TJCONNECTNG was at the venue of the ritualist dudgeon which was discovered at Celle nica bustop along Lagos badagry express road, today, 27th of August 2018.

According to reports, a known mad woman make the place her abode as she perpetuate her evil act at night, a passerby who hint other resident on the development was said to be defecating close to the den when she heard the woman popularly known by resident as a mad woman making calls to her client to come and pick up parts of human body which was ready.

This call made resident storm the den only to discover that the woman was using an iphone 6 and had dollars and naira notes hidden under the den where human skull was recovered as the scene.

The police were quick to stop the mob from killing the woman and reportedly took her to the station with money and phone recovered as human skulls was left at the venue.

Other items recovered were cutlass, human clothes, human hair and her bed.

In a similar development at the same venue a man was accosted and items like knife, black soup, calabash and other things were found on him which made mob killed him at the spot.



http://tjconnectng.com/ritualist-den-uncovered-in-celle-nica-lagos-photos-video/

The chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Moshood Salvador, has dumped the party for the All Progressives Congress, APC.
According to Vanguard, Salvador made the announcement at his Salvador Towers residence in Lagos State.

DAILY POST had last week reported that the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, Nkeiru Onyejeocha, had also defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Details later…

Source: http://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/08/lagos-pdp-chairman-salvador-defects-to.html

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has released the 2018 ranking of all the 36 States, plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja in Nigeria.
Abia tops the chart, ahead of Anambra, Edo, Rivers and IMO state.

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has released the 2018 ranking of all the 36 States, plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja in Nigeria.


Abia tops the chart, ahead of Anambra, Edo, Rivers and Imo states.

However, some states have risen above the positions they were during the last ranking.


Cross River State moving from 28th to 20th, while Yobe State drops to last position.

Below is the latest WAEC ranking of the 36 states and the FCT:


http://dailypost.ng/2018/08/02/waec-abia-anambra-lead-nationwide-2018-may-june-wassce-results-see-full-list/

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says President Muhammadu Buhari and his handlers have opened our nation for international ridicule arising from reports quoting United States President, Donald Trump, describing President Buhari as “lifeless”.

The party said such embarrassment is a backlash a nation gets when incompetent leaders, out of inferiority complex, resort to jumping around the world, desperately shopping for endorsement from world leaders.

The party says President Buhari has been seeking international recognitions that are not predicated on any achievements from his three years in office.

PDP hereby charges Mr. President to take a cue from the comments ascribed to President Trump by settling down at home and discharge his responsibilities to Nigerians or humbly accept his failings.

While the PDP has strong reservations on the reported comment by President Trump, for which we demand a response from the Buhari Presidency and the US White House, the party further holds that had our dear President not cheapened the exalted office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by his woeful outing during his visit to the United States, President Trump would not have had the opportunity to assess his level of incompetence and make such an embarrassing statement about our President.

The PDP and indeed all well-meaning Nigerians are now sore worry over how other world leaders have been perceiving our President, who has not only failed in governance but has continued to demarket our nation in the international community.

The PDP however urges Nigerians not to be downcast by the embarrassing situation the nation has found itself, especially as the 2019 general election, which comes in the next six months, offers the nation the ample opportunity to get it right on the choice of competent leadership Nigerians can be proud of.

Signed:

Kola Ologbondiyan
National Publicity Secretary

Source; https://www.nationalhelm.co/2018/08/trump-buhari-has-caused-our-nation-international-embarrassment.html

Quote:By Dayo Johnson Akure



A 42-year-old man, ldowu Benson has been arrested by police detectives in Oba-ile area, Ondo state for reportedly cutting off two fingers of his wife Kemi for money ritual.

Police source hinted that the suspect on August 3 this year at about 7:30pm put on a mask and armed with cutlass pretended to be an hired assassin invaded his own house and attacked his wife.

Police source hinted that the attack took place at Kardors College Street, off Akure/ Owo expressway, Oba-ile in Akure, the Ondo state capital.

During the attack, the suspect was said to have informed the wife on gaining entry into the house that he was sent to kill her and in the process matcheted her on the head and cut off two of her fingers.

It was learnt that the fingers were chopped off while the wife was trying to fence off the machete from cutting off her head
Vanguard was informed that the suspect even asked the wife the whereabout of her husband during the attack.

The suspect was said to have went away with his wife two fingers which was alleged was for money rituals.

Police source said that the wife who bled profusely until help came from neighbours who heard her distress call.

The incident was reported at the police station by the victim and detectives swung into action only for their findings to reveal that it was an inside job.

Vanguard gathered the suspects telephone dropped inside the room from his pocket while he attacked his wife.

After the attack and having fled with the fingers of his wife, the suspect later returned to the house and was reportedly searching for his telephone.

Report had it that the suspect was invited and their investigation revealed that he masterminded the attack and he confessed to the police.

Contacted, the police image maker Femi Joseph said the suspect confessed attacking the wife blaming it on the devil.

Joseph said the suspect however denied using the chopped off fingers for money rituals.

According to Joseph the suspect was yet to confess where he kept the two fingers of his wife that he chopped off during the attack.

The police spokesperson said the suspect attacked his wife with cutlass and attempted to kill her.

” He ( the suspect) has not confessed to police detectives where he kept the fingers or what he had done with them. He kept saying it was not cut off for money rituals.

Nollywood actor, Jim Iyke, was, this afternoon, arrested by the policemen attached to the Lagos airport, after he slapped a staff of Dana Air.

It was gathered that the actor had missed his flight to Abuja, after arriving the airport late and he got angry. However, when a security staff of the airline was trying to profile him (search him), Iyke gave him a slap. .

The airport policemen were immediately called in by the management of the airline and Iyke was whisked away.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm-_q-ChF2E/?hl=en


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t7aGyCCqxQ?t=18

Quote:Abuja – Concerted effort by the former Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to emerge as the leader of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom has been rebuffed by stakeholders of the party in the state, Daily Independent reliably learnt on Monday.

Akpabio recently defected from the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling APC.

Arising from a meeting, members of the State Working Committee and other stakeholders of APC, turned down Akpabio’s overtures as they insisted that the state caucus chairman of the party, Atuekong Don Etiebiet, should continue as leader of the party in Akwa Ibom state.

Etiebiet was formerly a Minister of Petroleum as well as a-one-time national chairman of the defunct ANPP.

Present at the meeting were Senator John Udoedehe, Group Captain Sam Enwang (rtd), Obong Nsima Ekere, Mr. Umana Umana, Obong Rita Akpan etc.

At the meeting held in Uyo on August 25, the APC chieftains and stakeholders resolved that Don Etiebiet should continue as leader of the party in Akwa Ibom state.

It was gathered that the refusal of APC stakeholders to allow Akpabio emerge as their leader was not unconnected with the National Chairman of APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s pronouncement of the former governor of as leader of the party in Akwa Ibom during his reception into the party on August 8, in Ikot Ekpene.

Akpabio’s plea to have an alternate chairmanship position created for him was vehemently opposed by the stakeholders.

Specifically, Enwang in opposing Akpabio’s ambition, contended that it was not part of the party constitution.

However, after Akpabio’s plea to be made an alternate chairman of caucus was roundly resisted by the stakeholders, notably, Senator Aloysius Etok and former military governor of Ogun state, Group Captain Sam Enwang, a source said, the senator promised to abide by the decision of the stakeholders.

The decision to retain Etiebet as leader of the party over Senator Akpabio was part of a six-point resolution adopted at the stakeholders’ meeting.

Other resolutions adopted at the meeting were; “That a vote of confidence is passed on President Muhammadu Buhari, the chairman of caucus and leader of the party Atuekong Don Etiebiet as well as the chairman of the party Mr. Ini Okopido; that senator Godswill Akpabio is welcomed to the party; and that there is no zoning, hence there will be no automatic ticket or right of first refusal for members of the party who are currently holding elective positions.

A caucus member of the party who preferred anonymity told reporters that many stakeholders would have left the party if Akpabio had insisted on leading the party in the state.

He said the resolution was a saving strategy to forestall more defections from the party to the PDP, stressing that Akpabio’s real motives for joining the APC was yet to be known.

Since Akpabio joined the APC, some stakeholders including a former governorship aspirant, Dr. Udoma Bob Ekarika, the immediate past state deputy chairman of the APC, Obong Emmanuel Udoh, and youth leaders of the party from Ikot Ekpene senatorial district had defected to the PDP.

Pictures like these drove the Russian business man offer an obscene amount of money to the glamour model.

The man, claiming to be a banker and Bitcoin trader, emailed his proposal to her agent.


A source told Newsmen that “Rhian is used to getting gifts from kind-hearted fans, but this blew her away.



“The offer seems genuine but she’s happily engaged and not in the habit of selling her body.”
Rhian is due to marry ex-Corrie hunk Oliver Mellor, 37, next month.


https://zenithnaija.com/man-offers-model-250k-to-spend-the-night-with-her-after-seeing-her-photos/

Denmark ambassador to Nigeria, Torben Gettermann, says Nigeria export to Denmark rose by 156.6 per cent within the first three months of 2018 in relation to the same period in 2017.

The outgoing ambassador told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that during the period the export from Nigeria to Denmark also rose from 173, 000 dollars to 1.1 million dollars.

Gettermann, who noted with concern that the trade volume was too small, said that he was in Nigeria to enhance the trade relations between his country and Nigeria.


“We have had a trade imbalance; we have imported so much from Nigeria than we have exported.

“At the height of it, it was basically twice as much or thrice as much from Nigeria than what we exported, because we were importing crude oil and this has gone down,” he said.

According to him, there was a significant drop in 2016 and even 2017, but it is going up again slightly in 2017 and it seems to be going up too in 2018.

“In the first three months of 2018, our import of goods from Nigeria worth Danish Krone (DKK) 1.1 million ($173,000).

“This represents a rise of 156.6 per cent in relation to the same time period in 2017 DKK 400,000 ($64,000),” the envoy said.

He explained that Denmark import from Nigeria totaled DKK 367 million ($57.2M) in 2017 which is a rise of 11.8 per cent relative to 2016.

“The commodity group with the highest import value to Denmark in 2017 was petroleum, petroleum products and related materials worth DKK 365.3 million ($57m).

“Our import of services from Nigeria totaled DKK 1.1 billion ($800 million) in 2016,” he said.

The envoy explained further that Nigeria was Denmark’s 74th largest export market (goods) in 2017.

He said that export of goods from Denmark to Nigeria worth DKK 573 million ($89.3M) in 2017, accounting for 0.09 per cent of total Danish goods exports.

He however said that goods exported to Nigeria fell by 4.3 per cent in 2017 in relation to 2016.

The envoy explained that in 2016 goods worth DKK 328 million ($45.2m) was exported to Nigeria while goods worth DKK 367 million ($58.9m) was exported to Nigeria in 2017.

“The commodity group with the highest export value in 2017 was dairy products and birds eggs worth DKK 151.1 million ($23.5m).

“Exports of services to Nigeria totaled DKK 684 million ($106.6m) in 2016.

“In the first three months of 2018, Danish exports of goods to Nigeria was worth DKK 167.6 million ($26.2m).

“This is a rise of 54.7 per cent relative to the same time period in 2017 of DKK 108.3 million ($16.9m),” he said.

Gettermann stressed that the trade volume was a bit low and has a lot to do with Danish companies not having much focus on Nigeria.

“We have to sell Nigeria to Denmark by telling the good stories; we have to tell them that it is possible to do it in Nigeria, to invest in Nigeria,” he said.

http://www.akelicious.net/2018/08/nigeria-export-to-denmark-rises-by-157.html

The National Assembly Joint Committee on Electoral Matters on Monday rejected the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) proposed budget of N189 billion, urging the electoral body to revert to the initial N143 billion earlier submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The lawmakers stated this after a closed-door meeting of the Joint Committee chaired by Senator Suleiman Nazif (APC, Bauchi).

Nazif, who read out the resolution of the Joint Committee to newsmen in Abuja, said, "As you are aware, our last meeting was held on August 17.

"We decided to resume today August 27, to consider the harmonised budget of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

"The Joint Committee has sat and we have deliberated a position to adopt the N143 billion earlier presented to us by President Muhammadu Buhari.

"It is the wish of this Committee that INEC present the N143 billion as requested by Mr. President.

"This Committee therefore adjourns and will reconvene tomorrow by 1 pm to consider the N143bn INEC budget."

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/breaking-inec-budget-n-assembly-rejects-n189bn-insists-on-n143bn-267747.html

Nigeria has yet again been ‘disgraced’ internationally, following an assignment Harvard University gave to its students in which Nigeria was used as a case study of a failed African country.



The question Harvard University gave its students reads;
Africa is growing. Seven of the the ten fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa, and the continent’s largest economies are becoming less dependent on extractive commodities. The continent’s rising middle class has demonstrated a taste for consumer goods and technological innovation, and Africa’s population-currently more than a billion people- is booming and overwhelmingly young at a time when populations in other regions are shrinking and aging.

Nigeria, sub-saharan Africa’s largest economy, epitomizes both the promise and the problems the continent faces in the 21st century. The contry had failed to thrive for its first thirty years as an independent nation, despite having a developmental head start relative to countries like China and India, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars in oil revenue.. Now, after pathbreaking reforms followed by signs of retrenchment, Nigeria’s new President faced both vast opportunity and grave challenges. Would the country flourish or founder in this new era? We will analyze key reforms in Nigeria’s economy, significant political developments, and the choices facing the country’s fast-growing private sector.


https://howafrica.com/harvard-university-uses-nigeria-as-a-case-study-of-a-failed-african-country/?amp

Some Nigerian soldiers who embarked on a protest at the Maiduguri airport in Borno state, are now in serious trouble. 



File photo: Nigerian soldiers
 
According to Sun News, the Nigerian Army said it would set up a General Court Martial (GCM) to try Special Forces who embarked on a protest at the Maiduguri Airport, in Borno State, two weeks ago.
 
This is just as the army has warned that it would not tolerate any act of indiscipline from its officers and soldiers, no matter the provocation, because the law and ethics that the Nigerian Army is founded on would take their full course on errant soldiers.
 
The army specifically warned that it would not tolerate any act of mutiny from soldiers engaged in counter-terrorism operations in the North-East.
 
Theatre commander in charge of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major-General Abbah Dikko, gave the warning during a lunch at the Maiduguri Military Command Centre over the weekend.
 
Dikko, who condemned the act of mutiny by the soldiers who took to protesting and shooting indiscriminately at the airport to protest their deployment to another local government area in the state, reminded the soldiers of their oath of recruitment when they voluntarily joined the service.
 
He noted that the oath must be respected and maintained, as long as they remain in the service of the Nigerian Army.
 
Dikko said, “You have decided to put your life on the line for the territorial integrity of Nigeria. So, it is very important that we are reminded of our roles and responsibilities to the nation and our responsibility to the society, most importantly our responsibility to ourselves because we are not a conscript army. We are a regular military.

“Those who have volunteered to serve, and that is the only time you will volunteer, subsequently having offered your service, it is the responsibility of the service to deploy you where they find you appropriate.
 
“So, it is important that we continue to retain our professional comportment so that we can serve diligently. It’s important that we uphold the values and ethics of the system that we belong to.”
 
He added that “it is also important that we understand it is a service to our fatherland. It is not a service to ourselves.

“The bedrock of your service as a soldier is discipline. A soldier must remain disciplined at all times. A soldier must obey instructions.”
 
While noting that the soldiers who protested at the Maiduguri Airport would be disciplined in accordance with military law, the theatre commander said, “We don’t punish in the military. We discipline. Discipline is the bedrock of the job. If there is no discipline, then we can’t have an army. So, if a soldier errs, he must be corrected.
 
“We are focused and doing what we are supposed to do in order to finish the assignment that we were given. No matter what it takes, we will do it professionally. Everybody is motivated and well catered for. “There are some that are not here and you don’t know what they’re going through. You cannot say you’ve heard them complaining that they’re not in the townships. Some are in locations that are out of reach. So, we must understand the difficult times we find ourselves.”
 
The army’s reaction came in the wake of a protest and shooting in the air at the Maiduguri airport by soldiers of the Special Forces against their deployment from the state capital to Marte Local Government Area of the state. The aggrieved soldiers, who were said to have arrived the airport at about 6pm the day before their posting, refused to board the aircraft that was to convey them to their new operational area on the grounds that they had spent over four years in Maiduguri, without seeing their families.
 
Reports said the soldiers refused pleas from their superiors, including that of the General Officer Commanding, 7 Division, Brig. Gen. Bulami Biu, who were advised to stay away from the airport or risk being shot.


The Sun

President Muhammadu Buhari has been asked to come save Leah Shariby from Boko Haram captivity as the Dapchi schoolgirl sends out message from the den of the terrorists. 


 
Leah is Boko Haram captivity
 
Leah Sharibu, the only Christian among the abducted 119 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Dapchi, Yobe state, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to save her from captivity. 
 
The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a breakaway faction of Boko Haram, has kept her in captivity for seven months, sparking public outrage, while the federal government had said it was making efforts to secure her release.
 
As a “proof of life” amidst speculations on her fate, TheCable has exclusively obtained her latest picture as well as the audio of her plea to Buhari.
 
Clad in hijab, sewn from a pink material and seated alone on a mat patterned in orange, Sharibu spoke with measured calmness.
 
She spoke in Hausa in a 35 seconds audio, reproduced here:
 

 
“I am Leah Sharibu, the girl that was abducted in GGSS Dapchi. I am calling on the government and people of goodwill to intervene to get me out of my current situation,” she said.
 
“I also plead to the members of the public to help my mother, my father, my younger brother and relatives. Kindly help me out of my predicament. I am begging you to treat me with compassion, I am calling on the government, particularly, the president to pity me and get me out of this serious situation. Thank you.”
 
Sources told TheCable that the audio as well as pictures were part of the proof of life requirement in a possible renewed negotiation efforts between the government and ISWAP members.
 
The release of Sharibu’s school mates on March 21, 2018 reportedly followed what sources said had to do with the intervention of IS in Iraq and Syria.
 
Source: TheCable

AIR PEACE on Saturday generated serious buzz all over the internet as Nigeria’s fastest growing airline, took delivery of its second Boeing 777 aircraft which landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA).

The aircraft, named ‘Ojochide’ with registration number 5N-BUU touched down by 1:36 and as custom was greeted with the usual water canon salute at the airport

The 320-seater capacity aircraft is part of the airline’s fleet and route expansion plan and is the second Boeing 777 delivered to the airline in just six months as it recieved its 274 capacity 777-200 with registration mark 5N-BVE in February 24, 2018.
Speaking moments after the aircraft landed, Air Peace Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Allen Onyema assured that the airline was now ready to begin its international operations and fix the challenges of Nigerians, Africans and other travellers on the long-haul routes.

Onyema, who was represented by Air Peace Chief Operating Officer, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olajide, said the carrier’s international operations would boost Nigeria’s economy, create more jobs in the nation’s aviation and allied sectors and offer travellers an exceptional choice.

