Olisa Metuh, former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, on Friday, Sept 27 narrated in a Federal High Court, Abuja how he distributed the N400million he collected from the Office of the National Security Adviser under Sambo Dasuki in 2014, in what he said was a “special national assignment,” in the lead up to the 2015 general election.

Igbere TV reports that Metuh is facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside his company, Destra Investment on seven-count charges, bordering on money laundering to the tune of N400 million.

According to a post by the EFCC, Metuh who is the defence team’s 15th witness under cross-examination by the prosecution counsel told the court that there was never an instance where the former President Goodluck Jonathan directly paid any money to him.

He said that the payment of N400 million, allegedly approved by Goodluck Jonathan, was for the national assignment as directed by the then president.

Upon being shown the statement of his account which had N6.6million before an inflow of N400 million into it on November 24, 2014, he narrated to court how he disbursed the money in what he said was a 'national assignment'.

He said there was an outflow of N7.5 million from the amount through a cheque to a company, CNC Connect on December 2, 2014, another payment of N21.7 million to Chief Anenih and N50 million to Kanayo/Olisah Metuh which is a joint account on December 4, 2014. On that same date, he narrated that there was another outflow of N31.5 million to Richard Ehidioha

He also told the court of two separate payments of N200 million and N300 million to Daniel Ford International also on December 4, 2014.

Other subsequent expenditures he said are payments to CNC Connect in the sum of N70 million on December 15, 2014; N25 million to Abba Dabo on December 16, 2014 and N5 million to Ambassador Kema Chikwe.

He told the court that a final report he submitted to the then president had all the expenditures of the N400 million, captured in receipts and signatures for all payment of monies in cash and through several accounts for the special assignment. He said he had about 19 accounts of which more than five are in Diamond Bank.

Metu also told the court that he made an investment of $2million dollars in cash in ARM, through an ARM staff, Miss Nneka Ararume.

When asked if the equivalent of the $2million was paid in naira into Dextra’s account which was to the tune N366 million at that time, he said, "We led evidence to show that the $2 million was paid by me to ARM and the prosecution had led evidence to show that Nneka Ararume paid monies to bureau de change which now transferred the monies into my account."

He said he did not have any dealings with the bureau de change, recalling that Miss Ararume told the court that she got his account details from his record with ARM and gave it to the bureau de change.

When asked if the non-payment of $2million dollars into his account was to conceal the origin of the money, Metuh said the non-payment of the sum into his account was the failure of his account officer to execute a lawful and legal directive.

Justice Abang adjourned the matter to September 30, 2019 for continuation of trial, reports Igbere TV.

majamajic:
Obaseki was Ekweremadized in new York , yet we didn't hear it here in Naija

I have the full video

how come ?

By Fredrick Nwabufo

You can accuse Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo of being ‘’down-to-earth’’, considering his pint-size. You can also accuse him of intellectual exuberance, but you cannot tack corruption to him. It will not stick.

Over the years, the maelstrom of anger against Osinbajo has widened. The reason for this, perhaps, is the perception by some Nigerians that he is not standing up enough for his own – the Christian fold and the south — when it matters. Another reason is the amplification of this perception by some members of the opposition who deploy propaganda to ‘’divisive finale’’.

Osinbajo’s faith and calling – as a pastor – are sometimes juxtaposed with allegations of intellectual dishonesty, pretense and of enshrouding the wrongs in the Buhari administration.

As matter of fact, the vice-president often appears to be singled out for remonstrance for the lapses and controversial policies of the administration.

For example, in June, the vice-president was reported to have told Nigerians in New York that Nigeria had about 112.7million people living in extreme poverty as of 2010 – this was in response to reports of the country becoming the world poverty capital under Buhari.

One of those who drew blood from Osinbajo on account of this was Reno Omokri. The soi-disant “Buhari tormentor’’ vocalised the typical perception. He said the vice-president lies as much as the devil.

He said: “You see that no matter how far and fast Osinbajo’s regular falsehood travels, it will always be overtaken by truth.’’

