₦airaland Forum

Super Eagles goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, on his Instagram page, says he is no longer available for international duties after 13 years of national service.

Details later. . .

www.punchng.com/enyeamaretiresfromeagles

President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the National Assembly met on Wednesday night at the Aso Villa to discuss matters said to be related to the 2016 budget.

Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, jointly led the leadership of the National Assembly to the meeting with the President.

Others who attended the meeting from the Senate included the Senate Majority Leader, Ali Ndume; the Deputy Majority Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah; Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio and Minority Whip, Philip Aduda.
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Those who attended from the House of Representatives included the Deputy Speaker, Yusuf Lasun; and House Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila.

They all arrived the venue in a convoy at about 8.45pm.

Conspicuously missing at the meeting however was the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu.

The meeting however started at about 9.15pm when Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and some top government officials arrived at the venue.

Journalists were barred from covering the meeting which was held inside the First Lady’s Conference Hall inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

But findings by The PUNCH indicated that Buhari’s plan to send a 2015 supplementary budget to the National Assembly was a key item on the agenda.

A senior National Assembly official informed The PUNCH that the performance of the 2015 budget also featured at the meeting.

“First would be to look at issues surrounding the main 2015 budget and why there is a need for a supplementary proposal.

“Of course, this will dovetail into talks about the 2016 budget,” the source stated.

The Presidency had two weeks ago hinted of a plan by Buhari to forward a supplementary budget to the legislature.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan had signed a 2015 budget of N4.4tn shortly before he exited office on May 29.

The National Assembly had passed the budget in April with a crude oil benchmark of $53 per barrel.

However, oil has sold far below the budgeted figure for months.

The development has and created seeming implementation bottlenecks for the budget.

It was also learnt that the meeting might discuss the leadership crisis occasioned by the emergence of Saraki as the Senate President.

Saraki, who is currently being prosecuted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal for alleged false declaration of assets, emerged the President of the Senate against the party’s choice of Ahmed Lawan.

Since the elections in the Senate, Saraki has been having a running battle with the leadership of the governing All Progressives Congress.

It was also gathered the meeting was one of the steps being taken to resolve the crisis and reconcile Saraki with the leadership of the party.

It will be recalled that Dogara had on Monday evening met with Buhari on the Saraki issue.

The Speaker met with the President following a resolution by the House that he should intervene in the crisis.

The meeting might also be aimed at securing smooth passage for ministerial nominees whose names were sent to the Senate by the President last week.

The meeting was still ongoing as at the time of filing this report.

Contact: editor@punchng.com

www.punchng.com/buharisarakidogara/2016budget

captianfreeman:
President Muhammadu Buhari will this evening meet with the leadership of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, are expected to lead the lawmakers to the meeting scheduled to start at 9pm.

The agenda of the meeting, which will hold at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, is not yet known.

http://www.punchng.com/news/buhari-meets-saraki-dogara-others-tonight/

Na the Front Page be this?

President Muhammadu Buhari will this evening meet with the leadership of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, are expected to lead the lawmakers to the meeting scheduled to start at 9pm.

The agenda of the meeting, which will hold at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, is not yet known.

http://www.punchng.com/news/buhari-meets-saraki-dogara-others-tonight/

By Ogbonna Stephen Okechukwu.

Chelsea football club has issued an official statement on its website backing the clubs manager, Jose Mourinho.

The statement which was issued at 2pm today reads:

“The club wants to make it clear that Jose continues to have our full support.
As Jose has said himself, results have not been good enough and the team’s performances must improve. However, we believe that we have the right manager to turn this season around and that he has the squad with which to do it.”

Recall that mourinho had earlier on challenged the board to back him or sack him after his team lost 3-1 to Southampton during the weekend. The statement may come as a sign of relieve to the manager who is under pressure to produce good results and turn the season around or face the axe of the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who is known for his trigger happy fingers.


www.vanguardngr.com/WhyAbramovich,ChelseaboardpassedVoteofConfidenceonMourinho

christinie:
Who's talking about that?


Haven't you seen where twins got married to twins?