“We are very happy we’ve taken delivery of another of our Boeing 777 aircraft in preparation for our international operations and we are looking at commencing operations on one of the routes before the last quarter of the year.

“We believe that this will enable us create more employment opportunities for Nigerians because that is the reason we exist. We want to help curb the unemployment situation in the country,” Onyema said.

The Air Peace boss confirmed that the airline is adding two more of the aircraft of the same type before the end of the year to boost the airline’s international operations.

Onyema said the Federal Government had designated Air Peace to operate flights to London, Houston, Dubai, Sharjah, Guangzhou-China, Mumbai and Johannesburg.

Also speaking, Air Peace Chief Pilot, Capt. Victor Egonu and Senior First Officer Emmanuel Iwhiwhu, who flew in the aircraft, said it was a state-of-the-art equipment with high performance capacity.
Captain Eguno told the media that the airline is planning to ensure that its 777s are flown by Nigerians on the international routes and that the airline’s massive fleet expansion will create more job opportunities for Nigerian pilots.

Meanwhile, social media has been buzzing with the aircraft arrival as stakeholders and Nigerians in general weighed in on twitter and Instagram with goodwill messages, encouraging the airline for its vision and plan.

Already reactions are following the video of the arrival of the aircraft in pidgin English which is making waves on the social media.

Quote:Militants in the Niger Delta under the auspices of the Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators have threatened fresh actions against the interest of the Nigerian government in the region if the country is not restructured.

A statement signed by the leader of the Niger Delta Watchdogs, Mr John Duku, in Uyo on Saturday noted that the threat became necessary following many anti-democratic actions by the Federal Government and the All Progressives Congress.


He said, “After carefully studying the recent political development in Nigeria in general and the Niger Delta in particular, the Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators hereby wishes to state as follows:

“We hereby condemn the recent freezing of the Akwa Ibom State Government Account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and we view it as an act of intimidation by the agent of the Federal Government and the APC in order to weaken the smooth running of government in the Niger Delta state.


“We hereby warn the EFCC and other agents of government to desist from this act of official recklessness and breach of the constitution.”

He described as regrettable an alleged use of the EFCC as a tool to fight perceived political opponents, instead of carrying out its constitutional duties without bias as stipulated in the constitution.

“The action of the EFCC and the Federal Government is against the laid-down procedure of investigation stipulated in the EFCC Acts; the EFCC has no right or basis whatsoever to freeze any state government account. Doing so against the Akwa Ibom State Government is therefore a calculated attempt to cripple the activities of the state government, label its officials as corrupt and punish the innocent people of Akwa Ibom State. “From all indications, the attack is not on Governor Udom Emmanuel but on the good people of the state because of the personal hatred the APC-led government has for the people of the state in particular and the Niger Delta as a whole.


“We want to ask, why is it that EFCC singles out opposition states like Akwa Ibom and Benue states for this unjust act? Why are they not seeing the glaring corruption perpetrated by other state governors and other APC states?”

Duku wondered why the EFCC would not arrest suspected corrupt officials occupying positions in the Presidency.

He also reacted to the reported threat issued by Miyetti Allah against the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, saying, “We hereby condemn the recent anti-Saraki threat by Miyetti Allah leaders and describe it as treasonable. We also warn that any further attempt to attack or forcefully remove the Senate President from office shall be met with stiff resistance from the Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators and we promise that all business activities in the Niger Delta shall be completely shut down.”

The poor performance of Nigeria’s economy has become a matter of worry, particularly in the last three years. This is so because the poor economy has taken a serious toll on all of the country’s aspects and become a matter of huge concerns for citizens and friends, locally and internationally.

The economic situation of any nation should interest her citizens, and where decrease is the case, it should worry the citizenry because a viable economy is necessary for any government to perform its functions, such as providing employment, and social amenities.

Nigeria has one of the world’s highest economic growth rates, averaging 7.4% according to the Nigeria economic report released in July 2014 by the World Bank. Poverty still remains significant at 33.1% in Africa’s biggest economy. For a country with huge wealth and plenty population to support commerce, a well-developed economy, and plenty of natural resources such as oil, the level of poverty remains unacceptable. However, poverty may have been overestimated due to the lack of information on the extremely huge informal sector of the economy, estimated at around 60% more, of the current GDP figures.

Because oil is Nigeria’s mainstay, the recent decrease in oil gains due to the global oil price reduction meant its oil-dependent GDP was affected too. The country’s economy was hit hard by the recent recession in the country. And where a nation’s economy is bad, the poverty levels increases, crime, violence, unrest, insurgency and other sad features take the stage and breed weak governance, ill health, hunger, diseases and even debt burden. Such evidences as deprivation, neediness, hardship, hand-to-mouth existence, pauperism,straitened circumstances, and bankruptcy have since laced Nigeria.

Daily reports of March, 2018, as released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Nigeria needs urgent and practical policies because Nigerians were getting poorer. Earlier in 2017, the World Bank says unemployment and poverty rates increased in Nigeria despite supposed exit from recession. The global financial giant made these remarks in a report made available to newsmen as at April, 2018.

According to the report titled, “Nigeria Bi-annual Economic Update: Fragile Recovery,” policymakers at the federal and the state levels need to identify interventions that are best suited to realise development potential of sub-national regions and integrate domestic markets.“The rates of unemployment and underemployment increased in 2017 and poverty is estimated to have increased slightly. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2018 is expected to hover just over 2 per cent, largely oil sector-driven.

In his article entitled “Nigeria Is Set To Become The Poverty Capital Of The World”, Olanrewaju Eweniyi, opined that at least 50% of of the world – over three billion people – live on less than $2.50 (N900) a day. And closer to home, Nigeria has one of the world’s highest economic growth rates, averaging 7.4% (according to the Nigeria economic report released in July 2014 by the World Bank) but over 80 million Nigerians – 42.4% of the population – currently live below the poverty line, according to the UN.

Eweniyi believes it can get worse, relying on the report by the World Poverty Clock, that Nigeria’s rising overpopulation will pose a problem now, rather than in 2030 or 2050. By February 2018, Nigeria will overtake India as the country with the most people in extreme poverty. For context, India has 5 times the population of Nigeria. According to World Bank standards, living in extreme poverty is living on less than $1.90 (N680) per day. People living in extreme poverty are unable to meet even the barest minimal needs for survival.

In 2015, the UN set up the Sustainable Development Goals, and the first of them is to “eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere by 2030”. However to achieve this globally, 90 people need to leave poverty every minute to eradicate poverty totally by 2030; and to achieve this in Africa, 57 people have to leave every minute; and in Nigeria, 12 people per minute.

As you can imagine, this is not the case. In fact the opposite is the case. On the average, 9 people are entering extreme poverty every minute, and Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo are both responsible for the 9. And individually, Nigeria has about 7 people going into poverty every minute. This is due to many reasons, first of all, population. Nigeria’s population is growing faster than its economy. Between 1990 and 2013, Nigeria’s population increased by 81 percent. And by 2050, according to the UN, Nigeria will be third most populous country in the world. Only behind India and China.

The poverty level in Nigeria today has incapacitated many, especially the ordinary Nigerians who is badly affected by the changes in market prices of goods which used to be affordable until the economy became poor. The story is more painful when one considers that the government has not increased the beggarly minimum wage despite knowing that the prices of everything that citizens need to survive has become quite expensive.

While the poverty is billed to wildly increase in 2018, the IMF projects Nigeria’s GDP to rise by only 0.8 percent in 2018, after the 2016 recession slowed down the economy. Nigeria’s 2018 record budget (which President Buhari stood for 69 minutes to present, this was news for some reason) is running on a deficit, and will be funded by much borrowing with government debts already on the rise.

This is a time for a serious decision on the part of government. It is a time for the government to put in place practical economic policies workable solutions so that the ugly trend of Nigeria’s economy will be corrected and life will be better. It’s a wrong time to play politics with the fortunes of a nation and the good living condition of the citizens that can only be achieved with good economy.

http://thepunditng.com/nigerias-poverty-rate-calls-for-worry/

Quote:The acting Chairman of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Ibrahim Magu, says some Senior Advocates of Nigeria have been frustrating the anti-corruption war by knowingly supplying the technical know-how and helping in the dispersal of the proceeds of crime.

Without mentioning any specific names, Magu said a particular senior advocate received N1.7bn in legal fees from a corrupt politician without a qualm.

He said the same senior advocate received N300m from a governor in the South-South as legal fees for an election petition case and failed to pay tax but quickly took advantage of the Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme when he realised he was under probe.

The EFCC boss said this in a piece titled, ‘Need for Ethical Reforms as NBA Conference Begins.’

The piece was written to coincide with the annual general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, which begins in Abuja on Monday (today).

Magu said, “It is personally disheartening to see lawyers who invest their talents and expertise in advancing the cause of corrupt politicians and public officials. It is amazing that a senior lawyer can accept professional fees of N1.7bn from a politician without scruples!

“The same lawyer with a turnover of N3, 765,414,995.24 only paid valued added tax of N7, 051,928.24. The N300m cash payment which the senior lawyer received from a South-South state government in an election petition matter in 2016 was never captured in his tax submissions to the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

“Yet when he got wind of EFCC investigation, he was quick to take advantage of the VAIDS window as cover to shield himself from the commission’s dragnet.”

The EFCC boss said another senior advocate evaded taxes running into billions of naira but paid only a fraction of the amount.

“Another senior lawyer who is quick to advertise himself as the nemesis of the EFCC, has a turnover of over N5.1bn with an assessed total tax liability of over a billion naira between 2010 and 2017. Sadly, he merely declared a meagre N8m as gross earnings for 2014 and 2015, and N10m for 2016,” Magu said.

The EFCC boss said there was a need for lawyers to demand to know the sources of income of their clients before receiving any money.

He appealed to lawyers to put the interest of Nigeria ahead of any other monetary consideration.

Magu added, “While we are mindful of the fact that there may be more than one side to a situation which equally deserves of robust presentation and defence, we believe that no matter the positions we take on any issue, Nigeria should come first.”

Quote:Ifeanyi Onuba, Abuja



The National Bureau of Statistics on Monday released the Gross Domestic Product growth rate for the second quarter of this year , with the economy recording a decline in performance from 1 . 95 per cent in the first quarter to 1 . 5 per cent.

The bureau , in the report which was made available to our correspondent , said the second quarter growth rate was constrained by contractions in oil GDP.

It said oil GDP contracted by - 3 . 95 per cent in the second quarter, as against 14.77 percent in the first quarter of this year and 3.53 percent in the second quarter of 2017 .

The report said for the first time since Nigeria’ s exit from recession , growth was driven by the non - oil sector , which grew by 2 . 05 per cent , representing the strongest growth in non - oil GDP since the fourth quarter of 2015 .

The 2 . 05 per cent growth rate is higher than the 0 . 76 per cent growth which the sector recorded in the first quarter of this year .

It added that non - oil GDP growth which was 0 . 72 per cent in the first quarter of 2017 , 0 . 45 per cent , - 0 . 76 per cent , 1 . 45 per cent in the second , third and fourth quarters of 2017 grew by 2.05 per cent in the second quarter of this year .

The report added , “ Non - oil growth was driven by transportation which grew by 21.76 percent supported by growth in construction which grew by 7.66 percent and electricity which grew by 7.59 percent.

“ Other non - oil sectors that drove growth in Q 2 2018 include telecommunication which grew by 11. 51 per cent , water supply and sewage which grew by 11. 98 per cent and broadcasting which grew by 21. 92 per cent.

“ The non oil sector performance was however constrained by agriculture that grew by 1 . 3 per cent compared to three per cent in Q 1 2018 and 3 . 01 per cent in Q 2 2017. ”

Quote:Former governor of Anambra state, Mr. Peter Obi has warned that Nigeria’s economy is on life support following the unprecedented hike in the country’s debt profile.

Obi, who was speaking at the generation conference organised by the Summit Bible Church last weekend, stated that with the country’s debt put at N22.7 trillion and unemployment rate at 60 per cent, it will take a miracle for the country to survive unless people with proven experience in the management of resources are elected into leadership positions in the country.

He, therefore, pleaded with Nigerians to choose their leaders wisely during elections.
The former governor stressed that if 50 per cent of the country’s revenue is used to settle such debt, Nigerians will continue to groan.
He called on Nigerians to vote out people who lacked the technical know-how to revamp the economy and render good services.

“Our educational system is too low. Our per capita is $2000. And since your growth popula­tion is higher than the growth of your GDP the consequence in the future will be higher than what it is today. 

“China adopted the Mil­lennium Development Goals when it was told that it had the poorest people in the world and it took over 400 million people out of poverty,” he said. 
He expressed optimism that Nigeria will get it right some­day, emphasising that people who have ideas, capacity and have managed resources be­fore should be brought forward to change the poor narrative. 

The convener of the pro­gramme, Andy Osakwe, chal­lenged youths to be active in politics. He said: “A lot of peo­ple tend to blame other people for the current state of our na­tion; it is time for us to take ownership of our condition and also our destiny.“Even though different generations have taken different positions as to who is responsible for the not-so-great status of Nigeria today, there is a consensus on the fact that Nigeria already has within its borders all that is required to become one of the most secure and prosper­ous countries in the world.”

Quote:John Alechenu and Olusola Fabiyi



The All Progressives Congress has dared the Senate President , Bukola Saraki, to reconvene the Senate if indeed he was not perturbed about moves to impeach him .

The APC spoke through its acting National Publicity Secretary , Mr Yekini Nabena , said the party ’ s position was its response to Saraki’ s declaration that he was not losing sleep over threats to unseat him following his decision to dump the APC to join the opposition Peoples Democratic Party .

Nabena made the party ’ s position known to Punch via the telephone . in Abuja on Sunday.

Saraki had told reporters in Asaba the Delta State capital on Saturday that he was not bothered about the APC plot against him.

He told journalists , “You can look at me . I am not losing any sleep about it (impeachment threat ) . We believe democracy must go by the rule of law.

“ There are processes , constitutional processes over what we do . So , I am not concerned about that .

“ There are lots of noise being made about that but be sure that once we resume, the processes are followed , we will see that the noise will fizzle out. So I am not concerned about it . ”

But the APC speaking through Nabena said , “Like we’ ve said it before, he will be removed democratically . Let him reconvene the Senate first since he feels we in the APC don’ t have the numbers required to impeach him .

“ As far as we are concerned , he will leave that seat for a loyal party member to occupy . It is a question of morality , he has left our party which has the majority of Senators and as a party , we agree with our senators that a member of the minority party cannot rule over the majority . ”

Saraki’ s spokesman , Yusuph Olaniyonu, had in a telephone interview with our correspondent said due process would be followed to reconvene the Senate .

He said , “ The Senate is on recess as you know, when it is time to reconvene , due process will be followed . ”

Buhari knows he has failed , says PDP
Meanwhile , the Peoples Democratic Party has said that it has thoroughly reviewed the President Muhammadu Buhari -led All Progressives Congress administration and come to the conclusion that it has failed in every sector .

The PDP said that it noted that available data, both locally and internationally, confirmed that the Buhari administration had failed woefully in all its promises and claims , particularly on the fight against corruption , economy , security , democracy and national unity.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party , Mr Kola Ologbondiyan , in a statement in Abuja on Sunday said the PDP observed that the Buhari administration ’ s claimed fight against corruption had also been exposed to be what he described as a big lie .

He also dismissed the claim as a charade designed to hound perceived political opponents while providing cover for corruption and pillaging of resources by agents of the Presidency .

Instead of fighting corruption , he alleged that “ the Buhari administration is practically a felonious empire of corrupt individuals, certificate forgers , contract inflators , looters of treasuries and well- known liars , making it , ‘ head to toe ’ , the biggest assemblage of plunderers in the history of our nation . ”

Ologbondiyan added , “ We ask if Mr President is indeed a man of integrity as his handlers want the world to believe . Why is he comfortable employing, embracing , surrounding himself with and offering protection to corrupt persons, certificate forgers and liars as ministers , advisers and political associates ?

“ Are there things Mr President benefits or has in common with such individuals that attract them to him or for which they enjoy his cover to steal public funds in parastatals , agencies and ministries , particularly those under the direct supervision of the President?

“ Largely , due to the incompetence and corruption of the Buhari Presidency , our once robust economy has been wrecked , resulting in unbearable hardship , unemployment, hunger and starvation , strange sicknesses and untold depression with compatriots resorting to suicide missions and slavery as options .

He added , “ Under President Buhari , our nation has become dangerously divided. Violent clashes and bloodletting has become the order of the day.

“ Rights of citizens are daily violated ; democratic institutions, including the courts and the National Assembly have come under attack ; elections are rigged with impunity ; the unity of our beloved country is now under stress . ”

He claimed the Buhari administration could not boast of any major development project it had initiated , executed and completed in the last three years, in any part of the country.

Ologbondiyan alleged that the President had been going around the country looking for projects executed by other persons, including PDP governors , to commission .
He challenged the President and the APC to debate on good governance, where he said the PDP would expose the ruling party .

He said , “ The PDP is ready to commence a series to expose the lies and failures of this administration as well as the huge liability , woes and dangers it has brought on our nation .

“ The PDP also challenges both the Presidency and the APC to an open debate on governance , where we will further expose the failure of the APC and Buhari Presidency to Nigerians. The time has finally come. ”

But the APC in its response on Sunday said the PDP was scared of its inevitable descent into oblivion because of what the Buhari - led APC administration had been able to achieve in three years.

This , it argued , was the reason why the PDP was looking for any opportunity to put the administration down .

Acting National Publicity Secretary of the APC , Yekini Nabena , said this in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday.

He said , “ They are scared of the achievements recorded by the President Muhammadu Buhari - led APC administration which has done in three years what they could not do in 16 years with the little resources available . They will continue their propaganda but Nigerians know better.

Quote:President Muhammadu Buhari has charged Nigerian lawyers to put national interest and professional ethics above self in their business conduct.

The president stressed that the Rule of Law must be subject to the supremacy of the nation’s security and national interest.

President Buhari gave the charge at the opening of the 59th Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference (AGC), which commenced in Abuja on Sunday.

“Our apex court has had cause to adopt a position on this issue in this regard and it is now a matter of judicial recognition that; where national security and public interest are threatened or there is a likelihood of their being threatened, the individual rights of those allegedly responsible must take second place, in favour of the greater good of society,” he said. 

The president, who congratulated the in-coming executive of the NBA led by Paul Usoro (SAN), reminded lawyers of their responsibility to work for national cohesion and unity through their speeches and public positions and most importantly in their advocacy in court in the upcoming 2019 General Elections.

He said the country has made appreciable progress and learnt useful lessons on the dynamism of our society in the anti-corruption fight.

“However, elements within every society, including some lawyers, can equally become unduly resistant to change, even where it is proven that such change is to serve the interest of the larger society. At worst, corruption fights back,” he added.

