The committee, which was set up by the President following the protracted crisis rocking the party, has six governors as members and ill begin sitting today.

The governors are Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Gabriel Suswam (Benue), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina), Theodore Orji (Abia) and Isa Yuguda(Bauchi).

Also on the committee are the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. Pius Anyim; Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak; and the Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe.

Our correspondents learnt that Amaechi and Wamakko might refuse to honour an invitation from the panel over fears that its composition would not guarantee fairness.

This is hinged on the fact that the six governors are also members of a breakaway faction of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum headed by Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang.

The faction arose after the election of Amaechi on May 24 was rejected by some PDP governors, who decided to pitch tent with Jang.

There are also fears that the panel may ask Amaechi to drop his leadership pf the NGF in return for his recall to the party.

Amaechi was suspended from the party some days later for failing to heed its advice not to seek a second term.

Wamakko was suspended last week for failing to heed the party’s invitation to answer charges of alleged anti-party activities.

However, it is believed that his suspension was in reaction to his support for Amaechi.

The presidential panel is expected to review the suspension of both governors and mak recommendations on ways of resolving the crisis.

Amaechi’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. David Iyofor, initially promised to call our correspondent back. But subsequent attempts to reach him failed as he did not pick calls to his phone.

But the Majority Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Mr. Chidi Lloyd, said Amaechi would not honour any invitation from the panel since a court had restrained parties to his suspension from taking any further step on the matter.

“What I can say is that the matter is subjudice because the court has said that parties in the case (suspension of Amaechi) should not take any action that will affect the matter.

“But the fact remains that the Rivers State governor is amenable to peace and the sustenance of peace.

“Parties are not expected to discuss anything pertaining to the suspension until the determination of the suit,” Lloyd said.

When contacted, Wamakko’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Sani Umar, said the governor would wait and see how the panel conducts its assignment before deciding on the next step.

He also said insinuations that Wamakko’s alleged refusal to acknowledge Akpabio’s leadership of the PDP Governors’ Forum was one of the reasons for the governor’s suspension.

Sani said, “When did he say he would not submit to the leadership of Akpabio and where? It’s a lie and if he did he’ll not deny it. We wait and see how the committee will go about its assignment.”

Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko

The party said in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, that the suspension was due to the breaching of the party’s constitution by the governor.

Metuh said the decision to suspend the governor was taken at the meeting held by the members of the National Working Committee at its meeting, in Abuja on Wednesday.

The statement read, “The NWC notes that on several occasions, Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko had ignored invitations and lawful directives of the NWC in this regard and has continued to show complete apathy to the affairs of the party and contempt to an organ of the Party.

“Consequent upon the refusal of the Governor to honour yet another invitation by the NWC to appear before it today, Wednesday, June 5, 2013 without any reason, the Committee, in exercise of the powers conferred by Articles 57 (3), 57 (7), 58. 1(c), (h), (f) and 59 (1),(2), hereby suspends the Executive Governor of Sokoto State, Dr. Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, as a member of the party and refers the matter to the appropriate disciplinary committee of the Party.

“This is in furtherance of the determination of the leadership of the party to enforce discipline at all levels within the party.”

The suspension, it was gathered, might not be unconnected with an alleged refusal of the governor to recognise the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Chief Godswill Akpabio.

The governor, it was gathered, was said to have been miffed at the way Akpabio was allegedly imposed on the governors by the Presidency and the leadership of the party.

Besides, he was also alleged to be working with the leadership of the All Progressives Congress and that he could have been the backbone of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mallam Aminu Tambuwal, who the Presidency and the party had recognised as an opposition figure.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that more governors may also be suspended from the party soon.

Sources close to the party named the governors as Dr. Babangida Aliyu(Niger), Rabiu Kwakwanso(Kano) and Sule Lamido(Jigawa).

Former Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarwa, and former Head of State, Major General Mohammadu Buhari, at the weekend held a closed door meeting at the latter’s Kaduna residence.

Although details of the meeting were not made public, the former governor in an interview with newsmen shortly after the meeting, which lasted for about one hour, said their discussions centred on how to unite the North and move it forward.

According to Bafarawa, a chieftain of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), the meeting was not about political parties, but to find solution to the disunity in the North.

He lamented that the North was in disarray and there was need to discuss, unite the region and chart the way forward.

“I didn’t come as a member ANPP to visit Gen. Buhari and I did not come to see him on the ground of his own party, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). I came to him to discuss in order to chart the way forward on how we can unite ourselves in the North because the North is in disarray, therefore we need to unite since we are masters of all trade when you talk of political activities in the North,” Bafarawa said.

He noted that all the political parties in the country could be found in the North, stressing that there was the need for the region to put its house in order before the next elections.

“That is why I have come to see my brother, Gen. Buhari on how we can unite ourselves before we even talk of political parties. I came to see Gen. Buhari as an elder brother and a partner in progress in order to move the Northern region forward.

“I think there is solution to our disunity in the North because, before now, discussions towards achieving unity have been based on political parties, but now I came to visit Buhari on personal ground to discuss the way forward for our people in the North.

