Dialogue and not violent agitation would aid Ijaw youth demand

If report by BON is anything to go by, then controversial Nollywood actress, Shan George may be in big trouble with former PMAN president, Tee Mac Omatsola. This is because, according to what was reported, Shan George, who recently accused some married actresses of sleeping around with men like dogs, is being alleged of nursing a sizzling romance with the Tee Mac’s 21-year-old son.

As reported, Shan was alleged to have slept with about four band members of Tee Mac, who we learnt were young guys, during the FIFA World Cup held in South Africa in 2010. She reportedly gave the excuse of cold weather as the reason of having sex with the boys.

The report further claimed that Tee Mac was fully aware of Shan’s under ‘G’ runs with this boys she slept with but he chose to keep quite. But when Shan made effort to have a taste of Tee Mac’s handsome son, Tee Mac reportedly blocked her “dangerous” moves, knowing the kind of person she is.

It was further reported that about two months ago, Shan was suppose to make a trip to the just concluded London Olympics, where she was supposed to be among some Nigerian celebs to meet with Team Nigeria, but Tee Mac influenced the light-skinned actress being dropped when he probably forsaw that Shan would use the opportunity to concluded her mission with his son, who was part of the trip.

It was further gathered that Tee Mac also took a step further by warning Shan George to stay off his son or face his wrath.

Shan has had controversial relationships with some younger lovers in the past who are mostly in their 20′s. Efforts to get her reaction to this latest scandal proved abortive.

 

 http://dailypost.com.ng/2012/09/13/nollywood-actress-shan-george-alleged-sex-scandal-tee-macs-21-year-old-son/

Northerners should stop still religious extremism if truly Islam preaches peace

Following the fractional war amongst the members of the ruling party, PDP, former Nigeria President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has made a peace call among to the party’s members in Lagos State.

The Otta-Farmer who was well represented by Mr. Jide Damazio, PDP zonal Secretary, South-West, at the Joint Annual General Assembly of the Lagos PDP Women and Youth Vanguard, made an effort to reconcile its straying members in order to restore the image of the party.

In his speech, he said, “I urge you to strive to identify yourselves with how to bring peace to Lagos PDP. “You must all strive to ensure reconciliation among warring factions in the rank and file of the party in Lagos.”

The two-time president of Nigeria under different regimes also urged the youth and women to be on the watch-out for opposition parties plotting to divide the party.

According to him, the party members must all reach out to the gladiators of the party in the state to work towards uplifting PDP beyond its present status.

The 2011 governorship aspirant of the Lagos PDP, Mr Salis Owolabi, who doubles as the Chief Adviser of the Youth Vanguard appealed to chieftains of the party to come together and work for the party’s victory in the 2015 general elections.

“The youth vanguard programme is designed to bring unity to the party but you know that in any dispute, there are diehards who will never agree to anything,” he said.
While Mr. Sheriff Adepoju, the President of the Lagos PDP Youth Vanguard, said they were ready to mobilise their youth in large numbers to appeal to their leaders to ensure that there was reconciliation.

http://dailypost.com.ng/2012/09/14/obasanjo-moves-broker-peace-amongst-pdp-members-lagos/

The Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen has said the federal government will undertake routine maintenance of bridges in Lagos to sure they are in good shape all the time.

The routine maintenance, he said was not because of doubts about the integrity of the bridges.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/fg-to-do-routine-maintenance-of-lagos-bridges/124886/

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and two Nigerians on death row in The Gambia have taken their case to the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja.
They are asking the court to urgently stop the impending execution.
The Nigerians involved in the case are: Micheal Ifunanya and Stanley Agbaeze.
In the suit filed Wednesday on behalf of the plaintiffs by Femi Falana, SAN, against the Gambian government, SERAP and the Nigerians are alleging that the threat of execution while they (2nd and 3rd plaintiffs) have been denied the right to appeal “violates their rights to life; to due process of law; to access to justice and judicial independence; to a fair hearing; to appeal, and to effective remedy.”
According to the plaintiffs, “The 2nd and 3rd plaintiffs are among the 48 people on death row in The Gambia. Without allowing them to exhaust their right of appeal, the Gambian government has threatened to execute them and all other persons on death row.”
The plaintiffs also argued that in spite of several appeals made to The Gambian government by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and other organisations, the government carried out the threat and secretly executed nine persons on death row in August 2012.
The names of the nine persons executed by the government are: Lamin B. Darboe; Alieu Bah; Lamin Jarju; Dawda Bojang; Abubacarr Yarbo; Abdoulie Sonko; Lamin F. Jammeh; Gibril Bah and Taraba Samba.

http://news2.onlinenigeria.com/headlines/194572-gambia-government-sued-over-execution-of-nigerians.html

Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is battling to reform one of the world’s most corrupt nations without support from the shadowy “godfathers” who wield power from behind the scenes.