It is morally wrong.

DaBullIT:
All I ever wanted was a high profile politician to be tried and Jailed

Not only will that leave a record and warning

I am sure they'll start spilling the beans on and about each other's secrets

the more the merrier the better for Nigerians

Sister, you see ya life!

freecocoa:
My phone ofcourse.

I find its very useful, compared to the nonsense book of trash called bible.

Receive mercy in Jesus Name

Towncrier247:
Lol..A splendor Mag's photographer took the above photos of Big Brother Africa Star Uti Nwachukwu recently with a fan. However, at the rear was this man checking out, seriously checking out Uti from the back.

Anyone knows this man, and what could he be looking at with so much interest?

www.splendormag.com/2014/08/exclusive-photos-of-day-man-seriously.html

Gay alert

Keziehenry:
Please your urgent response is needed.

It is very wrong both Culturally and morally. Here in africa and indeed in many part of the world, it is unacceptable for two brothers to marry two sisters. It lead to contamination of that linage.

christinie:
Nothing wrong with that.

In other words : I can be bleeping you while my brother is bleeping your sister. Something is damn wrong with that.

Princess Alexandra arriving Nigeria in 1960 to represent the Queen of England.


Happy Independence NIGERIANS.

This is amazing.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EyDtEKSYDw

The All Progressives Congress on Monday ordered for a fresh governorship ‎primary to select the party’s candidate for the November governorship election in the state.
National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, said this at the end of the party’s National Working Committee meeting in Abuja on Monday
A former state governor and one of the aspirants, Timipre Sylva, had insisted that he won the primary conducted about a week ago, which was said to have ended in a fiasco, after some hoodlums invaded the Samson Siasia Stadium, Yenagoa, venue of the party election, conducted by the Governor Adams Oshiomhole-led electoral committee.
Details later…


www.punchng.com/apc/bayelsaelection

LocalChamp:
http://thenationonlineng.net/trial-saraki-loyalists-lobby-emirs/

How do we even get to this sorry situation ? a situation where a clear judicial process is view as a mere political vendetta!I think Saraki should just go and prove his innocence.

samuel900:
Enuf of dis.....go sidon jor. Odeee

one like for you

Is Saraki afraid of the unknown? I see fear on his face. While Jagaba is chilling and showing some certain levels of swags in the dock. Now the question is, who do you think rocked the dock better?

xpat1:
I can bet it with my last kibosh that nothing will eventually happen to Bukola Saraki at the end of the day, he will still continue to be the Senate president and Tinubu, Akande , lai Muhammed et al will still continue to find ways to tame him... Till 2019

What people don't really know about Bukola Saraki Include

1.He is the first child of the former Senate majority leader Dr Olusola Saraki. He has gone through his father's political tutelage and he understand the intricacies of Nigeria politics


2.He was the last 'successful' chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum he knows how to playp Nigeria politics well! Well!! base on his experience


3.Though a medical doctor by training, he comes from a state where virtually every elite in that state is a lawyer... Kwara state has the highest concentration of legal practitioners in Nigeria (Wikipedia is your friend) So they know how to rap with the laws. That is why CCB will just shout and shout the man will still continue to be the Senate president. .. Even the emir of the state is a former justice of Nigeria


4.There are thousands upon thousands of Alfas in Kwara state.. So forget any issue of spirituality that might go against Bukola Saraki majority of the Alfas in that state are in his support.


5. Bukola Saraki has so much court connection within and outside Nigeria. Every captain of industries in Nigeria are his loyal friends, most of the emirs, Obis, Kings and Obas in the country are his friend.


This man remain unshakable except God himself wants to remove him...

Front page pls let's hear people's opinion


Cc lalasticlala et al.,

Haba!!! who be this person sef?? number 4 and 5 sha! receive sense in Jesus name.

ChuzzyBlog:
http://www.stelladimokokorkus.com/2015/09/former-first-lady-patience-jonathan.html?m=1

And so what?

MouthAction and open-mouthed "French" kissing increase the risk of acquiring oral infections of human papillomavirus, or HPV, a study shows.

