Sahara Reports | Nigerian Political and Breaking News

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The Supreme Court of Nigeria this morning in Abuja this adjourned ruling in the Sokoto State gubernatorial election case until November 26, 2010 a few months before the next gubernatorial election in the state.


Supreme Court Hangs Sokoto Gubernatorial Ruling Until November 26, 2010

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The candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2007 gubernatorial election in Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, whose electoral victory was proclaimed yesterday by the Federal Court  of Appeal sitting in Ilorin, is set to declare a set of measures to inaugurate a  what he described as "New Era" of governance in Ekiti State today at his swearing scheduled for 12 in Ado Ekiti.

Sources close to Dr. Fayemi, an expert in war studies and a reknowned pro-democracy activist disclosed to Saharareporters that Fayemi's inauguration speech will include the announcement of some "critical measures" which will seek a return to the "glorious days of Chief Obafemi Awolowo's leadership of the Western Region."

Fayemi To Declare a "New Era" Reminiscent Of Awo's Period in Ekiti State

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The trial of former Federal Capital Territory Minister; Mallam Nasir el Rufai before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja this morning suffered a set back as the court has declined jurisdiction to try the former minister who was alleged to have abused his office by revoking parcels land allocated to Power Holding Company of Nigeria and allocating same to his wives and cronies.

                 

El Rufai and 2 others who were in charge of land matters while he held sway at the helm of affairs at the FCT Ministry were charged before the court on the provisions of the ICPC Act of 2004. They were alleged to have abused their offices as they conducted official functions in such manners as to enrich themselves.

The former minister challenged his trial before the Federal High Court stating that the ICPC Act provides for trial of alleged contraventions to be conducted at a state High Court of the FCT High Court in the case of the Federal Capital Territory. He urged the court to decline jurisdiction as it lacks the jurisdiction to try him.

Land Fraud: Court Discharges El Rufai-PM News, Lagos

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SaharaReporters, New York  - UNESCO has suspended the controversial President Teodoro Obiang Nguema prize.

UNESCO Suspends African Dictator's Prize

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As the trial of the suspected MEND leader, Henry Okah, unravels in South Africa and that of his older brother, Charles, begins in Abuja, the broader Okah family is internally battling another of the brothers who is alleged to be the one who sold out his siblings.



Known as "Dr. Bowie," the 41-year old's original name is Sonny Bowie Okah, and he is the younger brother of Henry.  Members of the family believe he has been providing the Nigerian government with unusual help in tracking down two of his brothers - Henry and Charles!  

Sunny is number six in line in the Okah family of 9 children. For some reason, he has been at loggerheads with Charles and Henry dating back to the 1990s when Henry is alleged to have actively engaged in serious arms business. 

Family sources told Saharareporters that Sunny had business disagreements with Charles which prompted Henry's intervention.  From that time, the relationship went sour and family ties were irretrievably broken.

The sources told Saharareporters that Sonny's troubles started after he was kicked out of the Nigerian Defence Academy.  He returned to Lagos to live with his father and later his elder brother, Charles, in the Apapa area of Lagos.

Turmoil, As Okah Family Identify "Enemy Within"

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Investigations by Saharareporters have revealed that three main targets of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are fully back in Nigeria and walking free – after they were declared wanted by the anti-corruption agency.



The three are businessman Mike Adenuga, former Governor Ahmed Adamu Muazu, and an Abuja-based lawyer, Dele Oye.

Adenuga, a controversial businessman who has acted for long as a financial front for former military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, publicly showed off his presence and freedom last week. He attended a packed event at Eko Hotel in Lagos where he launched fiber optic cable from London. Numerous public officials, including the Senate President, David Mark, and the governors of Lagos and Ogun states attended the event.



The EFCC recently made a fan-fare of declaring Adenuga wanted following revelations that that he and his wife, Titi Adenuga, had received bribes from Siemens officials. After ignoring a series of invitations to appear before the EFCC in the guise of attending the World Cup in South Africa, Mr. Adenuga sneaked out of the country, leading the EFCC to declare him wanted.

