₦airaland Forum

President Muhammadu Buhari says there is no better time than now in Nigeria’s history to pray for divine guidance to get over the current challenges.

President Buhari said this on Saturday in his 2016 Christmas message to Nigerians which he personally signed.

According to him, "We can have peace in Nigeria if we all learn to tolerate and appreciate one another, respect constituted authority; and be our brothers’ keepers in word and deed.

He said Nigerians should, at Christmas, remember to offer special prayers for all the nation's heroic citizens who paid the supreme price to restore peace and security in the northeast and other flash points in the country.

He also asked the citizens to remember in their prayers, the security forces in the frontline in the continuing battle to rid our nation of terrorism and violence.

He added: "We must not forget the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in our midst and those who have suffered untold hardship as a result of activities of insurgents and terrorists."

He said his administration's immediate priority was to alleviate the poverty of Nigerians by quickly stimulating the economy.

President Buhari assured Nigerians that his government was doing its best to make life easier for all.

The president also asked the citizens to renew their hope "in the God-ordained unity, progress and prosperity" of the country.

He said he heartily rejoiced with all Nigerians, particularly the Christian faithful, on this year's celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

According to him, as they celebrate the Christmas, it is very appropriate to reflect on the love of God aptly espoused in the teachings and lifestyle of Jesus Christ.

Buhari noted that during his earthly sojourn, Jesus Christ repeatedly reminded his disciples and followers of peace that comes in the midst of trials and tribulations on earth.

The president wished all travellers safe movements and a memorable holiday as they celebrate with their families and friends.

SaharaReporters has learned of an outrageous case where police officers in Ota, Ogun State, demanded a bribe from a couple robbed days before their wedding.

With just three days before their wedding, Yeni and her fiancé, both of them residents of Ota, were robbed. “Our house was burgled on Tuesday, and the thieves went away with lots of valuables including our wedding rings and my fiancé’s laptop,” Yeni told our correspondent. “We reported immediately at the Police Divisional Headquarters in Onipanu-Ota, and we were assured that we would recover the stolen items, but that we had to ‘drop’ something before the police could start an investigation,” she added. "Drop something" is a code word for a bribe.

Our correspondent learned that one of the police officers assigned to the case has continually called Yeni’s fiancé, asking him ‘how far?’ “I have been wondering if the victims should be responsible for funds required for investigating a theft,” a troubled Yeni. She added, “At present, we are financially down, and our wedding is this weekend. And because we are yet to replace most of the things stolen, my fiancé tried to explain the situation of things to this particular police officer calling and asking for money, but she told us to call the IPO. We did only to discover that the IPO was so angry that we’ve not been able to ‘settle’ them since."

Several police officers at the Divisional Headquarters in Onipanu-Ota have reportedly threatened to put the investigation on hold until the victims ‘drop something.’ “Even to fill a police report here, I was told to pay N10, 000,” Yeni’s fiancé told our correspondent.

A few other residents told our reporter that the police station was notorious for extortion and demands for bribes. “When my passport and other documents were stolen, and I came here for a police report, I was told to drop something to buy paper and biro,’ one of the residents said.

SaharaReporters identified the IPO handling Yeni and her fiancé’s case as Inspector Nosa. We rang his mobile number, 08033252754, to ascertain why he and his colleagues have been demanding a bribe from robbery victims, but he did not respond.

Ighoga898:
please help does anyone know d meaning of dis circle with cross line sign on my phone? as a result of d sign my phone has lost network.

Mynd44:
President Buhari and Former President Obasanjo are not ex-convicts. No judge ever found then guilty of any crime.

Ibori was found guilty before a competent judge and was handed out time behind bars.

Please note the difference

sarrki:
My president is a man of integrity
Baba obasanjo is an elder statesman
I am a patriot
God bless Muhammadu Buhari
God bless Nigeria

sarrki:
Do you think Nigeria is that bahd?

Have a rethink if you believe in such

Ibori is an ex convict.

Some political bigwigs in Nigeria, including senators, governors and political associates of the just-released-from-prison former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, might be rooting for the return of the ex-convict to political office if feelers from a serving senator are anything to go by.

In a video that had gone viral on the social media, the Chairman, Senate Committee on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, who was a political adviser to the former governor was seen discussing with Ibori and some of his associates, talking about the political prowess of the man who made him a senator and how he wielded so much influence even while he was behind bars.

Apparently referring to the political future of Ibori without being specific, Nwaoboshi said: “Why we have come today, my brother, my leader, is that, first, we are proud of you and we thank God for sparing your life.

“And we want to open this dream, we are waiting for you, and Nigerians will know that a senator is proposing your choice, and not just a senator, a respected senator. A senator that is chairman of the NDDC”, Nwaoboshi said.

Though Ibori is not set to return to Nigeria anytime soon, it is not clear on which political platform the ex-convict will be running in 2019, if indeed he will be contesting for a political office.

There have been speculations that Ibori is planning to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in order to have a soft landing and save himself from prosecution.

