2015: PDP, APC shift battle to LGs

Rather than being catalysts for grass root development, local councils in Nigeria are like whipping boys, always at the mercy of state governors in all circumstances. Our correspondents capture the underlining political undertone and horse trading behind the current moves by most states to hold local government polls as the main election year approaches.

IT appears most of the 36 state governors have suddenly reawakened on the need to democratise the polity at the local council level across the country. Many of them have set the necessary machinery in motion to conduct council elections, which quite a number of states had kept in abeyance or under the jackboot for so many years. Where the governors have suddenly derived the inspiration is a subject of conjecture and permutation in most political circles.

Whereas the governors have been products of a process based on the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution, some of them have denied a similar at the process from process from deepening democracy at the grass roots level. Rather than conducting local council level. They have consistently promoted culture of impunity and disdain for the state enabling law by instituting care taker committees, under their members are not mostly stooges of the state executives but are discarded at the whims and caprices of the governors with the legislative arm not bathing an eyelid. That is why there are governors, whose two terms of four years in office have either dilly dallied or refused to honour their promise to uphold the constitution at all times, including enthroning and entrenching the ethos of democracy at the local council level.

In many states, the executives of local councils are usually among the first set of victims of a new governor each time there is a fundamental change of baton at the government house.  A governor easily and arbitrarily sacks elected executive councils of local government. Despite public outcry, coupled with litigations against such arbitrariness, such governor often get away with their disdain for the law of the land concerning the structure, mode and format of government as constitutionally provided for at the third tier of government in the country.

 Opinions vary on the unfolding frenzy by state governors to have democratic structures in place at the third tier of government. Some contend that the moves are based on the fast-approaching 2015 elections, when most of the elected governors will have to seek fresh mandates or launch themselves into another major elective public office. Therefore, they see the need to have a firmer grip on the political lever of the state by instituting structures that they can control, manipulate and retain in their quest to sustain their political stature and dominance among their peers in the next dispensation.

Where the council polls have been kept in abeyance for years, some governor were believed to be afraid of their shadow or the unknown, as some voters who are disenchanted with the leadership could seize the opportunity of a council election to effect what they consider a long overdue realistic and desired change.  Such fear had become real, following ceaseless friction and acrimony arising from power tussle between some governors and other powerful forces, who believed they had been shortchanged or sidelined after contributing to the success of the party at an election. Having been left out on the issue of patronage, some influential party members are often, bent on using local government election to ‘deal’ with their governor by working against his anointed candidate for elections.

Anambra
On November 16, the governorship election is expected to hold in the state; it will mark the end of the eight years of two terms of four years each of the administration of Governor Peter Obi. His government has so far operated without democratically elected local government executives and triggered ceaseless criticisms of his administration, especially from the opposition parties. Recently, his administration attempted to summon the courage to break the jinx of not holding local council elections by fixing the exercise for October. But it has since postponed the election till November, almost a month after the planned governorship polls. Many had adduced reasons why Obi had avoided the holding of the local council polls.

Some claimed that his party was afraid of losing at the polls, as APGA structure had become weakened by the protracted crises rocking APGA even while the de facto leader, late Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu, was alive. Another reason adduced by his critics was that even the opposition lacked the cohesion that could make them to strongly insist on the need for the state government to respect the wishes of the people and the spirit of the Nigerian Constitution that the affairs of that level of government should be administered by duly elected chairmen and councillors.

Meanwhile, the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) has rescheduled the local government elections that were to hold on October 5, 2013.  But the election was rescheduled for December 14, 2013, as announced by the Acting Chairman of the commission, Mr Sylvester Okonkwo, at a meeting with stakeholders and representatives of political parties in Awka, the state capital. He based the change in date to fact that with only 24 days to the election, political parties had not submitted the list of candidates and forms to the commission. “How can we run an election without the parties in the ballot paper or know how many ballot boxes to customize, “ Okonkwo queried rhetorically Coupled with that reason was said to be the pressure from stakeholders and parties that the election was too close to the November 16 governorship ballot. “Even with adequate funding, we cannot still go on with all the requirements that are needed to ensure free, fair and credible elections 24 days to the elections,” he said. Okonkwo, however, added that all the processes leading to the election would continue and urged  the political parties to submit the list of their candidates.

