OPC to Deploy 30, 000 ‘Foot Soldiers’ to protect Oil Facilities

Frederick Fasehun, President of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organization, Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), has committed the organization towards partnering with relevant governmental organization in protecting the nation’s vast network of oil pipelines.

Dr. Fasehun, expressed worry over the high spate of attacks and vandalisation of the oil pipelines across the country stated that the OPC has the capacity to provide security for the oil facilities.

“The problem persists because agencies saddled with the responsibility of monitoring and securing the pipelines, have compromised. That is why experts and observers alike strongly recommend that the government must think outside the box for the ultimate solution,’’ Fasehun stated.

Fasehun who spoke during a courtesy visit to Kingsley Kuku, special adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs and Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Committee, said his organization has the discipline to muster resources to keep the oil facilities secured using the experience garnered in bringing peace to the South West flash points.

“We promise to dispense that same level of dedication, discipline and efficiency that today guarantees safety and security for lives and properties in our home zone. We promise zero-tolerance for pipeline vandals and pipeline vandalism,” said Fasehun.

Outlining the OPC strategies to curb the ugly trend in the South West geo-political zone, Fasehun said: “We have outlined strategies and equipment required for securing the entire pipeline network in the South-West. And by the grace of God and Federal Government, pipeline vandalism within the (South West) zone will be completely wiped out in the next 12 months.”

The OPC leader said the organization will put together a 30, 000-man strong team within a short time when the given the green light on the project.

 “We will be pulling well over 30,000 foot soldiers into this assignment. That means a minimum of 30,000 jobs for a minimum Nigerians. We shall be working in synergy with the NNPC, the PPMC, the Police, the Navy, the SSS and allied security agencies to ensure that we wipe out the problem of pipeline vandalism once and for all,” Fasehun stated.

Dan Alabra, Special Assistant on Media and Communications at the Amnesty office told Nigerian CommunicationsWethat the OPC leaders’ ideas on security for the oil pipelines gives sufficient hope for the economic development of the zone and the nation at large.

He noted that Kuku will be presenting the OPC agenda before the President.

In recent times, oil thieves have invaded several oil facilities in the South West zone leading to loss of lives and causing damages amounting to billions of US dollars.

Nigeria Spill Fines on Shell, Chevron, Not Backed by Law

By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo 

 Fines amounting to $8 billion sought by Nigeria from Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and Chevron Corp. (CVX) for oil spills are not backed by law, said Bukola Saraki, chairman of the country’s Senate Committee on Environment.

“Under the existing law, there is no penalty for oil spills apart from just to clean it up,” Saraki, a senator representing the ruling People’s Democratic Party from central Kwara state, said in an interview in Abuja on Jan. 29. “You only pay 1 million naira ($6,362) for late reporting.”

Without the backing of law it is difficult for the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, or Nosdra, to enforce fines levied on oil companies, he said. Lawmakers have moved to amend the law and stipulate tougher penalties, according to Saraki.

Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), Chevron, Total SA (FP) and Eni SpA (ENI) run joint ventures with state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. that pump more than 90 percent of the output of Africa’s top oil producer.

Nosdra recommended to the government in July that Shell should pay $5 billion for a December 2011 rupture from its offshore Bonga field that spilled about 40,000 barrels of oil, the country’s worst in more than a decade. The agency is also seeking $3 billion from Chevron for a rig explosion that caused a 46-day blaze in January last year on Nigeria’s Atlantic coast. It has been unable enforce the penalties because “there’s no law,” Saraki said.

Additional Penalties

The government is studying existing laws as they relate to oil spills and will make pronouncements in due course, Environment Minister Hadiza Mailafia said yesterday in Abuja without giving further details. Precious Okolobo, Shell spokesman in Nigeria, declined to comment when contacted on his mobile phone. Chevron obeys the laws of the countries in which it operates and won’t “comment on political matters,” Jim Craig, a San Ramon, California-based spokesman, said in an e- mailed response.

A new National Oil Pollution Management Agency Bill proposes fines of 250,000 naira for every barrel of oil spilled and will compel producers to pay compensation to affected communities, Saraki said. The bill proposes additional penalties of 15 billion naira for every onshore spill incident and 5 billion naira if it happens offshore, he said.