In his speech, the President of NBA, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) gave more insights into the choice of the theme of the conference: “Transition, Transformation and Sustainable Institutions,” saying the country is passing through economic and political transition. 

He listed some human rights, dispute resolution interventions of the NBA in the North East, Niger Delta, Benue, Southern Kaduna, and Zamfara states and pledged that the NBA “will remain vigilant in the defense of the constitution and the rule of law.”

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo is expected to give the keynote address to the conference today.

Controversies have continued to trail the Senate’s approval of N488.7bn as reimbursements to states for federal projects they executed across the country.

The senators had, before proceeding on their annual recess in July, approved the money for 21 states through a promissory note programme requested by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Daily Trust reports that the approval was sequel to the consideration and adoption of the report of an ad hoc committee chaired by Senator Francis Alimikhena (APC, Edo). 

The same committee had on June 7 this year recommended that N396bn be approved for the states. The recommendation was unanimously approved at the plenary presided over by the Senate President Bukola Saraki.

However, the Senate rescinded the earlier approval a month later when a new report was considered with an increase of N92bn, Daily Trust reports. 

Ogun and Oyo states, which were not in the first approval, were allocated N59.2bn and N13.4bn respectively. Also, in the new approval, Zamfara State which was earlier allocated N39.9bn got N60bn.

A review of the approval showed that Lagos got the highest with N114bn. It was followed by Akwa Ibom with N78.7bn. Niger State got the least with N333.8m.

A further review showed that Adamawa got N4.2bn, Kwara N11.2bn, Plateau N12.1bn, Jigawa N10.7bn, Gombe N6.9bn, Ondo N4.3bn, Ekiti N11.6bn, Edo N10.4bn and Osun N13.2bn.

Others are Ebonyi N15.4bn, Kano N4.4bn, Enugu N13.5bn, Benue N3bn, Imo N2.8bn, and Anambra N37.9bn.

The panel said some states were not included in the first report as a result of incomplete document and failure to appear before it.

“The affected states were later invited to present the justification of projects executed in their states on behalf of the Federal Government. This is in line with the Senate determination in ensuring that justice and fair hearing is extended to all,” the panel said.

However, even the committee observed that the claims by the states were bogus, Daily Trust reports.

It said some states that appeared before it were faced with the challenge “of having an incomplete document to justify their outstanding claims.”

“States like Kwara, Adamawa and Lagos embarked on the highway project execution as far back as 2004, while others followed thereafter,” the committee said.

Why I made request - Buhari

President Buhari said he made the request for the establishment of the promissory note programme and a bond issuance to settle inherited local debts and contractual obligations.

In a letter dated March 8, this year, Buhari conveyed the resolution of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), requesting the National Assembly to pass a bill to effect the promissory note and bond.

He said it has become imperative to clear obligations including; unpaid obligations to pensioners, salaries and promotional arrears to civil servants, and obligations to petroleum marketers.

The president also listed contractors and suppliers debts, unpaid power bills, Export Expansion Grants (EEG) scheme debts, Judgement debts and refund to state governments for projects undertaken on behalf of the federal government.

“As you may be aware, sections 41(1a) and 44(2b) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) stipulates that the proceeds of borrowing by government at all tiers shall be applied towards capital expenditure.

“To provide legal backing to clear the recurrent expenditures component of the obligations, a request for the amendment of the FRA was sent to National Assembly,” the president said.

Our correspondent reports that in the president’s letter, details of the federal projects and the amount due to states were not provided. 

Yari speaks on Zamfara N60bn

Contacted, the Special Adviser to Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State on Media and Communication, Ibrahim Dosara said the Federal Government owes Zamfara State government over N50bn.

Dosara said the money was expended on the federal projects in the state over the years. He said the projects are mostly roads.

Executive, Legislature must come clean - CISLAC

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said both the Executive arm and the National Assembly must come out clean on the N488bn approved for 21 states as outstanding debts.

Rafsanjani told Daily Trust that the manner the money was approved left much to be desired, hence the need for accountability.

“Both the National Assembly and the Executive seem to conspire to undermine public financial openness and promote financial recklessness and dubious debts and spending without public accountability.

“There is a serious issue of integrity of governance going on under this government, which is worrisome and disturbing given the claims of moral superiority. We are witnessing too much compromise on ethics and principles.

“This is a setback because what the previous administrations were doing is being repeated under this government, making public accountability a caricature and mockery. Otherwise one would not expect this secrecy in approval to happen under a government that is supposed to be promoting public disclosure, especially financial.

“It’s clear even the so-called disagreement with the National Assembly principal officers was not for public interest but personal. We insist that governance is about people and that Nigerians must know and monitor government’s decisions as they affect Nigerians,” he said.

Why fund must not be released now - Senator

Speaking, a senator from Northwest said the money should not be released to the governors until after next year’s elections.

The Senator, who does not want to be named, said the governors will use the money to execute their campaigns if released now.

“I’m totally against the release of the money at this particular time because elections are around the corner. If it is released now, it would be channeled towards elections. And the aim the president made the request would be defeated,” he said.

He said the money was expected to be channeled towards fast tracking the development of states and not for execution of election campaigns.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/federal-projects-senate-s-approval-of-n488-7bn-for-states-raises-dust-267597.html

How Suleiman Abba’s Poor Memory Exposed His Own Lies

My attention has been drawn to recent comments by former Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, who alleged that he was sacked by ex President Goodluck Jonathan because he refused to rig elections in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party during the gubernatorial elections in Osun State.

Speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday August 26, 2018, Mr. Abba had said “One of the leading stalwarts in the PDP then said to me: ‘IG (you know I was acting then) deliver Osun to us and we will confirm you quickly.’ I was shocked! That was when I knew that I may not last long in the office.”

The former Inspector General of Police then blamed his failure to influence that election for his sack by then President Jonathan. 

IGP Suleiman Abba is proof of the fact that liars need a very good memory otherwise they would contradict themselves with their lies. 

Let us examine some facts. The Osun State gubernatorial election held on Saturday August 9, 2014. The results of that election was declared the next day on Sunday, August 10, 2014. 

Mr Suleiman Abba claims to have been sacked because he failed to rig that election for the Peoples Democratic Party.

However, Suleiman Abba was appointed acting Inspector General of Police on Friday August 1, 2014 and sacked from office on Monday April 20, 2015. 

If it was true that Mr Abba was sacked for refusing to rig the Osun State election, which held on August 9, 2014, why would former President Jonathan wait for 7 and a half months before sacking him? 

If it was true that Mr Abba was sacked for refusing to rig the Osun State election, which held on August 9, 2014, why would former President Jonathan keep him in office to preside over the Nigerian Police Force during the more important 2015 Presidential election which was even more crucial to the then President and the PDP? 

When juxtaposed with these facts, the accusation of the former IGP of Police makes no sense to reasonable men and women. 

Former President Jonathan is known as a man who is not desperate for power. He has a reputation for providing the enabling environment for free and fair elections. 

As a matter of fact, when the current chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, was re-elected after the June 2012 gubernatorial election in Edo State, the then Edo State Governor said on July 15, 2012 as follows:

“President Jonathan has demonstrated statesmanship. I think there is hope for Nigeria. What the Edo election has confirmed is that when the President and Commander-in-Chief puts the country first and conducts himself as a statesman, not just as a party leader, credible elections are possible.”

This testimony, from an opposition governor, who was opposed to the re-election of then President Jonathan and who is now the chairman of the APC, completely rubbishes Mr Abba’s statements. 

For the avoidance of doubt, Mr Suleiman Abba was sacked for dereliction of duty, because under his watch, the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Kano State, Alhaji Mukaila Abdullahi, was burnt to death with his wife and two children on Friday, April 3, 2015, under suspicious circumstances after he had reported incidents of severe electoral fraud in his domain. 

When confronted with this suspicious death, the then acting IGP of Police gave contradictory and unsatisfactory answers. As a leader who valued the sanctity of human life, former President Jonathan ordered the sack of the then acting IGP and appointed Deputy Inspector General of police, Solomon Arase, to act in his stead and get to the bottom of the suspicious death.

I therefore urge Mr Abba to find other ways to ingratiate himself to the current powers that be and leave former President Jonathan out of his lying schemes and plans. 

Reno Omokri
Bestselling author of Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years and Leah Sharibu: The Girl That Boko Haram Left Behind.


https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10216376787389576&id=1152008079

The United Nations has revealed that some non-governmental organisations are sending funds to Boko Haram, a deadly terror group in Nigeria.
Image result for bokoharam

The international body also identified generous contributions and extortion as some of the other means through which the group is being funded, according to a report from Kairat Umarov, the Chairperson of the UN Security Council Committee.
Thousands of Nigerians have been killed and millions displaced as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in Africa’s most populated nation.“Boko Haram (QDe.138) and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have had a similar impact in their areas of control, including the Lake Chad basin,” the report disclosed.
Image result for bokoharam

“The predominance in the region of the cash economy, without controls, is conducive to terrorist groups funded by extortion, charitable donations, smuggling, remittances and kidnapping.”And as regards the abduction of the Dapchi schoolgirls by the group in February, the report said: “111 schoolgirls from the town of Dapchi were kidnapped on 18 February 2018 and released by ISWAP on 21 March 2018 in exchange for a large ransom payment.”
Image result for bokoharam

The document is the 22nd Report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted pursuant to resolution 2368 (2017) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities.

Source: http://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/08/finally-boko-haram-sponsors-revealed.html

The Kogi State Board of Internal Revenue boss, Alhaji. Yakubu Oseni is currently being investigated for funds diversion and money laundering by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. A foremost civil society group the Anti-corruption and Integrity Forum petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission calling for the investigation of 3 billion naira and the prosecution of the Kogi State Board of Internal Revenue, Alhaji Yakubu Oseni, the governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, Mr. David Edward Onoja and the APC chairman Bello Abubakar for money laundering. 

In the Petition, it was revealed that the Kogi tax boss allegedly conspired with the aforementioned persons to open bank accounts disguised as those of the Kogi State Board of Internal Revenue in order to launder money with them.

According to the petition, Dangote Group paid taxes of 3 billion naira and the money was diverted into 9 accounts created by the tax boss for the purpose of laundering it. The petition states that the above mentioned person have allegedly took part in it and also received proceeds of this crime. The anti-corruption organization requested that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission traces the money paid by dangote into a skye bank account before it was diverted to account numbers 0431486029 at First City Monument Bank, 2017770110 at First Bank, 0057904831 at Ecobank, 1015503782 at United Bank of Africa, 0025013646 at Union Bank, 1130071472 at Zenith Bank, 4030014272 at Zenith Bank, 0018496916 at Unity Bank, 0709993397 at Access Bank.

The funds were also laundered from account numbers 2882050558 at Ecobank, 1012670779 and 1130020085 at Zenith Bank, 0000106201 at Kogi Savings and Loans and account numbers 1751069541, 1751069383, 1751069280 at Skye Bank.

Shortly after the 3 billion naira was diverted, the chairman of Kogi State board of Internal Revenue acquired a multi-billion naira property (as pictured below) located at 1, Magaji Muazu Crescent off Patrick Yakowa road Katampe extension Abuja

The chairman of Anti-corruption and Integrity Forum said in a statement to Integrity Watchdog that the organization will ensure to investigate the Kogi tax boss and make public every property he acquired in and outside Nigeria. We will leave no stones unturned until we expose everyone involved in this mammoth fraud and ensure that they are prosecuted. Tax payer’s money should never end up in the hands of corrupt officials. How can money that could be used to fund projects that could positively impact the lives of the residents of Kogi state be stolen by the same persons put in place to secure it. It will not be tolerated. 

This petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is just one of the many cases to be filed with the commission. He also stated that this exposition and that of the Akwa Ibom State Government is one of the organisation’s drive to expose corruption being perpetrated by public officials in several states in Nigeria.

Read more at: http://integritywatchdog.com/2018/08/25/kogi-tax-boss-alhaji-yakubu-oseni-diverts-3-billion-naira-using-fake-igr-accounts/

Quote:EFCC probes N117bn cash withdrawal in 3 years 
No Rivers official’ll appear before the commission—Wike 



EFCC probes N117bn cash withdrawal in 3 years No Rivers official’ll appear before the commission—Wike By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor & Egufe Yafugborhi Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has commenced probe into the over-the-counter withdrawal of N117 billion by Rivers State Government House in the last three years.


But Rivers State government in a swift reaction, said non of its official would appear before the anti-graft agency, saying the allegation was politcally motivated. The anti-graft agency is to summon four key accounting staff in the Rivers State Government House for interrogation over the shocking discovery. Among those slated for questioning are a cashier and director in the office of the governor. A top operative of the EFCC confirmed to Vanguard last night: 

“In one fell swoop and precisely on June 8, 2015, a total of 45 different cheques in the amount of N10 million each amounting to N450 million were issued and cashed over the counter in the name of one person. “The following day, that is June 9, 2015, 50 different cheques amounting to N500 million were issued in the name of another person and withdrawn over the counter of the same bank in Port Harcourt and we believe strongly that this money was laundered.” 

Attempts to speak with Acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, were unsuccessful, as he did not pick calls placed to his known phone lines. Also, repeated efforts to speak with the EFCC’s spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, on the matter proved abortive but a top-ranking official of the agency confirmed the commencement of probe into the illicit transactions. It was not clear last night whether the court would allow the EFCC to proceed with the latest round of probe of the transactions involving the Rivers State government since there is a standing perpetual injunction from the Federal High Court restraining the agency from dabbling into the financial operations of the state government. 

No Rivers official’ll appear before the commission—

Wike Reacting to EFCC allegations last night, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State declared that no official of the state government would appear before EFCC over its politically-motivated investigations until the commission approaches the Court of Appeal to set aside the 2007 judgment barring the commission from investigating the state. In a statement, yesterday, Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, quoted Governor Wike as describing te alleged action of the EFCC as a “political witch-hunt.” The governor declared: “We are not afraid of their probe and they have no power to probe us. No government official will appear before the EFCC until they set aside the court judgment of Rivers State Government against them in 2007. We cannot be intimidated. “They filed for leave to appeal the judgment at the Court of Appeal. Until they set aside the judgment, we will not come. “ 

Governor Wike said that the media trial by the EFCC would amount to nothing, pointing out that Rivers State government was aware of the move before it even started. He said: “We are aware of their tricks. They should not bother engaging in media trial because it will not work. This is mere political witch-hunt. “They must obey the of law. We have filed another action against the EFCC. Because they have been served, they are telling the press that they have started investigating Rivers State government. This media war by the EFCC will not work. We stand on the rule of law.” It will be recalled that while Speaking on the freezing of Akwa Ibom State and Benue State accounts recently at Government House Port Harcourt , Governor Wike had said that the ultimate target of the Federal Government was Rivers State, where they have already detailed the EFCC to carry out very unconstitutional activities. 

Wike had said: “There is no worse impunity than for the EFCC to shutdown a tier of government through the freezing of the accounts of two state governments. An agency of federal government has frozen the accounts of Akwa Ibom and Benue State governments . This is the worst coup against the constitution and the law-abiding people of those states.

RHAPSODY OF REALITIES


MONDAY, 27TH AUGUST.

FAITH: THE PRINCIPLE OF THE CHRISTIAN WALK.

…According as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith (Romans 12:3).

Faith is the principle of the Christian walk: “(For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). The Bible clearly emphasizes that without faith, it’s impossible to please God (Hebrew 11:6). There’s no Christian that doesn’t have faith, as we’ve all received the same measure of faith, according to our opening verse. You only need to grow your measure of faith.

The Word reveals to us how to grow great and effectual faith. First, you have to stay continually in the Word; the Word stirs faith in your spirit: “...faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). The more of God’s Word you hear, the more faith you’ll have. The less of God’s Word you receive into your spirit, the less faith you’ll be able to express when you’re faced with the challenges of life.

Your faith is also built as you consistently attend church services and fellowship with other believers (Hebrews 10:25). In church, you’re taught the Word, and you also enjoy the rich fellowship of the Spirit in a way that energises your faith. Howbeit, you must also express your faith. James 1:22 says, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” You build prevailing faith by consistently meditating on, and putting the Word to work in your life.

Acting on the Word is faith expressed, and our faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Faith that’s not expressed won’t prevail. Faith must always be with corresponding action: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). So, always express your faith in words and actions.

Don’t cry or complain to God about your situation; act on the Word! Use your faith. Jesus said if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can tell a mountain to move, and it’ll obey you. The faith you have is enough; do something with it. Use it; it’s the currency for whatever you may desire. Hallelujah!

CONFESSION

The Word inspires faith in me to overcome challenges, and maintain my victorious life in Christ. The forces of righteousness, success, divine health, victory, and prosperity are activated in my life as I live in God’s Word, guided and inspired by divine wisdom to fulfil His perfect will for me, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY:

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Acts 20:32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

James 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

1-Year Bible Reading Plan
1 Corinthians 11:2-34 & Psalms 142-145

2-Year Bible Reading Plan
Colossians 3:12-25 & Jeremiah 13


#AFFIRMATIONTRAIN

27TH AUGUST.

I affirm that I am growing in the knowledge of the Father, and the revelation of His son Jesus Christ fills my heart. My life is the testimony of God’s grace and goodness! Everywhere I go, and in everything I do, I experience peace, progress, increase, success, and prosperity.

The Word of God is in my heart in an increasing measure, and I am experiencing increased glory as I speak the Word over my life today! I am complete in Christ; there’s nothing missing or lacking in my life! Christ is my life and wisdom; therefore, I have an excellent spirit. I think differently because God’s Word has molded my thinking and given me the mindset of the righteous. Divine wisdom is heard in my words, and seen in my actions today! I function in God’s perfect will and have insight into the realities of the Kingdom.

Hallelujah! My life is filled with grace; there’s no man or institutions that will ever disfavor me. Before I ever show up, favour speaks loud for me. Hallelujah! My joy is boundless, knowing that it’s the Father’s delight to guide and lead me in the path of victory and success. I live in Christ and Christ is alive in me.

I am seated together with Him in the heavenly, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come. Blessed be God. Hallelujah!

SPEAK IN OTHER TONGUES NOW

• Be bold to say the same things that God has said concerning you in His Word. That is what takes you beyond salvation, to enjoy the benefits of salvation ~ Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.

God bless you.

Third Mainland Bridge, wey goment close on Friday 24 August, don open on Sunday 26 August.

Permanent Secretary for Lagos Ministry of Transportation, Dr Taiwo Salaam, tok am for statement say dem decide to open am early because engineers don finish wetin dem dey do dia.

Engineers wey follow BBC Pidgin yan tok say dis kain inspection dey normal and very important.

Goment bin close di bridge, wey be di main way wey Lagosians dey follow enta mainland and Island, as dem wan do maintenance test and na Monday early mor-mor dem bin plan to allow motor to start to dey use again before.

Na 30 years ago di Nigeria goment build di bridge and as dem close am so, goment arrange oda areas wey pipo go dey follow.

