₦airaland Forum

Presidential aides were on Friday put on standby over the imminent return of President Muhammadu Buhari from London, United Kingdom.

Buhari, who left Nigeria on January 19, was initially scheduled to return to the country last Sunday in preparation for resumption to office last Monday.

However, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, later issued a statement announcing that Buhari had notified the National Assembly of his decision to extend his vacation.

Adesina had attributed the extension to the need for the President to wait behind and receive the results of medical tests which he had undergone on the advice of his doctors.

Sources at the Presidential Villa, Abuja told one of our correspondents on Friday that Buhari was being expected this weekend. The sources said that presidential aides and officials of the Protocol Unit, as well as security operatives, had been put on the alert over the President’s imminent arrival.

One of the sources said, “The President is expected back this weekend. We are expecting him to return either on Saturday or Sunday.

“As of now, we are not sure of the time of his arrival yet. The Protocol Unit will confirm that to us later.”

Another official said if the President would return by Saturday afternoon, his arrival time would be clear by the (Saturday) morning.

Amidst growing concern that Buhari had extended his vacation indefinitely as his new resumption date was not included in his latest letter to the National Assembly, Adesina had during the week, said the President would return sooner than expected.

“In a communication to the National Assembly, the President did not disclose when he is coming back but the President may be coming back sooner than people think,” the presidential spokesman had told a television station.

Atiku urges Nigerians to pray for President

Meanwhile, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has urged Nigerians of all faiths to pray for the President.

Atiku, who is also a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, said the President needs the prayers of all Nigerians at times like these.

This was contained in a press statement issued by his Media Office in Abuja on Friday.

Atiku was quoted as saying, “We deserve the care and support of one another in trying times.

“Each of us goes through times when we are not in top form. The last thing we need in such times is mockery or ill will.”

Prayers hold in Borno mosques for recovery

Imams in about 350 Jumma’at mosques in Borno State on Friday led thousands of worshippers in special prayers to wish President Buhari speedy recovery. Special prayers were held in Maiduguri, Jere, Biu and other parts of the state.

The prayers, which were conducted at the request of the Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, were in appreciation of President Buhari’s commitment to the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency, which resulted in the liberation of many communities and the return of relative peace to the state.

Although, there are 542 Jumma’at mosques in the state, only about 350 of them were estimated to be operating as residents of some highly populated towns like Bama had yet to fully return home from internally displaced persons’ camps.

The prayers were based on a request conveyed by the Chief Imam of Borno State, Imam Ibrahim Ahmed, to all Imams of functional Jumma’at mosques.

The Chief Imam mobilised fellow Muslim clerics for prayers following letters addressed to him by Governor Shettima. A similar letter was also sent to the Borno State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Bishop William Naga.

The state Commissioner for Religious Affairs, Mustapha Fannarambe, signed the two letters, titled, “Request for intensification of prayers for the complete recovery of Mr. President.”

It was learnt that the state’s chapter of CAN had also communicated with pastors to organise similar prayers in all churches across the state during the Sunday’s service.

APC women to organise National Prayer Summit

Worried about Buhari’s state of health, women leaders in the APC are also organising a National Prayer Summit for the President and the nation.

The prayer summit, being organised by the office of the APC Deputy National Women Leader, is to hold in Enugu.

The APC Deputy National Women Leader, Chief Tina Adike, who disclosed this to journalists in Owerri, Imo State, said that the non-denominational prayer summit would also cut across all political parties.

Decrying the unpleasant rumours making the rounds about the President, Adike noted that death is not exclusive to elderly persons alone.

While attributing the rumours about the health of the President to ignorance of the provisions of the nation’s constitution, which she said the President had adhered to, Adike said women in the country were hopeful that if Nigerians were committed, patriotic and selfless, it would be well with Nigeria.

PFN urges Buhari to fix economy, stabilise currency

Meanwhile, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria has called on the administration of President Buhari to inject life into the country by curbing inflation and finding solutions to the problems affecting the economy, including the rising foreign exchange.