But while Western nations and international agencies admire her drive from afar, they hold little sway in Nigeria. Okonjo-Iweala’s ability to fight corrupt interests is constrained by her lack of support from wealthy figures such as ex-state governors, military officers and ruling party hacks who use huge patronage - or sometimes violence - to drive politics back stage.

“Her only ‘godfather’ is the international community, and that doesn’t cut it,” said a senior adviser to the national assembly, who asked not to be named.

When she quit her Washington job and flew back home, Okonjo-Iweala knew her second stint as finance minister would be tough. She now admits it has been even tougher than she imagined.

“It was much harder. It has not been easy, and the struggle is still ongoing,” she told Reuters in her office in Abuja, the capital, exhausted by a night negotiating with oil unions. “You make progress, then you get courage to make more ... Fighting corruption is something we need to keep working at.”

Okonjo-Iweala has started to tame government expenditure and make limited reforms, but her room for manoeuvre is limited by her restricted access to state revenue, 80 percent of which comes from oil. She has also found herself again fixing problems she tackled during her first term which ended six years ago, only for these achievements to have been undone in the meantime.

Okonjo-Iweala, who missed out on the World Bank presidency earlier this year, may yet decide to take another high profile international job. She is tipped as a possible next World Trade Organization head, although she has so far shown no interest. Should she decide to leave Abuja, her biggest challenge will be ensuring any reforms she makes can’t be undone.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/okonjo-iweala-seeks-reform-without-the-godfathers/124855/

Mallam el rufai is playing his cards wella..............diplomacy is the game and perhaps, he might be given consideration particularly now that he his jobless

The Federal Governemnt has  approved the inclusion of military retirees and their immediate families in the National Health Insurance Scheme’s (NHIS).

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) gave the approval at its meeting yesterday chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Part of the approval is the sum of N3.6billion per annum in the first year for the defence health maintenance organisation.

Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, who disclosed this while briefing State House Correspondents in the company of Minister of State for Defence, Olusola Obada after the FEC meeting, said that the decision was taken after the recommendation of the technical sub-committee set up by ministries of Finance and Health on the matter remarked that the scheme would   boost the morale of serving officers and men.

Recalling that the scheme was initiated by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 2001, he said the committee had argued that the non-inclusion of retirees in the NHIS would negatively affect the moral and dampen the enthusiasm of those still in service, with adverse security implications for the country.

The non-inclusion, Maku said, was posing a challenge in the military health facilities as the retirees continue to troop to the hospitals to seek free medical care as stipulated in the armed forces harmonised terms and condition of service.

He noted that 75,000 military retirees would flag off the project  for which N3.6 billion had been earmarked, noting that, just like what was obtainable with the civil service, the Navy, Airforce and Army, personnel and their spouses as well as four of their children under the age of 18 would be beneficiaries of the scheme.

http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/34783/2012/09/13/fg_doles_out_n4bn_military_retirees_nhis_programme.html