“Our strategy is that we will take our time, plan things and see how we can come out with the way forward. And like I said, I have come to see him, so I will not tell you the strategy we will take, but this visit a step forward.

“What we are looking out for now is unity; we are not talking of CPC, ANPP or any other political party. All we are after is to see that the North is united.

“I think everybody is going to drop his political ambition for now until the time comes because what is most important now is our unity. The people will decide the next political direction when the time comes,” Bafarawa said.

 However, Buhari declined to comment on the meeting, saying he was contented with the comments of the former governor.

-ThisDay

Sokoto – Sokoto state government has approved the release of one billion five million one hundred and seventy-eight thousand eight hundred and eleven naira only (N1,005,178,811.00) for the payment of allowances to foreign students of Sokoto origin.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Abdullahi Bala Sokoto, a copy of which was made available to Vanguard on Friday.

According to the statement, “Governor Aliyu Wamakko has approved the immediate release of N1,005,178,811.00 for payments of all outstanding financial commitment of all foreign students, who are under the sponsorship of Sokoto state government in different parts of the world.”

It further stated that “other students studying at different institutions within the country as well those on higher scheme outside the country would be paid accordingly,” adding that the gesture by was aimed at ensuring that the students underwent academic pursuits without hitches.

“We want our children studying home and abroad
to have concentration in a conducive and peaceful academic atmosphere”, the statement read.

Bala Sokoto urged the benefiting students to reciprocate the gesture through hard work in order to achieve academic excellence as justification for the huge expenditure incurred by government.

via Vanguard

National Youth Service Corps members
| credits:

Corps members posted to Yobe, Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto, Bornu and Bauchi states have asked the National Youth Service Corps to redeploy them from these trouble states.

The corps members, who expressed sadness as they received their call-up letters for the Batch B NYSC service year, said they were confused as they did not know what to do due to the spate of bombings and other forms of insecurity in these states.

Some of the corps members and their families, who expressed their worries on various social network sites including Facebook and Twitter, said they were extremely sad and disappointed when they received their call-up letters, deploying them to trouble states where there is currently curfew, threats of reprisals and censeless bombings.

Some of the comments on the social network sites read, “We need to arise and stop the government from sentencing us and our loved ones to death. Is our government/NYSC this heartless or simply inhumane? We seek our immediate redeployment, we want to live in places where we can work with peace of mind.’’

Our correspondents learnt that authorities of the NYSC had also been under pressure from parents and prospective corps members posted to northern states, who had been seeking alternative posting.

Our Correspondent learnt in Abuja on Sunday that the NYSC was already collaborating with the affected states on how to ensure security for the corps members posted to their states.

But speaking through the Borno State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Inuwa Bwala, in a telephone interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday, the Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, made a case for corps members to be posted to the state.

He argued that the security situation in the state was being exaggerated by detractors to further isolate the state from the rest of the country.

He said, “While it is true that we have security challenges, it is a fact that these challenges are not exclusive to Borno State.

“We don’t have on record any attack on visitors neither do we have any record of attacks on the NYSC camp or corps members posted to and currently serving in Borno State.”

-Punch

The Permanent Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Alhaji Garba Sarkin-Kudu, said in Sokoto on Monday that the payment was for the arrears of the 2010/2011 academic session.

Sarkin-Kudu told newsmen that “each students is paid N1,000 per month and the state government is owing them 14 months arrears.

“This gesture is part of the state government’s sustained efforts to further uplift the educational standard of the state.”

Sarkin-Kudu called on the students to reciprocate the gesture of the government by being more dedicated to their studies. (NAN)

-Vanguard

Incidentally, about three months ago, there had been a similar shoot out when gunmen engaged men the Sokoto State Police Command.
For many hours in a house not too far away from the latest event, gunshots were exchanged that sent panic among residents who scampered to safety and remained holed up in their homes until the gunmen were subdued and discovered to be armed robbers.
On the fateful Thursday, an armed rescue team comprising men of the British Special Forces and their Nigerian counterparts invaded a house at the back of the state-owned Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital in the Mabera area. Their purpose was to rescue the foreigners held hostage within the area. It had taken over a year to pinpoint their location.

Sunday Sun learnt that their captors had demanded the sum of N150 million as ransom to secure freedom for the two construction workers.
As the gun battle raged, apprehension grew among residents of the area, who could not fathom the cause of the firefight. But unknown to them, members of the Boko Haram sect were holding two foreigners hostage within their midst.

Long before the attempted rescue effort, residents of the area had lived in fear of members of the Islamist sect, who had regularly threatened them with reprisals if their they collaborated with authorities.
Recounting the scary experience, Abdullahi Shehu said: “We had initially believed that some gunmen invaded the state since it was on record that there was plan for security breach by some sect members.”

At the end of the operation, when the security operatives finally closed in on the kidnappers’ den and gained access into the house to arrest the occupants, the two captives had already been killed.
Two of the five gunmen were also shot dead with a private security guard allegedly engaged by the kidnappers, but was said to have taken refuge in the uncompleted house near his duty post for safety but was gunned down in the crossfire.
Some witnesses at the scene told Sunday Sun that the gunmen had stoutly resisted being arrested by the security forces, and this resulted in heavy gun fight that ensued between them, leaving the walls of the house pockmarked with bullet holes.

