Also, the names of the first batch of ministerial nominees will get to senators for screening by Monday while the number of ministers to be appointed will be reduced from the present 42 to about 30, the sources added.

The decision to prune the number of ministers was informed by the desire of the Acting President to run a compact government that would facilitate the delivery of the most needed change in the country.

Already, inputs from governors and other opinion leaders are to be submitted not later than today for such nominees to undergo security screening before their names are forwarded to the National Assembly.

One of the sources told Vanguard that names for ministerial appointments would be sent to the National Assembly on piecemeal basis, as they were cleared by the security agencies so as not to unnecessarily delay the re-constitution of the Executive Council of the Federation.

A source said, however, that despite the intense lobby, “most of the ministers who had served in other governments in the past would be dropped because the Acting President wants to inject fresh blood into the administration. It is obvious that some of the ministers have nothing new to offer so they have to give way to new and more competent hands.”

Vanguard gathered that as many as 20 of the ministers removed from office would not be reappointed because of various problems associated with their tenures.

Some of the ministers whose fate had been sealed are said to be those whose actions in office, are being investigated by the committee set up by the Acting President to review contracts in their ministries.

Some of the names being touted as likely to be appointed into the new cabinet are a former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, a commissioner during the administration of Chief Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu State, a serving adviser to the governor of Benue State as well as a former member of the House of Representatives from Anambra State.

A source told Vanguard: “The Acting President wants to use the opportunity of this appointment to leave an impression in the minds of Nigerians by ensuring that those he brings into office are not necessarily politicians but people who can make a difference in his government.”

How the ex-ministers were fired
In what turned out to be a confirmation of a story published in Vanguard, 72 hours earlier, Acting President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Wednesday, shocked members of the Executive Council of the Federation with his dissolution of the cabinet.

Also, some state governors may lose out in the reconstitution of the Executive Council of the Federation.

Vanguard can confirm that because of the way some state governors had pitched themselves against the Acting President, there are strong indications that opinions of some of them may not count in the reconstitution of the cabinet.

Just as Jonathan did while constituting the Presidential Advisory Council, PAC, when he appointed its members without relying on the state governors for nominees, Vanguard has learnt that the Acting President “might go it solo again.”

How Jonathan announced dissolution
The Acting President, Vanguard has been told, did not betray any emotions neither did he allow members of EXCOF into the workings of his mind until the meeting got to the item of Any Other Business, AOB.

Vanguard learnt that once the meeting commenced and memos were being debated, most of the members became relaxed, believing that last Wednesday was not to be “the day of the dagger.”

One of the former ministers told Vanguard in confidence that “whereas we had expected that at some point the Acting President would dissolve the cabinet, yesterday’s action was unexpected. The truth is that most of my colleagues did not expect that with the way the meeting was going, the cabinet would be dissolved on Wednesday. It was totally unexpected.”

Vanguard was told that “The Acting President simply said (under AOB): Gentlemen and ladies, I want to sincerely thank you for your service to this nation and your cooperation….It was at that point that most of us began looking at each other. It became clear that the next thing would be a bombshell which it was. But the man had to act and he acted”, the former minister told Vanguard.

Governors may lose out again
The expected reconstitution of the EXCOF by Acting President Jonathan may again see some state governors losing out.

A source close to Jonathan hinted at this possibility when he made it clear that “because of what had happened and which led to a fractious cabinet, the Acting President would be circumspect in requesting for nominees from state governors.

“When he was to constitute the PAC, he did not as much as let all the state governors into it because some of them had played their hands out.

“They complained, they grumbled, but the man had to do what he had to do and which appears to be right because once members of PAC were announced Nigerians applauded.

Nothing would be different this time. The man would appoint a cabinet made of men and women of commitment.”

Don’t succumb to selfish interests in reconstituting cabinet, AC warns Jonathan
The Action Congress, AC, has, however, warned Acting President Goodluck Jonathan not to succumb to the dictates of the Governors’ Forum or other selfish interests in reconstituting his cabinet, but to pick men and women who can make an appreciable impact in a short time.

A statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in Abuja, yesterday, said that if the Acting President gave such interests, especially the Governors’ Forum, a free hand to nominate candidates for ministerial posts, he would get ministers whose loyalty will be to the governors, rather than to the country first and then of course to the Acting President.

The party also advised the Acting President to use technocrats, if necessary, in order for his administration to impact positively on the lives of the long-suffering Nigerians.

AC reminded Jonathan that the absence of visionary leadership at the very top was part of the problems that hobbled the dissolved federal cabinet, which it said ranked very high on the list of under-achieving federal executive councils in the history of the nation.

