₦airaland Forum

SHOCKER: BVN Exposes Gargantuan Corruption by Politicians; Billions Abandoned in Banks


Nigeria’s Bank Verification Number, BVN, a biometric identification system being implemented by the Central Bank to curb or reduce illegal banking transactions in the country, has exposed gargantuan corruption, massive fraud, and has left millions of naira sitting idle in unclaimed bank accounts, bankers told reporters.

BVN is a modern security measure in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria Decree to reduce fraud in the Nigerian banking system.

Insiders in several banks in Nigeria have disclosed that many accounts with millions of naira have remained unclaimed because the owners have not come forward to link them to the bank verification number.

Every person in Nigeria can from now on only have one bank verification number generated by a central data base. Because finger prints had to be used to generate that unique number, it is practically impossible for one person to have two identities, and therefore two bank verification numbers.

Many people, bankers told our reporter, who had different bank accounts in different names because of the lack of a national identity card, find themselves stuck, unable to claim money they have in different accounts in different names.

Worst for the corrupt, insiders said, the bank verification number has now exposed many people with money in many bank accounts, most of them corrupt politicians with no genuine business venture to justify the hundreds of Billions of naira in virtually all banks.

Even more damaging, they said, it has also been discovered, that many people had different bank accounts in different banks with different data, including different tribe, date of birth and employers.

To bank A, an account owner worked for a particular company, but to bank B, he was a full time staff of another company, all at the same time.

“The revelations are shocking, this country is in serious trouble,” a banker told reporters. “A lot of money may remain unclaimed,” another banker added.

At least five million bank accounts were deactivated by Deposit Money Banks operating in the country on Saturday night following the October 31, 2015 deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria for bank customers to register and obtain their Bank Verification Numbers, local newspaper, The Punch reported on Monday.

The affected customers were barred from withdrawing cash and transferring funds through Automated Teller Machines, Internet banking platforms and over-the-counter in the banking halls.

While it is an ongoing exercise and many people have besieged banking halls to register, many others are unable to claim their money or justify why they have different information from different banks or even the same bank.


http://nigeriana.org/467928.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=facebook

Nigeria’s Human Rights Commission Overturns UNN’s Firing Of Professor Who Exposed Colleague’s Academic Fraud


The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has suspended the recent decision by the Governing Council of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) to sack Ugochukwu Uche, a professor at the university, who exposed several falsifications and apparent forgeries by another professor, Uche Modum.

SaharaReporters has done several investigative reports on the questionable credentials used by Mrs. Modum, a former Commissioner with the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), to obtain promotion to the rank of professor at UNN. Our reports have also detailed various attempts by UNN’s Governing Council, headed by Emmanuel C. Ukala, a lawyer, to shield Mrs. Modum and pressure the whistleblower, Mr. Uche, to recant.

A source who was privy to the Governing Council’s deliberations told SaharaReporters that Mr. Ukala “virtually made a unilateral decision to sack Professor Uche.” The source added, “even though most members of the Council cautioned against moving too rashly, Ukala basically railroaded the council in a desperate move to shield Professor Modum.”

UNN’s decision to sack Mr. Uche, who is currently teaching in the Netherlands on a leave of absence, defied a series of letters from the NHRC. Since 2013, the NHRC has been investigating the dispute between the Council and Mr. Uche, who refused to back down from his well-documented exposure of Mrs. Modum’s questionable claims about her record of publications as well as other discrepancies in her official curriculum vitae.

A source told SaharaReporters that the NHRC’s investigation into the Governing Council’s possible violation of Mr. Uche’s right have been delayed for almost two years because “UNN has failed or refused to respond to the numerous correspondences from the NHRC. Till date, UNN is yet to submit the documents requested by the NHRC.”

In its letter to UNN, the NHRC warned that, by refusing to comply with its directive to submit its investigation reports on the fraud allegations, the university had contravened the provisions of the NHRC Act.

Established by the 1995 NHRC Act, which was amended in 2010, the human rights body is empowered to receive and investigate complaints concerning violations of human rights and make determination as may be deemed necessary. The Commission also has the powers to summon and interrogate witnesses and to enter any property for purposes of obtaining evidence or information. Under the Act, it is an offence for any person or authority to obstruct the Commission or refuse to provide evidence or any documentation when requested by the NHRC. Refusal to comply with enquiries, summons, directives, recommendations and awards of the Commission is also a punishable offence.

“The UNN Council chairman, Mr. Emmanuel Ukala, who is a SAN [Senior Advocate of Nigeria], knowingly violated this provision of NHRC Act all in an effort to shield an accomplice of his, a lady credibly accused of committing academic fraud,” said our source.

Another source at UNN, who asked for anonymity, confirmed to SaharaReporters, that the University had received a letter from NHRC dated October 22, 2015 and signed by the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Professor Bem Angwe. The letter gave the UNN authorities two weeks to submit the proceedings of their entire investigation into the allegations of academic fraud made against Mrs. Modum. The documents were meant to enable the human rights commission to determine whether the university gave the whistleblower fair hearing before putting pressure on him to withdraw his expose or face sanctions.

Despite several letters from the NHRC demanding evidence that UNN gave fair hearing to Mr. Uche, the university failed to submit the requested documents but went ahead to fire Mr. Uche at the behest of Mr. Ukala. Following the university’s shocking move, the NHRC stated that it would investigate the sack.

The whole saga involving the Governing Council’s effort to shield Mrs. Modum began when Mr. Uche, in his capacity as UNN’s Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, discovered significant discrepancies in the credentials submitted by Mrs. Modum to earn promotion to a professor. SaharaReporters obtained documents showing that Mr. Modum’s submitted documents included a forged letter from a top American journal, Management Accounting (now renamed Strategic Finance) purportedly accepting two of Mrs. Modum’s academic papers for publication. Mrs. Modum also falsely claimed in various official documents that she worked for the nonexistent “Jones and Jones Inc.”, a certified public accounting firm purportedly based in Dayton, Ohio, USA. She had also changed her official date of birth, without which she would have since retired from the service of UNN. In addition, Mr. Uche discovered that Mrs. Modum’s CV, which was published on the UNN website, contained false claims of several “published articles” that were nonexistent.

Even so, a committee set up by the University Council to investigate the allegations ignored the clear evidence Mrs. Modum’s falsifications, including a letter from the editor of Strategic Finance confirming that the journal’s “acceptance letter” submitted by Mrs. Modum was a forgery.

SaharaReporters also confirmed that the accounting firm where she claimed that she worked in the US was nonexistent at the time. Several of the papers listed as having been published in her official CV were also nonexistent. Finally, her age discrepancy was also evident from official university documents obtained by SaharaReporters.

Not only did the university’s “investigation committee” ignore the evidence in order to pursue the agenda of shielding Mrs. Modum, its members also found Mr. Uche guilty of “character assassination without concrete facts” and asked him to apologize to Mrs. Modum.

Mr. Uche’s lawyer wrote to UNN officials to point out the anomaly of their procedures as well as their conclusion about his client. He reminded them that his client was not the subject of any investigation but a witness in the investigation of Mrs. Modum. He also informed the university authorities that, despite the incontrovertible evidence of Mrs. Modum’s multiple forgeries, he had advised his client to leave the outcome of the investigation to the collective conscience of the Council members. He however made it clear that his client was willing to submit himself for trial under UNN’s procedures that uphold the principles of fair hearing and natural justice. He demanded that, in keeping with proper procedures, his client should be formally informed of the charges against him, be allowed to defend himself in the best possible way, including the opportunity to cross- examine his accusers.

UNN’s Council spurned Mr. Uche’s formal request for a copy of the proceedings that led to the verdict that he was “guilty of character assassination”.

Mr. Uche was subsequently invited to appear before another Council Committee established to investigate numerous complaints against the administration of the then Vice Chancellor, Bartho Okolo. The chair of the committee, Harrison Onwu, denied Mr. Uche’s request for legal representation. He also refused to entertain any presentation on the substance of the numerous forgeries by Mrs. Modum, claiming that a previous Council had settled the matter. One of our UNN sources said Mr. Onwu’s sole agenda was to pressure Mr. Uche to recant his exposure of Mrs. Modum and “throw himself at the mercy of the Council, which was aligned with Mrs. Modum.”

“The Council was in a dilemma and wanted a solution to save their faces and that of Professor Modum,” said the source. He added: “If Professor Ugochukwu Uche had agreed to withdraw what he said about Mrs. Modum, the Council would then have removed the apology requirement while leaving the guilty verdict of character assassination intact.”

Mr. Uche however rejected the idea, insisting that all he wanted was to be given fair hearing or for the Council to thoroughly investigate his allegation that Mrs. Modum had committed academic fraud, a scandal he exposed as part of his duties as the Dean of Faculty of Business Administration.

When the UNN’s Governing Council ignored his requests for due process and respect for his right to fair hearing, Mr. Uche petitioned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in August 2013. In his letter to the human rights body, he pointed out that UNN authorities had violated his right to fair hearing by, one, finding him guilty when he was not on trial, two, refusing to give him a copy of its investigative proceedings that resulted in a ‘guilty’ verdict against him, three, refusal by the Onwu committee to allow him legal representation and, four, refusal by the committee to allow him to present evidence on Mrs. Modum’s forgeries. His letter to NHRC also noted the university council’s refusal to give him the opportunity to cross-examine Mrs. Modum on her fraudulent claims.

Mr. Uche’s petition to the NHRC also complained about Mr. Onwu’s undue pressure on him to plead with the Council to “temper justice with mercy” instead of giving him the fair hearing he was entitled to.

