Plot to abduct Jega during presidential poll revealed

Fresh facts have emerged on the March 31 attempt by a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, to scuttle the announcement of the March 28 presidential election results.

The main part of Orubebe’s action, according to Reuters on Thursday, was a plot to use hired thugs     to kidnap the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, and consequently stall the electoral process.

The news agency quoted unnamed pro-democracy advocates and a Nigeria-based diplomat as saying that one of Jega’s aides unearthed the plot.

It said that the aide had sent a text message to an independent voting monitor, “warning of an imminent threat to the electoral process.”

Reuters said it pieced the information together from the text message, events on the ground during the announcement of the results and interviews with pro-democracy advocates and diplomats in   Abuja.

It added that when the independent voting monitor sent the SMS, he hoped the outside world would hear of the plot and the text of the message .

“Fellow countrymen, Nigeria on Trial,” read the SMS sent on the morning of March 31 to the head of the Situation Room, an Abuja-based coalition of human rights groups and pro-democracy advocates monitoring the elections.

“Plans are on storm [sic] the podium at the ICC Collation Centre and disrupt the process. Nobody is sue [sic] what will happen. Please share this as widely as possible,” the text read further.

At that moment,   Jega was about to preside over the announcement of the results.

As tallies from around the country showed that the All Progressives Congress candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, was leading, “unidentified PDP(Peoples Democratic Party) hard-liners started to panic, seeking ways of manipulating the count,” the boss of the Situation Room and the diplomat said, citing political contacts in the Niger Delta and Abuja.

Realising they could not engineer an outright win,   the PDP agents set about doctoring the tally at collation centres in pro- (Goodluck) Jonathan areas to ensure Buhari failed to meet a requirement for 25 per cent support in two-thirds of the states, the head of the Situation Room said, citing reports from election monitors on the ground.

Reuters said its reporter witnessed and photographed one tally list in Port Harcourt, Rivers State with suspiciously similar totals for registered voters at polling stations: 500, 500, 500, 500, 500, 500, 500, 500, 450.

In another tally centre in the city, 17,594 valid votes were recorded out of a registered voter population of 11,757, the Reuters reporter said.

Foreign election observers also noted the peculiarities – and contacted diplomats in Abuja who called in international intervention.

The United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, and his British counterpart, Philip Hammond, who were in Switzerland for talks on Iran – issued a tough statement saying vote counting “may be subject to deliberate political interference.”

But   as Buhari’s lead grew, some PDP supporters from the Niger Delta, including Orubebe, decided on a final gamble: to create a disturbance in the main INEC hall and have “thugs snatch Jega from the stage, Reuters quoted the Head of the Situation Room and the Abuja-based diplomat.

What the group planned to do after the abduction was unclear, they   said.

“It was a desperate thing, mostly by a group of people from the Niger Delta who were in the room,” the Situation Room head said, describing events that unfolded publicly in the minutes after he received the SMS.

When Jega opened proceedings on the morning of March 31, Orubebe had grabbed a microphone and launched into an 11-minute tirade accusing Jega of bias.

“Mr. chairman, we have lost confidence in you,” he shouted, pushing away officials trying to make him surrender the microphone. “You are being very, very selective. You are partial,” he continued, surrounded by three or four supporters. “You are tribalistic. We cannot take it.”

At this point, according to the Head of the Situation Room and the diplomat, Jega’s security details were approached by unidentified individuals telling them to stand down but they declined.

“Some of the guards who had been guarding Jega for years demanded a written order,” the Head of the Situation Room said.

Jega later rebuked Orubebe, saying, “Let us not disrupt a process that has ended peacefully,” he said as Orubebe slumped in his chair.

“Mr. Orubebe, you are a former minister of the Federal Republic. You are a statesman in your own right. You should be careful about what you say or about what allegations you make,” he said.

Orubebe later congratulated Buhari on Twitter, expressing his “apologies to fellow Nigerians.”

Orubebe did not respond to requests by the news agency for comment on the details of the plot.

INEC, said the news agency,   also declined to comment and turned down requests for an interview with Jega,

   Reuters however said it found no evidence to suggest that Jonathan, who accepted defeat in the election, was involved in the plot.

The Chief Press Secretary to the chairman of the commission,   Kayode Idowu, told our correspondent that he was not aware of the alleged plot to kidnap Jega.

Idowu said, “I think somebody is imagining here. The chairman was not aware of any such plan, he didn’t conduct any investigation to know that. He was not under such threat during or after the announcement.’’

