The National Publicity Secretary of the Social Democratic Party, Mr. Alfa Mohammed, tells TOBI AWORINDE that the party will form the majority in the National Assembly before the 2019 elections

Can you confirm that some governors and senators are set to defect to your party?

First of all, you know there is a leadership vacuum created by the two bigger parties – the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress – as a result of bad governance. That led to a situation where Nigerians were disillusioned and the search for an alternative platform commenced. So, likeminded Nigerians from the political class and the civil society organisations came together and began the search for a new political platform that is credible and capable of ushering in a credible government that will implement the people’s programme. It is a fact that five governors and 35 senators have been meeting and they have endorsed this coming together. They are strongly behind it and it does not end there; others will also begin to join as soon as the time permits. It has to do with strategy. So, it is a fact that we have those numbers that we have been meeting with for some time, and for strategic reasons, their names will not be mentioned now.

So, there is that consensus of opinion by a majority of those who want to aspire to political offices in 2019 that they are at home with the Chief Olu Falae’s leadership.

How can the SDP survive in a political climate dominated by the APC and the PDP?

The party (SDP), as you know, has a long history. It has won elections in the past at governorship level and even at presidential level. This long history has also contributed to the factors that have led to the adoption of the SDP. The party, as it is now, despite the fact that it is an opposition party, has a broad base. As I speak, if you go to Delta State, the SDP has members in the state assembly. If you go to the North-Central states of Adamawa and Taraba, we have members in the state assemblies. Even nearby here in the Suleja Local Government Area (Niger State), out of the 10 councillors, the SDP has three. So, you can see that it is not a regional party. So, all these factors contribute in large portion to earning the SDP the endorsement of Nigerians. I say the endorsement of Nigerians because those who sat in Ladi Kwali hall and endorsed the SDP last week (penultimate) Thursday as the third platform to be used to usher in a credible and people-oriented government in 2019.

Do you enjoy the backing of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, being the most prominent advocate of a third force?

As far as the SDP is concerned, we have been using the words ‘third force’ all along. Even now, in some of our write-ups, our national chairman has continued to use ‘third force’, saying we are the third force. So, it is not because (former) General Obasanjo mentioned in the past few weeks that the words ‘third force’ are coming to the vocabulary of Nigerians. It has always been our watchword since the appearance of the SDP. But all the same, I would not say we don’t enjoy the backing of (former) President Obasanjo, though he has not come out openly (to express support for SDP). But I can confirm to you that at all the meetings that led to the emergence of the SDP as the adopted third force; some of the members of Obasanjo’s coalition were there. The National Intervention Movement — Dr. Jahlil Tafawa-Balewa; the South-West Coordinator of the NIM, Dr. Olu Agunloye, and so on — were there. Then, you have Sani Garba, who is a staunch member of the coalition; he was there. In fact, he gave the closing remarks.

In Chief Obasanjo’s organisation, members were present and I think it won’t be wrong if I say that the organisation was represented at the endorsement ceremony of the SDP. The organisation has not made an open declaration but we have a lot of them coming. Very soon, when we are stabilised, one by one, the organisations will visit the party secretariat and make open declarations. It is a mass movement that we have now; the SDP has become like a mass movement in Nigeria. Since that weekend when the adoption took place, so many people have been trooping into this party. The traffic of new members has become so high and it has never happened in the history of Nigeria.

In fact, yesterday (Tuesday), a chieftain of the APC in Adamawa State, Emma Bello, defected to the SDP. He is a former governorship aspirant and a former member of the House of Representatives. Similarly, today (Wednesday), about seven former commissioners in Minna (Niger State) had discussions with me, and that is what is happening all over the country. In the next few weeks, you will see a great surprise. You will see the influx of progressive-minded Nigerians into the SDP; not from the political class alone but even from civil society organisations, youths and even market women.

No. For the first time, let me make it a bit clear: For the governors, three are from the PDP and two are from the APC. That is the most I can say. I have not mentioned this to any correspondent. For the senators, they are mixed and, as of this morning, our contacts in the National Assembly informed me that people have signified their interest and they have advised on what we should do again. By the time we finish all the arrangements, I assure you that the SDP will become the majority in the National Assembly before the election, and I am sure of what I am telling you. It is the truth. People have come to discover that there is the need for a third force. The PDP has disappointed Nigerians and Nigerians. In the quest for a change, they went for the APC, believing that it would be the messiah they were waiting for. Regrettably, the PDP was like Egypt, where the Jews were enslaved. And it was like the APC took Nigerians to the wilderness and abandoned them. So, Nigerians now are at a crossroads, whether to go back to slavery or remain in the wilderness.. The SDP is therefore the vehicle that will drive Nigerians to the Promised Land, insha’Allah.

Are the defectors from the same region?

They are from different regions. This movement is about all the regions now. I was at Hot FM this morning. If you listened, you would have heard different calls coming in from Sokoto, Katsina, Calabar and so on. It is a mass movement. What is happening now can be likened to a football. You know the best time to unite Nigerians is during football. Another source of unity for Nigerians now would be the SDP. Nigerians will be united in the manner they are united during football (matches). The SDP’s quest is to drive Nigerians to the Promised Land.

