LUANDA (Reuters) - Ghana will be without their key players when they take on Burkina Faso in a must-win Group B final game at the African Nations Cup on Tuesday.

The Black Stars, semi-finalists in 2008, will have to make do with the absence of Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien after he was ruled out for the rest of the tournament on Monday with a knee injury.

Midfielder Rahim Ayew is a major doubt after picking a knee injury in training on Monday, while defender John Mensah and midfielders John Paintsil and Stephen Appiah missed the trip to Angola because of injuries.

Coach Milovan Rajevac is set to field a team whose backbone will be formed by players who won the under-20 World Cup in Egypt last October.

If Ghana win, they will finish second in Group B behind Ivory Coast, who have already qualified, and will play their quarter-final game in Luanda against hosts Angola on Sunday.

If they fail to take all three points, Burkina Faso, who held Ivory Coast 0-0 in their opener, will go through and will take either first or second place of the group depending on their goal difference.

The first-placed team in Group B will play their quarter-final in the northern enclave of Cabinda on Sunday against Algeria.

ABUJA (Reuters) - Kidnappers freed three British and one Colombian worker unharmed on Monday, a police official said, six days after they were seized near the oil hub Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta.

"Yes, they were freed this afternoon in Abia state. No one has been arrested, but the police have a suspect they are investigating," said a police official in neighbouring Rivers state, where Port Harcourt is located.

The expatriates, employed by Netco Dietsmann, were working as contractors for Royal Dutch Shell at the Afam power plant. The reason for their release was not immediately clear.

Local media reports this week said the kidnappers had demanded a 300 million naira ransom.

Kidnappings for ransom are common in the oil-producing Niger Delta with hundreds of incidents reported each year. Most victims are released unharmed after a couple of days.

Gunmen on Sunday kidnapped three Nigerians from their shipping vessel while travelling off the Bonny coast in southern Rivers state, two security sources said earlier on Monday.

20100118
africanews

Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has called for Africa to make room for victims of Haiti's earthquake to restart their lives on the continent from where their ancestors were snatched as slaves. "The repeated calamities that befall Haiti prompt me to propose a radical solution -- to take measures to create somewhere in Africa... the conditions for Haitians to return," said Wade.
africa map
"They did not choose to go to that island," he added, referring to the mass deportation of African slaves to Haiti, then a French colony, from the 16th century.

"It is our duty to recognise their right to come back to the land of their ancestors." His spokesman Mamadou Bamba Ndiaye gave further details of the proposals. "If it is just a few people, we will offer them a roof and a patch of land," he told a French radio station.

"If they come in large numbers, we will give them a whole region."

A massive earthquake struck Haiti last Tuesday, killing tens of thousands of people and leaving more than a million others homeless, according to the Haitian government. The island is also often hit by deadly hurricanes and floods.

"It wouldn't be the first time that former slaves or their descendants were brought back to Africa," said Wade, citing similar measures taken in Liberia.

"Now the problem is to know how, and who will bear the cost," he added.

20100118
africanews

Authorities in the South African city of Cape Town have reopened its beaches which were closed after a Zimbabwean man was killed by a great white shark off the South African coast. The man was attacked 100 metres from the shore of Fish Hoek beach in the Western Cape on last week.
Storms River3_Tsitsikamma National Park_South Africa_Elles van Gelder
Eye-witnesses said the massive shark attacked Loyd Skinner three times before dragging him under water.

The city has issued a warning of increased shark sightings in the area and urged bathers to exercise caution.

"Although the beaches have been declared safe, both Shark Spotting and lifesaving services will continue," the city said in a statement.

It said bathers should remain in groups and not go further than waist-deep.
Rescue workers scoured the Fish Hoek coastline for two days searching for the body of the 37-year-old engineer but by Thursday, nothing had been found.

A number of beach-goers witnessed Tuesday's gruesome attack.

"We looked at the walkway and saw people waving towels at us, then we looked further out to sea and saw what looked like blood and a man's leg come up," swimmer Kyle Johnston told a local newspaper.

Another witness said the shark was 4m long.

This is the second fatal attack on the beach since 2004, when a 77-year-old local woman was killed by a shark 150 metres from shore.