While improving the law will “definitely strengthen” Nosdra’s capacity to monitor energy producers, tough measures are unlikely to be enforced against companies engaged in partnerships with the government, Nnimmo Bassey, executive director of Environmental Rights Action, an affiliate of Friends of the Earth campaigning against oil pollution in Nigeria, said by phone today from Benin City. “I think that’s the political issue we still have to confront, no matter how good the law will be.”

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with more than 160 million people, relies on oil for 95 percent of export earnings and 80 percent of government revenue, according to the Petroleum Ministry. With pipeline networks spread over the 70,000 square- kilometre (43,500 square-mile) Niger River delta region and largely unguarded, oil companies blame sabotage for most of the spills.

A Dutch District Court in The Hague ruled on Jan. 30 that Shell must pay compensation in one of five claims by Nigerian villagers from the Niger delta for a spill from its facility that affected their livelihood. Judge Henk Wien said Shell wasn’t liable for four other claims.

Bonny Light crude, Nigeria’s leading export grade, rose less than 1 percent to $117.41 as of 10.06 a.m. in London. The naira declined 0.1 percent to 157.20 a dollar as of 11.08 a.m. in Lagos, the commercial capital, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

CURRENT HARMATTAN WILL END SOON, says NIMET D.G

The current harmattan being experienced in many parts of the country will subside in the next one week, the Director General of  the Nigerian Meteorological Agency(NIMET), Dr Anthony Anuforom has assured.

He said the harmattan would not negatively affect flight operations as a result of improved navigational aids installed in the country.

According to him, a lot of positive improvement was going on at NIMET to ensure correct and verifiable meteorological services in the area of adequate facilities to operate within the internationally acceptable standards as obtained anywhere in the world.

The NIMET boss explained that the agency was working in conformity with stipulated international standards.

 Anuforom also disclosed  that two upper air stations would be installed in the country to bring to seven, operational upper air stations in the country to enhance accuracy.

 “We actually have seven of them but two are yet to be installed. Within this quarter we hope to increase it to seven upper air stations so the higher the density, the higher the accuracy. This is what this administration is doing in the spirit of transformation agenda”

Nigeria's Security Kills 13 Boko Haram Militants

*As Massacre of Christians Continues

The Nigerian armed forces have fought back against the Islamic militant group Boko Haram, killing 13 suspected combatants in an attack on their stronghold in the town of Maiduguri on Tuesday.

The news was confirmed by the Joint Task Force Operation Restore Order, who said that they lost one soldier in the gunfight, CNN reported. Military spokesman Sagir Musa said that that Boko Haram have been carrying out "incessant callous, brutal, barbaric and impious killings," and Human Rights Watch estimate that the Islamic group, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege," have killed more than 2,800 people in the last several years, including at least 34 since Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, raids on two separate churches resulted in the deaths of 12 worshippers, including a pastor. Another 15 Christians were massacred six days later on Sunday at another church in Northern Nigeria.

"We had warned that Boko Haram would continue its tradition of killing Nigerian Christians on Christmas day. Last week marked the third straight year that the terror group has murdered Nigerian Christians in the church on a Christmas day," a statement by the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans noted, calling for more action on behalf of authorities.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has said that despite these setbacks, Nigeria has been battling the terrorists, and a number of those who carried out the attacks have been apprehended "as a result of the diligence and steadfastness of law enforcement agents and security operatives across the country." Jonathan made the remarks at a New Year's service at Saint Anglican Church in Abuja, but did not reveal how many in total were in custody, AllAfrica reported.

Boko Haram have been bombing and burning churches and attacking Christians across the Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria for years, specifically targeting Christians in their mission to eradicate them from the country.

"The Nigerian state and Christians are our enemies and we will be launching attacks on the Nigerian state and its security apparatus as well as churches until we achieve our goal of establishing an Islamic state in place of the secular state," the militants stated in no uncertain terms back in June.

Despite the slaughter of Christians and innocent people in Nigeria, the U.S. government has been reluctant to designate Boko Haram a terrorist organization, even though it has said some of its leaders are terrorists.

Nigerians have created a petition to the U.S. government asking for this to change.

"Our government in Washington DC, especially the White House and the State Department are fully aware of what is going on. But both President Barack Obama and outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have simply tolerated this impunity by their inaction," the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans said about the petition.

