₦airaland Forum

The immediate past governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi, has debunked reports in some sections of the media alleging that he is operating bank accounts in the United States and Switzerland.
In a statement he issued on Friday, Amaechi insisted that such stories were sponsored to ridicule his person and achievements.
He maintained that although he initially ignored the reports, he now believes it is important “to clear all doubts about the rumour”.
“There is absolutely no truth in the fabricated story saying Amaechi has an account with a Bank in Minnesota, USA,” the statement read.
While stressing that reports claiming that he lodged stolen funds in error at the Bancorp of Switzerland were “absolutely false,” Amaechi said: “It is important for the public to note that no such account or accounts exists”.

The statement, which also debunked speculations that popular CNN talk show host, Christiane Amanpour, accused him of corruption, said: “There is also no story of Amanpour linking the former governor with any corruption issue or case whatsoever, not on CNN or any verified news source or website associated with Amanpour.
“These are all lies, concocted in an attempt to put the public against the acclaimed people’s governor, whose achievements as governor of Rivers State speaks volumes and drew admiration and accolades from within and outside Nigeria.
“All these fictitious stories are the product of the ill imaginations of wicked and unscrupulous people opposed to Amaechi; those jealous and at unease with his continued rise in the country and beyond; those whose life ambition is to pull Amaechi down.
“We therefore urge the people to discard and disregard the unfounded rumours. They are all fake,” the statement read.

Justice Simeon Amadi of the Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt has dismissed the suit filed by the former governor of Rivers State Rotimi Amaechi, challenging the constitution of the Justice George Omeregi-led Judicial Commission of Inquiry.

Governor Nyesome Wike had instituted the Judicial Commission of Inquiry to probe the alleged sale of state assets by the immediate past administration.

Delivering judgement on suit number phc/187/15 filled by former Governor Amaechi, Justice Amadi declared that the judicial commission of inquiry was not established to investigate the personal activities of the former governor but set up to investigate the previous actions of the government as they affect the people of Rivers State.

The court also held that the suit by former Governor Amaechi is speculative as he failed to prove the injuries he has suffered because of the setting up of the judicial commission of inquiry.

The Attorney General of Rivers State, Emmanuel Aguma told journalists after the judgement that the commission of inquiry can now sit and it will be fair to all.

Meanwhile, counsel to Amaechi, Winifred Enyinnaya stated that her client will appeal against the judgement.

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed concerned over the unfolding political situation in Guinea Bissau following the dismissal of the Prime Minister, Mr Domingos Pereira, and his cabinet by President Jose Mario Vaz.

This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday by the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina.

It stated that Buhari had already sent former President Olusegun Obasanjo as his Special Envoy to mediate and help find a solution to the crisis brewing in that country.

According to the statement, Buhari’s peace mission is in demonstration of true African solidarity and brotherhood.

The statement maintained that Obasanjo had embarked on the first leg of his mission by consulting with the current Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Macky Sall of Senegal in Dakar on Thursday.

“It is regrettable that while Chief Obasanjo was still consulting with President Sall, President Jose Mario Vaz of Guinea Bissau proceeded to appoint and swear-in a new Prime Minister in the person of Mr Baciro Dja, a development that has worsened the political situation in his country.’’

Buhari appealed for calm and called on the leadership in Guinea Bissau to exercise utmost restraint and ensure the maintenance of law and order as efforts continue to resolve the current crisis.

The president, particularly, urged the leadership in Guinea Bissau, including the military, to ensure respect for constitutional order, sanctity of life and safety of citizens.

He also enjoined them to avoid taking any further action that could threaten the fragile democratic institutions recently established in the country.

PassingShot:
[size=15pt]Your god brought us here.[/size]
No weapons were purchased for the Nigerian Military since 2006 - Alex Badeh, GEJ's Chief of Defense Staff

The Alpha jets we have were bought in 1981 - Alex Badeh

Bayelsa APC Chairman Faults Odiegie-Oyegun For Saying Sylva Controls Access To Buhari
The factional chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, Richard Kpodo, has described as "misplaced" the claim by National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun that the political leaders from the State can only gain access to President Muhammadu Buhari through the former governor, Timipre Sylva.