Which presidential candidate will you put forward to challenge President Muhammadu Buhari?

We have not got to that level, but we assure you that not only presidential aspirants, we will educate the delegates in all the primaries. We will educate every Nigerian that is involved in elections on the need to vote and elect credible and competent candidates because that is the first source of problems. When you elect people that are not competent, you run into problems. There are people who are already going around signifying interest, but we have not reached that level now. When the party is stabilised, everybody is allowed to aspire but the delegates will decide. We will offer a level playing field to everyone, but I can assure you that by the end of the day, we shall be guided by the imperative of credibility and competence in the choice of the leaders that will lead Nigeria from 2019. That is very important and I can assure that that is what will happen. There will not be sentiment this time around. Nobody will be elected based on sentiments. No! You will be elected based on your integrity and your capacity to perform.

How will your party deal with the problem of contamination from the mass movement of the same old opportunistic defectors?

It is not as if there are no credible, progressive-minded people in other parties. Also, it does not mean that everybody that moves into the SDP is interested in contesting elections. Some people are only desirous of a Nigeria that everybody can be proud of. Some people are only interested in helping to enthrone a credible leader. So, it is not everybody that wants to conduct election. The major concern of the majority of people is to have good government where you can go to your house and sleep with your two eyes closed; where you can go to your village and celebrate Christmas without fear of being kidnapped; where your son will graduate from the university and have a job that he can be proud of. These are what so many people want. And how many elective positions are there to contest compared to the volume of people moving to the party? So, it is not an issue.

Prof. Jerry Gana was a minister and all of us know that he performed creditably. So, it does not matter whether every government engages him. You cannot remove the popularity from Prof. Gana in the Nigerian politics; you cannot divorce him from the politics of the Middle Belt. So, he is an electoral asset to any party. He was a founding member of the PDP; the same goes for Prof. (Tunde) Adeniran. When people like Prof. Gana and Prof. Adeniran leave a party, the soul of that party is gone.

Punch

The theme was “A 21st Century University: The role of Science and Technology and the occasion was the 22nd Convocation lecture of the University of Abuja. While it is functional to dwell on this epoch ceremony and the razz – matazz that accompanied it, it is instructive we reflect on the painful history of this institution, its journey from a battered past to a glorious present, and how, what once stood as a symbol of our collective shame was transformed to a citadel and beacon of robust intellectual enterprise.

Before now, not many would envy to be associated with the institution, it’s litany of absurdities in administration, academics and structure – that embarrassed the true intents of its founders, stood in our faces. That these competing negatives ever befell the only tertiary institution in the nation’s capital city, a neighbour to the seat of government betray the crisis of interest in the education sector and government as accomplice.

As a participant observer, this writer is an eye witness to the ignoble past of the institution and understands why Nigerians expected better. And haven eaten the fruit of knowledge from her garden, we can now see succinctly not only our nakedness but that of the nation and comprehend where we need dressing.

The transformation being witnessed cannot be disassociated from the appointment of Professor Michael Adikwu. It is difficult to differentiate the man from the matter, thanks to the past chairman of council, late Samuel Ogbemudia (God bless his soul) who midwived the selection process and delivered on his promise to bring the best.

The registrar, Ms Rifkatu Swanta calls him the “Angel Michael” on a redemptive mission. The school’s new records are testaments to the reformers vision.

A new luxury accommodation in both hostels that students fondly named “Banana Island”, free wi-fi access in strategic locations, an uninterrupted academic calendar is a departure from the past, that students now access results few weeks after resumption is a new high. Integrity now restored to examination process is worthy of note, rules of conduct and appropriate sanction now accompany exam cards that none would claim ignorance.

The impressive library regularly updated was a sanctuary to this writer. At every turn is a construction site, the CDLCE building that once stood as an uncompleted monument for decades is nearing completion.

And after a wilderness journey of more than ten years, the maiden induction of medical students held last December. These are testaments of a university hungry for a 21st century status. Though the world university rankings may be far from acknowledging these developments, it does not invalidate them and we are not unaware the progress made.

In the last three years, the management has sought ideas from far and near in its efforts toward standardization, it has invited a professor, a priest and a philosopher to intellectually engage the community and proffer templates for sustainable development in its convocation lectures.

Professor Oyewale Tomori, the immediate past president of the Nigeria Academy of Science speaking on “A New Generation University: Problems and Prospect” gave us a blueprint for a modern university and lamented that “a university without tradition is a rudderless university without anchor” in his 2015 lecture, the management ran with it.

The fervent intellectual engagement in the campus in faculty seminars, inaugural lectures and annual convocation ceremonies are new rituals in the university calendar. As the only university that accommodates studentship from every village in Nigeria, she has become a melting pot for our diversity and upholds tolerance that has been elusive in the nation’s struggle for unity.

Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah in “Though Tribe and Tongue may Differ: Managing Diversity”, the 2016 lecturer further warned us of the “narrow mindedness that is reaped when universities are turned into fiefdoms, when we place interests of local communities over and above those of the nation and other citizens”.

Championing the school to take its pride of place in the 21st century, Dr Umar Bindir, advised that until we take science and technology seriously, our journey will be a mirage. It is by providence that these progresses coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of the school. It is high time the Federal government took the University of Abuja seriously.