The Imo State University, Owerri, and an Abuja-based educational services company are embroiled in a satellite campus and university admission racket through which they tricked thousands of students into paying over N150 million in illegal fees, an investigation by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting has revealed.
The company, Diamond Lecture Centre, has for years operated an illegal satellite campus purportedly belonging to the Imo State University, in the process admitting and running classes for thousands of students in business and management-related courses.
The Diamond Lecture Centre charges each student N80,000 tuition fees and currently has  some 2,000 students in 100, 200, 300 and 400 levels, with the final year set currently taking their final examination.
However, the National Universities Commission, NUC, has declared that the campus, which operates out of the Festival Primary School, Area 10, Garki, Abuja, is illegal.
The commission said neither Imo State University nor Diamond Centre has any approval to run either a satellite or any other kind of campus in Abuja.
Not only that, the tertiary education regulatory body also says that any degree awarded to any students through such a bogus and illegal scheme would not only be illegal but would also not be usable to seek employment in Nigeria or anywhere in the world.
That leaves the fate of nearly 2,000 students who are currently on admission at the fake and illegal campus in the balance.
Interestingly and curiously too, authorities of the Imo State University have also disowned Diamond Centre and distanced itself from the satellite campus it claims it runs for it in Abuja. This is in spite of the fact that Diamond Centre uses the university’s course outline, handbooks, letterhead and stationeries in the admission and teaching of students.
Investigations by icirnigeria.org revealed that Diamond Centre has operated the illegal satellite campus in Abuja for many years and would have admitted up to 10,000 students by now.
Our investigations show that most of the students of the campus are professionals such as bankers, civil servants or business people who do not have the time to undertake the rigours of normal university education.
With lectures conducted only on Saturdays and Sundays, such cadre of professionals finds it convenient to run weekend programmes.
But there is nothing about the classes conducted by Diamond Centre that resembles anything close to a university education and even some of the students agree that granting degrees through such a process is an aberration.
First, the lectures are held in the most unsavory environment. When our reporter visited Festival Primary School, Area 10,Abuja, what he saw was shocking. Lectures were being held in decrepit, moldy, smelly classrooms with broken furniture and dilapidating walls.
Apart from this, posing as a student, monitoring the lectures and speaking to some of the students, our reporter found that the quality of teaching was abysmal.
The lecturers operated mainly a “handbook education” policy whereby they sold handbooks to students which they are supposed to read to pass examinations.
But the lecturers do not even bother to prepare their own notes but just download handouts from the websites of other educational establishments on the Internet. For example, the whole handbook on Analysis for Business, a course for 400 Management students, was downloaded entirely from the Internet with no input from the lecturer.

Many students who spoke to us argued that there is no way the satellite campus would have existed for years illegally without being closed down without collaboration of staff of the NUC and the university.
“I believe that some people in NUC and the Imo State University are in league with the director (Odunze) to scam students. Certainly they are in this together. They cannot claim ignorance. While driving some students away from the exam hall recently, Odunze told us that he just paid over N7 million to the Imo State University as examination fees,” an angry student said to our reporter.
Another student disclosed that Diamond Centre’s plan is to wind down the operation of the campus with the last intake of students who are now in 100 level. If this is true, even if it does not take in new students, as Mr. Odunze said, the centre would still have to run the illegal campus for another three years.
The greatest worry of the students and their sponsors is not the time they have spent pursuing what they thought was university education or even the money they have had to pay but the fact that they might come out empty handed.
With the declaration by the NUC that any degree awarded the students would be illegal and useless, it means that they cannot seek employment or promotion in their work places with their certificates.
There is even a controversy over whether Diamond has ever issued any certificate to any student who graduated from the satellite campus. All the students who spoke to us said that they had also been troubled that they had never come across any graduate of the school who got any degree or certificate.
One student said that when a group of them confronted Mr. Odunze with the fact, he only assured them that they would get their degrees after completing their course of studies.
From all these Odunze appears to have been the only beneficiary of this bogus scheme. With a current student population of nearly 2,000 this session, Diamond Centre this year alone must have raked in some N160 million from unsuspecting students.

http://premiumtimesng.com/news/99937-imo-state-university-private-firm-scam-students-of-millions.html

I pray and wish that this becomes a reality

Shows it is time to give in to superiority in reasoning that fosters unity and shun mediocrity

Hummmm, na aw o

The city of Ibadan, Oyo State capital would come alive come September 22 as leading clerics and Apostles of the most High viz. Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Ayo Oritsejafor, Bishop David Oyedepo of the Winners’ Chapel and other anointed men of God will storm the podium in this year’s National Fasting and Prayer Day.

Interestingly, President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President, David Mark and other top political players would be part of the one-day prayer tagged: ‘God Save Nigeria.’

According to Coordinator of the World Christian Fellowship Foundation, one of the  organisers of the programme, Prophet Okoduwa Atorkpa, the theme of the programme was inspired by the Holy Spirit due to the recent insurgency and tragedies that confronted the nation.

He believed that for the country to experience greater unity and prosperity, Nigerians must flee from “all that is unjust and filthy”

Atorkpa, however, assured that the breakup of Nigeria was impossible despite the challenges currently confronting it.

He dismissed the United States intelligent report to the effect that Nigeria will disintegrate in 2015, noting that the words of God speaks otherwise.

http://dailypost.com.ng/2012/09/11/adeboye-oyedepo-jonathan-others-attend-national-fasting-prayer-day-ibadan/

Abegi, Dino MELAYE is chameleonic in nature joo......

The Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, has signed a performance contract with directors and chief executive officers of agencies and parastatals under his ministry, and directed them to meet the deadlines contained in their respective Key Performance Indicators.