One university insider told SaharaReporters that the UNN Governing Council made frantic efforts to frustrate the investigations by NHRC, principally by ignoring a series of correspondences from the human rights agency.

An investigation by SaharaReporters revealed by Mrs. Modum’s apparent forgery of an acceptance letter from the editor of the journal, Management Accounting, was one of a series of questionable, false or exaggerated claims of her scholarly work. A review of her 1995 “professorial appraisal form” shows that Mrs. Modum at the time claimed that she had produced two books (one published and one accepted for publication), three book chapters (one published and two accepted for publication) and 15 journal articles (six published and nine accepted for publication).

Till date, none of the nine journal articles and the two book chapters that Mrs. Modum claimed to have been accepted for publication in 1995 has been published. Astonishingly, most of these ostensible articles/ book chapters later appeared in her 2008 official CV posted on the University website as having been published in entirely different journals/ books whereas such papers do not exist. (Mrs. Modum’s 1995 professorial appraisal form and 2008 CV are attached).

A retired professor who taught at UNN told SaharaReporters that the numerous forgeries by Mrs. Modum were “exceptional and do not in any way reflect the professorial standard there [at UNN].” He added that Mrs. Modum was promoted to a professor “during a crisis period that saw the emergence of Professor Umaru Gomwalk as the sole administrator of UNN. During that period, most administrative organs of UNN were suspended. Given that her husband, Professor Paul Modum, was one of Gomwalk's close allies, all Mrs. Modum had to do to be made a professor was to 'manufacture' as many journal and book acceptance letters as possible.”

A senior academic at UNN’s Enugu campus told SaharaReporters that it was now public knowledge at UNN that Mrs. Modum and a few others “obtained their professorship under shady circumstances.” He provided SaharaReporters documents “showing that the Professor Shehu Galadanchi Visitation Panel to the University (1986-1998) recommended that such dubious professorships awarded under Gomwalk be reviewed and the Federal Government White Paper also accepted the recommendation.” According to him, “Although the UNN Council ad hoc committee on the implementation of the visitation report, headed by Professor Francis Okafor, recommended that a special committee be set up to undertake the task of identifying beneficiaries of untenable promotions, some powerful Council members at the time insisted that it was ‘best to let the sleeping dogs lie.’”

According to one source, Mrs. Modum would have since retired from the services of UNN, and thus escaped public exposure of her false credentials, “but she decided to alter her date of birth in the records of UNN.” SaharaReporters obtained two documents that reveal a discrepancy in Mrs. Modum age.

A lawyer familiar with the case told SaharaReporters that the “refusal of the UNN Council, led by a SAN [Mr. Ukala], to release the reports of its investigations to both Professor Ugochukwu Uche and the NHRC is bizarre.” He added that the Council’s attitude left the impression of “possible desperation on the Council’s part to cover up injustice. This is analogous to a court passing judgment and then refusing to make public the basis of its decision.


http://saharareporters.com/2015/11/11/nigeria%E2%80%99s-human-rights-commission-overturns-unn%E2%80%99s-firing-professor-who-exposed-colleague

Policeman commits suicide for missing assessment exam



LAGOS—There was pandemonium, yesterday, at the Police Training School, Ikeja, Lagos, following the discovery of the lifeless body of Corporal Agi Elias inside his car.
Nigerian-PoliceIt was gathered that the policeman, attached to Safer High Way Patrol, reportedly committed suicide at about 8p.m, Monday, after he missed an assessment exam held at the training school.

Empty cans of pesticide and some tablets, suspected to have been taken by the deceased, were reportedly found inside the car.
Vanguard learned that Elias, who was part of the policemen undergoing a promotional course that ended Monday, was trapped in traffic on his way from Badagry.
He got to the school, only to discover that the assessment exam conducted by a Commissioner of Police was over. Report said passionate pleas to the examiners fell on deaf ears.

The distraught corporal, as gathered called his wife on phone and informed her not to expect him back home again. He was also said to have told her to come and pick his corpse at the training college.
When Vanguard arrived the scene yesterday morning, Elias’ widow, family members, friends and colleagues were seen weeping profusely.

Colleagues’ stories
According to one of his course mates identified simply as Sanni, “we have been here together since Friday on a training course. Yesterday, Elias was coming from his division in Badagry when he got trapped in traffic, which resulted in his missing the assessment exams.
“He begged the officer in charge to help him but they told him it was late and there was nothing they could do because it was the Commissioner of Police, CP Fatia Owoseni, that conducted the assessment exam.”
Another policeman, who spoke to Vanguard on the condition of anonymity, said: “Even if he missed the assessment exams, that is not enough reason for him to take his life. His death is not ordinary.
“Elias was comfortable. He had two cars: an SUV and the Passsat in which he died and two houses in different parts of Lagos. He did not even think of his family, his wife and two children.”
His corpse has been deposited in the morgue at Lagos State Teaching Hospital.

I thought he was
relaxing—VENDOR
A newspaper vendor, Bekky Onabanjo, who claimed to have seen the deceased park his vehicle Monday night, said: “One of his legs was outside while the other was inside the car. He was there till we closed for the day at about 7p.m. I thought he was relaxing.
“It was this morning (yesterday) that we found his lifeless body already stiff inside his vehicle. There was also an empty can of a pesticide inside the car, suggesting he could have committed suicide.”

Police statement
Confirming the incident, the command’s spokesman, Mr. Joe Offor, said: “A policeman was found dead in his car with number plates 489 AY, parked at the entrance gate of High Barracks, Ikeja today (yesterday) at about 7.30a.m.”



http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/policeman-commits-suicide-for-missing-assessment-exam/

Breaking News: EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, Sacked



The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, has been removed from offfice.

Though no official statement has been released on his removal, it was however gathered that a senior official of the commission had been asked to take over in an acting capacity.

THISDAY gathered that a statement would be released soon.

Details later...


http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/efcc-chairman-ibrahim-lamorde-sacked/225151/


Buhari Sacks EFCC Boss, Ibrahim Lamorde
Channels Television.


There is now a confirmation from the presidency that the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Lamorde, has been sacked.

In a two paragraph press release signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, the President explained that Mr Ibrahim Mustapha Magu would replace Lamorde in Acting capacity.

Mr Magu, who is an Assistant Commissioner of Police, was one of the deputies of the former EFCC boss.

Mr Adesina explained that Mr Lamorde was proceeding on terminal leave with immediate effect.

Mr Lamorde was earlier on Monday sighted at the villa for what is believed to be his final meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari as the chairman of the commission.

The former EFCC boss was appointed as acting chairman of the agency in 2011 by the former President, Goodluck Jonathan, and was confirmed as chairman by the Senate in February 2012.

He took over from the then EFCC chairman, Farida Waziri, and prior to that, he served as Director of Operations of the EFCC.


http://www.channelstv.com/2015/11/09/buhari-sacks-efcc-boss-ibrahim-lamorde/

Goal! Nigeria 2 Mali 0.
Abeg. Mod wake up and change the scores.

Goal!

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DPR shuts 114 filling stations in Oyo, Osun, Jos




The Department of Petroleum Resources has sealed 114 filling stations in Oyo, Osun and Plateau states for hoarding petrol and selling above the official pump price of N87 per litre.

While the DPR shut 90 filling stations in Oyo and Osun states, it closed 24 in Plateau.



The agency also arrested some filling station owners in Ilesa and Ife areas of Osun State, while its inspection team ordered some filling stations to sell kerosene and petrol at the official prices.

Two filling stations allegedly owned by a former governor of Oyo State were among those sealed along the Ogbomosho-Ilorin Road on Thursday for selling the product above the pump price.

In Isare and Ilesa area of Osun State, one of our correspondents learnt that some DPR officials were assaulted by suspected hoodlums who attempted to stop the team from sealing a filling station.

The Controller of Oyo and Osun states field offices of the DPR, Olakunle Ogunlana, who spoke through the Deputy Manager (Operations), Mr. Sadiq Ibrahim, said the department would continue the hunt for fraudsters among the marketers.

He said, “What we are doing is to ensure that people do what is right. Operators and fuel marketers must operate according to government stipulated directives.”

In Plateau State, the DPR Operations Controller, Mr. Caesar Douglas, said, “Our outing today is so revealing. There are some marketers doing illegal business with the PMS; they have been cheating innocent Nigerians and we have no option than to seal their stations.

“We have sealed a total of 24 filling stations in Plateau State of which there are 16 licensed marketers and seven unlicenced ones. They will be penalised for hoarding fuel, selling above the approved price, diversion of their allocations and operating without licences.

“We sealed 11 stations for selling above the approved price; we sealed five for diversion of fuel; seven for selling without licence and one for hoarding fuel. All these various offences go with penalties. For those selling above the approved price, their stations will be sealed for a month and the owners will pay a fine of N100, 000. For those caught hoarding the product, we considered that as economic sabotage and the offenders will pay a fine of N2m and their stations will be sealed for two months.”

Meanwhile, the DPR confirmed on Friday that eight filling stations sealed in Minna for similar offences had paid a fine of N100,000 each. The DPR Controller in the state, Mr. Abdullahi Jankara, said, “Some filling stations in the state capital are not selling petroleum products at the approved prices, while those which claim to be selling at the approved prices have adjusted their pumps.

“Independent marketers do what they like, but the DPR will not allow it. If you are not ready to do business in line with the guidelines, leave and go into another business. The era of illegality is gone.”

He said Hajara Global, First El-Shabab, Muhabat Tunga, Garima, Unibros, AUG and Mubashar Investment were shut for selling petrol at N110 per litre, while a Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation retail affiliate was sealed for non-functional safety mechanism.