However, the tedious journey continues. The hiccups experienced should be addressed. Campus shuttle is still chaotic, the Wi – Fi service suffers convulsion, electricity should be constant, the hostels accommodation are overstretched, certificates should be issued at the convocation. Additionally, the lecture halls are grossly inadequate and names of the greater proportion of admitted students should not rhyme with the ethnic cleavage of every incumbent Vice Chancellor.

That the management could only afford handshakes for the sixteen first class graduates – the highest harvest in her history, speaks volume of our national attitude to academic excellence and scant regard for intellectual distinction.

Onyeka Nwigwe writes from Abuja

Faced with the cold-blooded murderous consequences of illegal arms circulating in the country, the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has directed police commands in the states and Abuja to start mopping up arms. This is to give effect to the Firearms Act 2004, which prohibits certain categories of arms and ammunition in the hands of individuals and unlawful possession of lethal weapons. It is so critical to the IG that the process will not be driven by police commissioners alone but in conjunction with the Assistant Inspectors-General of Police in the 12 zones.

The alarm bell had for long been ringing that 70 per cent of illegal weapons circulating in West Africa were in Nigeria. The inherent danger is what the country is reaping now. This is why there should be no half measures in the mopping up of weapons. Everybody’s life is in danger – civil populace, police and the military.

The disarmament targets suspected militias, bandits, herdsmen, vigilante groups, neigbourhood watch, individuals and groups. With effect from February 28, when the directive was published, a 21-day ultimatum was given for the surrender of weapons, after which defaulters would be arrested, investigated and prosecuted in accordance with extant laws.

In Rivers State, the year began with 22 people returning from a church service gunned down by a group of gangsters. Rivers and Lagos states are the haven for rival cult groups, whose gun battles for supremacy usually leave scores of hapless citizens dead.

Equally dreadful are unending imports of high-calibre weapons illegally into the country and the cache of arms and ammunition surrendered by criminal gangs at the instance of some governors in pursuit of their amnesty programmes. The latest of such, by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, which yielded a colossal harvest from militants in the creeks, left President Muhammadu Buhari’s jaw dropping.

This eerie situation has lingered for too long. From some criminal hideouts in Anambra, Edo and Rivers states, more than 8,741 arms and 7,014 rounds of ammunition were seized in 2013.  These seizures rattled the then IG, Mohammed Abubakar, to direct other state police commands to mop up illegal arms.

In Anambra State in 2014, the trial of three suspected kidnappers produced an incredible display of sophisticated weapons in court as exhibits. In their possession were AK 47 rifles, GPMG rifles, rockets, rocket propellers/launcher, 5,830 AK 47 ammunition and 1,135 rounds of ammunition for GPMG rifles. Late in 2016, 2,000 criminals surrendered 911 AK 47 rifles and 7,363 rounds of ammunition in Rivers State and were granted amnesty by Governor Nyesom Wike. Similar steps had been taken in Imo and Zamfara states.

The destructive effects of these weapons in wrong hands compelled Buhari to shake off his lethargy last Monday and begin commiseration shuttles to the most affected states, with Taraba as the first. Benue, Zamfara, Yobe and Rivers states will follow.

Without question, the government is responsible for these massacres with its abysmal failure to enforce laws and the security agencies’ connivance with criminals. Fact sheet: the 661 pump-action guns consignment cleared at Apapa ports in 2017, but later seized by Customs special squad, easily entered the country because the importer bribed State Security Service operatives, including the police, with N1 million. The suspect, Mahmud Hassan, made this stunning revelation in court. Similar lethal consignments might have entered without being detected. If the Apapa ports could be so compromised, the racket at the land borders, most of which are unmanned, could be unimaginable.  

The bad eggs in the police are not helping matters. In 2014 an Assistant Superintendent of Police was paraded at Force Headquarters, Abuja as the supplier of arms to a 45-member criminal gang. He did so with seven other police personnel. The gang reportedly paid between N230,000 and N250,000 for each of the 16 AK 47 rifles it got from the ASP.

While the destructive result of illegal arms in the hands of terrorist, criminals, militias, thugs and delinquents are so obvious, it is important, however, that this initiative is not turned into a witch-hunt or a partisan operation. Recent pronouncements by Idris and other senior officials over the Fulani rampage have provoked justifiable fears of partisanship. Local youths and vigilante groups have also accused police of moving in to arrest and disarm them when they gather to fend off attacks, but are nowhere in sight when their villages are being attacked and razed.

Defence Minister, Mansur Dan-Ali, railed against vigilante groups set up by some state governments in desperation after the police and military serially failed to protect their people from incessant attacks by AK 47-wielding Fulani militants. Idris also bizarrely asked state governments to establish cattle ranches for the private businesses of cattle owners before passing anti-grazing laws, an undisguised display of partisanship by the country’s chief law enforcement officer.

It is obvious that the subsisting monopoly of law enforcement by the Federal Government has collapsed. State governments should, therefore, be allowed to equip certain official vigilantes with light arms to complement and collaborate with federal security agencies, a format that is working well in the North-East region.

