Jonathan should address Obasanjo’s allegations – Falana, Adedoyin

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), said on Thursday that President Goodluck Jonathan should address the allegations levelled against  him by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Obasanjo, in a letter to Jonathan dated December 2 but leaked to the media on Wednesday, had  among others, accused Jonathan of incompetence,  abuse of office, corruption and gross mismanagement of the resources of the nation.

Falana said in a statement on Thursday that while Obasanjo’s allegations against the President must not be swept under the carpet,  the ex-President lacked the moral authority to tutor Jonathan on any of the subjects raised.

“No doubt, the allegations which lacerated the controversial letter are weighty. Instead of dismissing the contents of the letter the Presidency should respond to the allegations raised therein seriatim. In particular, the allegation that the Federal Government is setting up a Presidential Strike Force to carry out terrorist attacks on political opponents should not be swept under the carpet,” Falana said.

The rights lawyer, who picked hole in Obasanjo’s 18-page letter, urged Nigerians to take advantage “of the intra-class war going on in the ruling party to get organised and take their political destiny in their own hands.”

Controversial letter: Jonathan, Obasanjo meet in Kenya

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday met behind closed doors in the  Intercontinental Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya.

The meeting held less than 24 hours after an 18-page   letter Obasanjo    sent to Jonathan went public.

Both leaders were in Nairobi for  Kenya’s  50th independence anniversary which was held inside the Safaricom Stadium.

The former President had in the letter accused Jonathan of  condoning corruption and engaging in acts  that were capable of destroying the country.

Before  the event, Obasanjo had made an  appearance at Jonathan’s hotel on a day the  media were awash with the letter  titled “Before it is too late.”

The former President’s arrival was said  to have been heralded by the surprise visit to Jonathan by Obasanjo’s daughter identified simply as Funke.

A source told The PUNCH  that a few minutes after that, Obasanjo arrived to the surprise of Jonathan’s aides.

Assembly takeover: Rivers APC vows to appeal judgment

THE Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has vowed to appeal against the ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja that nullified the takeover of the functions of the State House of Assembly by the National Assembly.

The state APC said it rejected the court ruling delivered by Justice Ahmed Mohammed, adding that the judgement was capable of causing a breakdown of law and order in the state.

In a statement signed by the Senior Special Adviser to the Interim State Chairman, APC Rivers State, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, the APC added that the decision of the High Court was not in the interest of the people of the state.

It noted that the anti-Amaechi lawmakers had concluded plans to impeach the Governor  Rotimi Amaechi, his deputy, Mr. Tele Ikuru, as a result of the court ruling.

Supreme Court reverses Bode George fraud conviction

More than three years after serving a two-year jail term in Kirikiri Maximum Prison for contract splitting, the Supreme Court in Abuja on Friday reversed the conviction of the former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Olabode George.

The judges of the apex court, headed by Afolabi Fabiyi, in their judgment, ruled that the charges of contract splitting, on which the EFCC arraigned and secured the conviction of the politician, was unknown to law of the land.

This development came less than three days after former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, accused President Goodluck Jonathan of encouraging corruption.

The apex court ruled that the EFCC, which prosecuted George, did not sufficiently prove that the defendant had an intention to commit fraud at the Nigeria Port Authority.

George and other board members of the NPA, where the politician was  the chairman, were convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment byJustice Oyewole of a Lagos High Court for contract splitting.

PUNCH

Jonathan shouldn’t take Nigeria back to Abacha days – APC

The All Progressives Congress has urged the Jonathan administration not to take Nigeria back to the dreaded and calamitous days of the late Gen. Sani Abacha, when perceived opponents of the government were targets of rampaging murderous gangs and Nigeria was turned to a pariah nation through unbridled human rights abuses.

In a statement issued in Osogbo on Friday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party expressed serious concern over the allegations that the Jonathan administration is training snipers at the same facility where the Abacha killer squad was trained; talks of abuse and misuse of the military and other security apparatus for personal and political interest as well as the reported placing of 1,000 people under a ’political watch-list’
It said the party is constrained to take the allegations very seriously because it emanated from no less a personality than former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in an open letter he wrote to his fellow party man, President Jonathan, which has now been widely circulated in the traditional and Social Media..
”All Nigerians must be worried by these weighty allegations, coming less than 15 years after the long-suffering people had collectively vowed ‘never again’ to a regime like Abacha’s that sent many innocent souls to their early graves and dispatched many citizens into forced exile for merely holding views that were opposed to that of the late dictator’s government.

FG/ASUU sign agreement, varsities to reopen soon

After five months and 10 days that the public universities have been on strike, the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities on Wednesday finally signed a fresh  agreement.

The fresh pact is the review of the Federal Government/ASUU 2012 Memorandum of Understanding reached on the 2009 agreement.

Both parties, however, refused to reveal the details of the agreement to journalists who witnessed the signing of the agreement.

The meeting was almost boycotted by the union until the intervention of stakeholders.

ASUU had on Tuesday vowed not to attend the meeting because there was no commitment and proper invitation from the government.

The union had demanded for proof of the payment of the N200bn into a Central Bank of Nigeria account for public universities, non-victimisation clause, review of the agreement in 2014 and that a representative of government, preferably the Attorney-General of the Federation to sign the agreement as conditions to call off the strike which began on July 1.

Obasanjo bombs Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan is under  a fresh attack . This time, it  is a stinker  from a former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

 The Balogun of Owu, Abeokuta, did not make an impromptu speech at a public forum, he took his time to pen what he felt to be Jonathan’s  failings.

In  an 18-page  letter to  the President, Obasanjo  accused  him, among other things, of  not honouring his words  and  taking actions calculated at destroying Nigeria.

The  letter dated December 2, 2013 and titled, “Before it is too late”  became public  knowledge on Wednesday. Only on Monday, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, said Jonathan was paying lip service to  the anti-corruption campaign  in the country.

In the letter, Obasanjo accused the President of  pursuing “ selfish personal and political interests based on advise from his “self-centred aides.”

He also alleged that the President had  failed  to deliver on his promises to Nigerians and to  curb insurgency and corruption in the country.