Jankara explained that the first seven stations were sealed for price hike and the NNPC outlet was closed because of safety issues.




http://punchng.com/2015/11/4542

Dasuki’s medical trip, a blow on Judiciary — TMG




•Wants judge investigated
•Calls on FG to file stay of execution
By Caleb Ayansina
The Chairman, Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Com. Ibrahim Zikirullahi, has frowned at the recent verdict of the Federal High Court in Abuja which granted request by the ex-National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, to travel abroad on health ground, describing it as a big blow on the Judiciary.

Former national security adviser of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Sambo Dasuki (R), speaks with his lawyer Ahmed Raji, during his trial at the federal high court in Abuja, on September 1, 2015. Nigerian prosecutors on September 1, 2015 slapped a charge of unlawful possession of arms against Dasuki. Dasuki was arraigned on a "one-count charge of being in possession of firearms without licence," Prosecutor Mohammed Diri told the federal high court in Abuja.

Dasuki is facing trial on allegations of money laundering involving about N84.6m and illegal possession of arms.
The group further viewed the decision of the court as a of providing soft-landing for Dasuki and shield him from facing trial.

Zikirullahi, who stated this at a press conference on the state of the nation, in Abuja, noted that the verdict reflected the two sides of a coin of justice system in Nigeria; “one for the masses and the other for the rich”.
“TMG frowns at the entrenched culture of dispensation of justice in which, the justice system heavily acts on the side of the rich and powerful, no matter their crimes, while being in a hurry to punish the poor.

“In recent judgment of a section of the judiciary, TMG notes with revulsion the clear existence of one kind of justice for the rich, and another kind of poor.

“We have seen this playing out with the case of the former National security adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd), who is standing trial over allegations of money laundering and illegal possession of arms. In spite of these grave charges against him, the Judiciary went ahead to grant him bail on self-recognition. That would clearly not have been the case, if the person involved was an ordinary citizen.

“TMG has an axe to grind with a recent judicial ruling in which the authorities were ordered to return the travelling documents of the ex-NSA, Sambo Dasuki to enable him travel abroad for medical attention.
“It is ironic and reprehensible that those whose activities denied the nation of the opportunity of building and maintaining a world class health system are getting judicial reprieve to go get treatment outside the shores of our country.’’



http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/dasukis-medical-trip-a-blow-on-judiciary-tmg/

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http://www.techfashy.com/2015/11/Zeus-addons-watch-supersport-channels-on-koditv.html?m=1
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Ijaw leaders slam Tambuwal over Bayelsa guber poll



IJAW Leaders Fo­rum (ILF), a body of leaders of thought, has slammed Governor of So­koto State, Aminu Tam­buwal, over comments attributed to him at the inauguration of the cam­paign council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Bay­elsa State, Timipre Sylva that Bayelsa State will be delivered to the party.

The ILF frowned at Tambuwal’s statement and alleged it is plot to rig APC into power by hook or crook.

In a statement by the Publicity Secretary of the body, Prof. Friday Brisbie-Williams, yes­terday and made avail­able to the media, the ILF warned that any attempt to rig the December 5 governorship election will be resisted by the people.

The ILF commended Edo State Governor, Ad­ams Oshiomhole, for turning down the offer to chair the campaign council just as the other absentee members were praised for “their sense of decency.”

The statement recalled the role Tambuwal was said to have played by working against former president Goodluck Jona­than while as speaker of the House of Representa­tives, stating that by such actions he was an enemy of the Ijaw nation.

“We Ijaw know who are our enemies and we will ensure that our people are effectively mobilised to stop our enemies and their party from having a foothold in Bayelsa,” it stated.



http://sunnewsonline.com/new/ijaw-leaders-slam-tambuwal-over-bayelsa-guber-poll/

NIS boss scraps roadblocks at border areas



The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Martin Abeshi, has directed immigration personnel to remove roadblocks at border areas, noting that they could screen foreigners coming into the country without blocking the road with logs and disused tyres.

He also warned passport officers against issuing passports to terrorists, kidnappers and other criminals.



Handing down the warning at a meeting with senior officials including border control and passport officials on Friday at the NIS headquarters, Abuja, Abeshi admonished the officials to screen passport applicants thoroughly before issuing them Nigerian passports.

Abeshi stressed that the penalty for indiscriminate issuance of passports is stiff, noting that any indicted officer would not be spared.

He said, “You must not engage in indiscriminate issuance of passports; you know that Nigeria is battling with terrorism now, you must therefore screen passport applicants thoroughly before issuing applicants with passports.

“It is a security document and it must not be issued to kidnappers, terrorists and other criminals; penalty for doing this is very stiff, don’t say you have not been warned.

“I don’t also see any reason in the blocking of road by our officers, if you see any foreigner, ask him to alight from the vehicle, screen him and allow the vehicle to go, there is no need blocking the highway with wood and tyres, the police have stopped roadblock, don’t block the highway in whatever form.”

The immigration boss expressed displeasure over the reports of corruption in the service, adding that he was always sad anytime he read about the corrupt practices of NIS personnel in newspapers.



http://punchng.com/2015/11/3074

Tension, as Saraki names c’ttee heads, deputies


ABUJA — AHEAD of the unveiling of names of chairmen and vice-chairmen of standing committees by Senate President, Bukola Saraki, tension has gripped the lawmakers over who heads the juicy committees.
According to a source, ranking senators across party lines have vowed to resist any move to give them committees that are seen not to be powerful.

At press time last night, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senators were said to be meeting at the residence of former Senate President, Senator David Mark, over the issue.

It was gathered, yesterday, that those who had been fighting Saraki have vowed to continue with the fight, using the standing committees as a reason.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the Senate were, yesterday night, putting finishing touches to the list.

List to be unveiled tomorrow if…

Barring any last-minute change, the Senate President will unveil the list tomorrow.
Asked in a text message if the list was ready, a principal officer replied: “No, we may finish the final touches tonight (yesterday).

The source said that the composition of the committees will help calm frayed nerves generated by the confirmation of former Rivers State Governor, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, last Thursday.
PDP senators staged a walk-out from the plenary on Thursday during the confirmation of Amaechi following the All Progressives Congress, APC, senators’ decision to ignore their PDP colleagues.

Committees now 64
According to a source, as part of moves to ensure stability in the Senate, Saraki has increased the standing committees by eight, thereby moving it from 57 to 64.
With this development, the Senate will be toeing the line of the House of Representatives which recently increased the number of its standing committees from 89 to 95.

Vanguard gathered that Saraki’s inner caucus had agreed that for the Senate President to enjoy a stable reign, he must find ways to accommodate more senators as committee chairmen.

A source told Vanguard that the Senate leadership, which had been working on the committee composition since August would round off, yesterday night, having agreed to increase the number of committees to 64.
The source said that the Senate Selection Committee, made up of the Principal Officers, decided to increase the number of the standing committees to ensure stability in the 8th Senate.

It was gathered that ranking senators have said that the 8th Senate might continue to witness turbulence following the emergence of the Senate Unity Forum, SUF, led by Senator Ahmed Lawan and Like Minds, headed by Senate President Saraki.

Regional spread
It was also gathered that the amended Senate Standing Rules 2015 prescribes equal committee chairmanship positions for each of the six geo-political zones of the country.

This provision as contained in Section 3(iv) of the 2015 Senate Standing Orders, does not exist in 2011 edition used during the Seventh Senate.

The implication of this is that the zones controlled by the PDP will chair almost the same number of committees with those controlled by the ruling APC.
The section reads: “The appointment of senators as chairmen and members of committees shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the six geo-political zones of the country and there shall be no predominance of senators from a few geo-political zones.”

This development is a deviation from the hitherto existing tradition in the Senate in which chairmanships of two committees – Public Accounts and Ethics and Privileges – were the only two committees reserved for the opposition.



http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/tension-as-saraki-names-cttee-heads-deputies/

Buhari Considers Ahmed, Adeosun, Enelamah for Finance Ministry, Mohammed for Budget & Planning


Ahmed, a former Finance Commissioner in Ogun State, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and Chief Executive Officer, African Capital Alliance, Mr. Okechukwu Enelamah, are being considered by President Muhammadu Buhari to head the Finance Ministry, THISDAY has learnt.

The trio were among the 36 ministerial nominees screened and confirmed by the Senate. While Ahmed is a financial management expert with over 28 years experience in public finance management, Adeosun is a finance professional of over 23 years. Her experience includes her stint at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, London where she served as senior manager. Enelamah, a former Goldman Sachs banker, heads Nigeria’s biggest private equity firm.

Even though one of them will eventually head the finance ministry, the trio will be part of the government economic team.
Presidency source disclosed to THISDAY that a newly created Ministry of Planning and Budget, could be headed by Ms. Amina Mohammed, who was until her appointment special adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning to United Nations Secretary-General. She had previously served as special assistant to the then President Olusegun Obasanjo on Millennium Development Goals.

Former governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, is being considered to head an expanded Niger-Delta Ministry which will have under its purview the Presidential Amnesty Programme and an infrastructure department for the South-south and the North-east.
For the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, it was gathered that the five prominent lawyers on the ministerial list are in contention. They are defunct CPC lawyer, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), Mr. James Ocholi (SAN), Senator Udo Udoma (SAN), Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) and Mr. Adebayo Shittu.

Fashola, who is the immediate past governor of Lagos State is also being considered for the Transport, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Works or any infrastructure related portfolio.
The immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and former Vice Chancellor of Imo State University, Prof. Anthony Anwuka, are being considered for the Foreign Affairs portfolio. Fayemi, who holds a Doctorate in War Studies, has been part of the President’s entourage abroad, including the recently held United Nations General Assembly in New York.