Many claimed that the use of caretaker was undemocratic but the Anambra State House of Assembly apparently did not find any fault with the governor on the matter. For instance, a delegation of the House committee on election matters during a visit to ANSIEC lauded the officials for the preparations already made towards having free and fair polls, even when the date of the polls was as of that time shrouded in secrecy.

Nasarawa
THE local Government elections in Nasarawa State had been a subject of controversy until penultimate Tuesday when the Chairman, Nasarawa State Independent Electoral Commission (NASIEC), Dr AbdullahiSallauModibbo, lifted the ban on electioneering campaign for 2013 local governments’ elections in the state. His action followed a Supreme Court judgment that gave both the government and the commission to go ahead with the council polls.  So, most of the main stakeholders are passionate about the polls, and in fact, a dose of violence in the pursuit of interests is not that really strange.

However, the voters feel disappointed because elected public officials appear to have abandoned them after the last election, so the people are waiting to take their own pound of flesh during the council polls, as most of them have resolved to sponsor candidates for the councillorship and chairmanship election.

Since the announcement of December 14, 2013 for the election, PDP, being the only opposition party in the state, has been strategising on how to defeat the APC-led state administration. Apart from the latest crisis which brought the issue of old party and new party, the Nasarawa PDP chapter, unlike all the other state chapters, has been involved in one crisis or another, following the emergence of Chief Yunana Iliya, as the state chairman during the congress held early 2012.

The PDP chairman, in one of his recent interviews with Nigerian Tribune, said the party had always been the party to beat in the state due to its structures and men of impeccable characters, appealing to the aggrieved members to join hands with his government so as to emerge victorious during the election. “We are preparing towards winning the coming local government elections in the state. I’m contented with that and as a leader who is magnanimous, my hands are still open. This party cannot be run by one person. It is for all of us. This party was built by all of us, so if someone wants to destroy it, other people coming will not enjoy largesse, I will call on them to come back so that Nasarawa State can progress,” he appealed.

Cross River
The state government has discontenanced all opposition by conducting a local government election.  The PDP won landslide the elections conducted in the 18 local government areas. The APC was disqualified from the contest for not meeting the constitutional 90 days of its existence by the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC).The APC went to court, which ruled that the status quo be maintained but the judge, Justice OfemIkpi, however, handed over the case file to the Chief Judge of the state for re-assignment for continuation on the commencement of the new legal year.

September 21 was initially fixed by the CROSIEC for local government elections and  Otu had earlier announced the disqualification of APC in line with section 84(6) of the Electoral Act as amended. He had that since APC was formally registered on July 31 which is about one month and 20 days to the elections, the party had not met the mandatory 90 days stipulated in the electoral act.

The CROSIEC Chairman had further stressed that APC could only have been granted postponement of the said election based on sympathy ground or through political solution, but that as electoral umpire; CROSIEC would not grant postponement on sympathy ground because such action could set a “dangerous precedent that has capacity of causing unmitigated injury to the political process”.

Oyo State
Despite calls from the opposition for the conduct of local government election, the authorities appear to be foot-dragging on the matter. While some observers claim that those in power were scared of possible electoral upsets, others say that the authorities are being careful so as not to conduct a controversial election. This is against the background of the outcome of the rerun held in Oorelope/Olorunsogo and Irepodun Federal Constituency and won by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Honourable Afeez Adelowo.

The opposition parties have been united and persistent in their clamour for council polls, even despite the division in the PDP. One of the defences of the ruling party was the suit filed by members of the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) appointed by the administration of Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala against their dissolution by the Governor Abiola Ajimobi-led government. The dissolved committee members won the suit and were reinstated by the court to serve until September 2012. Meanwhile, Governor Ajimobi has been renewing the appointment of caretaker chairmen appointed since August 18, 2011.

