Nigerian vice-president to take over from absent president

The Nigerian parliament today voted to transfer power to vice-president Goodluck Jonathan in the prolonged absence of the president, Umaru Yar'Adua, who has been receiving hospital treatment in Saudi Arabia.

Both the house of representatives and senate passed motions enabling Jonathan to act as president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces until Yar'Adua, who left Nigeria in November last year, is fit enough to resume his duties.

"The vice-president … shall henceforth discharge the functions of the office of the president, commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the federation, as acting president," the senate motion said.

The motions would allow Yar'Adua to reassume the presidency if he returns healthy enough to lead the country of 150 million people. However, many think he is too ill to serve again, casting doubt on the leadership of the ruling party in the run-up to next year's presidential election.

Pressure to transfer power to the vice-president has grown in recent weeks. Nigeria's influential state governors backed plans last week for Jonathan to be appointed acting president to fill the political vacuum and urged parliament to act. Jonathan could be immediately sworn in as president, if the lower house passes a similar measure.

Yar'Adua, who has suffered from kidney ailments, left the country several times for what his advisers said were medical checkups before going to Saudi Arabia in November. He was admitted to a hospital the next day and has remained there, leaving Nigerian in political limbo.

Amid rumours about the president's health – some reports said he was dead – his doctor released a statement saying he had acute pericarditis, an inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart.

While the government says Jonathan has been acting in Yar'Adua's place, protesters have taken to the street warning the country will remain rudderless until the situation is clarified. In Yar'Adua's absence more than 300 people have died and thousands displaced in religious violence between Christians and Muslims, a major kidnapping and a pipeline attack have occurred in the oil-rich Niger delta and a young Nigerian attempted to bring down an airliner over Detroit, prompting the introduction of new security regulations for those travelling from Nigeria.

Giving power to the vice-president creates its own problems as it would disrupt an unwritten power-sharing agreement between Nigeria's Christian south and Muslim north. Jonathan, a Christian, would be taking over from Yar'Adua, a Muslim, before the president's appointed time was up.

Until he took over as Nigeria's president in May 2007, Yar'Adua, 58, was governor of his northern Katsina home state for eight years.

He has given one interview since being out of the country. In January, he told the BBC he hoped to recover and return to power. The senate president, David Mark, said that telephone interview served as the notification needed to allow Jonathan to take power. "The BBC interview is as good as the letter envisioned by the constitution," Mark said.

Guardian

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Nigeria's oil reserve to dry up in 2040

The oil reserves in the Niger Delta currently in the region of 30 billion barrels will dry and disappear by the year 2040.

Activities of militant groups in the region, ineptitude leadership and rapid depletion of ore, a major component for the exploration are contributory factors that may see the end of Nigeria's oil.

Regulatory and monitoring organs in the country including the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) are concerned about the development.

A source in one of the agencies confirms that some of the agencies especially NNPC and RMAFC have undertaken visitations and mounted various campaigns on need for the diversification of the economy to other sectors and on the necessity for passage of Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law.

The RMAFC had toured some states to verify existing and abandoned oil wells and other prospective areas for exploration. It also provided each state in the federation with lists of abundant mineral and natural resources in its location which could be tapped for more revenue to their Internally Generated Revenue and the Federation Accounts.

Minerals and hydrocarbon deposits have life-span and can be negatively affected if there are fewer activities to extend the life indices through intensive exploration to augment the resource base, Economic Confidential reports.

Members of the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), which comprises commissioners of finance, accountants general of states, NNPC, Customs and Federal Inland Revenue Service are being told on the need for new investment and diversifications of the economy because they would soon run out of oil for export and local consumption.

The campaigns have also gone to Governors and federal legislators on the need for early passage of PIB because the future of Nigeria's oil, according to the campaigners, depends largely on new oil bill that would promote continued investment in new oils and security of facilities in the Niger Delta region.

At another forum in Abuja recently, a General Manager, Planning, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) Victor Briggs stated that that Nigeria is not investing in new oil discoveries whereby all the revenues from oil goes to the Federation Account directly without reinvesting into oil fields.