It was also gathered that a surgeon, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, is being considered to head the Health Ministry. Ehanire has served in various medical boards within and outside Nigeria. Also, Senator Hadi Sirika, a former pilot and aviation expert, is said to have been penciled to man the Aviation ministry.
For the Information Ministry, it was gathered that Alhaji Lai Mohammed is being considered to hold the portfolio. Mohammed is All Progressives Congress (APC) spokesman and had previously served as the spokesman of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), one of the parties that merged to form APC.

Though 36 ministerial nominees were screened and confirmed by the Senate, President Buhari had last week, shortly before he departed New Delhi, India, declared that not all the ministers-designate would oversee ministries as some of them will end up sitting on the Federal Executive Council in order to fulfil the constitutional requirement of having at least one minister from each state of the federation. He also gave a hint that the number of federal ministries would be reduced.
The president is said to be intent on allocating portfolios to the ministers-designate based on their core competences and past records of performance in specific areas.

This is aimed at ensuring that the new federal cabinet hits the ground running after five months of absence of a federal executive council, a development that blurred the government’s policy direction.

Meanwhile, the leadership of the Senate has made moves to calm tempers in the aftermath of the ministerial screening exercise, which ended on a controversial note last week. Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu disclosed this in Lokoja yesterday. Ekweremadu said the tensions that arose between senators of the ruling All Progressives Congress and their colleagues from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party on the last day of the screening exercise on Thursday would not be allowed to create divisions in the senate’s ranks.

This was as some PDP senators said yesterday that their relationship with Senate President Bukola Saraki would not be affected by the disagreements following the confirmation of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s ministerial nomination despite a petition that was being pushed by the opposition. But they said they were still meeting to take a stand on.

PDP members of the upper chamber had on Thursday staged a walkout during plenary in protest at the APC-dominated senate’s insistence on confirming Amaechi as Minister of the Federal Republic. Their grouse was the refusal of the senate president to block the former governor’s ministerial confirmation based on an unfavourable report by the senate’s Committee on Public Petitions, Ethics and Privileges, which considered the petition against him.

The PDP senators had wanted the confirmation of Amaechi to be put off until the determination of the case in court. This was vehemently rejected by the APC lawmakers, who went ahead to confirm him after the exit of the opposition senators.
As the debate over the former governor’s approval went on in the senate on Thursday, tempers got very frayed, prompting insinuations that the issue may ruin relations between Saraki and the PDP senators on whose bloc vote he had depended to win the post of senate president in June.

But speaking in an interview with THISDAY, Ekweremadu said the leadership of the senate was not oblivious of the tense situation arising from the faceoff between the PDP and APC lawmakers during the ministerial screening. He said the leadership was making effort to calm frayed nerves.

“The parliament is a very dynamic place and I have been in the National Assembly for over 12 years. It is true that some people were angry and they have exercised their right to protest. I think we will now get back together to work for the benefit of Nigerians and in the interest of our country,” Ekweremadu said. “It is neither a PDP nor an APC affair; the interest of Nigerians is uppermost in our minds. We feel that what happened has happened and we will go back to reunite our members and then move on. The PDP walked out of the chambers based on principles which they believed in but having made their point, I think that they would put it aside now and let peace reign.”

Ekwerenmadu said, “The issue is not just about the APC or the PDP, the fact is that the leadership of the senate will try to reunite everyone so that things can move on.
“First, we will need to engage all the parties in the senate towards making progress. We do not intend to have the senate appear to be partisan in the affairs of the country.”

He added that on its part, the PDP would try to remain a strong contender in governance and be on the side of the people.
“We will continue to hold APC accountable to their promises and things they are expected to do for the ordinary people of the country,” the deputy senate president, who is also a PDP member, said.
Some PDP senators interviewed by THISDAY spoke in a similar vein.
Senator Peter Nwaoboshi (PDP Delta North), Senator Olaka Nwogu (PDP Rivers South-east), and Senator Clifford Ordia (PDP Edo Central) acknowledged last Thursday’s development but doubted if it would affect the relationship with the PDP caucus.
They however said the caucus will still meet.

Some of the lawmakers who spoke on condition of anonymity said in spite of the controversial interlude on the last lap of the ministerial screening, the outcome of the exercise demonstrated Saraki’s loyalty to his party and popularity among his colleagues.

“We have to emphasise the fact that the senate president has shown that he is a loyal party man who enjoys the respect of his colleagues across party line and that he can be relied upon to rally the senate behind party positions,” one senator told THISDAY. He added, “The senate president has also proved that there is nothing the country’s president wants from the senate that he cannot help him to get. It is now incumbent on the president to reciprocate this new gesture and help to consolidate new cooperation between the executive and the legislature.”



http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/buhari-considers-ahmed-adeosun-enelamah-for-finance-ministry-mohammed-for-budget-planning/224336/

At Last, Iheanacho Gets Oliseh's Nod for S'Eagles



After several months of clarion call by football stake holders, former Golden Eaglets top man and Manchester City young star, Kelechi Iheanacho, finally got the nod to be part of head coach Sunday Oliseh plan for Super Eagles has he was included in the list of players called for the 2018 World Cup second round fixture against Swaziland.


An initial list of 23 was released earlier yesterday by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) with the young lad name missing but late yesterday, it was added thus brought the list of the invited players to 24.


A recuperating Sunday Oliseh,placed on two weeks of bed rest by his doctors,could only watch the repeat broadcast of the Capital One game between Manchester City and Crystal Palace Yesterday afternoon to decide on handing the 2013 U17 World Cup MVP a senior team call up.


"I initially called up 23 players but I am adding Kelechi Iheanacho to the list immediately,"Oliseh told thenff.com.
"I have been following Kelechi's progress at City."


Kelechi Iheanacho was named man of the match in the game where he scored a goal and provided two assists to aid his side's progress in the competition.


Aside the young lad, the list also marked the return of USA-based Obafemi Martins back to the squad and six home –based professionals, for the Super Eagles’ 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture.


The two –legged fixture will take place over four days next month, with the first leg in Lobamba on Friday, November 13 and the return leg at the Adokiye Amiesiamaka Stadium in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, November 17.

Martins, who has not featured for the Super Eagles in two years, has been in great form in the Major League Soccer, and his invitation shows clearly that FIFA Technical Study Group member Oliseh has an open mind to all Nigerian players across the globe.

The invitation is also a sweet birthday present to Martins, who celebrated his big day on Wednesday. He scored for Nigeria on his debut in a friendly match against Republic of Ireland in London in May 2005.

Six home –based professionals, who all played notable roles in Nigeria’s qualification for the 4thAfrican Nations Championship at the expense of Burkina Faso, are in the 23 –man mix.

Chelsea of England midfielder John Mikel Obi, Portugal –based former junior internationals Dele Alampasu and Abdullahi Shehu and Arsenal FC’s Alex Iwobi are also invited, as well as former junior international defender Wilfred Ndidi.

Oliseh has directed that all the players arrive at the Bolton White Apartments, Abuja on Sunday, November 8 as training commences same day by 7pm.

THE FULL LIST

Goalkeepers: Carl Ikeme (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England); Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Sunshine Stars); Dele Alampasu (Club de Sportivo Feirense, Portugal)

Defenders: Abdullahi Shehu (Uniao da Madeira, Portugal); Kalu Orji (Enugu Rangers); Elderson Echiejile (AS Monaco, France); Chima Akas (Sharks FC); Leon Balogun (FSV Mainz, Germany); Godfrey Oboabona (Caykur Rizespor, Turkey); Efe Ambrose (Celtic FC, Scotland); Austin Oboroakpo (Abia Warriors)

Midfielders: Ogenyi Onazi (SS Lazio, Italy); Paul Onobi (Sunshine Stars); John Mikel Obi (Chelsea FC, England); Rabiu Ibrahim (AS Trencin, Slovakia); Wilfred Ndidi (KRC Genk, Belgium); Sylvester Igbonu (FC UFA, Russia)

Forwards: Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Moses Simon (KAA Gent, Belgium); Odion Ighalo (Watford FC, England); Ezekiel Bassey (Enyimba FC); Alex Iwobi (Arsenal FC, England); Obafemi Martins (Seattle Sounders, USA),Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City)




http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/at-last-iheanacho-gets-olisehs-nod-for-seagles/224134/

N1.4trn penalty too heavy to bear – MTN

Three days after Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC slammed a N1.4 trillion penalty on MTN Nigeria for failure to disconnect customers with unregistered SIM cards, Parent company MTN group has cried out that the fine was too extreme, even as it continues to engage the regulator on how to resolve the issue.

MTN Group noted with dismay that Nigerian Communications Commission refused to listen to its plea to reconsider its stand on the penalty slammed on its Nigerian arm last week.

According to a report, MTN Nigeria spokeswoman, Chineze Gbenga-Oluwatoye, had said in an e-mailed response, that “recommendations were put forward with respect to the non-commensurable nature of the fine but the Nigerian Communications Commission did not accept recommendations that the fine of 200,000 Naira ($1,005) per SIM was too heavy.”

‘‘MTN Nigeria contacted the regulator with concerns that a demand to disconnect SIM cards by a certain deadline would cause “severe disruption” for customers and recommended a staggered process to limit the possible impact,’’ said Oluwatoye.

As a result of the fine, MTN shares plummeted about 20 percent this week in Johannesburg. The biggest four-day drop since 2008, valuing the company at about 284 billion rand ($21 billion).

