JOS CRISIS: PLSG OBJECTED TO TRIALS BY FG
From our correspondent in Jos.
The Plateau state government has seriously objected to trials of suspects, arrested in the civil unrest in the state by the federal government in an Abuja High Court, which, according to it, was in contravention of the body of Attorneys-General meeting which agreed that such suspects should be tried where the offences was committee
Briefing the press in his office, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Edward Pwajok, said the government has consistently appealed to the federal authorities to return suspects arrested in the wake of the 2008 and 2010 civil crises in the state was becoming frustrating, because these request always falls on deaf ears.
He said the state is now handicapped over the fate of suspects arrested within the state in the heat of the crises, saying, the police, Army, State service, SSS, and others whose duties are to keep the suspects in their custody, have refused to cooperate with the state which is ready at anytime to ensure the prosecution of the suspects.
According to him, “no suspect of the November 2008 or January 2010 is in the custody of the Plat eau state government. The Police and security agencies that arrested them are federal government agencies”
“I am also worried that the police have wittingly or unwittingly contradicted and undermined the efforts of the federal government to delist Nigeria from the American terrorist watch list. The suspects are being charged under section 15 of the EFCC Act, which is on terrorism”, he added.
He queried that since the federal government was trying the suspects fro terrorism under the Nigeria’s laws, how then can the country justify it self to the outside world that it has no terrorist.
The commissioner stressed that he was “worried that the hon. Attorney General of the Federation may have encouraged the police to use the EFCC Act because he briefed us on that possibility during the meeting (Body of Attorneys-general) of the 26th January 2010 to that effect”
He further asked that are some “persons in the federal government so desperate to avoid due process by trying the suspects in Plateau state that they are willing to take a route that will give the international Community the irrefutable proof we are a terrorist country?
In that vein, he warned that without cooperation and collaboration between the federal and state governments on issues relating to these, then the problems are far from being addressed, even as he emphasized that “the characteristic silence of the office of the Inspector general of Police and the Honorable Attorney-general of the federation in this regard will definitely in the circumstance not be golden”
Sunday, 14 February 2010
Monday, 1 February 2010
Obasanjo lacks honour to ask Yar’Adua to resign – Shehu Sani
Obasanjo lacks honour to ask Yar’Adua to resign – Shehu Sani
From Buhari B. Bello Jos
Human Rights Activist, Mallam Shehu Sani, has joined in the growing number of Nigerians who had castigated the former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s advice to his successor, Alhaji Umar Yar’Adua to take the path of honour and resign.
He said that Obasanjo lacked the moral right to give such and advice to Yar’Adua as it was utterly “mischievous, ridiculous and irresponsible”.
Sani, who spoke to newsmen in Jos recently, said that what Obasanjo and some elements of his past administration wanted to do is to use the Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan to re-launch themselves into power.
He asked Obasanjo to rather apologize to Nigerians for the pains his administration inflicted on Nigerians.
The human rights activist said that if the country’s democracy must move forward, Nigerians should avoid anything that could bring the former president in to relevance again.
He accused Obasanjo of being behind the country’s present woes by presiding over a corrupt and inept leadership.
Recalling Obasanjo’s many failures in the power sector, roads, health care development, he accused the former president of using the instruments of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to hound other political opponents and presidential candidates, except Yar’Adua.
Sani said that people must not confuse Obasanjo’s statement with the constitutional requirements of Yar’Adua handing over to Jonathan.
He said, “And people must not confuse the call for Yar’Adua to hand over to Goodluck Jonathan and make mistake of allowing Obasanjo to re-launch himself into power. And we must be careful about some elements of Obasanjo’s former regime who wants Yar’Adua out of the way in order to have a puppet in the name of Goodluck Jonathan. Obasanjo represent danger to our democracy. Our democracy cannot move forward without an end to Obasanjo’s legacy.
Sani added, “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s call for President Umar Musa Yar’Adua to toe the path of honour and resign is mischievous, ridiculous and irresponsible.
“Obasanjo lacks the modicum of honour to counsel others on honour. He is a man without honour. He does not have the moral right and honour to counsel Yar’Adua to resign. He is part and parcel of the problems that we are in today. He is in fact the architect of the problems we have in Nigeria.
