₦airaland Forum

Rhymez:
That dude looks like Seun

OsusuMustFlow:
what i do?

OsusuMustFlow:
one charge and bail lawyer from lagos

sarrki:
Baba will decide at due time

I believe in his judgment

He's a great man

God bless Muhammadu Buhari

God Bless Federal Republic Of Nigeria

He begged the court to not only order Magu to immediately vacate office but to also declare illegal, null and void all the criminal charges filed in by the EFCC against alleged looters since the day Magu was rejected by the Senate.

A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, on Monday approached the Federal High Court in Lagos seeking an order to stop Mr. Ibrahim Magu from further functioning as the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Adegboruwa, in the suit, is also seeking an order barring the Senate from reconsidering its refusal to confirm Magu as the substantive Chairman of the EFCC.

The lawyer argued that having been rejected by the Senate on December 15, 2016, it had become illegal for Magu to remain at the helms of the EFCC.

According to him, by remaining in office after his rejection by the Senate, Magu was violating Section 2 (3) of the EFCC Act.

Adegboruwa complained that despite being turned down by the Senate, Magu continued to parade himself as the EFCC boss and even met with representatives of the United States Embassy on January 6, 2017.

Adegboruwa is urging the court to restrain the Federal Government, the EFCC and all other authorities, from “recognising, treating or in any other manner dealing with Magu as the Chairman of the EFCC, either in acting or substantive capacity.”

He urged the court to declare Magu unfit and improper to head the EFCC, judging by “his conduct in office so far; his lifestyle and his arrogance to defy the decision of the Senate.”

“Magu is not a fit and proper person to function in office as chairman of EFCC,” Adegboruwa said.

He begged the court to not only order Magu to immediately vacate office but to also declare illegal, null and void all the criminal charges filed in by the EFCC against alleged looters since the day Magu was rejected by the Senate.

The court has yet to fix a date for the hearing of the case.‎

Davidblen:
me being a nigerian is a mistake
why my forefathers jump from that ship sef?

SweetLove0:
no confussion. The loan will be approve soon

John Alechenu, John Ameh, Everest Amaefule and Ifeanyi Onuba

There is confusion over President Muhammadu Buhari’s $29.9bn loan request, which was rejected by the Senate on November 1, 2016.

Buhari had, in a letter to both chambers of the National Assembly, titled ‘Request for Approval of Federal Government 2016-2018 External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan, asked the legislature to approve his administration’s external borrowing plan of $29.960bn.

The loan will cover the funding of projects between 2016 and 2018.

The Senate had, on November 1, 2016, rejected the loan request, asking the executive to provide further details on it.

The budget has a huge deficit of N2.36tn (or 2.18 per cent of Gross Domestic Product), a figure the President said would be financed through borrowing.

But on Sunday, there was confusion on the status of the loan request and whether the executive had provided the details as requested by the Senate.

The Federal Ministry of Finance and the Debt Management Office engaged in passing of buck over who should provide the details to the National Assembly.

When one of our correspondents contacted the Director of Information in the Finance Ministry, Salisu Dambatta, on whether the details had been provided, he referred the correspondent to the Debt Management Office.

“I suggest you direct all your enquiries about the $29.9bn loan to the DMO. That is the agency of government that is in charge of debt management in the country,” he said.

Efforts by The PUNCH to speak with the Director-General, DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, failed as calls to his telephone line rang out. A text message sent to his mobile line had yet to be replied as of the time of filing this report on Sunday.

A source close to the organisation told The PUNCH, however, that it was the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance to supply the specifics as requested by the Senate.

When The PUNCH contacted Dambatta again on the response of the DMO source, he said the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly matters should be contacted.

He said, “The Ministry of Finance didn’t submit the loan request to the National Assembly directly. It was the Presidency that did that. The President has a Special Adviser on National Assembly matters. Find out from him.

“There are procedures that must be followed. We did not submit the loan request directly to the National Assembly.”

The Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, said he had no further information on the request.

He stated, “I have no further information other than where it (the $29bn loan request) stopped the last time. The Senate had reservations about it; the matter is still pending before the House of Representatives.