Staunching the proliferation of arms requires the authorities to adopt the Kenyan model of setting the weapons ablaze publicly. For instance, in November 2016, Kenyan authorities burnt 5,250 firearms, with the Deputy President, William Ruto, supervising the operation. The IG should get the message: armed robbery, kidnapping, cultists’ gun riots and the genocidal activities of herdsmen and other armed groups bloom when the state surrenders its power to outlaws.

The culture of appeasing criminals to give up a token of their weapons for cash is a perverse strategy. If it had been effective, policemen would not have been ambushed and beheaded in the Ogba/Egbema Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State last year, after Wike’s amnesty gesture. Therefore, government should wake up and put criminals in their rightful place – arrest and prosecute them – while also addressing the general security lapses that compel some citizens to illegally acquire firearms for self-help.

Punch

Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the auspices of APC Adalci Buhari Saka have given Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal 48 hours ultimatum to declare whether he is with President Muhammadu Buhari or not.

Addressing a Press Conference at the NUJ secretariat, Sokoto, the group threatened to take further action if the Governor fail to make his stand known within the stated period.

The group further accused the Governor of anti-party activities which they said should  be thoroughly investigated and dealt with as a matter of urgency.

"We don't understand his romance with the leading members of the opposition PDP which was widely publicized, " it stated 

It added " He has a strong relationship with Governor Wike who is the perceived leader of the modern PDP and the national chairman of the party. He visits them and they come and visit him in Sokoto as well. "

Spokesman of the group, Professor Bashar Lawal asserted:"We are giving  him 48 hours to declare whether he is with Buhari or not and if he fail to do so we will do what is necessary." 

Lawal who was flanked by members of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), alleged that the Governor was undermining the war on corruption by terminating all corruption cases against members of his cabinet.

They further alleged that billions of public funds were squandered in the name of the electorate but there was no  conmensurated social infrastructure.

"But they keep blaming  the federal government despite receiving successive funding as bailouts, Paris club refunds in addition to the regular monthly subvention from the federal government," he said.

Members of the group also accused the Governor of persecuting members of the defunct CPC, citing the consfication of farmlands worth N300 million of the former gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of APC, Barrister Aliyu Sanyinna and the demolition of part of the school owned by their spokesperson, Professor Bashar.

When contacted, one of the APC stalwarts, Magaji Gusau dared them to take any action if they have evidences to back their claims.

Gusau was the one who officially reacted to the group's earlier allegation of marginalization.

DailyTrust 

National Electoral Commission (NEC) Sierra Leone Saturday released 50% or 1.3 million processed votes from the 3.17 million registered voters for the March 7 presidential, parliamentary and local council elections.

According to the official results, the candidate of the ruling All People's Congress (APC) Dr Samura Kamara led with 43.20% followed by rtd Brig. Julius Maada Bio of the opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) 43.09%, while Kabdeh Yumkellah of the National Grand Alliance (NGC) is third with 6.69% of the processed votes.

The two female presidential candidates got 0.1% each.

NEC chair Mohamed N'fah Alie-Conteh told a Press Conference at NEC HQs in Freetown that the remaining results would be released as soon as possible.

If none of the 16 candidates contesting the presidency gains 55% of the votes cast in the first round, the two frontrunners will go for the run-off balloting two weeks after the declaration of the first round results.

The winner will be the nation's fifth president and will replace outgoing President Ernest Bai Koroma, who has served the constitutionally allowed two terms of five years each.

Registered Sierra Leoneans also voted to elect MPs for the 124 contested seats in the 144-member parliament from among 789 candidates.

An incident in the nation’s capital involving some youths who reportedly attempted to cause trouble and loot shops following the release of the first partial results of the polls, was swiftly brought under country by the security services.

The elections were the fourth set of polls since the end of the country’s 11-year civil war in 2002, but the first time that the national authorities would fully take charge of electoral processes since the departure of the UN Mission in 2014.

The saying goes that a man of success achieves his goals but a man of significance changes his world. If there are people who understand the difference between the two, Professor Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede, Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), is at the forefront among them.

Prof. Oloyede’s ascension to prominence was not a matter of coincidence; it was rather a product a clear vision, a sense of mission propelled by the keen passion to excel. In other words, here is a man who has internalized five d’s as the operational blueprint for making a difference. He is a man with a dream, who then develops a drive to achieve it. With single-minded determination, remarkable discipline, this three-in-one man (okunrin meta) sets out to achieve his goal with dedication.

To Prof. Oloyede, whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well and on time. This is why he is seen as a workaholic, a man who electrifies his surroundings with an inimitable sense of duty, a man of action and guts. As Dan Gable once said, “Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They are made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.”

So, wherever Prof. Oloyede finds himself, whether in the classroom or podium as a lecturer, or at the National Political Reform Conference as a Co-Secretary, or as Chairman of the Committee of Directors of Academic Planning in Nigerian Universities, or as National Coordinator/ Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC) or as Secretary General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) under the transformational leadership of the royals’ royal, the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, or in several other capacities he has functioned or still functions, he is renowned for being extra-ordinary and first class.