"Already, American citizens have been affected, and the United Nations building in Abuja has been attacked by these terrorists. The U.S. Congress has affirmed that Boko Haram is a threat to the U.S., especially with the group's suspected links to al-Qaeda."



Source:CPAfrica

EFCC Attack Dogs And Citizen Babalakin

Nigeria is, once again, retrogressing into the dark era of selective prosecution of perceived opponents of the ruling government, using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as a willing tool.
The recent siege by the attack dogs of the country’s anti-graft agency, EFCC, on the premises of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos, where the Chairman of Bi-Courtney Highway Services Limited, Dr. Wale Babalakin, was on admission is definitely a pointer to this.
By this single action, targeted at an unarmed citizen, which many consider as naive and brutal, EFCC may just be telling Nigerians that the inglorious do or die era, with its clear signature of oppression and ruthlessness, is simply back with them.
It however took the wisdom and determination of the LUTH management to prevent the EFCC goons from carrying out their mission as the dogged LUTH officials denied the EFCC army of occupation access to the private ward where Babalakin was being admitted.
The invading army of the EFCC initially attempted to bulldoze its way into Babalakin’s ward, resulting in a heated war of words with the hospital staff. The late night confrontation, in fact, lasted till the early hours of the following day. It’s quite frightening that after failing in their mission, several policemen and plain-clothes operatives remained at the entrance of Babalakin’s ward and its adjoining areas.
It is worthy to note that Bi-Courtney, a company which Babalakin owns, had been in court with EFCC over allegations of fraud against him. And EFCC appears to be getting frustrated as Babalakin’s proposed arraignment, alongside four others, at the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, over their roles in an alleged N4.7 billion Delta State money transfer fraud could not be pursued due to his ill-health.
Being a lawyer of repute and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) for that matter, Babalakin had embarked on a spirited battle to stop further arraignment at the Lagos High Court. He, in fact, secured a Federal High Court (FHC), Lagos, leave to apply for certiorari (an order quashing an action) and prohibition.
Justice Mohammed Idris gave the order, following a motion ex-parte filed by the applicant’s counsel, Mr. Wale Akoni (SAN), seeking an order of court for leave to apply for certi-orari and prohibition against the respondents, restraining them from taking further steps in the arraignment, pending the hearing of the motion before the FHC.
The curious dimension to Babalakin’s harassment by the EFCC could be traced to the fact that the Federal Government, claiming breaches, had terminated the concession contract for the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway granted to Bi-Courtney Highway Services Limited on May 8, 2009; an agreement that was signed on May 26, 2009.
Apparently, the EFCC hounding of Babalakin’s Bi-Courtney amounts to a clear violation of a citizen’s rights and an attempt to thwart justice. Head of Communication for Bi-Courtney Highway Services Limited, Mr. Dipo Kehinde, said, “This is a new trend in judicial administration in Nigeria and it reflects desperation by EFCC to violate provisions of the law and constitution in order to circumvent justice, and a violation of the basic human rights of the citizen.”
According to Kehinde, “It is noteworthy that this brings back the sad memories of the days of Gen. Sani Abacha, when the rights of Nigerians were trampled upon with ease.”
It is unfortunate that despite an order of a court of competent jurisdiction, EFCC had been trailing Babalakin without let or hindrance. And the anti-graft agency seems not to agree that a court had issued an order against it. EFCC’s spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, in fact, said: “Our commission has no order restraining us from arresting him. What Babalakin sought was an order of certiorari to quash the charges. 
The court only granted him leave; so we are keeping eyes on him. If he is still in the hospital, our men will be there, if he moves to his house, our men will equally go there.”
According to Uwujaren, “The order does not prevent us from arresting him. The order was only for leave to apply for an order of certi-orari to quash the charges against him and for it to act as a stay of proceedings at the Lagos High Court where he is facing criminal charges of money laundering.”
Recall that EFCC had filed a 27-count charge against Babalakin, Stabilini Visioni Limited, Bi-Courtney Limited as well as Alex Okoh and Remix Nigeria Limited for allegedly fraudulently assisting former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, to launder various sums of money through third parties to some foreign accounts under the guise of buying a Challenger Jet.
Many observers of the development, however, believe that the EFCC should apply civilised principles in prosecuting its so-called war against corruption as it definitely smacks of mischief that it was only when Babalakin had a disagreement with the Federal Government over the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway concession that the EFCC decided to wake up from slumber on the money laundering case.
The attack dogs of the EFCC would do well to remember this proverb: “A freeborn asked to do the job of a slave should at least apply the work ethics of a freeborn.”
The nation should resist any attempt to return it to the evil days of military rule when the courts amounted to nothing, as the EFCC appears to be leading the evil march back to barbarism. Its attack dogs must therefore be called to order immediately in the interests of the good health of the Nigerian nation. 
We must also empathise that the EFCC has failed to win the anti-corruption war for which it was initially set up to combat. Politicians, civil servants and their cronies in the private sector have stepped up the looting of billions of Naira from the treasury of Federal, State and Local Governments.



