has any link with Defence or national security.
“As a member of the Seventh Senate, Dr. Saraki was not a member of any of the committees which have oversight function on the Ministry of Defence or the intelligence and national security apparatus. If he was tagged the leader of the opposition to the Jonathan administration, how then will he be privy to Arms purchases and have the influence to blackmail any government agency or institution over the release of funds.
“The Senate President would like to alert members of the public to this new plot by this particular online medium, SaharaReporters to tarnish his reputation as the medium and its sponsors pursue the singular objective of removing him from the office of the Senate President, an objective they have since failed to achieve within and outside the National Assembly”
This time around, SaharaReporters and its sponsors chose to drag the Senate President to this reigning and current issue of arms purchase by insinuating that he once blackmailed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to give him and other Senators the sum of N250 million as a way of covering up the arbitrary withdrawal by the NSA from the security fund approved by the former President.
First, there is no logic in SaharaReporters’ claim as Dr. Saraki who was persecuted by the last administration could not have had the influence and good standing to walk up to the Central Bank to demand for any money having exposed many atrocities of the past administration. Again, on what ground would the Senate President blackmail anyone for 250 Million naira? It must be emphasized here that Dr. Saraki will never engage in any sharp practice or issue which will warrant him to blackmail any individual or government institution.
“Therefore for record purposes, Dr. Saraki did not collect any money from any official of the CBN in respect of any arms deal. The Senate President also challenge SaharaReporters or any official of the apex bank, Senator, serving or past, who witnessed or participated in any sharing of the alleged money purported to have been received by him, to come out with evidence.
“It should be recalled that SaharaReporters believe it can continue to disparage and defame people claiming that it is operating outside the country. The medium cannot operate above the law.
“This same medium had falsely published the data page of a forged passport it purportedly claimed belonged to Saraki. The Home Office in the United Kingdom has since written to confirm that the said passport, does not belong to the Senate President. Also, SaharaReporters once claimed that Saraki bribed some judges using a former Chief Justice of Nigeria as a front. The claim has since been proven to be false. Anybody who knows the reputation of the retired Justice in question knows that he cannot be used to pervert the cause of justice.
” It also claimed that Saraki tried to cover up the case of $20 billion missing NNPC fund and indeed collected “cash and gifts” from former President Goodluck Jonathan through Mr. Gilbert Chagoury when in actual fact the Senate President was the only member of the Senate committee who refused to sign the majority report of the Makarfi committee because he disagreed with the report which he believed did not address the matter. It is strange however that a man who dissociated himself from the probe report because he believed it amounted to a cover up was later accused by the same online medium as supporting attempts to hide the issue of the missing funds. This is not only completely false, but also a fiction concocted by SaharaReporters to defame Dr. Saraki.
“The game being played by SaharaReporters and its sponsors is clear. As they have done in previous cases involving the on-going trial of the Senate President at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, they are targeting the Appeal at the Supreme Court coming up on Thursday, December 3rd 2015. They want to prejudice the Supreme Court as they have done when they blackmailed a judge of the Federal High Court to withdraw from the case and also published false reports, which compelled the Court of Appeal to postpone its judgment at the last minute.
“Whatever the motive of SaharaReporters, it is high time we employed the instrument of the law to stop this act of impunity aimed at publishing false reports believing the victims will not go to court or be frustrated by its dubious claims that they are domiciled outside Nigeria.
” We urge all Nigerians and other well-meaning individuals across the globe to ignore this absolutely false claim by SaharaReporters. Like we earlier stated, this false claim shall not go unchallenged. We shall meet in court.
“We have allowed SaharaReporters enough latitude to indulge in their unscrupulous and mischievous method of journalism. However, enough is enough. We have no option than to commence legal action against Sahara Reporters in all relevant jurisdictions, particularly on the issue of fake passport, false claim of bribery and the recent one on blackmail, all aimed at tarnishing the image of the Senate President.
“We need to put an end to this concerted mischief of defaming the person and good reputation of Senator Bukola Saraki. We will vigorously defend the integrity of the Senate President. We believe law and global best practices should guide these cyber-warriors. They have abused the docility of the law for too long. Enough is enough.”
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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