“If he has honour, he would not have rigged the 2003 and 2007 elections;, if he has honour he would not have spent over $20 million in power sector that has not translated into light; If he has honour, he would not have spent trillions of naira in road maintenance and construction that delivered no road;
“If he has honour, he would not have spent hundreds of billions of naira in a primary health care that ended up in a cesspit of corruption; if he has honour, he could not have used the instruments of EFCC to impeach governors and intimidate political opponents and critics of his administration; If he has honour, he could not have attempted to elongate his stay in power in the name of third term;
“If he has honour, he could not have as the president of the country undermined the judiciary, abuse the fundamental rights of citizens and abuse his own power and privileges as president. If he has honour, he could not have engaged in the scam that is called TRANSCORP. If such a man has honour, he could have shame for himself and shut up and that is why we are saying that Obasanjo should simply shut up and apologize to Nigerians for what he has done, if he has honour, he could not have intimidated other presidential candidates, except Yar’Adua.
From Buhari B. Bello Jos
Human Rights Activist, Mallam Shehu Sani, has joined in the growing number of Nigerians who had castigated the former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s advice to his successor, Alhaji Umar Yar’Adua to take the path of honour and resign.
He said that Obasanjo lacked the moral right to give such and advice to Yar’Adua as it was utterly “mischievous, ridiculous and irresponsible”.
Sani, who spoke to newsmen in Jos recently, said that what Obasanjo and some elements of his past administration wanted to do is to use the Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan to re-launch themselves into power.
He asked Obasanjo to rather apologize to Nigerians for the pains his administration inflicted on Nigerians.
The human rights activist said that if the country’s democracy must move forward, Nigerians should avoid anything that could bring the former president in to relevance again.
He accused Obasanjo of being behind the country’s present woes by presiding over a corrupt and inept leadership.
Recalling Obasanjo’s many failures in the power sector, roads, health care development, he accused the former president of using the instruments of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to hound other political opponents and presidential candidates, except Yar’Adua.
Sani said that people must not confuse Obasanjo’s statement with the constitutional requirements of Yar’Adua handing over to Jonathan.
He said, “And people must not confuse the call for Yar’Adua to hand over to Goodluck Jonathan and make mistake of allowing Obasanjo to re-launch himself into power. And we must be careful about some elements of Obasanjo’s former regime who wants Yar’Adua out of the way in order to have a puppet in the name of Goodluck Jonathan. Obasanjo represent danger to our democracy. Our democracy cannot move forward without an end to Obasanjo’s legacy.
Sani added, “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s call for President Umar Musa Yar’Adua to toe the path of honour and resign is mischievous, ridiculous and irresponsible.
“Obasanjo lacks the modicum of honour to counsel others on honour. He is a man without honour. He does not have the moral right and honour to counsel Yar’Adua to resign. He is part and parcel of the problems that we are in today. He is in fact the architect of the problems we have in Nigeria.
“If he has honour, he would not have rigged the 2003 and 2007 elections;, if he has honour he would not have spent over $20 million in power sector that has not translated into light; If he has honour, he would not have spent trillions of naira in road maintenance and construction that delivered no road;
“If he has honour, he would not have spent hundreds of billions of naira in a primary health care that ended up in a cesspit of corruption; if he has honour, he could not have used the instruments of EFCC to impeach governors and intimidate political opponents and critics of his administration; If he has honour, he could not have attempted to elongate his stay in power in the name of third term;
“If he has honour, he could not have as the president of the country undermined the judiciary, abuse the fundamental rights of citizens and abuse his own power and privileges as president. If he has honour, he could not have engaged in the scam that is called TRANSCORP. If such a man has honour, he could have shame for himself and shut up and that is why we are saying that Obasanjo should simply shut up and apologize to Nigerians for what he has done, if he has honour, he could not have intimidated other presidential candidates, except Yar’Adua.
JOS CRISIS; MUSLIMS BLAMED PLATEAU ASSEMBLY, STATE GOVRNMENT
JOS CRISIS; MUSLIMS BLAMED PLATEAU ASSEMBLY, STATE GOVRNMENT
From our reporter.
The Ulama Elders Council in Jos has called on the Plateau State House of Assemble to trend with caution on its pronouncement on the on going crises in the state even as the state Government is further accused of deliberate policies aimed at marginalizing the Hausa/Fulani in the state.