Eight sharks were sighted near Fish Hoek at the weekend by the city's Shark Spotters service, which has recorded 570 sightings over six years, according to media reports.

20100118
africanews

A General Service Unit officer who was shot by protesters at Jamia Mosque in Nairobi has died from his injuries; he died at the Forces Memorial Hospital on Sunday.
soldiers in Kenya
The officer, whose name is not immediately known, is one of two officers injured by youths who were rioting on Friday over the arrest of radical Jamaican preacher Abdullah al-Faisal.

However, another officer was hit by stone and one of the protesters was also killed leading to number of two people killed in the protest.

On Sunday, Muslims denied Security minister George Saitoti’s claims that, supporters of a Somali extremist group, al-Shabaab, had infiltrated the five-hour protests.

Nairobi Metropolitan Development minister Njeru Githae accused police of not using enough force to stop the violent protests, while a civil society group called for Prof Saitoti’s resignation.

The demonstrations outside Jamia Mosque in Nairobi, which started as a clash between the police and Muslim youths, degenerated into a fight between Muslims and the public, mainly traders fearing for their businesses. The individuals claim to be sympathetic to al-Shabaab.

20100118
africanews

About 12 people have been killed in the Nigerian central city of Jos in a clash between Muslims and Christians, which began early Sunday. The city has been placed under a dusk-to-dawn curfew to ease tensions, according to reports.
clashes in Nigeria
The fighting started when Christian youths protested the building of a mosque in a Christian-dominated district by a wealthy Muslim. Witnesses quoted by AFP say scores of houses and vehicles have been burnt.

Spokesperson for Jos University Teaching Hospital told News Agency of Nigeria that 12 bodies were lying in the hospital and that dozens of wounded people bearing deep gunshot and machete cuts were receiving treatment.

The state’s commissioner of police, Gregory Anyating told AFP that 35 people have been arrested and that his men were making full investigation.

According to reports, Nassarawa Gwom district, centre of the fighting, harbours mostly Christians, but the few Muslims there have always lived side-by-side peacefully with their neighbours.

Similar clashes claimed hundreds of lives within two days in November 2008 following a rumour that majority-Muslim All Nigerian Peoples Party had lost a local election to the mainly Christian Peoples Democratic Party.

Nigeria’s 150 million population is almost equally split between Christians and Muslims.

20100118
africanews

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma will make his maiden official visit to the Commonwealth's newest member, Rwanda, this week. He will be in Rwanda 20-23 January 2010, where he will hold discussions with President Paul Kagame, and call on Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo. He is also scheduled to address a joint sitting of parliament.
Kamalesh Sharma
In Kigali, Sharma is expected to meet leaders of the Human Rights Commission, the National Council of Women, the National Youth Association, the Ombudsman’s Office, and the Electoral Commission.

Commonwealth Heads of Government considered the application of Rwanda for membership of the Commonwealth at their biennial meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in November 2009, in accordance with the criteria and procedures agreed at their last meeting in 2007. They warmly welcomed Rwanda into the Commonwealth family as its 54th member.

Speaking ahead of the visit, Sharma said: “In visiting our newest member, I am reminded that over six decades this association has brought together countries new and old, large and small, rich and poor. Our highest goals are our values and principles. Our aspirations, and many of our challenges, are the same.

“Our organisation and its members will always be journeying together on the often rugged and winding paths of democracy, development and diversity. My discussions with President Kagame will revolve around those themes, and the ways in which the Commonwealth can serve the people of Rwanda and pursue our shared goals.”

20100118

BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Four Chinese nationals have been arrested in Congo Republic for illegally dealing in ivory, the first arrests of Chinese in the country in connection with the trade, police sources said on Monday.

The suspects face up to five years in prison and fines of $10,000. The arrests were made after a raid on their premises in central Brazzaville produced a haul of ivory bracelets, statues and other goods.

Ivory dealing has been banned since 1989 after decades of poaching in which Africa's elephant population was halved, with an estimated 600,000 animals remaining by the late 1990s.

But authorities say an influx of Chinese workers to the continent has led to a rise in poaching in countries such as Kenya. Chinese nationals can buy ivory at local prices and make a profit by selling it when they return home.

