₦airaland Forum

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, on Sunday boasted that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), “will never be Nigeria president again.”

The governor also challenged the former Head of State to swear by the Holy Quran that he did not visit the hospital in the United Kingdom last week.

Fayose, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said, “I wish they can see spiritually what I am talking about that Buhari, despite the hullabaloo will never be president. I predicted my return as Ekiti State governor and I am saying it again that Buhari will never rule Nigeria again.

“After President Goodluck Jonathan, there will be a young element in his late 50s from the North that will be Nigerian president. I want to liken this revelation to the story of Elijah and Elisha. I am the Elijah while my followers are Elisha.”

He said he never wished Buhari dead.

He added, “I owe it a duty to Nigeria and its people to expose the antics of the APC cabal whose only interest is to seize power to further selfish interests.

“Without doubt, it is obvious that members of this cabal in the APC is trying so hard to deceive Nigerians on Buhari’s health status. That is the reason they have been using photoshop pictures to defend their lies on Buhari’s UK trip.

“First, they used a March 5, 2013 picture, claiming that Buhari was taking a walk in London on Thursday. Later they came up with another poorly cropped picture of Buhari with former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

“The same people who lied in September 2012 that they received a gold card invitation to attend the Democratic National Convention in the United States of America are behind the dressing of Buhari in the garment of lies and I challenge Buhari to swear by the Holy Quran that he did not visit hospital in the United Kingdom last week.”

But, a group in the Ekiti State has described Fayose as a “political stalker” whose actions should be viewed as a threat to the life of Buhari.

In a statement by its spokesperson, Mr. Segun Dipe, the Action Group operating within the APC in Ekiti, asked Fayose to tender an unreserved apology for having the general on his death-wish list.

Dipe said, “Everyone should put Fayose on notice how his words and deeds have been threatening the life of General Buhari.

“The indecorous governor is bent on seeing the APC presidential candidate dead before the March 28 presidential election because his party is sure of losing the election, and he feels he will stew for it.

“That a Fayose could be hounding Buhari with death threat is quite unwarranted and unfortunate. He has sent spies after our presidential candidate and may soon start toying with the idea of snipers, that is, if he has not already.

“That Fayose is fraudulent, corrupt, inept, indecorous and uncouth is not in doubt. That he is unambiguous in his wish for Buhari’s death is not in doubt either. What is worrisome to us is why the twice-lucky governor should be trailing the General even beyond the shores of Nigeria, to ensure that his wish against him comes to pass.”

Dipe hinted that his group was aware that Fayose in his alleged desperation to see Buhari dead had travelled to UK just about the same time that Buhari travelled and had been trailing the movement of the General abroad.

He said, “He wants to hold on to power by all means possible and he knows that an integrity-driven person like Buhari as president would clip his wings.

“Our group is calling on all well-meaning persons in Nigeria and across the globe to call Fayose to order as his actions and words amount to not only wishing Buhari dead but driving the General to his death. God forbid.

“The group also calls on all sons and daughters of Ekiti who are desirous of rejecting the toga of indecorous and gluttony, which Fayose has brought on them, to come out enmasse and vote General Buhari in as president come March 28, as well as the candidates presented by APC for all the other political positions at the polls.

“A vote for APC is a vote against Fayose’s indecorous ways and PDP’s clueless impunity.”



The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, on Sunday boasted that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), “will never be Nigeria president again.”

The governor also challenged the former Head of State to swear by the Holy Quran that he did not visit the hospital in the United Kingdom last week.

Fayose, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said, “I wish they can see spiritually what I am talking about that Buhari, despite the hullabaloo will never be president. I predicted my return as Ekiti State governor and I am saying it again that Buhari will never rule Nigeria again.

“After President Goodluck Jonathan, there will be a young element in his late 50s from the North that will be Nigerian president. I want to liken this revelation to the story of Elijah and Elisha. I am the Elijah while my followers are Elisha.”

He said he never wished Buhari dead.