The Council condemns the recent advertorial in some National daily’s by the Plateau State House of Assemble which it says is thinking along the same line with the Plateau State Government and call on them to note that Plateau State is not an island of itself.
Addressing a press conference in Jos yesterday, the spokesman of the Council Barrister Muhammad Lawal Ishaq notes with great concern fresh moves by the Plateau state Government to again over-heat the already heated situation in Jos Metropolis aimed at increasing hardship to the Muslim Ummah.
The Council also calls on the acting Commissioner of Police in the State, Mr. Ike Aduba to guide his utterances on the crises and further disagree with him on the death toll in Kuru Karama saying that he never invited the Muslims to summit the evidence in there disposal as regards to the killings that took place
“The Council of Ulama blames no person other than Governor Jang who, as the Chief Security Officer of the State, refused to act to stop the crisis. With due investigations, we will not be surprised if his direct complicity is established with facts and figures. Jang is no harbinger of Peace. He never hid his psychotic obsession to annihilate Muslims and the Hausas in Jos.
Jang has consistently displayed his bad leadership skill by refusing to cooperate with any attempts to find a lasting solution to this crisis. His flagrant confrontation against the Federal Government by refusing to accept the panel set up by the House of Representatives and the Abisoye Panel clearly shows him for whom he is. It is for this same reason that long before now, the Council of Ulama concluded that Jang is not capable of being an unbiased umpire. For the crisis in Jos to be resolve therefore, a neutral body interested in resolving conflict must get involved. Failure to do so, as it happened in the past, matters in Jos will keep going from bad to worse.”,
However the Council calls on the Federal Government not to relent on its effort in fishing out those who perpetrated the killings including innocent women and children who were previously untouched by the crisis but where encircled and mercilessly attacked.
Barrister Ishaq further alleged that through investigation conducted by the council “we discovered that the renovation of the Muslim house which was burnt during the previous crisis was used as a smokescreen, it was a trigger to a planned attack on unsuspecting Muslims” stressing that “this renew attack was well announced by its planners”.
He explains that “The presenters of memos before the (Abisoye) panel such as one Toma Jang Davou of Berom Parliament, one professor Nenfort Gomwalk of Plateau Indigenes Development Association (PIDAN), and one Adamu Bala who is the Plateau state CAN youth leader all declared that the crisis is not over yet and they are ready for war as long as the Hausa man continues to lay claim on Jos North, just before the crisis happened”.
The press conference which witnessed the attendance of Chief Imam of Jos Sheikh Balarabe Dawud, Sheikh Alhassan Sa’id, Deputy Chairman of council of Ulama JIBWIS, Sheikh Sa’idu Hassan Jingir, Chief Imam of Fibre Mosque Sheikh Kahlid Aliyu Abubakar and Chief Imam of Nuruddeen Abdurrahman Sunusi among others also decried the comments of Acting Commissioner of police who earlier stated that the death toll of Kuru Karama was 30 describing the statement as unfortunate.
Barrister Ishaq also added that the Acting CP should have contacted the council since they are stakeholders in the matter adding that “we here by take exception to his surprise denial of the death toll in Kuru, when he never invited us to submit evidences at our disposal of the killing over there. We feel that we should have been contacted since our doors are always open”.
“The irony in all these attacks on the outskirt of Jos is that the casualties are not the Hausas claiming ownership in Jos. They are not the people renovating their homes at Dutse Uku, they are innocent Muslims killed because of their faith”.
He therefore called on human rights groups and the International Criminal Court to set in motion an investigation machinery into the genocide in such places with the aim of bringing perpetrators of this dastardly acts to book adding that” for this crisis to be resolved a neutral body interested in resolving conflict must get involved, as it happened in the past, matters in Jos will keep going from bad to worse”.
From our reporter.
The Ulama Elders Council in Jos has called on the Plateau State House of Assemble to trend with caution on its pronouncement on the on going crises in the state even as the state Government is further accused of deliberate policies aimed at marginalizing the Hausa/Fulani in the state.
The Council condemns the recent advertorial in some National daily’s by the Plateau State House of Assemble which it says is thinking along the same line with the Plateau State Government and call on them to note that Plateau State is not an island of itself.