A statement from the ministry on Sunday said the minister gave the deadline during the signing ceremony of the contract in Abuja.

Aganga said the objective of the performance contract was to ensure that those entrusted with leadership positions delivered on their respective mandates to the people.

He said, “The objective of signing the performance contract is very clear; we want everybody to be performance-focused. By doing this, we will be focused on how we deploy our human and financial resources to improve the lives and welfare of the Nigerian people. When you present a budget for a project, you must be able to justify why that amount should be allocated to you and what the country will get in return.

“If we all adopt this style, it will be good not only for the President and all the ministers, but also for the entire country because we have all been elected or appointed to serve the Nigerian people. And the only way to serve is to deliver on what the people have elected us to do.”

“So, I am delighted that we have signed the performance contract, first with the Permanent Secretary, directors of each of the departments and directors-general of agencies and parastatals under the ministry.”

Aganga explained that the key performance indicators were designed after due consultation with the permanent secretary, directors and chief executive officers of various agencies and parastatals within the ministry, adding that the KPIs would be reviewed to reflect emerging developments.

He said, “In determining the key performance indicators, we solicited the views of all those involved and also held discussions with them to ensure that there are no expectation gaps in terms of what is expected from them.”

http://www.punchng.com/business/business-economy/performance-contract-aganga-gives-directors-ceos-deadlines/

A N2.5 million alleged fraud is currently rocking Kaduna Airport Terminal of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) following the planned re-modelling of the terminal.

THE amount involved happened to be the proceeds from the scraps removed and sold by the Airport Manager so as to give way for the remodelling work to start in earnest.

Instead of paying the N2.5 million proceeds to the FAAN Account, only N300,000 was paid while the remaining N2.2 million was shared between the Airport Manager, Alhaji Garba U.Ringim, some heads of departments and few staff who could 'spill the beans' if they are sidelined.

Aside from this particular scam, the terminal manger, it was alleged was fond of siphoning the monthly allocation for the airport in connivance with the heads of department civil and building; Electrical and Account for purported jobs not executed but executed on papers thereby defrauding the system.

The scrap materials removed and sold illegally to pave way for the re-modelling of the airport include-Aluminium Frames, Aluminium Windows and Doors, Flush Doors, Air Conditions, Electrical Fittings, Ceiling Fans, Gypsum Ceiling and Floor Tiles, Conveyor Belt and 75mm Aluminium Roofing Sheets which were allocated to some favoured accolades to sell of which the Chairman of NUATE Kaduna branch is currently in the 'eye of the storm' with his members.

Further investigations revealed that following the alleged fraud, National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) FAAN Branch, Kaduna Airport queried their branch chairman, who they alleged took part in the illegal sharing of the money.

In the correspondence in which he was place on indefinite suspension by other executive members of the union and endorsed by the Vice-Chairman of the branch, Musa Ahmed and the branch Secretary, Obed Awan, the union noted among others against their Chairman that:

''Since you have failed to adhere to several warnings and advise by the house, we are therefore compelled to place you on an indefinite suspension due to the following reasons in your Involvement in the sales of FAAN Scraps without official letter and lack of consultation.

Others are why only N300, 000 was paid to FAAN account department as against the N800, 000 you claimed you sold the said scraps. Lack of financial transparency at the branch level and Individualistic behaviour  (Non-Consultation).

The memo sent to the branch chairman further said that since the aforementioned points against him are antithetical to the objectives of NUATE,:''You (chairman) are placed on an indefinite suspension, during which you are required to write comprehensively to the union explaining why you should not be removed as a Branch Chairman or why disciplinary action should not be taken against you''.

It is unclear as the time of  this report the steps taken by the FAAN management at the headquarters, in Lagos to further investigate the alleged diversion of official money to private pockets with the Kaduna Terminal Manager at the head of the alleged fraudulent click as contacts with some top officials yielded no result.

The Managing Director of FAAN, Mr George Uriesi who officials said was in a better position to comment on the matter as to what the management has done on the matter was said to be on the entourage of the Minister of Aviation on a 10-Day ''Road Show'' on Aviation to China, America and Canada.

http://www.nationaldailyngr.com/aviation/n25m-fraud-rocks-kaduna-airport

Scammmmm, big time

truth4meal: and Mr holy, wat abt ur father o? Stupendously poor with public scorn

Ojo yobo crony and mouthpiece......go n bury ur head in shame..... While you eat your master's iil-gotten wealth with garri

Good, nepotism and favouritism should be flushed out of our system and level playing ground should be encourage in relation to federal character.