A statement issued by the Director (Media and Public Relations) of PFN, Simbo Olorunfemi, said the call was part of resolutions taken during its just-concluded 14th Biennial Conference held in Benin, Edo State.

He said, “The PFN is concerned about the state of the Nigerian economy and the hardship being experienced by citizens. It calls on the Federal Government to take urgent steps to mitigate the pains of Nigerians, curb inflation, stem the tide of unemployment and find solution to the exchange rate that has eroded the value of the naira.

“A number of issues of concern to the Church and of national interest were discussed at the conference and the PFN resolved on the need for the Federal Government to live up to its constitutional responsibility of securing lives and property, especially in the face of terrorist activities by so-called herdsmen and the recent killings in Southern Kaduna.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has discovered a $37.5m (N11.75bn) luxury high-rise building on Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, allegedly belonging to the embattled former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

This is just as the EFCC revealed on Friday that it discovered $9.3m and £74,000 belonging to a former Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Andrew Yakubu. The money was allegedly kept in a bungalow situated in the slums of Kaduna.

The two discoveries were made as part of investigations into a string of fraudulent activities in the NNPC, which cost the nation over $20bn at a time the oil price stood at about $100 per barrel on the average

According to impeccable sources within the EFCC, the building allegedly belonging to Diezani was purchased between 2011 and 2012. It is situated in the same estate where Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, resides.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that the building comprises 18 flats and six penthouses.

Properties on Banana Island are believed to be among the most expensive in Africa with a plot of land selling between $4m (N1.25bn) and $6m (N1.8bn), according to Forbes Magazine.

A source at the EFCC said, “The aggressive drive by the EFCC to recover all hidden assets of former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who is under investigation for corruption and money laundering, produced another breakthrough this week with the discovery of a property acquired through shell companies by the former minister at upscale Banana Island in Lagos.

“The property is a 15-storey edifice comprising 18 flats and six penthouses.

“The property was acquired by the former minister between 2011 and 2012 at a total cost of $37.5m from the developers, YF Construction Development and Real Estate.

The property was allegedly acquired in the name of a shell company, Rusimpex Limited under the control of certain Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi of Stillwaters law firm, in Lagos.”

Last year, the commission seized an $18m mansion in the Asokoro area of Abuja allegedly belonging to the ex-minister.

She has, however, denied all the allegations levelled against her.

Meanwhile, the commission has recovered $9.7m and £74,000 from a former GMD of the NNPC, Mr. Andrew Yakubu.

Ironically, Yakubu, who served as the head of the corporation between 2012 and 2014, is the key witness of the EFCC against the Chairman of Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited, Jide Omokore, who is standing trial for an alleged $1.6bn fraud.

The EFCC said in a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, that the money was found in a safe hidden in a slum in Kaduna State.

The statement read in part, “A special operation conducted by operatives of the EFCC on February 3, 2017 on a building belonging to a former Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Andrew Yakubu, in Kaduna yielded the recovery of a staggering sum of $9,772,800.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, yesterday blamed officers and men of the Nigeria Police, Army and the Nigeria Customs Service at road blocks in the country for the skyrocketing prices of food items.


The Minister, who stated this while appearing before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, said unbearable extortion from truck drivers conveying farm produce to various urban centres in the country was responsible for the unending hike in food prices.


He, however, noted that farmers, who were beneficiaries of the scandalous price increases across the country, kicked against moves by the Federal Government to effect reduction in the prices of food items.


Ogbeh while lamenting the development in the food sector, said the unbearable daily extortions by men of the police, army and customs service, visited on truck drivers conveying farm produce from the hinterlands to urban centres under the guise of carrying out security checks, was one of the main factors fueling the high cost menace.

“These truck drivers, based on lamentations made to the Ministry in recent time, alleged that at every check points, they are always forced to part with reasonable amount of money by any group of the security agencies, which they said, made farmers to have no option than to factor cost of the extortion into prices of the food items,” he added.