He added, “I owe it a duty to Nigeria and its people to expose the antics of the APC cabal whose only interest is to seize power to further selfish interests.

“Without doubt, it is obvious that members of this cabal in the APC is trying so hard to deceive Nigerians on Buhari’s health status. That is the reason they have been using photoshop pictures to defend their lies on Buhari’s UK trip.

“First, they used a March 5, 2013 picture, claiming that Buhari was taking a walk in London on Thursday. Later they came up with another poorly cropped picture of Buhari with former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

“The same people who lied in September 2012 that they received a gold card invitation to attend the Democratic National Convention in the United States of America are behind the dressing of Buhari in the garment of lies and I challenge Buhari to swear by the Holy Quran that he did not visit hospital in the United Kingdom last week.”

But, a group in the Ekiti State has described Fayose as a “political stalker” whose actions should be viewed as a threat to the life of Buhari.

In a statement by its spokesperson, Mr. Segun Dipe, the Action Group operating within the APC in Ekiti, asked Fayose to tender an unreserved apology for having the general on his death-wish list.

Dipe said, “Everyone should put Fayose on notice how his words and deeds have been threatening the life of General Buhari.

“The indecorous governor is bent on seeing the APC presidential candidate dead before the March 28 presidential election because his party is sure of losing the election, and he feels he will stew for it.

“That a Fayose could be hounding Buhari with death threat is quite unwarranted and unfortunate. He has sent spies after our presidential candidate and may soon start toying with the idea of snipers, that is, if he has not already.

“That Fayose is fraudulent, corrupt, inept, indecorous and uncouth is not in doubt. That he is unambiguous in his wish for Buhari’s death is not in doubt either. What is worrisome to us is why the twice-lucky governor should be trailing the General even beyond the shores of Nigeria, to ensure that his wish against him comes to pass.”

Dipe hinted that his group was aware that Fayose in his alleged desperation to see Buhari dead had travelled to UK just about the same time that Buhari travelled and had been trailing the movement of the General abroad.

He said, “He wants to hold on to power by all means possible and he knows that an integrity-driven person like Buhari as president would clip his wings.

“Our group is calling on all well-meaning persons in Nigeria and across the globe to call Fayose to order as his actions and words amount to not only wishing Buhari dead but driving the General to his death. God forbid.

“The group also calls on all sons and daughters of Ekiti who are desirous of rejecting the toga of indecorous and gluttony, which Fayose has brought on them, to come out enmasse and vote General Buhari in as president come March 28, as well as the candidates presented by APC for all the other political positions at the polls.

“A vote for APC is a vote against Fayose’s indecorous ways and PDP’s clueless impunity.”

Funjosh:
Watch it, soon Other countries will be deporting Nigerians in their coubtries.

You dey sick

https://punch.cdn.ng/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/The-suspects3.jpg
For 21-year-old Musa Isa, who is from the Niger Republic, his major mission to Kwara State, Nigeria was to work and get money to feed himself and later marry.

Isa was one of the 120 illegal immigrants arrested and paraded by the Nigeria Immigration Service, Kwara State Command, on Thursday for not having valid documents.

He said he had stayed in Kwara State for about 10 years without documents and without arrest until Wednesday when he was nabbed by immigration officials.

Isa also said he had been doing menial job, offloading cement in Ilorin for about 10 years.

“The immigration men caught me and brought me here. They caught me because I am from Niger. I do not have my travel documents. I have been here for about 10 years. I have all my people with me.

“I offload cement bags as a labourer. I stay at Lajorin, Muritala. I want to come back to Nigeria. I will prepare my paper. I love Kwara State because I see food to eat, but in my place we do not have much food to eat. I am also looking for money to marry.”

Another illegal Immigrant, Mumuni Hassan, said he was from the Niger Republic but came to Offa, Kwara State, about two weeks ago to work as a cobbler. He also said that he found Offa more lucrative for his work than his country.

Hassan said, “I came here about two weeks ago. I will come back to Nigeria. I will prepare my documents.”