A MTN service provider tries to register a client's SIM card in Lagos, on October 27, 2015. Nigeria's telecommunications regulator has fined South African mobile giant MTN $5.2 billion for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered SIM cards, the company announced on Monday. The penalty saw shares in Africa's largest telecommunications company crash more than 12 percent to 167 rand on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the biggest fall the firm has suffered in a day since November 1998.

Nigeria’s telecommunications regulator has fined South African mobile giant MTN $5.2 billion for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered SIM cards, the company announced on Monday. The penalty saw shares in Africa’s largest telecommunications company crash more than 12 percent to 167 rand on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the biggest fall the firm has suffered in a day since November 1998.

The phone operator had said on Monday that the Nigerian Communications Commission is seeking the penalties because it missed a deadline to disconnect 5.1 million subscribers and is reviewing its management in the country.

Moody’s Investors Service had on Thursday lowered it’s rating for MTN to negative from stable following the fine.

“Key concerns raised to the NCC highlighted the difficulty of carefully reviewing the data on 18.6 million records within the one week deadline to ensure identification and disconnection of only affected subscribers,” Oluwatoye added.

Meanwhile, Financial analysts have pointedly said that Nigeria government is at risk of scaring off investors it can’t afford to lose if the N1.4 trillion fine slammed on MTN holds through.

With an economy struggling to cope with sliding oil prices, the experts said currency restrictions and no finance minister, authorities are doing themselves no favors by penalizing one of their biggest foreign investors.

According to fund managers including David McIlroy of Alquity Investment Management Limited, the fine equates to more than 20 percent of Johannesburg-based MTN’s market value.

“It’s the last thing Nigeria needs, given the economic and political struggles it’s contending with at the moment,” McIlroy, chief investment officer at Alquity, which oversees $100 million of frontier market stocks, including MTN shares, said by phone from London.



http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/n1-4trn-penalty-too-heavy-to-bear-mtn/

futurewise11:
I think the NCC got it wrong here.Introducing price cap is not an effective government intervention tool.Firstly, Its known in the economist world that price floor mostly benefit the supplier(Telecommunication Company).

Why not let the forces of the market determine the price?

Why not use tax as the government intervention tools?thereby generating billions of naira for the govt.

Instead they use Price floor to exploit the public and get there share from the companies.

May God help Nigeria.

Futurewise11
European School of Business

NCC wasn't wrong about the decision to introduce price caps. They did it to protect subscribers in the long run. If they didn't regulate the unhealthy competition, the big players will drive out the weak and new players. In the long run they will operate unchallenged and charge whatever they want. Remember the era when we billed by the minute until glo entered the game.

The Ile-Ife and Yoruba of my dream, by Ooni-elect, Adeyeye Ogunwusi



I have a story to tell the world and most importantly the people of Ile-Ife. About 40 years ago, I was born into the Giesi Ruling House, Ojaja Royal Compound in the ancient city of Ile-Ife.

From birth, my life has been a journey; one that I embarked on, saddled with great conscientiousness when I became a responsible father at the age of 19, which shaped and groomed me for greater challenges ahead.

To cater for my family as a young father, I became very enterprising with the knack of building something out of nothing. This certainly increased my temperament for being successful in all my endeavours, as well as towing the right path as a responsible father.Enitan-ooni
Thus, in the following years, I was able to build a consortia of companies with a team of well-versed, highly skilled and unskilled professionals from scratch and with hard work and God’s providence. This has made me a huge employer of labour and a captain of industries. The story of Ile-Ife begins as the cradle of civilization and has spread its tentacles beyond Black Africa.

The Ooni stool is highly revered and exalted and as the world looks on; our strength and emphasis need to be injected into the development of Ile-Ife as a beacon of hope and enviable city.

Spiritual home of all Yoruba
Suffices to say that Ile-Ife is the ancestral and spiritual home of all Yorubas, bona fide, in Nigeria and the Diaspora, and the World Headquarters of the House of Oduduwa, which comprises people resident in nearly all the continents of the world.

Thus, the Ooni, as the head of the vast Oduduwa family, must be no less versatile and resourceful. Available evidences from the curatorial community and archaeological discoveries have put the origin of Ile-Ife around 2000 years BC.

Around this time, the people of Ile-Ife have distinguished themselves in technology and cultural advancement. A notable fact in this direction is Ori-Olokun: though purportedly ‘discovered’ by the famous German archaeologist Leo Frobenius in 1910, but had been in existence for thousands of years.

Discovery: The pure-copper sculpture took the entire arts world by storm at the time of its discovery that experts from the West argued that the artefact was a mystery that was too sophisticated to have been created by African hands. However, after careful examinations of other works, profusely located in and around the city and bearing striking resemblance, the world accepted the truth that the advanced people of Ile-Ife had, not only wielded the technology to turn iron to alloy but also of moulding abstract artworks out of the product. Consequently, it is now accepted by the curatorial community that the advanced artistic techniques used to create the sculpture were more advanced than those of Renaissance Italy, and comparable to those of [the artist] Donatello.
Yet, Ile-Ife has not taken its rightful position as the ‘source’ of civilization despite her wealth of history, culture and tradition.

Having found ourselves in such state of affairs where the potential of the land remains untapped and its people lacking economic and social emancipation, we should all take it upon ourselves to redress this situation.

Redressing the situation
The Ile-Ife of ‘my dream’ will be strategically positioned to empower its people socially, economically and culturally to bring about the desired developments. Now, with our resolve to transform Ile-Ife we are ‘SET’ to leave no stone unturned, in the drive to put Ile-Ife on the map of the world. Our ultimate goal is to reposition the House of Oduduwa as a worthy example of successful inward-looking community.

At this juncture, I consider it pertinent to share with everyone the account of how Nigeria as a nation came to be. The Royal Niger Company was a mercantile company charter by the British government in the nineteenth century. It was formed in 1879 as the United African Company and became the Royal Niger Company in 1886. By 1900 it went through several name changes and in 1914 a merger occurred between the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and the Northern Nigeria Protectorate to become the independent Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1960.

It suffices to say our beloved nation developed through a corporation of technocrats and quality mind input. Arguably, this is one of the several ways cities and communities are built; through large corporations. The ethos of this account goes to prove that any geographic setting can undergo boundless growth through clusters of companies which invariably can lead to the creation of settlements and human capital development.

Consequently, there is a huge possibility for Ile-Ife to experience tremendous growth through industrialization and developmental projects like a company managed by dedicated sons and daughters of Ife and all Ife enthusiasts. I have no doubt, Ife will be great again due to its economic dexterity. Ife has one of the largest land mass in the South-west beaming with natural resources including three out of the four factors of production; ‘land’, ‘labour’ and ‘entrepreneurship’ and with our great resolve we shall work towards ‘capital’ creation.

I am very passionate about my roots with the determination of bringing Ile-Ife to the forefront of economic and social affairs. In my private life, I have for a while been involved in many philanthropic gestures in Ile-Ife and its environs. The progressiveness of the youths of Ile-Ife is at the core of my philosophy and I have been instilling hope to thousands of youths through the various ongoing reciprocity Programmes I established a while ago.

It is within the dictates of our culture that the young shall provide for the old and for this reason our youths need to be nurtured and engaged positively hence they can attain financial independence and in return provide for their parents, families and dependants. This is not to say that the old and elderly will be left out. There will be various empowerment Programmes for the elderly and the widowed to learn new trades and acquire new skills that will help stamp out redundancy and at the same time be financially rewarding to them.

Many might argue that the tasks before me are incredibly monumental and impossible. However, I do not get easily swayed by the idea of impossibilities. In every challenging situation what I see is a speck of possibility which I build on till the task at hand is completed. I have done this time over time and I have defied the rules of men to follow my gut instincts. I have excelled where, people had predicted failure and I derived the most joy where others have said emphatically “it is not possible.”

A recent classic example of turning impossibilities to possibilities took place at ‘Parakin’ in Ile-Ife where I converted a sizeable piece of thick forest land into a beautiful castle within a month. The land hitherto, was a garbage dump and an escape route for men of the underworld in the vicinity which constituted a social menace to the inhabitants of ‘Parakin’.

In recent history one cannot mention Ile-Ife without acknowledging the Ife and Modakeke conflict. It’s unfortunate that lives were lost during the war between Ife and Modakeke; a war that had no economic value and displaced many lives. I paid a courtesy visit to the youths affected by the war and implored them to be proactive. Furthermore I urged them to be on the straight and narrow path and propagated the tenets of hard work as the only way to make it in life.

Touching experiences
In the course of my life I have had many touching experiences. However, my most compelling experience till date involves two young boys namely Demola Adewole and Taye Fayemi. Demola and thousands of others energetic youths visit work sites on a daily basis to solicit for money. I took it upon myself to get to know these young boys and found that all they wanted was to earn a decent living. We got acquainted with Demola and found out he was a welder. Without hesitation, we helped to re-orientate him and got him involved in construction work in ‘Parakin’. Demola Adewole has turned out to be one of the best welders I have been privileged to work with till date.

Another set of energetic youths on one of the days I visited Ife chased after my car, many of them climbed onto the fast moving car and during the tussle to stay latched on to the car, one of them got injured. I got out of the car and addressed all of them and asked why they would want to hurt themselves and with no care in the world, Taye replied “death means nothing to me”; I shed tears, there is no hope for the youths and no one to rebuild their dashed hopes or future.

Taye Fayemi was simply desperate to make a living for himself and today, to the glory of God I personally supervise Taye’s rehabilitation, his personal development and wellbeing.

Destinies: Similar to the story of Demola and Taye, are thousands of youths with different expertise that need our help to find their feet, many whose destinies would have been cut short like the others lost the war. I cannot but emphasize that the development and well being of our youths is paramount to our future and one that is very close to my heart.

