Edo: Ballot Recount Shows Guber Results Were Inflated

Many at the venue of the Edo State Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Benin City could not hide their surprise and astonishment yesterday.
This was because the figures arrived at after the recount ordered by the tribunal in 12 of the 18 local governments in the state were much lower than the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the councils in respect of the last April 14 governorship election in the state.
INEC had returned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the election, Senator Oserheimen Osunbor, as the winner of the election but dissatisfied with the results, the Action Congress (AC) candidate, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, challenged Osun-bor’s victory at the tribunal.
The AC candidate had asked the tribunal to order a recount following the inability of INEC to give the accurate results of the poll.
In its preliminary ruling on the petition, the tribunal ordered a recount of the ballots in the 12 local governments.
The outcome of the recount was announced to a stunned audience yesterday at the tribunal by a top official of INEC, Mr. Kayode Olawale.
According to Olawale, used, unused and invalid ballots were all counted during the recount.
The figures reeled out were not only at variance with what INEC had declared but also showed that whereas the results were jerked up in areas considered as Osunbor strongholds, they were lowered in places considered to be Oshiomhole’s base.
The surprise began when Olawale mounted the witness box to continue his evidence-in-chief under cross-examination by counsel to the AC candidate, Chief Adeniyi Akintola.
Olawale, who is the Head of Administration of the state INEC, read out the outcome of the recount and the results declared by INEC local government by local government which showed conflicting figures.
Olawale said he was reading from the results emanating from the recounting done in the 12 government as against the results declared by INEC.

– Thisday 

Nigerian High Court To Sit In New York

New York, US – A Nigerian High Court in the South-Eastern state of Akwa I bom, will sit in New York, US, 3 and 4 December to hear evidence of witnesses in a case between a Nigerian businessman and Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN ) .

Nigeria’s Consul-General in New York, Ibrahim Auwalu, who disclosed this here Thursday said the court’s special session would be presided over by Justice Gladys Olotu.

“The court will be sitting here at the Consulate’s conference room to take oral evidence from two defence witnesses,” he told the Pan African News Agency (PANA ) .

He said the witnesses, G.W. Walker and Harry F. Hawkins, who are both octogenarians, are former MPN employees and could not travel to Nigeria to give evidence d u e to their “health conditions.”

“The order is predicated on the duty of the court to resolve all controversies brought before it by parties and the international law concept which regards Nigerian embassies in parts of the world as being on Nigerian soil,” he quoted a letter informing him of the court’s decision.

The consul-general said Nigerians residing in New York, will be allowed to watch the proceedings of the court.

MPN is being sued at the Federal High Court, Uyo, for US$ 39.3 billion for alleged breach of contract and patent violations.

The plaintiffs alleged two retired MPN managers; Messrs G.W. Walker and Harry Wakins, entered into an oral agreement with them which made them (plaintiffs) invent a special anti-corrosive paint.

MPN denied such a contract was ever entered into and it never violated any patents belonging to the plaintiffs.

PANA learnt the suit was filed by Rev. (Dr) C.J.A. Uwemedimo, the Managing Director of Commandclem Nigeria Ltd., who claimed Mobil breached an alleged agreement

to pay him US$ 2 per barrel of crude oil or gas produced by the company.

The payment, Uwemedimo also claimed, was for his allegedly inventing a special anti-corrosive paint for MPN in 1980.

PANA learnt a team of lawyers from both sides are expected to grace the court’s two-day session in the Big Apple.

New York – 29/11/2007
Panapress

Statesman, Chief Sunday Awoniyi Is Dead!

CHAIRMAN of the National Executive Council of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), eminent politician and respected administrator, Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi (CON), died Wednesday night in London, 10 days after he was involved in a motor accident on the Abuja-Kaduna road.

He was aged 75. News of his death was broken by his family in a terse statement yesterday. 

Late Chief Awoniyi was said to have suffered severe bruises on the ankle and the back of his head, and that he complained of pain in the right shoulder.

Chief Awoniyi is the Aro of Mopa, in Kogi State. He was an assistant secretary in the office of the Premier of the Northern Region Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto, in the 1960s. He subsequently served as a federal permanent secretary for many years. In 1999, he was chairman of the organizing committee of the PDP’s Jos national convention, where Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was nominated as presidential flag bearer. He however fell out with Obasanjo after he became president, and for the last eight years, Chief Awoniyi was well known for his biting criticisms of the former president.