TIME names Buhari, Ezekwesili, Adichie, Shekau 100 most influential in 2015

President-elect Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has made the TIME’s list of 100 most influential people in the world.
Also included in the 2015 list are the advocate of the Bring Back Our Girls Group, Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili; award-winning novelist, Chimamanda Adichie, and leader of the Boko Haram terrorist group, Abubakar Shekau.
The TIME 100 is an annual list of 100 most influential people in the world whose works are changing the world, regardless of the consequences of their actions.
Described as “a new choice for Nigeria,” TIME’s Africa Bureau Chief, Aryn Baker, said Buhari made history in March by becoming the first candidate to oust a sitting Nigerian President through the ballot box.
“Now he has to live up to voters’ expectations. From battling the Boko Haram insurgency to tackling endemic corruption, Buhari has many challenges ahead. The greatest may be overcoming his past as a military ruler, who seized power in 1983.
“Already the born-again democrat is demonstrating the inclusivity necessary to lead a nation driven by ethnic and religious tension. It’s a promising start for a President-to-be, who wants to leave a legacy to match the historic conditions of his election,” Baker noted.
Renowned Ugandan activist, Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, said of Ezekwesili, “It has been a year, and the girls(Chibok girls) haven’t been rescued, but she has made a difference by speaking about it. Not just speaking but shouting. I know some people will say she is too loudmouthed. The loud mouth is needed. People hear it.”
Adichie was also described as “conjurer of character” by the deputy Managing Director of TIME, Radhika Jones.
“It’s the rare novelist, who in the space of a year finds her words sampled by Beyoncé, optioned by Lupita Nyong’o and honoured with the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction,” she said.
The last Nigerian to make the list is Shekau. Described as the “scourge of Africa” by General Carter Ham(retd.), a former Commander of US Africa Command from 2011 to 2013.
Ham said Shekau was the “most violent killer” Nigeria (and Africa) had ever seen.
Shekau took over the Boko Haram group in 2009 after the group had been weakened by the Nigerian military.

Xenophobic (pics): Nigerians in South Africa seek Safety at Home Affairs office

To avoid being killed or injured, some Nigerians who live in areas where Zulu boys have unleashed terror ran to the Department of Home Affairs in Pretoria to seek refuge. There, they claim the security asked them for money before they were allowed to enter the compound. Is Nigeria that bad that people would rather live like this than come home? for how long will they stay there only time will tell.

Kidnapped children reunited with family

Emotions ran high on Wednesday at the Police College Hospital, Ikeja, where the Orekoya children were being treated after they were released by their captors.

Their father, Leke, said they were put in bags by the kidnappers, who left them at the Shasha area of Lagos.

it was earlier reported how the children ─ Aderomola (11 months), Adedamola (4 years) and Demola (6 years) – were abducted by a nanny, Mary Akinloye, who was employed through OLX, an online sales portal, less than 24 hours after she resumed work in the house in the Surulere area of Lagos.

However, after being employed on April 7, 23-year-old Akinloye escaped with the children the following day when their parents were away at work.

The family was later contacted on the telephone by people suspected to be working with Akinloye, demanding a ransom of N15m.

The kidnappers were said to have reduced the ransom to N13m, insisting they would not take less.

They had threatened to kill the kids if the money was not paid.

On Wednesday, exactly eight days after the abduction, PUNCH Metro learnt the three children had been released to the family.

They were said to have been released on Tuesday night, and taken to the Police College Hospital, Ikeja, for treatment.

Our correspondent, who visited the hospital, observed as their father, Leke, cuddled 11-month-old Aderomola.

He sang a lullaby as the child slowly shut his eyes, drifting to sleep.

He had a drip fastened to his wrist.

The other boys ─ Adedamola and Demola ─ whose drips had been disconnected, played around the Female Ward of the police hospital.

While Demola played games on his father’s tablet phone, Adedamola asked for his portion of a chocolate bar being shared by their mother.

Their mother, while trying to keep them in check, asked if they wanted to go back to their “new house”.

The six-year-old, who quickly recoiled, said, “No, it’s a bad place. I don’t want to go back there.”

When our correspondent asked for an account of what transpired and how the kids were rescued, their father said the family would address the press formally on Thursday, adding, “we want to rest today.”

He said, “However, I give thanks to the Almighty God for saving my kids and bringing us together again.

“This is not by our power. This is a result of the prayers of people for us. We saw the effect of prayers at every point while we were trying to secure the release of the children.

“The children were put in bags. It is not the work of the SSS, the military or police. It was God and I am grateful to him.”

