Hoodlums disrupt Ondo Assembly over N15m scam, guest house
From Julius Alabi, Akure

MANY members of the Ondo State House of Assembly threw finesse to the winds yesterday, bolting through windows and scaling fences to escape the wrath of suspected political thugs.

The suspected hoodlums, armed with dangerous weapons including guns, charms and cutlasses, had stormed the House, demanding answers to unresolved questions over a ‘phanthon’ guest house project and the N15 million meant for its construction.

The Guardian learnt that the House has been engulfed in controversy over a guest house said to have been completed at a cost of N15 million by the immediate past legislators.

However, up till yesterday, neither the building nor the N15 million spent on it could be traced.

The N15 million was alleged to have actually been used for the Governorship and House of Assembly elections by the immediate past legislators.

However, having apparently gotten wind of the fraud, suspected hoodlums who were used to execute the last general elections besieged the house demanding their own share of the money as their remuneration.

Eyewitnesses told The Guardian that the Leader of the House, Mr. Kunle Agunbiade, got a raw deal from the miscreants who accused him of failing to fulfil his promise to set aside money for their promised monthly stipend.

It was gathered that it took the intervention of the Speaker of the House, Mr. Olufowobi Bakkita Bello, to save the situation. He promised to look into the grouse of the hoodlums.

Some of the scared legislators, who spoke to The Guardian, admitted that the issue of the N15 million guest house had been discussed in the House several times without resolution. They confirmed that both the money and guest house were nowhere to be found.

“We are trying to find out how the money was utilised and those responsible for the disappearance of the funds. We are going to make those behind the scam cough it out because it was meant for the members of the House,” one of them said.

Militants demand N500m from Agagu
By Femi Makinde, Akure
Published: Friday, 17 Aug 2007

Some militants operating in the Niger-Delta have demanded N500m from the Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu.

The demand was made by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger-Delta (western fringe) in a statement issued by one Chief Ibeseikumo Biku and distributed to journalists in Akure on Thursday.

According to the unsigned statement by Biku, “the money will be used to demobilise stranded militants allegedly recruited to vote for Agagu during the April poll.”

He said, ” We demand in strongest terms the sum of five hundred million naira (N500m) to immediately dispatch the stranded youth in the camp back to their respective places from where they were mobilised.”

Biku who is referred to as the general officer commanding the militant group said that over 500 militants were mobilised from the entire Niger Delta (i.e. from Akwa Ibom to Ondo State) to ensure Agagu’s success at the poll.

Biku claimed that some Ijaw leaders in the state, like the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. D.I. Kekemeke, Mr. Kingsley Kuku and others represented the governor in reaching the agreement with the militants.

He said that the people of Ese-Odo would not have voted for Agagu if not for the assurance they were given by these notable Ijaw leaders in the area.

Biku also warned the Ijaw leaders whom he said represented the governor to stay away from ”our territory as we declare them wanted.”

He added that the militants had concluded plans to teach the negotiators and the state government a very bitter lesson any moment from now.

“The arrangement on the ground are such that will not only embarrass the government but is capable of forcing Dr. Agagu to pack out of the state. The government should not forget too soon that we have duplicates of all the results of the elections that took place in our camp. If that happens the government should take the blame,” Biku said.

But the Governor denied ever reaching an agreement with the militant group nor any group for his re-election.

The governor who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Yemi Olowolabi, to our correspondent on the telephone said that he did not need to sign any pact with any militant before winning an election.

According to him, the governor did not enter into any agreement with the militants either by himself or by proxy.

He said, ” Dr. Agagu cannot and does not need to enter into any agreement with any body before he wins elections. The people of Ese-Odo Local Government Area voted massively for the governor on the account of his excellent performance which have brought about transformation in the lives of the people. The issue of the governor reaching an agreement with the people does not arise at all.

“Here is a government which tarred over 600 kilometres of roads in about four years, this is unprecedented. He constructed a road to link the Ese-Odo with the upland. He did the same in Ilaje Local Government Area. Ondo State is also the most peaceful oil-producing state in Nigeria, this is so because of prevalence of justice and equity in the management of the oil resources. Honestly, there was no need for such agreement.”