Stupendously wealthy with public funds...........

Ikengawo: who is this monkey trying to impress?

I tire ooo, all na corruption na..... Using public funds

What is it about Twitter that turns many people into blubbering idiots? This certainly isn’t the first time in human history that Homo sapiens will be presented with a platform to air their thoughts; We’ve had Facebook for a while now, and before that, blogs, websites, newspaper comment sections etc. On none of these platforms have I witnessed the sheer volume of pedestrian thinking and subsequent insipid tendering of opinions that is constantly available on Twitter. Far be it from me to suggest a Twitter closure or police what people do with their own timelines, but when what they believe is their rightful opinion borders on being recklessly insensitive, an engagement becomes imperative.

Dino Melaye, currently jobless, was a one-term member of the Federal House of Representatives, who contested on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, representing Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu federal constituency. That’s his claim to fame and the sum total of his achievements thus far in his existence. Apparently, once you have ‘served’ in the Nigerian House of Assembly, no matter how inconsequential your contributions to national development, you somehow acquire the divine right to open your mouth and let loose torrents of idiocy.


This country amazes me. How we condone people like Dino Melaye, I’ll never understand. After his time in government and the prerequisite participation in the sharing of the national cake, he began posturing as a latter-day activist, showing up at rallies, mouthing inanities that should make us forget that he was once a part of the party/government he’s now rallying against, and that he achieved nothing of any worth in his time there. But who am I to begrudge him for seeking some relevance in his life? Reuben Abati, the current Aso Rock pet dog is already planning to write a book about Mr. President’s greatness, once his time perambulating the corridors of Aso Rock and employing his PhD in the huge task of holding the microphone when the president speaks is over. His predecessor, Olusegun Adeniyi, the former Aso Rock pet dog, has already written his own. My grouse with Dino of the deteriorating relevance lies elsewhere.

A few weeks ago, the former Honourable (a misnomer, mind you) member of the house, in his wisdom, or lack thereof, tweeted this statement: “@dino_melaye A 40years old woman without husband need to work on character and carriage.” I will not bother you with the grammatical issues bedeviling this statement. Just take a moment and meditate on the fact that the man who tweeted this used to make laws for this country. Need we seek further reasons why our polity stinks? If unformed minds like that of Dino Melaye are responsible for making laws for a nation, what can one expect? In Dino’s pedestrian understand of life, if a woman is 40 and unmarried, it must be because she doesn’t have good character or carriage. Exhibiting such chronic ignorance, it serves no purpose to invite unformed minds like this to a discussion of how a woman can choose, in the year of our Lord 2012, to be single, childless and happy, with great carriage and character to boot! No, we must leave failed politicians seeking social media relevance out of discussions above their misshapen heads; we must discard their thought-deficient minds to the rubbish heap of inconsequentiality where they will find cosy company with empty tins of sardine and sanitary pads.

When butterflies begin to think himself bird, let us remind him that he may flap his wings but heights attained and distances covered are as far-flung as the forehead to the tip of the nose.

http://dailypost.com.ng/2012/09/03/chris-ihidero-gideon-okeke-dino-melaye-when-butterflies-think-birds/

Two time President of Nigeria in different regime, Chief  Olusegun Obasanjo, on Wednesday in Ibadan, Oyo State, said that the nation is blessed with notable men and women from different states and tribes who had contributed significantly to the socio-economic development of the nation but cautioned that it should not be turned into a country of anything goes.

Chief Obasanjo, who was speaking as the special guest of honour during the launch and presentation of a book entitled: Ayo Ogunsheye: The Workers’ Economist, in honour of the late Professor Ayo Ogunseye at the University of Ibadan, noted that Nigerians, who wanted to be successful in life needed to read about Professor Ogunsheye, whom he described as a man of many parts who played each part successfully to the end.

He observed that the late professor played parts that were somehow in opposition as a labourman, industrialist and distinguished scholar, adding that he was a great Nigerian who belonged to a crop of Nigerians whose records of lifetime activities were needed so as to put the  nation’s history in the right perspective.

Also speaking, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Isaac Adewole, said the late professor belonged to the first generation of Nigerian academic staff of the institution who participated significantly in the struggle for the nation’s independence and better standard of living for workers.

The vice chancellor  said that the late professor established extramural classes in all the three regions of the country and organised workshops, conferences and symposia on various fields and later transformed the extramural classes to the Department of Adult Education of the university.