source: THEWILL

U.N. Assembly, in Blow to U.S., Elevates Status of Palestine

More than 130 countries voted on Thursday to upgrade Palestine to a nonmember observer state of the United Nations, a triumph for Palestinian diplomacy and a sharp rebuke to the United States and Israel.

But the vote, at least for now, did little to bring either the Palestinians or the Israelis closer to the goal they claim to seek: two states living side by side, or increased Palestinian unity. Israel and the militant group Hamas both responded critically to the day’s events, though for different reasons.

The new status will give the Palestinians more tools to challenge Israel in international legal forums for its occupation activities in the West Bank, including settlement-building, and it helped bolster the Palestinian Authority, weakened after eight days of battle between its rival Hamas and Israel.

But even as a small but determined crowd of 2,000 celebrated in central Ramallah in the West Bank, waving flags and dancing, there was an underlying sense of concerned resignation.

“I hope this is good,” said Munir Shafie, 36, an electrical engineer who was there. “But how are we going to benefit?”

Still, the General Assembly vote — 138 countries in favor, 9 opposed and 41 abstaining — showed impressive backing for the Palestinians at a difficult time. It was taken on the 65th anniversary of the vote to divide the former British mandate of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, a vote Israel considers the international seal of approval for its birth.

The past two years of Arab uprisings have marginalized the Palestinian cause to some extent as nations that focused their political aspirations on the Palestinian struggle have turned inward. The vote on Thursday, coming so soon after the Gaza fighting, put the Palestinians again — if briefly, perhaps — at the center of international discussion.

“The question is, where do we go from here and what does it mean?” Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, who was in New York for the vote, said in an interview. “The sooner the tough rhetoric of this can subside and the more this is viewed as a logical consequence of many years of failure to move the process forward, the better.” He said nothing would change without deep American involvement.

President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, speaking to the assembly’s member nations, said, “The General Assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the state of Palestine,” and he condemned what he called Israeli racism and colonialism. His remarks seemed aimed in part at Israel and in part at Hamas. But both quickly attacked him for the parts they found offensive.

“The world watched a defamatory and venomous speech that was full of mendacious propaganda against the Israel Defense Forces and the citizens of Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel responded. “Someone who wants peace does not talk in such a manner.”

While Hamas had officially backed the United Nations bid of Mr. Abbas, it quickly criticized his speech because the group does not recognize Israel.

“There are controversial issues in the points that Abbas raised, and Hamas has the right to preserve its position over them,” said Salah al-Bardaweel, a spokesman for Hamas in Gaza, on Thursday.

“We do not recognize Israel, nor the partition of Palestine, and Israel has no right in Palestine,” he added. “Getting our membership in the U.N. bodies is our natural right, but without giving up any inch of Palestine’s soil.”

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, spoke after Mr. Abbas and said he was concerned that the Palestinian Authority failed to recognize Israel for what it is.

“Three months ago, Israel’s prime minister stood in this very hall and extended his hand in peace to President Abbas,” Mr. Prosor said. “He reiterated that his goal was to create a solution of two states for two peoples, where a demilitarized Palestinian state will recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

“That’s right. Two states for two peoples. In fact, President Abbas, I did not hear you use the phrase ‘two states for two peoples’ this afternoon. In fact, I have never heard you say the phrase ‘two states for two peoples’ because the Palestinian leadership has never recognized that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people.”

