Soyinka, Falana want EFCC boss removed –Waku

Senator Joseph Waku has alleged that some individuals behind the SNG are canvassing the removal of EFCC boss, Mrs Farida Waziri.
Some national dailies had carried reports of moves to prevail on the Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan, to remove Mrs Waziri as the head of the anti-corruption agency.

Addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, Senator Waku alleged that Professor Wole Soyinka and Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana, were behind the move to remove Farida from the EFCC.
Waku alleged that Soyinka had met with Jonathan and presented the agenda of the SNG. He said part of the agenda presented to the acting president was the removal of Mrs Waziri as the EFCC boss and her replacement with former Kaduna State Governor, Colonel Abubakar Umar [rtd].

Waku advised the acting president to be cautious with ideas coming from some prominent Nigerians and be focused on moving Nigeria forward.
“He should be cautious with ideas coming from certain Nigerians. He should focus on moving Nigeria forward. He shouldn’t allow himself to be dragged into nepotism. They shouldn’t take advantage of his proximity to them and blackmail Nigerians that they don’t have access to,” Waku cautioned.

Speaking further, Senator Waku disclosed that the achievements of the EFCC boss since she mounted the saddle does not warrant the desperation to get her out of the anti corruption agency.
“Is it not heart-warming that she inherited about 10 high profile cases from her predecessor in June 2008 and today, she has filed about 50 additional ones? From the interview I read that in just 18 months she has recovered funds and assets in excess of three billion dollars ($3 billion) within the same period. I also counted 23 cardinal achievements she had recorded within the same period. If this is the record of her performance, which surpasses that of her predecessor, who is then afraid of her? Who wants her distracted? For what purpose?”

Waku, however pleaded that his defence of the EFCC boss should not be taken as informed by primordial sentiment since the EFCC boss is a Tiv from Benue State like Waku.
“I am not defending her because we are from the same state. In fact, all hands must be on deck to check corruption. No Nigerian that stole money should be left untouched no matter who they are. But Nigerians should be ready to produce evidence that can not be faulted, so that these people can be prosecuted. No nation can survive with this magnitude of corruption,” Waku submitted.


Sun News

Mixed metaphor of the Jos massacre

For the second time (last weekend) in three short months the city of Jos, Plateau State capital, had experienced calamitous events around it that its people are far much worse than traumatised; they must be feeling dehumanised; and every other sane Nigerian with them must feel hard done by. We are disgraced, scandalised and made to feel like part of a brutish kingdom dominated by modern day cannibals.

By the share scale and gory nature of the massacre, those sub-humans amongst us involved have put Nigeria on the ignoble map as one of the British countries of the world where human life is regarded with contempt.

To say it as it really is, our status resembles that of terrorist nations notorious for inhuman carnages of monsterous proportion which some of us struggle to justify either in the name of religion or retaliation or both. This is part of our mixed metaphor in the strange circumstance of a country that has been groping for half a century and still cannot build a civilized community of its various peoples.

When one tries as a commentator to rationalise these events of northern killings since 1966, one becomes baffled, perhaps even confused that almost 40 years on, this type of bizzare in humanity has not changed either for political, religious or other excuses; and why not?! I am inclined to reason that there is something strangely wrong about Nigeria; and if in 50 years we cannot figure it out and summon the courage to deal with it, Jos, as metaphor of Nigeria’s evil condition is present everywhere else. It is only a matter of time before this monster begins to consume the country. Violence has become synonymous with political power play; religious differences; bloody retaliation for perceived injustice; and ethnicity of the most uncivilized manifestation.

And in all these, people who are supposed to have control are either players in the orgies of bloody violence or they abandon their watch to allow religious and ethnic lunatics to cause mayhem in the society inflicting horror and death on helpless women and children, who are the most vulnerable in our society. This is the flip side of the Jos story:

* There is a governor who is supposed to be the chief security officer of the state, but he is not in control of any of the security agencies. “I cannot secure a fly”, he said. So when local street intelligence alerted him of the recent crisis at 9pm, on the day of the event, governor Jang could only inform the military chief who was under no obligation WHATSOEVER to listen to the governor even when doing so made a lot of sense to save lives.

* So regardless that the “chief security officer of the state” wanted the army commander in Jos to come to the rescue, the fellow switched off his phone so that those inhuman terrorists who invaded Jos villages could have their way in inflicting cannibalistic massacre on their victims. That is the monstrous nature of the Nigerian political arrangement: The security of the locals are in the hands of “foreigners”. Jos and Plateau people cannot provide their own security because they are a conquered people, under the watch of those “born to rule”, the neo-colonialists in our country.

