Kalu, a foundation member of the PDP in a statement on Tuesday by his Special Adviser, Oyekunle Oyewumi said the decision showed that the leadership of the party was a listening one.

He particularly praised the National Chairman of the party, Dr. Bamanga Tukur and other members of the National Working Committee for such magnanimity.

He said: “What the party has shown by this decision is that it cannot only bark but also bite.

“And by also rescinding the decision to suspend the governor, the party shows it equally has the large heart to forgive trespasses.”

Kalu commended the roles played by the Akwa Ibom State Governor and Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Chief Godswill Akpabio.

He said the move by Akpabio and his colleagues was a masterstroke and a huge step towards ensuring the party forged a united front ahead of the 2015 general election.

Kalu then appealed to the leadership of the PDP to also intervene in the crisis rocking the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.

He said though the NGF was a larger body that include governors elected on the platform of other parties, the intervention of the PDP was necessary because the two men contending for the leadership of the Forum – Governors Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and Jonah Jang of Plateau State – are members of the PDP.

He said: “The PDP needs all hands to be on deck to ensure victory in the 2015 polls. So no effort should be spared to achieve this.

The Deputy Senate President in the Third Republic, Albert Legogie, is dead. He died Monday evening after a brief illness in  a private hospital in Benin City at about 4:30pm at the age of 65. Apparently shocked by his sudden death, sympathisers who called at his GRA residence in Benin City were filled with disbelief.

Speaking to journalists yesterday, his first son, Victor Legogie, narrated that, “he suffered malaria and was taken to the hospital. He recovered and was brought home. In fact, he was doing well. But later he was ill again and we rushed him back to the hospital and unfortunately he died at the hospital.

“So, as you know, my dad was a man of many parts, so we have to inform the National Assembly, state government before we will be able to fix date for his burial. We are consulting with a lot of people. We never expected this. It is shocking to us,” he said.

Asked why his late father stayed away from politics before his death, he said,  “it is not as if he has not been playing politics, it is just that he has been at the background mentoring people. My dad mentored a lot of politicians. He believed that the younger ones should be given opportunity to take over power. That was his philosophy and that was why he decided to be at the background.”

By OLUWOLE FAROTIMI

All major markets in Lagos were on Tuesday shut in honour of the late Abibat Mogaji, the president general of Market Associations in Nigeria, as consumers who went to markets to buy goods returned empty handed.

Daily Sun learnt that the fidau prayers held at the Tafawa Balewa Square drew the presence of eminent Nigerians like former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari, former military governor of Lagos State, Brig-Gen. Buba Marwa and Mr. Nasir El-Rufai. Others were Olusegun Aganga, Pastor Tunde Bakare, ACN members at the National Assembly.

Daily Sun observed that the usual throng of customers at the Rauf Aregbesola Market in Iyana Ipaja was completely absent as only a couple of traders were seen standing in front of their locked shops.

A trader who identified herself as Alhaja Bisi informed Daily Sun she was aware the markets had been shut in honour of their leader, saying she came to keep an appointment with a family friend who had earlier fixed the appointment with her.

Meanwhile, the three-day fidau prayer was characterised with Qur’an recitation, sermons and prayers by the National Missioner, Ansar-Ud-Deen, Sheikh Abdulrahman Ahmad and the  Mudir of Morcas Arabic and Islamic Training Institute, Sheikh Adam Abdullahi who was represented by Ustaz Suleiman Asariyu.

Giving the lecture, Sheik Ahmad urged Nigerians to live a good life and behave well, adding that on daily basis, people should look back at what they had done in life and prepare for ultimate destination –heaven. The Islamic cleric reminded people that death was compulsory for all human beings.

“Whatever we do, we should strive to do it well. We should always have it at the back of our mind that whatever we do on earth planet, we’ll face judgement of God,” he counseled.

A couple, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Iworibo Thomas, have died after eating a meal in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital. The incident occurred on Sunday, at about 11.15 am at George-Ama community in Okrika Local Government Area.

The deceased’s daughter, Mrs. Lilian Tamuno-Opubo, of the same George-Ama area, reported news of the tragedy to the divisional police station in Okrika.

The victims’ daughter, according to the report told the police that she found her parents lying dead in her father’s sitting room.

A police source stated that when the fpolicemen visited the scene, photographs of the two bodies were taken while the bodies were deposited at Kpaima Mortuary, Port Harcourt,  for autopsy.

Also, the remnant of the food allegedly eaten by the deceased had been removed for medical examination, as food poisoning was suspected.

Confirming the incident to Daily Sun, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Angela Agabe, a Deputy Superintendent, said police had commenced preliminary investigation. She said no arrest was made.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has endorsed the move by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to disqualify any politician caught in the act of campaigning outside the time frame stipulated by the electoral law.

