SECRET (7)

Witness statements accuse Nigerian military commander of ordering killings and taking bribes



By Andy Rowell and Eveline Lubbers

Compelling new evidence suggests the Nigerian military killed four Ogoni elders whose murders led to the execution of the playwright and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995.

The evidence also reveals that the notorious military commander Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Okuntimo, whose troops were implicated in murder and rape, was in the pay of Shell at the time of the killings and was driven around in a Shell vehicle.

Since the time of Saro-Wiwa's death, Shell has insisted that it had no financial relationship with the Nigerian military, although it has admitted paying it "field allowances" on two occasions. It has consistently denied any widespread collusion and payments. However, The Independent on Sunday has gained exclusive access to witness accounts that were to be used in evidence in the case of Wiwa vs Shell, brought by Ken Saro-Wiwa's family. The case was settled last May for $15.5m, just days before it was due to start in New York. The settlement meant the testimonies were never made public.

They provide fresh insight into Shell's financial and logistical involvement with the Nigerian military and with Lt-Col Okuntimo.

One of the key witnesses due to testify was Boniface Ejiogu, Lt-Col Okuntimo's orderly in the Internal Security Task Force, a coalition of army, navy and police. Mr Ejiogu testified to standing guard as victims were raped and tortured while Lt-Col Okuntimo was in command. Asked if he ever saw his commander receive money from Shell, he said he witnessed it on two occasions..

Mr Ejiogu described in detail how, just days before the Ogoni elders were murdered, he drove with Lt-Col Okuntimo to Shell's base in Port Harcourt, where the officer received seven large bags of money. "I was there when other soldiers were carrying the Ghana Must Go bags," he testified. The bags were so heavy the soldiers had difficulty carrying them, and one fell open. "The thing opened," Mr Ejiogu said. "I saw it was money in bundles. He said, wow, this is money. I say, yes man, it is money."

On another occasion, Mr Ejiogu witnessed four bags being given by a Shell security official to Lt-Col Okuntimo at the official's house late at night.

Another witness, Raphael Kponee, also due to testify, was a policeman working for Shell. On a different occasion, he saw three bags being loaded into Lt-Col Okuntimo's pick-up truck by his driver and another driver in front of the security building at the Shell base. Shell officials have admitted that money was paid to the officer, but purely as field allowances for his men, who were protecting Shell property in Ogoniland.

MrEjiogu also offers compelling evidence as to who may have murdered the four Ogoni elders at a meeting on 21 May 1994. Saro-Wiwa was due to speak but was turned away by the military. Mr Ejiogu said he heard Lt-Col Okuntimo tell his task force commander to "waste them... in the army you waste them is when you are shooting rapidly".

Within 24 hours Saro-Wiwa was arrested and charged with the murders. It was implied that he had had the elders killed because of their moderate stance on Ogoni issues. Despite an international outcry, he was hanged in November 1995, following a sham trial described by the then British prime minister, John Major, as "judicial murder".

A Shell spokesman said yesterday: "Allegations concerning Okuntimo and Shell are not new. There is a lack of any credible evidence in support of these allegations. Shell Petroleum Development Corporation and Shell at the time spoke out frequently against violence and publicly condemned its use."





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Akpabio's Secret Cult "Cabinet "

Isantim Kenneth Okon

Some names of alleged cultists masquerading as politicians in Akwa Ibom State who have been linked in politically motivated murders and kidnappings that has kept the state under siege within Governor Godswill Akpabio’s administration can now be revealed by THEWILL.

It is no longer news that residents of Akwa Ibom State have been under siege with kidnappings for ransom and politically motivated murders at its very peak, but what we have gathered lately from multiple sources in Akwa Ibom State government circles and conversations with some senior police officers in the state has revealed that solving the crimes is akin to bursting the brutal cabal in Governor Godswill Akpabio’s regime.

Governor Akpabio, a University of Calabar, Faculty of Law graduate, who knowledgeable sources have linked to being a non active member of the Buccaneer confraternity, is accused of allowing secret cultists openly serve in his administration thereby opening up a supremacy rivalry amongst cult members/groups over the control of the state’s political machinery.