Addressing a press conference in Jos yesterday, the spokesman of the Council Barrister Muhammad Lawal Ishaq notes with great concern fresh moves by the Plateau state Government to again over-heat the already heated situation in Jos Metropolis aimed at increasing hardship to the Muslim Ummah.
The Council also calls on the acting Commissioner of Police in the State, Mr. Ike Aduba to guide his utterances on the crises and further disagree with him on the death toll in Kuru Karama saying that he never invited the Muslims to summit the evidence in there disposal as regards to the killings that took place
“The Council of Ulama blames no person other than Governor Jang who, as the Chief Security Officer of the State, refused to act to stop the crisis. With due investigations, we will not be surprised if his direct complicity is established with facts and figures. Jang is no harbinger of Peace. He never hid his psychotic obsession to annihilate Muslims and the Hausas in Jos.
Jang has consistently displayed his bad leadership skill by refusing to cooperate with any attempts to find a lasting solution to this crisis. His flagrant confrontation against the Federal Government by refusing to accept the panel set up by the House of Representatives and the Abisoye Panel clearly shows him for whom he is. It is for this same reason that long before now, the Council of Ulama concluded that Jang is not capable of being an unbiased umpire. For the crisis in Jos to be resolve therefore, a neutral body interested in resolving conflict must get involved. Failure to do so, as it happened in the past, matters in Jos will keep going from bad to worse.”,
However the Council calls on the Federal Government not to relent on its effort in fishing out those who perpetrated the killings including innocent women and children who were previously untouched by the crisis but where encircled and mercilessly attacked.
Barrister Ishaq further alleged that through investigation conducted by the council “we discovered that the renovation of the Muslim house which was burnt during the previous crisis was used as a smokescreen, it was a trigger to a planned attack on unsuspecting Muslims” stressing that “this renew attack was well announced by its planners”.
He explains that “The presenters of memos before the (Abisoye) panel such as one Toma Jang Davou of Berom Parliament, one professor Nenfort Gomwalk of Plateau Indigenes Development Association (PIDAN), and one Adamu Bala who is the Plateau state CAN youth leader all declared that the crisis is not over yet and they are ready for war as long as the Hausa man continues to lay claim on Jos North, just before the crisis happened”.
The press conference which witnessed the attendance of Chief Imam of Jos Sheikh Balarabe Dawud, Sheikh Alhassan Sa’id, Deputy Chairman of council of Ulama JIBWIS, Sheikh Sa’idu Hassan Jingir, Chief Imam of Fibre Mosque Sheikh Kahlid Aliyu Abubakar and Chief Imam of Nuruddeen Abdurrahman Sunusi among others also decried the comments of Acting Commissioner of police who earlier stated that the death toll of Kuru Karama was 30 describing the statement as unfortunate.
Barrister Ishaq also added that the Acting CP should have contacted the council since they are stakeholders in the matter adding that “we here by take exception to his surprise denial of the death toll in Kuru, when he never invited us to submit evidences at our disposal of the killing over there. We feel that we should have been contacted since our doors are always open”.
“The irony in all these attacks on the outskirt of Jos is that the casualties are not the Hausas claiming ownership in Jos. They are not the people renovating their homes at Dutse Uku, they are innocent Muslims killed because of their faith”.
He therefore called on human rights groups and the International Criminal Court to set in motion an investigation machinery into the genocide in such places with the aim of bringing perpetrators of this dastardly acts to book adding that” for this crisis to be resolved a neutral body interested in resolving conflict must get involved, as it happened in the past, matters in Jos will keep going from bad to worse”.
FG calls to intervene in the Jos crisis
FG calls to intervene in the Jos crisis
From: our reporter, Jos.
A human right organization, based in Jos wants federal government’s quick intervention into the crisis that erupted in the capital city of plateau state which it described as madness.
Acting director of the organization, Gad Peters says the call has become necessary in view of the fact that the soldiers on the street are not helping matters with their reckless and indiscriminate shootings.
According to him, “it is on record that a number of persons have been killed from the bullets of Nigerian Soldiers. To make matters worse, I strongly think that our security agents have been overwhelmed by the current situation on the plateau”.
He said there has been report of a lot of fake soldiers in town therefore making it difficult to ascertain who the real people killing innocent citizens are.
He was of the opinion that, if the federal government had punished or prosecuted the perpetrators of the previous crises in the state, we wouldn't have been going through what we are going through now.