Plateau
The election that often sends jitters down the spines of the people of the state, especially residents of Jos, the state capital, is the local government polls. The aftermath of the violence  that trailed the outcome of the 2008’ council election is still fresh in the people’s memory. The outcome of the election sparked off an unprecedented crisis in Jos North Local Government Area  and spread to other parts the state.

Since the  expiration of the tenure of the council chairmen, the government has been foot-dragging in conducting another polls and consequently appointed management committees to run the 17 council areas. At a point the  inability of the authority to conduct the election was  hinged on a protracted strike by the State chapter of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE)  which lasted for about six months.

However, sometime in May this year, Governor Jonah  Jang raised the hope of those wishing to contest  while swearing in three members of the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC). He directed the commission to speed up the process of drafting up a functional timetable for local government polls and attributed the delay  to litigations by political parties. But a source close to the government told Nigerian Tribune that the government could not give the final directive to the commission and release fund to prosecute the election because of certain development in the state which bordered on security. 

From all indications,  residents  of Jos, the state capital are beginning to catch cold over announcement of the local government election. The reasons for this are obvious.

Apart from this, there are still pockets of skirmishes in parts of Plateau North and Southern parts of the state. Analysts perceived the December polls as another litmus test for all Plateau stakeholders in their peace advocacy.

Yobe
The chairman of Yobe State Independent Electoral Commission (YOSIEC), Alhaji Muhammad Jauro, said the commission would conduct the state local government council election on December 28, 2013. Accordingly, the state Police Commissioner, Sanuni Rufai said, the prevailing stable security situation in the state was conducive for the election, which was severally postponed in the last three years. Alhaji Jauro said all the parties at a stakeholders’ meeting held at State Electoral Commission’s office complex in Damaturu Monday evening had unanimously agreed to participate in the elections.

Earlier in the year, YBSIEC had postponed the election initially fixed for June this year. The chairman Jauro, who announced the postponement at a stakeholders’ meeting with members of the parties, security and the media, hinged the decision on the security situation in the state.

Enugu
In Enugu State, the political atmosphere is already charged ahead of the local government elections scheduled for November 2, this year.  Announcing the date for the polls, the Chairman of the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSEIC), Dr Boniface Eneh, said the elections was expected to usher in newly elected chairmen and councillors in the  17 local government areas of the state, as well as the 260 wards in the various councils.

However, mixed reactions had continued to trail the pegging of fees for the elections.  The first notable figure to raise the alarm over the high rate of the non-refundable fee of N200,000 for each chairmanship candidate and N50,000 and councillorship is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Ben Nwoye. The Enugu-East Senatorial candidate in 2011 elections, said it was unconstitutional and outrageous for an aspirant to pay as much as N200,000 for a local government election, threatening to sue the electoral body.

Nigerian Tribune observed that only the PDP had conducted its primaries ahead of the local government polls even as there were protests within the party over the alleged imposition of candidates in some of the local government areas in the state.

Osun
Governor Rauf Aregbesola has promised to conduct local government elections in the state before the governorship polls. Besides, he said all all necessary issues and deliberations concerning the creation will be released and a bill will be sent to the House of Assembly for a referendum to be carried out.

To accentuate the promises, the governor has re-constituted the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) with Chief Olusegun Oladitan as chairman. 

The state commissioner of Information and Strategy, Mr Sunday Akerele, explained that the re-constitution of the body followed the ratification of the list of nominees by the state House of Assembly. However, the official action drew spontaneous flak from the PDP in the state, alleging the action amounted to an act of impunity.

Meanwhile, the INEC is expected to a governorship polls in 2014, while the government has been running the council with caretaker committees since it assumed office and sacked the hitherto elected council executives.