Chief Awoniyi was one of the leading lights of a generation of dedicated, honest and patriotic public servants who served this country to the best of their ability. As a civil servant, businessman, politician and statesman, he was known and respected for his hard work, thoroughness, forthrightness and uncommon candour. He exemplified that rare quality of a true Nigerian who held tenaciously to his religious belief and ethnic identity in the midst of friends and associates of different convictions.   

Atiku Mourns Awoniyi’s Death, “He Told me Not To Lose Faith In Nigeria”

It is with a deep sense of sorrow and shock that I received today the news of the death of Chief Sunday Awoniyi, the Aro of Mopa and Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum.

Chief Awoniyi was one of the leading lights of a generation of dedicated, honest and patriotic public servants who served this country to the best of their ability. As a civil servant, businessman, politician and statesman, he was known and respected for his hard work, thoroughness, forthrightness and uncommon candour. He exemplified that rare quality of a true Nigerian who held tenaciously to his religious belief and ethnic identity in the midst of friends and associates of different convictions.

A few days before the car crash that would eventually claim his life, he had sent me a text message on my cell phone in which he counselled me not to lose faith in our dear country.

The message, which I have not deleted till date, reads:

“Dear Turaki, I know you are very disappointed with this thoroughly abused country. Please don’t lose faith in this country because it is a great country”.

The message was so touching that I immediately called him back to assure him that “I will never lose faith in our dear country”. I could hear a deep sense of relief in his voice as I spoke. As one of those who laid the foundation of this country, I suspect that he was a little disappointed that Nigeria was yet to live up to the expectations of her founding fathers and mothers. But he never lost hope in Nigeria’s ability to redeem herself and become a success story in Africa.

Looking back now, it would seem that Chief Awoniyi had a premonition of his death and he wanted the assurances of key stakeholders that his beloved country will live and fulfil its manifest destiny as one of the greatest nations on earth.

I believe that there is no better tribute we can pay to this great son of Nigeria than for all patriots to rededicate themselves to the service of our country.

I pray to Almighty Allah to grant his soul eternal rest and to give his family the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss. Chief Awoniyi made our lives richer by simply living his life as a de-tribalized, brilliant, articulate and committed Nigerian.

Suit Against Atiku’s Spokesman, Garba Shehu, Quashed.

By Patricia Nwaolai 

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja presided over by the Honourable Justice Lawal Gummi, today (Thursday, November 29^th) quashed the charge FCT/HC/CR/44/2007, Federal Republic of Nigeria against Garba Shehu, the Media Consultant to the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

In a ruling given on the preliminary objection filed his Counsel, Chief Niyi Akintola, SAN, Justice Gummi agreed with the defence that the charge did not disclose the commission of the offence by the Accused Person for which he was charged.

He described the Charge Sheet as being “bereft of material and particulars;” that” it did not disclose prima facie case against the accused person to require him to stand trial before this court” and it, therefore, “constituted an abuse of Court Process.”

The Obasanjo-led Federal Government, in its war against the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar had the State Security Service arrest Garba Shehu and while in detention, had his homes in Abuja and Kano broken into and searched.

The search revealed an SSS report on the killing of a Magazine Journalist, Bagauda Kaltho, who died in a bomb blast at the Durbar Hotel in Kaduna. Bagauda is suspected to have been killed by agents of the Abacha regime in that blast in 1996.

Based on the report of the incident found in his house, Garba was charged to Court and later, remanded in Prison for violating State Security. The charge read that former President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors violated State Security by obtaining “classified matter (to wit intelligence summary on the suspected involvement of Bagauda Kaltho in the Kaduna Durbar Hotel bombing)” which he is not authorised on behalf of the federal government to obtain. He was also accused of reproducing and retaining the Classified Matter.

Garba Shehu in his reaction to the decision of the judge to free him said he thanked God for the courageous type of Judiciary He had given the nation; Atiku for availing him of high calibre defence lawyers and prayed God never to allow a tyrant to rule over the Nigerian people again. He also thanked the media for their support.

US Military Officials Lobby Nigeria On AFRICOM

Worried by Nigeria’s opposition to the possible siting of military bases in the country under the aegis of the newly-established US Africa Command (AFRICOM), US military officials have met with key Nigerian officials to explain the security initiative for Africa.

