₦airaland Forum

VIce-President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday said the much-criticised $1bn that state governors asked the Federal Government to withdraw from the Excess Crude Account was not meant for the fight against insurgency alone.

He said the sum was meant for all security challenges being experienced in all the states of the federation.

Osinbajo gave the clarification at the opening of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation/Secretaries to State Governments’ retreat at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

It will be recalled that the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Abdulaziz Yari, had, at a meeting of the National Economic Council last Wednesday, announced that the governors had asked the Federal Government to withdraw $1bn from the ECA to fight insurgency.

The decision had attracted criticisms from groups and individuals, including the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose; and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

But Osinbajo explained that the state governors resolved to approve the money for national security after a national security summit organised by the National Executive Council about two months ago.

He said the summit considered various security challenges across the country, including kidnapping, small arms trafficking, terrorist activities of Boko Haram in the North East, clashes between herdsmen and farmers as well as cattle rustling.

The Vice-President said, “It was on account of the security summit that the governors at the Governors’ Forum subsequently decided that they would vote a certain sum of money, which has become somewhat controversial, the $1bn, to assist the security architecture of the country.

“It was to assist all of the issues in the states, including policing in the states, community policing, all of the different security challenges that we have.

“It was after the security summit that the Governors’ Forum met across party lines, again I must add, in order to approve and to accept that this is what needed to be done to shore up our security architecture.”

Osinbajo’s explanation was however in contrast with the statement made by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, whole addressing State House correspondents at the end of the NEC’s meeting.

Obaseki was clear in his presentation that the $1bn was approved for the fight against insurgency.

He had said, “Pleased with the achievements that have been made till date in the fight against insurgency particularly in the North East, the governors of Nigeria through their chairman announced at the NEC meeting that the governors have given permission to the Federal Government to spend the sum of $1bn on the fight of insurgency.

“This money is supposed to be taken from the Excess Crude Account.

“As you know, the issue of security particularly as regards to the North East is very comprehensive response by federal forces.

“So we expect that the contribution of the states to these efforts will cover the whole array of activities required to secure the country and counter insurgency.

“We expect that the amount will include but not limited to purchase of equipment, procuring intelligence and logistics and all what is required to ensure that we finally put an end to the scourge of insurgence.”

Meanwhile, the Vice-President has observed that there would be no visible progress if relevant state government agencies do not work with the Federal Government to achieve the country’s developmental objectives.

He said the role of the Secretaries to State Governments “is clearly central to cascading the action points and conclusions of the MDAs in their states.”

He noted that all policies of the Federal Government in agriculture are programmes of the states since lands belong to the states.

“So, the agricultural policy of the federation is actually the agricultural policy of all of the states,” he stated, pointing out that the federal government controls no land outside of Abuja.

He said greater engagements between the SGF’s office and the SSGs would lead to better understanding of the management of the Ecological Funds and the National Emergency Management Agency both of which are hosted by the office of the SGF.

Earlier, the SGF, Mr. Boss Mustapha, said the retreat was aimed at providing a forum where balance could be achieved to allow for full, effective and efficient function of the state structure.

He said the office of the SSG is an important part of the executive arm of government at the states, which “plays the role of clearing and forwarding house of all government decisions, policies and general administration.”

“It is therefore imperative that we strive to achieve synergy at this level of governance between the federal, state and local government structures,” Mustapha said.

He called for greater collaboration and interdependence between the federal and state governments irrespective of political party affiliations.

Cc: lalasticlala, Mynd44

http://punchng.com/breaking-1bn-not-for-anti-boko-haram-war-alone-osinbajo-says/

Olaleye Aluko, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the extension of the tenure of the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Air Staff and the Chief of Naval Staff.

The approval was confirmed by the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, who noted in a statement by his Public Relations Officer, Colonel Tukur Gusau, on Monday that the President extended the tenures “having carefully reviewed the ongoing military operations across the country.”

The statement, which did not specify the duration of extension, means that the CDS, Gen Abayomi Olonisakin, the army chief, Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai, the air chief, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, and the naval chief, Vice Admiral Ibok Ete-Ibas, will continue in office.

Details later…


http://punchng.com/breaking-buhari-extends-tenure-of-defence-service-chiefs/

Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday cancelled his scheduled trip to Niger Republic.

His Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, had announced on Sunday that Buhari would join some worlds leaders for the 59th Proclamation of Republic of Niger ceremony in Tahoua, Niger.

Shehu had said Buhari, alongside the Presidents of Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Niger, will participate in the event held on December 18 of every year to commemorate the founding of the Republic of Niger and creation of the Presidency.

“After the ceremony, the Nigerian leader will hold bilateral meetings with some of his counterparts before returning to Abuja same day.

“President Buhari will be accompanied on the trip by Governors Aminu Masari, Ibrahim Gaidam and Kashim Shettima of Katsina, Yobe and Borno States respectively,” the statement had read.

But Buhari did not embark on the trip on Monday as scheduled.

Shehu, however, explained that the President cancelled the trip because he felt satisfied that he had had useful discussions with President Mahamadou Issoufou in the course of the weekend meeting of the Economic Community of West African States in Abuja.

He added that after a telephone discussion with Issoufou on Sunday evening, Buhari decided to send the three governors of Katsina, Yobe and Borno States as well as the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs to represent him.

The presidential spokesman said, “The event to which the President was invited is the celebration of the 59th year of the country’s independence.

“Niger invited the leaders of neighbouring states: the Presidents of Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Nigeria.

“President Buhari felt satisfied that he had had useful discussions with his friend and brother, President Mahamadou Issoufou, in the course of the weekend meeting in Abuja, of the Economic Community of West African States.

“After a phone call last (Sunday) night, between the leaders, President Buhari decided to send a delegation made up of the three governors of Katsina, Yobe and Borno States along with the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs to represent him.”

http://punchng.com/breaking-buhari-cancels-scheduled-trip-to-niger-republic/

Caroline save your drama.....

The mayor of Libya’s third-largest city Misrata has been abducted and killed, a security source said on Monday.

Mohamad Eshtewi’s body was found dumped in the street after he was kidnapped by unknown assailants after leaving the airport in the western coastal city late Sunday, the source said.

The city hospital said it had received the mayor’s body bearing gunshot wounds.

AFP

Cc: lalasticlala, Mynd44

http://punchng.com/breaking-libyan-mayor-abducted-killed-security-source/

Tony Okafor, Awka

THE intervention of some elders in Umuduru Village, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State has saved a man and woman from being lynched for openly having sex during a funeral in the community.

It was gathered that the woman and the man had engaged in an open sex during a funeral in the area.

This, Southern City News learnt, was an abominable act in the neighbourhood.

A source, who pleaded not to be named, told Southern City News that the elders, after saving the two ‘lovers’, asked the man to bring six cartons of beer and some cash, which would be used to appease the gods of the land.

The source said, “This abominable act took place during a burial ceremony of a lady at Umuduru Village, Ihiala.

“It was gathered from an eyewitness that a woman believed to be a commercial sex worker living in one of the brothels in this community, apparently under an influence, said she wanted to perform `a show’.

“As part of the show, she stripped and dragged a young man simply known as `Chinwuba’ from Ogboro Umunwaji Village in Ihiala out of the crowd. Both engaged in a sex orgy right in front of onlookers with impunity.

“Some angry youths pounced on them and in the process, the lady escaped. But Chinwuba was not that lucky. It took the intervention of the elders who restrained the irate youths from sending the man to his early grave.

“The elders fined him six cartons of beer and an undisclosed amount of money. They (elders) said the fine was to appease the gods of the land for the abominable act,” the source stated.

Cc: lalasticlala

http://punchng.com/anambra-youths-mob-lovers-for-having-sex-at-funeral/

John Charles, Makurdi

Benue State House of Assembly on Friday confirmed Justice Adam Onum as the new Chief Judge of the State.

The confirmation of Justice Onum came after the retirement of Justice Iorhemen Hwande who served for 11 years.

Justice Onum made history as the first Chief Judge from the Idoma extraction since the creation of the state 41 years ago.

Meanwhile, Governor Samuel Ortom has hailed the retired Chief Judge, Justice Hwande, for his commitment to service.

Speaking at the valedictory session for the retired Chief Judge, Ortom said that the virtues he exhibited while in active service had impacted positively on the judiciary.