The complicity of some senior ranking officers of the Nigerian Police Force, Akwa Ibom State Command in some of the crimes, notably in the murder of the Ekpenyong brothers; Mathias Okon Ekpenyong (Mbota), and his eldest brother, Engineer Emmanuel Okon Ekpenyong alias Submarine, is however very disturbing.

In THEWILL’s extensive month-long investigation and planned serialized publication of all we have learned so far, we reveal the identities of some of the alleged cultists in Apkabio’s administration.

They are as follows;

Bassey_Albert_Akpan__Commissioner_for_finance_184066872.jpg Goodswill_Akpabio_894952938.jpg Don_Etim__commi_for_works_and_transport_586834809.jpg
Bassey Albert Akpan, Commissioner for Finance Goodswill Akpabio, Non Active Buccaneer. Don Etim, comm. for Works and Transport.
Professor_etok_ekanem__comm_for_Agric_115494152.jpg Ignatius_Edet__formr_speaker_AKHA_113737626.jpg
Professor Etok Ekanem, Commissioner for Agriculture Hon. Ignatius Edet, former Speaker

BUCCANEER

Chairman Etinan LGA

Nse Essien

KKK

Board Member

Michael James

KKK

Chairman Itu LGA

Nse Ntuen

KKK

Chairman Essien Udim

Emmanuel Ukoette

KKK

SA & Chair AKS Taxi Scheme

Enobong Uwah

VIKINGS

Gov’s SA Protocol

Prince Akpabio

KKK

Gov’s PA Gen Duties

Emmanuel Ekpenyong (Iraq)

VIKINGS

Gov’s PA Youth Matters/chair

Eseh Umoh

KKK

Youth

Onofiok Luke

KKK

Youth Council Chairman

Umoh Ekpo

BUCCANEER

Gov’s PA

Emman Mbong

BUCCANEER

Nkanang Nkanang

VIKINGS

Youth Leader

Monday Eyo

KKK

Charlse N

VIKINGS

Vice Chairman Uyo LGA

Joe Emah

VIKINGS

Board Member

Ibiok Esuh

VIKINGS

Imeh King

KKK

Nse Brownson

BLACK AXE

Rowland Inwang

BLACK AXE

AKPF Youth Chairman

Mfon Micah

BLACK AXE

AKPF Youth Wing Leader

Inem Inyangette

KKK

AKPF Youth Secretary

Eteyen Archibong

BUCANEER

Board Member

Attah Albert

BUCANEER

Ekerete Ekpenyong

KKK

James Asuquo

BUCANEER

Gov’s SA Political

Duncan Uweh

KKK

Tony Eboh

PIRATES

Tony Akan

PIRATES

Coordinator CAG

Abraham Lincoln

KKK

Chairman CAG

Ifiok Udo (Bengon)

KKK

Anietie Ufot

KKK

Board Member

Etetim Anwatim

KKK

Former Gov’s PA

Akan Ibok

KKK

Gov’s SA Project Monitoring

Victor Umondak

KKK

Board Member

Usoro Ukpanah
===========================
THE NAMES ABOVE REPORTEDLY TOLD OLD POLITICIANS IN THE STATE TO RETIRE FROM POLITICS.
==========================

OTHER CULTISTS IN THE ADMINISTRATION INCLUDE;

PIRATES
========

=========

Board Member
==========================

============================

Mr. Bassey Albert Akpan

VIKINGS

Commissioner for Finance.

Professor Etok Ekanem

KKK...

Commissioner for Agriculture. (He was thrice rejected on account of this from becoming commissioner under Attah after SSS screening).

Mr. Don Etim

KKK

Commissioner for Works.

Ignatius Edet
Prince Ikim

KKK
KKK

Former Speaker AKHA.
Gov’s Unofficial Security Goon/Hit Man

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Whistle-blowing website Wikileaks says it has come under attack from a computer-hacking operation, ahead of a release of secret US documents.

"We are currently under a mass distributed denial of service attack," it said on its Twitter feed earlier.

It added that several newspapers will go ahead and publish the documents released to them by Wikileaks even if the site goes down.

The US state department has said the release will put many lives at risk.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has said the US authorities are afraid of being held to account.