The Public Relations Officer, NIS, Kwara State Command, Mr. Adesola Adeyemi, said the 120 illegal immigrants were arrested during the command’s periodic mop-up exercise.

He stated that 97 of the immigrants were from the Niger Republic while 23 were from the Republic of Benin. He said officials of the command also intercepted a truck with registration number, KATSINA XA 621 KAT, that was loaded with 46 passengers in Ilorin on the suspicion that the passengers were from the Niger Republic.

According to him, after investigation, it was confirmed that the travellers were from the Niger Republic.

He said it was not established that the immigrants were to be involved in electoral malpractices.

“We could not find anything on them that showed that they came for election, but we should move to make sure that we nip any security threat in the bud.”

Adeyemi said the illegal immigrants were ECOWAS citizens, but were to be repatriated to their countries because they did not have travel documents.

He advised them to go through the laid down procedure and get their documents if they genuinely wanted to return and work in Nigeria.


http://www.punchng.com/metro-plus/i-came-to-nigeria-to-eat-marry-illegal-immigrant/

[img]http://4.bp..com/-vlEq0OjdA_M/VOWO_5ldQII/AAAAAAAEjJo/wqt8pa4V_PI/s1600/Wale-Folarin-Freedom-of-Speech-111412-600x450.jpg[/img]

[img]http://2.bp..com/-8OkK9derWXk/VOWPAiSlACI/AAAAAAAEjJw/4QRtRToI8Rk/s1600/Untitled.png[/img]

US rapper Wale announced on his twitter that he's moving to Nigeria. His parents are Nigerians but he was born and brought up in the US. He's never lived here. Sure you wanna make that change, Wale?

http://lindaikeji..com/2015/02/rapper-wale-moving-to-nigeria.html

The Consul-General of the People’s Republic of China in Lagos, Mr. Liu Kan, has revealed that the volume of trade between Nigeria and China in 2014 was about $18.1 billion.

Freedomonline.com.ng, quoted Liu to have disclosed this in Lagos on Wednesday, even as he noted that there was relative increase in the exchange of goods and services in the year over the 2013 transactions.
“Today, Nigeria is China’s third major export destination in Africa after South Africa and Angola, while China is Nigeria’s largest source of imports and third major trade partner.

“According to China Customs, the trade volume between China and Nigeria in 2014 rose to about $18.1 billion which is an increase over our 2013 transaction

“We should say that our bilateral relations in 2014 rose to a new level that we all expected,’’ he said.

The envoy said Chinese companies had in 2014 invested in Nigeria’s construction, manufacture, oil and gas, telecommunications, agriculture, real estate sectors and free trade zones

Liu, who expressed the Chinese government’s satisfaction with both countries’ present level of win-win cooperation, said that both countries socio-economic relations would be brighter in the years ahead.

The consul-general also disclosed the Chinese government’s plan to simplify visas application processes for Nigerian businessmen and women this year.

“We know that every year thousands of Nigerian businessmen attend the Canton Fair in search of new business opportunities and partners.

“We are, therefore, going to be creating the right visas application processes for them to enable more Nigerians to do business with Chinese manufacturers and businessmen,’’ he said.

Liu also disclosed plans by more Chinese companies to come and invest and do business in Nigeria.

He appealed to the federal government to create the right environment for more Chinese companies to come in and invest.


http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nigeria-china-trade-hit-18bn/202193/

The Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, has said that troops of the Nigerian Army and personnel of the Air Force have killed over 300 fighters of the Boko Haram sect.

Olukolade said in a statement on Wednesday that the insurgents were killed during a combined operation of the Air Force and ground forces put in place to liberate 11 communities captured by the Boko Haram sect.

According to him, the communities liberated by the troops are Monguno, Gabchari, Abba Jabari, Gajigana, Gajiram, Damakar, Kumaliwa, Bosso Wanti, Jeram and Kabrisungul.

He said that troops had commenced a cordon and search operation in the areas involved in the latest operation.

He stated further that some of the terrorists and their weapons were captured by the troops.