The Israelis also say that the fact that Mr. Abbas is not welcome in Gaza, the Palestinian coastal enclave run by Hamas, from which he was ejected five years ago, shows that there is no viable Palestinian leadership living up to its obligations now.

As expected, the vote won backing from a number of European countries, and was a rebuff to intense American and Israeli diplomacy. France, Spain, Italy and Switzerland all voted yes. Britain and Germany abstained. Apart from Canada, no major country joined the United States and Israel in voting no. The other opponents included Palau, Panama and Micronesia.

Susan E. Rice, the American ambassador to the United Nations, was dismissive of the entire exercise. “Today’s grand pronouncements will soon fade,” she said. “And the Palestinian people will wake up tomorrow and find that little about their lives has changed, save that the prospects of a durable peace have only receded.”

A major concern for the Americans is that the Palestinians may use their new status to try to join the International Criminal Court. That prospect particularly worries the Israelis, who fear that the Palestinians may press for an investigation of their practices in the occupied territories widely viewed as violations of international law.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said that after the vote “life will not be the same” because “Palestine will become a country under occupation.”

“The terms of reference for any negotiations become withdrawal,” Mr. Erekat said.

Another worry is that the Palestinians may use the vote to seek membership in specialized agencies of the United Nations, a move that could have consequences for the financing of the international organizations as well as the Palestinian Authority itself. Congress cut off financing to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, known as Unesco, in 2011 after it accepted Palestine as a member. The United States is a major contributor to many of these agencies and is active on their governing boards.

In response to the Palestinian bid, a bipartisan group of senators said Thursday that they would introduce legislation that would cut off foreign aid to the authority if it tried to use the International Criminal Court against Israel, and close the Palestine Liberation Organization’s office in Washington if Palestinians refused to negotiate with Israel.

Calling the Palestinian bid “an unhealthy step that could undermine the peace process,” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said that he and the other senators, including Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, would be closely monitoring the situation.

The vote came shortly after an eight-day Israeli military assault on Gaza that Israel described as a response to stepped-up rocket fire into Israel. The operation killed scores of Palestinians and was aimed at reducing the arsenal of Hamas in Gaza, part of the territory that the United Nations resolution expects to make up a future state of Palestine.

The Palestinian Authority, based in Ramallah, was politically weakened by the Gaza fighting, with its rivals in Hamas seen by many Palestinians as more willing to stand up to Israel and fight back. That shift in sentiment is one reason that some Western countries gave for backing the United Nations resolution, to strengthen Mr. Abbas and his more moderate colleagues in their contest with Hamas.

Jennifer Steinhauer contributed reporting from Washington, Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem, and Khaled Abu Aker from Ramallah, West Bank.

OBAMA LUNCH WITH ROMNEY

*Romney, Obama have lunch, agree to ‘stay in touch.’ Maybe.