He disclosed that he later became the first Nigerian dean of Faculty of Education.

Justice Bola Babalakin, who was the chairman on the occasion, described the late professor as a man characterised by positive qualities, kindness and consideration for others, adding that the only lasting quality of a man, was his good character and urged Nigerians to emulate him.

http://dailypost.com.ng/2012/09/06/i-still-believe-one-nigeria-obasanjo/

Corruption commercialized, if ACN Tinubu can be doing this in Lagos and other ACN states for which he has hold, then what will happen on a large scale nationwide if the party is privilege.........Absolute corruption, yet he keeps casting the Govt without removing the mote in his eyes

The trademark patent right of the naira notes in circulation is owned by non-Nigerians, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed.
The apex bank yesterday cited this as one of the reasons it wants to redesign the naira notes. According to the director of corporate communications of the CBN, Mr Ugochukwu Okoroafor, “it was quite shocking to us when we discovered that the patent rights of some of our notes are owned by non-Nigerians.”
Okoroafor, who spoke with financial journalists in Lagos yesterday, said it is not right or safe for a sovereign state such as Nigeria to have the patent right of its legal tender owned by a foreigner. “It is dangerous for us as a nation because they can hold us at the neck with it,” he stated.
He however noted that the patent rights of the new designs of the naira would be owned fully by Nigerians, adding that this was one of the crucial reasons the CBN wants to restructure the naira.
Okoroafor also debunked reports that the apex bank would be spending N40 billion in the printing of the controversial N5,000 notes as well as that of the redesigned notes. According to him, “it is an absolute lie and it is quite outrageous.”

Stating that people who are making such claims should check their facts correctly, he said “the CBN does not hide how much it spends on note printing annually. It is there in our annual reports, so people who are making such outrageous claims should go and check our annual report which is a public document.”
He said due to the false information that is being proliferated, the CBN had decided to publish the amount it has been spending on note printing as well as what it would spend in printing the new currencies.
He further stated that, rather, the apex bank would be saving N7 billion from the printing of notes annually through its “Project Cure”, as it is cheaper to print, store and transport larger bills.
Defending the introduction of the N5,000 note, he said it is meant to serve big transactions, noting that it is not meant for everyday or minor transactions. He also reiteratedthat it would in no way increase inflation rate in the country as more money would not be injected into the system.
He stressed that the market forces would determine its use, citing the American $1,000 and $10,000 notes which he said are used only for special transactions.
Mazi Okechukwu Unegbu, former president, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, said it is not the standard practice to have the patents of national currency held by foreigners. It is because Nigeria lacks the technology and trained personnel to manage its own printing. It is dangerous because if we have to get it back we will pay heavily.

However, he said, it was not enough reason to justify the currency restructure and printing of N5,000 note. “CBN should have first come out with policy to make coins acceptable such as increasing their values before considering its current policy which in itself is contradictory of other policies of the CBN.”

http://businessnews.com.ng/2012/09/04/foreigners-own-naira-patent-cbn/

President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, called on  Nigerians to vote out bad politicians in order to   make them  accountable and committed to their electoral promises.

He spoke in Abuja, at the inauguration of the 2nd edition of the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria, YouWin.

The president said his administration would ensure the sanitisation of the electoral system in the country.

Jonathan said: “We feel that for a political dispensation to be relevant to the people, to endure, the electoral process must be sanitised. The voter card of Nigerians must make them vote out the bad politicians, that is the only way we politicians will be committed and do what is right and for that we promised to change the electoral process, we have not reached where we want to go but Nigerians and indeed, all the people that have been monitoring our elections have observed that this is a different face of Nigeria and we will continue to improve on it.”

He said his government is also tackling the issue of corruption which has bedeviled the nation for a long time, adding that  “in this country, these days, people talk about corruption, sometimes those who are corrupt even shout more about corruption but we are tackling it gradually.

If you look at the Agriculture sector, procurement of fertilisers and tractors and other scandal that was going on, we have stopped that, the oil sector, we are going to stop it, gradually this will thin down, we cannot change the society overnight but we have to take step it by step by step.”

Fear of petrol scarcity loomed at the weekend as most of the six major oil-marketing companies and NIPCO Plc have exhausted their stock of the product.


THISDAY learnt that the shortage has led to an increase in the depot price of petrol.


Investigations revealed that some depot owners have capitalised on the tight supply situation to sell at ex-depot price of between N93 and N100, as against the official price of N89 per litre.