However, at the Orekoya’s residence on Lawani Road, Itire, where relatives and family members eagerly awaited their arrival, It was gathered that money was paid to the kidnappers.

The father of the children’s mother, Senior Apostle Abraham Adekunle, stress that the kidnappers sent an account number to the family to pay the ransom.

When asked for the amount paid, he said he could not tell.

He said, “For the eight days that the children were taken away, we did not rest. But yesterday (Tuesday), they called us and said we should send the money to them. They sent their account number to us. Immediately they collected the money, they called us and said they had dropped the children at Egbeda.”

It was gathered that children were picked up at about 9pm.

It was learnt that the children had mosquito bites on their bodies, which made their visit to the police hospital inevitable.

The children’s aunty, Adesumbo Alabi, said the family was happy that the children were returned hale and hearty.

She said the family was able to pay the ransom through the contributions of members of the public and relatives, who responded to the family’s distress call.

Alabi added, “The incident still appears like a home video to me. When I came here and saw the situation on the ground, I couldn’t hold back my tears. Even while we were looking for the kids on Sunday, we did thanksgiving after praying for hours, believing that the children will be back to us.

“We thank God the kidnappers asked for money, because there are cases where kidnappers don’t even ask for money, and the next thing you hear is that their captives are dead. But these ones asked for money, and the children are back.

“Many people supported us with money. The appeal we made through Facebook, television stations, radios, newspapers, were not in vain. But I don’t think the kidnappers were able to collect all the money they asked for.”

Alabi condemned OLX for not assisting the family to secure the release of the children.

It was gathered that the police were on the trail of the kidnappers.

A source said when Akinloye reported at the residence of the Orekoyas for work last week Tuesday, the victims’ mother took her to the office.

It was learnt that while their mother showed her to her co-workers as the new nanny she just employed, the Closed Circuit Television cameras got her image.

The source said, “When Akinloye reported to work, she(Mrs. Orekoya) took her to her office around 8am. She told her co-workers, ‘see my new nanny’, and they were all happy to see her.

“It was the following day, which was Wednesday, that she left the nanny at home with the children. The nanny then said she wanted to buy biscuits for them and she abducted them.”

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, said the police rescued the children.

He said, “When we got the hideout, we cordoned off the area. The kidnappers got the information that we were closing in on them, and what they did was to quickly abandon the children and flee.

“They are beautiful children and we have returned them to their parents.”

The state police spokesperson, Kenneth Nwosu, said the police were on the trail of the kidnappers, adding that the victims were rescued around 9pm in the Shasha area of Lagos.

I abducted Magodo Children too says nanny who kidnapped three kids

The nanny, who kidnapped three Lagos children in the Surulere area of Lagos State last week, who called herself Mary Akinloye, has confessed that she also kidnapped the two kids (Raphael and Michael Esharegan) and from the Magodo area of the state, who were kidnapped last year.
 Akinloye (not her real name) was arrested on Wednesday evening in the Shasha area of Lagos by the Nigerian Police Force after she was tracked by “technological tools.” She said her team, which consisted of her brother-in-law, sister-in-law, her husband and herself, collected N2m for the Magodo kidnap, which occurred December last year.
She had been employed as a maid by the Magodo couple through the same OLX, an online sales portal. The suspect added that after the ransom was paid, she was given N30, 000 as her share. She revealed that her real name was not Mary Akinloye and she was not 23-year-old. Speaking in Yoruba, she begged the Orekoya family to forgive her. “It was not my fault. Mrs Orekoya, you were very nice to me and you took care of me. I was pushed to do it,” she said.
The suspect has four children. Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, has said early on Thursday that the police had arrested self-styled Akinloye, who kidnapped three children in the Surulere area of Lagos State. Aderanti spoke on Thursday morning on a live Channels TV programme, Sunrise Daily. Police Public Relations Officer of the command, Kenneth Nwosu, said Akinloye was arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad while a manhunt was ongoing to apprehend other fleeing accomplices of the househelp. Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, added, “She was nabbed by SARS in the Sasha area (of Akowonjo, Lagos). She was arrested alone, and is now in police custody.
Efforts are on to arrest other fleeing accomplices, if any. “She is still making confessional statements.”

President to handover May 28

President Goodluck Jonathan will hand over power to the President-elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on May 28, about 24 hours before the actual inauguration date.

The Minister of Information, Patricia Akwashiki, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.

Akwashiki said Jonathan would perform the ceremony at a dinner on the eve of the May 29 Democracy Day.

She said, “By May 28, the President intends to have the formal handover done at a dinner so that we can reserve May 29 for the incoming government.