A talented scholar and cerebral intellectual, Prof. Oloyede is an academic genius and administrative guru, who dominates his world with well-reasoned arguments and visionary ideas. A shrewd judge of men and matters, this man who accepts no half measures smashes reputations and sets records with his sterling qualities and impeccable credentials.

A man of unconquerable will and a restless questing spirit, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Fountain University, Osogbo, is the proverbial goldfish that has no hiding place. With a Spartan commitment to duty, easy and amiable mien, Prof. Oloyede has remained a raving phenomenon to friends and foes alike with his honesty, simplicity, humility, loyalty, generosity and single-minded belief in service to Allah and humanity.

To tell a peacock a story of bright colours is to sing empty and discordant tunes to a care-free bird, yet the Qu’ran tells us, “And proclaim the Grace of your Lord” (Q. Ad-duha, 93:11) Though Oloyede does not see himself as special, this infectiously simple and rare Nigerian is a man of many firsts, a special gift of God to humanity, right from the classroom to the boardroom. Due to limited time, perhaps ten of his firsts would make a sample viz: first First Class graduate of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ilorin (1981); first Unilorin alumnus to bag a Ph.D. from his alma mater (1991), first alumnus President in the Governing Council of the University of Ilorin; first Unilorin graduand to become a Professor (1995); first academic Director of Academic Planning, Unilorin; first Unilorin product to ever become a Deputy Vice-Chancellor; and first Unilorin alumnus to become a Vice-Chancellor of a University in the world; first Secretary-General of the Association of West Africa Universities; first Nigerian to become President of the Association of African Universities and first JAMB Registrar to remit N7.8 billion to the Federal Government.

Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede was on October 10, 1954 ushered into the world through the family of Alhaji and late Madam Oloyede in Abeokuta, Ogun State. He started his formal education at Ta’limul Islam Ahmadiya Primary School in 1961 after which he proceeded to Progress Institute, Agege, where he bagged his 1st School Leaving Certificate with Distinction in 1969. He perfected his training as an Arabist at the famous Arabic Training Centre (Markaz) between 1973 and 1976. His insatiable quest for knowledge took him to the University of Ibadan, where he bagged a Certificate in Arabic and Islamic Studies while his passion for higher learning brought him to the University of Ilorin in 1978, where he graduated as Best Graduating Student in 1981. The University of Ilorin scrupulously engaged him as Assistant Lecturer in 1982 and he subsequently obtained his higher degrees in 1985 and 1991, rising through the ranks in the process till he became a Professor in 1995.

A true scholar to the core, Prof. Oloyede is a keen advocate of training and in this respect, he leads by example as the prodigy is never ashamed of being a student.  He obtained his Postgraduate Diploma in Education just in 2003 and became a Certified Teacher by Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria in 2005. Between 1994 and 1995, he received Special Proficiency Training on Information and Communication Technology at the International Centre for Communication Art and capped his ICT proficiency with a Certificate in Advanced Digital Appreciation Programme – Tertiary (ADAPT) at the International Centre for Communication Studies and Digital Bridge Institute, Abuja, in 2007.

This man of unimpeachable integrity has received several awards and honours in his dazzling and inspiring career and he is a member of many professional bodies. He is a recipient of the Arab League Prize for the Best Certificate Student in Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Ibadan; recipient of Merit Award by Islamic Mission of Africa, proprietors of Crescent University, Abeokuta; Fellow, Islamic Academy of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Fellow, Academy of Religion; Fellow, Society for Peace Studies and Practice; Fellow, Academy for Entrepreneurial Studies, Nigeria; Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Management; and Fellow, Nigerian Academy of Letters.

Prof. Oloyede has been a long-time member of the Nigerian Association of Teachers of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Professors World Peace Academy of Nigeria and the Nigerian Association for the Study and Teaching of Religion and the Natural Sciences. He is a Board Member of the African Center for Religions and the Sciences and representative of Unilorin Local Societies Initiative at the Metanexus Institute of Science and Religion, Philadelphia, USA and several others. He has won the Federal Government Scholarship, University of Ilorin Merit Scholarship and several national awards, including Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR).

This distinguished gentleman had served the University of Ilorin, Kwara and Ogun States and indeed the Federal Republic of Nigeria in several capacities. His achievements are so many and etched on stone that recounting them will fill several pages. Yet, it would be unfair to the University of Ilorin and its alumni if it is not mentioned that when this illustrious graduate of the University was the Vice-Chancellor, the University was taken to such an Olympian height that Vice-Chancellors visited him regularly to understudy him. Within a period of five years, this great man of honour took the University of Ilorin from being an unranked University to one of the best 20 in Africa, according to international ranking agencies.

Not only did Prof. Oloyede take the University of Ilorin to its apogee, he also electrified the global university system with his sterling leadership qualities and high-octane administrative acumen. No other Nigerian Vice-Chancellor has achieved being Chairman of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors (CVC)/ Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU), President of the Association of African Universities (AAU), Board Member of both the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and International Association of Universities (IAU) within a tenure of five years, apart from being the initiator of the Association of West Africa Universities (AWAU) through the Ilorin Declaration.

As a prolific author and astute academic, his hundreds of research works have appeared in scores of national and international journals. Prof. Oloyede has written, co-written and co-edited books and papers published in many outlets in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, USA, among others. He has presented academic papers in conferences all over Nigeria and across the world.