However, sources said while the pump price of petrol would still be maintained at N97 per litre in Lagos and its environs, the marketers could capitalise on the increase in depot price to jack up the price in the hinterland where there is less supervision from regulatory agencies’ officials.


The drop in fuel supply, it was learnt, was worsened by the refusal of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to allow fuel cargo imported by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to discharge its products for the marketers at Apapa Port, since last Tuesday over unresolved financial issues.


Deputy Director and spokesperson of the DPR, Mrs. Belema Osibodu, however, told THISDAY that the vessel was allowed to discharge yesterday after all the relevant documents requested by the agency were presented.


“They had issues with the bill of lading, regarding the mother vessel but the issues have been resolved. The product is of good quality and they have been allowed to discharge,” she said.


A spokesperson of the NNPC, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, told THISDAY that the vessel was prevented from discharging because it had “a financial lien.”


“It has nothing to do with the quality of the product. It is essentially a financial matter. It was supposed to make some payment and I believe they are going to pay or they must have paid by now,” he said.


Sources within the six companies that constitute the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and NIPCO Plc, whose depots are located in Apapa, Lagos, told THISDAY that the seven companies had a two-day stock level as at last Wednesday, which was largely exhausted by Friday.


THISDAY gathered that Conoil, for instance, had 159 metric tonnes of petrol as at Wednesday; while Forte Oil had 5,486 metric tonnes.
The stock levels of other five companies as at last Wednesday included, MRS Oil and Gas, 1,276 metric tonnes; Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, 743 metric tonnes; NIPCO Plc, 3,100 metric tonnes; Oando Plc, 1,000 metric tonnes; and Total Nigeria Plc, 2,000 metric tonnes.


This product, which amounted to 13,764 metric tonnes or 18,237,600 litres, represented only two-day load out, as Apapa accounts for 60 per cent of the country’s fuel supply.


It was learnt that the six major marketers and NIPCO have stopped importation of products due to the accumulated unpaid subsidy claims and interest charges on loans.


The marketers rely on the NNPC, which has been rationing its imported products to the marketers, to keep their supply chain active.
The marketers’ woes worsened last week after the NNPC vessel was prevented from discharging products at the Apapa Jetty.


One of the marketers, who spoke to THISDAY, blamed their inability to import products on the delay in the payment of their subsidy claims and the interest charges on loans by the banks.


“When you owe N200 billion and you have only been able to pay out less than N50 billion, it is not enough. Our position is that those with major infractions in the Aig-Imoukhuede report should be isolated, while others should be paid immediately. But the payment has been too slow and even the money being paid goes straight to our bankers because a huge amount of interest has accumulated,” he said.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/major-marketers-raise-depot-price-of-petrol-over-shortage/123947/

Good job and congrats to the mother of the abducted baby. God is great ooooo, after nine months

Governor Peter Obi and three former governors of Anambra State are locked in a battle of wits over who should take the credit for its new status as an oil producing state.

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday officially inaugurated the exploitation of crude oil by the Orient Petroleum Resources Ltd in the state.

The event formally ushered Anambra into the league of oil producing states in the country.

During the event, each of the three former governors made speeches that were clearly intended to draw attention to their individual contributions to the oil exploration project.

One of the former governors, Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju, told the gathering that he set up the committee that established Orient Petroleum, appointed its first board and secured a licence for it to exploit oil in 2002.

While Mbadinuju insisted that he deserved to be given the credit for conceiving the vision, his successor, Dr. Chris Ngige, who was at the ceremony, said, “My administration invited investors from far and wide when we made public the shares of Orient Petroleum and it was chaired by Chief Emeka Anyaoku at Tourist Garden Hotel Awka.

“On that day we made a draft of N100m and promised to make available substantial amount of money when all the paper works had been concluded.

“But I must add that the revenue accruing from oil should be used judiciously and to provide social security for the people of Anambra State and host communities.

“I call it wonderful. It is a great day for Anambra State and the beginning of a long journey towards transformation of our state. Oil can be a blessing and can also be a curse. But let it be only blessing to our dear state.

“Anambra should utilise such a great achievement effectively, such that in the next six to eight years it will not need a kobo to run the recurrent expenditure of the state.”

Another former governor of the state, Mrs. Virgy Etiaba, thanked God for the realisation of the project and said she did not relent in her efforts to sustain it during her three-month tenure.