My life is in danger, Mimiko’s lawyer tells tribunal
By Femi Makinde, Akure

Published: Tuesday, 14 Aug 2007

A counsel to the Labour Party in Ondo State, Dr. Olumide Ayeni, has raised the alarm over death threats to his life.
Ayeni, who is a member of legal team of the LP Governorship Candidate, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, said this during the proceedings at the election petitions tribunal sitting in Akure on Monday.

The lawyer said that he had been receiving death threats from some unknown persons in recent times.

He told the tribunal that some people whom he believed were out to harm him had been trailing him since Friday.

The lawyer who was escorted to the sitting by private security guards added that the people trailing him also forced their ways into his hotel room in Akure at the weekend. He said that he had been living in a hideout since the incident.

Ayeni’s alarm came two days after the house of Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Mimiko’s lead counsel was torched by yet to be identified persons.

He prayed the tribunal to grant him some days adjournment in order to go to Abuja to make a formal complaint to the Police authorities.

According to him, the Abuja trip will allow him and the other members of the team to personally present their complaints to the Police Headquarters and demand for police protection.

The election petition tribunal in Ondo State on Wednesday struck out the application brought by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to set aside an earlier order granted to the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the state, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.

The tribunal said the order granted to Mimiko was to allow him inspect, examine and make copies and scan through electronic device all the materials and documents used by the commission for the April 14 governorship election.

Justice G.N. Nabaruma-led tribunal ruled that the order was granted according to the provisions of the section 159 of the Electoral Act 2006.

The tribunal had on June 18 granted the order, while the INEC filed a motion on notice on July 27, praying the tribunal to set aside or vary to exclude scanning of the materials electronically.
Counsel to INEC, P.O. Jimoh-Lasisi (SAN), also argued that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction to make such order, as it was not contained in the Electoral Act, adding that the Evidence Act also did not provide for scanning of materials.
He said the respondents were not served with copies of the motion before it was granted to Mimiko.
But counsel to the petitioner, Dr. Olumide Ayeni, said the application was misconceived and should be struck out by the tribunal.

Dr. Ayeni said section 5(a) of the Evidence Act permits the tribunal to admit evidence from other sources, saying that the tribunal had power to make the order and should be sustained.
He referred the tribunal to the Black Law Dictionary for the meaning of “inspect” and “scanning” as far as the order was concerned.

Striking out the INEC’s application, the tribunal said it was granted based on the provisions of the section 159 of the Electoral Act.
It also noted that the time between the granting of the order and that of the filing of INEC’s application was too much in an election petition, where time is very essential.
The tribunal said, “we hold that the order is sustained, as the only option opened to the applicants, is to go to the Appeal Court to have the order set aside.”

Meanwhile, the tribunal has struck out two petitions filed against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidates in the April election.
The petitions were filed by the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) over the House of Assembly election.

The DPA challenged the election of Mr. Samuel Adesina representing Odigbo Constituency II and Oye Aladetan, who was returned as the winner of the election into the house from Ilaje Constituency I.

The tribunal ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suits as they were filed after the 30 days required by the 2006 Electoral Act to file the same.

The DPA’s candidates in the election, Samuel Ogunwomiju and Francis Ogunfeyimi had filed the petitions challenging the results of the elections, arguing that they were marred with irregularities and non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.

Tribunal strikes out Ondo DPA’s petitions against PDP
By Dayo Johnson
Posted to the Web: Thursday, August 09, 2007

AKURE—THE Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Akure the Ondo State capital, yesterday, struck out two different petitions filed by the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) against Peoples Democratic Party PDP and two of its members in the state House of Assembly over the April 14 polls.

Chairman of the tribunal Justice G. N. Nabaruma in his ruling in Akure in the petition brought to the tribunal by the DPA to challenge the election of Samuel Adesina representing Odigbo state constituency 11 and Oye Aladetan in Ilaje constituency 1, declared that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suits, as they were statute barred.

Also, yesterday the tribunal dismissed INEC’s petition against the tribunal’s Order allowing the Labour Party in the state to inspect and scan ballot materials used during the elections.

The order granted to Dr Olusegun Mimiko, according to the tribunal was to allow him inspect, examine and make copies and scan through electronic device all the materials and documents used by the commission for the April 14 governorship election.