“The Senate had expressed reservations about it and had remitted it for reconsideration. It is under consideration by the various ministries responsible. That is all I can say.”

The Media Adviser to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr. Akpandem James, said the mandate of the ministry did not cover the issue of the loans.

He said, “The relevant ministry as regards the issue of loan is the ministry of finance. We don’t deal with loans. Anything that has to do with loans is ministry of finance. Any loan matter should be directed to ministry of finance.”

We can’t approve Buhari’s $29.96bn loan request alone –Reps

On its part, the House of Representatives said it could not act alone on the request.

It stated that both arms of the National Assembly must approve such a request before it could be considered to have been duly passed.

In the case of the $29.96bn loan, the House explained that so long as the Senate had not reversed its decision, rejecting the request, there was nothing the former could do to approve it.

Speaking with The PUNCH in Abuja, the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, stated that the hands of the House were tied on the issue of the loan as it could not act alone.

Namdas, a member of the All Progressives Congress from Adamawa State, added, “There is no point for us to engage in a futile exercise.

“I will say that the loan issue is not dead, but since the Senate has already rejected it, we will wait until the questions raised by the Senate are addressed.

“This is because if we go ahead and approve it and the Senate withholds approval, the problem will still be there.

“So, let the Ministry of Finance address the issue of details raised by the Senate and we will take it up from there.”

Fedayeen02:
Another photo ops from this photocratic government.

Ogoni cleanup has entered voicemail

Ahead of today’s (Monday) visit by the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo-led Federal Government delegation to the restive oil-rich Niger Delta, youths in the region on Sunday released a 22-point demand, including the immediate release of detained activists and ex-militants arrested by operatives of the Nigerian military in the region.

The youths said the demand, if granted by the Federal, would engender lasting peace in the Niger Delta.

They also declared their support for the Chief Edwin Clark-led Pan Niger Delta Forum to negotiate between the people of the region and the Federal Government to ensure sustainable peace in the region.

They also demanded the immediate restructuring of the Presidential Amnesty Programme so as to meet the needs of all ethnic nationalities in the region.

They equally asked the government to award the contract of securing the oil and gas facilities in the region to youths from the various ethnic nationalities.

The demands were contained in separate statements issued by the Ijaw Youth Council and the Urhobo Youth Leaders Association.

The statement by the IYC was signed by the group’s spokesman, Mr. Eric Omare, while the one by UYLA was signed by its National President and Secretary, Mr. Francis Arhiyor and Mr. Vincent Oyibode respectively.

The two groups maintained that the release of those being held by security agencies would signal government’s readiness to engage in dialogue with the people.

Omare of the IYC said, “Ahead of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s visit to the Niger Delta starting from Oporoza in Gbaramatu Kingdom of Delta State on Monday, January 16, 2017, the Ijaw Youth Council has called on the Federal Government to release all the Niger Delta activists and ex-agitators in detention without trial.

“The IYC believes that releasing those in illegal Federal Government’s detention would be evidence of the government’s sincerity to peacefully resolve the Niger Delta crisis. Several Niger Delta activists and ex-agitators, including Bounanawei Smith, Ezekiel Daniel, Alex Odogu, Aboy Muturu, Monday Ebimene, Churchill Oghoneye and others, are in different military detention centres without trial.”

The IYC pointed out that the Niger Delta people could not meaningfully dialogue with the Federal Government in the face of intimidation, arrests and militarisation in the region, urging the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to respect the wishes and position of the oil-rich region by immediately demilitarising the region.

On its own part, UYLA, while thanking the Federal Government for initiating the visit, called for true fiscal federalism as well as an increase in derivation benefit to the region from 13 to 50 per cent within every period of five years.

The group also demanded an urgent repeal of all unjust and oppressive legislation, laws, policies that vested ownership and control of oil and gas resources in the country on the Federal Government.

It equally called for the abrogation of all anti-federal and inequitable laws and policies related to the oil and gas industry.

wandeay:
MMM has paid me this morning, wat a good way to start the week