Wikileaks has said the release of classified messages sent by US embassies will be bigger than past releases on Afghanistan and Iraq.

The newspapers set to publish details of the US embassy cables include Spain's El Pais, France's Le Monde, Germany's Speigel, the UK's Guardian and the New York Times.

The latest leak is expected to include documents covering US dealings and diplomats' confidential views of countries including Australia, Britain, Canada, Israel, Russia and Turkey.

"The material that we are about to release covers essentially every major issue in every country in the world," Mr Assange told reporters by video link on Sunday. ..

A journalist with Britain's Guardian newspaper said the files include an unflattering US assessment of UK PM David Cameron.

Simon Hoggart told the BBC: "There is going to be some embarrassment certainly for Gordon Brown but even more so for David Cameron who was not very highly regarded by the Obama administration or by the US ambassador here."

No-one has been charged with passing the diplomatic files to the website but suspicion has fallen on US Army private Bradley Manning, an intelligence analyst arrested in Iraq in June and charged over an earlier leak of classified US documents to Mr Assange's organisation.

'Illegally obtained'

The US government has written to Mr Assange, urging him not release the documents.

The letter from the US state department's legal adviser Harold Koh said the release of classified state department documents was against US law and would put "countless" lives at risk.

Mr Assange is said to have asked which individuals would be put at risk by the leak and offered to negotiate over limited redactions.

In response, Mr Koh demanded that Wikileaks return official documents to the US government.

"We will not engage in a negotiation regarding the further release or dissemination of illegally obtained US government classified materials," he said in the letter.

Mr Koh's letter adds that the publication of the documents would endanger the lives of "countless" individuals - from journalists to human rights activists and bloggers - and put US military operations at risk.

Wikileaks earlier this week said that its next release of documents would be nearly seven times larger than the nearly 400,000 Pentagon documents relating to the Iraq war it published in October.

Wikileaks argues that the site's previous releases shed light on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They included allegations of torture by Iraqi forces and reports that suggested 15,000 additional civilian deaths in Iraq.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11858637
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Obasanjo, IBB in secret meeting

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-military dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd), met in Abuja on Thursday over the 2011 presidential election.

The meeting, which took place at the Wuse 11 residence of Babangida, was held behind closed doors.

Sources close to the meeting, however, told our correspondent on Friday that Obasanjo asked Babangida to drop his presidential ambition in the interest of the nation and to prevail on some northern governors who on Tuesday voted to support zoning at their meeting held in Kaduna to change their stance..

Although Babangida was said to have been non-committal on Obasanjo’s request that he should drop his presidential ambition, he was said to have told his guest that it would be difficult for him to convince all the states in the north to jettison zoning.

It was also learnt that as a follow up to the meeting, Obasanjo agreed to meet with key northern traditional rulers on the need to prevail on their subjects to forget zoning for now ”in the interest of the nation.”

A source, who did not want to be named because the discussions at the meeting were not meant for public knowledge, said, ”The meeting was held at Wuse 11, and it was between the two former presidents, Obasanjo and IBB (as Babangida is popularly called).

”The aim of the meeting was to ask IBB to drop his presidential ambition as Obasanjo was said to have explained that the ambition was not in the interest of the nation.

”Not only that, the two statesmen, especially Obasanjo, were said to have opined that the resolutions of the northern governors were not in the interest of the nation, and that the two of them must find a remarkable solution to the logjam.”

Our correspondent also learnt that before the meeting, Obasanjo had met with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa where the two leaders appraised the impact of the resolutions of the northern governors on the President‘s ambition.

It was at this meeting that the idea of Obasanjo meeting with Babangida was said to have been muted.

Although details of Jonathan’s and Obasanjo’s analyses of the northern governors‘ resolutions when the two met were sketchy at press time, the President was said to have agreed that there was a need for what the source called ”extensive consultation with stakeholders from the north.”

This, it was gathered, might delay until a later date in August Jonathan’s public declaration of his decision to contest for the presidency on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

The 19 northern states on Tuesday openly disagreed over the adoption of the zoning formula of the PDP for the 2011 presidential election.