This area needs to be properly addressed to ensure our youths are well engaged in various professional and vocational pursuits.

Today, and to the glory of God, I have been energized to rehabilitate and take off the streets several thousands of youths by providing them with gainful employment. Furthermore, we shall set up a foundation that will support post war effects and the rebuilding of war torn Ife and Modakeke.

Thereafter there shall NEVER be war again. I stand firmly for peace and unity between Ife and Modakeke and I guarantee that this peace and unity will transcend into economic and social benefits for everyone.
Similarly, we shall use this stool to unify the entire Yoruba race; there shall be no division, no supremacy or animosity amongst us, we are all from the one and the same source-God Almighty.

Coming to the throne is a clarion call to heed my selfless desire to serve the people of Ile-Ife, the Yoruba race and all of humanity. We will use the stool to provide a lot of opportunities to invest in the youths through mentor-ship and empowerment programs that will further take thousands off the streets on a gradual basis. Youths all over the country will be eligible for the mentor-ship programme and Ife will be the pilot model. We will use the stool to transpose Ile-Ife into the twenty-first century and with the use and influence of social media we are ‘set’ for his transformation. Sons and daughters of Ife and Ife enthusiasts around the world will have an input in the building of the New Ife City, ‘NIC’ through constructive feedback.

‘Socially’, we are ‘set’ to revive and promote Ile-Ife as a tourist destination.
‘Economically’ we are ‘set’ to increase our industrial footprints to give Ife the much desired facelift and ‘Traditionally’ we are ‘set’ to redefine the kingship system by blending modernity into our cultural values and practices and our tradition of thousands of years will stand.

Plans are well under-way to revitalize Ife in the areas of Sports, Mining, Agriculture, Real Estate, Tourism and rapid industrialization. To achieve this transformation, a brand new platform named ‘House Of Oduduwa Resources Limited’ has been established to stimulate the entire economy of Ile-Ife with a positive impact on the entire Yoruba race and our nation as a whole. ‘House Of Oduduwa Resources Limited’ will be tasked with rebuilding Ife into the ‘New Ife city’, NIC.

However, this is a herculean task which can only be achieved with the support of all well-meaning technocrats, sons and daughters of Ile-Ife in Nigeria and in the Diaspora and all lovers of Ife. My fervent desire is to grow ‘House Of Oduduwa Resources Limited’ into one of the biggest corporations out of Africa, likewise uniting all lovers of Ife with the people of Ife. Earlier this year, I acquainted the youths of Ile-Ife of my plans to replicate the truly Nigerian project, Inagbe Grand Resorts Lagos, Nigeria (almost hundred percent of raw materials used are locally sourced) in Ile-Ife. Inagbe Grand Resorts is the first of its kind and will soon be the most sought after resort destination in all of West Africa. I have developed an incredible master plan for the proposed ‘Ife Grand Resorts’ which will be an off shoot of ‘Inagbe Grand Resorts Lagos’.

The ‘Ife Grand Resort’ project and the ‘NIC’ initiative was conceived to attract young men and women, businesses, corporate organization, investors, holiday makers, lovers of Ife and Ife in Diaspora to a comfortable ambience to stay when they are away from home. This will continually put Ile-Ife, the cradle of black civilization on the map likewise showcasing many artefacts about the Yoruba race, hence creating a steady influx of people into Ile-Ife.

The time has come for us to embrace our true heritage as the progeny of Oduduwa and the task of modernizing Ile-Ife is yours and mine. I am highly honoured to have been chosen to fill the stool that great men once occupied; history and I will forever remember this day. I use this opportunity to pay tribute to Oba Adesoji Aderemi and Oba Okunade Sijuwade; these monarchs were colossus that redefined the monarchy with touch of diligence, elegance and gravitas that traversed so many cultural boundaries. They were great fathers to me and I will forever miss and honour them.

I am not coming to the throne to pass judgment on those that have maliciously wronged me. But then, I should think that a bid to be enthroned as the foremost Oba in Yoruba race should be healthy and ordained of God. There is also the Ifa divination that also synthesizes the process, just in case human beings are partial.

Rather, some people resorted to dangerous attacks, wicked lies, malicious insinuations and vigorous campaign of calumny. Why would I fail to forgive them when all came to nought and the good people and governments of Ife and State of Osun saw through these unfair games and chose me as the prestigious Ooni of Ife.

Therefore, I am coming to set a good example and show the world that I am truly called by God to lead Ile-Ife into a state of tranquillity, conscientiousness and prosperity. It is my fervent prayer that the Lord will continue to guide us all and bestow us with great wisdom to carry out our incumbent tasks. I use this opportunity to call on all the sons of Ile-Ife that were alongside me in the race for the stool to heed to my call and let’s work harmoniously to align our goals for the sake of posterity and Ile-Ife. Together we shall not lose sight of the values and tradition that have made us the greatest nation of black people on earth. I come before you all today as a man pledging his unwavering commitment to his Kingdom and his people that I cannot do this alone; without you all there is no me “I will serve you all with everything I have”. Long live Ile-Ife; long live the Yoruba race, long live the House of Oduduwa, and God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.



http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/the-ile-ife-and-yoruba-of-my-dream-by-ogunwusi-ooni-elect/

NEW OONI OF IFE SPEAKS OUT FOR THE FIRST TIME


The Ooni-elect has spoken out. Yesterday, it was announced that Prince Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi will be crowned as the New Ooni of Ife. He was suddenly thrust into the international spotlight with all eyes on him.
Prince Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi’s selection has been trending online and made headline news due to his youthfulness and according to some, handsome looks and physique.

An exclusive interview feature by Guardian Newspaper reveals the Ooni-elect’s thoughts. It was also revealed that his father, Prince Ropo Ogunwusi expressed happiness and explained that the present turn of events is a fulfillment of predictions made long ago that his son would one day wear the crown.
Here is what the Ooni-elect had to say.

Thanking God
Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, he said: “I thank God that it was peaceful all the way. This is dedicated to God and Nigerian youths, particularly, our youths in Ife. With my emergence, our young people now have a voice in nation building and development.

“In the course of my aspiration to be the Ooni stool, I faced stiff opposition, but I thank God that at the end of the day, it has turned out this way and I give glory to God.”

No Malice
In his acceptance speech, the Ooni-elect said: “I am not coming to the throne to pass judgment on those that have maliciously wronged me. I am coming to the throne to set a good example and show the world that I am truly called by God to lead Ile-Ife into a state of tranquility, conscientiousness and prosperity.

Praying for Wisdom
“It is my ardent prayer that the Lord will continue to guide us all and bestow us with great wisdom to carry out our incumbent tasks. I use this opportunity to call upon all the sons of Ile-Ife that were alongside with me in the race for the stool to heed to my call that we work harmoniously to align our goals for the sake of posterity and Ile-Ife. Together we shall not lose sight of the values and tradition that have made us the greatest nation of black people on earth.”


- See more at: http://www.ireporteronline.com/p9981_new-ooni-of-ife-speaks-out-for-the-first-time#sthash.IN4ss0Js.aSdJxc4b.dpuf

2019 Presidency President Buhari Settles Govs. El-Rufai, Aminu Masari’s War



Alhaji Aminu Masari and Alhaji Nasir El-Rufai are two trusted and reliable foot soldiers of President Muhammadu Buhari. Interestingly, they were both principal members of the PDP when the former Head of State first dumped the military garb and contested in 2003. Aminu and Nasir seem to have same records as regards political profiles.

The duo of Nasir and Masari both shifted base to the Buhari’s camp after the 2007 election.

While Aminu served as Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nasir served as the Minister for FCT. Though the Kastina born retired General failed to achieve his political ambition in 2011, the seed of his eventual victory was sown and signs of recording electoral success in future were clear cognizant of the higher number of votes he recorded in 2011 in spite of having no serving governor as members of his party, the CPC.

The enviable political records, his ‘deterrent’ values and other factors got the APC ticket zeroed on him as the appropriate person to convince Nigerians and make them believe in the mantra ‘change’.

Following the electoral loss recorded at the poll by the PDP and the change in the political equation, APC ticket has become the most attractive and competitive at all levels. Though 2019 is still far away, the struggle for the tickets has begun in earnest. Many of the gladiators are banking on the calculation that the president might decide not to seek for re-election in 2019 and that he would root for the candidature of a trusted loyalist. Those eyeing the seat include Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, Senator Ahmed Yerima, Alhaji Aminu Masari, Alhaji Nasir El-Rufai and former VP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

The silent battle for the possible presidential ticket, however, resulted in direct clash of interests involving supporters of the two serving governors, Aminu and Nasir and it led to competition for attention in the Buhari’s camp.

To save the situation, a meeting was convened and it had supporters from both sides in attendance, sources privy to what transpired at the meeting disclosed that supporters of the two governors were ordered to shelve talks about ambitions for now and have it in their subconscious minds that the president would seek for a 2nd term and that anything that would lead to a crack within the walls in the relationship involving the principal members of the Buhari’s inner caucus should be avoided.

Meanwhile, Governor Nasir El-Rufai is also facing a domestic challenge from Senator Shehu Sani.

The human right activist, we learnt wanted to give it all it takes in the battle for the Kaduna APC governorship ticket in 2014 but had to step down on Buhari’s instruction with the understanding that he would be compensated with a senatorial ticket, a promise that was ultimately kept. Sani, since emerging a senator is ever ready to throw onslaught and gauntlet in the governor’s camp and he freely expresses his determination to nurture his governorship dream into fruition.


http://globalexcellenceonline.com/2015/10/2019-presidency-president-buhari-settles-govs-el-rufai-aminu-masaris-war/

Breaking: Ogunwusi emerges 51st Ooni of Ife

Barely three months after the death of Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Prince Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi of the Giesi ruling house has emerged the 51st Ooni of Ile-Ife, Osun State governor Rauf Aregbesola has said in a press statement.