The party said the dissolution of the cabinet was long overdue, describing its members as a band of unpatriotic people who put narrow and parochial interests above the national interest.

It said: “The dissolved cabinet failed when it mattered most: when a courageous act was needed to break a logjam that rattled Nigeria to its very foundation and threatened its fledgling democracy. It was the ministers’ lack of courage, flimsy loyalty and downright selfishness that eventually left the FEC divided, thus paving the way for it to fall like a pack of cards.”

AC reiterated its earlier assertion that the key areas in which the Acting President can lift the veil of despondency across the country are electoral reform, power and energy as well as the Niger Delta issue.

It noted: “Of all this, we make bold to say that electoral reform is the most important, in that it will help set the stage for the emergence of a truly-elected government, which will act in the interest of the people, rather than a cabal of riggers.

“Once votes are made to count and committed and worthy leaders are elected on the basis of their own abilities and capabilities, other problems – including those of power, insecurity, unemployment and skewed distribution of resources – can then be tackled with genuine gusto.”

SGF denies call for credentials
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Malam Yayale Ahmed has repudiated letters purportedly endorsed by him soliciting credentials from some members of the public for appointment into the next federal cabinet.

Ahmed in a statement, yesterday, disavowed the alleged correspondences, text messages and e-mails allegedly issued by him describing them as fraudulent.

The statement issued by Salisu Na‘inna Dambatta, Deputy Director, Information, in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation reads:

“It has come to the attention of the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, OSGF, that some faceless persons have been contacting unsuspecting members of the public asking them to present their credentials for consideration and appointment into non-existing political positions.

“The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, CFR, wishes to state with all the emphasis at his command that any correspondences through text messages and e-mails allegedly from his office requesting for such credentials from any member of the public should be disregarded because it is unauthorized, fraudulent and misleading.

“Where it is practicable, anybody identified to have been engaged in sending the purported correspondences should immediately be reported to security agencies for appropriate action.

“For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby reiterated that government has standard channels and methods of contacting individuals for any purpose and the deviation from the established methods should be disregarded by the recipients of such correspondences.”
SOURCE: Vanguardngr.com

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But NECO stated that 4,223 candidates got five credits, including English and Mathematics.

The 4,223 candidates formed about 1.80 per cent of those that sat for the examinations, while Kogi, Bauchi and Ondo led others states in the list of examination malpractices.

The Registrar of NECO, Prof. Promise Okpalla, stated this in his address at the NECO national headquarters in Minna on Tuesday.

He added that 234,682 candidates wrote the examinations out of 245,157 that registered.

He said, “Today, NECO formally announces the results of the 2009 Nov/Dec SSCE which held in 1,708 centres spread across the country.

“Inasmuch as education remains a potent tool for attaining national goals, NECO will remain a veritable instrument for measuring educational attainment at the secondary school level, as standards will not be sacrificed for whatever reasons.”

He mentioned the total number of candidates with five credits and above irrespective of subjects as 12,197, representing about 5.2 per cent of those that sat for the examination.

Okpalla also said that 236,613 cases of examination malpractices were discovered in the examinations.

He said while Kogi topped the list of examination malpractices, the Federal Capital Territory, Abia and Oyo states were ranked lowest in infractions.

He regretted the poor performance of the candidates in the examination, saying that there was the need for stakeholders to intensify efforts in ensuring improvement in candidates’ performance.

Okpalla advised candidates that wrote the examination to visit NECO’s website with the same scratch card used in registering to access their results.
SOURCE: punchng.com

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But if one part of a couple reveals that he is going out with someone as high profile as yourself, it makes the story credible if you can actually confirm this…
Genevieve: “Dbanj is an adult and he has said something. Let’s just leave it at that…”

But can you clarify the whole thing by simply conforming or denying it?
Genevieve: “I don’t want to talk about my private life. I don’t do it. I am well aware that people will say things. People have been calling me to find things out, but I am not going to say anything. I have learnt over the years that no matter what I say, people will say and believe what they like…you can not please everybody. This is my own way of handling things. I just don’t talk about my private life. It’s the one thing I can control”

But is it real or a publicity stunt? Is Dbanj lying?
Genevieve: “Does he lie?”

By that are you inferring that he wasn’t telling a lie and what he said is true.
Genevieve: “I am not inferring or insinuating anything. One person has said something and that really is enough. I am not saying I will never talk about it, but for now I do not wish to say anything about the matter.”