General William Ward 

Deputy to the AFRICOM Commander for Military Operations, Vice Admiral Robert Moeller, and the Deputy to the AFRICOM Commander on Civil-Military Activities, Ambassador Mary Carlin, said they had spent the past three days explaining the concept of the command to the officials.

They told journalists in the capital city of Abuja Thursday that far from the perceptions of many, AFRICOM would not interfere with the sovereignty of countries in the continent.

But they said that AFRICOM would primarily focus on creating and building capacities and capabilities for nations across the continent.

“It has nothing to do oil resources in the Gulf of Guinea. The resources there are Nigerian. They belong to Nigeria and to the countries of the region. What we do is work with partner nations to make sure that the resources are available for the global community, and for what they are intended for,” Moeller said.

The duo of Admiral Moeller and Ambassador Carlin have already met with Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Owoye Azazi; National Security Adviser, Minister of Foreign Affairs, President of ECOWAS and other top officials of Defence, Foreign Affairs and ECOWAS.

Before arriving Nigeria Tuesday, they visited the President of Burkina Faso and chairman of ECOWAS, Blaise Campaore.

Ambassador Carlin admitted that AFRICOM had “been misunderstood”, saying the result of her discussions with top Nigerian leaders showed that they should have come for consultation “earlier.”

Admiral Moeller noted that “the US AFRICOM does not intent to station large troops in the African continent. We don’t have need for stationing garrisons in the continent. But small number of forces can come into the continent, carry out a particular duty and leave.

“If some future expansion makes it imperative for the AFRICOM to come in and stay, it will be on the invitation of the leadership of the host country. We will only discuss future presence with such countries,” he said.

Moeller added: “We have not invited Nigeria to sign in and Nigeria has not invited us to come.”

Ambassador Carlin added that “AFRICOM has no intention of undermining the sovereignty of any African nation.”

She also said in future, the body would bring in military personnel of partner nations into the headquarters of AFRICOM in order to “allow us to be better organized to reach our goal of a peaceful and better Africa.”

She said Stuttgart would remain the headquarters of the Command “for a long while”, saying that it is planning to tackle the issue of security and peace with the continent with the African Union (AU).

This, she said, would enable it work in partnership with the five regional groups in the continent.

AFRICOM, which started operations in October, has elicited varying reactions across the continent, with several nations openly expressing opposition to what they feared would be the military domination of the continent by the Americans.

The opposing African leaders have instead called on the US to assist Africa to set up its long-planned African Standby Force.

Abuja – 29/11/2007
Panapress

INEC Admits Altering Oyo Guber Poll Result

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Oyo State, yesterday tendered two different results collated during the April 14 governorship election in the state, at the resumed hearing of the election petition filed by the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) gubernatorial candidate, Senator Abiola Ajimobi against the election of Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala.

The two different results have been admitted as exhibits by the tribunal sitting in Ibadan. The Head Operations Department of INEC in the state, Mr. Olubunmi Ariyo admitted that some results were either altered, re-written or cancelled, confessing that the results entered for Alao-Akala were altered on the results sheet.
Led in evidence by the counsel to the petitioner, Adeniyi Akintola, {SAN}, Ariyo  presented the original result sheet where 4,400 votes recorded for the ANPP candidate on the CTC, changed to 440 on the original final result list at the Ibarapa East local government polling units.
The INEC official said, “My Lords, at the Local Government collation Centre in Ibarapa East, the total votes recorded for the ANPP Candidate was 4,400 while at the State collation centre 440 was recorded as the total votes scored by the same Candidate in Ibarapa East Local Government area as shown in form EC8D”.

The witness confirmed that in many units, no voter was accredited despite that votes were recorded and counted while in Ogbomoso South local government, only the PDP agent whose name was given as G.A Awujoola, signed as the party agent in two different wards while no party agent signed the result at all.