Aregbesola said in the brief statement that the kingmakers of Ife had completed the required process and communicated the choice of Prince Ogunwusi to his office for approval.
Ogunwusi takes over from Oba Sijuade, who died on July 28, 2015 in a London hospital.
See statement below:



http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/breaking-ogunwusi-emerges-51st-ooni-of-ife/

PHOTOS: Ghana President Visits His Hometown Of Offa In Kwara State


The town of Offa in Kwara State is agog right now as it receives its son, President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana. He was received warmly his late stepmother’s Balogun Compound (Ile Balogun) in Offa, Kwara State, Nigeria. He visited the burial ground of his stepmother and called the visit a return to his family. President Mahama was the Guest Lecturer at the University of Ilorin Convocation Lecture in Ilorin on Friday. The town of Offa is agog as sons and daughter of that beautiful town turned out to receive their son, who lived in Offa for a while growing up. He was honoured with a traditional title, the Aare Atoolase of Offa. He visited the compounds where he grew up and also paid a royal homage to the Olofa of Offa. Below are photos from the event:



http://.com/photos-ghana-president-visits-his-hometown-of-offa-in-kwara-state/

Once they are able to shut down their supplies, the rest will be a walk over.

Ministerial Screening: How Amaechi survived


PRIOR to Thursday, 22 October, the political atmosphere was tensed, intrigues, backstabbing, high wired politics were at play, making many become skeptical of the entire political system. It was like when the time comes, the building of the red chambers of the National Assembly would collapse; the Senate will not screen and clear him, especially against the backdrop of petitions against him on alleged fraud and this came from a group called, Integrity group based in Port harcourt, Rivers State.

After all the hullabaloo that surrounded his nomination as a ministerial nominee by President Muhammadu Buhari and his name submitted to the Senate through the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, his appearance before the Senator Samuel Anyanwu led Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, behold, the day finally came last Thursday, for the screening of former Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, immediate past governor of Rivers State and former Director- General, Presidential Campaign of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

With his supporters, Amaechi stormed the National Assembly and was received into the red chamber of the Senate where he was finally screened as a ministerial nominee by the senators. The screening was however not devoid of legislative politricks and drama. The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and the All Progressives Congress, APC members in the senate, insisted on the screening of Amaechi despite the stiff opposition from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP senators.

Prior to Amaechi’s appearance and following tension in the Senate over whether or not he should be screened, Senators were forced into a closed door session. The senators dissolved into an executive session at 10.58am soon after the approval of the Votes and Proceedings of Tuesday, October 20, 2015 and this was announced by Senate President Saraki.

At the closed session, which lasted for 50 minutes to sort out “knotty issues” relating to the screening of Amaechi, Chairman of the Ethics Committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu was said to have briefed his colleagues on the report and indicated that the Committee reported that the issue regarding Amaechi’s petition was in court and that the Senate should suspend action on his screening pending the resolution of the court issues.

According to a source, at the closed door meeting held before the screening, there was a gentleman’s agreement that was said to have been struck, just as the source disclosed that the Senators had agreed at the executive session that in order not to allow tempers to rise over the issue, the PDP Senators would stick to their gun of not having anything to do with Amaechi, while their APC colleagues also agreed that they would only ask the nominee to take a ‘bow and go.’

It was however gathered that the APC Senators pleaded with their colleagues in the PDP to allow Amaechi be screened while the debate of the report would be delayed till another day. It was also gathered that the PDP Senators agreed to the suspension of the debate on the report of the Ethics Committee only if their APC colleagues would also ask the Rivers nominee to take a bow so as not to “cause controversy.”

But at the chambers, PDP Senators were surprised when the APC started asking Amaechi questions during the open session. PDP Senators, who spoke at the end of the sitting felt betrayed by their APC colleagues, saying that the APC simply tricked them into a deal and later turned their back.

Earlier, in the order paper released for Thursday’s proceedings, Amaechi was the first on the list and followed by Senator Heineken Lokpobri (Bayelsa ); Omoleye Daramola (Ondo ); Adewole Folorunso (Osun); Baba Shehuri Mustapha (Borno); and Ocholi James (Kogi ). While Amaechi and others were screened by the Senators, Folorunso was not.

Preparatory to the screening of Amaechi, the Senate suspended consideration of the report of Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions on the petition against Amaechi. Rather than consider the report as stipulated in the order paper as introduced by Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, the senate president asked the senate leader to resume the screening of the nominees, which had Amaechi as the first on the list.
Senator Ali Ndume had 24 hours to the screening of Amaechi lampooned his colleagues from the PDP, his former party, saying that the 8th Senate belongs to the APC.

According to Ndume, the PDP should note that it has become a minority, a situation where the majority would always have its way, warning that PDP cannot disqualify Amaechi based on what he termed, triviality and whatever was done, must be based on constitutionality, adding that the former governor has not been convicted by any court of law.



http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/ministerial-screening-how-amaechi-survived/

christinie:
You are correct but I tell you what thing: USA got nothing on China. Most top business men/women in USA come to China to produce their goods. China produces most USA goods on the condition that they must meet USA specification and China has been delivering.
China also produces for other Western countries.

Actually, USA has the capacity and more to produce the same goods. What they have done is to outsource the dirty job to China. Labour is cheap in China and there has been lots of complaints about the working conditions in companies like Foxconn which produces devices like the iPhone. You hear of cases of workers committing suicide at work due to their working conditions.
What USA has that China still doesn't have is innovation. Most innovations are traced to USA or are controlled by the USA. What China has been doing can mostly be described as catch up. This is not to say that China doesn’t have its own inventions. It is just that the gap between the US and China is still wide for now.

China banned Facebook so as to control the kind of information available to its citizens not necessarily because of productivity. Google is also under censorship. There are some search items that cannot be found on Google. Same applies to most news sites like CNN, BBC etc. That is their own way of preventing things like the Arab Springs from happening due to Western propaganda. Also, it helped them to evolve without external influence on their life and culture. They have a firm control on the Internet. Information is power. The Western world uses information to influence the disposition of citizens to them and their own nation. While China's brand of communism shapes the information available to citizens to match the direction they want them to go.

Reps angry over committees’ allocation by Dogara


Some members of the House of Representatives are unhappy over what they consider to be the “lopsided” distribution of standing committees of the House by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara.

The complaints cut across both the majority All Progressives Congress and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

This is in spite of the fact that APC members already feel that Dogara even favoured the opposition party in an APC-dominated legislature.

Dogara had, on Thursday, named the chairmen of 96 standing committees of the House, coming after more than three months of delay and speculation.

The APC, with over 213 members, got 47 of the committees, while the PDP took 46, many in the league of “Grade A committees.”

Investigations on Friday by Saturday PUNCH showed that lawmakers raised objections to the zonal and state-by-state distribution of the committees, which leaned more towards the North-West and “surprisingly” the South-East.

The North-West got about 18 committee chairmanship positions, followed closely by the South-East with 16 positions.

The North-West has 29 deputy committee chairmanship positions, while the South-East has 10.

North-Central got 15 committee chairmen and 13 deputies.

The South-South was allotted 14 committee seats and another 18 deputies.

The South-West came fifth with 13 committee chairmanship positions but higher than the South-East by having 13 deputies.

The South-West’s number of deputies is lower than that of the South-South with 18 deputies.

However, the least number of committees went to Dogara’s North-East, which got eight committee chairmen and another eight deputies.

An aggrieved member complained that the South-West, with about 48 APC lawmakers and several PDP members in some of the states, felt the number was not representative enough.

The source said, “Only three of the committees given to the South-West can be considered to be serious committees – Committee on Customs/Excise; Committee on Telecommunications and Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream).

“Besides, the Committee on Petroleum Resources was given to an opposition member from Ondo State. What do you think?”

On the other hands, there were complaints that the PDP carted away major committees like Petroleum Resources (Upstream); power; aviation, works, NDDC; health institutions; banking/currency; army; air force and federal capital territory, among others.

Although, the APC too got some Grade ‘A’ committees like appropriations; finance; agricultural production services; electoral matters, customs and excise; and interior, the speaker was accused of handing such committees to “his loyalists.”

When contacted, the House Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, and APC legislator from the South-West, declined to comment more than saying that “the list speaks for itself.”

Interestingly, a PDP member from Ekiti State, Mr. Aina Thaddeous, told Saturday PUNCH that not only that the list did not favour the South-West, but also that Ekiti State was “short-changed.”

He said, “They have done what appears to be their best, but Ekiti was short-changed.

“They have to right the wrong for the sake of equity, justice and fairness.

“They tried to placate some states in the South-West, but Ekiti is not happy.”

Ekiti State got the chairmanship of the Committee on Youth Development held by Mr. Segun Adekola.

However, sources at the Speaker’s Office defended Dogara, claiming that he had to create additional committees in a bid to appoint as many members as possible into positions.

They also observed that the same South-West already had the Deputy Speaker and the House Leader.

“Besides, the committees are not going to be enough. As a matter of fact, we had to split some big committees into two or three to placate a lot of interests.

“The distribution was fairly done and no member or zone would really say that it had a blackout,” one of the sources told Saturday PUNCH.

Meanwhile, the political solution being sought by some leaders of the APC to save the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, from his current trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal and the on-going screening of the ministerial nominees prevented the leadership of the Senate from announcing its standing committees this week.