In his speech, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, said Orient Petroleum would jump start aggressive and strategic socio-economic development of the state.

“I pray that the production of oil would also create a friendly environment in our state and I urge those involved in this to see it as a challenge in liberating the economic status of the state from what it is now to higher level. That is why I say it is wonderful,” he said.
http://www.punchng.com/news/ex-govs-obi-fight-over-anambra-oil/

A fresh twist was on Friday added to the raging controversy over the ownership of a controversial $15 million bribe allegedly given to a former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, by ex-governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, in 2006.

Senator Andy Uba (PDP, Anambra East) on Friday denied ownership of the controversial $15m bribe, saying he merely allowed Ibori to use his house to deliver the money to Ribadu.

Uba had been mentioned by a businessman, Chibuike Achigbu, in an affidavit some days ago as the receiver of the money.

Achigbu had claimed that he raised the money as campaign funds to use in financing some Peoples Democratic Party candidates and then passed it to Uba, who in turn gave it to the EFCC.

But Uba, who was a special assistant to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo on Domestic Affairs from 1999 – 2006, said in an emailed statement by his aide, Mr. Chike Okeke, in Abuja that he gave the money to the then EFCC Director of Operations, Ibrahim Lamorde.

Lamorde is the current EFCC chairman.

Uba said, “When I was in the Presidency, my house in the Villa was a convenient place for many top people in Nigeria to come.

“Probably, Chief Ibori didn’t want to go to the EFCC office to hand over the money and so decided to use my house.

“All I know about this matter is that Chief James Ibori brought some money to the then EFCC chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

“The details of the transaction were undisclosed to me at the time. The money was handed to Mallam Nuhu Ribadu who invited his then Director of Operations, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, to fetch it.

“I was never a party to the transaction between Ibori and Ribadu. That my house was used as the venue for the transaction is not in question as an affidavit to that effect has been sworn to by the current EFCC chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, which is probably the point of confusion.

“I hereby state unequivocally that I have no involvement in this matter beyond that stated above.

“So, I’m not involved and will not be involved in this matter. Nobody should drag me into it please.”

The sum, which Ibori allegedly offered the EFCC as bribe to compromise its investigations by the anti-graft agency, has been kept in the strong room of the Central Bank of Nigeria as an unclaimed property since August 2007.

Following an exparte motion by the EFCC, an Abuja Federal High Court on July 25, 2012, granted an interim order forfeiting the $15m to the Federal Government.

The court, presided by Justice Gabriel Kolawole, ordered that if nobody steps forward to claim the money within 14 days, it would be finally forfeited to the Federal Government when the motion on notice for final forfeiture comes up for hearing on September 17, 2007.

Since the court granted the interim order, some stakeholders in Delta State had been arguing that the money should be handed over to the state, which Ibori governed between 1999 and 2007.

The Delta State Government had claimed that the money rightly belonged to it and that the court should order its return to its treasury.

It made the claim in an application filed by the Attorney-general of Delta State and Commissioner for Justice, Chief Charles Ajuyah (SAN).

In the application dated August 10, Delta State Government averred that the money in dispute was offered by Ibori while he was in office as governor of the state.

In a 35-point affidavit in support of the application, Delta State said that the release of the money would facilitate the current developmental projects in the state.

The affidavit deposed to by one Nikiru Bridget Emakpor, a legal officer in the Ministry of Justice asserted that Ibori was a governor of the state between May 29, 1999 and May 29, 2007, the period the money in dispute was alleged offered by Ibori.

On that basis, the state said that the $15M was the exclusive property of the state and is entitled to collect it as the bona fide owner.

The affidavit averred that any money, asset or property recovered from Ibori rightly belonged to Delta State and that same should be returned to it as it has always maintained its entitlement to any asset recovered from Ibori.

The deponent said that any denial by Ibori in respect of the money cannot affect entitlement of the state to the amount.

The affidavit also indicated that the state did not formally apply for payment of the money in view of the pending appeals to the Supreme Court and the court of Appeal because it did not want to prejudice the appeal cases.

The deponent further claimed that all monies, assets and properties recovered from Mr. Joshua Dariye, former Governor of Plateau State were returned to the Plateau State just like those recovered from Chief Diepreye Alamieyesigha of Bayelsa were returned to Bayelsa State.

It was further contended that there should be no legal basis to treat the case of Delta State any different from others and that it is in the interest of justice that the money should be released to Delta.

http://www.punchng.com/news/andy-uba-denies-ownership-of-15m-ibori-bribe/