The NBA president, Okey Wali (SAN) spoke at the 7th yearly conference of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) section of Business Law (SBL) with the theme: “The Legal Profession In an Emerging Economy,” held in Lagos.

Wali said the overheating of the political space by politicians must not be tolerated by stakeholders and that was why NBA had repeatedly criticised such action. He also endorsed the move by Prof Attahiru Mohammed Jega’s action to disqualify any politician engaged in campaign before the time allowed by the law.

The NBA president also warned members of the bar, who engaged in such practise to desist from it, saying their actions were overheating the system with negative effect on the programmes of his administration.

“We have noticed the politicisation of some committee activities by their chairmen, with ambition for future political offices at the bar. You are overheating the system with negative effect on the programmes of this administration, this will no longer be tolerated. There shall be no more electioneering, until campaigns are officially allowed next year. Defaulters will be disqualified from participating in the NBA 2014 election. NBA has repeatedly criticised the overheating of our political space by politicians.”

“Recently the INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Mohammed Jega threatened to disqualify politicians engaged in campaign before the time allowed by the law and NBA totally endorses Jega’s action, how then could we tolerate such at the bar. Any committee or section chair found to be in actions that amount to abuse of office, for political reasons, will be replaced with immediate effect. This is a matter of discipline, we must stick to the rules,” he said.

Wali did not also hide his joy on the occasion as he showered encomium on the council and members of the Section on Business Law (SBL) of the bar, under the leadership of Gbenga Oyebode, for their commitment and determination in steering the affairs of SBL to an enviable position.

Also speaking, the Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed  Adoke (SAN) disclosed that the Federal Government, through the office of the Attorney- General of the Federation (AGF) was planning a new bill to help boost investment in the country.? He noted that his office was collaborating with the Ministry of Trade and Investment and other stakeholders in reviewing relevant Business and Investment Lawslegal flaw of investments and the smooth running of business in the country.? The AGF, who was represented by his Special Adviser, Dr Taiwo acilitated by technology, lawyers were daily confronted with the need to re-evaluate the existing practices .?

Other notable speakers at the event include the key note speaker, Mr Harold Paisner,  of the Law Society of England and Wales, G

The Oyo State Police Command yesterday disclosed that it has arrested nine suspects in connection with the killing of the unit chairman of the Agbeni branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Rafiu Adebayo.

Adebayo, also known as Ola Ruffy, was murdered at Apaana, Foko area of Ibadan, a short distance away from his house on Sunday. His killing marked a break from the relative peace that reigned in Ibadan, the state capital, in the last two years.

In a telephone conversation with the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Olabisi Clet-Ilobanafor, said the police had swung into action immediately the incident was reported, explaining further that the suspected master minder of the attack, believed to be behind the mask tagged Ekugbemi masquerade, was still at large.

She said, “we like to advise him to turn himself in now because he can only hide, he cannot run away. We will fish him out soon if he refuses to show up.”

The hoodlums behind the killing had used the cover of the ongoing egungun festival to perpetrate the evil act.

Adebayo had gone to Obafemi Awolowo Stadium (formerly Liberty Stadium) on Sunday afternoon to watch ram competition. It was while he was returning around 4.30pm that he ran into the crowd of one of the popular masquerades in Ibadan, Iponriku, where the hoodlums took advantage of the rowdiness to attack him close to his house. He was said to have been stabbed on four different areas of his head and was allegedly shot on the thigh.

One Mr. Fatai, one of his associates who was with him and tried to rescue him, was also attacked.

Adebayo gave up the ghost at a nearby hospital where he was rushed to for treatment. His remains were deposited at the Oke-Ado Hospital, Ibadan, shortly after he was confirmed dead by the medical team attending to him.

From CHRIS ANUCHA, Port Harcourt

A medical doctor, Didi Chukwuemeka, has been kidnapped in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital. His armed captors took him away to an unknown destination and they are said to be asking for N50million ransom from his relatives.

The victim was abducted along  NTA  Road, last Thursday evening, while returning home  from work.

Dr. Chukwuemeka, who works with the Rivers State Primary Health Centre, was said to be driving in his car, with his wife and their baby, when the kidnappers accosted  him. A source said the couple had almost reached their destination, before the kidnappers struck.

According to the same source, as they got to the gate of their compound, while  his wife handed their little baby to him, she alighted from the vehicle to open the gate for him to drive in when the suspects, who stormed the scene, brandishing their guns,  prevented him from driving in. They were  said  to have forced him to throw the little baby at his wife, before they drove away with him in the car.

It was gathered that the woman went into coma, as a result of the shock she received from the ugly incident. She was, however, rushed to the hospital where doctors battled to save her life.

According to a source, the woman was still in shock and in  critical condition.

Daily Sun was told how the victim’s wife earlier noticed a vehicle trailing them and informed her husband. She was said to have expressed her fears over the vehicle behind them, but her husband told her that there was no cause for alarm.