The tribunal ruled that the order was granted according to the provisions of the section 159 of the Electoral Act 2006. As regards the petitions that were struck out the tribunal said that the party and its candidates filed the petition after the required date sated in the 2006 Electoral Act.

OAU students petition tribunal over April polls result
By Gbenga Olarinoye
Posted to the Web: Monday, August 06, 2007

OSOGBO—Students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife, have petitioned the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Osogbo over the 30, 000 votes declared by Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) for the institution during the April 14 Governorship/House of Assembly election describing it as fraudulent.

In the petition addressed to the Chairman dated 31 July 2007, copies of which were made available to newsmen in Osogbo weekend, the students argued that the votes said to have been garnered in the school could not have been true when students were not around during the exercise to cast their votes.

The petition signed by the principal officers of the students union stated that there was no way “the INEC could have gotten such outrageous number of votes from the campus that was shut down on the 28 of February and the students were told to vacate the campus within three hours while mobile policemen were used to complete the sweeping the second day.”

Ehindero Indicted, Obaniyi For Sack •Yar’Adua Receives Report

August 8th, 2007

By Rafiu Ajakaye Reporter, Lagos

Investigators of the N21.6 million fraud in the police have, in their report, concluded that former Inspector General (IG), Sunday Ehindero, engaged in a “criminal breach of trust with intent to convert the money”.

Acting IG, Mike Okiro, confirmed in the report he forwarded to Aso Rock that the Force Budget Section is infested with shady deals, including financial misdeeds.

He pledged to arrest all of that.

The report found Commissioner of Police (CP), John Obaniyi, guilty of negligence, breach of public trust and intent to conceal the money; with Okiro predicting his sack on the recommendation of the Police Service Commission (PSC).

Okiro is silent, however, on what punishment would be meted to Ehindero, but stated that the N21.6 million was contingency fund for the 2007 elections, including operations at tribunals.

He accused Ehindero and Obaniyi of cover-ups in the scandal that drew criticism and jeers from opposition parties.

Lai Mohammed, Action Congress (AC) spokesman, had accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of buying over the security agencies in shenanigans that told the lie of his war against greed and graft.

Obaniyi manned Force Budget Section until June 7 when the Criminal Intelligence Bureau (CIB) blew the whistle on the scam; after his driver, Elisha Augustine, and personal assistant, Olu Monday, were arrested for illegal movement of cash.

The CIB uncovered large sums stuffed in empty cartons and closed files in a store room, triggering finger-pointing among top police officers. Ehindero equally gave his own excuses, then denied any wrongdoing.

“Further to my interim investigation report … dated 15th June, 2007, I submit to (the President) the investigation report into the case of alleged conspiracy, breach of trust, theft, corrupt practices and stealing by public officers,” Okiro said in the report.

“In my earlier report, I had intimated (you) of the conduct of … Obaniyi who, against financial regulations, had kept in a store room files and empty cartons containing … N21,650,000 which should have been lodged in a bank or secured in a safe.

“The erstwhile IG, in his statement to the investigating team, had averred that the said amount should have been a subject of handing and taking over between the outgoing and the incoming CP budget. This non-disclosure of the facts of the sum, even when I confronted him (Ehindero), is tantamount to criminal breach of trust with intent to convert the money”.

Obaniyi, on suspension since the start of the sleaze, is accused of negligence, discreditable conduct, and conduct prejudicial to discipline.

Okiro said failure to hand over the money to the new CP Budget – as appropriate – implies that Obaniyi was up to a game.

“(Obaniyi)’s matter would be determined by the Force Disciplinary Committee and obviously shown (the way) out of the Force, as the Force cannot accommodate such a dishonest officer who has assaulted our rules with impunity.

“However, this recommendation will have to wait for the ratification of the Police Service Commission, which is yet to be reconstituted, following the expiration of the five years mandatory tenure of the former Commission ….

“The case file has been sent to the Legal Department of the Force, to ascertain if there is enough prima facie evidence to activate judicial process against the officer”.

Okiro pledged to curb such practices. All officers linked with the scandal have been posted out of the Budget Section.

Those posted to the section are to be rotated regularly to prevent them from mastering the system – which Okiro thinks facilitated the fraud.

And “only professionally trained personnel with high moral credentials will henceforth be posted to work in the section”.