Olukolade also said that the military captured “five different types of armoured fighting vehicles, an anti-aircraft gun, about 50 cases of packed bombs and eight different types of machine guns, five rocket-propelled grenade, 49 boxes of various types and calibres of ammunition, as well as 300 motorcycles destroyed in the fighting.

He added that “a total of six Hilux vehicles including those mounted with anti-aircraft guns were also destroyed.’

The Defence spokesman said that two soldiers lost their lives while ten others were wounded in the encounter with the terrorists.

Olukolade said that various phases of highly coordinated combined operation involving the Air Force and ground forces were ongoing in the mission area within and outside the country.

Meanwhile, about 30 civilians were killed when an unidentified airplane dropped a bomb on a Nigerian border village, military sources based nearby in Niger said on Wednesday.

“We don’t know whose plane it was. We understand that the victims are residents who were gathered for a ceremony but who were mistaken for terrorists,” said a military source based in the town of Bosso in Niger.

He added, “Around 30 people perished.”


http://www.punchng.com/news/weve-recaptured-11-towns-killed-300-insurgents-dhq/

Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State on Tuesday emerged from a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, giving an indication that the Peoples Democratic Party stakeholders would beg former President Olusegun Obasanjo who dumped the party on Monday.

Lamido, who is the North-West Coordinator of Goodluck/Sambo Presidential Campaign, told State House correspondents that Obasanjo remained the father of all.

He said Jonathan and all the state governors were creations of the former President.

He explained that it was only appropriate that “when a father is angry with his children, the children should beg him.”

Lamido said, “Baba (Obasanjo) is more than a party man. He is an icon, a national symbol and a leader and an inventor, a creator of all the institutions today in Nigeria from the President to the governors who are his own sons, are all his creations.

“And so, when a father is angry with his own children, we will only say we are sorry to him. But then, we cannot be renounced for whatever it is.

“If you do any political DNA of our blood, you will find his (Obasanjo’s) blood in us. No matter what we are, we may not be able to live up to his expectations.

“We might have made some mistakes, but abandoning us is not the solution because the country is first before anything else. So, he is our Baba even up to the President.

“Baba is our baba no matter what. He is angry with us, but then, what do we do? He gave us the life at a time when Nigerians were fighting us, he stood for us. Since 2011, in 2007, he stood firm for us.

“He is our father. And so, if we made some mistakes, we are only human because we are heading human institutions. And I think by the time he reflects, how could he abandon his own children like that. Wherever we are, we are right in his heart. He feels for us, he cares for us.”

When asked to be specific on whether they would go and beg Obasanjo to return to the party, Lamido said such issue was not the kind he would announce publicly.

“When there is some kind of misunderstanding between a father and a child, you don’t go to NTA or any other media to say you are going to do this.

“I mean the bond between us is so strong. I know he is equally pained. I know what he is going through because he is our father, but I will not tell you the strategy because when he was producing us, you were not there, when he was making us, were you there?,” the governor said.

When told that some party chiefs had already said they would not miss the former President, the governor said Jonathan who he described as Obasanjo’s first child had not said so.

“But then, the first child is the President, did he say so?,” he asked.

When asked again if Obasanjo’s constant criticisms of the President did not worry him, Lamido said “when parents get old, they tend to manifest signs of old age.”

He added, “What I am saying is that all of us have parents. When we were born, they pepped us, gave us their love, gave us everything. By the time they get old, naturally, there is what they call role reversal. We became the parents and they became the children. So, what is wrong if our parents begin to manifest those signs of old age?”

Lamido insisted that despite all the perceived setbacks, the PDP would still win the forthcoming elections.