But few minutes  later, the kidnappers carried out their ignoble act.  It was gathered  that  before she was rushed to the hospital, the woman  managed to report the incident  at  Police Division, Mgbuoba, Rivers State.

A police source, however, said she bluntly refused  to write a statement  concerning the kidnap incident.

The reporter also learnt that when some detectives assigned to investigate the matter  went to the victim’s house to prevail on his wife to write a statement on how her husband was abducted, she was nowhere to be found.

It was there that they were informed that the shocked woman  had been admitted in a  hospital.

Meanwhile, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has threatened to go on strike, if its abducted member was not released before tomorrow.

However, the doctors have abandoned  their consulting rooms and trooped  to the streets,  bush and anywhere one could  think of in search of their kidnapped colleague.

Confirming this, the Secretary of NMA, Rivers State chapter, Dr Leloonu Nwibubasa, said they were not on strike yet. He explained that they only abandoned their duty posts, in  search of their abducted colleague. He explained  that  doctors, working at  the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH),  were working full time, while emergency cases were also given  priority attention, by the aggrieved doctors.

He said doctors, by their training were humane, adding that that accounted for their  reason  not totally abandoning their primary duty of saving lives. He condemned what he described as, ‘serial kidnapping of doctors’ in  Rivers  State. According to him, it had been a regular occurrence, but wondered why doctors, who were not politicians should be  the target of kidnappers.

“Even in war time, doctors are not hurt by the soldiers. I wonder why kidnappers, who have fathers, mothers and relatives could go about, capturing people for ransom,” he said. He, however, called for the unconditional release of their colleague.

He described as unreasonable, the 50 million and later, N20million  ransom demanded  by kidnappers. He  also appealed to security agents, to intensify efforts to effect the release of their  abducted colleague.

The Rivers State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Angela Agabe,  confirmed the incident. She said no arrest had been made, adding that the police were on top of the situation.

From   ISMAIL OMIPIDAN, Abuja

Ahead of today’s Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Jigawa State, Governor Sule Lamido has described the call for a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the party by the embattled National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, as illegal.

This was even as he assured Nigerians that the party would not fail them, saying it would stand by them and do the right thing for the country, when it matters most, no matter the party’s present difficulty. He also said there was no alternative to the PDP.

Lamido, who said though he was not a lawyer, further opined that as it stood today, and going by the party’s law, it is only the leader of party, in which case, President Jonathan, that could call for any meeting of the party, to discuss the way forward. And that such meeting would be attended by the states party chairmen, the governors, Senate president, his deputy, speaker of the House of Representatives, his deputy and other critical stakeholders of the party, to discuss how to convene another national convention of the party, that would bring about a new leadership.

He spoke exclusively to Daily Sun in a telephone interview from abroad, in an early hours of yesterday morning, when our reporter called him to find out his reaction about the party’s decision to recall Wamako, and the slating of its NEC meeting for tomorrow.

The NEC meeting, which by the party’s constitution should hold quarterly, was last held in July last year.

The party’s U-turn on Wamako, came barely 48 hours after he (Lamido) came hard on the leadership of the party for refusing to call for a NEC meeting, even as he described the suspension of both Ameachi and Wamako, as a huge mistake, hoping that the party would see reason to reverse it. But while Wamako was recalled, the party remained silent on Ameachi’s fate.

In spite of Wamako’s recall and Tukur’s notice for a NEC meeting, Lamido was insisting that Tukur’s leadership stood dissolved by virtue of the party’s constitution, saying he could not call for a NEC meeting.

He further said for abdicating his responsibility in the last 11 months by refusing to call for a NEC meeting, Tukur had breached the party’s constitution, and as such lost both the moral and legal right to convene any such meeting.

According to the Jigawa State governor, who was a foundation member of the PDP, as the ruling party, PDP owed it  a duty to show Nigerians that it was a party that respected its law, even as he wondered how a person, who could not obey his party’s constitution, would obey the country’s constitution.

“I am not a lawyer, but I am of the strong opinion that Tukur’s leadership stands dissolved. It has annulled itself by refusing to convene a NEC meeting of the party. So going by our party’s law, Tukur’s leadership no longer exists. So, he has lost both the moral and legal right to call for a NEC meeting, after refusing to do that in the last 11 months. So to that extent, they have annulled their positions.

“In the present circumstances, and going by our party’s law, only the leader of the party, that is Mr. President, that can call for any meeting, where states party chairmen, National Assembly leadership, governors and other very important party stakeholders will now sit down to discuss how to hold another national convention to elect new officials of the party at the national level.

“Let me assure Nigerians that the PDP, as a party, will not fail them. We have the capacity to resolve our differences. And so we will not fail Nigerians because there is no alternative to PDP. Nor matter our difficulty. In spite of our problems, we will not fail Nigerians. When it matters most, we will stand by them and do the right thing in the interest of the country.