At the meeting of the governors held in Kaduna, 10 states voted for zoning while seven states voted against it.

The states that declared support for zoning were Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Gombe, Jigawa, Niger, Kwara, Borno and Kano. Two of these states, namely Borno and Kano, are being governed by the All Nigerian Peoples Party.

The governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shakarau, had before now campaigned against zoning, just as he is campaigning to be the ANPP presidential candidate.

However, seven of the northern states voted against zoning, stressing that merit was the only way to move the country forward.

The states are Benue, Kogi, Plateau, Kaduna, Adamawa, Taraba and Nasarawa.

Yobe State reportedly abstained from voting, while Bauchi was not represented because of the death of the Emir of Bauchi.

Nevertheless, the position of the Bauchi governor, Alhaji Isa Yuguda, is well known as he has been canvassing for the dumping of zoning openly.
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Obj’s secret plot: Wants El-Rufai to run as Jonathan’s deputy in 2011

…Ribadu to return as special adviser on anti-graft to Ag. President
The pendulum at the Aso Rock seat of power has continued to swing with the latest indication that the Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan may after all contest the 2011 presidential election with a former minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai as his running mate.
Photo:Olusegun Obasanjo aka Baba Iyabo,Aremu,OBJ

Daily Sun learnt that the Jonathan/El-Rufai ticket is being perfected as the main political option, while the earlier idea of Jonathan contesting the election as the running mate to former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida has been relegated as plan B.

By ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo’s latest calculation, this would mean two of his protégés being in power at the same time. El-Rufai was one of the hawks in the eight years of his presidency and a fanatical supporter of his failed third term gambit. Jonathan, on the other hand, was imposed single-handed on the ticket of Yar’Adua who himself was imposed by Obasanjo.

Very dependable sources also revealed plans by Jonathan’s power brokers to bring in the former boss of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, as special adviser on anti-corruption to the Acting President, in which case the Farida Waziri-led EFCC would be left as an empty shell, while most of her schedules will be treated in the adviser’s office.

The Jonathan/El-Rufai ticket, according to our source, was mooted when it was discovered that some younger political elements were deeply skeptical of a return to the presidency by Babangida 17 years after leaving the ultimate office in a not-too-tidy fashion. Among such younger elements who are not favourably disposed to the former military ruler’s return to Aso Rock are majority of the governors belonging to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a preponderance of their fellow party men and women in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Such politicians had increasingly begun to perceive the IBB option as “ another journey back to Egypt.”

El-Rufai as minister of FCT was an influential member of Obasanjo’s kitchen cabinet particularly during the last term of his two-term presidency. He was also a member of the federal government economic team during the period. Now, as Obasanjo plots El-Rufai’s return to power as Vice President under Jonathan presidency, some northern politicians are said to be very angry and are therefore, perfecting their counter plot to ensure that the option does not materialize.

This group of northern politicians is insisting on the North producing the presidential candidate of PDP for the 2011 election. Already, several meetings have been held by the northern forces in their bid to checkmate the Acting President and stop him from contesting the next election. Their argument is that under the PDP zoning arrangement, the presidency would remain in northern hands for a total of eight years, 2007 to 2015, to equal the number of years the South, through former president Obasanjo, held the office between 1999 and 2007. The group has also resolved to mobilize and fight against any northerner who accepts the running mate slot under a southern presidential candidate in the PDP. El-Rufai, himself, in several interviews, has been advocating a southern presidency in 2011 without stating that his interest has been factored in the whole game plan.

But the argument of those proposing the Jonathan/El-Rufai pairing is that the idea behind the North-South power rotation presupposes a kind of relay race in which a presidential standard bearer runs in one election or possibly two consecutive ones and then hand over the relay baton to another standard bearer from the opposite section of the country. They reason that it was not envisaged that two different standard bearers from one section would hand over the power baton to themselves via election without passing through a candidate from the other section. In other words, the target of the power oscillation between the two regions is via election passing through one person only to the other person from the opposite section of the country.