The minister explained further that based on the complaints by the truck drivers, his ministry wrote the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and heads of the other security agencies to discourage their operatives from such act. He said this intervention by his ministry notwithstanding, daily reports available to him still showed that the unlawful practice had continued unhindered.

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state has called Nigerians to jointly pray to God for President Muhammadu Buhari’s speedy recovery so that he can return on time and resume work.


Fayose made the call on Thursday, February 9, at the government house in Ekiti state when the general overseer of Champions Glory Assembly Church, Pastor Joshua Lasisi, paid him a visit, Vanguard reports.

The governor who wished the president sound health, however advised the presidency to ensure that it gives accurate information about the health status of the president so as to forestall a situation whereby people would continue to spread rumour.

He said: “But the best thing we should all realize is that the Presidency owes Nigerians accurate information about the situation of things.

"Otherwise people would contier. Nigerians demanding for truthful and accurate information about the President’s health from the Presidency are right because the moment you assume such a position, your life has become public. So, we should let Nigerians have the accurate information about the whereabouts of Mr. President."

He asked Nigerians to pray for the president, noting that nobody has control over health challenges.

"I cannot say I cannot be sick when I’m sick because I am a public figure. I represent the interests of many people. They must know where I am, what is wrong and what am doing it is the right of every Nigerians. But I want to urge all of us to stick together and pray for Mr. President," he said.

President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, on Thursday said the National Assembly was committed to finding solutions to the recession ravaging the country.

He made this known when he received the European Union delegation which visited him in Abuja.

The Special Assistant on Print Media to the Senate President, Chuks Okocha, in a statement quoted Saraki as saying that the national assembly was working on some legislation aimed at propelling Nigeria out of recession.

He commended the EU for monitoring the 2015 general elections in the country, which, he said, had set new standards for other African countries to emulate.

Saraki said that without good economy that could sustain improved standard of living of the ordinary citizens, the legislature would not be seen to have succeeded.

He said the Senate had identified 11 economic recovery bills which could help to create veritable environment for private investments, job creation, infrastructure improvement and growth of national Gross Domestic Product.

He said, “We have our economy recovery plan.

“We are also looking at some priority Bills, infrastructure sector that will enable private sector participation which will bring more money for government in the social services sector, like education and health.”

On the 2015 elections, Saraki commended EU for its support, saying “for the first time we have been able to transfer power from one party to the other and in a peaceful manner.

“I think it has sent signal all over Africa. There was a peaceful transition in Ghana as well. It was almost done in Gambia, but I don’t know what happened but we finally did it.

“I want the EU to continue with the role you played and we thank God that it went well; I commend you and hope that it will encourage you to come back when next needed.”

Earlier, leader of the delegation, Mr Santiago Fisas, said that the visit was to explore better ways of enhancing the partnership between EU and the Nigerian parliament, particularly on how to deepen democracy.

“We believe that relationship between states and the parliaments are important for the growth and development of democracy and development,” he said.

Fisas said that the EU knew the importance of Nigeria in Africa and that the fact informed the extension of its hands of fellowship to Nigeria’s parliament.

ABUJA—As part of its fiscal funding plans, the Federal Government, through the Debt Management Office, DMO, is set to raise another bond amounting to N110 billion for budgetary deficit funding next week.

The bond issue is coming against the backdrop of an emerging discord between executive and the legislative arms of government over resort to borrowings for budget funding.

Next week’s bond issue will be the second this year, which in addition to another issue planned for next month, will bring total amount of debt raised in the first quarter of 2017 to N430 billion.

Under the debt auction, the DMO said it will issue N45 billion of bonds maturing in 2021, N20 billion of 2026 paper, and N45 billion of bonds due in 2036, using the Dutch auction system.

Settlement for the bonds, all of which are re-openings of previous issues, is expected Thursday, February 16, 2017.