"Performing MouthAction is not without risks," Dr. Maura L. Gillison told Reuters Health.

It is associated with gonorrheal pharyngitis - a sexually transmitted infection of the tonsils and back of the throat that immediately causes symptoms, she noted, and now is associated with mouth HPV infections that are silent "yet may lead to oral cancer 10 to 20 years later."

Gillison from The Ohio State University, Columbus, and colleagues explored whether sexual behaviors were associated with the odds of oral HPV infection in 332 adults and in 210 college-aged men. They found that 4.8 percent of the adults and 2.9 percent of college-aged men had oral HPV infection.

Among adults, the odds of oral HPV infection were significantly elevated among current tobacco smokers and among individuals who reported having either more than 10 oral or more than 25 vaginal sex partners during their lifetime.

Similar risk factors applied to the college-aged men. For them, having at least six recent MouthAction or open-mouthed kissing partners were independently associated with increased odds of developing oral HPV infection.

For the 28 percent of college-aged men who reported never having performed MouthAction, having at least 10 lifetime or at least five recent open-mouthed kissing partners was associated with a significantly higher risk of developing oral HPV infection.

"Our data suggest that oral HPV infections that could predispose to cancer may be transmitted by very common behaviors such as open-mouth or 'French' kissing," Gillison concluded.

Given that the HPV vaccine does not have any therapeutic value against pre-existing HPV infections, "this may be relevant to the timing of administration of vaccination," Gillison said.

Although the CDC recommends that the vaccine be administered between the ages of 9 and 12 ideally, in practice, she noted, it is often administered to girls between the age of 14 and 16. Oral exposure to HPV may have occurred prior to that age.

SOURCE: The Journal of Infectious Diseases, May 1, 2009.

A well publicized church programme purposely organized by one of the old generation churches- the Christ Apostolic Church, CAC, in Epinmi in Akoko South East area of Ondo state to exorcise the devil and its cohorts said to be tormenting the people in the agrarian community was disrupted by masquerades as the organizers were ironically dealt with instead mid-way into the spiritual meeting.

The disruption of the church service came from an unusual quarter – Masquerades.

Vanguard learnt that four masquerades invaded the church and flogged all those present including two of their pastors.

The incident is talk of the town since it happened last week. While some described it as sacrilegious others claimed that there is more to it than meets the eyes.

The church members and others within the town who were invited to the service held during the week went back home with bruises all over their bodies.
masquerades

Masquerade: Credit: Orishade.com

Sharing of proceeds

Infact, reports had it that the pastors of the church reportedly received the beating of their lives and were hospitalized thereafter.

There was stampede in the church which has a capacity to accommodate 100 worshippers as the intruders went wild flogging both the old and the young inside the church.

Findings by Vanguard revealed that the masquerades, after their show across the town, were heading for their hideout to share their proceeds.

They reportedly decided to pass through a short cut in order to escape the surging crowd following them to partake in the sharing of the day’s takings.

Unknown to them, the route they took led to the church where the service was in progress.

Some of the leaders of the church who were ushering invitees into the church were shocked to see the four masquerades running towards the church.

Police source said that the ushers informed one of the pastors who together with others formed a wall to prevent the masquerades from moving near the church.

The leader of the masqueraders, one Tunde Arohunmolase, who is now in police custody reportedly challenged the pastor and his members for disallowing them to use the footpath beside their church as their gateway.

He was said to have quoted the Bible (Psalm 24:1) “ The earth is of the Lord and the fullness thereof” to the pastor.

Tunde was said to have insisted that no human being has the right to stop others from passing through any land since it belongs to the Lord

Vanguard gathered that the Pastor and those that formed the wall refused to budge.
Tunde was said to have signalled to his colleagues and they overran the human wall, headed straight to the church and flogged all those present during the service.

Some members who could not escape through the doors used the windows.

None of those that attended the service was spared from the beating by the masquerades.
Satisfied that they have dealt with the pastors and others, the masquerades reportedly left the church premises without taking anything from the church.