“We are convinced that he is leaving a Judicial system that will continue to improve itself for the good of the common man. Having given the best part of his life to serve God and the people through his career, Honorable Justice Iorhemen Hwande is retiring to a peaceful life.”


http://punchng.com/breaking-benue-assembly-confirms-idoma-man-as-chief-judge/

No give that baby virus o

Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja

The National Economic Council on Thursday asked the Federal Government to withdraw $1bn from the $2.3bn currently in the Excess Crude Account and use it to fight insurgency in the North East.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the council presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The council chaired by the Vice-President has all state governors as members.

Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, disclosed the decision to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting. Obaseki said council members expected that the money would be spent on the purchase of security equipment, procurement of intelligence and logistics, among others.

Details later..

Cc: lalasticlala

http://punchng.com/breaking-govs-okay-1bn-from-excess-crude-account-for-anti-terrorism-war/

cyrilomoh:
Nigeria politics is very expensive that's why most election are won by the party that spend most which make them to borrow me to win the election by all means and later end up using state allocation to settle gbese|godfather. At the end of the tenure no meaningful achievement.

naija politics is for the highest bidder.

If you no get money hide your face.

deomelllo:
The HEAD and the new face of the NEW and IMPROVED PDP.





.

I pray PDP survive under him

lalasticlala

I don't trust this. Why should glo ask you to send CV to private or personal email experience.centre792@gmail.com

Oladimeji Ramon

The congress of Yoruba Sons and Daughters within the Peoples Democratic Party say they are outraged by the insults allegedly hauled on the Yoruba by the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike.

They said they took a strong exemption to Wike’s comment that the Yoruba are inconsequential and have no practical political importance in the PDP.

According to them, Wike also described former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a failure.

The group lamented that Wike’s comment was a reflection of how much the Yoruba in the PDP had been “pushed to the edge of the cliff” and relegated in the opposition party’s scheme of things.

The group said the Yoruba in the PDP had been cheated by the failure to elect a Yoruba man as the national chairman of the PDP.

This was contained in a statement titled, “The Yoruba people: Time for reflection,” made available to our correspondent on Wednesday.

“Our leaders are being mocked. Our symbols of truth and sincerity are now being derided, snubbed, treated with contempt and disowned.

“The irreverent, scandalous, arrogant and most myopic statement of the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike, is the crowning of all insults upon our people.

“Wike, in his most arrogant and selfish swagger, openly derided our people as being inconsequential and of no practical political importance in the PDP.

“This is rather scandalous and very benighted. He even insulted our former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, as a failure. This is an aberration.

“We at the Congress of Yoruba Sons and Daughters within the PDP fold are outraged, angry, disappointed, very sad and sickened about this very primitive utterance of Governor Wike.

“We demand an immediate and full apology from Mr. Wike for his gutter language against our people,” the group said in the statement signed by its chairman, Dayo Ogunjebe.

Ogunjebe said the Yoruba did not deserve to be unfairly treated in the PDP, having “worked assiduously for the growth and development of the PDP.”

He said, “In both financial and moral terms, the Yoruba people have been selfless, making tremendous sacrifices. (They have been) consistent and devoted to the growth of our party.

“But we have been cheated. We have been maligned. The chairmanship position that rightly belongs to us has been taken away. It has been
sold to the highest bidder.

“Let Wike and the Yoruba betrayers at home know that we will never play the role of a second fiddle to anyone. We are proud of our heritage. We are proud of our achievements across this nation. We do respect the feelings and the tradition of other people. Surely, we will never sit idle while anyone attacks the collective interest of the Yoruba race.”

The group insisted that Wike must apologise for “his indecent statement.”

It argued that with the failure to give the PDP National Chairman’s position to a Yoruba man, the opposition party had “slowly dwindled into a regional party with Wike swaggering like an overlord.”

http://punchng.com/yoruba-pdp-caucus-attacks-wike-over-obasanjo-comment/

Ozioma Ubabukoh

Diamond Bank Plc and the National Youth Service Corps have introduced a curriculum vitae web repository and job portal as part of efforts to enhance employment for corps members.

The Head, Retail Banking, Diamond Bank, Mr. Robert Giles, said that in accepting to be part of the portal project, the bank realised that youths needed more of information beyond banking.