Jim Iyke tweets about his deliverance

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Photos: Rihanna wears fishnet bodysuit on set of her new video

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Annie Idibia &Toke Makinwa's gorgeous outfits to Elite Model Search

Annie proudly showed off her baby bump in a short black dress at the Elite Model Search finale which held in Lagos last night. Toke's outfit is banging. Will bring official photos from the model search later

Nigerian woman reveals she is granddaughter of notorious Schindler List butcher, Amon Goeth

Jennifer Teege (centre), a German-Nigerian author, was shocked to discover that her grandfather was Amon Goeth (left), commandant of the Plaszow concentration camp during the Second World War, who was played by Ralph Fiennes (inset left) in Schindler's List. Her book, Amon: My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me, documents her torment over the link with her bloodthirsty relative who would have regarded her as 'subhuman'. Goeth's daughter Monika, pictured (right and, inset, as a child with her mother Ruth Irene), gave birth to Ms Teege after a brief affair with a Nigerian student. Continue..

 

Jennifer Teege, left, is the granddaughter of Nazi concentration camp boss Amon Goeth, right

Goeth was a sadist who revelled in the misery of inmates at the camp in Nazi-occupied Poland - in the film Fiennes portrays him shooting at prisoners on their way to forced labour just for fun, while he also drank wine while watching guard dogs tear people to pieces.

Ms Teege, 43, is the daughter of a Nigerian student and the German daughter of Goeth, who was hanged for war crimes in 1946 but went to his death declaring his loyalty to the Nazi cause. 

She was given away shortly after birth - her mother Monika had only enjoyed a 'fling' with her father - and after being fostered she was eventually adopted by a wealthy couple in Munich.Later she stumbled upon a book her mother had written about Goeth, known as the 'Butcher of Plaszow', and decided to explore her own family history.

Goeth's daughter Monika, pictured, gave birth to Ms Teege after an affair with a Nigerian student

'It was like the carpet was ripped out beneath my feet,' Ms Teege said. 'I had to go and lie down on a bench. I called my husband and told him I couldn't drive and needed to be picked up.

'Then I said to my family that I did not want to be disturbed, went to bed and read the book cover to cover.'

She had seen Schindler's List - the story about a German businessman based near Plaszow who rescued Jews working for him during the war - while studying in Israel and made no connection then to Goeth.
She said: 'Even though my birth name is Goeth, it wasn't written out on the screen so when I heard it in the film it didn't even occur to me that there could be a link.' 

 Monika pictured as a small child with her mother, Goeth's mistress Ruth Irene

Mother-of-two Jennifer was visited by her grandmother Ruth - Goeth's former secretary who gave birth to Monika in 1945 - as she was growing up. 'Now I know that, as I have black skin, he would have seen me a subhuman like the Jews he killed,' she said.
Since embarking on her journey of discovery she has visited the ruins of Plaszow, outside Krakow, and seen the house which still stands outside it where her grandfather lived as master of life and death.
She is estranged from her mother, now known as Monika Hertwig, who gave interviews to an Israeli documentary team in 2010 in a film about the lives of children of Nazi killers.
Ms Hertwig stood outside the house where her father lived and said: 'My Nazi father shot women with babies in their arms from this balcony, I am tormented by how much of him is in me.'

Ms Teege added: 'My mother was absolutely unable to cope with her own history. And she wanted to protect me by keeping me in the dark about it.
'Once I learned about my family's past, I had to make a conscious decision to live in the here and now.' 
She calls her story 'gripping and original,' and says she hopes that people weighed down with guilt about their family pasts will draw inspiration from it.
'My story is about the fact that it's possible to move beyond repression to gain a kind of personal freedom from the past by finding out who you really are,' she said.

Goeth was played by Ralph Fiennes, right, in 1993 blockbuster Schindler's List

 Goeth was executed after being convicted of war crimes but remained devoted to the Nazi cause

 

Amon Goeth (1908-46) was one of the most notorious SS captains, known as the 'Butcher of Plaszow' after the concentration camp where he tormented inmates during the Second World War.

