Muawuya Zakariah Adam Gombe

Sack of former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs Farida Waziri, would not help the agency which is in ‘dire need of broad institutional reforms’, Human Rights Watch said yesterday. “The EFCC’s mandate is to fight corruption that the political system actually rewards, and to accomplish that by working through institutions that are either broken or compromised,” “That’s an almost impossible job no matter who is in charge,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa Director at Human Rights Watch. He said, “One of the EFCC’s greatest weaknesses has been its lack of independence and susceptibility to political pressure. “President Jonathan’s sudden firing of Farida Waziri will only make that problem worse unless the government pushes through reforms to bolster both the EFCC and the other institutions it depends on.” The group recommended legislative amendments granting tenure security to the commission chairman as it can never be truly independent if the president can

The presidential elections tribunal sitting in Abuja today granted Rotimi Fashakin, the national publicity Secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) 7 days to find a press release the court regarded as offensive. Apparently backing away from its frivolous subpoena of the CPC spokesperson the court eerily granted the request. After a series of controversial reversal of its rulings regarding subpoena of Independent National Election tribunal chairman, Attahiru Jega, and INEC's central database of voters, the tribunal cited Fashakin and some newspaper reporters at the Nigerian Tribune for contempt of court. the reporters had carried a press statement where the CPC spokesperson raised alarm over the conduct of the tribunal regarding its antics. The newspaper reporters goaded by their publishers "apologized" to the tribunal a few days ago. Mr. Fashakin came to court with his bag packed in case the court decides to send

Airtel subscribers in Abuja and some states in the northern part of Nigeria yesterday cried out over their inability to make or receive calls as sacked workers grounded the network of the telecom company. About 3000 customer care agents of two Airtel Nigeria’s outsourcing firms – Technimandra and Spanco – were sacked after they turned down the Indian companies decision to cut down wages from N75, 000 to N30,000 monthly. The firms however said the agents were only asked to go following the expiration of their contract. On its part, Airtel said the workers were not sacked but their contract only expired last Friday as they were employed on contract basis, “and it may be renewed”. The sacked workers and Nigerian labour leaders may have made good their threat to shut down the Airtel network yesterday as its subscribers had difficulty making or receiving calls in Abuja and its environs, Bauchi, Gombe and some other states in the north. Subscribers in Lagos and states in the South west w

A Kaduna magistrate court yesterday discharged the Head of Laboratory Department of the Kaduna Polytechnic Staff Clinic Mr. Abubakar Yau who was sued for allegedly raping his colleague, Mrs Habiba A. Abubakar onduty. Habiba had, in the First Information Report (FIR), alleged that while she was on call duty at the clinic on June 7, 2011, the accused deceived her into his office where he raped her. In her ruling, Magistrate Joyce A. Kaka discharged the accused for lack of evidence. Reading the advice of the State Ministry of Justice, Kaka said, “Medical examination was conducted 10 days after the alleged act and the complainant reported it 10 days which made it difficult to investigate. According to the ministry, there was no evidence to prove the allegation against the accused. Consequently, the case is terminated and the accused is hereby discharged accordingly”. It was gathered that the management of the polytechnic had since suspended the accused person from the institution over t

Senate President David Mark has decried the poor power supply in the country declaring that the situation has worsened in recent times. Speaking yesterday during inauguration of Senate Committee on Power and Steel, Mark said all the talk about improvement in power generation capacity is a ruse as it has failed to translate into improved power supply in the country. According to Mark “I have not seen any change in power supply, if anything the situation is getting worse. It is very painful and we agonise over it all the time. The whole dream about vision 2020 will just remain a dream without the power situation improving.” Mark asked officials in the sector to adopt radical means of solving the situation saying “the situation of power goes beyond statistics on the pages of paper. If sacking people will be the solution lets sack them and get results. “It is not all about saying that you have generated so much megawatt. I think we should even stop saying t

Gombe State government has released over N4 billion for the construction of 23 kilometre network of roads linking three Local Government areas of the State; Ture-Sabon Layi-Awak-Dogon Ruwa in Kaltungo Local Government and Billiri-Gujuba-Talase in Balanga and Billirir Local Government Areas. The state Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo who disclosed this while flagging-off the road construction at Billiri town, said the Ture - Sabon Layi Awak-Dogon Ruwa road was been awarded to AYU civil Engineering Ltd at the cost of N2.9 billion. He explained further that the Billiri-Gujuba to Talase in Balanga local government area was also awarded to the same construction company at over N2.5 billion and promised to flag-off additional three link roads very soon. Alhaji Dankwambo said in an effort to improve the liv