Some political analysts and lawyers have argued for and against whether Ibori should still face charges in Nigeria after serving a jail term in the UK, but the Court of Appeal had given the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the leave to appeal Ibori’s acquittal by Justice Marcel Awokulehin of the Federal High Court, Asaba, after the former governor pleaded guilty in a London court.

The Court of Appeal had set aside the ruling of the lower court on the grounds that Awokulehin erred in law while delivering his judgement; a three-man panel of justices at the Benin Division of the Court of Appeal on May 15, 2014, ruled that the ex-governor has a case to answer, making the coast clear for the EFCC to further prosecute Ibori upon his return to Nigeria.

However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that Ibori still belong to its fold because he did not at anytime leave the party. The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said; “Ibori has never left the party, so the question of re-admittance does not arise. He is still a leader of the party, and I am aware of the fact that our members in Delta State are very happy with him.

They don’t have problem with him at all”. Nwaoboshi in the fiveminute video alluded to the fact that Ibori made him a senator, made his daughter a member of the state House of Assembly, anointed governors and even supported the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to get to their exalted seats while in prison.

The senator also called the attention of Ibori to the fact that he had been betrayed by some of those he helped while in office, a statement to which Ibori replied: “I am the father of all; the good, the bad and the ugly”.

Narrating how he was almost stopped by security agents from making the trip to the United Kingdom, Nwaoboshi said nobody could stop him from flying to London to felicitate with the man he called, “my boss and my leader”. “I want to welcome all of you here, my names are distinguished Senator Peter Nwaoboshi.

I left Nigeria yesterday because of my boss. James Ibori is my boss, my brother and somebody I so much loved. “We all came here because of Ibori. There are so many people who had been governors and as soon as they left office, nobody remember them again.

“There are many people who had this problem and nobody will come, but James is a good man, he is a jolly good fellow. The man that makes everybody and nobody made him. “Many people had been governors but they did not have opportunity of installing their successors.

There may never be a governor in Nigeria again, who will sit in the cell or in the prison, and make a governor from there.“There may never be a governor again, in the history of the country, who will sit in the cell and make a senator. “There will never be a governor in the country again who will sit in the cell and support a senate president.

There may never be a governor in the country again who will sit in the cell and make a speaker of the House. “There will never be a governor in the country again who will sit in the cell and make the daughter a member of the House of Assembly.

“When I was at the airport, a security agent came to me and said, ‘I know you are travelling because of Ibori’ and I replied; ‘yes, I am going because of James Ibori and there is nothing you can do to stop me, I have the authority to travel, you cannot stop me.

If you want trouble, we will give you trouble’. “But I know those he signed a lot of things for that had forgotten him today. History will judge everybody”.

Ibori was released from prison on Wednesday confirming a story earlier reported by Saturday Telegraph, in which this newspaper noted that Ibori would be released on December 20.

The ex-con is to remain in the UK until his deportation to Nigeria is fully processed as he is now restricted to his London apartment and also required to report weekly to the police.

But Dogara yesterday reacted, saying, though there is a possibility that Ibori, could be his silent supporter, he had no personal relationship with the ex-convict and that he was duly elected by members of the lower legislative chamber, not by Ibori “Our attention has been drawn to statement credited to Nwabaoshi. We have watched the video clip and noticed that there is nowhere the distinguish senator mentioned Dogara by name.

“For the records, we want to state that the Speaker was elected by the votes of members of the House of Representatives. There may well be silent supporters and well-wishers of the honourable speaker from far and near some of whom he may not be aware of.

“Dogara does not have a relationship, political or otherwise with Ibori to warrant the insinuations in the statement credited to Nwabaoshi, and had never had one.”

Aniker:
Philipe Coutinho

Franchise21:
Re u an Economist?

Noblecx:
Best way to criticise the govt...

Don't criticise like fayose.
He is a tout making empty noise.

Anyway I Don reserve room for kirikiri for him.

Apc won't save him also PDP won't save him..

Meanwhile. Budget padding season 2 loading

SexyNairalander:
two love birds


na make up sex remain

Consequent upon the refusal of the Senate to confirm Mr Ibrahim Magu as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Red Chamber has been criticized for attempting to frustrate the war against corruption being waged by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Head of Transparency International (Nigeria), Auwal Ibrahim Rafsanjani, made this assertion in an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP Friday.

According to him, the Senate has been trying to scuttle the anti-corruption war of the incumbent administration since it started making moves to overhaul the Code of Conduct Act just because the Senate president, Bukola Saraki, was standing trial for not properly declaring his assets while he was the governor of Kwara State.

Rafsanjani, who is also the chairman, Board of Amnesty International (Nigeria), asserted that that the Senate is trying to stop the confirmation of Magu so as to weaken his resolve to do a thorough job of reducing corruption in the country.

He said: “Because there is an attempt to undermine the anti-corruption stance of the present administration by the Senate, which tried to change the Code of Conduct Act to favour the Senate President in the ongoing case against him, some allude that rejecting Magu is also part of this attempt to dampen the morale of the EFCC.

