A US-flagged C-Retriever owned by American oil servicing company Edison Chouest Offshore was attacked on Wednesday off the city of Brass, said AKE, a London-headquartered private security firm. “Both the chief engineer and the captain were kidnapped,” Richard Fylon of AKE said. “They are both American.” US defence officials in Washington, who requested anonymity, confirmed the details. The US Navy and the Marine Corps had not yet received orders to intervene, two US defense officials told AFP. An official at AKE’s Lagos office said this was the first reported kidnapping of US nationals around the oil-producing Niger Delta region in at least two years. The official, who requested anonymity, said the same area was attacked by pirates earlier this week, but that there appeared to have been no increase in naval patrols operating in the area. Police spokesman Alex Akhigbe in Bayelsa state, where Brass is located, told AFP he had no details on the raid. Nigeria’s navy was not available to comment. The kidnapping of foreigners working in the oil sector was once a common occurence in the delta. Abductions declined dramatically after a 2009 amnesty deal with rebels in the region, but they have spiked again in recent months. Oil servicing ships have repeatedly been hit around the Gulf of Guinea, which includes the waters off Nigeria, Togo, Benin and parts of Ghana. Sailors of varying nationalities have been taken hostage, but typically released days or weeks later. Most analysts say that ransoms are paid in such cases, but the companies involved and Nigerian officials rarely comment on payments to kidnappers. In a report released last month, the Risk Intelligence security firm said pirates in the gulf have increasingly sought to rob international vessels over the last two years. There are signs that the region’s pirates have become bolder and developed more sophisticated attack methods, the report said. The Lagos-based AKE official, citing recent attack patterns, said the raid on the American-owned C-Retriever was likely carried out by gunmen on board two or three speed boats, with four attackers on board each boat. The US navy, along with forces from Britain, Spain and The Netherlands last week conducted a joint training exercise with Nigeria’s navy to curb piracy in the region. Nigeria is Africa’s top oil producer, generating some two million barrels per day from onshore and deepwater fields in the Niger Delta, which falls along the Gulf of Guinea.

NATIONAL Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Alhaji Bamanga Tukur yesterday inaugurated a twenty- two member National Finance Committee to raise funds for the party, just as he pleaded with governors elected on the platform of the party as well as members to help the PDP with money to enable it run its affairs.

The Committee has the Chairman, PDP Governor’s Forum and governor of Akwa Ibom State,  Godswill Akpabio as Chairman with Ibrahim Shema of Katsina state as Deputy Chairman , even as Tukur asked them to use their good offices to turn around the financial fortunes of the party.

According to him, the national finance committee as approved by the NWC was established by the constitution of the PDP and was constituted every four years.

Speaking during the inauguration, Tukur who  charged the committee to assist the PDP to mobilize resources to enable the party to carry out good work,  noted that there was a big challenge before the party in the completion of its permanent national secretariat, adding, ” I must thank them for accepting to serve their party. Having seen the Committee members, our party is lucky, Nigeria is lucky because of the dedication on their party to see that our party wax stronger.
There is a big task ahead of us: the edifice we are building, all men of goodwill must support them to achieve the task ahead of them. I charge you distinguish citizens to help this party mobilize resources to help PDP carry out good work.”

In his response, Chairman of the Committee, Governor  Akpabio who assured the leadership of the PDP that the purse of the party “will be uncommonly transformed” as the Committee  would work as a team and mobilise members to help the party, said, “The party has enormous responsibilities, one of which is to complete the national headquarter of our party.

Right from today, the story will change. I am happy about the quality of men on the Committee: performing Ministers, governors and the Deputy Senate President. The finance of the party will be uncommonly transformed.

“This is the time and it is very spiritual, Mr Chairman you are going to succeed as the chairman of the party. We assure you that the chairman and Deputy Chairman and all the members of this committee would work as a team.

“Iam emphasising  the word as a team because I know that the problem we have in the recent past was that the National Working Committee of our great party did not work as a team, but Mr Chairman today, with the support of all the party faithful across Nigeria, we believe strongly that today we have a team.
Our job is enormous and we recognise the enormous responsibility on our shoulders.