Little wonder that awards and recognitions have been swarming him but the self-effacing Oloyede has been driving them away. Nevertheless, he was on Saturday, November 27, 2017 garlanded by the well-respected New Telegraph  newspaper as the “Most Outstanding Public Servant of the Year”. As the blind can see and the deaf can hear, Prof. Oloyede stands tall today as one of the greatest symbols of President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade. It was therefore not surprising that when the Presidency released a statement on December 30, 2017 to showcase the achievements of the Federal Government, JAMB’s name was conspicuous in it. Subsequently, when the Minister of Information and National Orientation made an intervention in response to a statement, JAMB under Prof. Oloyede still featured prominently as a major achievement of Mr President.

Known for saying his mind without minding whose ox is gored, Prof. Oloyede is not unmindful of the fact that maggots would detest sanitary inspectors. In his frenetic pace for standard and excellence wherever the combination of hard work and good luck puts him, he steps on toes with integrity. So, one would agree with The Punch in its editorial of January 8, 2018 that “a leadership with integrity is critical….It is a fact that the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Is-haq Oloyede, showed with the N7.8 billion his agency remitted, against 3 million annually remitted by his predecessors.” Perhaps, part of his inspiration for being who he is lies in the words of Bill Cosby: “I don’t know the secret of success but the secret of failure is trying to please everybody”.

A no-nonsense man of super-abundant physical and mental energy, Prof. Oloyede loathes corruption so much that corruption too loathes him in kind. At a personal level, it was through him that I learnt that it is not a shame to be broke. Ten years ago, as Vice-Chancellor, he needed to send me on an errand and he told his son, now a medical Consultant, to withdraw money from his account. He was told there was no money there.

He mentioned another account and he was informed the last money there had been withdrawn under his directive. We had to wait till his next salary was paid. I learnt to assure myself since then that being broke is normal, after all, the Vice-Chancellor was broke!

A versatile scholar, a masterful manager of men and materials, Prof. Oloyede is a family man, happily married to the woman of his dream, a supportive, devoted, caring and enduring Dr (Mrs) Raheemat O. Oloyede and the marriage is blessed with children, including a set of male twins, and an expanding clan of grandchildren!

It is my singular honour to present to you the man of the moment, and indeed the man of all moments, a preeminent professor, astute administrator, exceptional scholar, academic mentor, redoubtable Registrar, dynamic Chief Executive, prolific writer, incorruptible leader, marvelous manager, inimitable consultant, wonderful Fellow, intellectual juggernaut,  inter-religious activist, compulsive communicator and outstanding Muslim personality, okunrin takuntakun, Prof. Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede, OFR, FNAL, FNIM, FIAC, FAR, fspsp, etc!

Dr Adedimeji is of the Department of English, University of Ilorin.

The Senator representing Kaduna Central District in the National Assembly, Shehu Sani, has declared that it is just a matter of time before the Governor of the State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai betrays President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to the Senator, El-Rufai is not new in the game of using and dumping leaders having allegedly betrayed the likes of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umar Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan.

He said this while explaining how the crisis in the Kaduna chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, started in an interview with Vanguard.

According to him, “It came in different stages- the one that began with me and the one that is continuing with Senator Hunkuyi and others.

“There are both ideological and political differences between me and (Governor) El-Rufai.

“He came from a political establishment. For the 16 years of PDP rule, he spent 13 years as a PDP man, he was never known until 1999 when he was appointed the DG of Bureau of Public Enterprises and later, Minister for FCT.

“This was a man who used to call Obasanjo his mentor and he used to call (late) Umar Yar’Adua his mentor and teacher and he used to call Jonathan Goodluck his very good leader, and now, it is Buhari.

“What I know is that the Nasir- el Rufai that betrayed Atiku, betrayed Obasanjo, Jonathan, Atiku will also betray Buhari.”

Punch 

No fewer than 53 policemen, serving in the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja, say they have yet to be paid their Risk Caution Allowances since 2015, when they were posted to the Presidency.

This was disclosed in an anonymous petition that the policemen filed to President Muhammadu Buhari and which was obtained by our correspondent.

It was gathered that apart from the 53, who had allegedly not been paid their allowances at all, there are 127 other policemen who claimed that they had yet to be paid their allowances in full.

According to the petition, the 53 policemen have been languishing in poverty over the past two years with their allowances being withheld. They urge the President to look into the matter.

One of the affected policemen, who spoke with one of our correspondents and pleaded not to be named, confirmed that the Risk Caution Allowances had not been paid since 2015.

“We have names in the petition to prove to the government that we are not lying. The authorities in the Villa should invite those persons and find out from them. We believe that the President is not aware of this delay. The allowances may have been approved a long time ago and mismanaged by a few powerful officers in the Villa. That is our fear,” the policeman said.

The petition is titled, “President Muhammadu Buhari’s mobile policemen plead over unpaid Risk Caution Allowances from May 2015 to date.

It read in part, “About 127 police officers attached to the Presidency have not been paid the balance of their risk caution allowances and about 53 mobile police officers that started working with the present government since 2015 have not been paid anything.