We strongly put the blame of the Sunday morning attack on Churches, on the security agencies, state and the federal government. We demand for the prosecution of all those alleged hoodlums and their faceless sponsors of this very crisis and previous once.
From: our reporter, Jos.
A human right organization, based in Jos wants federal government’s quick intervention into the crisis that erupted in the capital city of plateau state which it described as madness.
Acting director of the organization, Gad Peters says the call has become necessary in view of the fact that the soldiers on the street are not helping matters with their reckless and indiscriminate shootings.
According to him, “it is on record that a number of persons have been killed from the bullets of Nigerian Soldiers. To make matters worse, I strongly think that our security agents have been overwhelmed by the current situation on the plateau”.
He said there has been report of a lot of fake soldiers in town therefore making it difficult to ascertain who the real people killing innocent citizens are.
He was of the opinion that, if the federal government had punished or prosecuted the perpetrators of the previous crises in the state, we wouldn't have been going through what we are going through now.
We strongly put the blame of the Sunday morning attack on Churches, on the security agencies, state and the federal government. We demand for the prosecution of all those alleged hoodlums and their faceless sponsors of this very crisis and previous once.
Monday, 25 January 2010
Jos Crisis; Muslim Ummah reacts to police hasty conclusion
Muslim Community in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State has condemned what it described as hasty and false statement accredited to the plateau state police commissioner Mr Greg Ayanting that some Muslim youths where responsible for the renewed crises in jos which claimed the lives of over twenty five persons
A press statement issued by the Jos north Muslim Ummah signed by Sani Mudi said the statement made by the police commissioner was unfortunate saying that it clearly shows the commissioner’s bias against the Muslim Ummah even as the investigation has not ascertained the actual cause of the crises.
He said for the police commissioner to contradict himself by saying that the crisis was caused by some Muslim youths when he said the police are yet to ascertain the cause of the crisis was ridiculous and unacceptable to the Muslim community.
According to him, information available to the council indicated that the crisis started when a man whose house was vandalized and destroyed during the November 28 jos crisis wanted to renovate the house but was prevented from doing so by some angry, unidentified Christian youths.
He said, report of massive armed attack on the Muslim inhabitants of Rikkos Mai Damisa,Dogon Dutse, Unguwan Keke and Duala junction by armed Christian militias backed by some army and mobile personnel.
Mudi who is also the former vice chairman of Jos north local government council further explained that security personnel were seeing supporting the Christian militias who moved about in the dreaded Hilux Toyota pick-up van recording what they are doing on a camera with a joy and excitement.
According to him, within minutes, a crisis that started in Dutse Uku at the nose of the police spread to other areas and Christian youths armed with dangerous weapons including sophisticated guns attacked the Muslim laborers working in the house of one Kabiru Mohammad who wanted to rebuild his property after the last crisis in the state.
The statement added that two of them namely Safiyanu Abubakar and another unidentified person were instantly killed, adding that so far sixteen Muslim dead bodies have been taken to the jos central mosque by their relations while thirty five others are receiving treatments of various degrees of injuries mostly of gun shots.
He further said that about one hundred and fifty women and children are now taking shelters at jos central mosque even as sporadic shootings are still been heard in the state metropolis particularly at the affected areas.
In an interview with the owner of the house where the crisis started, Alhaji Mohammad Kabiru told new Nigeria that on November 28, 2008 his house was burnt at Dutse Uku Nassarawa Gwong which he was unable to rebuild since but considering the fact that peace has gradually returned to the state capital, he made effort to reconstruct the house but that he was prevented from doing so.
According to him, because the work was enormous he hired laborers on Sunday 17th of January 2010 to carry out the work, while the reconstruction was on progress, some Christian youths started stoning the driver of a tipper bringing sand to the site, a minute after that, as if it was planned, the youths appeared from all angles with dangerous weapons to carry out their attack.
He said, as he was trying to settle the scuffle, the Christian youths mobilized in large number approaching the site, “immediately I rushed to Yan-trailer to invite soldiers that are stationed there permanently, but before I reached there I saw them coming, they were already informed and we met on the way then we returned back to the site, then the indigenous people said that we should stop the work, that they do not want any Muslim to come back to that area,”
According to Alhaji Kabiru when the soldiers intervened some Christian youths in the area insisted that the work must be stopped, adding that at that moment the soldiers asked the workers to stop the work and leave but when they are about leaving, the next thing was an attack on them by the hoodlums who called themselves Christians.