DMO uses monthly sovereign bond sales to support the local debt market, create a benchmark for corporate bonds and fund Federal Government’s budget deficit. The cumulative deficit for 2016 and 2017 is estimated at about N4.1 trillion, a bulk of which would be financed through transactions such as this.

Senate approves $1bn foreign bond

Meanwhile, the National Assembly, which appears to be uncomfortable with the Federal Government’s funding policy, yesterday, approved the government’s request to raise $1 billion through a Eurobond sales to help the country finance its budget deficit.

This came against the outstanding and controversial $30 billion external loan request made to the Senate by the Federal Government of which the National Assembly approval had been on the waiting list for over three months .

But the Senate, yesterday, described as false, misrepresenting and contradictory statement credited to the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, that the refusal of the National Assembly to approve the request of government for foreign loan to be used as counterpart funding was frustrating the construction of Lagos-Ibadan and Ibadan-Ilorin-Minna-Kano rail lines.

Senate protests Amaechi’s comments on loan approvals

The Senate in a statement by the Chairman, Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, asked the former governor of Rivers State to urgently withdraw the statement.

According to the Senate, what the minister said is contradictory to available facts and, therefore, not in tune with the position of the government he is serving.

Amaechi was alleged to have made the remarks in Ilorin, Monday, during the North Central Town Hall meeting organised by the Federal Government.

The statement read: “As at today, the only request for approval from the executive for loan was the one dated January 27, 2017 and signed by Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, seeking a ‘resolution of the National Assembly for the issuance of USD 1 billion EuroBond in the International Capital Market for the funding of the 2016 budget deficit’ and we immediately granted the approval.

“Also, in the letter quoted above, the government mentioned the two rail lines cited by the minister as part of the projects for which the EuroBond will be utilised. So, we cannot understand what the grouse of Mr. Amaechi is.

“We view that statement based on false and misinformed premise strongly as a mere attempt to incite the people against the National Assembly.

“The minister should, therefore, withdraw that statement. Furthermore, the National Assembly will take up the matter with the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.”

sarrki:
Your patriotic should be to your president and your country

Not to a party

sarrki:
Are you asking me?

Ask freeze001, Tonyebarcanista, Madriguy, dunkem, limeta, fulaniherdsmen and the high chief of wailers beebeeoh host of others they will tell you am a patriot.

The Federal Government on Wednesday tendered before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama, Abuja, bags of cash in local and foreign currencies, guns, among other items allegedly recovered by the operatives of the Department of State Services from the house of a judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, in October last year.

The items were tendered through the agency’s Exhibit Keeper, Mr. Umar Ahmed, who appeared in court as the 11th prosecution witness in the ongoing joint trial of Justice Ademola; his wife, Olabowale; and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Joe Agi, on charges, including giving and receiving gratification to influence the course of justice.

Led in evidence by the lead prosecuting counsel, Mr. Segun Jegede, the witness took his time to identify the various items which were brought into the courtroom by the DSS operatives on Wednesday.

Umar totalled the various sums of money contained in three separate bags as N54m; $171,779; €4,400; £80 and R1,010 (Indian Rupee).

Other items tendered through the prosecution witness included, two Avar Magnum Pump Action gun, bearing the names of Justice Ademola and another judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Justice Ahmed Mohammed.

The guns were accompanied with original copies and photocopies of the licences bearing Justices Ademola and Mohmammed’s names.

There were also two cartridges – a red head of 25 pieces and a white head of 10 pieces, among the items tendered.

Umar also identified two iPads and an 8GB flash drive as part of the items recovered from Justice Ademola’s house during the October 7, 2016 raid on the judge’s house.

Umar said four mobile phones belonging to the judge were also recovered from the house.

He said the phones were however returned to the judge after taking them “to the lab for exploitation.”

“The iPads too were taken to the lab for the same purpose,” he said.

According to the witness, the phones were returned to Justice Ademola but the iPads were not.