Besides the above game plan which implies that the next presidential candidate of the PDP after President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua should come from the South, those pushing the Jonathan/El-Rufai ticket are counting on the attraction of the pairing. While the Acting President is seemingly docile, the former FCT minister is abrasive and strong-willed. Besides, the latter is seen by some Nigerians as a no-nonsense goal getter who could be used to counter the likely opposition candidate, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari.

Buhari with serious-looking Brigadier Tunde Idiagbon ruled Nigeria with iron fist between January 1984 and August 1985. The draconian regime did a lot to instill discipline and moral etiquettes in the psyche of Nigerians. The packagers of Jonathan/El-Rufai formation believe it would be the closest democratic variant of the Buhari/Idiagbon example.

The same group strategizing for the Jonathan/El-Rufai ticket is said to be plotting the return of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu as special adviser on anti-corruption to Jonathan. Part of their strategies is to destabilize the EFCC as presently constituted. That will pave way for the return to the EFCC of Ribadu’s loyalists.

The Ribadu come-back plan also entails the lobbying of some judges who are expected to be sympathetic to him to give favourable verdicts in the two cases affecting him. His ongoing trial at the Code of Conduct Bureau and his controversial dismissal from the Nigeria Police Force. However, the plot to bring Ribadu back as the EFCC boss is said to have divided the Obasanjo camp with some in favour and others against. While those in support of him see him as the right person to add needed impetus to the EFCC, others express fears that he might be used by politicians to settle scores.
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Turai’s consummate power play...Her secret emails, others facts

In the period between December 15, 2009 and January 17, 2010, the ailing President’s wife, Turai Yar‘Adua, was aggressively engaged in an intricate power manoeuvre to rally support for her
husband; reaching out and offering carrots to those previously classified

as ‘enemies’ of the administration; and building new allies with the sole purpose of keeping the seat of power safe. From her new base in Saudi Arabia, where she manages her husband’s health, fresh facts emerging from email
exchanges made exclusively available to NEXTonSunday, reveal the
fascinating web of the power machinery organized around Mrs Yar‘Adua
who, as the perfect Amazon, is emerging as perhaps the most politically
shrewd, even if desperate, ‘First Lady’ in the history of Nigerian presidency.

While Nigeria’s President, Umaru Yar’Adua lay critically ill in King Faisal hospital in
far away Saudi Arabia, throw the country into confusion over the
leadership vacuum, to Turai Yar’Adua the President, was surreptitiously
orchestrating an elaborate power scheme and was, in effect running the
affairs of the country.
Fresh
evidence, obtained exclusively by Next, shows a ground plan in which
Mrs Yar’Adua, assisted by some politically connected Northerners,
curbed the power of the Executive Council of the Federation and tried
to curry the favour of loyalists and foes alike in an effort the
family’s hold on power. For more than 2 months, the group- the
‘‘cabal’’- succeeded in warding off all efforts to fill the leadership
vacuum and thereby frustrated constitutional processes. It is not clear
whether Mrs. Yar’Adua was protecting the interests of her ailing
husband; indeed, it appears that she may have more interested in
holding on to the influence that her current position afforded her.

Spanning a period of about five weeks from December 15, 2009, series of email
show the lively discourse that took place between Mrs. Yar’Adua,
members of the executive council, legislators, presidential aides, some
prominent Northern elites. Events took a dramatic turn when in late
December, she went beyond her loyalists and reached out to a well
antagonist, Nasir, el-rufai, the former minister of the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT). Analysts believe that this may have been an attempt on
her part to garner support of the politically strong Northerners while
also bridging the gap between loyalists and rivals. Mrs. Yar’Adua’s
says otherwise.

‘‘Nasir Wallahitallahi duk yadda ka dauka bah aka bane (Nasir, by God,
honestly, it s not what you think) I just want to help you out,’’ the
first lady said in an email to Mr. el-rufai on January 14, 2010.

Seeking Power

While the nation simmered and accusations and counter accusations flew across groups, the parliament and the Presidency, Mrs Yar’Adua was subtly making plans on how to retain power. According
to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, the 80 day delay in
handing over Presidential powers to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan was engineered by the first lady’s to solidify her power in the light of her husband’s dwindling health.

‘‘This whole thing was about power. You must remember that she had the hope
that if her husband became incapacitated, she would be made the Vice
President,’’ our source said.