According to Mr. Kpodo, though President Buhari has made it clear that he is for everybody and for nobody, the utterance of the Party chairman is a calculated attempt to make the people of Bayelsa State politically enslaved by the Mr. Sylva.

Mr. Kpodo, in a statement issued on Friday in Yenagoa, said the decision by Mr. Odigie-Oyegun to hand such political power in Bayelsa State to Mr. Timipre is disappointing and a clear indication that the change being advocated by the APC is not a certainty. “How can the National Chairman be praising Sylva and saying he is the only access to the President?” Mr. Kpodo said. “How can he say that it is only through Judas that we are to see Jesus Christ? How can he say that it is only through a man with corruption charges hanging over him that we are to see the symbol of anti-corruption?”

Kpodo also faulted the decision by the National Leadership of the Party to welcome the recent PDP heavyweights into the APC despite earlier warnings. “To our surprise the National Chairman came to Yenagoa and accepted the defectors. What are the political qualifications of the decampees? What is their electoral values? If they are coming into the party to avoid prosecution, would that not go against the posture of the President? We are warning that if any implosion occurred in the APC, Sylva and others should be held responsible."

SLIDEwaxie:
Of course, with pleasure. It is no news that some group of tribal people are allergic to good governance anyways

Ahead of the December 5 governorship elections in Bayelsa, a foremost Ijaw socio-political organization, The Ijaw Peoples Assembly(IPA), has asked the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to forget contesting the election.

The group, in a statement Monday in Yenagoa and signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Kambowei Daniels, advised the leadership of the APC not to waste its resources because Bayelsa remains a stronghold of the PDP.

“We are by this statement calling on the national leadership of the APC not to dissipate its energy and resources on the December 5 governorship election in Bayelsa State because the incumbent governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson will win the election,” the statement said.

According to the group, plans are already on ground to convene a stakeholders meeting of all Ijaws in Yenagoa to unanimously endorse the candidacy of Governor Dickson for the December 5 election.

The group said that with the backing of prominent Ijaw leaders and key stakeholders who have unanimously endorsed Dickson for a second term, the chances of any opposition against the governor were minimal.

“Having regard to his performance record in the last three years, Governor Dickson deserved to be reelected, that is why we are mobilizing the people of the state to rally support for his re-election,” the statement added.

The group said that a meeting of notable Ijaw leaders and key stakeholders would soon be convened in Yenagoa ahead of the elections, where they would unanimously endorse the candidacy of the governor for the December 5 election.

He said, “Our amiable countryman governor is the pride of the Ijaw nation and given his record of indelible service and various strong conributions to the promotion of pan- Ijaw agenda, our collecive support to reelect him is in the right direction.

“Already, he has been endorsed by virtually all the prominent Ijaw leaders like Pa Edwin Clark, DSP Alamieyeseigha, Prof. Lawrence Ekpebu, Dan Etete and a host of others.

“But very soon, we will all come together to formally endorse the governor to send a clear message of our unity of purpose in this election.”

The statement further stated that the choice of Dickson was a demonstration of Ijaw people’s recognition and reward for good leadership, stressing that Dickson’s stewardship had provided a sound vision for development of the state.

The group said: “The issue is not about the jostling for power as we see in the APC but a realistic vision and able leadership that can lead us to realise our development objectives as a people.

“We have seen that demonsrated by Governor Dickson in the last three years and it is only proper to allow him complete the good projects he started and even do more.”

The statement urged contestants in other parties to step down for Governor Dickson, adding that they would lead a high-powered delegation of Ijaw activists to grace Dickson’s formal declaration for second tenure scheduled for August 28.

jaytee01:
The current wave of investigations and prosecutions must cut across the divide. Nobody should be spared, afterall we did not send anybody to steal public funds.
We are tired of "stealing is not corruption".