He said, “What is this opposition in Nigeria? You must know Nigerian history. Nigeria cannot be governed by an aggregate of pain, anger and frustration.

http://www.punchng.com/news/well-beg-obasanjo-says-lamido/

https://www.ventures-africa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/linda-Ikeji-200x150.jpg

When Linda Ikeji started blogging in 2006, she never envisioned the amount of success it would become, neither had she the slightest hint that she will become a role model entrepreneur to a teaming amount of unemployed Nigerian youths. “I started blogging out of passion. Something I never thought I could make money from.” Linda has over the years, managed to carve a niche for herself as a blogger extraordinaire, and also enlightened Nigerians to the business of blogging. What started as a hobby for her is today valued to be worth N1.1Billion. Having been a model for eight years, Linda attempted a career in journalism, but this did little for her livelihood. Linda developed an interest for, and started blogging after reading a story of herself on BellaNaija, one of Nigeria’s most popular blogs. Like most start-up entrepreneurs, Linda faced common challenges in the birth of a business; her blog, www.lindaikeji..com, didn’t garner attention or profit until August 2010, when someone sent her a mail requesting for her advert rate. “I started blogging 2006, and I didn’t start getting that many readers until 2007. I ran the blog for like four years without making money, but August 2010, someone sent me a mail and said can I have your advert rates? And I was like what does that mean? I had to call another friend of mine who was a blogger and I asked him, what’s an advert rate?” she said during an interview on The Juice. Having acquired knowledge of what an advert rate is, Linda started off charging paltry sums for adverts broadcast on her blog until a company offered her a huge proposal for an advert. Then it dawned on her what great business opportunity lay in her hobby – blogging. Now she charges up to $8000 a month, for specific ad spaces on her blog, handling PR services to the most premium brands in Nigeria and even for government agencies. This is in recognition of the amount of followership her blog commands, both within Nigeria and the Diaspora.
https://www.ventures-africa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Linda-ad-rates.png

Linda’s blog has become a one-stop for many Nigerians to get first-hand information, as well as a content provider for other blogs. Through her Blog, she has become a voice for social change, making impact to the lives of several Nigerians and Africans in General. In 2012, she published a story of a 19-year-old girl, Blessing Effiong, who was unlawfully detained for four years. Linda also went ahead to get Miss Effiong out of prison, with the help of a few influential friends. As an activist, Linda has consistently called for justice on the case of the gruesome ‘ALUU4’ murder, a tragic case of the brutal killing of four undergraduate students of the University of Port-Harcourt. The young men were killed on the 5th of October 2012, by a mob of villagers and local vigilante over an alleged theft case. On the 5th day of every month, Linda puts up a reminder on her blog that Justice is yet to be served for the death of those young men. Her latest post on the 5th of February reads, “RIP to the sons, brothers and friends we lost on October 5, 2012, in the Aluu community of Rivers state. Still no justice! Still we wait!” Linda is also involved in several philanthropic activities. Last year, she donated the sum of N1Million at the Future Awards, to fight the Ebola disease which ravaged some West-African countries for most of the second half of last year. In her words, “I want to give back to the society. I feel like I am 10 per cent done, I haven’t done 90 per cent. That’s the way I feel. Hopefully in another 2 years, I will accomplish another 40 to 60 per cent. Before I turn 40, ultimately I would have accomplished 100 per cent,” she said in a recent interview. Kind and generous, her spontaneous Linda Ikeji Blog (LIB) Giveaway, where she doles out cash and other gift items to her teaming fans, is something her visitors look forward to. Linda is dubbed the ‘Queen of controversy’, since her business thrives on the broadcast of controversial stories. She has had run-ins with celebrities, and the law. Not too long ago, her blog was shut down by Google on a report of Intellectual Property Theft and Plagiarism. When contacted on the deletion of the blog, Google’s Communication and Public Affairs Manager for Anglo-West Africa, Kola Ogunlade, released a statement at the time, saying “Google is dedicated to offering users the best possible experience across our products. We take violations of policies very seriously as such activities diminish the experience for our users. When we are notified of the existence of content that may violate our Terms of Service, we act quickly to review it and determine whether it actually violates our policies. If we determine that it does, we remove it immediately.” Though her blog has since been restored, the infamous shutdown served as an indicator of how much influence Linda wields and how much her blog meant to the average Nigerian and African. While it felt like good news to her rivals who saw the incident as an opportunity to dethrone the queen of Nigeria’s information cyberspace, she also had a large number of supporters who stood solidly behind her through that trying time. Linda got back on cyberspace, bigger and better. Learning from the unfortunate incident, she has employed professional hands, owing to the visible changes on how posts are updated on the blog. And the attention paid to the authenticity of stories, as well as giving due credits to outsourced information. Today her blog is number one news content blog in Nigeria; it is ranked at the 13th position on Alexa.com. Through a combination of hard-work, consistency, innovative thinking, and creativity, Linda has over the years been able to prove that there are viable business opportunities around us. She is a member of the prestigious Future Awards Alumni. In 2012, she won the award for Young Personality of the Year, and in 2014, she copped a double as Outstanding Blogger of The Year and Best Gossip & Gist Blog at the Media Broad Awards.