Alhaji Kabiru pointed out that there was no Muslim who has returned to the area after the last crisis in 2008 except one person who repair his house during the Ramadan fast saying that he has not encroached on anybody’s land because he was there for more than twenty years and nobody ever complained about him or anything.
Also appealing to the Muslim Ummah in the state to desist from anything that could further escalate the trouble, the chief imam of jos central mosque Sheikh Balarabe Daud, said that fighting is not a good thing and it will not bring any development to the state urging the people to stay in their houses and stop peddling rumors that are capable of generating more tension in the state.
He also warned that people should also avoid spreading dangerous rumors among the followers of the two religions saying that they should accept the crisis as an act of God.
A press statement issued by the Jos north Muslim Ummah signed by Sani Mudi said the statement made by the police commissioner was unfortunate saying that it clearly shows the commissioner’s bias against the Muslim Ummah even as the investigation has not ascertained the actual cause of the crises.
He said for the police commissioner to contradict himself by saying that the crisis was caused by some Muslim youths when he said the police are yet to ascertain the cause of the crisis was ridiculous and unacceptable to the Muslim community.
According to him, information available to the council indicated that the crisis started when a man whose house was vandalized and destroyed during the November 28 jos crisis wanted to renovate the house but was prevented from doing so by some angry, unidentified Christian youths.
He said, report of massive armed attack on the Muslim inhabitants of Rikkos Mai Damisa,Dogon Dutse, Unguwan Keke and Duala junction by armed Christian militias backed by some army and mobile personnel.
Mudi who is also the former vice chairman of Jos north local government council further explained that security personnel were seeing supporting the Christian militias who moved about in the dreaded Hilux Toyota pick-up van recording what they are doing on a camera with a joy and excitement.
According to him, within minutes, a crisis that started in Dutse Uku at the nose of the police spread to other areas and Christian youths armed with dangerous weapons including sophisticated guns attacked the Muslim laborers working in the house of one Kabiru Mohammad who wanted to rebuild his property after the last crisis in the state.
The statement added that two of them namely Safiyanu Abubakar and another unidentified person were instantly killed, adding that so far sixteen Muslim dead bodies have been taken to the jos central mosque by their relations while thirty five others are receiving treatments of various degrees of injuries mostly of gun shots.
He further said that about one hundred and fifty women and children are now taking shelters at jos central mosque even as sporadic shootings are still been heard in the state metropolis particularly at the affected areas.
In an interview with the owner of the house where the crisis started, Alhaji Mohammad Kabiru told new Nigeria that on November 28, 2008 his house was burnt at Dutse Uku Nassarawa Gwong which he was unable to rebuild since but considering the fact that peace has gradually returned to the state capital, he made effort to reconstruct the house but that he was prevented from doing so.
According to him, because the work was enormous he hired laborers on Sunday 17th of January 2010 to carry out the work, while the reconstruction was on progress, some Christian youths started stoning the driver of a tipper bringing sand to the site, a minute after that, as if it was planned, the youths appeared from all angles with dangerous weapons to carry out their attack.
He said, as he was trying to settle the scuffle, the Christian youths mobilized in large number approaching the site, “immediately I rushed to Yan-trailer to invite soldiers that are stationed there permanently, but before I reached there I saw them coming, they were already informed and we met on the way then we returned back to the site, then the indigenous people said that we should stop the work, that they do not want any Muslim to come back to that area,”
According to Alhaji Kabiru when the soldiers intervened some Christian youths in the area insisted that the work must be stopped, adding that at that moment the soldiers asked the workers to stop the work and leave but when they are about leaving, the next thing was an attack on them by the hoodlums who called themselves Christians.
Alhaji Kabiru pointed out that there was no Muslim who has returned to the area after the last crisis in 2008 except one person who repair his house during the Ramadan fast saying that he has not encroached on anybody’s land because he was there for more than twenty years and nobody ever complained about him or anything.
Also appealing to the Muslim Ummah in the state to desist from anything that could further escalate the trouble, the chief imam of jos central mosque Sheikh Balarabe Daud, said that fighting is not a good thing and it will not bring any development to the state urging the people to stay in their houses and stop peddling rumors that are capable of generating more tension in the state.
