Senator Odion Ugbesia erstwhile Minister of Solid Minerals and political scion of the Anenih political clan has
maintained a dignified silence since his gubernatorial aspiration to the Edo Government House was derailed in
2007. By nearly all accounts erstwhile President Olusegun Obasanjo was largely responsible. Now settled in the
Senate, Ugbesia in his first major interview speaks on the frosty relationship he had with former Governor
Oserheimen Osunbor, the Senate’s plans for the review of the constitution and the state of affairs in the Edo
State chapter of the PDP. Excerpts:

And at about 21 years old, I joined the military and all the risks involved. I had some car accidents that nearly claimed my life but, I survived them.You can see that I’m lucky to be alive and that is why I have course to thank God and to get closer to Him because I’m not the one protecting my life and at the same time, it doesn’t mean I’m careless.

A FEW months ago the Federal Government muted the idea of amnesty to militants in the Niger Delta with a view to ending the rumble in the creeks, which has massively affected oil export and exploration, crashing the nation’s revenue to its ebb. As it was expected, the amnesty announcement was greeted with mixed reactions. While some Nigerians hailed President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua for the magnanimity others called for the prosecution of the militants for their past sins.

THE proposal of a whopping N50 billion by the Presidential Panel on Amnesty and Disarmament of Militants in the Niger Delta to make peace in the region has polarized the Nigerian legal community into two opposing camps.

His words, “the President address will either offer hope or dismay. If he breaks away from the tradition and fear of the past where other regions are afraid of fiscal federalism then we have a problem on our hands. If he makes a bold step, then Nigeria will turn around for the better.

Last Saturday Ibeju-Lekki Federal Constituency bye-election in which People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won has further amplified the arch rivalry between Action Congress AC and PDP in Lagos. AC did not participate in the poll following its candidate’s disqualification by the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos over certificate scam. With AC candidate who was until the court judgment member of the House of Representatives, out of contest, it was a straight battle between PDP and Alliance for Democracy, AD.

Chief Ikedi Ohakim is one of the founding members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State. It is equally not contestable that Ohakim declared his intention to run for the gubernatorial seat on the platform of the party. Until November 2006, Ohakim and some of his political bedfellows found confidence and real comfort In the PDP big family.

AT the inception of this administration President Musa Yar’ Adua vowed to frontally fight corruption in the polity. Two years down the line, it appears not much is being done in this regard. Some critics have even accused the administration of insincerity in its battle against graft. One of the anti- corruption agencies which Yar’ Adua inherited is the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission ICPC headed by Justice Emmanuel Ayoola.

FIRST son of late Albert Badey, one of the four prominent Ogoni chiefs that were killed in Giokoo, Gokana local government area on May 21st, 1994, Mr. Swaga Alex Badey, in this interview with Vanguard described the recent decision by Shell to pay compensation to families of late Ken Saro Wiwa and the other eight that were hung as sad and divisive. Instead of compensation, he said, Shell should have shown sincere resolve to address the devastation and degradation caused by its operations in Ogoni land.

QUITE unexpectedly, Cross Rivers State has suddenly found itself out of the club of oil producing states in the country. Obviously this will have telling effects on the state revenue and by implication, affect governance. In this interview with journalists, Gov Liyel Imoke spoke on efforts to reverse the development and how the state is presently coping. He also spoke on power sector and South-South states. Excerpts:

With a radical disposition forged in the lecture theatre of the famous Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) of the Ahmadu Bello University in the early seventies, Kuta yet carries on as a comrade with vituperations against the bourgeoisie class. Despite signs of comfort here and there like the air-conditioning in his office which he said is for his visitors, Comrade Senator Kuta nevertheless remained one of the voices of the masses in the Senate.

FORMER Chairman of South-South Peoples Assembly (SSPA) Ambassador Matthew Tawo Mbu, the Otu Agrinya of Boki land in Cross River State is not only an elder statesman but also a lawyer and diplomat who could be described as one of the few nationalists of the first republic. Although he has a string of honorary doctorate degrees, he likes to remind you that he only treasures the one he sweated for; a doctorate in law.

*‘Next constitution should be small and smart’ BY GBENGA OKE Former Senate president, Ken Nnamani, says the responsibility for the failure of democracy to consolidate in Nigeria is majorly that of politicians.  He also speaks in this interview on how to make the nation’s constitution work, the Yar’Adua government, the failed third term bid, among […]

Former national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Audu Ogbeh, now a chieftain of the Action Congress, AC, and a farmer, in this interview with Sunday Vanguard in Abuja, speaks on 10 years of democracy in Nigeria, the Niger Delta and other issues.  He says Nigeria is yet to achieve full fledged democracy […]

When Nigerians trooped out in their millions sixteen years ago to vote for a president of their choice, little did they know that their patriotic action was going to spark off a crisis that would make the nation lose decades in terms of political development. On that day, under the exciting Option A4 method of voting devised by the Professor Humphrey Nwosu-led National Electoral Commission (NEC), voters lined behind the two candidates, Chief Moshood Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP and Alhaji Othman Tofa of the National Republican Convention (NRC)