* The bane of peace in Nigeria continues to be its structural “fault line” that undermines our democracy. It is responsible for the mixed metaphor of our inability to fashion a cohesive polity; to ingrain equity in governance; to operate the philosophy of equality amongst the federating units; and above all, to implant justice in the system.

All our failures resonates from this “structural fault line” in the set up of this tottering country called Nigeria.
With these anomalies, we can only expect many more “Jos massacres” to spread across the country.

Issues which the current incident of the gorey massacres in Jos villages throw up are very fundamental.
We have lived with it from the ‘40’s; and if in half a century we cannot find a solution, that means the problem is beyond our capability to resolve.

However, if we are serious about peace in this country; if the life of our people mean anything to us, it is about time we begin to seek help from the international community to help us out. Except we climb down our high horses to accept our total failure in organising and running a stable, peaceful and progressive country, we will stay another half century bungling, with the prospect of enacting the most catastrophic human disaster ever experienced in the history of mankind. With about 140 million people at risk in this calamitous prospect, it is probable that the spirit beings in charge of planet earth may have to intervene before the worst happens. Maybe, this is a forlorn hope, who knows.

But what is clear is that if justice is delayed or miscarried in this Jos crisis, if impunity is allowed to triumph and set perpetrators of this inhuman crime against the weak and vulnerable scot free, then the worst is not far away – it will consume the whole place.

If you ask me, Jos is only a dress rehersal.

The politics of power and religious supremacy is waxing stronger, and while the country is at risk, some evil, people, whose souls have been sold to the devilish exercise of power, are playing hard at the game. If we as a people don’t stop them, they will make utter slaves of our souls and body. At the moment, in the current arrangement, history and fortune has placed the responsibility of saving the nation on the shoulders of one innocent-looking man – Goodluck Ebele Jonathan – the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He didn’t ask for the job alright, but Providence has thrust it on his shoulders. Now, it remain for him to use his God-given capacity, (which up to the point he got this job was latent), to arrest the drift with a sense of urgency, and set the nation on course to reformation and transformation.

No Nigerian leader has had the opportunity and massive public sympathy that Acting President Jonathan now has to effect reform. He cannot afford to fail, because if he does, the situation is so dangerous, he, himself (with all of us) will be consumed in the inferno that is already boiling beneath.

The Acting President must face the devil, look him hard in the face and say to him, “get behind us, Satan.” If he allows his nerves to fail in this confrontation with evil, he will be the first to be swallowed up. Nigerians have spoken to our Acting President in clear language, we all stand behind him and like David we expect that he will move forward with the proverbial “sling” and bring down Goliath.

The first major test in this battle is how the Acting President deals with the Jos mayhem. His moves thus far are encouraging. He must press on with vigour and determination. God help him.
Vanguardnews

Protesters seize Abuja, bury cabal in mock coffin

Photo: Sun Publishing
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Agitations over the whereabouts of ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the lingering political impasse in the country intensified yesterday as the Save Nigeria Group [SNG], a coalition of civil society and human rights groups marched through major streets in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city with a mock coffin to signal the death knell of a cabal believed to be holding the country to ransom.

Vehicular traffic grinded to a halt as leaders of the SNG led a mammoth crowd of participants in a procession from the Unity Fountain at the upmarket Maitama district of Abuja to the National Assembly complex where conveners of the group announced that like the cabal, the days of members of the National Assembly in their offices have also been numbered.
However, unlike the previous rally, the procession was denied access into the National Assembly complex, as detachments of regular and anti-riot policemen including men of the Mounted Troops, effectively cordoned off major entry and exit points in an exercise coordinated by the Deputy Inspector General of police in charge of ‘B’ Department [Operations], Mr. Hamza John Ahmadu.

A leader of the SNG and President of the West African Bar Association [WABA], Mr. Femi Falana, however, gave indications that the development was not unexpected going by the trend of events that had unfolded in the past few days up till the commencement of the rally on Wednesday. But he declared that the group cannot be intimidated by whatever oppressive tactics deployed to thwart its resolve to save Nigeria from bad governance and injustice.
“I want to tell you that we’ve not, and cannot be intimidated. Up till this moment [Wednesday] our leaders had been under tremendous pressure not to march on the streets of Abuja .