He started participating in ultra-nationalist and anti-semitic politics while he was just a teenager, joined the SS in 1930, and in 1943 was appointed to oversee the construction of Plaszow, in German-occupied Poland.
Thousands of Jews from the Krakow ghetto were transported to the camp, where they were subjected to forced labour - and Goeth's vicious whims.

Culled from UK Daily Mail

18 year old Nneoma Anosike wins Elite Model Look 2013

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Chris Brown tells Kanye West to hire 'street thugs' for protection

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President Jonathan to speak on current national issues tomorrow

President Goodluck Jonathan will host another edition of the Presidential Media Chat tomorrow Sunday, September 29, 2013 at 7pm. See the State House Press Release below

President Jonathan will in the course of the programme, answer questions from a panel of journalists on current national issues and events, as well as policies and actions of his administration. Members of the public who have questions they will like the President to respond to on the programme may send them in via Twitter to @mediachatng1. 

The programme will be broadcast live on the network services of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and the Voice of Nigeria (VON). Other television and radio stations are enjoined to hook up to NTA and FRCN to relay the programme to their viewers and listeners.

Reuben Abati, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) September 28, 2013

Death toll rises to 78 in Yobe student attack

The death toll at the College of Agriculure, Gujba ,Yobe State has risen to 78. At least 50 of them were students who were attacked in the early hours of yesterday morning as they slept in their hostel. Some were shot, others were butchered with swords and knives. The gunmen, suspected to be Boko Haram sect members later moved to houses around the hostel, killing residents they find. Then they blocked theDamaturu-Maiduguri road and killed travellers. So far, 78 bodies have been counted, with many more people still unaccounted for. A student of the college who survived the massacre explained what happened...

"They started gathering students into groups outside, then they opened fire and killed one group and then moved onto the next group and killed them. It was so terrible. They came with guns around 1a.m. and went directly to the male hostel and opened fire on them. The college is in the bush, so the other students were running around helplessly as guns went off and some of them were shot down.”

The gunmen stormed the hostels in two double-cabin pickup all-terrain vehicles and on motorcycles, and were dressed in military camouflage. They attacked 4 male hostels but avoided the only hostel reserved for girls. Swords and knives were used to kill at least 30 male students. Some corpses that were found were without heads while others had heads hanging to the bodies. Wailing parents and relatives were at the Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital mortuary in Damaturu this morning to identify their loved ones. This can't continue. This government has to do something about the situation.

Photo: Football legend Lionel Messi arrives in court for tax fraud case

Four-time FIFA footballer of the year Lionel Messi and his father Jorge arrived in a Spanish court this morning Friday September 27th to answer charges of alleged tax fraud. Messi and his father are being accused of hiding over £3.4 million by filing incomplete tax returns from 2006 to 2009.

The charges against father and son was lodged by a state prosecutor in June 2013 claiming that they tried to conceal earnings from Messi's image rights - charges they both deny.

"I never take care of that (tax) stuff myself and neither does my father," Messi said in July. "We have our lawyers and our wealth managers to take care of that and we trust them and they will sort this out. The truth is I don’t have a clue about all this and that is why we have people taking care of it."

Messi has already paid the Spanish authorities the unpaid tax he's owing plus interest (he paid £4.2m) but because tax fraud is a serious offense in Spain, he still has to make an appearance in court where the courts will determine whether the case is pursued any further. Hopefully it will all end today!

Why everybody must guide Nigerian democracy —Uduaghan

Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, in an interview with some journalists recently, he speaks on the call for the convocation of a national conference, what should be the attitude of the people of South-South towards President Goodluck Jonathan among other issues. Group Politics Editor, TAIWO ADISA brings the excerpts:
What is your relationship with your friend, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers issues, in the light of recent development in the polity?
Amaechi is my friend and he is fine.

How is he?
I said he is my friend, and he is fine.