Apart from the N39.5m contained in a ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ bags, the rest of the cash and other recovered items were contained in sealed transparent cellophane with different identification numbers.

While identifying the items, Umar said, “The white bag contains 12 bundles of N1,000 notes, making N500,000 per bundle. The total is N6m.

“The small black bag with a design contains 17 bundles of N1,000 each which equal to N8.5m.

“The ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ (grey in colour) contains 79 bundles making N39.5m.”

He also gave a breakdown of the dollar denominations as comprising 51 bundles of $100 bills, as well as other lower dollar denominations.

He confirmed the dollar currencies to be $121,779 in total and the rest of the cash as €4,400; £80 and R1,010 (Indian Rupee).

He said he received the items on October 10, 2016, which was two days after the DSS raid.

Umar said, “I got to office in the morning of October 10, 2016 and I saw honourable judges, about six or seven of them. Then later in the evening, Mr. Ike Onuoha, who happened to be the leader of one of the operatives that conducted the raid told me about the items recovered during their raid.

“He came up with the items with the forwarding letter, search warrant, and the list of items recovered from the accused person’s house.

“He brought them and I cross-checked with the list of items he gave me. Then I took custody of them. Taking custody means I have to take them and preserve and keep.”

The defence lawyers comprising, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), Chief Robert Clarke (SAN) and Mr. Jeph Njikonye, said they had no objection to the admissibility of the items as exhibits.

The trial judge, Justice Jude Okeke, subsequently admitted all the items as exhibits.

After the exhibits were admitted, Justice Okeke invited the Director of Litigation of the FCT High Court, Mr. Madugu Mohammed, to make an arrangement for the safe keeping of the money.

The prosecution and the defence lawyers eventually reached an agreement to hand over the money to Mohammed for onward transfer to a “deposit account.”

The judge ordered that the cash sums marked as Exhibits X, Z, BB, CC, DD, EE and FF, must always be made available to the court whenever the need for them arose.

Under cross-examination by defence lawyers, Umar admitted that there were other items, mostly cheque books, recovered from Justice Ademola but not yet returned to him.

“I do not decide what to bring to court,” the exhibit keeper said.

Earlier, a banker with Guaranty Trust Bank, Mr. Malik Babatunde, who testified as the 10th prosecution witness, informed the court that Justice Ademola transferred N175m from his (Justice Ademola’s) account to Don Parker Properties’ account on January 24, 2014.

Reading from the judge’s statement of account, which was tendered and admitted as exhibits along with other documents produced by the bank on Wednesday, Babatunde said the two transactions were marked as “sale of properties” on the statement of account.

Under cross-examination by the defence lawyers, the witness confirmed that there was no entry around March 11, 2014, showing either lump sum of N30m or N10m was transferred from the wife of Justice Ademola (Olabowale) to the judge’s account.

He also confirmed that there was no regulation or policy barring civil servants from paying for properties from their accounts.

The trial continues on Thursday.

Hajiya Rakiya, the only surviving elder sister of President Muhammad Buhari, has appealed to Nigerians to continue to pray for the well-being of the president, instead of spreading rumours about his health.

In an interview with NAN in Daura, Katsina state, the 84-year-old woman said her brother needs the prayers of every Nigerian for him to succeed in the task of addressing the problems facing the nation.

She said he as a human being, he is bound to fall ill or even die “at any time his Creator wishes’’.

Rakiya said since January when he departed to London, she has been speaking with the president every day, and that he is in high spirit.

“I just returned from the lesser Hajj, and even while in Saudi Arabia, I was communicating with him every day,” Rakiya popularly called Amadodo, told NAN.

She said in Saudi Arabia, she communicated with him “every ten hours”.

“We were 28 from our mother late Hajiya Zulaihatu who died in 1992, but Buhari was her last born,” she said.

A cross section of the people in the ancient city, who spoke with NAN, expressed displeasure over rumours about the president’s health.

Abdulman Daura, north-west organising secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), described the false reports as “baseless and unfounded”.