“This is why we believe that as a party, we should always lead the way. We cannot continue in this illegality. How can someone who does not respect a party’s constitution, respects the country’s constitution? The party is bigger than any individual. Therefore, all people of good conscience within the party must rise and say no to Tukur’s illegality,” Lamido added.

Operatives of the Special Task Force on Anti-Pipeline Vandalism unit have re-arrested a former staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Bashiru Majiyagbe who had been jailed five years for pipeline vandalisation.

Bashiru, who finished serving his sentence few weeks ago, was re-arrested at Odi Ifediwo area of Ogun State, while vandalizing NNPC pipeline. At the police station, Bashiru said he worked as a security man with NNPC before he was arrested. “I was employed by NNPC to guard the pipeline in 2002. My records are there that my line was always protected because I never allowed vandals to get near the area where I was guarding.

They (vandals) have approached me severally with thousands of naira but I refused because I wanted a clean record and hoped that I would be promoted. But along the line, I discovered that NNPC officials are ingrates. They are in their offices wearing tie, while I was left in the bush to protect pipeline and I was given stipends.

We complained severally and were told that the contractor who employed us on behalf of NNPC is the one that should be held responsible. “I decided to help myself survive out there in the bush. Whenever they wanted to operate, I will pretend as if I never knew that they were there unless NNPC officials at the technical room discovered a drop and raised the alarm that vandals were in my area. “It was then that I started enjoying the dividend of the job, because all these while, I had risked my life for nothing.

Those vandals can be deadly, if you do not allow them to work.” On his arrest and conviction Bashiru accused one Dosumu for betraying him by informing NNPC that he was allowing vandals to operate.

“Dosumu was sacked because NNPC suspected him. He came to me and asked to operate in my area and I refused. He decided to leak my secrets to NNPC. In prison, Bashiru met most of the vandals and joined their association.

On his release from prison, Bashiru said: “On May 16, 2012, I was released from prison after five years. Normally anyone that was released would be advised to go underground. This was what I did but I never knew that the police had gotten my number and were tracking my calls through some vandals that were in their net.

Unfortunately, that night I was patrolling the area to alert those in the bush whenever I spot policemen or any security operatives. Two men accosted me and I thought they were marketers and I stopped.

It was when they slapped me that I realized that they were security operatives. I can’t believe that I am heading back to the prisons again. My plans were to raise small money and start my own business.

I am finished. Confirming his arrest, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Friday Ibadin, who is in charge of the task force, said that police got a tip off that vandals were operating in Odi Ifediwo area of Ogun state.

From DAVID ONWUCHEKWA, Nnewi

Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State yesterday presented 200 Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) to all traditional rulers in the state. He said the gesture, which was free from any charge, was in recognition of the pivotal roles of traditional rulers in the state and the need to ensure they work in relative comfort for the good and progress of the state.

He said the choice of Innoson manufactured vehicles was to tell Nigerians that with a motor manufacturing company in the state, they needed not search elsewhere. He said the state government had unofficially adopted Innoson vehicles as the state brand and revealed that the next set of official vehicles he would use would be bought from Innoson and called on Nigerians to be proud of their own.

On the source of finance for the projects, the governor said it was mainly from the money he attracted to the state.

Using the education sector as an example, he said the budget was N3 billion but that by the end of the year, N13 billion would have been spent. In his remarks, the Chairman, Anambra Traditional Rulers Council, Obi Alfred Achebe, described what the state was witnessing under Obi as unprecedented. He said he was particularly thrilled not by the vehicles but by the revolution in schools, which he noted, would be for the benefit of the children of the state. He assured the support of traditional rulers for what he described as renaissance of learning taking place in the state. In his own remarks, the traditional ruler of Umuoji, Igwe Cyril Iwueze, thanked the governor for his attention to all sectors. Agreeing that what was taking place in the state was a revolution, he said that after witnessing billions given to the Church to rehabilitate schools handed over to them, it was encouraging witnessing the extension of the same gesture to public schools in the state. In another development, the governor yesterday said what would happen to the state by the end of the year would be revolutionary by all accounts and that all sectors would benefit. He said this at the Women Development Centre, Awka, during a town hall meeting at which he explained to critical stakeholders – traditional rulers, presidents general of towns, religious leaders, among others, how his government intended to carry out comprehensive rehabilitation of 253 government-owned secondary schools in the state. This followed the rehabilitation of the schools already handed over to the churches by the government. The governor, who at the event flagged off distribution of N10 million, totalling N2.53 billion, to principals of those secondary schools, said it represented the first phase of the exercise. He explained the delay on the need to set up a monitoring group for proper deployment of the money and warned that any principal who would be found wanting would be dealt with accordingly with the money similarly given to them.”