One of our correspondents learnt that the upper chamber would have also announced the composition of the committees on Thursday just like it’s counterpart in the House of Representatives.

A ranking senator told our correspondent on Friday that the a court case instituted by the Senate Unity Forum restraining the leadership of the Senate from constituting committees was still pending at a Federal High Court in Abuja.

Findings by our correspondents revealed that the selection committee headed by Saraki had created additional eight committees in addition to the 57 it inherited from the Seventh Senate.

It was also gathered that just like the House of Representatives, the chairmanship of the 65 proposed committees would be shared almost equally among members of both the APC and the PDP.

A principal officer of the red chamber, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said on Friday that the political solution being arranged by some APC leaders was the major factor that had put the announcement of the committees on hold.

He said, “Part of the conditions being presented before the senate president by the Presidency and the APC leaders was that the senate president should ask the principal officers he appointed to resign and compensate them with chairmanship of juicy committees.”

The source said that the some of the affected principal officers had accepted while some had turned down the offer.

He added that Saraki was actually waiting for the principal officers to resign their positions so that they could be compensated.

The source said, “It will be unfair if the principal officers relinquish their positions after the composition of the committees, hence the announcement is being delayed.”

He specifically said the pressure became so serious after a recent meeting between the affected principal officers and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday this week.

But the senate spokesperson, Senator Dino Melaye, said the fact that the rule stipulated that the chairmanship and membership of committees must accommodate the six geopolitical zones did not mean that the opposition PDP would have equal opportunity like the majority party.

Melaye had called for calm among his colleagues in the red chamber over the issue because there was no cause for alarm.


http://www.punchng.com/news/reps-angry-over-committees-allocation-by-dogara/

PDP senators turn dumb during Amaechi’s screening


ABUJA — The controversy over the screening of erstwhile Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi as a minister, ended in an anti-climax yesterday, when seething senators of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP turned dumb to him.

The PDP caucus kept mum upon the determination of All Progressives Congress, APC Senate caucus for Amaechi, the director-general of the triumphant APC presidential campaign to be screened yesterday.
Those screened yesterday are Daramola,Mustapher, Ocholi,Amaechi and Lokpobiri
Those screened yesterday are Daramola, Mustapher, Ocholi, Amaechi and Lokpobiri.

The path to his appearance which had in the past been laced with politics was agreed at a closed-door meeting of the Senate that preceded yesterday’s plenary.
At that session, the PDP senators it was gathered had again restated their opposition to the appearance of Amaechi, alleging that the issues of corruption raised against him had not been debated by the Senate.
That argument was, however, brushed aside by the APC senators most of who read politics into the opposition by the PDP, who they claimed wanted to punish Amaechi for his role in the emergence of the new leadership of the country.

Faced with the determination of the APC Senate caucus to forge ahead with the screening of the former governor, the PDP members it was gathered, were persuaded to backtrack on their earlier pledge of walking out. Rather, the PDP senators resolved not to ask Amaechi any question.

As the Senate resumed plenary, yesterday, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, Senator Samuel Anyanwu laid the report of its investigations into the petition filed against Amaechi. The report was, however, not debated.

Following other preliminaries, the Senate upon a motion moved by the Senate leader, Senator Ali Ndume and seconded by Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Senate minority leader, resolved to move into the committee of the whole for the purpose of screening nominees of the president for ministerial positions.

Remarkably, Amaechi was the first on the list and he was followed into the chambers by a high-profile delegation of the APC including the party’s national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, former Speaker Ghali Na‘abba, former Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN, Rivers State APC governorship candidate, Peterside Dakuku, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State among many others.

Asked for his opening comments, Amaechi started his greetings by acknowledging the three Rivers State senators, all of the PDP, who have been at the forefront of opposition to his ministerial nomination.

He greeted Senator Thompson Sekibo as the senator representing him, forcing laughter from Sekibo, Senator Olaka Nwogu as his long time friend and roommate at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology. He also acknowledged Senator Osinakachukwu Ideozu, who he said served under him as a commissioner.

Near-slip
Amaechi’s pace for peace with his senators from Rivers State almost caused a slip as he almost forgot to acknowledge other senators.

He subsequently enumerated his experience as a legislator having served as a two-term speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly and then as a two-term governor of Rivers State. He cited his accomplishments as governor to include among others, the building of more than 315 world class primary schools, 140 model primary health care centres among others. He also took pride in his sponsorship of two bills while a lawmaker, the anti-kidnapping bill and a bill that defined the responsibilities of parents, teachers and children to guarantee children access to qualitative education.

PDP Senators fight back
Following the greetings, the minority leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio stood up to make a personal explanation. He said that upon the fact that the report of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges had not been discussed that the PDP Senate Caucus had resolved not to ask the nominee any question.

Turning to face his colleagues on the PDP benches, Akpabio said, “Is that the decision of the PDP Caucus?” to which there was a thunderous response of “Yes!.”
Senate leader, Ali Ndume apparently miffed by the action of the PDP senators responded that Amaechi as a former legislator should then be given the privilege to bow and go as is the practice of the Nigerian Senate.
“The gentleman you see here is a nominee, and it’s my responsibility to market him here before the Senate. If you people are given the privilege to ask questions and as you said, “You people decide not to ask questions…”
Ndume was immediately countered by roaring denunciation from the PDP benches as they objected to what they described as the condescending reference. Senator Akpabio immediately demanded a retraction. Senate President Saraki rose to the aid of Ndume as he said that Ndume offered one, but which the PDP senators said they did not hear even as some of them demanded a formal apology.

Panel didn’t indict me — Amaechi
Following Saraki’s intervention, Amaechi was then opened to questions from APC senators. Among those who asked him questions were Senators Nazif Suleiman, APC, Bauchi North, Danjuma Goje, APC Gombe and Gbenga Ashafa, APC Lagos East.

Responding to Nazif’s question on how he has managed to fight political battles, he said:
“I was born to test my rights and fight for my rights, I was once a student union leader and believe me, if there is one man who does not like corruption, I am the one, I do not like corruption.

Noting why he aligned with Muhammadu Buhari against his former party man, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, he said:
“We sold to the public the fact that there was massive corruption in the system. And there was the need to fight that corruption. And the only way to fight that corruption is to put a new government, and we had to get a signpost candidate.

“The signpost candidate is a man who the Nigerian public has seen as an incorruptible president. That was why the party had to put President Buhari forward. We thought that there was a need to do things differently. I thought that as good as the former President may have been, I don’t think he was suitable enough for the growth and development of Nigeria. So, we needed to offer an opportunity to somebody we believe is better than the former President.”

Responding to Senator Ashafa’s question on the allegations pertaining to his indictment over alleged corruption, Amaechi reiterated his earlier claim that the report did not indict him. Flaunting a copy of the report of the panel, he said he was ready to lay it on the table of the Senate for scrutiny as to his alleged indictment asserting that the indictment only flowed from the White Paper prepared by the PDP administration that succeeded him.

“There was nowhere I was indicted (in the judicial panel report). I came here with a copy of the so-called panel report, there is nowhere that panel indicted me, I am ready to tender this report before the Senate. I was ready for the questions on it, and I brought the panel report so that the Senate can juxtapose it with the white paper.

Govs Forum checked presidential excesses
Asked to clear the confusion over his re-election as chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, he said:
“The Governors Forum started as a check to executive recklessness. The Senate President (Saraki) was the chairman with other governors who are here today as senators, including Senator Goje, “we checked the excesses, including the expenditure of the oil subsidy. There is a case in court up till now stopping the federal government, stopping the government from drawing money from the account to fund oil subsidy because we believed that if we stop the Federal Government from drawing state and local governments’ money, federal government will not be able to bear the cost and will, therefore, remove oil subsidy which would reduce the level of corruption. Unfortunately, the case is yet to be heard.

“I think that the radical posture of the governors forum led to the former president asking me that I had turned the Governors’ Forum into a trade union.”

“I think the former president didn’t like it, and when my tenure expired as the chairman, I was requested not to run for a second term and I thought that as a Nigerian, I had the responsibility to exercise my right as a governor.
“So, I put myself forward for the election, and if you saw the forces against me, you would think that I would lose. Let me quote my brother and friend, Senator Jang. He said ‘but North East zone supported me, North West zone supported me, North Central zone supported me, and South-South supported me, how did you win? You did not win, you did not win,’ and I said but I won, I have 19 votes and the rest, as they say, is history.

Following the screening, Amaechi was asked to bow and take his leave of the chamber allowing other nominees to appear for the screening.

Others who appeared yesterday were Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, (Bayelsa), Omoleye Daramola, (Ondo), Baba Shehuri Mustapha, (Borno) and Ocholi James, Kogi. Adewole Isaac Folorunso from Osun State who was earlier listed to be screened was left out.




http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/pdp-senators-turn-dumb-during-amaechis-screening-2/

MWTGDAra:
see more
[url=http://]https://www.sunnyskyz.com/uploads/2014/03/hgrnv-truth-hell.jpg[/url]
yeah!! there is no such thing as hell fire!! even GOD ALMIGHTY use his own mouth to say that it has never crossed his mind to burn his own piple in fire - jeremiah 7:30 & 31

They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire--something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. Jeremiah 7:31

This is how people will use half truths to deceive others.
People are sacrificing their children in demonic practices which God condemned and you are here building a case on the foundation of falsehood.

Did you by any chance read Luke 16:22 - 23 where Jesus talked about the rich man and Lazarus?"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.

23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

You should repent. Anyone who falls for this deception and decides to live anyone is playing with eternal damnation.