Mitt Romney arrives the White House

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama

President Barack Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney met for lunch at the White House on Thursday, their first face-to-face meeting since the bitter election campaign in which each man basically warned voters that the other risked destroying the economy. A syrupy White House statement released after the meal said they had discussed America's global leadership role and agreed on their desire to stay in touch. Maybe.
Romney arrived one minute early for the 12:30 p.m. lunch, walking into the West Wing through a side entrance a safe distance from the press. He walked out the same way at 1:43 p.m., even as Obama's press secretary Jay Carney gave only meager details of what he insisted was a "private" get-together between the president and his defeated Republican rival.
Romney "congratulated the president for the success of his campaign and wished him well over the coming four years," according to the White House account of the meal. "The focus of their discussion was on America's leadership in the world and the importance of maintaining that leadership position in the future.
"They pledged to stay in touch, particularly if opportunities to work together on shared interests arise in the future," the statement said.
The lunch menu included white turkey chili and Southwestern grilled chicken salad.
The White House barred reporters from the event, but released an official photo showing Obama giving Romney a tour of the Oval Office.
Carney, briefing reporters while the lunch was going on, predicted that the two men would compare experiences from the campaign trail. "There aren't that many people who have run, been nominees for their party. There aren't that many people you can talk to who know what it's like."
Obama is "very interested in some of Gov. Romney's ideas," Carney insisted. But, when pressed, he would highlight only the Republican's widely praised rescue of the Salt Lake City Olympics and say that Obama hoped to apply Romney's know-how to his own efforts to make government more efficient.
That's a skill set, not an idea, one reporter pointed out. So are there actually ideas of Romney's that the president always either supported or opposed in the campaign but is now rethinking?
"There were certainly things that the two men agreed on" during the campaign, Carney said. "I wouldn't say it was the majority of things. It wasn't."
Still, Carney pointed to the three presidential debates and underlined that the erstwhile rivals had frequently professed to agree with each other.
He's right. Here's a sample of some of those moments. Note that some of the "agreements" are tactical attempts to score political points rather than any sincere assertion of commonality of purpose.
From the first debate:
Obama: "Gov. Romney and I both agree that our corporate tax rate is too high."
"I agree that the Democratic legislators in Massachusetts might have given some advice to Republicans in Congress about how to cooperate."
Romney: "I agree, education is key, particularly the future of our economy."
"We agree; we ought to bring the tax rates down, and I do, both for corporations and for individuals."
"Let's come back to something the president (and) I agree on, which is the key task we have in health care is to get the costs down so it's more affordable for families."
Or this exchange:
Obama: "One of the things I suspect Gov. Romney and I probably agree on is getting businesses to work with community colleges so that they're setting up their training programs ..."
Moderator Jim Lehrer: "Do you agree, Governor?"
Obama: "Let—let—let me just finish the point."
Romney: "Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah."
Or this one:
Lehrer: "Can the two of you agree that the voters have a choice, a clear choice, between the two of you?"
Romney: "Absolutely."
Obama: "Yes."
Sources:(Pete Souza/official White House photo) (Jason Reed/Reuters)

Former President Obasanjo and coronet Obas in Egba meet on Yoruba Culture and Tradition

Coronet Obas from over 60 towns in Egbaland, Ogun State, Nigeria attended a one-day retreat to ventilate how they can revamp the Yoruba heritage of culture and tradition to enhance their reign and rulership in this era of democratic governance.
Several Yoruba historians and traditionalists as well as legal experts and other social specialists presented papers that were as educative and entertaining.
The event was organized by the Village Network Empowerment Initiative, an Akinale based NGO in pursuit of rural empowerment through education.
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former President and Balogun Owu and other notable traditional rulers were in attendance.

ANTI-ROBBERY SQUAD HQTS IN ABUJA ATTACKED BY BOKO HARAM

The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force headquarters, Abuja was attacked early this [Monday] morning by unknown gunmen.

Though details are still sketchy, there are speculations that some detained suspects including members of the dreaded  Boko Haram terrorists may have been freed during the raid.

Police Force spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, who is presently in Asaba, Delta State confirmed the attack to  in a phone call. He said he would give us details of the incident as soon as he gets the facts.

CONSTITUTION REVIEW: OPC President urges Legislature to reconsider Sovereign National Conference

The leader and founder of Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr. Frederick Fasehun has called on the National Assembly to put into consideration the call by Nigerians for Sovereign National Conference (SNC) in the review of the constitution.

According to Fasehun, "we shall continue to demand for the convening of the Sovereign National Conference, SNC. This current Constitution is a handout from the Military; therefore no amount of tinkering and panel-beating can reform it into a people's document".

Fasehun in a statement made available to Thisday yesterday insisted that the National Assembly's ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution amounts to a brazen display of impunity.

He said "in view of Nigerians complaining that the presidential system is too expensive and should be jettisoned for the uni-cameral Parliamentary system?

Only the people can determine such and they will do so only in the atmosphere of a Sovereign National Conference."

However, on the dialogue with Boko Haram sect, Fasehun said OPC proposed that Boko Haram should expunge General Muhammadu Buhari from its list of delegates, except he confirms his bonafide membership of the group.

He said "Boko Haram has remained faceless; government must insist on not discussing with a faceless group, until the leaders are unveiled and known.

Much of Boko Haram's hostility has been turned against Christians; therefore, Christians, through the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), must be represented at the talks."

He added "negotiations should be opened up to accommodate other ethnic interests in the conflict, including: Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere, Middle-Belt Forum, Egbesu, MEND and other nationality groups, whose indigenes have been wantonly slaughtered by Boko Haram."