Having been assured of the loyalty of her husband’s cronies, Mrs. Yar’Adua took the next step to woo her antagonists.

‘‘It is all about power. She was trying to gather friend and to neutralize
enemies. Because she wanted to be made the VP, she felt that if she
could win over enemies, then they would not oppose her ambitions,’’
another source said,
When
contacted by Next, Mr. el-Rufai, who is currently exiled in Dubai and
has been in the fore front of asking for the President’s resignation,
said he did not know what sort of help Mrs. Yar’Adua wanted to offer
him.

‘‘I did not have a clue what help she was offering. I did not care and I
did not think that she was in a position to help me,’’ the former
minister, said.

A subsequent email sent by the first lady to the former minister of
however gives a clue on what Mrs. Yar’Adua hoped to offer Mr el-rufai
in return for his support.
‘‘Amma
nayi maka Alkawari ba wani wanda ya isa ya kara wata Magana Akanka (but
I make you a promise that no one will ever again complicate your
situation) if I remain the firs(t) lady,’’ Mrs. Yar’Adua promised in an
email sent to Mr el-Rufai on January 18, 2010. She may have been
referring to the eight-count charge, brought against the former
minister by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Last year, on Wednesday , May 6, 2009, the EFCC charged Mr. El-Rufai to
Court on charges including abuse of office, and followed this upnby
declaring him wanted on account of his failure to appear to appear
before the Courts. Mr el-rufai insists that he did no wrong and that he
was being persecuted by those whose toes he had steeped on while he was
the FCT Minister.

The Middle man

Serving as the channel for the initial correspondence between the two parties
was Baba Adams. Mr Adams, a Nigerian who serves as the director of
Research and Assessment at the North central University,
Prescott Arizona, presented himself as the middle man trying to
establish contact between the first lady and different parties. In one
of the messages sent on December 24, 2009, Mr. Adams in an email to the
President, via the first lady, appealed to him to cede power between to
his deputy. Mr Adams copied several parties in the Mil including
members of the Executive Council of the Federation, some legislators,
aides of the President, and some prominent Northerners. Mr Adams copied
Sultan of Sokoto; Buba Marwa, a former military Governor and current
Ambassador to South Africa; Mohammed Abba Aji, the Presidential adviser
on Presidential matters; David Mark, the Senate President; Taminu Yakubu, the President’s economic adviser; Babatunde Osotimehin, the Minister for health and a close ally of the Mrs Yar’Adua; Michael Aondoakaa, former Attorney General; and Ojo Maduekwe,
the Foriegn Affairs Minister among others. It is unclear what Mr Adams’
relationship is with these people but a legislator who was copied in
the email, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, a House of Representatives member, denied having a personal knowledge of Mr Adams while also denying a personal relationship with the first family.

‘‘I have no idea of what you are talking about. If you are talking of my role as a parliamentarian, and a member of Action Congress, no problem. But in terms of personal relationship, none at all. I met Yar’Adua once as Governor of Katsina State, when some House of Representatives members were on a visit to Katsina. Perhaps Mrs. Yar’Adua might recognize me as a member of the parliament, and a former NTA staff she
probably sees on TV sometimes. My stand was very simple: handover to
your deputy.

I believe Mr Adam copies his mail to some senators and members, as he normally
does,’’ Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa said to NEXT. Mr Adams’ next step soon after
that email was to take steps to link up Mr. el-rufai with the Mrs.
Yar’Adua.

‘‘I just got an email from Her Excellency Hajia Turai Yar’Adua, the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from Saudi Arabia. She wants to speak to you by telephone-so please can you email me your
best contact phone number. With all due respect to you and the First
Lady, we would appreciate if you will keep the communication
confidential to avoid any unnecessary altercations,’’ Mr Adams said in
an email dated December 26 2009. Thus began the correspondence between the former and the first lady.

‘‘Maganar taimakon da kike cewa za ki yi mani, nag ode amma ban a bukatar
taimakon wani dan Adam, domin na kai kara wurin Allah, Subhanahu wa
ta’ala (As for the assistance that you want to render to me, thank you
very much, but I do not need help from any human being because I have
left everything in the hands of Allah, Subhanahu wa ta’ala),’’ was the
final response sent by Mr el-Rufai to the first lady in an email,
dated January 16, 2010. Mr. Adams did not respond to email enquiry on
his motivation for the various mails sent to the different parties.