                          Wenger dey helep plenti African players for dia career

Liberian president George Weah don give former Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger di highest award for di kontri.

Di award na "Knight Grand High Commander of di Humane Order of African Redemption".

Dis na sake of di way di French man dey take helep African football players. Na Wenger buy Weah go Monaco wen im dey start im football career.
Di coach wey bin tell Wenger say Weah get talent Claude Le Roy also collect di award. Im be coach of Togolese national team.Former Ghanaian President John Kuffour chats with Wenger
Dis na some pictures from di award ceremony.


                     Former Ghana president John Kuffour dey tok wit Wenger

Weah bin tok before now, say Wenger "take care of me like im son" wen i go Monaco. E say apart from God "witout Arsène, e no get any way I for fit make am for Europe".



Wenger wey bin sign George Weah for 1988 wen im be coach for Monaco, step down for May dis year as Arsenal manager afta 22 years wey im don train different African stars.

But no be evribodi for di kontri dey happy say Wenger collect award for di personal tin im do for di president, say no be like dat e suppose be, according to wetin BBC tori pesin Jonathan Paye-Layleh hear.
Di award no be just for di personal connection between president Weah and Wenger, di Information Minister tok - na also to recognise say Wenger "don contribute well-well to sports for Africa and im don give many Africans opportunities".

President Weah, na di only Africa wey dem don name World Player of di Year and im retire from football for 2003 to enta inside politics. Im replace Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as president afta election dem do for early 2018.

Weah bin tok before now, say Wenger "take care of me like im son" wen i go Monaco. E say apart from God "witout Arsène, e no get any way I for fit make am for Europe".

Quote:Sen. Ahmed Makarfi, a presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday said he was confident of picking the party’s ticket for the 2019 election.

Makarfi made the declaration at an interactive session with newsmen in Lagos on Sunday.

Makarfi, a former governor of Kaduna State who also served as the Chairman, PDP National Caretaker Committee, is now one of the over 12 presidential aspirants of the party.



The PDP aspirant, who just concluded meetings with PDP members in the Southwest, said his exceptional performance as chairman of the caretaker committee would give him an upper hand at the primaries.

“PDP has become a beautiful bride because of what I did. The party was considered dead until I came in as chairman of the caretaker committee and turned it round.

“No other presidential aspirant in the party has my pedigree. I have been assured of becoming the groom by members who are aware of those efforts and have sworn they will not sell their votes at the primaries.

“Since I joined the PDP, I have never left the party.

“My experience as a member of the Senate committee on finance for eight years is also an advantage. I will bring the experience to bear when I pick the ticket and emerge as president,” he said.

Makarfi said contrary to certain opinions, money would not determine who picks the PDP ticket, and that money has never been a determinant factor in who becomes the president of Nigeria.

“When did Nigeria start to produce presidents because of resources? Former presidents Alh. Shehu Shagari, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Alh. Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Dr Goodluck Jonathan and now President Muhammadu Buhari, did not become presidents based on money.

“In one of the southwest states I visited, a member said other aspirants have been giving them money and gifts, but I don’t have to give them money or gifts to vote for me in the primaries because they know I am the best man for the job,” he said.

On a female vice president, Makarfi said he had wanted a female running mate if he won the primaries, but the person he had in mind declined and opted for a lower responsibility.

He lamented that Nigerian women were yet to take up the challenge of becoming presidents or vice, noting that those positions were not exclusive to men.

“I look forward to seeing a female president not even vice in Nigeria someday. It is time the women stop taking back seats,” he said.

The PDP aspirant, reacting to INEC’s registration of more political parties that brought the number registered to 91, said while it allowed freedom of association, there was need for sanity.

“I know that the major parties will reduce the number via coalitions and MOU’s. However, it is not the duty of political parties to do so,” he added.

Kanye West surprised wife Kim Kardashian with a VIP gift this weekend.

The social media beauty got quite the thrill on Saturday when her rapper/fashion designer love unexpectedly gave her a neon lime Mercedes Benz G-Wagon.

Mrs. Kardashian West, 37, was over the moon while sharing her $240k luxury SUV with her Instagram followers, telling everyone how she first fell in love with the car while driving the same make and model around Miami earlier this month.



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6098151/Kanye-West-surprises-Kim-Kardashian-240k-Mercedes-dreams-match-Kylie-Jenners.html






The highlighter colored Mercedes Benz cost around $250k dollars.

Dream on! Kim Kardashian was given the 'truck of her dreams' by husband Kanye West on Friday'

Oh my gosh, I just got out of the gym and was surprised by this new baby,' she said, swooning over the car, 'I loved it so much in Miami and I kept on talking about it!

''Oh look who surprised me with this baby!' Kim said, panning the camera over to Kayne.

'You guys, I got the truck of my dreams because I was so excited in Miami,' she continued.


During Kim and Kanye's trip to Miami her highlighter-hued dress was so tight the rapper had to lift her up into the ride like a real-life princess.



After celebrating her new ride, she swooped over to sister Kylie's house.

The makeup mogul matched her older half-sister with her own orange G-Wagon sitting in the driveway.

It was glamour in display at the reception organized to mark the 90th birthday of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Akanmu Adetunji, on Sunday.

Oyo state governor Abiola Ajimobi attended the Olubadan’s birthday party in the company of his wife, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi; former governor of the state, Adebayo Alao – Akala; and former Senate Majority Leader, Teslim Folarin among other dignitaries.

Popular singer Yinka Ayefele was also at the birthday event and appeared to be in high spirits and cheerful mood as he met with governor Ajimobi following the demolition of the singer’s Music House/Radio Station. The demolition sparked a public outcry.

The colorful reception was also attended by prominent traditional rulers, which included: Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife; the Eleruwa of Eruwa, Oba Samuel Adegbola; the Olugbo of Igbo, Oba Obateru Akirintan; and the Obanikoro of Lagos, who represented the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akinolu.

Source; https://www.nationalhelm.co/2018/08/olubadan-of-ibadanland-90th-birthday-yinka-ayefele-and-governor-ajimobi-meet.html

Gernot Rohr, has revealed he rejected lucrative offers from some countries after the 2018 World Cup in Russia to stay with the Super Eagles, The Punch quoting Completesportsnigeria.com.

The likes of Clemens Westerhof, Bora Mulitonovic and Lars Largerback all left unceremoniously following Nigeria’s exit at respective World Cups.

Rohr, who extended his contract with the before the World Cup in Russia guided the team through a successful qualifying campaign but came under scrutiny after the team failed to progress beyond the group stage with just a win and two losses.

There were calls for Rohr to be sacked, but the NFF have decided to back the German tactician.

“I got good offers from countries who were at the World Cup, but in the end I decided I want to continue working here in Nigeria,” Rohr stated during his interaction with the media in Lagos on Friday.

“I like the team we have here and the NFF has made the environment very conducive for me, so I don’t see any reason why I should leave now.

“I hope this team will be better in future and it is important to continue the good work we started.”

Rohr will be hoping the Super Eagles qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon after missing out in the last two editions.

The three-time African champions will face Seychelles in their AFCON qualifying game on September 7 in Victoria.


More below:

https://zenithnaija.com/gernot-rohr-i-rejected-good-offers-to-continue-as-nigeria-coach/

Denrele Edun Crashes Into Miss Polo International Contestants Dinner in Abuja As Grand Finale Holds On Tuesday 



Popular Nigerian celebrity, Denrele Edun known for his eccentric fashion style and personality stormed dinner reception held in honour of Miss Polo International Contestants at RESET, Abuja following his arrival as the host of the reality Boot camp.

The shocking presence of the famous Television host activated the atmosphere with excitement as he welcomed the international contestants one after the other. 

Delegates and contestants from across the world arrived Nigeria few days ago for the Golden Maiden Edition of MISS POLO INTERNATIONAL, 2018, holding in Abuja, on the 28th of August at the Prestigious Transcorp Hilton Hotel.

The historic event unlike other pageants, uncovers the role and benefits of education across the globe. The director of Miss Polo International, Mrs. Ibife Alufohai expressed satisfaction over the preparation of the epoch making event as she applauded the contestants for the display of charismatic intelligence, intellectual diplomacy and vibrant gestures so far in the camp. 

Be a part of the news and be a part of this historic/glamorous celebration, as Nigeria hosts the first Miss Polo International Contest.

http://www.alexreports.info/2018/08/global-attention-shifts-to-nigeria-as.html?m=1
























 by (m): 

Quote:Atiku speaks on decamping from PDP to APGA (DETAILS)Politics Nigeria Published 5 mins ago on August 26, 2018 By Politics Nigeria 


The campaign office of former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has debunked the story from a section of the media that Atiku has defected from the PDP.

A press statement on Sunday described the report as a malicious attempt to confuse the public about the aspiration of Atiku ahead of the forthcoming presidential primaries election of the PDP. The statement read;

For the avoidance of any doubts, Atiku remains the frontline aspirant for the presidential ticket of the PDP.

In the past two months, Atiku Abubakar has moved across states in the country consulting with stakeholders of the PDP and explaining to them his agenda encapsulated in the acronym JOBS: Jobs, Opportunity, Being united and Security) for Nigeria. The nationwide consultations continues this week with visits to the South West, North West and North Central zones of the country.


Atiku’s passion and commitment to winning the PDP primaries is without any compromise and to assume that he will abandon the hard work he has done with the positive results he is getting from the stakeholders of the party is to say the least preposterous and unthinkable.

The Campaign calls on supporters of Atiku to remain steadfast and see the contrived news of defection as an an attempt to distract it from the set task of winning the PDP ticket and the 2019 presidential election by the grace of God.

Report has it that two Nigerian girls have been allegedly killed by their employers after being trafficked to work as housemaids in Saudi Arabia. It was gathered that the murder of the two young women occurred within a space of two weeks in the respective homes where they worked as servants by their Saudi bosses.

According to Satellite Times, the first Nigerian girl to be murdered was by name Omotayo who until her death in June 2018 worked as a migrant domestic worker in Riyadh. She reportedly sent this photo to her friends in a group chat called “Strong Nigerian Ladies” – a solidarity group created by Nigerian migrant domestic workers in Saudi Arabia.

Omotayo, in her June post which happened to be her last, narrated to the solidarity group her latest incident of battery in the hands of the Saudi family she worked for. Her boss and the entire family had descended on her for being disrespectful to them. The maid’s only offence was that she insisted her three-month salary arrears be paid to her. She had put her foot down saying she would no longer accept excuses for the non-payment of her salaries just as she said she was tired of eating leftover food. Her action was seen as an affront.

Another Nigerian by name Shola, was also killed by her boss. Her story was told by Adeola Oladipo, another housemaid in the Strong Nigeria Ladies Group.

“Shola has been constantly assaulted and starved by her sponsor in Saudi Arabia. Whenever she demands for food they would always beat her up and she became so slim like somebody with HIV.

“One day her male boss came as usual to beat her while she was doing chores in the kitchen. The beating became so severe she had to defend herself with a knife. In the process the knife cut her boss and her sponsor hit her on the neck and she collapsed. When the boss saw that Shola was dying, he rushed her to the hospital where he said she suddenly fell ill. A few days later, the Nigerian gave up the ghost in the hospital.”

Source; https://www.nationalhelm.co/2018/08/two-nigerian-housemaids-killed-by-their-bosses-in-saudi-arabia.html

The Presidency has reacted to reports of President Buhari, reportedly using recovered loots to fund his re-election, while also using the anti-graft agencies to muzzle his political opponents.

Special Assistant to the President on Justice Sector Reform, Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu, who spoke on behalf of the Presidency on the recovered loots debunked the rumor, and further stated the President remained focused and would not allow any perception stop him from fighting corruption.

“How will he use the looted funds for his re-election? In this country, it is the Appropriation Act which appropriates what should happen to any money that comes into Nigeria or money generated by revenue agencies; that is very clear.

“You know that, now, we have the Treasury Single Account and any money that goes into the Federation Account cannot come out without what we call obligated money.

“The money would have been obligated possibly by a ministry because it has set a budget for what it wants to do and all those monies that are obligated, you cannot take them out without showing to the government or to the ministry or the permanent secretary where the money is going to.

“Let me say, every effort has been made by this government to ensure that there is a clear procedure through which government activity can be funded and that you cannot just wake up, take money from the TSA and walk away with it.

“The Federal Government just passed an executive council memo where it stated that every money spent by government that is above N5m must be published.

“So, the Accountant-General of the Federation now has an obligation to publish, so what we expect citizens can do within that framework is to begin to identify all those pieces of information and see if any of those funds will go into an election.”

https://lailasnews.com/presidency-speaks-on-buhari-using-recovered-loot-to-fund-re-election/

Anxiety grips PDP presidential aspirants over endorsement by IBB, OBJ, Danjuma, Abdulsalami




There is anxiety within the ranks of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over the disposition of four of the country’s powerful retired army generals concerning the choice of the party’s 2019 presidential candidate.

Three of the four retired generals namely, Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar, were pivotal to the emergence of the fourth general, that is, General Olusegun Obasanjo, as the first President of the Fourth Republic in 1999.

The four, who have, individually and sometimes collectively, played significant roles in the political evolution of the country, are, however, yet to engage unanimity on an aspirant with a view to defeating General Muhammadu Buhari. The inclination of the generals towards the PDP is, however, said to be now taken for granted.

Sources within the camps of the leading presidential aspirants in the PDP told Sunday Vanguard, at the weekend, that the generals are still bristling with bemusement after losing the chairmanship of the PDP to the “boys” led by Governor Nyesom Wike.

Vanguard, 

The Third Mainland Bridge has been reopened, three days after it was temporarily closed for investigative maintenance test.

The bridge was reopened on Sunday, hours after the Lagos State government revealed in a statement that it would be opened for use ahead of schedule.


In a tweet, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) thanked the people of the state for their cooperation while the closure lasted.


The state government, in collaboration with the Federal Government, had temporarily shut the bridge for the test with the closure initially scheduled to last from midnight of Thursday last week to midnight of Sunday.

It was, however, reopened at 5:00 pm on Sunday.

According to the statement by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transportation, Dr Taiwo Salaam, the decision to reopen the bridge earlier than announced followed the completion of the exercise by engineers.

The closure of the bridge on Thursday last week was supervised by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, and officials of relevant government agencies.

Following the closure, LASTMA deployed 650 personnel to all alternative routes to the Third Mainland Bridge, to ensure the free flow of traffic on the roads.

LASTMA’s General Manager, Mr Olawale Musa, had said that the agency was aware of the volume of traffic on the Third Mainland Bridge and the consequences of diverting such huge traffic on the alternative routes during the period.

He had asked the officers on duty to show compassion to motorists, especially those that were unfamiliar with the alternative routes and other roads in the metropolis.

Mr Musa also urged motorists and commuters to be patient and cooperative with the traffic officers, to ensure a free flow of traffic on all alternative routes during the closure.

GIST VIA - https://nairatrend.com.ng/breaking-third-mainland-bridge-reopens/

Quote:How I Was Asked to Deliver Osun to PDP – Ex-IGP Suleiman Abba


In his first tell-all interview since his sack as IGP in 2015, Suleiman Abba has revealed why he was given the boot by the then President Goodluck Jonathan. He gave Daily Trust on Sunday a rare peek into some of the dirty jobs he was asked to do and why he believes that the appointment of an IGP should not be the business of the Presidency alone, among many other issues.


You have maintained a very low profile since you were relieved of your duties during the last administration. What has informed your silence?

First and foremost, welcome to the headquarters of Fasaha Solicitors, which is a law firm I chair. It is also the office where Kany Computer Technologies is domiciled. We also have Kany Aviation International Limited all, of which I chair, with their head offices here. That can give you a bit of what I have been doing after service. 

But before we come back to that for more details, I think you asked a very important question: Why the quiet? It is in our training and character as police officers to hear more and speak less; that is one of the guiding principles. 

Furthermore, because of the very high sense of discipline instilled in me right from home, coupled with my training as a police officer, I have also learnt to go by my training. This is, perhaps, why I have been quiet, but that doesn’t mean that we are not interested in what is going on in the country. I have been following with keen interest. It is my hope that God will continue to give me the strength to be interested in the development of my dear country, which I served in the management of crime for good 31 years. Let me also say that perhaps until there is no strength in me, I will continue to serve my country.

The circumstances leading to your removal were rather controversial as the announcement was made on Twitter. How did you receive it?

Believe me, I have always counted myself lucky. I think because of the little background I gave you about the strength of discipline in me, both personal and professional, I received my sack as a normal development. I was not shocked for a reason that I knew it would happen. Right from the time I started work as Inspector General of Police, I knew that I may not reach the date of my retirement, which would have been 2019, by which time I would have been 35 years in service and 60 years of age. I am saying this because the very first week I took over, we had the elections in Ekiti; that was August 2014. Arrangements had been made for the election by my predecessor and I think it was the same team that also did the Osun election, it was the same AIG. 

One of the leading stalwarts in the PDP then said to me: “IG (you know I was acting then) deliver Osun to us and we will confirm you quickly.” I was shocked! That was when I knew that I may not last long in the office. Immediately, I said to myself, “How could I deliver when I am not an electorate? The voters are the ones to deliver, my own was to protect the whole process.” Of course I said to myself that what happened to one of my predecessors (may his soul rest in peace), Adamu Suleiman, was going to happen to me, maybe I would never be confirmed. He was Inspector General of Police and till he left office he was not confirmed. 

So that is my approach; I accept things the way they come. I said to myself that I was going to leave that office without confirmation; but then, I went to Osun and did what I was supposed to do. Of course, having made up my mind that I wasn’t going to take the dictates of someone on what I had been doing for decades, I went to Osun, addressed the police officers who were very cheerful because they were seeing their IGP for the first time. I told them to go and do what the law protect the electorate, all other stakeholders, INEC officials, observers, and of course, any other person that had the right to be around the polling areas, collation areas. 

I also told them to go and protect the outcome of the election itself. I warned them also that if they allowed themselves to commit any offence against the electoral act, their punishment would be double because they would lose their jobs and may be charged to court. They heeded my warning and did exactly what was expected of them and the outcome was that a winner emerged. Apart from that, the then INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega and I addressed the stakeholders, including the contestants, and I assured them that this IG they were seeing had come to do the right thing, which was to tell my personnel to do the right thing and to assure stakeholders that the police would protect the process before, during and after the polls. 

That was exactly what happened. From then on I knew that, perhaps, I was not going to get confirmed or last long in office. So it didn’t come to me as a surprise at all. I also think it was a blessing from the Almighty God, so I wasn’t shocked or disturbed. 

I lost an office I should have held for four years, but that was my destiny. And that was why I refused to go to court, even when people were prompting me to do so.


Some of your associates were reported to have advised you to leave the country following your removal, for your own security. Were you under threat at the time? 

I will say you are right. It wasn’t only my associates, anybody that had interest in my life and activities had expressed to me that I should be careful. In any case, there were threats, even from high places.



How were you threatened after they were done with you as IGP?