They later, after their ungodly act, passed through the footpath beside the church to their hideout where they later shared their takings.

But nemesis later caught up with them as detectives who traced them after some church members had lodged a complaint, rounded them up while they were sharing their booty.

Vanguard was informed that their leader was arrested while the two others escaped.

The suspect has reportedly given useful information while the fleeing masqueraders are being traced.
Police source said that the suspect confessed that they were pushed into masquerade business because they had nothing doing and do not want to be criminals.

According to the source, the suspect, during interrogation, said they went round the town and were able to make N3,000 which they shared equally.

Vanguard also learnt that they would have made more money if it was during a festival but because the exercise was not attached to any known festival in the town, many of those they asked for money ignored them.

Suspects’ confession

Report said that the suspects confessed that they were lured into the exercise by one Kayode who told them that they stand to make quick money if they joined him in the exercise.

The suspect told police detectives that they had a successful outing until the unexpected happened in the church.

When contacted, the police image maker, Wole Ogodo, said that only one of the suspects is in police custody and that he has confessed to the offense.

Ogodo said that the other two are at large and would soon be apprehended.

He also confirmed that two of the pastors were wounded during the invasion of the church.
Ogodo said that the two pastors have been discharged from hospital after they were treated.

He gave the names of the pastors as Jacob Ogunmola and Kehinde Ilori.

The Police Spokesman added that the suspect – Tunde Arohunmolase, in police custody said that they decided to vent their anger on the pastors because they prevented them from passing through the footpath beside their church during church service.

Ogodo assured that the fleeing masqueraders would soon be arrested from their hideouts and be made to face the music.

Fleeing masqueraders

One of the pastors that was attack, Jacob Ogunmola, declined comment on the incident.

But one of the leaders in the church who spoke in confidence said “ what happened resulted from breakdown in communication”.

According to him, the pastors were out to prevent the masquerades from distracting the church programme and did not ask them not to do their business.

He said that the church has put the ugly incident behind it and has moved on adding that Sunday service was held in the church with an impressive attendance by church members.

According to him the ugly incident “has not and will not affect the church attendance”.

Meanwhile, a new Police Commissioner, Mike Ogbodu, has resumed in the state as the 36th Commissioner of Police.

www.vanguardngr.com/howmasqueradesquotedthebiblebeforefloggingchurchmembers

igbinigiejeff:
I wonder how some people do their reading!PMB is only trying to make us understand that the vill is to expensive to maintain;If given the opportunity he would have loved a smaller palace.....Here is a Leader who try to save cost for the Nation.

gracier apalante.(thank you so much for your understanding)

Jackeeh:
Nigerian law = JOKE.
5 n 14years imprisonment = JOKE
Denrele is proof!

This must be one of the gentle men of the back door.

Ahead of Chelsea’s 2015/2016 UEFA Champions League opener against against Maccabi Tel Aviv, Chelsea manager, José Mourinho has told a press conference that he has nothing to prove to anyone after his team’s poor start on Monday after journalists asked questions about his managerial career.

The Premier League champions are 17th in the table after losing three of their opening five games of the season.

Asked if he still has the qualities of a great manager, Mourinho replied: “The point is that the question is stupid. I am sorry.”

The Portuguese manager, who joined the club in 2013 for a second spell, said losing is a “strange feeling” after his side’s worst start to a top-flight season in 29 years. Chelsea’s 3-2 victory away at West Brom in August is their only victory in the league so far.



Spiky Mourinho refutes ‘third season syndrome’

In a testy exchange with BBC Sport’s Ben Smith, Mourinho rejected the idea that performances of the teams he has managed deteriorated in his third season in charge.

“Look, my third season – in Porto, I didn’t have a third season. My third season in Inter, I didn’t have a third season. My third season at Chelsea the first time, I won the FA Cup and the Carling Cup, and I played the Champions League semi-finals. My third season in Real Madrid, I won the Super Cup, I lost the cup [Copa del Rey] final, and I went to the Champions League semi-finals. These are my third seasons…,” Mourinho said.