Neutralizing enemies

Mrs. Yar’Adua’s quest for power led her to seek reconciliation with those
who had hitherto fallen out of favor with her family. Mr el-Rufai was
just one of many. According to acknowledgeable sources, the aim of the
reconciliation exercise was for the sole purpose of neutralizing
opposition by renewing friendships which had long gone sour. Others who
Mrs Yar’Adua reportedly approached were Ahmed Muazu, the former
Governor of Bauchi State; Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, former Governor of Sokoto State; Atiku Abubakar, former Vice-President; and Ibrahim Babangida
former military President. ‘‘Initially, these people were her friends
but the relations between them deteriorated,’’ sources said.
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When will we stop hearing about this man called Obasanjo ? WHEN !

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo met at a secret location in Abuja on Wednesday night, THISDAY can report.

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Although THISDAY could not confirm the venue and details of the meeting, it was learnt that the talk did not take place at the Vice-President’s Akinola Aguda House residence in Aso Rock.

The meeting, which started before midnight and lasted for about three hours, afforded the immediate past president, who was instrumental to the Yar’Adua/Jonathan ticket in the 2007 presidential election, an opportunity to offer far-reaching advice to the Acting President.

Obasanjo flew into Abuja in a private jet around 8pm on the day. After the meeting ended around 2am yesterday, he flew out of Abuja an hour later.

An aide to Jonathan, who confirmed the meeting, said the Acting President was open to support and advice from all quarters, as he had already held meetings with other key stakeholders in the polity.

And the wheel of government, which had virtually been clogged with the power vacuum created by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s prolonged absence, is now running in full force as Jonathan yesterday swore in 17 new Federal Permanent Secretaries.

Jonathan also played host to principal officers of the Senate at his residence and promised to start sending executive communications to the National Assembly soon.

Jonathan became Acting President on Tuesday after the two chambers of the National Assembly passed resolutions empowering him to assume full presidential powers in the absence of Yar’Adua who left the country for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia on November 23 last year.

Meanwhile, the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Mike Aondoakaa, was also seen at the Abuja airport last night on his way out of the country.

He was said to be heading to somewhere in Europe “to rest” a day after he lost his high-profile job in a minor cabinet reshuffle.

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, and three other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party left Abuja via London yesterday to brief Yar'Adua on the developments in Nigeria.

The decision of the leadership of the PDP to visit Yar'Adua in Saudi Arabia was taken after the NWC meeting with the principal officers of the National Assembly at the PDP office in Abuja.

Three governors, Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina) and Gabriel Suswam (Benue) had left Nigeria for Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to meet Yar'Adua.

The delayed swearing-in of the permanent secretaries had raised concerns as the Vice-President could not swear them in without full presidential powers and many ministries had been operating without the heads of bureaucracy for months.

The permanent secretaries, comprising three women and 14 men, had been selected since November last year through written and oral process but their swearing-in and assumption of office had been stalled until yesterday.

While receiving the principal officers of the Senate in an early morning visit, Jonathan assured them that the executive arm of government would continue to maintain cordial working relationship with the legislative arm of government.

He also thanked members of the National Assembly for their courage in moving the nation forward in spite of the heated debate occasioned by the President’s absence.

Senate President David Mark, who led the Senate leadership on the visit, prayed God to give Jonathan the courage and wisdom to lead the country in the right direction, assuring him that “we will join you to continue to pray for quick recovery for President Umaru Yar’Adua”.

Mark was accompanied by his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu; the Senate Leader, Senator Teslim Folarin; Senate Chief Whip, Senator Mahmud Kanti Bello; Senate Minority Leader, Senator Maina Maaji Lawan; Deputy Minority Leader, Senator Olorunnibe Mamora; Minority Whip, Senator Ahmed Yerima; Deputy Majority Whip, Senator Mohammed Mana; and Deputy Minority Whip, Senator Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya.
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