OBAMA RE-ELECTED INTO THE WHITE HOUSE

Cheerful President Obama !

Barack Hussein Obama was re-elected President of the United States on Tuesday, overcoming powerful economic headwinds, a lock-step resistance to his agenda by Republicans in Congress and an unprecedented torrent of advertising as the nation voted to give him a second chance to change Washington.
In defeating Mitt Romney, the president carried Wisconsin, Iowa, New Hampshire, Colorado and Virginia and was holding on to a narrow advantage in Ohio and Florida. The path to victory for Mr. Romney narrowed as the night wore along, with Mr. Obama steadily climbing toward the 270 electoral votes needed to win a second term.
A cheer of jubilation sounded at the Obama campaign headquarters in Chicago when the television networks began projecting him as the winner at 11:20 p.m., even as the ballots were still being counted in many states where voters had waited in line well into the night. The victory was far narrower than his historic election four years ago, but it was no less dramatic.
As a succession of states fell away from Mr. Romney, a hush fell over his Boston headquarters on Tuesday night. Two advisers said in interviews that the contest seemed over, but Mr. Romney was not conceding, with the electoral votes from Ohio and Florida still outstanding.
The evening was not without the drama that has come to mark so many recent elections:
Even after Fox News Channel projected that Mr. Obama would win Ohio — effectively sealing Mr. Obama’s re-election — its on-air analyst, the Republican strategist Karl Rove, was arguing that it had done so too quickly and that Mr. Romney still had a chance.
His panics made up an important part of Mr. Obama’s winning coalition, preliminary exit poll data showed. And before the night was through, there were already recriminations from Republican moderates who said Mr. Romney had gone too far during the primaries in his statements against those here illegally, including his promise that his get-tough policies would cause some to “self-deport.”
Mr. Obama, 51, faces governing in a deeply divided country and a partisan-rich capital, where Republicans retained their majority in the House and Democrats kept their control of the Senate. His re-election offers him a second chance that will quickly be tested, given the rapidly escalating fiscal showdown.
For Mr. Obama, the result brings a ratification of his sweeping health care act, which Mr.Romney had vowed to repeal. The law will now continue on course toward nearly full implementation in 2014, promising to change significantly the way medical services are administrated nationwide.
Confident that the economy is finally on a true path toward stability, Mr. Obama and his aides have hinted that he would seek to tackle some of the grand but unrealized promises of his first campaign, including the sort of immigration overhaul that has eluded presidents of both parties for decades.
But he will be venturing back into a Congressional environment similar to that of his first term, with the Senate under the control of Democrats and the House under the control of Republicans, whose leaders have hinted that they will be no less likely to challenge him than they were during the last four years.
The state-by-state pursuit of 270 electoral votes was being closely tracked by both campaigns, with Mr. Romney winning North Carolina and Indiana, which Mr. Obama carried four years ago. But Mr. Obama won Michigan, the state where Mr. Romney was born, and Minnesota, a pair of states that Republican groups had spent millions trying to make competitive.
Americans delivered a final judgment on a long and bitter campaign that drew so many people to the polls that several key states extended voting for hours. In Virginia and Florida, long lines stretched from polling places, with the Obama campaign sending text messages to supporters in those areas, saying: “You can still vote.”
Neither party could predict how the outcome would affect the direction of the Republican Party. Moderates were hopeful it would lead the rank and file to realize that the party’s grass-roots conservatism that Mr. Romney pledged himself to during the primaries doomed him in the general election.
Tea Party adherents have indicated that they will argue that he was damaged because of his move to middle ground during the general election.
The results were more a matter of voters giving Mr. Obama more time than a second chance. Through most of the year slight majorities of voters had told pollsters that they believed his policies would improve the economy if they could stay in place into the future.
Mr. Obama’s campaign team built its coalition the hard way, through intensive efforts to find and motivate supporters who had lost the ardor of four years ago and, Mr. Obama’s strategists feared, might not find their way to polls if left to their own devices.
Up against real enthusiasm for Mr. Romney — or, just as important, against Mr. Obama — among Republicans and many independents, their strategy of spending vast sums of money on their get-out-the-vote operation seemed vindicated on Tuesday.
As opinion surveys that followed the first debate between Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama showed a tightening race, Mr. Obama’s team had insisted that its coalition was coming together as it hoped it would. In the end, it was not a bluff.