The INEC official told the tribunal that there was no accreditation in most of the units in both Ogbomoso South and Ogbomoso North Local Government areas during the election while in ward two unit one of Ogbomoso South, the total number of valid votes cast as recorded in form EC8A was 375 while in form EC8C where the commission had recorded 369 as the total valid cast in the same unit.The INEC official also admitted discrepancies in the recording of votes citing ward 8 unit 1 of the Ogbomoso North, where the number of votes cast on the CTC showed 245 while the original bore 568; unit 2 has 1,052 but 666 votes were recorded on the original; in unit 3, 307votes were recorded against 304votes on the original sheet.In another list presented at the tribunal, 390 was recorded on the CTC against 432 on the original list; 300 against 607; 324 against 328 for ward 8, while in ward 10, 200 recorded against 290 recorded on the original INEC list.In ward II units 1, 2 and 3 of Ogo Oluwa local government, none of the voters was accredited while all the figures as votes cast during the poll initially written were cancelled and not countersigned.In unit 3, the 200 votes which were initially recorded, according to the INEC witness had to be cancelled and changed to 468 votes.Pointing out other areas of non-comformity with the Electoral Act by the INEC officials, the INEC official confirmed that instead of blue ink officially recommended by the INEC for the accreditation of voters, in many lists, black and red inks were mostly used.

– The Punch 

Obasanjo Says NASS Approved Bakassi Handover, It’s a Big Lie – Nnamani

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-President of the Senate, Chief Ken Nnamani, on Wednesday disagreed over how Bakassi Peninsula was ceded to Cameroun.

While Obasanjo claimed that he wrote to the National Assembly to seek a ratification of the agreement on the Peninsula, Nnamani said his request was not granted.

The Senate had on November 23, 2007 rejected the transfer of Bakassi on the ground that due process was not followed by the Obasanjo administration.

It said Obasanjo acted unilaterally and contrary to Section 12 of the 1999 constitution.

The section reads, “No treaty between the Federation and other country shall have the force of law except to the extent to which any such treaty has been enacted into law by the National Assembly.”

The Senate action received the backing of many prominent Nigerians, including a former Attorney-General of the Federation, and Minister of Justice, Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN).

But Obasanjo, in a statement by his Media Assistant, Mr. Adeoba Ojekunle, defended the transfer of Bakassi.

He said that contrary to the belief that Obasanjo’s action was unilateral, he duly served the National Assembly with relevant documents on Bakassi.

The statement, titled “On the Ratification of the Bakassi Green Tree Agreement,” was made available to THE PUNCH in Abuja.

It reads, “The last Senate and House of Representatives under the leadership of Nnamani and Alhaji Aminu Masari were duly served the GAT between Nigeria and Cameroun (on ceding of the Bakassi territory) for ratification by the National Assembly.

“The former President, in two separate letters to the Senate and the House dated 13th June 2006, officially conveyed to both chambers the said agreement, including the modalities of implementation of the October 10, 2002 International Court of Justice judgment.

“The letters which were officially copied to the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, the then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and the former Governor of Cross River State specifically in paragraph three requested the assembly’s ‘expeditious ratification of the agreement.’

“This is contrary to the widely held view that the last assembly was kept in the dark concerning the agreement.

“The personal records of the former President indicate that the letters were duly received on 15th June 2006 and acknowledged by the two chambers.”

In his response, Nnamani said Obasanjo should have made public what the response of the Senate was, if indeed such a thing happened.

Nnamani, who spoke with one of our correspondents on the telephone, said the former President did not follow due process.

He said, “If he sent it (letter) to us like he said, what action did we take? What was our response? If he gave you the letter he said he wrote to the Senate, did he also attach our response, if any?

“What action did we take to make it conclusive? The question remains: Was the treaty ever ratified by the National Assembly?

“It is a major thing if it was not ratified. It is not binding on us. Let me tell you how he (Obasanjo) did things in office. Normally, what he does is, he calls the leadership of the National Assembly and tell us what he has done or a decision he had taken verbally.

“If he came to us with a letter on the agreement, we would have first read it on the floor of the Senate and the next day, refer it to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“The committee will meet and submit a report with recommendations to the Senate before action is taken.

“It wasn’t a love letter. It would not have been a secret. You can check with the Clerk of the Senate to see if this was done.

“Although I cannot make a categorical statement on it, I don’t remember it ever being ratified. That is the issue.”

Nnamani also said the House of Representatives ought to ratify the document since the Senate alone cannot do such because the process of ratification is like passing a bill.

He said, “The truth is, this thing did not go through due process. The process is a long one. It goes through first, second and third reading and then clause by clause like every other bill.