It is only a few people that can get annoyed by somebody’s action and forget it after, perhaps, taking whatever action they would have taken. I want to believe that for threats to have come, even after the action, was an indication that whatever reason that made them to remove me from office was out of annoyance. This is because I was not even given the chance to express myself, which to me is an act of injustice. In justice you listen before you act. Whatever white and dramatised lies that were said against me as an IGP, one would have expected that I would be called to defend myself before any action would be taken. But I leave it to the members of the public to judge whether there was justice or not. All those reasons I heard later on were nothing but white lies.

What were the reasons then?

Well, the reason given to the public was that the police was undisciplined. That was the official reason. If I were only about nine months in office and I could lead the police to conduct themselves in the most disciplined manner ever, that can tell you whether or not indiscipline could have been a good reason to remove me from office.


But did you heed the advice of your associates to leave the country after leaving office?

No! I had time to sit down and reflect properly and decide what to do with my life. Remember, we had just finished the most tedious election; an election that everybody believed the country was going to disintegrate, but we successfully prevented that. Of course, I left the country a week thereafter.

Can one say you went on self-imposed exile?

I didn’t go on exile. I wasn’t a politician to have gone on exile. People who go on exile are those who commit an offence or people who the government was after or those who lost an election. I didn’t lose anything. In fact, I was the one offended, so there was no way the issue of going on exile would apply here.


Were you requested to compromise the 2015 general elections as you were asked in the case of Osun?

Absolutely. Let me put it to you in a way that you would understand and perhaps now see the justification for my action. As AIG, I chaired the committee that planned the security of the 2015 elections. In the report we came out with we emphasized that police officers should be sensitised enough to do what is expected of them, to distance themselves from experiences where the police get accused after every national election the police help the party in power to manipulate the result. So when I became the Inspector General of Police and with the elections about six months ahead, the first thing I did was to begin the implementation of that report, particularly the sensitisation of officers. In doing that, I addressed senior police officers and asked them to sensitise those within their commands, heads of departments, commissioners of police and others. down to the constable. A commissioner of police, for example, would go back to his state, address his DPOs, and the DPOs in turn would conduct lectures routinely. I was emphatic that every police officer should be impartial and non-partisan. In that address, someone went to the Villa and told them what the IGP was doing and one of the big shots there called me - and in a form of query - saying, “IGP why are you telling your officers to go and be non-partisan while you should be telling them to help us.” Of course, they knew there was no way I could do a thing like that. He even advised that if you cannot talk to them in general why don’t you call the commissioners one by one. Of course, we went ahead and did the right thing and the result was obvious; the police was impartial and non-partisan.



Are you implying that there were demands to make you look the other way while electoral malpractices were being perpetrated? 

I don’t think there was any way for them to put it than the way they did. It is all encompassing.

The ruling PDP then accused you of working in the interest of the APC, which was then in the opposition…?

I am hearing this from you for the first time. What I heard was that after the election I became close to the president-elect and even went to the airport to receive him. In any case, the public could judge if there was anything like that.



Did you try to go close to the then president-elect?

The only time I met the president-elect was like all the other service chiefs did, to go and congratulate him. It was a common agreement that we were going to congratulate him. I attended the presentation of certificate to the president-elect. Let me tell you why I did that. One, it is only the police that had a seat at that function. Let me also draw your attention to the fact that if you check the electoral act, the police are clearly mentioned as the custodians of security of the elections. Now the IGP had a seat and I appointed at that time, according to tradition, an AIG to represent me in all the activities of the collation, but when it got to the peak I went. In any case, if it was the then PDP candidate that won, I am sure if I didn’t even go there a bigger query would have come. So if we are talking about an election where a candidate that wins legitimately should get all the support, then I don’t see any reason why anybody should query me for attending those functions. Secondly, I went because I wasn’t sure if the desperation shown by those who wanted to disrupt the election or the results of the election would also attempt again. 

I wanted to be there personally to take over the command of what was happening because in earlier efforts I was giving directives from my office. So there were good reasons for me to be there, and that was why I was there. Even while I was there, I never went to the president-elect to say congratulations. He was sitting on the far right of the sitting arrangement while I was sitting on the far left. So as I said earlier, it was just a gimmick; lies that were properly dramatised to sway the minds of people to call me what I wasn’t. I have never been a traitor to anyone and at that age I couldn’t be a traitor. I only did what was expected of me and I will repeat it uncountable times if I get the opportunity to do so (to protect the law and do what is expected of me.)



Talking about people attempting to thwart the process, one is reminded of the drama that played out during the collation of the presidential result. There were also speculations that security agencies heard about something being planned to stop the results from being announced. Was the police in the picture of such a ploy?

Yes, the police was in the picture. And thank God the police were in the picture because it did what was expected of it. It disrupted the efforts.



How?

Let’s talk about the one you saw because there were other efforts the police under my leadership halted. If I may put it in a general form, the police in 2015 stopped another June 12 from happening. What you say was a clear indication that there were deliberate efforts to disrupt the results and, perhaps, bring about chaos that only God knows where it would have led us to. My happiness is that we were able to stop it from happening. Coming to your question, as to whether the police had prior information; yes the police had and we didn’t share it with anyone. This is because the police had reached a stage where, with information and efforts to disrupt the election, we were able to halt it. There was no need for me to trust anyone again. It is true I had prior information about what you saw that day. And that is because one of us who participated in the meeting where the disruption was hatched came and informed me. When he informed me, I immediately knew what to do. We already had men on ground, so we blocked all routes leading to the Conference Centre and only allowed those with cause to be there, like observers and party leaders. In any case, they were even there before that scene. We reinforced our personnel outside and inside the International Conference Centre, which served in many ways. 

One of the ways was that the people who were mobilised to come in and demonstrate around the centre could not get access. Secondly, those who were in the Conference Centre, like the one you saw protesting, had no supporters. The people who were to demonstrate were expecting the police to assist them by releasing teargas so that there would be serious chaos in the centre so that they would be able to take away the results that had been brought so far. Only God knows what they would have done to the senior officials of the INEC that were administering the collation. 

A lot of questions have been asked as to why Orubebe who spearheaded the drama at the International Conference Centre was not arrested by the police.

Let me tell you why. I had worked in the Presidential Villa for four years. I was in charge of presidential escort as a mobile commandant. I was an aide de camp to the head of state for almost three years. I am also a lawyer; and I had served in the Police Force for over a decade, so I should know where power belongs. I was talking with my AIG and was the one who directed him to prevent that person from doing what he wanted to do, but at the same time to be careful. Only God knows if he was arrested and handcuffed like you are saying; maybe that was what they were expecting so that their plan ‘B’ could take place.



Did they have a plan ‘B’?

I don’t know, but normally, people who want to do serious things like that usually have alternatives, so maybe they had a plan ‘B’. Mature actions may have also prevented the plan ‘B’. I was more experienced in knowing where power belongs. 

In any case, I made the best decision because no problem came out of it. Maybe if we had acted that way, their next plan would have come in. Who knows I could have been sacked the same day. Remember that the results were not announced yet. Remember that there were also elections of the governors coming up. I wouldn’t have been there to ensure that it was done properly too. So I took the best decision, in my view.



In their attempt to have you compromise the outcome of the 2015 elections, did they also offer you financial inducement?

No! Rather the money was distanced from me because maybe I didn’t belong.

What are your fears for the 2019 general elections?

Well, my only concern is that there doesn’t seem to be honesty on the part of the players of the game. A situation where , just yesterday somebody moved out of a political party and condemned it, giving reasons to justify his action, then without a change of name you run back to the same party, is not proper. I think there needs to be more caution because if there is any security threat, it is from those political actors. I hope the aim is not to bring the whole process to a halt. My happiness is that the government is firm in tackling the security threats.

Quote:

Two Special Assistants of Ifeanyi Okowa, Governor of Delta State, have led 5,000 members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

This formed part of the highlights at Oleh, headquarters of Isoko South Local Government Area of the state, during the formal declaration of the former Chairman, Delta State Board of Internal Revenue, Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, for the House of Representatives, Isoko Federal Constituency, in the forthcoming 2019 elections.

At the event, which held on Saturday, the Special Assistant to Governor Okowa on Youth and Community Development, who doubles as Chairman, Emede Community Union, Lucky Arumare, and the Special Assistant to the Governor on Women Mobilisation, Uyoyou Edhekpo, led more than 5,000 PDP members to defect to the APC.

Speaking at the event, Jones Erue, the state APC chairman said: "Governor Okowa will be shown the way out of the Government House by Deltans, because the people have concluded on enthroning an APC government come 2019 in Delta State.

“PDP has nothing to offer Deltans anymore. Deltans are tired and have rejected the PDP-led Government of Ifeanyi Okowa. With the crowd I see here today, it’s a walk-over for APC in Isoko and the Government House come 2019. Hon. Joel-Onowakpo Thomas has come to liberate the good people of Isoko Federal Constituency from 16 years of slavery in the hands of PDP in the Federal House of Representatives. We must all give our full support to Joel-Onowakpo.”

In his message, an APC chieftain in Isoko, Williams Omoviro, referring to the current member representing Isoko Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Leo Ogor, said: "I am an Ozoro man like Hon. Leo Ogor. I can tell you authoritatively that we are tired of Leo. He has nothing to offer for the 16 years. Let's all give our support to Hon. Joel-Onowakpo Thomas for total liberation”.



In his declaration speech, Joel-Onowakpo stated that his political interest was to "contribute his quota of national development".

He said: “I joined the PDP where I played active roles in building the party to enviable heights, culminating in my appointment as Chairman of the Board of Interval Revenue, Delta State, before I finally decided to call it quits with PDP, when all my entreaties against the misrule of the state and my beloved Isoko nation fell on deaf ears.

"I have, after due consultation, decided to formally declare to the Isoko people this day, August 25, 2018, here and now, that I am running for the nomination as a candidate, to fly the flag of the APC in the 2019 general election as member representing Isoko nation at the Federal House of Representatives, and put to an end to the current drift towards the enthronement of a political dynasty, which is alien to the Isoko people.”

Quote:MICHAEL AKINOLA



The firebrand preacher and founder of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare has disclosed that he gave a whopping N160 million to the present Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai during his campaign to become the Chief Executive of the North Western State in 2015.

Speaking last weekend in Glasgow, Scotland as guest speaker at an evening with Association of Nigerians in Scotland, Bakare said that he gave the huge sum to the governor as a loan to help him as a friend during his push for the seat and the governor has since paid back.

“The current governor of Kaduna State once stayed in my house and we discussed many political and personal issues. I wrote the foreword of his published book with the little information I knew about him then. 

I invited him from Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to join Congress For Progressive Change, CPC. When he was contesting for the governorship of Kaduna State, I contributed N160million for his electioneering campaign and he later paid me back,” Bakare told the audience.

The popular clergy also revealed that asides paying back the loan, the Governor offered to make his (Bakare) son the MD/CEO of one of his companies, but he rejected the offer for some undisclosed reasons.

Bakare also spoke extensively on the theme of the event: “A New Nigeria Re-engineered, The Role Of The Diaspora” where he carefully analysed how some former African dictators plundered the resources of their respective countries while poverty ravaged the continent.

When challenged by one of the guests in the audience on his silence and non-criticism of Buhari’s government over the recent happenings in the country including allegations of sleaze among some government officials, the lawyer and Convener of Save Nigeria Group, said he does not believe in playing to the gallery.

“The Buhari I know will not steal money. Buhari is my friend but I am not afraid to tell him the truth. You don’t stab your friend in a public place. I know ways to reach out directly to Mr. President. 

If you notice, I did not really start to criticise Buhari until January this year. I once told him that you cannot consider yourself as clean if you surround yourself with many unclean people,” Bakare said.

He however said that with the present system in Nigeria, Buhari must be ‘repackaged’ and he must sack some bad eggs in his government to win hearts of Nigerians for 2019 election.

The famous pastor disclosed that he will give Buhari up till September ending to repackage himself and by October 7, he will tell the nation of his political move to salvage Nigeria.

Bakare then passionately advised Nigerians in the Diaspora to always think of how to contribute to the development of their country and not get involved in illegal things that can lead to their imprisonments and taint their reputation with criminal records.

“No matter the level of your positions or achievements in the United Kingdom, USA or any parts of Europe, you will still be treated like second-class citizens because of the colour of your skins.

“I also have a British passport because my wife was born in England. We have our own personal house in London and America.

But I always love to live in Nigeria, to rebuild the country. When I briefly lived in London in 1994, I did not stay in a rented apartment. 

When people say we need a modern Nigeria, I always disagree because what we need is a new Nigeria because during my time in school, only people who could not afford to attend grammar schools always went to modern schools.”

At the end of the event, Bakare was presented with an award and decorated with the Fellowship of African Centre for Research, Policy and Development in conjunction with the University of West of Scotland, Paisley.

Sources from Ogun, the embattled minister’s home state hinted that the Federal Government may have reached a position on the matter, seeing that the case against the minister appears watertight. To save face, the Buhari administration may be considering ‘pardon’ for the minister, ‘in view of the great works she has done for government — bailing out the country from recession and stabilizing the economy. ’

On why the minister and the government chose to ignore calls for responses to the allegation, the source said it is a psychological game plan to stonewall and force the matter to die down. It is the script of minders of the minister in her home state to put on bone-face as they say in local parlance or ogboju in Yoruba. Otherwise, the minister is said not to be such a hard character, but is prevailed on to pretend she is unruffled.

The story of the alleged forgery came to light via a well-investigated piece first published in the Premium Times Newspaper on July 7 this year.

In the piece, the online newspaper reported that Adeosun, did not participate in the mandatory one-year national youth service scheme, which is compulsory for all Nigerians who graduate from universities or equivalent institutions at less than 30 years of age, instead, she forged an exemption certificate many years after graduation.

In addition to being a requirement for government and private sector jobs in the country, the enabling law prescribes punishment for anyone who absconds from the scheme, or forges its certificates, while eligible Nigerians who skipped the service are liable to be sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and/or N2, 000 fine, according to Section 13 of the NYSC law.

Section 13 (3) of the law also prescribes three-year jail term or option of N5, 000 fine for anyone who contravenes provision of the law as is alleged Mrs Adeosun has done.

Subsection 4 of the same section also criminalises giving false information or illegally obtaining the agency’s certificate. It provides for up to three-year jail term for such offenders.

Mrs. Adeosun’s official credentials, which the newspaper obtained indicates that the minister parades a purported NYSC exemption certificate, which was issued in September 2009, granting her exemption from the mandatory service on account of age, even though Folakemi Oguntomoju, as she then was, graduated from the Polytechnic of East London in 1989, at the age of 2002.

Since the scandal broke, neither the minister nor the government that hired her has deemed it appropriate to clear the air on the alleged forgery. Many newspaper editorials and civil society groups have demanded response from the government, either to commence investigation or ask the minister to step aside while the matter is being investigated.

Government thinking on the matter may have been voiced out by Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay, who in a recent interview reportedly said Adeosun cannot be allowed to go just because of NYSC certificate, because of the value that she is adding to the Buhari-led government.

“Let me tell you my reaction. This woman is a brilliant and extremely valuable member of this government. A lot of the good things happening now – the welfare that Nigerians are enjoying and are going to enjoy, because it takes time, and the way our economy is booming, how we got out of recession – are due to her expertise, her commitment, her sacrifice. There is nothing in this world that will make me remove such a woman from the government. The PDP can weep from now until there is no tear in their body; she is going to be there. We cannot afford to lose that woman. Who cares about youth service? I don’t bloody care whether she did youth service or not. It’s irrelevant as far as I am concerned. I don’t believe it. I don’t see anything serious about not doing youth service. I don’t see anything serious about it. That’s my own bias, not government’s. I’m telling you now. If I were President Buhari, I would never, ever touch that woman because she’s damn good,” he said.

As the Federal Government allegedly tinkers with the idea of granting her clemency, legal practitioners insists that only ex-convicts are qualified for presidential pardon.

According to the Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL), Dr. Paul Ananaba (SAN), as at now, the minister is not worthy of such pardon since she has not been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction. Consequently, the best thing, he pointed out, is for the state to follow due process and let her defend any charge that would be br ought against her.

“In the event that that happens, the government has powers, through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation to enter nolle prosequi to stop the proceedings. That is a constitutionally guaranteed power, but I do not see any President coming directly to stop legal proceedings.

“If that happens, it will affect the fight against corruption and besides that, it will not be morally right. The President presently has a lot of respect all over the world about his uprightness in ensuring that things are done properly, so I don’t see him directly intervening in such manner,” he said.

According to him, only when the minister or any Nigerian is convicted that the President can exercise his prerogative of mercy. “Pardon is only for a convict. If there is no conviction, such pardon would be resting on nothing, it cannot be activated,” he declared.

For Aba, Abia State-based Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chibuike Nwokeukwu, certificate forgery is not an offence against the President, but an offence against the Nigerian State. So, “The law does not accommodate prerogative of mercy for an alleged offender. He/she must have been tried and convicted. It is an action by the state towards a convicted criminal. At the moment, it is merely an allegation. She can only be a criminal if a court of competent jurisdiction has found her guilty. Again, it is the state that prosecutes. So, if government doesn’t wish to prosecute her, there’s nothing anyone can do.”

In his submission, Benin-based legal practitioner, Mr. Solomon Ukhuegbe, similarly noted that state pardon is only necessary where a crime has been committed. “As I understand it, NYSC has not yet concluded its investigation of the alleged forgery,” he stated.

“Even so, my view is that the presidential power to pardon in Section 175(1)(a) should not be used for political favours. At any rate, this power can only be lawfully exercised after consultation with the Council of State” as enshrined in section 175(2).

“Pardon is after conviction but not before. It is in the Nigerian Constitution under the prerogative of mercy. The section affects the governors and the president. Right now, the President doesn’t have the powers because she has not been charged and has not been convicted, so the President cannot do it. Anything he does today in that regard would amount to corruption of the highest order.

“The issue of clemency does not arise at all. As a matter of fact, clemency is even when it has to do with capital offences,” he stressed.

Agreeing with others, a human rights lawyer and activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) said forgery is a serious felony both under the Criminal Code and Penal Code.

“It is not pardonable until prosecuted. It is not a civil matter that can be condoned, forgiven or traded away. No matter how long the government plays the ostrich, Adeosun’s forgery of NYSC certificate can never abate! It is an albatross on the neck of the government, exposing its crass hypocrisy, untrammelled corruption, impunity and cluelessness,” he stated.

The Guardian

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Saturday said he is not losing sleep over the plot to impeach him.

Some Senators and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have spoken of their desire to remove Saraki from his position, after he decamped to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Saraki who spoke to newsmen in Asaba after a closed-door meeting with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, also debunked claims that the Senate was yet to reconvene due to fear of his impeachment.

“I am not losing any sleep about impeachment, we have a country that a lot of Nigerians believe there must be rule of law, those who are talking about impeachment are engaging in cheap blackmail and I am not concerned about that,” he said.