According to Giles, the youths need a platform to showcase themselves and their talents.

He said that it was a good thing that the NYSC bought into the initiative.

“We are proud to work with you (NYSC) and are committed to ensuring the sustainability of this initiative,’’ he added.

According to the Director-General, NYSC, Brig. Gen. Sule Kazaure, the portal is an initiative of the NYSC Lagos State coordinator, the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development team and a group of corps members.

“The portal is aimed at providing the links between outgoing corps members seeking white collar jobs and employers of labour who desire to employ qualified graduates based on their jobs specifications,” he said during the launch of the portal in Lagos.

Kazaure said that despite the obvious difficulty in securing white-collar jobs and the overriding benefits of self-employment, many graduates were still inclined to trying their luck with paid employment.

He said, “The portal we are launching will among other benefits, serve as a platform for corps members to get information on job vacancies and market themselves to prospective employers, serve as a large pool for employers searching for suitable candidates, and provide means of verification of credentials.”

The NYSC boss said the NYSC had been taking steps to empower corps members for self-employment through the SAED programme and the in-camp and off-camp trainings in various skill areas, in partnerships with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bank of Industry through which corps entrepreneurs benefit from start-up loans at single-digit interest rates.

The Vice-President, Business Development West, Sigma Pensions Limited, Mrs. Mabel George, said, “Our job is basically about helping people to plan for their future and with this portal, it makes everyone employable.

“We are so excited that people can get employed and in turn have savings for their future. I see this as a wonderful initiative by the NYSC. We are here pledging our continuous support to this cause and anything that is going to help this country to become greater we always want to play a part of it.”

Cc: lalasticlala

http://punchng.com/diamond-bank-nysc-unveil-portal-for-graduate-employment/

FIFA has fined the Nigeria Football Federation 6,000 Swiss Francs (about N2,175,660.00) for fielding an ineligible player in the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying match between Algeria and Nigeria on 10 November, 2017.

Nigeria fielded Shehu Abdullahi who was ineligible for the encounter on 10 November 2017.

More details shortly...........

Cc: lalasticlala, Mynd44

http://punchng.com/breaking-fifa-fines-nigeria-for-fielding-ineligible-player-in-world-cup-qualifier-deduct-point/

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission says it might revisit the case files of 20 former state governors it indicted for corruption in 2008.

Acting Chairman of the commission, Mr. Abdullahi Bako, told newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday that the case files were shelved due to a combination of legal and financial impediments.

“The cases came up when the governors were still in office, and the law provides for the setting up of an independent council to investigate them.

“Unfortunately, at that time, the Office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, which was to appoint the council, had no money to pay for such gigantic operation or assignment

“That was why nothing was done about it. But the files may be revisited now that they have left office, especially of those with prima facie cases against them.

The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that the commission in mid 2008 announced the setting up of a committee to investigate several petitions of alleged corrupt acts against the governors.

At the end of the exercise, 20 of the ex-governors, whose identities were not released by the commission, were allegedly found to have violated the ICPC Act.

Bako also told newsmen on Tuesday that the commission was awaiting the directive of the Federal Government on what to do with the assets recovered from the looters.

“We are not auctioning the assets. There is a body set up by the government to audit recovered assets all over the country and abroad.

“It is left for the government to decide thereafter; it is not for the individual anti-corruption agencies to dispose of anything,’’ he said. (NAN)

Cc: lalasticlala

http://punchng.com/icpc-may-revisit-files-of-20-indicted-ex-governors-chairman/

Ade Adesomoju, Abuja

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Tuesday dismissed 15 out of the 18 counts of false assets declaration instituted against the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

The three-man panel of the Court of Appeal led by Justice Tinuade Akomolafe-Wilson unanimously ordered the Senate President to return to the CCT to face trial on three of the counts.

Details later…

Cc: lalasticlala

http://punchng.com/breaking-appeal-court-orders-saraki-to-face-trial-on-three-charges/

H2Ossss:
as I never hear from am since... Same assumption i am making about Nnamdi Kanu now... lol

H2Ossss:
FAze is still alive?

you wan kill am?

Benue man Oya. Food don come

wetin d guy dey sing sef