The disbursement figures made in January 2010 from the Federation Account shows that while Bayelsa and Edo States received the sum of N4.29billion and N3.48billion respectively the non-oil states of Lagos and Kano States received N9.16billion and N6.49billion respectively.

Daily Trust

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NDLEA foils plot to smuggle drugs in compact discs

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized 2.4 kg of cocaine concealed in compact discs (CDs) by a drug suspect who wanted to smuggle the illicit substance to London, England.

The suspect, Ngozi Monye-Cole, 48, was apprehended at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

The anti-narcotic agents have also arrested Nnadebe Henry Abuchi, 27, who allegedly swallowed 1.433 kg of cocaine while returning from Brazil.

NDLEA Airport Commander, Hamza Umar, who confirmed the seizure of 3.483 kg of cocaine, said the drug was discovered during routine check at the airport's baggage desk.

Monye-Cole was nabbed on January 30, 2010, for concealing 2.050 kg of substance that tested positive to cocaine inside CDs while Abuchi, who ingested 50 wraps of substance found to be cocaine weighing 1.433kg, was detected by the scanning machine.

Meanwhile, Osun State Command of the NDLEA has destroyed over 155 hectres of Indian hemp farms worth N5 billion at different locations in the state.

Also in a separate operation, the agency patrol, in collaboration with other security agents, have discovered a fresh cannabis farm where 600kgs of Indian hemp worth about N150m were recovered from one Steven Enenwe.

In a statement yesterday in Osogbo, the state Commander of the NDLEA, Mrs. Wosilat Audu, said 208 suspects were arrested last year in connection with cultivation and possession of cannabis, comprising 190 men and 18 women. Twenty of the suspects were youths.

Of the 208 suspects, 45 had been prosecuted and convicted while 33 cases are pending in court.

Also, the Kwara State Command of the NDLEA at the weekend disclosed that it arrested 84 suspected drug traffickers between January and December last year.

Besides, it seized 556.887 kilogrammes of hard drugs and destroyed 1.8 acre of Indian Hemp farm in Kawo Village, Edu Local Council, in the year under review.

The state Commander of the NDLEA, Mr. Nse Jack Inam, disclosed these at the weekend in Ilorin, the state capital.

Monye-Cole, a mother of four, who is a caterer, was arrested during screening of passengers on British Airways flight to London Heathrow Airport.

She was alleged to have cleverly arranged the discs in four sets, drilled a hole in the centre and inserted a pipe in each set which she filled up with cocaine using two undrilled discs at both ends as a cover to avoid detection.

Notwithstanding her creativity in packing the drugs, the NDLEA operatives found her out during routine search at the baggage check-in desk.

In her statement, Monye-Cole said that her sponsors gave her the discs containing the cocaine to deliver in London.

Her words: "It was my childhood friend that lured me into this mess. I met her at Asaba my hometown and she invited me to an eatery. She asked me to eat anything I like. In fact, I was carried away by her hospitality, particularly when she is a fellow woman.

"My friend told me that she does her business in Abuja where she is based. I demanded that she introduce me to her business but she said it was capital-intensive. That was how I told her of my husband's death and how I am struggling to take care of my four children.

"She convinced me to traffic drugs to raise capital for her kind of business with the promise of paying me 3,000 pounds. Unfortunately, I was caught at the airport by NDLEA. I was astonished when the officer detected the drugs weighing 2.050 kg because they told me it was only 500 grammes".

Abuchi, a trader was arrested during the inward screening of passengers on South Africa Airways flight from Brazil.

He was detected to have drugs with the aid of the scanner and was placed under observation to excrete the drugs, weighing 1.433 kg.

Abuchi, a Nigerian, is married to a South African woman and has dual citizenship of both countries.

He lives in South Africa with his wife and child but visits Nigeria regularly.

His words: "I swallowed 50 wraps of cocaine for a fee of $3,000. I agreed to do it because I needed money. It has happened and I believe I have learnt my lesson".