“By May 28, we are expected to have concluded our own government and we are welcoming the incoming government.

“Also you know May 29 is our Democracy Day. So, we have activities lined up all through that week, showcasing all what we have achieved and all other things we do normally on our Democracy Day except that this year is special with the inauguration of our new President that is coming up on May 29.”

She added that the President had directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies to prepare their handover notes and submit same to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim, on or before April 20.

She said it was Anyim’s responsibility to compile the notes, which would form Jonathan’s handover document to Buhari.

She added that while the valedictory FEC meeting would hold on May 20, everything that required the President’s approval must be presented to him latest on May 13 so that the incoming government would not accuse the outgoing government of rushing projects.

The minister said Jonathan had directed the MDAs to brief him on inherited projects and the ones initiated by his administration under their jurisdiction.

She said the briefings were expected to include the status of the projects and their levels of implementation.

The minister added, “The President emphasised on the need for all MDAs to submit their handover notes to the Office of the SGF by the 20th of this month, that is next Monday. So we are going to be very busy this weekend putting our handover notes together.

“The President also emphasised that he would require another little briefing from all MDAs to indicate inherited projects, how far they have been executed and initiated projects by his administration and the level of completion, whether completed, ongoing or abandoned.”

She said the present administration was doing everything possible to ensure a smooth transition, adding that Vice-President Namadi Sambo is heading the government’s transition committee while Anyim is heading the inauguration committee.

Akwashiki however said notwithstanding the transition programme, governance had not stopped in the country.

“That is not to say that governance has stopped. Of course, we are in government until the day he President-elect takes his oath of office,” she explained.

The Minister of Petroleum Resources,   Diezani Alison-Madueke,   and her Finance counterpart, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, were among the few ministers, who did not attend the Wednesday FEC meeting.

The meeting was the first to be held after the March 28 presidential election, which Jonathan lost to Buhari.

Before the President arrived at the venue, some ministers, especially the core politicians among them, used the opportunity to review the polls and their performances in their various states.

They formed small groups to take stock zone by zone.

The Minister of Police Affairs,   Jelili Adesiyan; Minister of State II, Foreign Affairs, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro; Minister of State, Federal Capital Territory, Olajumoke Akinjide, and the Minister of State, Works, Dayo Adeyeye, were seen engrossed in discussion on the Peoples Democratic Party’s performance in the South-West while they awaited Jonathan’s arrival at the venue.

APC seek fresh governorship election in Taraba

The All Progressives Congress has demanded that the Independent National Electoral Commission should set aside its declaration that the governorship election in Taraba State was inconclusive.
According to the party, what ought to be done is for INEC to cancel the results of  11 local government areas, where large scale electoral fraud allegedly took place, after which, a fresh collation should be done and a winner declared.
National Chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun, made the demand in Abuja on Thursday.
Oyegun spoke during a press briefing by the party’s governorship candidate in the state, Senator Aisha Alhassan, on the botched election.
He explained that after receiving briefings from its candidate in the race, it was convinced that there was a high powered conspiracy by “powers that be” to thwart the will of Taraba people, who voted massively for Alhassan.
In response, the Taraba State Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Emmanuel Bello, dismissed the allegations leveled against the Peoples Democratic Party.
“The APC is only being jittery and desperate because it knows that it can’t win this election in a predominantly PDP state like Taraba,” Bello said in an interview.
Earlier, Alhassan had  said the APC was only demanding justice because it was evident that the outcome of the election in the affected local government areas was fraudulent.
She said, “INEC should set aside the declaration of inconclusive result for Taraba State. The results of all the areas affected by irregularities in the 11 local governments should be cancelled out rightly, after which a fresh collation should be done and a winner declared.
“Alternatively, the result of the entire State should be cancelled and a fresh election conducted. This is in view of the widespread irregularities in most of the Local Government Areas of the State.
“In the event that the overall result is cancelled and a fresh election ordered, such should not be conducted under the supervision of the current INEC officials in Taraba State,  as they have shown sufficient evidence of bias and complicity in the April 11 election. A total overhaul of the INEC in Taraba should be a pre-requisite for any fresh election in the state.
“The national headquarters of  INEC should immediately launch a probe into the conduct of the April 11 governorship election in Taraba to ensure that the rights of the people of Taraba State to choose their leaders are not abridged by conniving INEC officials, security and desperate PDP members.”
The APC candidate said the affected local governments areas are Wukari, Kurmi, Yorro, Karim Lamido, Ardo Kola, Sardauna, Zing, Bali, Lau, Donga and Takum.