"I can confirm that Chief is back in town, he is not hiding, and nobody from the EFCC has come to his door yet," said a source close to Mr. Adenuga who is the proprietor of Glo, a Nigerian telecommunications company.

EFCC Looks Other Way As Three High-Profile Fugitives Walk Free

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Global Information System, a privately run thinktank of retired U.S. military strategists, has published a report attacking the government of Goodluck Jonathan for the "corruption of the Nigerian political process, now in full swing."



The report, published on the rightwing website WorldTribune, alleges that "major payments are now being made to each of the delegates of the political parties, particularly the overwhelmingly large ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP), who decide the primary elections which then select the party candidate for the presidential elections in 2011."

PDP Primaries: US Military Strategists Claim Jonathan Is "Bribing" $13,000 Per PDP Delegate

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Africa's foremost novelist Chinua Achebe yesterday declared himself a "lucky man." Achebe, who holds the Mariana Fisher Professorship at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, made the statement last night at the Hudson Theatre in New York City where he received the 2010 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize.



The prize, established under the will of Lillian Gish, is awarded annually to "a man or a woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind's enjoyment and understanding of life." Lillian Gish and her sister, Dorothy, were actresses who ruled the big screen in the first half of the 20th century.

"Though I did not meet the two sisters," Chinua said, "I feel that I know them. And that they knew me in my little corner."

Achebe was honored for excelling in his field of writing and for being a role model for others. The managing Director of JPMorgan Chase Bank, Lisa Philip, called Achebe one of the world's greatest living writers. JP Morgan Chase Bank is the trustee of the prize.

In his stirring remark to introduce Achebe, Jamaican novelist Ekwueme Michael Thelwell exalted Achebe's humanity. He narrated tales of Achebe's demonstration of courage, integrity and generosity. "Unlike some other prizes, the recipient of this prize is enhanced by the prize. He equally enhances the prize," said Thelwell, a visiting professor of Africana Studies at Brown University. He noted that Achebe was joining a distinguished list of past winners. Past winners of the Gish Prize include Ingmar Bergman, Bob Dylan, Arthur Miller, Robert Redford and Peter Seeger.

"I'm Lucky," Says Chinua Achebe, As He Receives Gish Prize

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Named importers: Sheikh Ali Abbas Othman; Mr. Azimi Agajany; Mr. Sayed Akbar Tahmaesebi and Mal. Aliyu Oroje Wamakko.



Sheikh Ali Abbas Othman Hassan, better known in Nigerian activist Muslim circles as Sheikh Abbas Jega, was the man who facilitated the importation of the controversial arms consignment into Nigeria, Daily Trust learnt from top security sources in Abuja yesterday. It was Sheikh Abbas who issued invitations to the two Iranian businessmen who imported the arms to come to Nigeria and thus helped them to secure visas, the sources said. His name was also given on the shipping documents as the owner of the 13 containers in Nigeria. The Sheikh is currently in Tehran.

Iranian Arms Imports To Nigeria: The Men Who Did It- A Report By Daily Trust Newspapers, Abuja

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In the latest Presidential memo on the Petroleum Industry Bill, obtained by Saharareporters, the Goodluck Jonathan regime reveals its final plan for the so-called "10 percent" Niger Delta community payments measure announced by late Umaru Yar'Adua over a year ago.



The so-called plan was drafted by Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah, Presidential Adviser on Energy.  (For details of his contentious contributions, see pp.88f and pp.289f of the attached document).

Under the latest terms, oil companies will enjoy unrestricted profits - the pesky 10 percent share with Niger Delta residents having been excised by the drafter.

When Yar'Adua's administration first announced the 10% in September 2009, it was said communities would "own" a 10 percent equity stake in the Federal Government's 6 Joint Ventures (JVs) with Shell, Mobil, Chevron, Total, Agip, and Panocean.  But under Egbogah's revision, communities are only pledged $600m a year - regardless of company profits - in "host community dividends" as "compensation."  Of course, the National Assembly can yank these back whenever it chooses.

Jonathan's PIB Memo: '10 percent' Profit Share For Niger Delta 'Disappeared' Under New Petroleum Industry Bill