Mourinho, however, went berserk when BBC Sports’ Ben Smith would not budge. The following conversation ensued:

“Ben Smith: Sure, but you know what I’m getting at…

Jose Mourinho: So click Google, instead of making stupid questions, click Google and try to find.

Ben Smith: Jose, you know what I’m getting at though, don’t you, how important is it for you to build…

Jose Mourinho: No, you spoke about the third season, and I am telling you that the question is stupid, because the third season is what I told you.

Ben Smith: Jose, you know the point of the question…

Jose Mourinho: No, I know the point, the point is that the question is stupid. I am sorry…”

[At this point a Chelsea press officer intervenes]

www.vanguardngr.com/josemourinho-pressconfrence

Now to the Ladies , how would you feel if your Husband or brother go about exposing some sensitive part of his body? e.g. You know now!!

Mohammed Bakr al-Baghdadi, the brother of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who is the Caliph of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, has converted to christianity, reports Al-Jazeera this morning. The move has brought the man an unprecedented backlash from the Salafist Sunni community that has ordered a fatwa, or death-sentence, on the man as soon as the news was spread in media around the muslim world. «He is no more my brother then the miscreant American pigs we slay everyday» told the self-proclaimed Caliph to a large crowd of his followers. «Let Allah not forget this treacherous swine when he pleads on his knees to enter the gates of Heaven and is thrown back into the pits of Hell» he cried out, before issuing a death-sentence on his own brother’s head. Abu Bakr al-Baghadi obtained his BA, MA and PhD degrees in Islamic studies from the Islamic University of Baghdad and became a cleric at the Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal Mosque in Samarra at around the time of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.It is definitely during the time of the Iraq war that both brothers took very different paths, one becoming an Oil engineer in Texas and the other becoming more of a prominent religious fanatic» explains Middle-East political analyst Jim Stern. «The two men who have not spoken for the past 14 years have relatively nothing in common» he adds.Mohammed Bakr al-Baghadi and his family are now under the Witness Security Program that has since 9-11 opened up not only to witnesses testifying against criminal organization members but who will also testify against terrorist organizations that are less organized and more dangerous.

www.fb.com/hopefornigeria

anitafancis:
Dear readers please mature advice and no insult pls..


Am going throught a difficult time in my life and needed help badly, to cut the long story short, I met this man throught a friend i was living with, she introduce me to this guy saying he has money and he will be able to take care of me, I had no choice because I needed help and the guy has the money to give..

I started dating him and he gives me money a lot and promise to get me an accommodation which I did believe him of course. I got pregnant for him and he told me to keep the pregnancy which i refused but my girlfriend told me to keep it that he may even marry me. After five months plus, he started changing towards me and telling me he doesn't have money anymore. When I try to talk about the situation at hand, he gets angry and even tries to hit me..

He does not give me money anymore, he is always drinking and smoking.. I couldn't go for an abortion because I was scared and it's too late for abortion. I came home after service on sunday and found out that he was not at home and he has packed all his things and left an empty house for me. I cried throught out that day. Where am I going to start from with almost six months pregnancy? I later found out that he's married and he has 3 kids..

What am I going to do?. Pls advice..

Well, it is a kind of a pathetic scenario. But there is a lesson to be learn. Financial help should never be a basis for going into a romantic relationship. Giving a man access into your london without visa (condom) is a big NO. As for the pregnancy, you have to keep it to the very end. After that, you will need to diligently rearrange your self.

FIDELIS got married late – in his early 40s. Two years into his marriage, he could no longer get an erection. “I’d had problems with my libido in the past”, he confessed, “and by the time I met Lisa, my wife, making love was very infrequent. She was only 23 and I thought that she would be fertile enough to get pregnant with the infrequent time, I could have sex.
Love

Love

But she didn’t. It wasn’t really her fault as my semen was often watery. I won’t bore you with the details of efforts I made to have a child. I have resigned myself to the reality of my impotence.