Even with Mr. Obama pulling off a new sweep of the highly-contested battlegrounds from Nevada to New Hampshire, the result in each of the states was very narrow. The Romney campaign was taking its time early Wednesday to review the outcome and searching for any irregularities.
The top issue on the minds of voters was the economy, according to interviews, with three-quarters saying that economic conditions were not good or poor. But only 3 in 10 said things were getting worse and 4 in 10 said the economy was improving.
Mr. Romney, who campaigned aggressively on his ability to turn around the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression, was given a narrow edge when voters were asked which candidate was better equipped to handle the economy, the interviews found.
The electorate was split along partisan lines over a question that has driven much of the campaign debate, whether it was Mr. Obama or his predecessor, former President George W. Bush, who bore the most responsibility for the nation’s continued economic challenges. But about 4 in 10 of independent voters said that Mr. Bush should be held responsible.
The president built a muscular campaign organization and used a strong financial advantage to hold off an array of forces that opposed his candidacy. The margin of his victory was smaller than in 2008 — the winner of the popular vote was still in doubt early Wednesday – but a strategic firewall in several battleground states protected his Electoral College majority.
As Mr. Romney gained steam and stature in the final weeks of the campaign, one thing perhaps above all others that the Obama campaign put its hopes in: that the rebound in the auto industry after the president’s bailout package of 2009 would give him the winning edge in Ohio, a linchpin of his road to re-election.
Early interviews with voters showed that just over half of Ohio voters approved of the bailout, a result that was balanced by a less encouraging sign for the president: Some 4 in 10 said they or someone in their household had lost a job over the last four years.
The strong early-voting program was central to Mr. Obama’s performance in Ohio. He was narrowly leading Mr. Romney in Hamilton County, home to Cincinnati, but only because of the amount of votes he banked in the month leading up to Election Day.
Four years after Mr. Obama drew broad support across so many categories of voters, the national electorate appeared to have withdrawn to its more familiar, demographic borders, according to exit polls conducted by Edison Research. Mr. Obama’s coalition included disproportionate support from blacks, Hispanics, women, those under 30, those in unions, gays and Jews, though his support among Jews appeared to have diminished some.
Mr. Romney’s coalition included disproportionate support from whites, men, older people, high-income voters, evangelicals, those from suburban and rural counties, and those who call themselves adherents of the Tea Party — a group that had resisted him through the primaries but had fully embraced him by Election Day.
The Republican Party seemed destined for a new round of self-reflection over how it approaches Hispanics going forward, a fast-growing portion of the voting population that senior party strategists had sought to woo before a strain of intense anti-illegal immigration activism took hold within the Republican grassroots.
It was the first presidential election since the 2010 Supreme Court decision loosening restrictions on political spending, and the first in which both majorparty candidates opted out of the campaign matching system that imposes spending limits in return for federal financing. And the overall cost of the campaign rose accordingly, with all candidates for federal office, their parties and their supportive “super PACs” spending more than $6 billion combined.
The results Tuesday were certain to be parsed for days to determine just what effect the spending had, and who would be more irate at the answer — the donors who spent literally millions of dollars of their own money for a certain outcome, or those who found a barrage of negative advertising to be major factors in their defeats.
While the campaign often seemed small and petty, with Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama intensely quarreling and bickering, the contest was actually rooted in big and consequential decisions, with the role of the federal government squarely at the center of the debate.
Though Mr. Obama’s health care law galvanized his most ardent opposition, and continually drew low ratings in polls as a whole, interviews with voters found that nearly half wanted to see it kept intact or expanded, a quarter of wanted to see it repealed entirely and another quarter said they wanted portions of it repealed.
In Chicago, as crowds waited for Mr. Obama to deliver his speech, his supporters erupted into a roar of relief and elation. Car horns honked from the street as people chanted the president’s name.
“I feel like it’s a repudiation of everything the Republicans said in the campaign,” said Jasmyne Walker, 31, who jumped up and down on the edge of a stone planter in a downtown plaza. “Everybody said that if he lost it would be buyer’s remorse—that we were high on hope in 2008. This says we’re on the right track. I feel like this confirms that.”

source:New York Times