He also warned that people should also avoid spreading dangerous rumors among the followers of the two religions saying that they should accept the crisis as an act of God.
about jos crisis: the confusionists!
listening to the commissioner of police's broadcast on the Sunday evening of Jos crisis, one will wonder while the hasty conclusion by the police boss.
in a volatile country like ours where everything including merit is decided by ones' religious affiliation, it is not ideal to hastily pronounce which religious sect is attacking who.
well, we all know the consequences of such move.
either he is applauded or punished for such bold declaration.
the question now is what has happened to the CP.
the answer is that he has been recalled back to force headquarters in Abuja.
whatever happen to him from thereafter may not be for the consumption of the Nigerian populace.
well, my conclusion is that i wish you well police commissioner Greg Anyating in all your endeavors for i may not be privileged from hereafter to know what happen to you in your professional noble career of policing about one hundred and fifty million people of the most populous black nation in the whole wild world.
if you call Nigeria a sleeping giant, 'Na you know!'
in a volatile country like ours where everything including merit is decided by ones' religious affiliation, it is not ideal to hastily pronounce which religious sect is attacking who.
well, we all know the consequences of such move.
either he is applauded or punished for such bold declaration.
the question now is what has happened to the CP.
the answer is that he has been recalled back to force headquarters in Abuja.
whatever happen to him from thereafter may not be for the consumption of the Nigerian populace.
well, my conclusion is that i wish you well police commissioner Greg Anyating in all your endeavors for i may not be privileged from hereafter to know what happen to you in your professional noble career of policing about one hundred and fifty million people of the most populous black nation in the whole wild world.
if you call Nigeria a sleeping giant, 'Na you know!'
Saturday, 20 June 2009
INTERVIEW WITH HON. GODFREY GAYA
INTERVIEW WITH HONOURABLE GODFREY, GAYA
Honourable Godfrey Gaya is a member of the House of Representatives representing Jaba/Zango Kataf Federal Constituency of Kaduna State. In this interview with our Correspondent, AARON OSSAI, he spoke on the ten years of the legislature and ten years of uninterrupted democracy among other burning issues. Excerpts
QUESTION: How do you rate the Legislature in these ten years of our democracy?
ANS; the legislature has done marvelously well. At a time there was no government except the legislature. That is the truth. Nigerians were always waiting to hear the outcome of the decisions, resolutions and investigations of the parliament. From 2007 till date the parliament has done very well. I went into the archives and discovered that we have passed for third reading over 100 bills in the last two years. That means debates successfully conducted on the second level and passed to the third. Those that have been concluded and passed through third reading are up to 50. The United Kingdom Parliament decided on 450 bills in fours years and only five succeeded in going through the third reading. So if you compare that with our own situation in
QUESTION;
ANS. Well, I will say so far so good. And again we give glory to God for allowing us to have gone through ten years of undiluted democracy. You see, if we talk about democracy in
QUESTION: Nigerians have not been able to get the required dividends of democracy due to poor implementation of annual budgets, as a federal legislator, what is the way out?
ANS: Well, the House of Representatives being the Peoples parliament passed a resolution recently seeking to address the poor implementation of annual budget in the past nine years. You will agree with me that by December last year, we were able to implement our capital budget to the tune of only 30 per cent and you know also that the capital budget is the aspect of the budget that affect an average Nigerian, you and me. We are talking about capital budget on liked roads, housing and anything that links A and B and provides for A and C. Last year it was very disappointing that we got only 30 per cent of the huge allocation to capital project implemented. So this year when we saw that it was already May and the same scenario was going to repeat itself, we decided to call with a loud voice that the executive arm of government must wake up to implement the capital budget so that an average Nigerian on the street will be touched by the expenditure of the government. So the parliament is in it and we are up on our toes we are also mandating our committees who have oversight functions on the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to be up their responsibilities by ensuring that every kobo that is budgeted for the capital projects is spent before December 2009. So the committees anytime from now will go out to the ministries to see what has been earmarked, what is to be done and whether it has been done or not so that an average Nigerian who has no access to salary or to any other thing in the recurrent will feel he is part of the government. You will agree with me that it is when the capital project is really in action that a who may be is a gravel seller can supply to the road construction company a Nigerian who is a brick seller can supply block to the Housing construction company and like that and like that the economy trickles down, so the parliament is not happy with the slow pace of capital project implementation and would use our oversight functions to insist and to ensure that before the end of the year, our capital budget expenditure goes up to between 95 to 100 percent.