Umaru Tanko Al-makura , was born some 57 years ago in Lafia, Nasarawa State. He attended Dunama Primary School, Lafia, Government Teachers College, Keffi, Advanced Teachers College, Uyo, (1972-1975) and the famous Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1975-1978), where he graduated with Bachelor of E ducation Degree with specialization in Social studies. U. T. Al-makura was a teacher at the Government College, Makurdi, and later worked as a journalist after his graduation as an Assistance Producer, News and Current Affairs at the then Broadcasting Corporation of Northern Nigeria (BCNN) which later became part of NTA Kaduna. He has had a long and successful business career. After his graduation in 1978, he formed Al-makura Nigeria Limited , a civil and building engineering company which in addition imported, sold and serviced agricultural and industrial machinery. This is successful businessman and the entrepreneur was elected into the constituent Assembly in 1988-1989 to represe

Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo yesterday flagged-off the inaugural airlift of 500 set of pilgrims from Nasarwa State to mark the commencement of this year’s Hajj exercise at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, He called on the pilgrims to pray for Nigeria and commended the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) for raising the standard of Hajj operations since coming on board in 2007. [Vice President Namadi Sambo] In this year’s operations, four government approved air carriers are expected to airlift 99,000 pilgrims in 200 flights from 12 centres across the country before the November 2 dateline set for airlift off all pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. Sambo said “we note with delight, the modest transformations that have been recorded generally in Hajj operations, the impact of which have gone a long way in facilitating smoother Hajj experience for the average Nigerian pilgrim.” He urged the commission to consolidate on the gains recorded and tasked other stakeholder

Thousands of Muslim faithful thronged Zamfara State capital, Gusau yesterday to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the implementation of Shari’ah legal system in the state. The two day event, which commenced yesterday includes a dinner for Islamic scholars to be hosted by the state governor, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar. The preaching session, which took place at the Gusau Eid ground, was attended by renowned Islamic scholars from the Tijjaniyya, Izala and Qadirriyya sects. Aside from dwelling on requisite characteristics of virtuous leadership, piety, fairness and responsiveness, speakers at the event also harped on the need for Muslims in the country to come together regardless of sect differences to propagate the religion. Senator Ahmad Sani Yariman Bakura, who was the first to speak amidst chants of Allahu Akbar, observed that enthroning Shari’ah by his administration in 1999, has engendered social security, reduced poverty and curbed moral decay in the state. He lamented that for

Two senators and eight members of the House of Representatives from Katsina State who won elections on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) yesterday lost bids to retain their seats when a tribunal nullified their victories. The tribunal, which ordered repeat elections in the affected constituencies, said the 10 lawmakers were not validly nominated candidates of their party because the Court of Appeal had nullified the primaries that gave them tickets to stand in the polls. It was ruling in a case filed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which holds the governorship in Katsina State. The senators affected by the judgement are Abdu Umar Yan-Doma and Ahmed Sani Stores of Katsina North and Katsina Central districts respectively. In the House of Representatives, the members affected are Abdu Dankama (Jibia/Kaita), Murtala Isa (Faskari/Sabuwa/Kankara), Mukhtari Dan-Dutse (Funtua/Dan-Dume), Musa Salisu (Kankia/Kusada/Ingawa), Aminu Ashiru (Mani/Bindawa), Umar Adamu

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that he is no quitter and that anyone who thinks otherwise is making a mistake. Atiku made the assurance yesterday in Abuja at the formal winding down of campaign activities at his campaign organisation headquarters. “As you all know, the convention (PDP presidential primaries) fell short of our expectations. You should not despair and on my own part, I want to assure you that I am not a quitter. If you think that I am quitting and giving up, you are making a mistake,” the former Vice President said to a thunderous applause from his campaign staff. The former Vice President recalled that only a few gave his bid for the PDP presidential ticket any chance of getting this far. “When we began this journey a few months ago, few people gave us a chance of even being competitive. However, we were able to reach a number of important milestones along the way. Some said I was not going to be allowed to return to the party (PDP), but I did. Some said

Saturday, 22 January 2011 00:00 Ahmed Tahir Ajobe, Abuja & Lawal Ibrahim, Katsina, Ismail Mudashiru, Kaduna, Mahmud Lalo, Jos, Ahmed Mohammed, Bauchi, Ibrahim Abdul’Aziz, Yola Share THE Governors The defeat of the former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar by President Goodluck Jonathan during the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Primary Thursday, January 13 has left a sour taste in many mouths across the north. Jonathan beat the former vice president by a landslide, polling 2,763 votes against 803 for Atiku. Although some observers had predicted that Atiku might lost at the primary to the incumbent citing several factors, especially the power of incumbency, no one thought Atiku’s loss would be greeted by such disquiet. Atiku’s loss at the primaries, where he even lost his home state, was not only humiliating to him but also it was the humbling of the Northern geopolitical zone which had not only dictated the political dynamics of the country but also dominated it for