What our enemies wanted to hear was that we ran away, but we are not intimidated. The information at our disposal is that they have hired thugs to unleash terror on us. I was the one who wrote a letter to the IGP seeking for police protection and not permission to hold the rally. We’ve been denied access to the National Assembly complex on the grounds that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation has received our letter of complaint for onward delivery to the Acting President. Even with what has happened we should end this rally in peace, not on a sad note”, Falana admonished the participants.

In a one-page petition dated March 10, 2010 and addressed to Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, the Save Nigeria Group specifically demanded for an end to the invincible presidency of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua by the activation of Section 144 of the Constitution to enable presidential powers to be fully accountable; quick and thorough implementation of the Uwais Report on electoral reform starting with the immediate removal of Professor Maurice Iwu as chairman and the reconstitution of INEC with persons of impeccable integrity and competence, and the dissolution of the present Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF), which it accused of active collaboration with presidential aides to foist the sustained political and constitutional crises on the nation.

The SNG noted in its letter signed by fiery preacher, Pastor Tunde Bakare, that its demands are aimed at saving the nation from real and imminent dangers which are a threat to democracy and good governance. Part of the letter reads: “We, the Save Nigeria Group, a coalition of pro-democracy and human rights organizations and patriotic Nigerians who desire the entrenchment of a truly democratic and accountable governance hereby petition you on certain developments that can truncate democracy and security in Nigeria. We believe in Nigeria and are determined to fight to save the country from the control of groups and individuals that profit from the failure of the Nigerian system.
“For more than 100 days, Nigerians have not seen or heard from President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua since he was evacuated to Saudi Arabia for treatment. For the three months he reportedly stayed in an intensive care unit of a Saudi hospital, several of his aides continued to claim that the President was getting better. Some claimed he had started intense physical exercises. It is now more than two weeks since he was brought back to Nigeria in the dead of night. We have not still heard from or seen President Yar’Adua.

The refusal of President Yar’Adua to resign from office on account of his deteriorating ill-health and failure to transmit letter of vacation on time as required by the Constitution has resulted in a severe but avoidable constitutional crises. This crisis has compounded other political challenges caused by an electoral system that is designed to aid electoral malpractices. This dysfunctional electoral system threatens democracy and good governance in Nigeria.”
But the Future Nigeria Group [FNG], a relatively unknown body which was apparently sponsored by power brokers including some Area Council chairmen in the Federal Capital Territory , countered the SNG position with a threat of war if President Yar’Adua is not allowed to complete his four-year term of office. “It is Yar’Adua or war; we are ready to die for him. Goodluck (Jonathan) should go back to where he came from. The office he is presently occupying does not belong to him,” said Habibu Sule, a leader of the group while addressing members at the entry gate of the National Assembly complex shortly after the SNG procession had left the scene.

Another group –Yar’Adua for New Nigeria [YNN], questioned the role of the United States (US) Government on political developments in Nigeria, as it questioned the source of funds available to the Save Nigeria Group. Reacting on yesterday’s rallies in Abuja, YNN national secretary, Dr. Aminu Idris, warned the US government and its citizens to keep off Nigeria’s internal affairs.
Said he: “What does the Save Nigeria Group want? They wanted Mr. Vice President as Acting President; that has been done. Now, they are saying enough is enough. Will they prefer the President dead? The statement from the US State Department and the Secretary of State all point to connivance between the SNG and the USA. We plead with America in the name of God to leave Nigeria alone. Yes, we have problems, but we are capable of solving them. So, they should leave Nigeria alone. If they say there are funds meant for developmental projects from the US and other Western nations, those funds should be used for developmental activities that will benefit Nigeria, rather than using them to fund rallies and create problems for the people of Nigeria. The US government and citizens will be better off in a peaceful Nigeria . Their interest will be better served under a peaceful Nigeria.”

Though the rally by the SNG group was peaceful, there was palpable tension in the air as the procession approached the entrance of the National Assembly complex at about 11.36am and was denied access by the police. The situation was further compounded by the presence of a counter group at Eagle Square within the precincts of the Federal Secretariat complex, where they chanted solidarity songs in Hausa and carried placards bearing the photograph of Umaru Yar’Adua, with a declaration of support for the ailing President. This came amidst speculations of the presence of another group made up of members of an Islamic sect, feared to be waiting in the wings to wreak havoc.