QUESTION; Sir, the President is accusing the legislature of sabotaging the budget implementation by the way they always tamper with the figures he presented to them which in turns makes it difficult for the executive to implement. How do you react to that?
ANS: Yes, we are a young democracy. But in every other democracy in the world, when the budget comes to the floor of the parliament, it is assumed dead on arrival, dead because whatever proposal the executive has, it is subject to inputs from the parliament. And you know the parliament is the only arm of government that is closer to the people. Everybody there represents a constituency. It is you that know what your constituency needs and not the executive that are appointees. So when the budget comes to the floor of the House, it is expected to be dead on arrival so that every member of the parliament will have an input to it to address the need and the peculiarities of his constituency. So it is expected that the parliament must have an input, it expected that the parliament will add what is needed in the budget, it is expected that the parliament will remove what is not needed in the budget because we know the needs of our people so at the end of the day what we will pass back Mr. President is what the Nigerians whom we are representing actually needed. So if Mr. President now tells you we tamper with the budget that is not what it should be because any budget that comes on the floor of the parliament is dead on arrival it he did not need the parliament, he would not have brought it to the floor and of course if he did not want to implement what we suggested, he should not have signed it. Now he has signed it and it has become a law and it must be implemented to the later.
QUESTION; Since
ANS: We welcome first and foremost, the electoral review panel set up by Mr. President because we all know that it was the inadequacies of our previous practices in electoral system that warranted Mr. President to form the Uwais panel and every Nigerian including you expected that the electoral reform report could a basis for Nigeria’s further elections to be so conducted in a way that everybody would be proud of our elections. We have several examples from the
QUESTION; Another pestilence in the nation’s ten years of democracy is the 1999 constitution. The National Assembly attempted to amend it but it seems there is a stalemate. What is happening?
ANS: No, there is no stalemate. There is no where in the constitution that says the review must be jointly done. So it simply means that both chambers can go there independent ways, review the constitution and harmonize where there are grey areas. Already the House of Representatives has started their own last week and we are going on and I am sure the senate is doing the same thing. At the appropriate time when we need to harmonize, we harmonize, we have done so when it is time for Appropriation Bill debate, we never sate together to debate but at the end we pass the same figure. So I do not see why Nigerians should become apprehensive if we are not sitting together. We can seat separate and harmonize latter and end result will be the same thing. So Nigerians should be rest assured that the parliament is very serious and should not allow anything to derail that need to review our constitution. We know that there critical areas that must be reviewed so that we can have the desired progress and the desired advancement politically.
QUESTION; One other issue in the constitution that is attracting attention is state creation. As a federal lawmaker, do you think there is the need to create more states in the country?
ANS: Certainly, the way it is now, if we must respect the constitution of 1999, we can not have states created now because the procedure is so cumbersome and almost impossible. So the amendment will make it more pleasurable, so that it give the states or the people that are agitating some leeway to actualize their dream. Of course, one hundred per cent I believe that Nigerian should be more than 36 states for one reason there are some areas that for reasons of practical development should have a state so that there would be a fare sharing of the natural resources so that it can go equitably and can go down to the grass roots. I support creation because I know state creation is for development, It is for equity, balancing and fairness. So taken the four factors together, I will one hundred per cent as a parliamentarian support that there is the need to create more states out of the present 36 states. But of course, it must be in such a way that they meet all the criteria that are going to be set in the review or in the amendment of the constitution.
QUESTION: Past and present regimes have been making concerted efforts to eradicate corrupt practices in the system. What to you is the level of success or otherwise of this fight?
ANS: Yes, we are in the era of due process, era of respect to the rule of law, and the era of fight against corruptions in all its ramifications. Of course the parliament were the first to cleans itself of corruption and that was why as a parliament to remove our Speaker when we felt her dealings were not in conformity with the thrust of the government. So if we have gone that far to cleanse ourselves of corrupt practices, then you can believe us and support us to fight outside against anything that would appear or look like corruption. So the parliament especially the House of Representatives is in the vanguard of fighting anything that looks like corruption.
End
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