Saraki also insisted that no amount of intimidation and security harassment, would prevent the business of law-making that would impact positively on the country, saying that “our ideas and visions on what we expect in a democratic setting were not met in APC, hence we left.”The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Saturday said he is not losing sleep over the plot to impeach him.

Some Senators and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have spoken of their desire to remove Saraki from his position, after he decamped to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Saraki who spoke to newsmen in Asaba after a closed-door meeting with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, also debunked claims that the Senate was yet to reconvene due to fear of his impeachment.

“I am not losing any sleep about impeachment, we have a country that a lot of Nigerians believe there must be rule of law, those who are talking about impeachment are engaging in cheap blackmail and I am not concerned about that,” he said.

Saraki also insisted that no amount of intimidation and security harassment, would prevent the business of law-making that would impact positively on the country, saying that “our ideas and visions on what we expect in a democratic setting were not met in APC, hence we left.”

dailypost

As many as thirty-one persons have been arrested in Osun state after they allegedly razed down a police station. 



The burnt police station
 
Punch Metro reports that the Osun State Police Command has arrested 31 persons who allegedly participated in the razing down of the Police Area Command in Iwo town following the killing of a youth identified as Tunde Nafiu by a policeman attached to the Special Anti Robbery Squad deployed in the town.
 
A police officer attached to the SARS reportedly shot 30 years old Nafiu to death on Thursday night and the killing triggered a violent protest which led to the burning down of the police station and vehicles parked inside.
 
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Fimihan Adeoye, in a statement made available to journalists in Osogbo on Saturday by the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mrs Folasade Odoro, said the alleged killer policeman had been arrested and taken down to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Osogbo.
 
The police said the commissioner of police had visited the scene of the incident and the damaged Area Command and also visited the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Adewale Akanbi.
 
Adeoye explained that the command deployed SARS in Iwo in order to curb the incessant robbery. The CP said the operations of the SARS had helped the command in curbing armed robbers, saying 56 different vehicles have been recovered by SARS operatives.
 
The statement read, “Information was received that an operative of the Special Anti Robbery Squad attached to the Area Command Headquarters, Iwo allegedly shot and fatally wounded one Tunde Nafiu ‘m’, aged 30 years at Agboigboro in Iwo. The Area Commander immediately moved out, doused the tension and assured the gathered youths that justice will be done. The officer that allegedly fired the shot that killed the deceased was promptly arrested and transferred to the SCIID, Osogbo for interrogation.

“In the early hours of 24/8/2018, a very large crowd of youths thronged the Area Command Headquarters to protest the killing. The protest was however hijacked by some hoodlums who took the law into their hands. In the process, they torched the buildings housing the offices and residence of the Area Commander as well as three patrol vans and two other vehicles belonging to the officers of the Area Command.

“The Police exercised serious restraint in order to prevent further loss of lives. However, the hoodlums were eventually dispersed while 31 of them were arrested and undergoing interrogation. The situation has been brought under control while people are going about their lawful businesses.”
 
The CP was also said to have visited the family of the deceased at Ileogbo to commiserate with them and to convey the message of the Inspector General of Police, Mr Idris Ibrahim, to the grieving family.
 
The statement revealed that normalcy had since been restored in the town while the CP said there was nothing wrong with the protest against the killing but warned against the destruction of property while showing grievances.

OLUSOLA FABIYI, SUNDAY ABORISADE, FEMI MAKINDE and TOBI AWORINDE 

The plans by 39 political parties which formed an alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party to remove President Muhammadu Buhari from office through the polls next year, may be heading for a fall.

According to SUNDAY PUNCH investigations, indications that the alliance has come under a big threat manifested when the Independent National Electoral Commission released the timetable for party primary election.

The timetable indicated that all the parties that would be taking part in the 2019 general elections are expected to organise their primaries between August 18 and October 8.

Findings by SUNDAY PUNCH revealed that all the political parties involved in the alliance have put in place mechanisms to conduct primaries that would produce their presidential candidates for the February 14, 2019 election.

39 parties set to produce presidential candidates

Authoritative sources close to some major political parties involved in the alliance told one of our correspondents that each of the parties had concluded arrangements to sell nomination and expression of interest forms to their willing members for the exercise.

Notable political parties involved in the coalition include the Peoples Democratic Party, Social Democratic Party, Action Democratic Party and the Labour Party.

Leaders of the parties had, during the signing of their Memorandum of Understanding on the grand alliance ahead of the general elections, vowed to present a single presidential candidate for the election.

Apart from having a sole presidential candidate, the Chairman of the SDP, Chief Olu Falae, had also stated that the coalition must work together to have single candidates for elections in some states, especially for the governorship, national and state assembly elections.

Falae had noted that such arrangement was one of the ways that the ruling APC could be defeated.

He had also argued that it would be difficult for an APC president to rule, if the party forms the government at the centre, without having majority lawmakers at both chambers of the National Assembly.

Confusion ahead after candidates’ emergence

Sources from two of the parties that formed the alliance, told one of our correspondents in separate interviews, in Abuja on Saturday, that it would be difficult to persuade presidential candidates to step down after they must have emerged as their parties’ standard bearers.

One of the sources said such candidates would have spent money for campaigns and on delegates, adding that the leadership of the coalition also needed to know that the conventions that would produce the candidates would be monitored by INEC.

He said that the Electoral Act had also made it difficult for the political parties to withdraw the names of their candidates from the commission without the consent of the affected candidates.

“Such candidates have to even write the commission and explain why he is withdrawing from the race, “ another source added.

One of them said, “While we plot on how to defeat President Muhammadu Buhari, who we know will be the candidate of the APC in 2019, we must also know that there are dangers ahead of us.

“Now, all the affected political parties involved in this coalition are to produce their presidential candidates before we will now go into talks on who will step down for the other.

“We shouldn’t forget that we are dealing with an unfriendly INEC, which is going to monitor the conduct of the presidential primaries. The commission may insist that the names of the winners be submitted, unless the affected candidates agree not to go into the election.

“Now, what happens if the affected candidates do not agree to step down? Who do we hold responsible? Or, if the candidates now decide to step down on conditions, such as defraying the cost of their campaigns and asking for slots in the incoming government if we win. Who will make the refund to them?

“We should also not forget that once the names of the presidential candidates have been submitted to INEC, such candidates have to write to intimate the commission that they are withdrawing before their names would be removed from the ballot.”

It was however gathered that the coalition under the aegis of Coalition of United Political Parties is aware of the implications of each political party submitting the name of its presidential candidate to INEC.

Already, it was gathered that its leaders had started the process of making sure that the name of the standard bearer and the party, would be unveiled before the last day for the submission of the presidential candidates.

Another national executive member of one of the parties involved in the alliance, Social Democratic Party, told one of our correspondents that CUPP might be unable to achieve its aim of supporting a presidential candidate of the alliance.

He said, “In spite of the MoU that we signed, I know that some of us are too ambitious and if they lost the ticket at the alliance level, since their name will still be with INEC, persuading them to write the commission to dump their aspiration may be difficult.

“It happened in the Osun State PDP governorship primary, when the national leadership in its bid to resolve the crisis generated by the election, directed Ademola Adeleke to withdraw his running mate, Albert Adeogun, from INEC so that Dr Akin Ogunbiyi’s camp can nominate a replacement. Though Adeleke agreed, he refused to do that. He simply asked the man to go under until the expiration of the number of days allowed by the Electoral Act to do so. So, the same thing may happen to the alliance after each of the parties, including our party, the SDP, must have conucted our primaries.

“I have my fears for the alliance but I don’t want to rock the boat. That is why I plead with you not to mention my name in your story. I also know that most leaders of the 39 parties are not in tandem with the arrangement by the coalition but when you talk to them in the open, they will say no”

Ogunbiyi had confirmed this while addressing his supporters at Ileogbo, in Ayedire Local Government Area of Osun State after the leadership of the PDP held a meeting with him and Adeleke in order to resolve the differences between them recently.

Ogunbiyi said Adeleke’s camp did not honour the agreement as the name of his running mate was not withdrawn from INEC.

Electoral Act provision for candidate’s withdrawal from poll

However, there are fears that some of the presidential candidates of parties involved in the coalition might take advantage of the provisions of the Electoral Act on how candidates who won primaries and whose names had been submitted to the commission could be changed.

INEC, in its frequently asked questions, explained the process through which names of such candidates could be dropped.

On what can an aspirant who won the party primaries, but whose name was not submitted to INEC as the candidate for his party do, the commission said, “This is an intra-party affair. The candidate can present his complaint to his party in writing and copy INEC. He could also apply for the Certified True Copy of the result of the primaries from the commission as evidence. If the party fails to resolve the issue internally, the candidate can go to court to seek redress.”

On whether a candidate can be changed or substituted by the party, the commission answered yes, but with a caveat.

“Yes. However, a candidate can only be changed or substituted in case of death or withdrawal by the candidate.”

On how such a candidate can withdraw from an election, INEC said, “You withdraw your candidature by a written notification signed by you and delivered by yourself to the political party that nominated you for onward conveyance to the commission not later than 45 days to the election.”

Candidates’ll embrace consensus after primary – CUPP

But the Head of the Media and Publicity Committee of the CUPP, Mr. Ikenga Ugochiyere, told one of our correspondents that all the parties were free to conduct their primaries.

He said once that was done, CUPP would now step in to decide the next line of action.

He said, “Once all the parties are through with their internal (presidential) primaries, the CUPP comes to life with the great task of adopting one of the platforms in the alliance as the grand coalition candidate.”

On whether the presidential candidates that would emerge from the other political parties would agree to the arrangement, he said, “That was why we signed the MoU first. Out of over 40 parties one will fly the coalition’s flag.”

Asked if the leaders of all the parties would not submit the names of winners of their presidential candidates to INEC, he said the “coalition is working on that aspect right now.”

He said that the coalition was aware that only candidates whose names had been submitted to the commission could withdraw from the race, CUPP was already working on “a final road map” on how to avoid running into a legal crisis on it.

He added, “But membership opinion is high on the side of having the unveiling of the coalition standard bearer before the final date for submission to avoid the legal stress of withdrawal of candidature if all alliance members submit and want to pull it out.”

Asked why it was difficult for the coalition to test its strength with the Osun State governorship election slated for September 22, Ugochiyere said the members only agreed to work together for the presidential election.

“The MoU is very clear on the area of collaboration which is the presidential race but parties that wish to work together at the state level can go ahead and do so on their own terms,” he added.

Coalition will uproot Buhari, says PDP

Also, the PDP has expressed hope that the coalition will unseat President Muhammadu Buhari.

The National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus, said this in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja on Saturday.

He said the plan of the APC was for the coalition to fail, but added that all the parties involved in it remained committed to its success.

“We have passed the stage of doubting. We are on a critical stage of implementation and with the commitment we have seen so far, we will sack President Muhammadu Buhari next year,” he added.

Secondus also allayed the fears of members of the party and others, over the high number of its presidential aspirants.

He told one of our correspondents that the party would manage the primary in such a way that its outcome would be acceptable to every aspirant.

Secondus said he told all the aspirants that neither him nor members of the National Working Committee of the party had any favourite aspirants.

The PDP boss said, “We have no preferred candidate. All of them are eminently qualified to run. What we will do is to provide the enabling environment that would make the delegates pick or elect candidates of their choice.

“Unlike the APC where no one is attempting to challenge President Buhari, our doors are open here. The PDP is a part of all Nigerians.”

There are about 10 aspirants currently jostling to pick the sole presidential ticket of the PDP at the moment.

Among the aspirants are a former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar; Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal; Governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Dankwambo; and a former Governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso.

Others are, Senate President Bukola Saraki; a former Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi and a former Minister of Special Duties and Inter Governmental Relations, Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu (SAN ).

Parties in alliance express optimism

However, the National Chairman of the Democratic Peoples Party, Chief Benson Gershon, explained that all the parties in the alliance would organise primary elections to pick their presidential candidates.

He said the candidates would then participate in the ‘electoral college’ that would produce a consensus candidate of CUPP, who is expected to contest against Buhari.

He said, “There won’t be any problem in the selection process. We all knew what we are going into when we signed the MoU.”

Also, the National Chairman of Action Alliance, Mr. Kenneth Udeze, said, “No party in the coalition is prevented from producing a presidential candidate. After the candidates would have emerged from all the parties, the inner caucus of the coalition will then do the screening.”

We’ll support consensus candidate if process is fair-NIP

But the National Interest Party said it had consensually built its presidential aspirant for the 2019 election.

The National Chairman and candidate of the NIP, Mrs. Eunice Atuejide, explained that it was left for her to vie in the CUPP and emerge as the consensus candidate.

Atuejide added, “Ours is to back (our candidate) and give her everything she needs to emerge successfully in the second primary, which they would have in the CUPP whenever they announce the date for it. The only time that the party will be unhappy is if the CUPP refuses to follow the agreed structure.

“As long as the CUPP follows the agreed structure, there is nothing to be worried about because not every contestant must win. Provided the winner emerges without any unfair practices, we will support whoever it is and make sure that the presidency comes to us so that we can start to give Nigeria a better leadership.”

However, the Chairman of All Grand Alliance Party, Okey Chikwendu, assured Nigerians that the choice of a consensus candidate among the parties in the alliance would not lead to a crisis because candidates of all the parties would sign an undertaking.

He said, “We already have an agreement that candidates of parties in the alliance will sign an undertaking that they will support whoever emerges as the consensus candidate by withdrawing their forms from INEC.”

A former Vice-Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, told SUNDAY PUNCH that consultations were carried out before the agreement was formalised.

“Simply put, as they were going round, we were advising that only one person will emerge and, whatever the decision, they have all agreed that they will abide by the decision. So, that is the duty of the coalition,” he noted.

When asked if he had helped midwife the coalition, George said, “Not directly, but you know as an older man in the process, they can’t finish it without having to consult.

“So, we are still there. It is not yet finished now because there will be criteria to be discussed — what methodologies, what process and all that. But I am sure that, by the grace of God and for the love of this country, we will get to a logical conclusion and I believe everybody will be okay.”

In his submissions, the National Publicity Secretary, Social Democratic Party, Mr. Alfa Mohammed, told one of our correspondents that the idea of a coalition did not end with consensus candidature alone.

According to him, it extends to the cooperation to stop the APC from “rigging” on election day and to ensure that election is credible.

Mohammed said, “On the issue of a consensus candidate, essentially at the presidential level, it is expected that at the nick of time, there might be the need for us to consider adopting one of the aspirants and, probably, on a chosen platform. That does not stop various parties from carrying on with their campaigns.

“It does not stop any aspirant from displaying his capacity to be that very consensus candidate. If, at the end of the day, it is seen that the SDP presidential candidate, whosoever emerges, is the most viable candidate, we will then prevail on other partners in the coalition to adopt him as the consensus candidate.”

The SDP spokesman explained that there were instances where, even at the first run of the elections, a run-off would come into play. If such a situation comes up, according to him, the coalition makes it easy to adopt that very candidate at the election.

“But the agreement does not stop any party from displaying its capacity to provide that consensus. In our party, we have three or four aspirants already. They will slug it out and one will emerge like every other party.

“After that round, if the situation warrants that we go back to the drawing board with other partners in the coalition and seek their support to adopt our candidate, so be it,” he said.

In the same vein, the National Secretary, Alliance for Democracy, Mr Fasogbon Akinboye, said if Nigeria was not rescued from the ruling party, generations unborn would not forgive the opposition.

“We have our own presidential aspirants. We have no less than four with us now. It is just a working arrangement. We are progressives to the core. The only one that could take our ticket must be a progressive that can deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians.

“It is going to be a unity government, that is, a participatory government by all that is coming together to form that coalition. This is irrespective of your political party as long as we know that you are interested in rescuing this nation, not just going there to amass wealth,” he added.

The National Chairman of the Action Alliance, Mr. Kenneth Udeze, noted that before the endorsement, the parties had collectively agreed that whoever the coalition adopted, every other political party would shun their personal interests for the collective interest of all, no matter the outcome.

He said, “But every political party will go and conduct their party primaries and, at the end of the day, we will come together as a coalition to decide who will be the best candidate. They can come from any of the parties. We are ready for any eventuality. That is the sacrifice that is associated with politics.

“You have to zero your mind. It cannot always be you. If the collective interest of all is more or less than the collective decision, then we have no option but to abide. Our interest is to make sure we root out this bad government of the APC. It can be anybody but not Buhari.”

Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the National Conscience Party, Mr. Yunusa Tanko, condemned any CUPP aspirant that would reject the outcome of the consensus arrangement.

Tanko noted that the parties had come to the agreement that they had to make the coalition work in order to win the election.

https://punchng.com/2019-election-coalition-parties-presidential-primaries-threaten-alliance-against-buhari/

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has hired New York bank Raine Group in preparation for selling off the club, according to The Sunday Times.

The bank is said to have valued the club at £2billion and Chelsea have engaged their advisors after they helped Manchester City sell a 13 per cent stake in the club to China Media Capital for £265m in 2015.

It is unclear whether they would look for new owners or to sell a stake in the club which Abramovich bought for £140m in 2003 but the move comes at a critical time for Chelsea, who look overwhelmed by the scale of the wealth of clubs such as Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain.



In May, following the political sanctions Great Britain imposed on Russia in response to the Salisbury poisoning, Chelsea announced that Abramovich was putting off a proposed £500m expansion of Stamford Bridge.

They have failed to qualify for the Champions League for the second time in three years, having previously qualified for the competition every year since Abramovich took over.

They have also still to convince Eden Hazard to sign a new contract or risk having to sell him to Real Madrid next summer when he will have just one more year on his deal.

Chelsea need to rebuild the team under new manager Maurizio Sarri after having allowed talents such as Mo Salah, Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku to leave the club in recent years.



Chelsea have enjoyed a long spell of success since Abramovich completed his takeover in the summer of 2003.

They became the first London club to the win the Champions League in 2012, as well as earning five of their six league titles in this period.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6098673/Chelsea-owner-Roman-Abramovich-puts-club-sale-2BILLION.html

RHAPSODY OF REALITIES

SUNDAY, 26TH AUGUST.

LIFE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH THE GOSPEL.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith…(Romans 1:16-17).

From the verse above, we observe that first, the Gospel of Jesus Christ—the Word of God concerning Jesus Christ, and the salvation that He brought—is the power of God to save men. His power to bring those who believe out of sin, into the life of righteousness, is encapsulated in the Gospel of His grace. There’s no other way to learn about, receive, or understand the righteousness of God outside the Gospel.

Then, in 2 Timothy 1:10, the Apostle Paul shares another inspiring thought: through the Gospel, life and immortality have been brought to light. What kind of life is he referring to? It’s the divine life; the God-type of life; the life that makes men sons of God, and this life is in Jesus Christ “…this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:11-12).

Being born again, we haven’t only become righteous, but have also become the unveiling of God’s righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Righteousness has become the character of your spirit. The ability to be right, and to do right—the ability to perform righteousness—is inherent in your spirit. You can live that life of righteousness, the nature of rightness that God has given you, from inside out.