Daura said Buhari is in good health and is only conducting a routine medical checkup in the United Kingdom.

He advised the president’s opponent to be always constructive and avoid campaign of hate and calumny.

Similarly, Aminu Na-Dari, an ally of the president, said he has also been in constant touch with Buhari since his departure and their conversation did not in anyway indicate that he is having any health challenge.

A group of students from the School of Health Technology, Daura, described the rumour as unfortunate and asked the National Association of Nigerian Students to issue a statement condemning the rumour.

Aminu Mohammed, spokesperson of the students, called on Nigerians to always think and act positive, saying Buhari has started the reform of correcting the ills of the nation, and corruption had started fighting back.

He urged Nigerians to continue to pray for the nation and “safe return of Mr president”.

DIKEnaWAR:
Going to a quarry now. One truckload ONLY for Lai Mohammed.

For Tinubu? I will ask that he cleans his teeth till they become like a human 's. For Buhari? I pity the wicked geezer.

The Association of Cross River State Local Government Pensioners has lost 28 members from June, 2016 till date, due to non-payment of their pension entitlements.

The Chairman of the association, Mr Okosin Bassey, made the claim in a statement he issued in Calabar on Wednesday.

He blamed the development on “the inefficiency of the consultant engaged by the State Government to verify the pensioners with a view to eliminating ghost pensioners’’.

Bassey explained that the verification which was carried out by Techvite Consultants in June 2016 was “faulty, misleading and filled with confusion’’.

He described the consultants as inexperienced young school leavers, who had no idea of managing payment systems.

“The consultants that were employed to do this job did not settle down for the work they were hired to do.

“The consultants would go to the radio to announce verification venue and date when in the actual sense, they were not ready for the exercise.

“As a result, these elderly men and women were dragged from their homes, visiting locations and hospitals to the venue of the exercise and sometimes the consultant would not be there.

“Over 28 of our members have died within this period through man’s inhumanity to man, arising from non-payment of seven months pension arrears.’’

Bassey said that the verification of 4,120 pensioners claimed to have been carried out by the consultants was characterised by faulty and questionable data.

“During the exercise, questionable names were injected into the names of pensioners. Some pensioners were paid between one and two years in advance.

“Over 600 out of the 4,120 that were verified have their data wrongly supplied to the banks by the consultants. All these irregularities are affecting us so much.

“Also, the consultants have bluntly ignored to include the names of over 600 pensioners, who were newly retired between the months of June to December, 2016.

The chairman stated that members of the association would no longer attend verifications, handled by consultants.

The Federal Government on Wednesday informed the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, of its interest to amend the charges against the president of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki.

Saraki is currently facing a 16-count charge for false asset declaration before the Danladi Umar-led tribunal sitting in Abuja.

The Federal Government had in 2016 amended the charges from 13-counts to 16.

At the resumed trial today, counsel to the government, Rotimi Jacobs announced the decision to amend the charges, saying the motion has been served on all parties involved.

The defence team confirmed receipt of the motion, saying they have been served by the prosecution.

Umar, who heads the tribunal, also confirmed receipt of the application.

Earlier, the prosecution witness told the tribunal that investigation which led to the trial of the Senate President was triggered by a previous investigation conducted by the a Presidential investigation team in 2006.

Madojemu, who was the head of investigation said, “When we joined the team, a review of the investigation was done by the CCB, EFCC and other members of the team. In the course of the review, the team discovered that there was a previous report by a Presidential investigation team set up in 2006 consisting the CCB, EFCC and the SSS.

“It was that report which covered the beginning of tenure 2003 of the defendant. That report was what triggered the investigation.”

The matter has been stepped down for one hour.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

timmydahpeace:
i wonder oooooo...... what can now be done in peace

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

sweetboiy:
ok...lets see how Diamond Bank treat my Case... If they don't refund me, I will close the account

sweetboiy:
their charge less? As in all this unnecessary charges