“I will like to say again that Mr Osinbajo has shown himself to be a man of very base character, who lies as much as the devil that he preaches against and whose behaviour has undermined the faith of genuine believers.”

Really, social media has made it facile to sculpt perceptions. All it takes is for a stentorian voice, with a strong capacity for babble, to make pronouncements on an issue or an individual, and the mob, which operates without the ‘’encephalon’’, go to town Andrews bleat.

It is understandable that there are high expectations of Osinbajo being a man of the robe. But the tendency to diminish him for standing in support of the administration he serves is an act sanctimony.

I think, by being a strong support to Buhari, Osinbajo is giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.

Also, before the Ruga programme was pigeonholed, Osinbajo took much of the obloquy for the controversial initiative, even though he had nothing to do with it; he was already working on the National Livestock Transformation Plan with the governors of the 36 states.

The vice-president, eventually, had to issue a statement dissociating himself from Ruga to get the hounds off.

In addition, there is the perception that he is not doing enough or not exerting enough pressure on the administration to secure the release of Leah Sharibu, a Christian girl in Boko Haram captivity.

In fact, this was the core of one of Omokri’s jabs at Osinbajo. As I said, it is understandable, considering Osinbajo’s religious background. But perceptions are not always true.

However, these accusations can be palliated because they are governed by perceptions. But the allegation of financial impropriety and fraud against Osinbajo by some persons border on his personal integrity. They are weighty and damaging.

It is characteristic of our brand of politics, for political actors to casually tag other actors as corrupt even when there is no evidence. Nigeria’s politics is where good and competent men and women get into, and become sectioned as part of the vacuous, predatory corrupt class.

The reason most Nigerians with the aptitude for leadership do not go into politics is for fear of the ‘’tag’’.

Even the principled Oby Ezekwesili was not spared of scandals after bravely stepping into the molten magna that is Nigeria’s politics. Allegations of diverting 153 million campaign funds rippled when she decided to back out of the 2019 presidential contest.

One thing is certain; the hawks are hovering over Osinbajo in Aso Rock. He himself admitted that there are saboteurs working against the government. These recent allegations may be a furtherance of the artifice of those hawks.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in New York, told world leaders that his administration had recovered millions of dollars stolen from Nigeria.

President Buhari disclosed this on the sidelines of ongoing 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA74) in the United States.

According to a statement released by the President's Spokesman, Femi Adesina on his Facebook page, Buhari spoke on “Promotion of International Cooperation to Combat Illicit Financial Flows”, an event organized by AUDA-NEPAD in conjunction with the EFCC.

“President Buhari presented a keynote address, which was supported by President Edgar Lungu of Zambia, and President of Ethiopia, Sahlework Zewede. President of UNGA 74, Professor Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, was also there, as well as key figures from round the world”, he said.

In his keynote address, Buhari lamented the evil that corruption was doing to Africa. Quoting from the 2014 Global Financial Integrity Report, the president noted that Nigeria alone lost minimum of $157.5 billion between 2003-2012, adding that such massive loss of assets resulted in dearth of resources “to fund public services or to alleviate poverty,” in the country.

According to him, “This is why, as Africans, we have no choice but to break the back of corruption...That is why our government has made it a war we intend to win. We will give all it takes to ensure there is no hiding place for purveyors of corrupt practices who are truly enemies of the people.”

Stressing the need to strengthen good practices on asset recovery and return, President Buhari said that, “In the last five years, our government has made significant progress to curb corruption,” adding: “We have recovered millions of dollars stolen from our country.”

On his part, Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, said, “There should be understanding, there should be collaboration, there should be repatriation; send it [Africa’s stolen wealth] back to the victim countries.”

President Muhammadu Buhari, Wednesday night, met with American business magnate, Bill Gates; and Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, in New York.

The President met the duo at the sidelines of the ongoing 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA74) in the United States.