Coongo's Chinese community numbers around 2,000, mostly involved in construction, timber, the restaurant trade and cut-price retail shops widely appreciated by most locals.

20100118

LILONGWE (Reuters) - A persistent dry spell and an army worm outbreak in Malawi have destroyed about 35,000 hectares of crops, threatening the food security of 123,000 families so far, a senior government official said on Monday.

Army worms have attacked nine districts and destroyed 5,000 hectares of crops, while 30,000 hectares of maize have been damaged due to the dry spell, information gathered from the country's eight Agriculture Development Divisions showed.

"The army worm situation is now under control and in some areas people have replanted," Andrew Daudi, principal secretary in the ministry of agriculture said.

Army worms, which can grow to around 5 centimeters (two inches) in length, are moth caterpillars and when present in large numbers can destroy swathes of vegetation and crops.

The Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) said hunger was looming in the poor southern African country. It called on the government to act urgently.

"There are signs of widespread hunger because of the dry spell and the damage caused by army worms," FUM president Abel Banda told Reuters.

"When parliament meets next week, this issue should be top of the agenda because the crop is not good out there."

In recent years, Malawi has enjoyed bumper harvests following the introduction of a fertilizer and seed subsidy programme.

The country harvested a hefty 1.3 million tonne maize crop last year, its fifth consecutive surplus of the staple.

20100118

LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambia will this year add 210 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the national grid of Africa's top copper producer, and will not see power shortages in 2010 as some had feared, an energy industry official said on Monday.

State power utility, Zesco Ltd said last year the southern African nation faced a power shortage and electricity rationing by the end of this year due to increased demand for power by the country's mining sector.

But Energy permanent secretary Teddy Kasonso told Reuters studies had revealed that extra demand for electricity as a result of new development projects was unlikely to exceed the 210 MW that Zesco would add to the grid this year.

Kasonso said the rehabilitation of the Kafue Gorge power project would add 90 MW to the power generation capacity and the upgrading of Kariba North Bank power station had already added another 90 MW. The remaining 30 MW would be added this year.

"It is unlikely that Zambia will experience a power deficit by the end of this year unless we have a drought," he said.

"However, we risk getting into a deficit situation in the year 2013 if no new generation is brought in," Kasonso said in response to written questions by Reuters.

Zambia generates 1,400 MW of electricity, and consumes about 800 MW during the day, but demand rises to 1,500 MW at peak during the night, according to Zesco estimates.

Zambia's investment promotion agency says several investment pledges are in the pipeline including one from a China's Zhonghui Mining Group, which said it would invest about $3.6 billion in copper exploration and mining over a five-year period starting last year.

20100118

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's ruling African National Congress called on Monday for an end to "street fights" after its youth movement criticized senior leaders who are also members of allied parties.

The ANC Youth League, which last year clashed with the South African Communist Party (SACP), has called for leaders to not have membership of different parties within the alliance, and demanded that ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe step down.

Mantashe, who is also chairman of the SACP, said the ANC leaders had, at a three-day policy meeting, called for "street fights" to end, and shrugged off the attacks against him.

"So whether the youth league moves against me or not is neither here nor there," he told reporters.

"The leaders of this movement must never get into a street fight ... We are not going to join this street fight."

Mantashe said the weekend meeting affirmed that the ANC was the "centre of power" and called on members to act in a manner "befitting revolutionaries".

"The alliance is as strong as ever," he said.

The party met ahead of a cabinet planning meeting that starts on Thursday to set the government's programme for 2010.

The ANC's alliance with trade union federation COSATU and the communist party has come under strain amid jostling for power. Left-wing leaders like Mantashe want more influence over economic policy and a shift away from previously conservative policies, including inflation targeting.

20100118

CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea's coalition of political and civil society groups have chosen veteran activist Jean-Marie Dore as candidate for prime minister of the world's top bauxite exporter, a source close to their talks said on Monday.

Dore is leader of the Union for the Progress of Guinea (UPG) party and, like temporarily exiled junta chief Moussa Dadis Camara, comes from one of the minority ethnic groups of Guinea's Forestiere region.

