JONATHAN PICKS OKIRO AS CHAIRMAN, POLICE SERVICE COMMISSION

President Goodluck Jonathan has recommended former Inspector General of Police, Sir Mike Okiro, as Chairman of the Police Service Commission.

Sources told P.M.NEWS Wednesday that the recommendation has been sent to the Nigerian Senate for ratification.

If approved, Okiro will replace Parry Osayande who quit the job in April.

Sources close to the police said the appointment of Okiro for the job is the right choice President Jonathan has made.

According to one of the sources who pleaded not to be mentioned, “Okiro’s appointment is a good development for the police at a time Mohammed Abubakar is in charge as the Inspector General of Police. Both men worked together at the Lagos Police Command and they share the same vision.

“Okiro is an operational man who suggested that Niger Delta Militants are offered amnesty during the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua. He will bring positive change to the police force.”

AMAECHI THREATENS TO EXPOSE THOSE FIGHTING HIM

After keeping mum since the executives of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers State, were swept away by a disputed court order, Governor Chibuike Amaechi, has threatened to expose all his traducers.

He said by the time he revealed their true identity, people will realise why they should be prepared to provide their own security.

Governor Amaechi spoke today when he received the Archbishop of the Dean of Anglican Communion in Nigeria and Archbishop Niger Delta Province, Most Reverend Ignatius Kattey at the Government House, Port Harcourt.

Amaechi said he is not afraid of opening up and revealing the true background of those attempting to snatch the soul of Rivers politics.

N48 B FRAUD: EFCC ARRESTS TIMIPRE SYLVA

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, today arrested the former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva following his refusal to honour invitations to answer charges over allegations of fraud running into billions of Naira.

The offence is said to have been committed while he served as the governor of the state.
He was picked up at his No. 3, Niger Street, Maitama, Abuja home.
Vanguard learnt that the EFCC operatives stormed the mansion around 10.00 am and were told by Sylva’s security men that the man was not in town and that they should come back upon his return.

3 WOMEN, MISSING FOR DECADE, FOUND ALIVE IN US

Three women who had been missing for a decade — two of whom disappeared as teenagers — were found alive in a house in Cleveland, police in the US state of Ohio said Monday.

The dramatic discovery drew hundreds of cheering people to the usually quiet, residential street to celebrate that girls long feared dead were very much alive.

The details of the trauma they may have suffered in captivity were not yet known, but it appeared that at least one of the girls had borne a child during her captivity.

REPS, NIGER GOV WANT DOKUBO-ASARI, KUKU ARRESTED

The House of Representatives on Tuesday asked the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, to quiz ex-militant, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, over his latest comment that there would be no peace in Nigeria if President Goodluck Jonathan was not re-elected in 2015.

In a separate statement, Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu also asked security agencies to arrest Dokubo-Asari for alleged treasonable offence.

In a resolution in Abuja, the federal lawmakers said Dokubo-Asari’s statement was “capable of causing disaffection in Nigeria.”

NIGERIA, SOUTH AFRICA SIGN VISA WAIVER, 8 OTHER MOUS •AS JONATHAN TASKS AFRICAN LEADERS ON ECONOMIC EMANCIPATION

NIGERIA and South Africa have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to make it unnecessary for nationals of both countries holding official or diplomatic passports to acquire visa before travelling to either country.

The MoU was signed on Tuesday between President Goodluck Jonathan and his host, President Jacob Zuma, during a closed door bilateral session between the two leaders in the South African president’s office in Cape Town.

Other MoU signed between the two countries were on cooperation in legal field, oil and gas sector, power sector development, environment, defence cooperation, women development and empowerment, as well as child development.

There were also bilateral agreements on geology, mining, mineral processing and metallurgy and fields of information and communication technology.

2015: JONATHAN LURES EX-MILITANT COMMANDERS

…with juicy contracts, board appointments

Indications have emerged about how President Goodluck Jonathan secured the endorsement of the exmilitant commanders in the Niger Delta for his reelection bid in 2015.

Findings by National Mirror showed that Jonathan was able to persuade some major ex-fighters in the region to support his second term agenda through financial gratifications running into millions of dollars and award of multi-million dollar contracts, especially in the oil industry.

The move was to stem the tide of criticism against his re-election by his kinsmen in the oil-rich belt.

OKOROCHA DUMPS APGA, DECLARES FOR APC

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State on Tuesday finally bid farewell to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) with a formal declaration for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Okorocha dumped the party on which platform he rode to power at a cere-mony at the Hero’s Square, Owerri, attended by Governors of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti, Edo, Osun, Nasarawa and Borno states.

This effectively put paid to speculations that Okorocha had abandoned the APGA in preference for the contentious APC.

NIGERIA WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT UNDER YAR’ADUA - TURAI

Former first lady Hajiya Turai Yar’Adua has stated that Nigeria would have been a different country today if her husband had not died.

Speaking during a memorial lecture organised by students of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University (UMYU), Katsina, Turai extolled the virtues of the latepresident. “If Umaru were alive, the history of Nigeria would have been different because he had focus,” she said in an emotion-laden voice.