“Everybody in this country knows that, in the last one year, the EFCC has become more active, more professional and more assertive in terms of dealing with people who are associated with corruption or people who have looted the country. The amount of money that has been recovered, the amount of confession and testimony that people have given to the EFCC on the role they played in looting the country, had never been recorded before.

“And there were people that were untouchable before, but under one year of Buhari’s government, they have been arrested, investigated and they returned money. So, this is something that has not happened before. Obviously there are people who are not happy with the anti-corruption stance of this government, so they want to make sure they weaken the morale and spirit of people (like Magu) that are making this to happen,” he said.

Rafsanjani, who lamented that the anti-corruption agencies in the country are being starved, emphasized that “they are not being given the technical, financial and moral support that would enable them to do their work in the best way possible.

He accused the lawmakers of reducing the entire confirmation exercise to ridicule, even as he carpeted the Department of State Services (DSS), whose report was used as an excuse to stop Magu’s clearance by the Senate.

“There is no concerted effort to harmonise disparate information. Ideally, a security report clearing or indicting a nominee should have been made available to the president. But in this case, we have seen contradictions. Even though we have not yet got any authoritative or official report released by the SSS, which claimed it submitted the report to the National Assembly, we have not seen anybody from the SSS come to debunk or confirm the originality of that report.

“It shows you that there is a problem, because the president should have gotten this report before sending the name of his nominee to the National Assembly, because had (Magu) had any problem, the president would not have submitted his name.

“If it is true that it is the SSS that sent that report to the National Assembly, it shows lack of respect to the office of the president. It shows that there is an attempt to undermine the president’s integrity in the whole process. This is really not good for the country. And from the National Assembly’s part, what has transpired indicates that it (the National Assembly) didn’t show any iota of transparency in the process because the confirmation is not done by a sub-committee. It is supposed to be by the whole red chamber.

“The fact that they were not able to arrive at the fact of accepting or rejecting him (Magu); and a committee went into caucus only to come out and announce that he is not going to be confirmed shows lack of transparency in the legislative process.

“On all other nominees, we have seen how the Senate debated and took collective resolutions on the foor of the Senate. In the case of Magu, no such thing was done,” he said.

Rafsanjani, who also doubles as the acting general secretary, West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) and the executive director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC), added that: “If you have a serious government that takes its position against corruption seriously, it will be extremely difficult for the National Assembly to play the game they are playing, especially when it is the same party, the ruling party, which has the majority in the parliament.

“This shows that there is a total lack of coherence and coordination in the manner in which governance is carried out in Nigeria. So, it is the advocacy of Transparency International (Nigeria) to see that Nigerian government becomes more efficient, more executive, more active to deal with all the issues that will make government structures workable and working.



“It is very clear that the Nigerian government is not in charge of its agencies and information because, ordinarily, the president is in charge of the security sector. So, if there is any report indicting anybody or any nominee of Mr President, the security should have alerted him before he sent such a person’s name to the National Assembly for confirmation.

“But because of lack coherence and adherence to due process in the information now, you could see how the president and the presidency had been terribly disgraced by the action that we have seen.”

Meanwhile, former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr Joseph B. Daudu (SAN) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to look for better Nigerians to run EFCC.

Addressing a news conference in Abuja, Daudu, who is also the chairman of the African Bar Association (ABA), said President Buhari must consider the Magu experience as a ‘failure’ and treat the file as closed.

“There is no doubt that the appointment of EFCC chairman is not only within the purview of the president but subject to the confirmation of the Senate. What this means is that the rejection by the Senate of the nomination of Magu automatically ends his role within the EFCC.

“His formal nomination to the office of chairman of the EFCC automatically nullified his position as acting chairman of the same immediately he was rejected as a nominee for the chairmanship. Consequently, the sojourn of Magu at the EFCC has come to an end,” Daudu said.

Daudu represented Senate president, Bukola Saraki, at the CCT trial.

According to him, there is no principle of law that empowers the president to retain Magu in an acting capacity in the face of his rejection by the legislature.

“This is because it is the constitution that gave the legislature the power to confirm the candidacy of Magu that gave the president the power to nominate him as chairman of EFCC. One arm of government cannot dictate supremacy to the other as that will amount to a brazen infraction of the Constitution,” he said.

Dfinex:
lolss.....accountants/economists, one set of stinging/broke ass fellows.

any babe admiring them is on a long thing......but they can be highly deceptive with their gentleman look.

BrooklynTheBully:





Lol, Baba all the one wey you don dey assault back to back for that your domot nko?? . . . Nobody is a saint, Bruh

BrooklynTheBully:




My Nigga, Wetin ah do you now??

BrooklynTheBully:
It's funny how most ladies out there uses 16 digits passwords with a mixture of letters, numbers and symbols to lock their phones while the password to unlock their respective legs is "swipe to open"

sinaj:
. Yeeeeeeessss I will

Let's just start having babies immediately

Boleyndynasty2:
who is fighting corruption? Buhari is just fooling himself