Furthermore, you have, and can live the transcendent life; the overcoming life that makes us superior to Satan, darkness, disease, sickness, failure, defeat, and death; a life that’s beyond this world! This extraordinary life, along with the gift of righteousness, was delivered to us in Christ, through the Gospel.

PRAYER

Awesome and righteous Father, I thank you for the life of Christ in my spirit that’s made me one with you; your righteousness in me has brought perfection and excellence into my life, causing me to live and do right, walking triumphantly every day! I’m walking in the reality of who I am in Christ, taking full advantage of the power and effect of your divine life in me, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY:

John 3:15-17 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Romans 3:24-26 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, [I say], at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus

Romans 5:17-21 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore as by the offence of one [judgment came] upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [the free gift came] upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.


1-Year Bible Reading Plan 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1 & Psalms 139-141

2-Year Bible Reading Plan Colossians 3:1-11 & Jeremiah 12



#AFFIRMATIONTRAIN

26TH AUGUST.

I affirm that I am an associate of the God-kind; I function from the standpoint of advantage, victory, dominion, and power because I am born of God and conscious of His life in me.

I am guided and propelled by His divine wisdom to do His will and fulfil my destiny in Christ. I am a tree of righteousness, planted by the Lord. No matter how strong the contrary winds blow, my life is unshakable, because I am firmly rooted in Christ. I’ll never be discouraged or disadvantaged because I am the planting of the Lord. I am full of wisdom, and continually receive thoughts and ideas from the Spirit that put me over, and give me the advantage always.

I am made for life and set up for honour. The Spirit of God is alive in me, with His miracle-working ability working in me! I am effective, efficient, and excellent in all that I do through the power of the Holy Spirit. I can do all things by His ability that works within me! Halleluiah! I live worry-free because Christ is my all! In Him, I’m self-sufficient, enabled to do all things, and supernaturally supplied and fortified for the triumphant life! Blessed be God!

SPEAK IN OTHER TONGUES NOW

• Be bold to say the same things that God has said concerning you in His Word. That is what takes you beyond salvation, to enjoy the benefits of salvation ~ Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.


God bless you.

Nigeria’s leading carrier, Air Peace on Saturday took delivery of its second Boeing 777 aircraft. In a related development, the airline, which made history as the first Nigerian carrier to acquire and take delivery of a Boeing 777-200 on February 23, 2018, assured that it would soon announce dates for the launch of its long-haul operations to London, Houston, Dubai, Sharjah, Guangzhou-China, Mumbai and Johannesburg. 

Air Peace second Boeing 777 receiving the water salute moments after landing at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos on Saturday The new aircraft, a 320-seater Boeing 777-300 named “Ojochide” and marked 5N-BUU, was flown into the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos by Air Peace Chief Pilot, Capt. Victor Egonu and Senior First Officer Emmanuel Iwhiwhu. 

It touched down to a rousing welcome by staff of the carrier, aviation workers and water salute staged by men of the Fire Service of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) at about 1.36 p.m. Speaking moments after the aircraft landed, Air Peace Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Allen Onyema assured that the airline was now ready to begin its international operations and fix the challenges of Nigerians, Africans and other travellers on the long-haul routes. Onyema, who was represented by Air Peace Chief Operating Officer, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olajide, said the carrier’s international operations would boost Nigeria’s economy, create more jobs in the nation’s aviation and allied sectors and offer travellers an exceptional choice.

“We are very happy we’ve taken delivery of another of our Boeing 777 aircraft in preparation for our international operations and we are looking at commencing operations on one of the routes before the last quarter of the year. “We believe that this will enable us create more employment opportunities for Nigerians because that is the reason we exist. We want to help curb the unemployment situation in the country,” Onyema said. The Air Peace boss confirmed that the airline received its first Boeing 777-200 aircraft in February, adding that two more of the aircraft type were being expected before the end of the year to boost the airline’s international operations.

Onyema said the Federal Government had designated Air Peace to operate flights to London, Houston, Dubai, Sharjah, Guangzhou-China, Mumbai and Johannesburg. He commended the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika and President Muhammadu Buhari for supporting Nigerian airlines with the removal of value added tax and granting of waivers on aircraft spares. 

Also speaking, Air Peace Chief Pilot, Capt. Victor Egonu and Senior First Officer Emmanuel Iwhiwhu, who flew in the aircraft, said it was a state-of-the-art equipment with high performance capacity. The B777-300 aircraft has 12 first class, 48 business class and 260 economy class seats.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/08/air-peace-receives-2nd-b777-assures-on-international-operations

The deadly Ebola disease currently plaguing the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has continued to spread out, it has been revealed. 



File photo: An Ebola camp
 
According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, UN agencies have warned that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has spread to eastern ‘no-go’ zone surrounded by rebels.
 
The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), warned that rebel violence in eastern DRC was escalating inside the vast country’s Ebola-hit North Kivu province, putting millions at risk.
 
“Thousands of civilians have fled their burned-out villages, bringing reports of brutal attacks,’’ Andrej Mahecic, spokesperson for UNHCR, said in Geneva.
 
The latest report followed reports that a case of Ebola infection and one suspected case have been found in one town in the area, Oicha, which is surrounded by armed groups.
 
The disease has killed more than 60 people and infected dozens more in recent weeks.
 
Forced displacement in this part of the country remains massive and it is estimated that more than a million people are displaced in North Kivu.
 
This is the highest concentration of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the DRC, where an estimated half a million people have been forced from their homes this year alone.
 
Also, Dr Peter Salama, WHO Deputy Director-General of Emergency Preparedness and Response, said the discovery of Ebola infection in the hard-to-reach part of eastern DRC could mark a “pivotal” point in the response to the deadly disease.
 
“It really was the problem we were anticipating and the problem … we were dreading.

“Our teams have responded this week. They’ve had to reach Oicha with armed escorts.

“Once they reach Oicha, they are able to move within Oicha town more freely, because the town itself is a yellow zone from a security perspective,’’ Salama explained.
 
Mahecic said UNHCR was particularly worried about the deteriorating situation in the Ebola-hit northern territory of Ben, where Oicha town is located.
 
The area is home to some 1.3 million people and spiralling conflict has left the population living there, virtually in a state of siege since October 2017.
 
Reports of increased human rights violations and restrictions of humanitarian access are also frequent.
 
Estimates are that more than 100 armed groups are active in the province, continually terrorising the population.
 
In spite of a large-scale military offensive of the Congolese Army against one of the main rebel groups, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) since January, there has been no let-up in the violence.
 
Mahecic said: “Despite security challenges, a UNHCR team accessed the area north of Beni, earlier this month, and conducted humanitarian assessments in Oicha and Eringeti districts.

“Residents told our staff about brutal attacks against the civilians carried out with machetes.

“Stories of massacres, extortion, forced displacement and other human rights violations are frequent’’.
 
Further, sexual and gender-based violence is rampant across the Beni territory while many children are being recruited as child soldiers.
 
The violence is particularly rampant in the so-called “triangle of death,” between the towns of Eringeti, Mbau and Kamango, on the Uganda-DRC border, as well as in the towns of Beni, Oicha and Mavivi.
 
UNHCR said it was scaling up its capacity in North Kivu to respond to the growing humanitarian needs.
 
“We are arranging additional emergency shelters and other humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of the displaced in Beni.

“While UNHCR’s humanitarian response is continuing, despite the outbreak of Ebola, the prevailing security situation and drastic funding shortfall severely hamper our efforts.

“UNHCR’s DRC 2018 appeal totalling $201 million is only 17 per cent funded,’’ Mahecic explained

A masquerade has reportedly seized an Okada man in a community in Ondo, beating him up into coma over money. 




File photo used only for illustrative purpose

 

It was serious pandemonium that took place recently in the Itafaaji area of Oke- Igbo, Ondo State, after a masquerade, Olojede, allegedly brutalised a man called Oyewale Isaac during a row over N1000.
 
According to The Nation, the money was allegedly given to some youths during the masquerade festival held in the community.
 
It was learnt that the Isaac encountered the masquerade, while he was begging for money from people.
 
Isaac , a commercial motorcyclist popularly called okada and his friends who were at the venue of the festival were said to have jokingly told the masquerade that they had no money, and that they were willing to take money from the masquerade, if he had any.
 
Trouble however started after an unidentified man arrived the scene and gave a sum of N1000 to another masquerade identified as‘Mopol’, who in turn shared the money with Isaac and his friends.
 
It was while Isaac was trying to keep the money in his pocket that Olojede emerged and asked him to surrender the money to him.

An apparently aggrieved young boy has declared he wants to become a soldier who will go on rampage and kill many Boko Haram terrorists. 



File photo: An IDP camp
 
According to a report by Nigerian Tribune, a 12-year-old internally displaced person at the Abuja IDPs camp, simply identified as Subairu, has called on the federal government to come to their aid.
 
Subairu, who is from Gwoza in Borno State, while speaking with Tribune on Saturday lamented their plights, disclosing that he would love to be a soldier when he grows up and kill at least 1,000 Boko Haram terrorists.
 
He said: “It is true that some of us don’t have shoes or sandals to wear. When I grow up, I want to be a soldier. I want to be able to kill the Boko Haram terrorists. I want to kill at least 1,000 of them.

“We don’t have anything in our house here in the camp. I miss Gwoza. I miss my grandmother, my father and my other relations in Gwoza. I don’t have a school uniform. It is not easy coming to school without these things.”
 
Subairu, who said he was not finding school easy as a result of hunger, poor amenities and lack of care, appealed to the government to come to their aid.
 
Another 12-year-old, Aliyu Bakura, a primary five student, while lamenting on the plight of the pupils, also begged the federal government to provide them with food, uniforms and sandals.
 
“During the break time, we have nothing to eat. We don’t eat anything throughout school hours. We have food at home, but it is not enough to bring to school. My father and mother are in the house. I have three brothers and a sister in the school. We are from the Bama Local Government Area of Borno State. My teachers teach me very well. I learn all the subjects.

“I want to become a doctor when I grow up. I want the government to help us. They should give us food, school uniforms and shoes,” he pleaded.

A church building has been found out to be used by prostitutes and drunks once the day turns dark in an Abakaliki community. 



Photo credit: The New Telegraph
 
Knight of St. John Catholic Church, Okpaugwu, located at Low Cost Housing Estate, Abakaliki, shares a boundary at the back with St. John De Evangelist Catholic Church, Udemezue Street. But, as Uchenna Inya, discovered, the place has gradually metamorphosed into drinking spot and chalet for prostitutes 
 
Knight of St. John Catholic Church, Okpaugwu, is located at Low Cost Housing Estate, Abakaliki. It shares a boundary at the back with St. John De Evangelist Catholic Church, Udemezue Street. Beside it is a police station. It has a very large compound with storey buildings, solely built for church purposes, scattered in its serene environment.
 
At night fall, the compound metamorphoses into something else. Open air drinking, suya spots, food vendors and commercial sex workers, all compete for space at this hitherto ‘holy’ place. There are no marble floors, well decorated settees or cushioned chairs. But, those who patronise the ‘joint’ are sure to listen to tunes from quadraphonic sound systems while they consume their liquor. This trend of acquaintance with crimson sisters, no doubt, leaves a big impression on the minds of the visiting wolves.
 
Mrs. Ann Udu is the caretaker of the place. She was given the premises by the Catholic authority through Mrs. Chinwe Muoneke to be taking care of. She lives there with her husband and children, and operates a restaurant. She also sells drinks, pepper soup and other edibles. Udu is said to be the one in charge of all the halls and rooms on the premises. The place is usually very busy in the night starting from 7pm.
 
A customer, who wants an accommodation for short time rest, pays N1,000 for one hour. While selling of drinks and foods are made open in the area, getting a room on the premises for love making is secretly and solely done by the caretaker. Our reporter visited the place as an undercover and pretended to be a customer. He interacted with other guests and Udu, who was so lively with customers on this particular day. She was sipping a bottle of beer, which some said has become her usual pastime.
 
One of the buildings on the premises is housing the restaurant. Inside the restaurant is a door that leads upstairs where short time rooms are. Ogechi Nwete, a 14-year-old orphan, works as a maid to Udu. Saturday Telegraph gathered that Nwete was chased out of the house following the escape of her master’s goat from the premises. Nwete, a native of Nsokkara Effium, in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State was asked by Udu not to return home without the goat. She had no place to go than to wander aimlessly until a Good Samaritan picked her up and handed her over to the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development. She was before the goat issue already nursing ear injuries allegedly inflicted on her by her madam.
 
Nwete was also having eye problem following a slap she received for alleged misconduct which makes her not to see properly.
 
She said: “My madam chased me out of the house because her goat escaped through the compound. She asked me not to return until the goat is found. This happened on July 18.

“This premises belongs to the Catholic Church but was handed over to my madam to be taking care of. The church wanted to use where we are now for an event centre and other church purposes. Unfortunately, my madam turned it to a place where all manners come for short time lodging with their mistresses. She usually asked me to quickly lock up the rooms whenever the woman who gave her the place comes around.
 
“What happened to me in my eyes was that her son beat me up one night I was resting after attending to customers. He asked me what I was waiting for before packing chairs and tables used by customers and immediately gave me slap and started kicking me. My madam was watching and couldn’t do anything to save me from her bully son. It was during the process that I lost my eye. I also lost my hearing due to the slap he gave me. I bled through one of my ears as a result of the slap and now I can’t hear properly. I can’t also see well.”
 
Nwete, who alleged that her madam usually asked her to prepare the rooms for customers, compelled her to pick condoms used and disposed them to pick remnants of Indian hemps to ensure that the place is kept clean at all times. “One of the customers usually takes advantage of this to pounce on me. He had sex with me while preparing the rooms.

“Other customers later joined the wicked man and at different times would force me to have sex with them. While this was going on, my madam would look the other way making me to start suspecting she was the one behind this wicked act. In one of the days I was dressing a room, a customer barged in, held me down and had sex with me. I complained to my madam and she told me to leave the person that he was drunk. At a point it became a daily routine.
 
“They also touch my breast and bumbum. They smoke hemps at will. Men of State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the state Police Command usually raid our place. They sometimes arrest some of the customers who smoke Ganga. My parents are dead. It was my step-brother, Cornelius Nkwede, who gave me to the woman for adoption.”
 
Head of Department, Child Development of the state Ministry of Women Affairs, Godwin Igwe, confirmed that Nwete’s case was reported to the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Rebecca Ogbuewu, for necessary action. He claimed that Nwete was taken to hospital but medical reports sighted by this reporter showed otherwise. She has serious eye and ear injuries that may impair her sight if urgent measures are not taken.
 
Igwe admitted that the medical report indicated that the girl was sexually abused. He said: “The letter was minuted to me to treat the matter and then I had to minute the letter back to the Child Abuse Desk Officer, Mrs. Cecilia Elom, and it is a convention that when a matter is reported to the ministry, we will like to hear from both parties. So, the child abuse desk officer wrote an invitation to the accused person but she came back to tell the ministry that the suspect refused the invitation. She rather gave a condition without which she wouldn’t receive the invitation letter. She insisted that she should produce the victim otherwise she wouldn’t accept the letter. That was observed for sake of peace and justice.

“Surprisingly to me, when I went to Imo State to recover a child sold in the area, I heard that instead of the woman coming to the ministry to tell her own side of the story, she brought six men to terrorise the ministry and harass the schedule officer into fear so that she will not carry out her duty diligently. This case has both criminal and health aspects and our duty is to ensure the survival of the victim and that is why we have referred the case to Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki 1(FETHA1). We wrote to the Chief Medical Director to direct that doctors should conduct medical examination on the girl.
 
“She will also go to FETHA 2 to see a consultant ophthalmologist for her eyes because she has hearing and visual impairment. At a glance, you will see that one of the eyes is small, reduced to a large extent and you don’t need to go to Lab before you will see that one of the eyes is so small. It is only by Divine grace that she is seeing with it. This act of child abuse, maltreatment and dehumanisation shouldn’t be seen in a civilised society like this because Ebonyi State is not a banana republic. This girl has been subjected to modern day profligacy and moral laxity which to a large extent will affect her future.

“The worse part of it is that the accused person doesn’t even take the matter seriously. She has choosen to treat it with high level of levity. She should have been coming here to ask: where is this child? Is she still alive? Is she responding to treatment? But to my greatest surprise, she has never come here for the past three weeks.”
 
On her part, Elom, said: “The matter concerning Nwete was brought to the ministry by one lawyer who wrote to the ministry about the abuse on the child. We only invited the suspect for questioning. I went to deliver the invitation letter to her which she refused to receive from me. She told me that she doesn’t have any maid, that I should go and bring the person she was maltreating.
 
“I went back the second day with the lawyer that wrote to us together with the child. On seeing her, the daughter we met confirmed her status and even called her name. Along the line, Udu came the next day to the ministry with an unknown man, who came and said he would slap me. The man told me that I shouldn’t have invited Udu, that Nwete is not a good girl. They went back after that day and came back few days later with few men. After narrating the whole thing to the men Udu brought back to the ministry, they saw that the woman did not behave well; they blamed her for not honouring our invitation.

“I told them that we are still investigating and the child herself sustained so many injuries and we should take her to the hospital to certify her health before any other thing. The peopleleft and said they would get back to us. But up till now, I have not seen the woman again. In the hospital where we took this girl to. It is confirmed that she is sexually abused and physically abused, you can see her ear and eye.The action we are going to take is first to take care of her health; she has been undergoing series of tests after which we refer the matter to the police because it is the police that investigate criminal matter. But for now, she is in our custody and we have been taking care of her.”
 
***
Source: New Telegraph

Photos: Soldiers Invade Umunwelile In Etche Rivers, Brutalise Many
August 25, 2018  NEW

                         
This Military Siege on Umunwelile Community in Etche LGA, Rivers State

On Wednesday, 23rd August 2018, several armed soldiers allegedly led by Major Nasiru, from Garrison Command, 6Division, Bori Camp, Portharcourt in Rivers State, invaded Umunwelile Community, brutalized, dehumanized, wounded and comprehensively devastated the vulnerable and harmless indigenous members of the town.

The community leaders have sent several formal complaints to relevant authorities, including, but not limited to the Presidency and the Governor of Rivers State.

What's the problem?According to report,soldiers have decided to forcefully takeover their communal land by force of arms without due process.


https://www.akelicious.net/2018/08/photo...n.html?m=1

Today, President Buhari made a surprise visit to troops
battling bandits, kidnappers and criminals in Zamfara and
neighbouring states under Operations Sharan Daji and Diran Mikiya.

This happened before he boarded his Air Force plane at
Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport, Katsina, to Abuja.

Buhari praised the troops for their service and dedication to
the nation, urging them to remain ‘‘ruthless’’ in the battle
against the criminals. In the spirit of the Sallah celebrations,
the President also donated 5 bulls to the troops.