“Senator Jibril Aminu was the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs committee; Ask him, ‘did his committee work on it? If it did, was the report submitted to the Senate?”.

But despite the knocks on Obasanjo, the Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has said the people of the state are proud of him.

Daniel, who spoke at the conferement of a Service Award on the former President on Tuesday night, urged him (Obasanjo) not to be discouraged by the criticisms against him.

The governor said Obasanjo was honoured at the 3rd Ogun Economic and Investment Summit for his conscientious service to the nation and support to the development of the state.

Tuesday’s award is the second given to Obasanjo by the state in three months.

Obasanjo got the state’s Leadership Award two months ago at the state Award Night in Abeokuta.

Daniel described Obasanjo as a great patriot, who served his fatherland conscientiously.

He said in spite of the criticisms, Obasanjo would be remembered as a man who made his mark in office.

The governor said, “In the last few months, we have seen the level of criticisms of Baba. That is not uncommon in this country and it is only people who stand for something meaningful that are criticised.

“Here in Ogun State, we are happy, exalted and feel proud of you and your achievements.”

Responding, Obasanjo thanked the state government for what he called ‘the various honours you are showering on me.’

He said, “Ogun State in terms of history, geographical location, philosophy and location has the potential to foster economic development in the country.”

He commended Daniel for his foresight in “transforming the state into an investment destination of choice.”

– The Punch

Atiku’s Varsity Denies Explosion Report

The American University of Nigeria, owned by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in partnership with American University in Washington, has denied newspaper reports that there was an explosion at the university which claimed many lives.

Dr. C. Michael Smith, AUN President

A statement issued yesterday in the university’s campus in Yola by the Vice President, University Relations, Dr Elspeth Smith, said the reports were “misleading and incorrect”. She said the university was only aware of a fire incident that occurred last week, some 15 kilometres away from the university’s campus. She said that the fire incident did not involve the university’s staff or its students.

The university spokesman Malam Abba Tahir had earlier yesterday told Daily Trust that there was no explosion in the university. He said there was a fire incident last week near one flat owned by the university where some of its staff reside in Jimeta, about 15 kilometres away from the university’s campus. According to him, “the incident occurred when an electrician contracted to do electrical repairs near the house, in turn contracted some welders to weld a diesel tank which in the process caught fire and the five people he contracted suffered severe burns.

“They suffered serious burns, but none of them died on the spot. They were taken to hospital and unfortunately one by one, four of them died,” he said.

Malam Abba Tahir said when the accident happened, the University management expressed its sympathy and visited the victims and their families to console with them.

The statement issued by Dr Smith yesterday reiterated Malam Tahir’s, saying there was neither explosion in the university nor was the fire incident an event that happened this week. She said: “One week ago on 22 November 2007 at 8:15 am, an accident involving a diesel tank occurred near a staff residence located in Jimeta, 15 kilometres from the AUN campus. No AUN employees or students were injured. Four men working on the tank suffered fatal injuries. A fifth person is recovering at the Specialist Hospital in Jimeta.

“A recent news story is misleading and incorrect. We regret the loss of life and injuries by contract workers last week. The University has taken all possible steps to console with the families of the deceased,” Dr Smith added.

President Orders Police to Investigate Uba Brothers, Chuma Nzeribe Over Igwe’s Death!

Without any official announcement, President Umaru Yar’Adua has begun a gradual and silent probe of his predecessor, President Olusegun Obasanjo. Just this week, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan announced that the privatization exercise carried out by the past administration will be reviewed and ordered the National Assembly to initiate the process.

Yar’Adua has also indicated interest in unraveling the rash of unsolved murder mysteries that pervaded the Obasanjo administration. For now, the focus is on the brutal double murder of Barrister Igwe and his wife. The former President of the Onitsha branch of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and his wife were killed by unknown persons on September 1, 2002 at Onitsha, Anambra state.

For a long time, close associates of former President Obasanjo were suspected of involvement in the double assassination. However, investigation into the case was purposely bungled to shield the culprits.

Not anymore.

President Yar’Adua seemed set to flash the light into the darkest spots of his predecessor’s administration; the unsolved political assassinations. A pointer towards that emerged when the Presidency directed the Police to reopen the 2002 double murder of Onitsha branch Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association and his wife as well as solve other such “high level profile assassinations.”