Members of the Future Nigeria Group were conveyed to Eagle Square venue of their rally in about nine 14-seater Toyota Hiace buses some of which bore the approved colour for commercial cab and buses in Abuja, even as others have the inscription of some Area Councils of the FCT. While members of the group carried only one placard with Yar’Adua’s photograph embossed, participants at the Save Nigeria Group rally had several placards with various inscriptions. Some of them read: ‘We Must Know Umaru’s Health’, ‘Dissolve Excof Now’, ‘Governors Are Part of the Cabal’, and ‘Turai, Leave Nigeria Alone’. Others are: ‘Jonathan, Get Decisive’, ‘On Uwais Report We Stand’, and ‘Greedy Governors Want To Destroy Nigeria’.

The atmosphere at the National Assembly complex, however, became charged when, after being denied access, Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana, called on participants at about 12.04pm to return to the Unity Fountain where the rally kicked off. The visibly angry crowd refused to join Falana as he sang an inspirational song on the hope of moving Nigeria forward. Rather, some of them protested the directive and insisted that the gates of the National Assembly must be flung open. “You people [SNG] leaders must show that you are serious in this cause; as leaders, you should be able to go into that place and let the police arrest you,” one of them declared.

Even as most of the leaders of SNG had left National Assembly complex, some of the participants refused to leave until at about 12.50pm, when an unpainted mock coffin with green inscriptions was brought out from a white Toyota Coaster bus with a Federal Government of Nigeria [FGN] number plate and deposited at the gate. The bus, with the inscription of Students Union from one of the federal universities in the South-West region of the country, had conveyed participants to the venue.

Moments later, some participants at the rally carried the mock coffin and marched through Shehu Shagari Way back to the Unity Fountain in Maitama. The coffin bore the inscription: ‘R.I.P Cabal’, ‘R.I.P Kitchen Cabinet’. Less than 400 metres away from the National Assembly complex, the coffin-bearing procession was halted at about 12.58pm by a detachment of policemen led by the Assistant Commissioner of police in charge of Operations at the FCT police command, Mr. Inalegwu, but the protesters defied his orders and moved ahead. They could not even be stopped by a human barricade which the police attempted to create
Sun News

World Cup: Lagerback rules out automatic places

NEW Super Eagles coach, Lars Lagerback, has promised to pick the best players for the World Cup in South Africa in June, ruling out automatic place for any player in the squad

Speaking after he was unveiled in Abuja on Wednesday, the former Sweden manager said he would give his best to ensure that the Eagles post a fine performance at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

“I will give 100 per cent to my new job to ensure that we perform well at the World Cup. My job is to pick the best players for the team, not minding where they play their club football,” Lagerback said.

The Swede, who beat compatriot Sven-Goran Eriksson, Bruno Metsu, Ratomir Djukovic and Glenn Hoddle to the job, however admitted that the time was short for him to prepare the team adequately for the World Cup.

”Time is a big problem for me but you can‘t get everything always. I am overwhelmed by the reception I have received even when I am yet to start work,” he said.

The Director-General National Sports Commission Dr. Patrick Ekeji, who performed the unveiling ceremony, disclosed how Lagerback ended up being picked for the job.

“Before we interviewed Lagerback, Hoddle was picked as the best among the four coaches we had interviewed. But Lagerback swept everybody off their feet with his knowledge of Nigerian football. The selection process for the job will be made public very soon,” the former Green Eagles defender said.

The turnout at the unveiling ceremony was impressive with both the Nigerian Ambassador to Sweden and his Swedish counterpart in attendance. Also on the occasion were board members of the Nigeria Football Federation, Eagles captain Nwankwo Kanu and Bolton defender Danny Shittu.

Lagerback managed the Swedish national team from 1998 till 2009, leading Sweden to five consecutive championships, the first time in Swedish history. He resigned as manager in 2009 after Sweden‘s failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

Punch

Lagerback wants Beijing Olympic players in Eagles

New Super Eagles’ Technical Adviser, Lars Lagerback, has demanded for the dossier of the Nigerian Under-23 team that reached the final of the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. The Swede, who would be unveiled to Nigerians tomorrow (Wednesday), told the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)’s bigwigs that he would want the entire members of the Olympic team to start his re-building process of the Super Eagles.

According to an NFF source, the former Sweden coach was of the view that a squad that played and lost 1–0 to Argentina in the final of the Olympic Games, must be very good players and should graduate to the senior team.

Lagerback expressed surprise that the Nigerian team is still struggling after reaching the final of the Olympic Games two years earlier, adding that with those players that held the world spell-bound, the Eagles should be among the best in the world.