The unannounced visit was intended to appreciate the work of the Nigerian Armed Forces, for the tremendous results that are being achieved in securing this nation and its people.

Posted by @Johannxs a member @NGRPresident, @MBuhari Media Team on his Twitter Account
https://mobile.twitter.com/Johannxs/status/1033343917025095680?p=v

Satellite service provider DStv has continued to implement its new bouquet rates despite court order restraining the action.

DStv is a Sub-Saharan African direct broadcast satellite service owned by MultiChoice. The service launched in 1995, provides multiple channels and services to its more than 11.9 million subscribers.

An official of DStv, who declined to give his name because they had been asked by the company not to speak on the issue, confirmed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday that subscribers still pay the increased rates.

“The case is being reviewed at the moment and there are some information that I cannot disclose.

“But as it is, for all of the DStv subscriptions, the price still remains at its increased rate price list.

“I do not have any information as to how long it will take to review the prices but the case is being reviewed in the court with the business and legal experts,” he said.

In July, MultiChoice raised the subscription rate for the DSty Premium package from N14,700 to N15,800, Compact Plus from N9,900 to N10,650, Compact from N6,300 to N6,800.

The Family package went from N3,800 to N4,000, and Access from N1,900 to N2,000 which was implemented from Aug 1.

However, on Monday, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba granted an injunction restraining the video entertainment and Internet Company from implementing the new rates.

The court also restrained MultiChoice from any conduct capable of interfering with the regulatory process of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC).

The restraining order was issued in respect of Suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/894/18 brought before the court by the CPC following public outcry.

In March 2015, DStv announced a 20 per cent increase for all its satellite pay TV bouquets in Nigeria, which took effect from April 1, 2015.

An order of interim injunction restraining Multichoice from enforcing the planned increase was granted by Justice C.J. Aneke of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Inspite of the ruling, DStv went on to implement the increased prices with the defence that the Court order was granted on April 2 after price increase had taken effect on April 1, 2015.

The Director-General of CPC, Mr Babatunde Irukera in a statement on Friday unveiled a special channel for receiving complaints for customers who could not renew their subscriptions at old prices.

“The Council is setting up a special channel for receiving complaints for this purpose.

“This is in view of the continuing and increasing complaints that consumers are unsuccessful in renewing subscription in compliance with the order of the court, even after service of the order upon Multichoice.

“As such, any consumer who has, or is experiencing this challenge should please send an email to multichoicecompliance@cpc.gov.ng, stating relevant information.

“The information should include smart card number, name, telephone number, date and time of failed attempt to pay, supporting same with relevant evidence such as a screenshot or document (where necessary),” Irukera said.


http://www.metronaija.ng/price-hike-dstv-shuns-court-injunction-retains-new-rates-2/

Quote:Lawmaker 'Hires Thugs' To Attack Community For Asking Questions About Constituency Projects


Alhassan Ado Garba, the member representing Tudun-Wada/Doguwa Constituency of Kano State at the House of Representatives, has allegedly hired thugs to vandalise properties of his constituents for questioning how he spent the allowance allocated to them for projects.

The development was uncovered by Tracka, a community of active citizens dedicated to tracking the implementation of government projects in their community to ensure service delivery.

Tracka had worked with some members of the community, led by Sule Yaro, to enlighten members of Alhassan’s Constituency on holding their political representatives accountable.

The lawmaker was said to have stormed the community in the company of thugs, who unleashed mayhem, leaving burnt cars and houses in their wake.


According to residents of Tudun-Wada/Doguwa who spoke to SaharaReporters, Alhassan brought in thugs into the community when he came home for Sallah.

“We saw some thugs come with Hon. Alhassan when he came for Sallah. We didn’t know what he wanted to do or why he brought them into the community until they attacked us,” a resident said.

An official of Tracka, who spoke to SaharaReporters, said: “On Monday, I was hinted by some people that the lawmaker came with thugs and was looking for the team because of the projects monitored.

“He was angry and was telling people that the team and Tracka want to ruin his political career.”


While giving an account of what transpired, Yaro, whose house and son’s motorcycle was burnt, said the tracking team had to leave their community for fear of being killed. He also alleged that Alhassan’s thugs were planning to launch another attack targeted at his family.

He said: “My vehicle and my son’s motorcycle were burnt. All together, about nine vehicles were destroyed. Houses were also not spared.

“I ran away from my community with my family after I was advised by community members that he (Hon. Alhassan) is after my life.”


Mohammed Hussein Umar, another member of the tracking team, who is also a resident of the community, condemned the act by Alhassan, stating that when the thugs entered his house, they broke his furniture and every other thing they could lay their hands on.

He said: “The thugs entered houses, broke and damaged anything they saw. All together, not less than seven cars were damaged in the attack.”

Attempts to reach Alhassan were futile, as calls to his mobile number did not connect. He had also failed to respond to a text message sent to him at the time of filing this report.

Alhassan, 53, is a graduate of Mass Communication from Bayero University, Kano.

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A drunk policeman identified simply as Ola SARS, who turned up for a party organised on Thursday to mark Sallah celebration at Transformer Bus Stop, Adiyan, in Ogun State, reportedly shot his friend to death.

The deceased,  36-year-old Ayinde aka Aye, and the drunk policeman were invited to the party organized by the father of the youth leader of the community popularly known as Azeez Terror. It was gathered that by 7pm, Ola SARS who serves in Abuja began misbehaving under the influence of alcohol. He reportedly shot into the air intermittently and refused to yield to cautions by other guests. He wanted to pull the stunt again when a bullet struck Ayinde in the chest.

While Azeez Terror, his father and the policeman fled the scene, Punch's correspondent gathered that the father of two was rushed to a hospital, where he died. Youths of the community reportedly staged a protest which caused pandemonium in the neighbourhood, and it took the intervention of the police to restore normalcy.

Speaking on the incident, a resident of the area, Bidemi said;

 “It was Azeez Terror’s father that organised the party for Sallah celebration. It is a yearly event. The youth leader invited his friends including Ola SARS and Ayinde. I learnt Ola SARS works in Abuja. The party commenced in the afternoon and there was no issue until around 7pm.

“He started shooting into the air after he became drunk. Nobody provoked him. As he wanted to fire another shot into the air, he misfired and shot Ayinde in the chest. He bled profusely and was rushed to the hospital. He died shortly afterwards.

“As I speak with you, Azeez Terror, his father and the killer policeman are still at large. It was very sad. The deceased was an estate agent and had two kids. His wife has been inconsolable since yesterday (Thursday).”


https://lailasnews.com/drunk-policeman-kills-friend-during-sallah-celebration-in-ogun/

There has been a lot of drama around Senate President Bukola Saraki. He recently decamped from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) amidst controversy and announced interest to contest for presidency. Daily Trust sought the opinions of some Nigerians on his presidential ambition

Comrade Seiyefa Uzaka, Journalist, Bayelsa
Senate President Bokula Saraki is qualified to contest for the office of the president of Nigeria. He is a Nigerian citizen and nothing should hold him back. The decision to elect him rests on the people of Nigeria, and in the Nigerian constitution, the educational qualification for someone to contest for the office of the president is just the Senior Secondary School Certificate. So, for someone who is a medical doctor, which means that he is a degree holder, he is qualified to run for the office of president. If God wants him to be there, he will win and if God says no, he will not win.

Dr. Obuma Paul, Politician, Bayelsa
Bukula Saraki has been a leader in the senate and has done well, so Nigerians cannot rule out the fact that he can do well if he becomes the president. It is a good idea for him to aspire to rule this great country. It is a welcome development. I see him as a good material. If he comes on board, the difference will be clear, because for the period he has been president of the senate, he has done well. I think he is a principled man and will make a good president.

Abubakar Abba, 42, Communicator, Kaduna.
Saraki is just a joker, because many people in this country, especially the masses, even those in the village, know that he has been using his position as Senate President to cause confusion in the affairs of the executive arm. An example is the issue of delay in passing previous budgets, including his role in the delay of INEC funds for 2019 general elections. Many people in the northern part of the country will not vote for him.

Frank Olotu, 34, Politician, Bayelsa
Senate President Bokula Saraki is a good leader. He did well as a governor and he is doing well as a senate president. So, I see him as a very credible leader that can contest the 2019 presidential election. He is better than many leaders and presidents who have led this country, so he has the right to offer himself for the highest office if he becomes the flag bearer of the PDP. He will challenge the ruling APC and wrestle power from them during next year’s election. Besides, he is a young man who can work to put the economy of the country on a fast-growing track. He has the capacity to bring back the lost glory of our nation and handle the security challenges.

Muhammad Bin Ibrahim, 44, Journalist, Kaduna.
For me, Saraki is a victim of democracy. So, for that sole reason, and considering his competence to lead the senate harmoniously, he deserves to try his luck in the presidential race. This is why I support his move to run for president.

Eunice Nnachi, Journalist, Bayelsa
Dr. Bokula Saraki is a good leader. He will do well if given the opportunity to lead the country. He is a man of his words and in terms of academic exposure, he is a medical doctor who knows what Nigerians want. He is also smart and intelligent. That is what Nigerians want at the moment. He knows how to turn things around and has been able to hold the National Assembly together these past years, despite the storm. Such a person, when given the opportunity, will lead the country well.
In addition, if you look at his pattern, he always works for the good of the country. In 2014 for example, when the nation was facing challenges, he left his former party then and joined forces with APC that eventually brought onboard President Muhammadu Buhari. Now that he sees APC is not helping the economy of the nation, he has taken the destiny of the nation upon himself and pulled out again from APC to effect change for economic progress. So, I think he needs the support of Nigerians. 

Tida Leo, 28, Development Worker, Kaduna
For me, Bukola Saraki is first of all a Nigerian who is eligible and fit to throw his hat in the ring for the presidency having served in the Senate despite all the court charges. He is also learned and very conversant with the Nigerian Constitution. And since he is now riding on the crest of his freedom from legal encumbrance, I support Bukola Saraki, knowing fully well that PDP has accepted him back and the race is for everyone. And at last, only one man will be president

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/what-nigerians-think-about-saraki-joining-presidential-race-267402.html

Quote:AMORI: His departure a political minus to Ibori political family
*OGBORU: He’ll be an asset to APC 
*OJOUGBOH: PDP on its last legs in Delta with his exit 

THE dumping of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for All Progressives Congress, APC, by former Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan came as a shocker to the members of powerful PDP family in the state, but for APC, which is awaiting his formal declaration, it was a welcome development.

Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan Delta state governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa and a circle of PDP leaders discussed the matter yesterday with circumspect, while strategists of the party have been directed to come up with novel ideas to stop APC from taking over the state as already speculated by the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

Some PDP stalwarts, who spoke to Saturday Vanguard expressed surprise that Senator Okowa allowed the strained relationship between him and his predecessor over the party’s 2015 governorship primaries to force him (Uduaghan) out of the party, saying that such a “colossal disaster” should not have been permitted to occur.

A member of the political family, Senator Ighoyota Amori, who is a Political Adviser to the National Chairman of PDP, told Saturday Vanguard: “It is unfortunate and very sad development.

For me, it is something that the Ibori political family which he belongs to never expected because we have heard so many discussions and if he finally does that, it is most regrettable.” His words: “What I can say is that what we as a political family cannot conquer, we endure, we live that to God, but we believe that we will live up to expectations.”

“We respect him as a member of the family from the very beginning, but if at these wee hours, he decides to jump ship and leave his political family, he is entitled to his political destiny.

However, I know as a family member that we did everything humanly possible to retain him in the political family. “There is nothing we can do than to allow him to chart his own political course if it is true that he has finally left the PDP for APC. That is all I can say for now,” he asserted.

Amori added: “I say that his exit is a political minus to the Ibori political family in Delta state, but the family definitely will live up to prospect, that is the truth.” According to him, “All we need to do is to change our gear and change our method and quickly readjust ourselves to close the gap. I believe that at the end of it all, the family will say that we are still very much at home.”

A leading APC governorship aspirant from Delta North senatorial district, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, told Saturday Vanguard: “It is a welcome development; I have been in the forefront of the move for Dr. Uduaghan to come over to the APC. I visited him severally to join the APC and told him unequivocally that he has no future in PDP.”

“His coming to APC is just a tip of the iceberg, many PDP stalwarts have told me that as soon as I secure the governorship ticket of APC by God’s grace, they will dump the PDP for our party because they believe in me. I have discussed with a wide range of them and they are waiting anxiously,” he said. Ojougboh, a former deputy national chairman of PDP, said: “PDP is finished in Delta state; they should just wait until we conclude our primaries.

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa will not know what hit him when I get APC governorship ticket, nobody can save him, and I can tell you that he is gone.” Successive governorship candidate, Chief Great Ogboru, popularly known as the “Peoples’ General” told one of our reporters: “I am sure you have heard before that in politics there is no permanent enemy, but permanent interest.

This is why we have to accept it as one of the realities and we must live with it. If he is actually coming, then the more the merrier and he would be a major asset for the APC in Delta state.” APC governorship candidate in the 2015 general election and leader of the party in the state, Olorogun O’Tega Emerhor, said: “It is a welcome development. Being a former governor of the state, he has a large followership, knows how to win elections and his joining us is a big plus meaning we now have the capacity to achieve our quit notice to PDP in Delta.”

Another APC chieftain, Olorogun Solomon Edojah, asserted: “It is a step in the right direction because the PDP is already going into extinction and Uduaghan is one of those that gave the party a lifeline in the state.” “I also commend him for ignoring all the forces that held him behind all this while from making this move because I believe with his political experience and sagacity for a turnaround in the APC, as he was the oxygen in which PDP in Delta has been surviving,” he stated.

The fold of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos further swelled on Friday as many members, said to be about 5,000, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defected to the party.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the new entrants joined the APC at an elaborate ceremony at the ACME Road secretariat of the party.

NAN reports that some 500 members of PDP had on July 3 also defected to APC in the state.

The new defectors, who are members of the United Niger Delta group were led into their new party by Gabriel Ese, the group’s leader.

They were received by the state chairman of the party, Tunde Balogun, along with some other party officials.

Mr Balogun said the party was excited to receive the new members, particularly as they were many.

He said the decision of the former PDP members to join the party reflected the growing confidence in the party.

Mr Balogun commended the new entrants for their decision to join what he called the progressives fold, assuring them that the party would do its best to give them a sense of belonging.

“We are happy that you have made the decision to join the Progressive train today and we assure you that we will do our best to make you feel at home.

“Even as you are just joining us, we have accepted you as part and parcel of the APC and we will not treat you differently.

“I assure you, you will not regret joining the APC; we shall work together like brothers and sisters to ensure that APC becomes greater than what it is today in the state,’’ he said.

Mr Balogun implored the defectors to show commitment and give their best in order to ensure victory in 2019.

The party chairman urged the new members to obtain their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) as it was the only means by which they could secure victory for the party.

Mr Balogun said the party had commenced the registration of new members nationwide and urged the new members to register to be fully integrated.

Mr Ese said he and other members of the group were delighted to leave the PDP to join “the progressive party’’.

He said the decision of the group to leave the PDP was because of the strides of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in Lagos.

Mr Ese said they were also motivated by the charismatic leadership of the national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, and the achievements of the APC at the national level.

“We would have joined the APC a long time ago, we love the party, we love Tinubu but because Dr Goodluck Jonathan was the then President and we thought we could not work against our Niger Delta brother.

“But after so much pressure both within the Niger Delta and outside the region to join the APC, seeing the wonders of Ambode in Lagos and the charisma of Tinubu, we finally decided to be here.

“We are pledging our full allegiance to the party because we have realised this is the party to be.

“We are so happy to be here and we will do our best to take the party to the next level,’’ he said.

Mr Ese said there were about 500,000 registered members of the group in the state and that they would be mobilized to obtain their PVCs, in order to vote for APC in the 2019 general elections.

(NAN)
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/ssouth-west/281243-many-pdp-members-defect-to-apc-in-lagos.html

Quote:President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday boasted that his party, the All Progressives Congress, will win the 2019 general elections.

Apparently making a veiled reference to the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, who recently said the opposition Peoples Democratic Party would win the forthcoming elections, Buhari said those who don’t understand were entitled to their mistaken assumptions.

According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President spoke in his hometown, Daura, Katsina State, while receiving the representatives of the 34 chairmen of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria.

Buhari said the string of victory recorded by the APC in bye-elections in Bauchi, Katsina and Kogi States was sufficient proof that 2019 elections would be won by the party.

He said, “Coming against the backdrop of the victory in Ekiti governorship election, the string of victory by our party, the APC, is a clear indication of the way things will go in 2019.


‘‘For those who are discerning; those who have ears and eyes they will see, hear and understand.

“Those who don’t understand are entitled to their mistaken assumptions.”

The President said the victories in the recent polls were “signs of things to come.”

He thanked the leaders of the association for paying Sallah homage to him and for their message of congratulations on the performance of the party and the administration.

He assured them that he would continue to do his best for the nation.

Speaking on behalf of the members, the Chairman of ALGON in the State, Alhaji Mohammed Na’Allah, expressed their support and commitment to the success of the Buhari administration.

At another meeting with the leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Katsina State, Buhari expressed his continued determination to respect the diversity of the country.

He promised to run a government that is fair and just to all Nigerians.


The President thanked the CAN leadership in the state for living in peace and harmony with other religious groups, and for supporting his administration in its policies and programmes

The CAN leaders who spoke during the visit, the State Chairman, Rev. Nelson Onyeakachukwu, and an elder and coordinator of the Christian Pilgrimage in the State, Haruna Danjuma, expressed happiness with the President’s performance.

They described him as the state’s good ambassador who had made everyone proud.

“Christians in Katsina are happy with both Governor Masari in the State and yourself at the center. We will continue to support both of you,” the CAN leaders told the President.

Quote:
A presidential aspirant and former National Caretaker Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has declared that it will be impossible for the All Progressives Congress senators to impeach the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

He stated this on Friday while meeting with the leadership of the PDP in Ondo State at the party secretariat in Akure.

Makarfi said those clamouring for Saraki’s removal lacked the understanding of the constitution regarding the affairs of the National Assembly, insisting that only two-thirds majority of the Senate could impeach the Senate President.

According to him, the defection of the Senate President to the PDP does not prevent him from holding his office, as the constitution does not indicate that the Senate President must come from the ruling party.

He said, “I will refer the APC senators to the constitution for better understanding of the laws of our country.

“I am not surprised with their actions; it shows their ignorance about the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, because the constitution is clear about that. If they are familiar with the constitution they will know that they lack the legal powers to impeach the Senate President.

“I am sure they cannot have the two-thirds majority which the constitution requires for the impeachment of the Senate President. Our members in the senate are intelligent people who will not give lawlessness a place in the senate.”

On the defection of some APC bigwigs into the party, the former governor of Kaduna State said although the development might pose some challenges to the party, the PDP leadership had its ways of resolving its internal crisis.

Makarfi expressed assurance that if the PDP won the forthcoming presidential election, it would ensure the country