"Jean-Marie Dore has been chosen on the basis of the criteria we listed at a meeting attended by representatives of poltical parties and social groups," said opposition figure Etienne Soropogui, who was present at the meeting.

Interim junta chief Sekouba Konate has yet to approve Dore to head a transitional government that would lead the West African country towards elections and end the political crisis that began with Camara's military coup in December 2008.

The crisis deepened when security forces killed more than 150 people at a pro-democracy march in September, a massacre for which the United Nations says Camara was responsible.

Konate, the junta's second in command, assumed control when Camara was shot in a failed assassination attempt last month.

A frail Camara spoke in public in Burkina Faso on Sunday, his first address since he was wounded in the attack, to say he backed the move towards elections.

The international community has demanded a vote since the coup, fearing instability within Guinea could spill over into what has historically been a volatile region.

20100118

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's bourse ended higher on Monday, in line with global stocks and lifted by miners as metal prices jumped, while the rand edged firmer on solid risk appetite and the firm platinum price.

The JSE Top 40 index of blue chips was up 0.71 percent to 25,459.13 points and the broader All-share index gained 0.61 percent to 28,099.70 points.

"All the action has been in the resources," David Shapiro, portfolio manager at Sasfin Holdings. "Otherwise, I can't see any overriding reason for the market to push up, it looks more like confidence on the global economy."

Miners led the gains as commodity prices cruised higher with platinum racing to its highest level in more than 17 months, boosting Anglo Platinum by 2.33 percent to 790 rand.

Platinum and palladium prices leapt, boosted by investment demand after the launch of U.S.-based exchange-traded funds this month.

The rise also helped support the rand, given South Africa's status as the world biggest producer of the precious metal, as did solid risk appetite.

The local currency was trading at 7.3925 against the dollar at 1530 GMT, 0.2 percent stronger than its previous close in New York.

Analysts said a further rise in manufacturing activity helped buoy sentiment but trade was relatively lacklustre given U.S. markets were closed for a holiday.

"Risk assets are generally doing ok and commodities are doing quite well, platinum specifically, which has given the rand a slightly firmer tone but there is not flow to push it," Nicholas Kennedy, emerging markets analyst at 4Cast, said.

20100118

CAIRO (Reuters) - Swiss-based developer Orascom Development Holding is facing a legal dispute over registration of ownership of its shares in Falcon for Hotels, which it has paid for in full, it said on Monday.

"Orascom Development and its advisers believe that the counter party has no valid legal claim," the company said in a statement. "The group is currently pursuing legal proceedings to protect its legitimate rights," it said, without detailing the cause of the dispute.

Orascom Development was not available to comment further.

The company finished construction and furnishing of Citadel Azur -- the only hotel owned by Falcon for Hotels -- enabling it to open in 2008, the statement said.

20100118

LONDON (Reuters) - Angola's crude oil exports were expected to fall in March but will remain well above the output target set by producer group OPEC, traders said on Monday.

Angola is set to export an average of 1.79 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in March, down from 1.88 million bpd in February, according to preliminary loading programmes.

For a graphic on Angola's crude oil output, click here: here

The loading schedules give planned Angolan exports for the month but are released well ahead of the dates cargoes are due to be shipped and are therefore subject to change.

In February, schedules showed 1.81 million bpd of crude was due to be exported before two cargoes were added to the programme a week later, taking output up to 1.88 million bpd.

"It looks like volumes are down slightly but there could be extra cargoes added later and I don't think it is a significant drop, just a bit of tinkering," one physical West African crude trader said on Monday.

Despite a dip in planned exports for March, Angola's output would still be well ahead of its target set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Angola says its output target is 1.656 million bpd. But an OPEC internal document widely quoted by industry sources suggests Angola's limit is 1.52 million bpd.

20100118

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe will seek highly indebted poor country status to have its $6 billion international debt cancelled to help spur economic growth, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said on Monday.

Zimbabwe's unity government, formed last year by bitter foes President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to end an economic crisis, has failed to attract much-needed foreign aid, partly due to huge debts.