Our source stated that Lagerback said he would want a compile the dossier of all the players and find out why some of them were dropped from the Super Eagles, stating that he would give preference to the Olympic team players first. Speaking further, our source disclosed that Lagerback is also expected to pick local players from the domestic league and camp them occasionally before picking those who would join the main team for the world cup camping.

Sun News

We’ll cripple Nigeria —Militants

Push could come to shove with regards to the raging power tussle in the Presidency, if feelers emerging from the Niger Delta are anything to go by.

Sunday Sun learnt that groups are being mobilized by concerned leaders in the region to respond to the “dangerous ethnic trend” that had been introduced into the Aso Rock power game.
Some key former militant leaders are also said to have been contacted as part of a strategic plan to compel the cabal to stop undermining the Acting President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan.

One of the former warlords who confirmed this, but spoke on condition of anonymity, said they had watched the developments in the Presidency as it affected Jonathan and decided that it is time to act.
“Enough is enough. Since they (the cabal) have decided that Jonathan cannot occupy the office of the President because he is from the Niger Delta, we have also resolved that our oil is not for Nigeria. In fact, we are ready to dismember Nigeria. If they do not want us in Nigeria, they should not want our oil too.

“The issue is not about Jonathan, but our region. They have only used Jonathan to tell us to our faces that we are not equal in this country. So, when we start, we will ensure that there is no oil to depend on anymore. Let them use groundnut, hide and skin to run Nigeria. Since force is the language they understand, we will cripple the economy,” our source said, warning that the attacks would not be restricted to the Niger Delta.

The source insisted that the amnesty programme under which militants in the region surrendered various sophisticated arms and ammunition in October 2009 was not a hindrance as new weapons could be easily acquired within the country.

“We can start another war if we want because getting weapons is not a problem. They are everywhere in the country. You can see that the amnesty has failed, but we have restrained ourselves from going back to the creeks so that we would not be accused of being unpatriotic. But how long are we going to endure the conditions that made us take up arms in the first place?”

At the time of this report, tension was said to be high in the region with meetings being held in various areas in the creeks. Sunday Sun gathered that hostilities could resume this weekend.
A group under the aegis of the South-South Elders and Leaders Forum had, on Thursday, warned that the region would secede if the cabal continues to treat Jonathan with disdain.
Sources in the Presidency confirmed to Sunday Sun that the Acting President had not seen or met with ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua since the latter was brought into the country in an air ambulance in the early hours of last Wednesday.

Yar’Adua was for three months hospitalized in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for acute pericarditis.
His return to the country was shrouded in secrecy just the way the Saudi authorities ensured he was shielded from Nigerian government officials that visited Jeddah during his hospitalization.
Curiously, Yar’Adua’s wife, Turai that was to brief Jonathan on the health condition of her husband on Thursday reportedly shunned the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has asked Yar’Adua to apologize to Nigerians for plunging the country into crisis.

In an exclusive interview with Sunday Sun, the IYC president, Dr Chris Ekiyor, said a crisis of monumental proportion was imminent because of the prolonged regime of secrecy surrounding Yar’Adua’s health condition and had been fuelled by his secret return into the country.
“If it is true that the President has returned to Nigeria, it is good. But let him go ahead and address the nation and even apologise to Nigerians for throwing us into this crisis. Then let him resume office and give us a direction.

“There was never a time Dr Jonathan, the Ijaw or even the Niger Delta people prayed that Yar’Adua should not return. We had always prayed for his recovery and return because we believe in the unity of this country. Our worry, however, is that why is he being hidden from the Acting President and the rest of Nigerians?”
Ekiyor, who spoke to Sunday Sun at the venue of Niger Delta Peace Consolidation Conference at The Hague in Netherlands, cautioned Nigerians to be wary of the whims of those he described as manipulators in the Presidency.

“I don’t believe it is Turai Yar’Adua that is doing the manipulating. Instead, I think some people are using Turai as a front. After all, there is no constitutional provision for the office of the First Lady. Such ceremonial position cannot supersede an elective office. For instance, in France, the wife of the President quit her marriage because she said she wanted a home and not the Presidency. But here, our President’s wife is desperate to hold on to power,” he said.
The Ijaw youth leader urged Jonathan to assert himself, saying he must continue to act as president until Yar’Adua is ready to resume office.