A military source in Sokoto, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said the house had been placed under surveillance few days before the combined army troops drafted from Abuja that struck the compound.
According to the source “Although, we did not partake in the rescue mission team, there was a signal a few days ago to intensify surveillance around Mabera area. The compound was eventually raided by the special force from Abuja. Our boys only joined them about an hour before the operation was started.” He said.
Some residents also claimed that some houses were searched by some security men in mufti in the state a few months ago. But it was considered to be normal security surveillance aimed at unraveling the whereabouts of Boko Haram members in the state.
“We learnt that a few weeks ago, men of the SSS in the state who were keeping vigil around Mabera streets came in the wee hours, fuelling suspicion of likely moves by some people to breach peace in the state,” some residents disclosed to Sunday Sun.

They told Sunday Sun that the house used by the kidnappers was a rented apartment of about four rooms, and well secured with a high fence and Iron Gate.
No one could confirm the exact time when the house was occupied. It was, however, revealed that two gatemen had served in the house before the incident happened.
“The occupants rented the house a few months ago, and engaged a Nigerian as gate keeper popularly called Maigadi. But after sometimes, the gatemen were sacked for unknown reason. Later, they brought another middle-aged man who is an origin of Kano state as a replacement,” said Malam Sanusi Musa, an octogenarian who lives around the raided house.
Sunday Sun further learnt that the said gateman who was incidentally among the casualties during the crossfire had told some neighbours about the presence of some suspected foreigners who were living in one of the inner rooms with his bosses.

Another resident who lives a few meters away from the scene of the incident further disclosed that an unidentified woman suspected to be a mistress of one of the culprits had come to the street looking for a particular house which was later identified to be the kidnapper’s den.
“A few months ago, a woman came around asking for a particular colour of a house with black gate. She later identified the building after some conversations with a caller,” said the man.
There are insinuations that the said woman might have been apprehended along the three suspects arrested during the raid.

It could not be confirmed whether the kidnappers were aliens or members of Boko Haram sect. All efforts to get official comments on the raid operation from security head in the state proved abortive.
However, Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Al-Mustapha Sani, who later confirmed the incident to Sunday Sun, said the operation was purely an SSS affair. “We have nothing to do with the operation. It was purely an affair of SSS and soldiers. You can contact them for details,” Sani stated.
As at the time of filing this report, there was still presence of some military men to cordon off the house. There was also restriction in the movement to the headquarters of the security agencies in the state. The police said they had taken adequate measures to forestall further attacks.

-Sun

The certificate was presented to him by the INEC Commissioner in charge of Zamfara, Kebbi and Sokoto states, Hadjia Aminatu Zakari on behalf of the chairman of the commission, Professor Attahiru Jega.

The governor-elect, who spoke briefly after the presentation of the certificate of return to him by the INEC commissioner, commended the commission for conducting a free and fair election in the state.

According to him, “I must admit that what happened in Sokoto last Saturday was a step in the right direction. The conduct of the election was very peaceful as testified by many people. I want to repeat again that the duty of conducting an election is not  that of INEC alone but for us all”.

He, however, called on the opposition to join hands with him in moving the state forward.

The focus of his government, according to him, would be the completion of all ongoing projects, provision of quality education and potable water, improvement in agriculture and youth empowerment.

-Tribune

The winner of Saturday’s governorship poll in Sokoto State, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko, said Sunday that he would do his best to serve the people.

Fielding questions from newsmen on the result of the poll, Wamakko said he would take peoples’ views and aspirations into consideration in executing development programmes for the progress of the state.

INEC on Sunday declared Wamakko of the PDP winner of the election, having scored 518,247 votes to beat 29 other contestants.

Wamakko, who thanked God for the victory, implored his opponents to regard his success as the will of Allah and urged them to join him in his efforts to move the state forward.

“ I appeal to them to accept the will of Allah and join me to develop the state. They should regard my victory as theirs and come together to take the state to the next level.’’

NAN further reports that although there were complaints from the opposition parties on the conduct of the poll, the seat of the caliphate remained calm and peaceful, as people went about their normal businesses. (NAN)

-Vanguard

By Mohammed Aminu

Sokoto State Police Command, has mobilised 5000 police men to maintain security during the visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to Sokoto today.

Jonathan is expected to flag off the governorship campaign of former governor, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko, at Trade Fair Complex Sokoto.

The state Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Baba Adisa Bolanta, made this known  yesterday to journalists in Sokoto.

He said the command had taken adequate measures to ensure security during the President’s visit.
Bolanta maintained that patrol teams would be deployed to strategic routes in the state.
“We have drafted our men to strategic areas in the Sokoto to ensure a hitch free campaign exercise during the president’s visit,” Bolanta said.

He cautioned politicians in the state to play politics according to the rules and eschew violence.
Bolanta threatened that the command will deal decisively with any individual or group trying to cause trouble during the campaign exercise.

-ThisDay