You are involved in the ongoing reconciliation between some aggrieved governors and President Jonathan. Are you not surprised that a few days after a ceasefire was announced, the seven aggrieved governors were at the National Assembly where there was an exchange of blows among some lawmakers?
What happened after the meeting; there was a communiqué that was read by one of my colleagues and we also saw what happened at the National Assembly which I think was unfortunate. But having said that, what gladdens my heart is that reconciliation process is on and we must all be appreciative and thanked Mr. President for the posture he has taken on this matter. He has been on top of this reconciliation and holding meetings and trying to resolve the issues. As long as we allow the reconciliation to go on, we will eventually get there. We might have hiccups here and there like we had at the National Assembly, but I don’t think it will derail the reconciliation process. I think from the direction of Mr. President, I think he is determined to see to the end and that is very important. It is when he gives up somewhere along the line that we might have the challenges. I think he is determined, no matter what happens, no matter the hiccups we are having, to see to the end because once you are able to create an atmosphere for people to talk when there is a crisis, then the solution to that problem is not too far.
Like the husband and wife in the house when they quarrel, when they start talking, the woman brings the food, he eats it, he doesn’t even thank her for the food, but at least he has eaten it. That means reconciliation is going on. The next time he will eat it and say ah, this food is nice or not; he is also talking. I don’t think this process will just take one day or it will end on October 7. But I think before October 7, a lot of processes would have taken place that would give confidence to everybody to say that, look something good is coming at the end of the day. What happened at the National Assembly was unfortunate and for those of us who are working behind, the processes should continue.
 
There seems to be conflicting signals on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) crisis and demands of the aggrieved governors and the President’s re-election.
I said there are some issues that are still being processed and comments on such issues would not come now. When they are fully processed, you will hear my comments. You will notice that even on the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), you have not heard much from me. Many of you had wanted my view; I was a ‘UN’ observer. My report is still on the way. My report on this issue is still on the way too. Let’s not complicate issues. What I believe is that there is time to talk and a time to be quite. But whatever you are doing, whether you are quiet or you are talking, ensure that such action is reconciliatory and it brings peace to the process.
That is my position on any issue because ultimately, it is about democracy in Nigeria; it is about peace in Nigeria. I am sure all of us are enjoying this democracy; let all of us put our hands and heads and everything together to be able to guide this democracy. That is why I will not make comments on some of the issues you have asked.
The type of challenges we are having today did not start from this administration. These are things that have built up over the years. There are challenges but there is hope. In the world over, the global economy is groaning, unemployment is about the highest level in any part of this world today. In Europe, heads of states are losing elections because of unemployment. The immediate challenge President Barak Obama, had in his re-election was the issue of unemployment.
Unemployment is not just a localised issue to Nigeria; we have unemployment all over the world.
Unfortunately for us here, what has complicated our unemployment situation is that the rate of production of children, it is about the highest we have ever seen in the history of Nigeria.  Our population increase is so high. We are having children that we cannot even take care of. We have children that mothers are sending out to hawks; that is why we went into this Education Marshals. The population is rising, you know, and unemployment is increasing, so these are challenges that are confronting any government. Unfortunately, it is confronting us and it is leading to a lot of things, insecurity and a lot of other things. If we make it a blame-game, then we are not ready to solve the problem, but if we start seeking solutions, we will find the solutions. I am not saying that somebody who cannot contribute to the process of improving economy should be where he should not be, but it is not an issue of blame game.

What is your succession plans like in Delta?
It is on course. There is no way you can hold a position without having a succession plan. The person, who is going to succeed me, will be elected by the people.
The person has to work hard, he also has to work on me who has one vote and also work on the people that have over two million votes. The challenge about my succession plan is that I have put a structure in place that I am marketing to Deltans that we should build an economy beyond oil and since you are going to succeed me, you have to convince the people that your plan is to build Delta economy beyond oil. If you say it is not part of your plan and you want to make the state depend on oil forever, I don’t think you will have it easy to be elected. I am sure the person has to key into the programme we have put in place.