“Unfortunately, I have a young wife who has a strong sex drive and always has a need for penetrative sex to achieve full satisfaction. So, my impotence has come as a big disappointment to her. As a result, we have both confided in Ade, a very close and trustworthy friend whom we have known for many years. He has four children but is currently separated from his wife.

After much discussion, he has offered to help. He is well-endowed and my wife and I are keen to accept his offer, as we believe this would solve our problems. I’m all for it as I feel that we could all get something from it. He lives alone as the wife has custody of their. kids, and he needs sex too … “

As Fidelis rattled on excitedly, I gaped at him in disbelief. Of course, we’ve heard of men who passed on pregnancies they were responsible for to their mistresses’ unsuspecting husbands. But to knowingly look for a stand-in lover to help pregnate your wife is pushing desperation to the limit. I told Fidelis that my gut reaction was that it was going to be a total disaster. What works as a fantasy often backfires.

A sex expert I discussed it with was equally appalled. “Fidelis has to be made to realise that while we all like to pretend we can separate sex and love, our genitals and our hearts do inhabit the same body,” she explained. “Many weird and wonderful things happen when a couple start having sex. Powerful and intoxicating hormones transfer through skin-to-skin contact.

Sex connects and bonds people. I wonder if Fidelis will still find it quite so exciting when his wife suddenly packs her bag, ready to move in with her husband’s ‘well-endowed’ friend. He hasn’t told you how things are going to work. Does he intend to watch while his wife is being serviced by his enthusiastic friend in the bedroom or would he watch the telly as if nothing is going on?”

“Man sues neighbour he paid to get his wife pregnant but failed after 72 attempts,” is a recent news item that shows the stupidity of Fidelis action. The story- reads: “In Stuttgart, Germany, a court judge must decide on a case of honourable intentions in a situation where a man hired his neighbour to get his wife pregnant. It seems that Demetrius Soupolos, 29, said his former beauty queen wife, Traute, wanted a child badly, but Demetrius was told by a doctor that he was sterile. So Soupolos after calming his wife’s protest, hired his neighbour Frank Maus, 34, to impregnate her. Since Maus was already married and the father of two children plus looked very much like Soupolos to boot, the plan seemed good. Soupolos paid Maus $2,500 dollars and for three evenings a week for the next six months, Maus tried desperately, a total of 72 different times, to impregnate Traute.

“When his own wife objected, he explained,” I don’t like this any more than you do, I’m simply doing it for the money. Try- and understand’. When Traute failed to get pregnant after six months however, Soupolos was not understanding and insisted that Maus have a medical examination, which he did. The doctor’s announcement that Maus was also sterile shocked every-one except his wife, who was forced to confess that Maus was not the real father of their children.

“Now Soupolos is suing Maus for breach of contract in an effort to get his money back, but Maus refused to give it up because he said he did not guarantee conception, but only that he would give an honest effort!”

www.vanguardngr.com/shouldanimpotenthusbandseekthehelpofafriend?

chocolateme:
Ok

Baby, how are you?

MANY governors, who spoke with The PUNCH, on Thursday, out rightly rejected the suggestion that looters of the nation’s resources be sentenced to death.

Organised labour- the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress-at the beginning of the week said looters should be given the death sentence in order to serve as deterrence to others.

Labour said it was only by killing looters that the anti-corruption crusade being championed by President Muhammadu Buhari could succeed.


But most governors, who reacted to the labour suggestion on Thursday, said the death sentence would be too harsh.

Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun said he would rather canvass that looters be sentenced to life imprisonment, rather than the death sentence prescribed by the organised labour.



Amosun said this while addressing the state workers who had marched to the Oke Mosan state secretariat in Abeokuta to give their backing to Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade.

The state chapters of the NLC and TUC organised the rally.

The governor said, “Everybody knows President Muhammadu Buhari is transparent and meants well for the nation and would never want to hear anything about corruption.

“Even under 100 days in office, electricity is improving. People know that if you try it you are gone. I always say this, whether you are a governor, permanent secretary or labour leader, you cannot be corrupt under a leader that is not corrupt, because you will be punished.