Zimbabwe has enlisted the support of the African Development Bank (AfDB) to draft a debt relief plan that would unlock access to international finance, seen as crucial to revive the economy after a decade of decline.

"There is a huge opportunity cost Zimbabwe is suffering as a result of the stifling debt. Without the debt overhang we would be growing by 15 percent annually," Biti told reporters in Harare after meeting a visiting team of senior AfDB officials.

Biti said while there were divergent views on the debt clearance strategy, seeking HIPC status -- which would require sweeping reforms and setting firm performance targets -- was the best option.

"There is no consensus position yet in Cabinet, but I've said give me an alternative that allows us to get this debt serviced without prejudicing our meagre resources," Biti said, adding that the government would make a "bold" decision on the matter within the first quarter of 2010.

PROGRESS

Visiting AfDB vice president for operations, Aloysius Ordu said although Zimbabwe's power-sharing government had made progress, there would be no full co-operation until Zimbabwe resolved the debt issue.

20100118

NAIROBI (Reuters) - A Muslim cleric whose detention in Nairobi caused deadly riots on the streets of the capital is expected to be put on a plane back to Jamaica in the next two days, Kenya's foreign minister said on Monday.

Initial efforts to deport Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal to his native Jamaica had been hampered by other nations' unwillingness to let him transit through their airports.

"We have managed to get a direct flight for Faisal back to Jamaica and he should be out of Kenya by 48 hours," Moses Wetangula told reporters, adding they had won the co-operation of two foreign countries, which he declined to name.

Police earlier arrested a prominent activist, Al-Amin Kimathi, chairman of Kenya's Muslim Human Right Forum, in chaotic scenes as seven suspects appeared at Nairobi's High Court accused of involvement in the riots that rocked the capital on Friday.

Another 150 suspects, including some members of the Somali parliament, were charged in another court with being in the country illegally, a day after security forces raided a mainly Somali suburb of the city and arrested scores of people.

"What has happened to Al-Amin today is an attack on the rule of law and an attack on the judiciary," Mbugua Mureithi, Kimathi's lawyer, told Reuters as the white-robed activist left the High Court in handcuffs, his arms raised above his head.

Earlier, the seven suspects had been charged with unlawful protest, theft and destruction of property.

Civil unrest in Kenya is particularly worrying following post-election violence in 2008 that killed some 1,300 people. Given the regional threat from Somali al Shabaab extremists seen as a proxy for al Qaeda, it is even more concerning for a nation that has in the past been hit by two al Qaeda-linked attacks.

20100108

DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal's leader proposed the creation of a new African state to resettle Haitians left homeless by an earthquake, comparing the idea to the 1948 birth of the state of Israel.

Seizing on an outpouring of African pity for the plight of tens of thousands of Haitians still awaiting aid, President Abdoulaye Wade said their history as the descendants of slaves gave them the right to a new life on the continent.

"All we are saying is that the Haitians didn't take themselves over there. They are there because of slavery, five centuries of slavery," Wade told Reuters TV on Monday.

"We have to offer them the chance to come to Africa, that is my idea. They have as much right to Africa as I have," he said of his proposal, which became public over the weekend and is now due to be submitted to the 53-nation African Union.

Wade has long profiled himself as a defender of the poor on the world stage. Critics say he has a populist streak and his schemes do not always materialise, but the 83-year-old leader brushed off the doubters.

"Israel was created like that," he said of the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine following World War Two and the mass extermination of Europe's Jews in Nazi death camps.

"You can't tell me it's not possible. It's all possible if the Haitians seek it," said Wade, who was speaking on the margins of a conference in the Senegalese capital Dakar.

Senegal is due to submit a resolution to the African Union urging the creation for Haitians of "their own state on African territory, the land of their ancestors", according to the text of the resolution published in local newspapers.

20100118

N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chad has asked the United Nations not to renew the mandate of the world body's mission in the central African country in March, a Chadian official told Reuters on Monday.

"We have officially notified the special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General of our wish to not renew MINURCAT's mandate," said General Oky Dagache, Chadian President Idriss Deby's representative to the MINURCAT, as the U.N. mission in Chad is known.

Dagache declined to give an immediate reason, but a U.N. source in Chad suggested the request may be a tactic move aimed at reforming the force's mandate.