There has been a clamour for the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference. The President of the Senate, David Mark, has now thrown his weight behind the agenda. Do you support the idea?
 It is unfortunate that some of us are small men and our voices are very small and are not loud enough. I talked about it about three years ago that Nigeria needs a national confab. What I refused to agree with is a Sovereign National Conference. If we should remove the word sovereign, we should hold a National Conference. I talked about it maybe in low tone over three years ago because we have various challenges in Nigeria that we need to sit down and discuss.
There are regional challenges, there are security challenges, there are even religious challenges that we need to sit down and discuss and agree on the way forward.
There are economic challenges; there are regional challenges in this country. If you are not from that area, you might not understand some of the challenges in those areas and until we sit down and put the things on the table, then we start the process of give and take.
Okay, from this part of the country, these are the challenges and from the other part of Nigeria, these are the challenges. Okay I will give in to this, you will give in to that; we start the process of give and take and eventually, arrive at something that is acceptable to everyone and we move on from there. It might not even be the best by the time we even agree, but with time, we build on what we have started as a people. Because like you said, there is much suspicion, there is so much distrust.
I mean let me take the issue of President Jonathan; for instance, many people in the Niger Delta believe that the opposition against Jonathan is because he is from the area. I mean they started with performance, but have left issue of performance. This is the President that has been facing the challenges of security from the word go. I have not seen any president who has had the kinds of challenges he has. The Boko Haram, it is from day one. One of the conditions in the Boko Haram communiqué was that if you want us to cease fire, you must become a Muslim as President of Nigeria. That kind of a thing has never happened. So, the Niger Delta people are looking at it that: is it because Jonathan is our son that all these problems are happening? Is it because he is our son that some of these moves are being made against him, which they don’t do against their people? When they wanted to be President, they came to us. We have always been giving the highest votes. Now that our son is there, we expect that they should also give us the highest votes. You know these are questions. They may be real, they may be abstract, but they are questions people from that region are asking.
I believe the opposition to Jonathan should not come from his region. People from his zone should put their hands and heads together and see how they can build bridges across the other parts of Nigeria to make him succeed as president. I agree that there should be a National Conference, if anything, to give everybody room to air their view and then we start negotiation on what should happen to us.

You recently inaugurated caretaker committees for local governments in your state. This is against the spirit of the constitution. When are you going to have council election in Delta?
Let me first of all say the issue of who fixes the date for local government election is by the State Independent Electoral Commission. The responsibility of the governor is to put up that commission which I have done. Unfortunately, at the time they cancelled the last exercise, we took a list to the state House of Assembly, but somebody challenged the membership in court. So, it took us time to get through because we had to appeal to him to remove the case from court before we inaugurated the commission. I think the commission is in place; they are going round, sensitising people.

How do you see the call by the Rotimi Amaechi-led faction of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, (NGF), calling for the resignation of Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala?
Yes, there was a call by some of my colleagues for the resignation of the Finance Minister, Dr Okonjo-Iweala, if she cannot manage the economy, especially the Appropriation Act. I was very careful in listening to and reading the communiqué. If you read the communiqué, it talked about projection and what projection simply means is that you are not sure of what is on ground. What that means is that you are making an estimate and your projection may be correct or wrong. What has happened is that I think the Federal Government is saying that our projection, although is an Act, is not quite adding up and so we cannot run it exactly the way it has been projected.
Again, a budget is a statement of intention and there are two parts of budget, You have the revenue and the expenditure. We are talking about expenditure and that expenditure includes giving some money to the states. As regards the position today, the Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, meeting, especially for this month is suspended indefinitely. At least no meeting has been fixed. Why and what is the problem? The problem is that there is no enough money available on the table to be shared.
Now the question is: What is happening? Why are we not having enough money to be shared? Now, the budget was based on a projection of about 2.3 million barrels per day and with a benchmark of about $79 per barrel. And sometimes, about two or three weeks ago, there were issues of low production because of crude oil theft and of course, a committee was put up. I was the head of that committee.
It was found out that there was about 400,000 barrels loss of oil per day and out of the 400,000, about 320,000 was from shutting and about 80,000 barrels of crude were being stolen.