“Of course people would say why do they need to raise funds that PDP is already composed of men and women of timber and calibre they do not need funds, but we have responsibilities,  one of which is the edifice we must put up in Abuja to show that as a ruling party that we have come to stay and that is the national headquarters of our great party.

“We need funds to complete that building. Our job also extends to even investing the excess funds that our supporters are going to give us.

We are allowed by the constitution of our party to even invest such funds in ventures that would produce dividends for the party. So, we want to assure you that we are alive to our responsibilities and raising from here, the story would change.

Akpabio who also disclosed that the Committee as part of moves to achieve its set goals, plans  to under study sources of finances of African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa, Labour Party in the United Kingdom and political party’s finances system in United States of America with a view to replicating them in the PDP, adding that PDP requires fund to complete its on-going new party secretariat edifice in Abuja, and plans to invest future funds that accrue from the party supporters and that the committee was going to mobilize funds for the party within the ambit of the law and the party’s constitution.

According to him, visits to these countries by the committee to under study political parties in other countries of the world will help enhance  the committee to come up with a very comprehensive strategy that will be acceptable to the party, adding  that inauguration of the committee was a turning point for the PDP, adding, “We are going to meet shortly after this and our next meeting would be on Nov. 5. We are going to start right away because we do not have time to waste.

“We are also going to take a look on how parties of this nature are funded outside Nigeria such as the ANC in South Africa, we would look at how the Democratic Party in America does its funding and we would also look at how the labour party is funded in the United Kingdom.

“We would go round and by the time we are through  with our study, we would come out with a comprehensive strategy  that would be legal and would be acceptable to all the party faithful.

“We would not go outside the constitution of our party and we would not do anything that is illegal. We want to assure you that this is a turning point for the PDP.  It is normal that whenever the PDP takes the lead, other parties follow, but one thing they had not beaten us to is that since 1999, we had remained with one name, the PDP.”

Akpabio, who had earlier said elections in Nigeria were won at the local and state level, stated that the mission of politicians in Abuja was to prepare the ground, adding, “Elections in Nigeria are won at local and state level, our mission in Abuja is to prepare the ground.”

Speaking further in the success of PDP, Akpabio who noted that the PDP was the only party devoid of ethnic and regional coloration among other political parties in the country, said, “Look at our opponents they are always changing name, and they may change to panadol in 2015.

“We are the only party known to all Nigerians and not own by any region or tribe but belongs to every Nigerian and that is why we will continue to rule.
Mr chairman you should sleep well because if you look at our opponent, they are now on the 11th name and by 2015, they would be going to the 13th name and Nigerians would have forgotten wither they AC, CNC or ANC or APC
Its not the name that matters by the leadership that we are providing that is why we remain constant we will continue to remain PDP because we are proud of what the PDP is doing.”

He assured that at the end of the day,  problem of finance rocking the PDP would be a thing of  the past, adding that with the humility of the deputy senate president,  Ike Ekweremadu, who is a member of the committee, it would be an easy task for the committee to mobilize funds, adding, “We thank you so much for the confidence and for bringing use to serve the party and we assure you that ate the end of the day, finances or lack of finance would be a thing of the past in the PDP and so we say.”

Other members of the National Finance Committee which was drawn from the National Assembly, the six-geo-political zones are Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu​​​​​;  Senator Hope Uzodima​​​​​; Hon. Bello Muhammed Matawalle​​​; National Treasurer​​​​​; National Auditor, Adewale  Adeyanju;  National Financial Secretary​​​​, Elder Bolaji Anani; King A. J. Turner​​​​​​; Capt. Hossa Okunbo​​​​​; Amb. Abdulahi Wali​​​​​; Alh. Shitu Kabir Muhammed​​​​; Hajiya Bola Shagaya​​​​​; Hajiya Inna Ciroma​​​​​; Alh. Lawal Muhammed Dakingari​​​; Alh. Sani Dauda (ASD)​​​​​; Dr. Ben Okoye​​​​​​; Elder Yemi Akinwonmi​​​​​; ​Mrs.​Biodun Olujimi​​​​​ and Dep. National Financial Secretary as Secretary