Stand-off imminent
Jonathan may have decided to stand up against the shenanigans of the cabal by asserting his empowerment as Acting President by the National Assembly.
A Presidency source informed Sunday Sun at the weekend that he has decided to resist any move by Yar’Adua’s loyalists to reverse the February 9 resolution of the National Assembly as long as the ailing President remains incommunicado and refuses to indicate a readiness to resume office. He is said to have tightened security measures around his office and official residence.

“From now, the Acting President will assert his authority. There is a limit to what a man can endure. His loyalty and humility has been taken for granted,” the source said.
But Jonathan could confront an alleged move by the dyed-in-the-wool Yar’Adua loyalists to reverse some of the decisions taken by the Executive Council of the Federation under his watch, including the redeployment of the former Justice Minister, Michael Aondoakaa, to the Special Duties Ministry.


Sun News

They want to kill Jonathan – S/South elders

The people of South-South region yesterday took strong exception to the sidelining of Acting President Goodluck Jonathan in running the affairs of the country and threatened to break away before issues which bind the country together are subverted by a cabal.

Specifically, the South –South Elders and Leaders Forum at the end of an emergency meeting in Abuja said they were aware of attempts being made on the life of Jonathan “as part of the sinister and heinous agenda of the cabal.”

President Umaru Yar’Adua was flown back to the country from Saudi Arabia Wednesday morning, after spending 93 days to attend to his failing health, with the Acting President shut out of the arrangement to bring him back.

Addressing the press at the end of the meeting attended by 26 leaders from the zone, Dr. Mike Oberabor said the people of the South-South believed in the unity of the country, but would not accept being treated as second class citizens.
“We believe in the oneness and unity of Nigeria. We have fought for it and we trust in it. The Nigerian Constitution is what binds all of us together. If it is subverted, then there is no basis of our continued mutual existence.

“Therefore, the people of the South-South will have no other option than to break away from Nigeria. We cannot remain in a country where we are regarded as second class citizens,” the group warned. At the meeting, presided over by Chief Edwin Clark, according to a statement read by Dr Oberabor, were Admiral Mike Okhai-Akhigbe, Professor Lawrence Ekpebu, Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas, Olorogun Felix Ibru, Chief Ephraim Faloughi-Spiff, Hon. Bolere Ketebu, Mrs Helen Esuene and Chief Jackson Sunny Udoh.

Others were Senator Fred Brume, Air. Commodore Idongesit Nkangha, Senator Tari Sekibo, Chief Ewa Ita Henshaw, Chief Francis Doukpolagha, Dr B.K Adasen and Dr M.P Okonny.
Others were Chief P.Y Biakpara, Lady Anne Yougha, Dame Ambrose Akpanika, Rev. Grace Ekanem, Hon Denyanbofa Dimro, Hon Chibudom Nwuche, Lady Ime Udom and Chief Ayakeme Whisky.

The South-South leaders said that they watched in utter dismay and disbelief, the purported and stage-managed arrival of Alhaji Yar’Adua, which was allegedly orchestrated to cause destabilisation in the country.

“The secrecy surrounding the way and manner in which Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua arrived the counry is suspect. The Acting President was not briefed before and after the arrival of Yar’Adua. Ordinarily, the Acting President should receive the President on his arrival from an overseas trip.
“The Press was not allowed to cover the arrival. The coincidental power outage at the time the aircraft arrived is suspicious. The evacuation of President Yar’Adua from an aircraft into an ambulance in the dark is questionable.

“The Acting President and members of the Executive Council of the Federation and indeed the Nigerian public have not seen Alhaji Yar’Adua since his purported arrival,” the group queried.
What angered the South-South leaders more was the deployment of soldiers in the airport ahead of Yar’Adua’s arrival without the knowledge of the Acting President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

To the South –South Elders, this was an aberration and tantamount to treason, which must be probed. The group also alleged that there was massive movement of troops from various military formations and an attempt to transfer power to the military.

“This is grossly unconstitutional. We are also aware that attempts are being made on the life of the Acting President as part of the sinister and heinous agenda of the cabal,” it was alleged.
Acting President Goodluck Jonathan was warned never to take order from Turai, wife of the president, as he remained the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

“Nigeria is a democratic republic and not a monarch and an allusion that the Acting President is taking brief from Turai Yar’Adua is insulting to the Acting President and indeed, to the Nigerian people,” the elders declared.

The group also warned the Special Assistant on Communication to the President, Segun Adeniyi to stop referring to the Acting President as Vice-President, until the National Assembly rescinded its earlier decision on power equation in the country.

Sun News