So, you strongly believe that Okonjo-Iweala is not the problem but the NNPC is liable?
 I think the pressure should be on the agencies that are collecting money on behalf of the federating states; NNPC being one of them that is collecting revenue. Of course, we have others like the Federal Inland Revenue Services, (FIRS), the Customs and the rest.  So, Nigerians should be asking that these monies that are being collected by these various organs, where are they? They should speak out. Pressure should be put on the right quarters so that we don’t unnecessarily sacrifice the very wrong person.

The Governor Rotimi Amaechi-led NGF also demanded that the nation’s economy should be managed by the National Economic Council (NEC), not the Economic Management Team. What is your view on this?
 There is no doubt that everyone has a role to play in the management of the economy. The Economic Management Team that was put in place by our President as of today has some of the best and brightest Nigerians in terms of economic activities. The Dangotes, Oba Otudekos and the Jim Ovias of this world, among others, I mean you can’t fault those people in terms of their pedigrees. I think the President has been wise enough to put those people together, mainly as advisory body. I don’t see why we should have issues with them.
The National Economic Council is still meeting regularly; that is where you have the Vice-President and the governors, who are coming out with economic policies. So, I am not sure it is correct to say that the Economic Management Team is the issue with the Nigerian economy.

You seem to see issues differently from your colleagues, could this be political?
It is not about Ministry of Finance or Ministry of Petroleum Resources. Now in every sector, there are technical people. We have them in NNPC. We must differentiate NNPC from Ministry of Petroleum. Maybe because I have deeper knowledge of some of these issues, that is why my position is slightly different from my colleagues’ own. Like I have told you, I was the chairman of the committee that had to do with the challenge of oil theft and for almost three months, I was holding meetings in Abuja every week with the security agencies, the IOCs, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Finance, dealing with the real issues because of the challenges. Even some of the communities, all the agencies and the illegal people were part of the meeting every week, and by God’s grace, we were able to reduce the 500,000bpd of oil loss to less than 80,000 bpd.
So having said that, that means our oil production is now at the quantity that was budgeted for. The sale has not gone below what was estimated. So, where is the money we are making from there? I head the committee of about three or four governors, we were with them from 12noon to 8pm and at the end of the day, we really didn’t have a head or tail. So, it is an issue of accountability by the agencies that are supposed to bring this money to the table. I suggest we have proper and correct perspective so that we can deal with this issue.

What is going happen to payment of salaries with the inability of FAAC to share money this month?
Our economy is still oil-dependent and that is why some of us are saying look, let us build our economy beyond oil. Of course, we know that we have started building Delta State beyond oil. We are almost getting there, at least, with our Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, we would be able to pay our salaries. That is our charter; grow beyond oil whether the FAAC is coming or not, we should be able to pay our salary based on our IGR.
Because most states depend on this allocation to be able to pay salaries, don’t forget that even the Federal Government is an arm in this revenue sharing issue, they all have challenges of paying salaries. I am not sure the Federal Government  has paid salaries for this month now because no sharing has been done. Many states have been unable to pay salaries because for the past three months, what is being given to them is not enough. That is where the challenge of paying salaries is coming from as far as the states are concerned.

What is the way out?
NNPC should come and tell us where they keep the money. That is the solution. The problem is that NNPC has not been able to convince us we don’t have enough money to share. That is the point I am trying to make. I think why they (governors) are a bit hard on Okonjo-Iweala is that she should bring money from the Excess Crude Account and all this sort, but again that is something for another session.

If NNPC is holding the nation to ransom, why can’t the Presidency make changes there?
I usually don’t talk about changes because I have not been in that position to make changes. If I want to make changes in my state, for instance, that is quite easy