The meeting of the trio was disclosed in a statement sighted by Igbere TV on the verified Twitter handle of the Nigerian government, @NigeriaGov.

According to the statement, Buhari applauded the contributions of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Aliko Dangote Foundation to humanitarian and developmental activities in Nigeria.

The President said they have touched humanity in many positive ways, and congratulated them “for achieving what you had set out to do.”

…as Nigeria, India Set to Deepen Bilateral Ties

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, has said that fossil fuel would remain relevant in the global energy mix, saying contrary to assumptions in some quarters, crude oil demand would be very high even beyond 2040.

The NNPC GMD made the declaration when, Wednesday in his office in Abuja, he received members of a Higher Command Course of the Indian Army War College on a geo-strategic tour of Nigeria.

Mallam Kyari espoused the uniqueness of Nigeria’s crude oil grades as rich crude with high global demand, saying NNPC was determined to grow Nigeria’s production to 3million barrels per day by 2023 to enable Nigeria take advantage of the gap that exists in the demand-supply balance.

He emphasized the age-long bilateral relations between Nigeria and India, which cut across trade, military cooperation and international peace keeping, among others.

The GMD explained that NNPC’s mandate cut across satisfying domestic energy needs and contributing to global energy market, especially crude oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) deliveries across the world.

He described energy security as a critical factor in guaranteeing Nigeria’s territorial integrity and growing its economy.

“Energy security is everything in terms of national security. The recent attack on Saudi oil facility is one incident which has attracted global attention and has the potential to impact global economy,” Kyari stated.

According to the NNPC’s helmsman, understanding the relationship between energy security and global security was important, especially as developing nations strive to grow their respective economies and guarantee their territorial integrity.

In his remarks, the leader of the delegation, Brig. Gen. Sudhir Malik, said India was the largest trade partner with Nigeria, stressing that oil formed a large chunk of the trade between the two counties.

He described Nigeria as Africa’s economic power house which shares similar aspirations as India.

“We are also a growing economy. It is a mutual benefit to both nations. In times to come, we hope that these bilateral relations will continue to grow so that we will also increase the trade volumes,” he added.

While stating that India was aware of Nigeria’s peculiar security and economic challenges, the military chief, however, expressed optimism that the deep relations between the countries’ armed forces would help in addressing these challenges.

Samson Makoji
Ag. Group General Manager
Group Public Affairs Division
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
Abuja

25 September, 2019

CGMedia:
The Federal House of Representatives is finally meeting with heads of security agencies across the country.

In a tweet by the lower legislative chamber, it said the meeting is aimed at discussing security situation of Nigeria.

The service chiefs, who had on Friday last week failed to appear before the house are now at the meeting before as at 2 p.m.

The Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, who had expressed disappointment at the action of the service chiefs described it as an insult to the Parliament.

He thereafter promised to report the matter to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, was however absent, as well as the Inspector General of Police, (IGP) Mohammed Adamu in the meeting which has now gone behind closed doors.

A 59-year-old retiree, Michael Oshodin, has landed into trouble for allegedly duping unsuspecting employment seekers into the University of Benin N1.2 million.

Oshodin, an ex-staff of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), was paraded at the Edo State Police Command on Friday, September 20.

Our correspondent who covered the parade, said the suspect was alleged to have collected the sums from over 25 persons whom he promised to help secure employment at UNIBEN.

Speaking with journalists at the Force headquarters in Benin, Oshodin said he was contracted by one Christy Ikeke-Oni, a staff of UNIBEN, in the Department of Theatre Art, to recruit employment seekers into the school.

He, however, said that the said Christy suddenly died two months ago after he had given her all the money he collected from his victims.

“The people have been begging me to help them find job and I decided to help them when opportunity came. I gave Christy all the money I collected from them”, he said.

“She [Christy] died two months ago. That was why this problem came up.

“I was walking inside UNIBEN when one of the victims saw me and raised the alarm. I gave the deceased’s UNIBEN staff N1.2 million. I already told them I will pay them back, but I need little time,” Oshodin added.