 The Guardian

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Sick Nigeria President Yar'Adua 'to hand over power'

Nigeria's ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua will write a letter handing power over to his vice-president, his adviser has told the BBC.

The letter, formally informing the Senate that Mr Yar'Adua is on "medical vacation", automatically means his deputy becomes acting president.

The president's allies have previously resisted calls for him to step aside.

He has been in a hospital in Saudi Arabia since November, prompting fears of a power vacuum and street protests.

The president is suffering from an inflammation of the lining around the heart and has long suffered from kidney problems.

Nigeria's powerful state governors have said they believe Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan should be acting president.

Cabinet split

The BBC's Caroline Duffield in Lagos says Nigeria's political struggle over the president's fitness to rule may be nearing an endgame.

The president's special adviser on legislative affairs, Abba Aji, did not say when Mr Yar'Adua would write the letter but he said there would be no "undue delay".

For weeks, Nigeria has been beset with rumours and hoaxes over whether the president is alive or dead, our correspondent says.

His failure to transfer powers to his deputy before he left created a power vacuum - in which fear and false reports flourished, she says.

Newspapers said the president was brain dead - or struck dumb.

There were apparently official statements claiming the president was discharged from hospital. They later turned out not to be true.

Political tensions have been high - government business has stalled and legislation been frozen and cracks have appeared in the uneasy peace in the oil-producing Niger Delta.

Earlier this week, the first signs of a split emerged in Nigeria's cabinet, when Information Minister Dora Akunyili urged her colleagues to admit that the president was no longer fit to govern.

But she was shouted down in the cabinet meeting, government sources told the BBC.

The federal high court has ruled that there is no constitutional requirement for the president to hand over power when he is abroad receiving medical treatment.

But he now appears to have given in to all the pressure.

Nigeria's split between the mainly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south has complicated the issue, analysts say.

Northern power-brokers may be reluctant to see Mr Yar'Adua, a northerner, hand over power to Vice-President Jonathan, from the south, before the next scheduled presidential elections in 2011.

Since the return to civilian rule, power has usually rotated between the regions.

BBC

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Power outage to worsen as generation drops to 2,700MW

The current power outages being experienced in parts of the country may get worse due to inadequate gas supply to fire the turbine power stations. Consequently, power generation capacity has dropped to 2,700 Mw from 3,710Mw at the end of last year.

The Minister of Power, Dr. Rilwan Babalola, who made the disclosure yesterday at a power sector update and ministerial press briefing in Abuja, further revealed that more than N79 billion was spent towards the failed actualization of 6000Mw of electricity by December 2009.

Blames inadequate gas supply

Babalola was, however, quick to blame inadequate gas supply to the various thermal plants for the drastic short-fall experienced in power generation in the country.

He said there was need to improve on supply by diversifying power generation beyond gas, which is presently the dominant generation technology, and increase security and reliability of electricity services in the country.

According to him, "Providing access to affordable and reliable electricity to all citizens of Nigeria is a critical national goal of the Federal Government.

"This is in view of the fact that without adequate and reliable electricity supply, our socio-economic goals of alleviating poverty, creating jobs and wealth as envisaged in the -Point Agenda and Vision 2020 cannot be achieved."

He explained that the Federal Government set a target of 6000Mw to be achieved by December 2009 to meet demand projection for 2010, which is estimated at about 5100Mw. This target of generation capacity was assessed as being sufficient to meet the unsuppressed peak demand with some reserve margins.

The Managing Director of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Mr. Hussein Labo, who confirmed the situation, explained that it was as a result of a steady decline in gas supply from the Nigeria Gas Company, NGC to the various power stations in the country.

The power company said sequel to the non-availability of adequate gas to power the plants, power generation at the Egbin Power station has reduced from 800Mw to only 100Mw and a daily shortfall of 150Mw at the Geregu Power Station. Egbin has the capacity to generate 1,320Mw of electricity, while Geregu's generation capacity is 414Mw.

The inadequate gas supply to fire the available turbines has led to a loss of over 800Mw. This great loss has impacted negatively on power supply giving rise to load shedding nationwide.

Vanguard

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