http://www.ventures-africa.com/2015/02/meet-nigerias-n1billion-blogger/

THE Presidency, yesterday, described as insincere and mischievous, the launch by BringBack Our Girls group of a countdown for the Chibok girls to regain freedom, saying fighting terrorism and insurgency is not a football match where commentaries were run for the delight of spectators.
In a statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, it said President Goodluck Jonathan in his media chat never promised that the girls would be freed within six weeks, noting that the count-down by the former minister and her group was unnecessary.
Okupe said: “Our attention has been drawn to a statement credited to former Minister of Education and a leader of the Bring Back our Girls Group, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, to the effect that President Goodluck Jonathan has made an affirmative statement that the girls abducted by Boko Haram terrorists in Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State would be freed within six weeks, hence the beginning of a count-down by the organisation.
“We wish to state that the statement by the President during his last media chat was that the combined efforts of new offensive by the Nigerian military and its allies as well as improved capacity in the operations have made the chances for the rescue of the Chibok girls brighter than ever before.
“This statement cannot be construed as putting a six-week time-frame for the delicate task of freeing the girls alive which the President remains very committed to and would definitely wish that would even happen in a day.
It’s insincere, mischievous
“It is, therefore, insincere and mischievous on the part of Dr Ezekwesili and her organization to launch a countdown which from all intent and purpose is meant to score cheap political points rather than encourage the military and help the cause of the girls and their depressed parents.
“President Jonathan’s commitment to the rescue and safe return of the Chibok girls is unwavering. The Nigerian military and its allies have as part of their mandate, the rescue of the girls and all others who are in custody of the Boko Haram terrorists as well as securing the safety of Nigerians living in areas ravaged by insurgency.
“No responsible organization would seek to make a gain of this unfortunate incident and constantly twist facts and pronouncements in order to appear as if government is incapable of meeting its timelines.
“Fighting terrorism and insurgency is not a football match where commentaries are run for the delight of spectators. It is a much more serious exercise and we expect Dr Ezekwesili to understand this in view of her global exposure and stop being a pawn in the chess board of some desperate political actors.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/presidency-ezekwesili-fighting-terrorism-insurgency-not-football-match/

Leaders from Central Africa have met in Cameroon to finalise plans for a military offensive against Boko Haram fighters in Nigeria and neighbouring countries.

Representatives of 10 nations met in the capital Yaounde on Monday under the aegis of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and committed to spend $86m to fight Boko Haram.

They also urged the international community to provide more support to counter the armed group.

Nigeria-based Boko Haram has widened its attacks into neighbouring nations, notably Cameroon and Chad, in a conflict estimated to have claimed a total 13,000 lives since 2009.

“This session is historic because we must use it to respond to the barbaric actions of the terrorist group Boko Haram,” Hamid Alami, secretary-general of ECCAS, said on Monday.

“This terrorist group has the military and human resources of a conventional army, but uses asymmetric methods, making the fight more complex and costly for Cameroon and Chad.”

The aim of Monday’s discussion was to come up with “an agreed solution” on the fight against the group, a source close to the Cameroonian government told the AFP news agency.


http://www.punchng.com/news/africa-leaders-to-spend-86m-to-fight-boko-haram/

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation, rose to 8.2 percent in January compared to eight per cent the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS attributed the 0.2 percentage rise in headline index to increase in food prices.