“Unfortunately as a governor, I cannot be saying that capital punishment should be meted out to corrupt public officials. Because I cannot say that, that is why I will say that anybody that is found wanting, whether you are governor or any other public officer should be jailed for life.”

He however said that not only politicians should shun corruption but every Nigerian.

“It is not only politicians that should shun corruption, workers too should not be corrupt,” he said.

His counterpart in Plateau State, Simon Lalong, also said he would rather prefer life imprisonment to death penalty.

Lalong’s Director of Press Affairs, Mr. Emmanuel Nanle, told our correspondent that “in all his discussions, Lalong has never mentioned death sentence. He has always preferred life imprisonment to taking human life because to him life is sacred.”

Also both governors of Ekiti and Rivers states, Ayodele Fayose and Nyesom Wike respectively, out rightly rejected death penalty for looters.

Fayose, who reacted through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, said jail sentence was better and capable of reforming thieves.

“In countries where death penalty was introduced, it has not stopped looting. In advanced countries like US, jail sentence is the penalty. What we need is proper moral education to change orientation of the people. Jail sentence is better; it can reform,” he told one of our correspondents in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.

Wike said that Nigeria had enough laws to deter people from fleecing the nation.

The governor, who spoke through his special adviser on media, Opunabo Inko-Tariah, said that the labour unions merely made the recommendation because of the impunity with which public office holders loot the nation’s treasury.

He said, “Nigerians have a role to play by deriding looters and not to praise them for their fiscal irresponsibility. There should be a strong punitive measure to discourage looting because of its domino effects. When a treasury is looted, there won’t be money for the provision of necessities such as hospitals, roads, etc.

“Maybe because it happened in Ghana and the economy improved, the labour organisations want it in Nigeria. But that was a military regime and Jerry Rawlings was a military man. However, the extant laws on looting need serious and urgent review, even if the death penalty is discouraged.”

Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State said he was comfortable with whatever the people want in relation to punishment for looters.

Mimiko, who spoke through his information commissioner, Kayode Akinmade, said if it was the wish of the people of the country that looters should be killed by law, “so be it’’ but that the process of law must be followed in carrying out such executions.

He said, “We are not under a military rule; this is democracy and we have constitution that we follow. If it is put in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, irrespective of whether you are a governor or not, so be it. If that is what Nigerians want, it is okay.

“Everybody is against corruption, but there is a process of making law. Thank God we have a National Assembly and the state assemblies who are representative of the people. If such bill could be sent to the national and state assemblies and be passed into law, it must become a law.

“If the process is followed and it is the wish of Nigerians that looters be killed, why not? Let it become a law. It is a fact that Nigerians are not happy with this corruption tag, which has slowed down our economic development but if we have a law that will bring about capital punishment for the looters, it is okay.”

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State on Thursday declined comment on whether looters should be sentenced to death or not.

Aregbesola’s media aide, Semiu Okanlawon, when contacted, said he did not know the mind of his principal on the matter and promised to contact the governor and get back to our correspondent but Okanlawon had yet to keep the promise as of the time of this report.

Subsequent calls to his mobile telephone line also did not connect.

The Special Adviser (Media and Public Affairs) to Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, Mr. Kassim Afegbua, told one of our correspondents on the telephone that his principal needed to personally examine the issue of whether to accept death penalty for looters or not because “it requires a process.”

“It has to go through a bill. It has to be an act of parliament and a lot of things would go into it,” he said.

Enugu State governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Mr. Louis Amoke, said he would also need to consult his principal, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, to get his position on the matter.

“I will have to get in touch with him to know his position on the matter, it is very sensitive and I will not talk without finding out from him,” Amoke told our correspondent.

As of the time of this report, Amoke said he had yet to have a contact with the governor.

The Governor of Nasarawa State, Umaru Al-Makura, however, said he supported that capital punishment be meted out to corrupt public office holders.

“I really agree with the NLC over call for capital punishment for any public office holder who is found guilty of looting public funds,” the governor said in an interview with one of our correspondents.

www.punchng.com/govsrejectsdeathpenaltyforlooters