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By Jimitota Onoyume & Wole Mosadomi PORTHARCOURT—Governors of Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Nasarawa, Imo and Zamfara states, yesterday, condemned the current crisis in Rivers State and called for President Goodluck Jonathan’s intervention. They also urged all actors in the crisis to sheathe their swords. The governors' call came as former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who handed over to a democratically elected government in May 1999, yesterday, expressed sadness over the current crises in Rivers State, and warned the political gladiators to tread softly so as not to truncate the nation's democracy. Governors Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Dr Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) and Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun) condemned the crisis in Rivers when they paid a solidarity visit to their Rivers State counterpart and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in Government House, Port Harcourt. The Governors of ...

By  SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN CITY Brig. General Don Idada Ikponmwen is the ex-Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Army and also its former Director, Legal Services. Idada, who has been involved in several legal battles in the Army, including the prosecution of three Admirals over the missing MP Africa ship in 2003, expressed shock over the Federal High Court’s recent declaration which stripped the President of the sole power to appoint Service Chiefs in the Armed Forces. As an expert on the nation’s constitution and military laws, Idada noted that the declaration would not stand the test of time, just as he projected that if applied, it would politicise the Armed Forces and threaten the security of the nation. Excerpts: What is your take  on the recent judgment by the Federal High Court that stripped the President of the power to appoint Service Chiefs? I was completely dismayed with such a declaration because  it tends to turn the constitution upside down. [caption id="attachment_20634...