“The 53 policemen since the past two years have been languishing in poverty. Most of these policemen did the data capture and were given the presidential tags. Those behind this delay are some of the superior officers like the Squadron, the Principal Staff Officer and the leader of the Presidential Vehicle Movement.

“The excuse given by the superior officers was that the affected policemen were boys to the former Squadron leader, one SP Mau’su.

“These superiors have started transferring these affected policemen out of the Villa to some states and replacing them with their own boys, who did not suffer and were not there to bear what the policemen went through. We are pleading with our father and President, Muhammadu Buhari, to look into these sufferings from the beginning of his government till date.”

The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Jimoh Moshood, however, said all allowances and salaries of policemen attached to any place were being paid regularly, noting that they had yet to get such complaint from the Villa.

Moshood said, “The emoluments contain the salaries and allowances. Outside that, there is also insurance coverage provided by the Force and the Federal Government.

“This set of people you talk about have not complained to the Force headquarters. We don’t have such complaints. The police are not aware of any risk allowance being owed anyone.”

A government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said police authorities should be blamed for the non-payment of the RCA of some of their men posted to the Presidential Villa.

The source explained that the problem was caused by police authorities, who he said kept posting more men into the Presidential Villa than the number that could be catered for.

He, however, said not all policemen fell into the category of those that had not been paid.

Punch 

The Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, has angered a number of his colleagues for lifting the veil on the N13.5million illegal allowances members of the upper legislative chambers receive each month in addition to their legitimate salaries and allowances.

Some lawmakers who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES but asked not to be named said the revelation by Mr. Sani has damaged the reputation of the federal legislature while possibly pitting constituents against their representatives.

The aggrieved senators and members of the House of Representatives said some of their colleagues were already discreetly working out modalities to deal with the Kaduna lawmaker.

Mr. Sani had in an interview with TheNews revealed that he and his colleagues receive N13.5 million monthly as “running cost”, aside a N700,000monthly consolidated salary and allowances which they also receive.

Mr. Sani’s revelation is the first by a lawmaker from the Senate since the clamour by Nigerians for a full disclosure of lawmakers’ earnings.

The revelation has sparked widespread anger among Nigerians who had always criticised the lawmakers for arbitrarily allocating jumbo pay to themselves at a time the country remained in dire need of funds for developmental projects.

Ironically, Mr. Sani’s colleagues are criticising him for coming clean on the secret allowances lawmakers receive while majority of Nigerians wallow in poverty and disease.

Some of the lawmakers who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES said the revelation has the tendency of turning their constituents against them.

They said the revelation might instigate their constituents to make more financial demands from them.

The lawmakers vowed to take necessary steps to make the next one year difficult for the Kaduna senator.

“He has brought his useless activism to the chamber creating the impression that we are all thieves without telling Nigerians details of what the money is used for ,” one lawmaker said. “There are are always ways of dealing with characters like that. Just wait and see.”

Part of the punishment the angry lawmakers are considering is to pressure the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to exclude Mr. Sani from subsequent ‘secret meetings’ of the senate, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

They plan to prevail on Mr. Saraki to stop inviting him for such meetings, especially those where finances might be discussed.

The lawmakers are also weighing the option of recommending a probe of the whistle-blower to Mr. Saraki.

For them, Mr. Sani would have to explain why he turned himself to the senate spokesperson, speaking on behalf of others.

If adopted, Mr. Sani would be investigated by the senate’s ethics committee which shall recommend a punishment.

But some lawmakers are cautioning against any open rebuke of the senator, saying that might generate even more public anger against the Senate and its members.

Many Nigerians, including civil society organisations have commended Mr. Sani’s action.
However, if eventually probed and found guilty by the ethics committee, Mr. Sani faces up to six to 12 months suspension.

In March 2017, when the former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume asked for investigation of allegations of importing a bullet proof Range Rover with fake documents involving Senate President Bukola Saraki and that of perjury involving Dino Melaye, the committee recommended 12 months suspension.

The suspension was later reduced to six months by the lawmakers.

Similarly, in the House of Representatives, a lawmaker from Kano, Abdulmumin Jibrin, was suspended for 180 days for revealing what is today known as budget padding.

His suspension was recommended by the House Ethics Committee which also prescribed that Mr. Jibrin will also not be able to hold any position of responsibility for the span of the current National Assembly.

Contacted on Saturday, Mr. Sani said he preferred not to comment on his colleagues’ moves. He promised to make comments if the need arises in future.

PT

The House of Representatives has again queried the N24bn which the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation claim it incurs monthly on payment of subsidy on imported Premium Motor Spirit popularly known as petrol.

The lower chamber described the expenditure as “an act of illegality” as the funds are allegedly paid without appropriation by the National Assembly.

The landing cost of a litre of PMS is said to be N171, leaving a difference of N26, but the government-approved pump price is N145.

The price differential and other challenges, including allegations of smuggling by syndicates, leave a monthly subsidy bill of N24bn.

The Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Mr. Joseph Akinlaja, told SUNDAY PUNCH that a full-scale investigation into the “back-door return” of subsidy payment would start this week.

