Police From Force HQ Fail To Arrest Suspects In Ilorin Sallah Stampede

A Special Police squad deployed from Force
Headquarters, Abuja to Ilorin, the Kwara State
capital, to investigate last week’s stampede at
the Ile Loke home of the Sarakis, did not yield
any arrests as the officers said the allegations
they were acting on, did not conform with reality. The police agents, it was learnt, visited the
state on Sunday evening to arrest the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) chairman in the state,
Ishola Balogun-Fulani, Yemi Afolayan
(secretary) and the state Publicity Director,
Mas’ud Adebimpe, according to sources in Ilorin. However, upon getting to the scene of the
stampede which left no fewer than 12 persons
dead, the officers were reportedly astonished
that what they saw did not tally with what
they were told. According to sources, the policemen
wondered how people could have suffocated
in a ‘mini-stadium’. Besides, “we could not see any broken down
wall or fence as claimed to be responsible for
the death of the people,” one of them was
quoted to have said. Reacting to the development, the state PDP
scribe, Mr. Afolayan said the Sallah day
stampede was being over-dramatized, noting:
“The venue had been in existence for some
time now but we are today shocked at many
wicked lies being said about Ile-Arugbo (Home of Charity).”

Agagu’s Burial Holds Today Despite Air Tragedy… Corpse Transported By Road To Home Town

The planned burial of Late Dr. Olusegun
Agagu, the erstwhile governor of Ondo
State, will go ahead today despite the
unfortunate air mishap on Thursday that
claimed no fewer than 15 lives when his
remains were being flown in an Associated Airline aircraft from Lagos to Akure. This was disclosed by Chairman of the
Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, in Ondo
State, Ebenezer Alabi, who said after
consulting with the former governor’s
family, they have “decided to go ahead with
the burial. Moreso, he said, that Agagu’s first son, Feyi
and his son-in-law survived the plane crash.
“There was no scratch on the casket,” Mr.
Alabi added. “So, while the family sympathized with
those that lost their lives and their loved
ones, they have decided to go ahead with
the burial as was initially planned”, the PDP
chairman reiterated. Meanwhile, the remains of the former
governor, which was still intact despite the
plane crash, has been conveyed by road to
Iju-Odo, his country home and final place of
rest.

PDP Crisis: House Of Reps Undecided On Grounds For Jonathan’s Impeachment – Spokesman

The House of Representatives said yesterday
that it would not rush into taking a decision
on any motion regarding the impeachment of
President Goodluck Jonathan over the
lingering Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP,crisis. Chairman, House Committee on Media and
Public Affairs, Zakari Mohammed made this
known at a parley with newsmen at the
National Assembly. According to him, “Every issue will be looked
at according to its merit. The floor will
determine what happens. To now say we will
impeach Mr. X means we have made up our
minds on what we would do. “There must be issues that will generate
impeachment, and it is the floor that will
decide whether these issues are impeachable
or not.” He faulted the argument that the matter was a
PDP family affair and should not be taken to
the National Assembly; saying since the party
is in the majority whatever affects it affects the
entire House. “Whatever affects the PDP in the House will
definitely affect the colouration of the House.
With 208 members in the House, whatever
affects members of the PDP will be felt by all
of us”, he said. Mohammed urged the PDP to urgently resolve
the crisis in order to avoid a situation where it
will slide into the minority when 57 members
of the “New PDP” join ranks with the
opposition All Progressives Congress, APC,
which has 137 members.

Saraki: Why EFCC Is On My Trail

Former Kwara State governor and
chieftain of the Abubakar Kawu Baraje –
led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr.
Bukola Saraki yesterday attributed his
ordeal in the hands of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the fall-out of internal wrangling in the
party. The former governor, who currently
represents Kwara Central in the upper
chamber of the National Assembly, said
he would not be surprised if he was
invited again by the commission to
answer to alleged financial misappropriation. Information Nigeria reports that Saraki
was a guest of the anti-graft agency on
Monday and Tuesday, where he was
quizzed over the N17billion bond
obtained by his administration in 2010. Speaking with newsmen in Ilorin on
Thursday, Saraki explained that he had
given sufficient information to the
investigators at EFCC on all issues
pertaining to the said bond. He also addressed PDP youths in the
state that thronged his constituency
office to pledge their loyalty and support
to him. Saraki commended the EFCC operatives
for being “professional” in the discharge
of their duties just as he explained that
the N17bn loan was spent on projects
including Aviation College, irrigation
project, Ilorin water reticulation, township stadium, rural electrification,
KWASU, loan refunding and Kwara mall. Saraki said, “Yes I was with EFCC on
Monday and Tuesday to answer queries
on the bond issue. I made it clear that
bond is not money available to any
government just like that; that to access
it you must go through a rigorous process; that we had to submit ourselves
to international evaluation before we
could be given. “I gave them details of how we spent the
bond because if any government wants
to be reckless it won’t be with a bond
that has stringent conditions before you
can access it. I listed the projects we
used the money for and they are all verifiable.”

Arewa Youths Hail Jonathan’s Sack Of Youth Development Minister As Long Over-Due

The removal from office of Minister of
Youth Development, Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir
by President Goodluck Jonathan has been
hailed as a ‘welcome development’ by
northern youths. It will be recalled that the former minister was
unceremoniously shown the exit door by
President Jonathan on Monday while he was
busy on official assignment in Calabar, the
Cross River State capital. The youths, who expressed support for the
move, said the sack of the minister was
long over-due as he was disconnected from
issues relating to youth welfare and
development. Their position was articulated by National
President of Arewa Youth Forum, AYF, Alhaji
Gambo Gujungu, in an interview culled from Vanguard. According to Gujungu, Abdulkadir refused
to heed the advice by well-meaning youth
groups in the North on how to tackle the
myriad of challenges confronting them on a
daily basis. “We see the sack of the minister by
President Jonathan as a welcome
development,” Gujungu said, adding that it
could not have come at a better time than it
did. “To be honest with you, the former minister
did not do much to satisfy the needs of the
teeming youth population in the country
and his removal did not come to us as a
surprise. We are aware he did not know how
to handle youth problems even though we tried many times to advise him he did not
listen to us”. However, Gujungu urged the president to
pick a replacement for the sacked minister
from Sokoto State on the basis of
competence as against political affiliation
to the Peoples Democratic Party. He warned that any attempt to appoint the
replacement based on political
considerations, would also not yield the
desired result and might also lead to
disappointment.