PassingShot:
Where was EFCC under your Otuoke god to prosecute him, Ohakim, Nyako, Sule Lamido and others then?

nerodenero:
If Fayemi isn't clean, EFCC should pick him and do the needful. Fayemi being a PMB's loyalist, if prosecuted and convicted, then that would be a right signal to both former and serving polithiefcians that it will never be business as usual.

kazmanbanjoko:
It's perfectly legal to be st*pid at times but some people just completely take advantage. PDP is st*pid.

“We are aware that the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria police have reached an advanced stage in their investigation of the financial mismanagement of the immediate past government in Ekiti State and alleged outright diversion of money meant for the state to private pockets. We are also aware that Fayemi has approached a top security chief who is very close to the president to intervene., “

By Dapo Akinrefon

THE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and a former governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi were yesterday engaged in war of words over alleged moves to prosecute the former governor by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. While the PDP raised alarm over plans to shield Fayemi from inevitable arrest and prosecution by EFCC, the former governor said the party was merely hallucinating.

In a statement by the state’s Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr Jackson Adebayo alleged that some leaders of APC were planning to approach President Muhammadu Buhari through his closets men from the north in a “desperate attempt to shield Fayemi from inevitable arrest and prosecution by EFCC”.

The party said “it has come to our notice that there is a sinister motive by the leaderships of the All Progressive Congress to put presure on the presidency to halt the investigation of the former APC governor by the EFCC when it dawned on them that the various petitions before the EFCC on the financial mismanagement of the APC administration in Ekiti State between 2010 and 2014 can not be ignored again by the anti graft body in its current moves against past governors.”,

The PDP, however, noted that “We are aware that the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria police have reached an advanced stage in their investigation of the financial mismanagement of the immediate past government in Ekiti State and alleged outright diversion of money meant for the state to private pockets. We are also aware that Fayemi has approached a top security chief who is very close to the president to intervene., “

Fayemi reacts

In his reaction, Chief Press Secretary to Fayemi, Mr Olayinka Oyebode declared that “I think the PDP-led government in the state is merely hallucinating.” Oyebode, ‘told Vanguard that “This is a pure case of hallucination. You and I know that it is the incumbent governor, Ayodele Fayose, that has a case with EFCC.

And I am sure you know that his N1.3billion poultry scam case came up at the Ado-Ekiti High Court sometimes in 2014 shortly before the elections. The case could not be heard on its adjourned date owing to the closure of courts in Ekiti since last year.” Oyebode added that “if there is anybody who should be running from pillar to post, begging to be bailed out of EFCC investigations or trial by the anti-corruption agencies, it should be Fayose.”

Absolving the Fayemi administration of mismanagement of state funds, Oyebode said “Fayemi ran one of the most responsible and corruption-free governments not only in Ekiti State, but in the country. He has been out of office for nine months and has not been invited by any anti-corruption agency be it EFCC or ICPC.’’

Abia state Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, on Thursday disclosed that the African Development Bank, ADB, has granted Abia state a $200 million facility which is for tackling the problem of water, sanitation and roads Abia state.

Okezie went ahead to say that the focal area to be dealt with decisively now were the Port Harcourt Road, Aba, Ohanko and other roads in Aba, the commercial city of the state.

The governor disclosed this when he received the General Superintendent of Deeper Christian Life Ministries, Pastor William F. Kumuyi, at the Government House, Umuahia.

He said he was aware of the challenges confronting the state, maintaining that God was bigger than those challenges.

During the discussion, Governor Ikpeazu pledged to provide a piece of land for the Deeper Christian Life Ministries to build its university in the state and also promised to construct a 5km road to the land.

khukhi:
Brothers do not think that way meehhhhhnnnnnn!!!! Get your head out of the gutter.

obailala:
Irritated at what?... Buhari not declaring his assets?... Just like I said, we are barely in day 31 out of 100. Anybody who is irritated should go and swallow piriton allergy tablets and stop distracting serious minded people.

obailala:
What ineptness?.. The man promised to declare his asset publicly within 100 days, we are barely in day 30 and you are crying?... and you tell me it's not a PDP thing?

redcliff:
Very silly story. it doesnt even add up!