Akinlaja also confirmed names of officials that had been summoned to appear before the House probe panel.

He said the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu; the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru; and the heads of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company and the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency had been summoned to appear at the session.

Akinlaja reiterated the National Assembly’s stance that subsidy was neither captured in the 2017 budget nor in the 2018 budget still awaiting passage by the legislature.

He said, “What they (NNPC) is doing is illegal. We don’t know where the management got the approval to make the payments.

“They did not approach the National Assembly for any approval. That is why we say they have questions to answer. They need to tell Nigerians whether subsidy is back?

“We have an investigation to conduct and it will start next week (this week) for stakeholders to come and talk about this subsidy and other renewed challenges in our oil industry, particularly the supply chain in the downstream sector.”

Akinlaja recalled that the NNPC, a government corporation, had been the sole importer of products for several months after private importers boycotted importation.

He said reports at the disposal of the committee suggested that the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria; the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association; and the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria were collectively owed N800bn by the government for previous importation.

He added that as a result of the mounting debts, IPMAN, DAPMAN and MOMAN stopped importing products, leaving the NNPC alone to handle the challenge.

The lawmaker added that the “surprise” now was whether the NNPC was paying subsidy to itself, “but essentially doing so without authorisation by the National Assembly.”

He disclosed that the position of the committee had been that the executive should forward a supplementary budget, covering the N800bn, to offset the debts so that the marketers could resume importation.

Akinlaja also told SUNDAY PUNCH that the supplementary budget had yet to come while the NNPC hadn’t sought any approval from the National Assembly.

NNPC’s subsidy payments illegal, say senators

Also, some members of the Senate, who spoke to SUNDAY PUNCH, described subsidy payments by the NNPC as illegal as it was without the approval of the National Assembly.

Some of them however noted that there was no way the corporation could have maintained the official pump price of PMS at N145 per litre when the landing cost of the commodity had risen to N171 per litre.

A member of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Gas), Senator Adesoji Akanbi, stated, “We all know that the landing cost is more than the regulated pump price. It means that the government must bear the cost of the differentials. And for the fact that the general election is approaching, the current administration will not want to raise the pump price.”

Another senator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, however, faulted the corporation for not seeking legal backing for the payments. “They just don’t want to do it,” he said.

The lawmaker asked why it was difficult for the Federal Government to use the differentials between the appropriated oil benchmark and the increasing crude oil prices to augment the gap between the landing cost and the pump price.

“It is indeed illegal and they should have quickly sought the approval of the National Assembly. I agree that it should not be illegal; there should be a way to go around it without breaking the law,” the senator said.

Even if FG pays N650bn debt, we can’t still import fuel –Marketers

Meanwhile, oil marketers in the country have said they will still not be able to import the PMS even if the Federal Government clears the N650bn debt it owes them.

On Monday, oil dealers, under the aegis of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, suspended the 14-day ultimatum it issued the Federal Government to pay the N650bn debt.

DAPPMA had threatened to disengage oil workers if the government failed to comply, but suspended the move after the government made commitments to pay.

The Executive Secretary, DAPMMA, Olufemi Adewole, however, told one of our correspondents that despite the government’s commitment to clear the debt, petroleum product marketers would not commence PMS importation.

When asked if marketers had started importing PMS since the government had agreed to pay the N650bn debt, Adewole said there was no plan for such.

He stated, “Importing PMS is not as if you just go to the depot, load and come out. If you are importing PMS, you will agree with your supplier in Amsterdam or Europe or Russia; you nominate a vessel; they give you a date that you are going to load the vessel; you then load the vessel and it takes about two weeks for it to come to Nigeria.

“And first and foremost, the money has to be paid but right now, the money is still not there. We don’t have the money to do all that. We have suspended the ultimatum but marketers still don’t have the money to import. So on importation, that is off it right now.”

When probed further on whether marketers would import PMS once they get their payments from government, Adewole replied, “If the money is paid and the price is okay; in other words, if we bring it in and the landing cost is not above N145 per litre, then we can go ahead and import. Even if the money is paid today and the landing cost is above N145, we still cannot import.

“So many things came together and that is why we were boxed into a corner. At a point when they still owed us, we were still importing because the price was below N145 and we can still land and sell the product at N145. But when we could not get our money out, could not sell at N145, and were borrowing money to pay staff salaries, then, we just felt that what’s the point? We have been talking to them but they seem not to be doing anything.”

But the spokesperson for the NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, said the rise in crude oil prices in the international market and the increase in the volume of PMS consumed across the country had contributed to the hike in the amount spent as subsidy on petrol.

Ughamadu, who insisted that the NNPC was not paying subsidy but making under recovery, stated that Nigeria’s petrol consumption jerked up from about 35 million litres per day to 50 million litres.

He said, “It was clearly stated in a presentation we made a few days ago to the Customs. In effect, the higher the crude oil price, the wider the landing cost of products and the larger the under recovery.

“All these factors depend on the consumption level. The higher the consumption level, the wider is the under recovery. It is important to state that under recovery is part of our credit management structure.”

The oil firm had announced last Sunday that it was spending N774m daily as subsidy on the 50 million litres of PMS consumed across the country every day.

Punch