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MEND claimed responsibility for the explosions and in fact sent out electronic mail statements before they were detonated.
SOURCE: vanguardngr.com

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Speaking to journalists yesterday in Abuja, the Fulani leader and secretary Sultan’s Farmer/Cattle Rearers Conflict Committee, Sale Bayari, said the recent mishap was caused by failure of both the Plateau State Government and the Presidential Committee on Jos Crisis to clearly address the losses of the Fulanis in past crisis.

Bayero, who claimed to be a none stakeholder in the crisis, also said it was unfair for the police to continue to hold the 49 Fulanis arrested so far, adding that what happened was a complete case of jungle justice.
He said: “Some of us have been forced to live like outlaws in Jos. Why would a government turn its own responsibility upside down? Under the circumstances of what has been happening in Plateau State, some people just have to die.

“Any society that refuses to be just and fair shall become a jungle where only jungle justice shall operate like the case in Plateau State today. There are some people who are very conversant with the jungle. They sleep with snakes, gorilla even at night. So if you turn your state to a jungle state, this is what you get. So far, we have suffered most. Indeed, majority of our killings were carried out in areas where there was strong government presence.”

Bayeri further noted that it was completely unjust for government and the media to be silent when the Fulanis lost hundreds of their kinsmen most of whom were children and women, only for everyone to hastily condemn them now.
“When our people were killed or were being killed, we can’t remember seeing Governor Jang, the Gbong Gwom, the Information Commissioner, members of House of Assembly of the areas, neither did anyone of them say a word about what happened to us. Up till today, they are behaving as if nothing ever happened to us and you expect this to just pass away and forever? In Kuru Karama when Aljazeera was beaming the corpses of 150 children and women strewn into the village streets, where was Governor Jang and Gyang Buba? Who has been arrested? Who provided the five Hilux Jeeps that brought the killers? Who has made any effort to fish out the killers. Haba!

“The herdsmen have been at the receiving end for no reason whatsoever and it is, therefore, most baffling to hear government now exaggerating the figure of those who lost their lives in what is called reprisal attack at Dogo Nahauwa in order to give the world the impression that those who lost their lives in this incident outweigh any other that happened to other people such as the Fulani
“We observe with great dismay and outright taking of sides by the government through its spokesman, Mr. Gregory Yenlong, Commissioner for Information, by saying that 500 were killed while the Police Commissioner was categorically saying 109 people were confirmed killed. Why is the Government denying our own casualties and the loss of property, which we have documented and published in the media while trying to convince the world to accept their own speculation as fact?

“Why didn’t the government challenge us to prove the loss of 215 people in the January 17 Jos crisis? Why didn’t the government respond to our petition to the Federal Government through the force CID that we wrote to only to deny that what took place was a reprisal attack as stated by the police. Whether it was a reprisal attack or not, between 2001 to the recent crisis, the Berom have killed over 365 herdsmen in cold blood in Jos South, Barkin Ladi and Rayon Local Gocervment Areas.

“Because the Fulani are local herdsmen who are not beneficiaries of the state, national and international media, deaths of our children, women and men never occurred and were never reported and the purported reprisal theory was never justified. If, we may ask, why then this attack took place where it happened and nowhere else outside the three Berom local government areas that we alleged we lost 215 people? We want an answer from Jang.

Bayeri, therefore, called on the Federal Government to halt the indiscriminate arrest of herdsmen in the country, cautioned that if these acts of injustice to the Fulanis continue there would not be a way out of the crisis.
“The Fulani abhor injustice and they shall seek justice through any means legal. We therefore call for the fair trial of all those arrested before only a federal high court and by the office of the federal Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and not by the Plateau State government headed by a Berom government and Berom Attorney General whom the Fulanis hold squarely responsible for the unfortunate crisis.”

SOURCE: sunnewsonline.com

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According to a release by the Acting Registrar, Anthony Izuka Okonta, all freshmen will arrive on Wednesday, March 10, 2010, while the old students will return on Friday, March 19, 2010.

The release added that both freshmen and old students should visit the University of Nigeria website, www.unn.edu.ng, for information on payment of sundry fees for their respective courses and accommodation. Application for accommodation and payment of sundry fees should be done on-line and before return to campus, if possible.

Scratch cards for all payments will be available from Tuesday, March 09, 2010, in designated banks for various Faculties. Students of Aba Campus will obtain theirs from the Bursar’s office in their campus.

Registration for freshmen begins on Friday, March 12, 2010 while Orientation commences on Monday, March 15, 2010 and ends on Thursday, March 18, 2010. Lectures will begin on Monday, March 22, 2010 for both the freshmen and the old students.

All students are advised to take these schedules seriously.

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