MINURCAT's year-long mandate began last March 15, when 5,000 U.N.-commanded troops took over from a European Union force.

MINURCAT is responsible for ensuring security for humanitarian actions, particularly in the north-east of Chad, which borders Sudan's Darfur.

"The meeting (with the U.N.) is on March 15 so we are still waiting, but we are in negotiations," Dagache said.

Violence in Darfur erupted in early 2003, when mostly non-Arab rebels began fighting the Sudanese government and Khartoum responded by mobilising militia to quell the uprising.

The United Nations estimates the ensuing conflict claimed 300,000 lives and drove 2 million people from their homes.

Relations between Chad and Sudan are key to the conflict in Darfur, and the two countries have accused each other of supporting rebels fighting for more power.

allafrica

Lagos/Abuja — Nearly two months after President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua left country to Saudi Arabia on medical grounds, the Senate President David Mark has declared that the head of state's absence has not generated any constitutional crisis.

This comes as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) claimed that opposition politicians are determined to cause confusion over the issue of whether Vice-President, Goodluck Jona-than should rule in acting capacity.

But the coalition of opposition political parties have said Jonathan only needs to muster the political will to deal with ministers and top government officials who are agents of mischief.

The senate president made his views known to journalists yesterday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

Mark, the third in line in succession to the ailing president, stated that Yar'Adua had not breached the constitution by his absence.

"There is none (constitutional crisis) yet on his absence from office," argued the senate president.

According to him, "the civil service rule is quite different from the constitution and so far, the president has not breached any constitution with his absence."

Mark said that members of the senate deliberated the Yar'Adua's absence and every Senator was given a chance to express his or her views on the situation that has kept him away for 57 days.

He defended the legislators' decision to embark on a visit to Saudi Arabia to see Yar'Adua, saying there is nothing wrong with that move.

He said: "Did you listen to our resolution? (the decision to go to Saudi Arabia). Is there anything wrong with us finding out? If there are so many options, we have taken a different option. Why must we take the same option like others? Is that the only option available to us?"

On the forthcoming election in Anambra State, Mark said that stakeholders in the state and in the country had resolved that every candidate should be given equal opportunity through a free and fair election, saying Anambra would be a "test case" for the 2011 elections.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Ahmed Alkali, the PDP said allegations of disunity within the party is contrived by opposition politicians.

The party was apparently reacting to statements some days ago from the office of the vice-president, warning mischief-makers, ministers and top government officials.

But it was gathered that the position of the party is coming in the midst of disagreement among members of the party's Board of Trustees (BoT) over whether Jonathan should be acting president pending Yar'Adua's return.

"The party has observed an unfortunate emergent trend among opposition politicians who are desperately trying to use the media to sow a seed of discord within our ranks," said the PDP statement.

The ruling party said media reports had been awash with unfounded stories of sharp divisions within the leadership of PDP.

The party commended Jonathan for what it described as his statesmanly disposition, adding that it is united and focused.

"This ploy, just like many before it will also fail as the leadership of the party is firmly resolved to protect and preserve the institution of the Presidency which has remained stable under the able direction of the Vice-President," the PDP said.

The party reiterated its position that there is no vacuum in Aso Rock.

Meanwhile, opposition political parties under the aegis of Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) have wade in.

"All Nigerians need from Mr. Vice-President is the political will to pull through as those whom he had identified as people whose focus is to cause disharmony and disunity are not going to let go. As the Americans will say, he has pulled the trigger and must follow through, otherwise he will pay for it," said CNPP in a statement by its spokesman, Osita Okechukwu.

"For the avoidance of doubt, it must be stated that the lesson learnt from the BBC interview is that our dear president is critically ill, frail and at pains to speak; accordingly we pray for his tremendous recovery, while at the same time we have to move on," added the CNPP.

The opposition argued that under the prevailing circumstance, section 145 of the constitution, without prejudice to the Justice Dan Abutu's judgment, remained the solution.

They said Jonathan "must muster the necessary political will and rely on the doctrine of consequence; which states clearly that power vacuum must not be indefinite but shall be filled by the next in line".