Obasanjo: Under probe?

What makes this directive which came from the Chief of Staff (COS) to the President, Gen. Abdulahi Mohammed (rtd), revolutionary is that former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s closest aide, Mr. Nnamdi “Andy” Uba is clearly in the line of fire as he and two others were categorically named as being behind the murders which took place in broad daylight and right in the streets of Onitsha, host to West Africa’s largest market. Mr. Uba, a Senior Special Assistant to the former President on Household Matters, was clearly the most influential aide to Obasanjo and the closest person to him as he was said to be first to see him in the morning and the last to do so at night. He served as the veritable Man Friday to Obasanjo, with his hand said to be in every pie. An electoral tribunal nullified his election as the Anambra State Governor in the last April elections after he had spent just 21 days on office.

The COS’s letter to the Inspector General of Police, dated 22 October 2007, was in reaction to a 24 September 2007 petition to the President from Concerned Lawyers in Onitsha, a large metropolis on the River Niger, South East Nigeria. The lawyers had sent a similar petition to Obasanjo, dated 115^th August, 2003 but which produced no re-action or even an acknowledgement. That petitioned was attached to the one sent to Yar’Adua.

Andy Uba: Culpable?

Yet, even as early as July 2003 newspapers and magazines have reported leads that pointed towards Uba and his colleagues now under the search light; his brother Chris, a businessman and former political godfather of Ananmbra State politics until Uba uprooted him with Abuja’s help, after a raucous fight. The third person, Chuma Nzeribe, is now a member of the House of Representatives. When the murder occurred, Nzeribe was a Security Adviser to the Anamabra State’s then Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju, who was eventually blamed for the murder and remains until now, the only person ever questioned and arraigned in court by the police for the murder of Barnabas Igwe and his wife. As Security Adviser, Nzeribe controlled a special and private militia, the Bakassi Boys, now disbanded.

The letter from the Presidency directing the Police to reopen the case. Click link below for large view.

 

Interestingly, the major plank of the petition which moved the President to act was a report published in the Sunday Vanguard newspaper of July 2003, saying that according to intelligence sources, “attempts by the Police and other security agencies to apprehend the culprits after incontrovertible evidence, were however said to have hit the brick wall when some government top government officials stepped in and prevented the agencies from carrying out the arrest on the grounds that the security reports were not convincing enough”.

For years, Chuma Nzeribe has been linked to the murders, but the Police never questioned him. In an interview published in the Guardian newspaper of Saturday September 20, 2003, Mr. I.B.B. Maduafokwa said he had sent out a 30-page petition to the Anambra State Commissioner of Police where he accused Nzeribe and others of the double murder. He said in that interview: “Bring Chuma Nzeribe to court, bring all these people, and I will prove that he has a hand in the death of the Igwes”. The police simple ignored him. Those he openly accused of murder refused to sue him.

Now, Obasanjo is out and Yar’Adua is in as President, so there is a new sheriff in town and the case is being re-opened. COS ’s letter to the Inspector General of Police was emphatic: “I am further directed to request you to re-open investigation into the sifting facts, leads and clues as graphically highlighted by the petitioner in this letter under reference.” Pointing out that the Police is expected to go beyond this case and reopen other unsolved murders, the directive continued: “It is suffice to add that your breakthrough in this and other high level profiles assassinations would restore hope and confidence in our security system.”

 

Under the Obasanjo administration, several political murders remained unsolved, including that of the then serving Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Obasanjo’s personal friend, Mr. Bola Ige, who was shot clinically in his bedroom, as his security details were out to buy supper. A ruling Peoples Democratic Party chieftain, A.K. Dikkibo, was shot on a high way, and within two hours, Obasanjo declared that highway robbers were to blame.

 

According to the petition, Igwe, a known critic of the Governor was killed so that it would be blamed on the Governor and so render him “unre-electable”. So when the Governor traveled to Texas, USA, a week before the murder, Nzeribe, appeared there too rather unexpectedly. The petition continued that “When he (Nzeribe) arrived on a Saturday, on the eve of the murder, at a restaurant in Texas, I have four witnesses, that when they were talking with Nzeribe at 10 pm, he asked them, “if anything happens in Anambra now, will you come and arrest somebody who is in US? He asked them that question three times”.