According to the latest CPI figures which were released on Monday by the statistical agency, inflation rose at a marginally slower pace relative to December as prices rose by 0.81 per cent (month-on-month) in January, lower than the 0.82 per cent recorded in the previous month.

Food prices as measured by the Food sub-index rose by 9.2 per cent in January, roughly unchanged from price increases recorded in December.

The NBS said price increases were marginally higher from the 12-month low recorded in November of 2014 at 9.1 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, food prices increased by 0.9 per cent in January, increasing at the same pace for the second consecutive month.
However, price increases slowed for all groups yielding the food sub-index except for vegetables, the NBS added.
Meanwhile, Year-on-year, urban inflation increased by 0.3 percentage points to 8.2 per cent in January, while the rural prices also increased marginally from 8.0 per cent in December to 8.1 per cent in January.

On a month-on-month basis, both the urban and rural indices recorded the same pace of increase in January at 0.8 per cent. Price increases have held at the same rate for two consecutive months.
Core inflation which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce also picked up in January as prices rose by 6.8 per cent (year-on-year), up from 6.2 per cent in December with the strongest increases recorded in the “housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels” divisions.

“On a month-on-month basis, the highest price increases were recorded in the vegetables, meat, “Potatoes, yams and other tubers”; and “bread and cereal” groups.

“The average annual rate of change of the Food sub-index for the twelve-month period ending in January 2015 over the previous twelve month average was 9.5 per cent. The twelve-month rate of change has held steady for eight consecutive months,” the report stated.

It stated: “On a month-on-month basis, the highest price increases were recorded in the vegetables, meat, potatoes, yams and other tubers” and “bread and cereal” groups.

“The average annual rate of change of the Food sub-index for the twelve-month period ending in January 2015 over the previous twelve month average was 9.5 per cent. The twelve-month rate of change has held steady for eight consecutive months.”



http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/higher-food-prices-push-inflation-to-8-2-/202017/

President may soon expose ex-Head of State’s alleged personal demands, says PDP • Ruling party’s candidate likely to win, U.S. ex-envoy predicts

INDICATIONS emerged yesterday that the face- off between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan may be far from abating as the

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said that the latter would soon disclose all alleged personal demands of the former that he had turned down since 2011 that might have fuelled the lingering animosity.

The party also declared that its leadership would decide on whether or not to sanction Obasanjo over allegation of anti-party activities.

Meanwhile, former United States Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, has revealed that President Jonathan was the likely candidate to win the forthcoming elections, according to persecond news.com

Addressing a news conference in Abuja yesterday, the Director of Media and Publicity of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani- Kayode, described Obasanjo’s allegation that Jonathan was planning to perpetuate himself in power unconstitutional as reckless and pointing that the allegations were assertions that were “capable of derailing our democracy and creating chaos in the land.

“The truth is that he knows that Jonathan will win next month’s presidential election and that is why he wants to destroy the credibility of the whole process right from the outset. What he is trying to say in his latest contribution is that if President Jonathan wins, then the election must have been rigged right from the outset. This is not only wrong but it is also unfair and uncharitable.”

Fani-Kayode challenged Obasanjo to prove his weighty allegations by presenting them before the Council of State and take it up there.

He should also report to INEC itself and present the data of whatever sinister plan he believes that Jonathan has to stay in power ‘’by hook or by crook’’ to them. He should tell INEC whatever it is that Jonathan is doing in order for him to stay in power by all means and he should give them all the details. That should be the starting point.”

On Obasanjo’s allegation that Jonathan was playing out a script of perpetuating himself in power like former Cote d’Voire President Laurent Gbabo, Fani Kayode stated:

“Jonathan has re-affirmed his commitment to the democratic process over and over again and he has also said that the handover date of May 29 is sacrosanct. In view of these assurances, one wonders why Obasanjo is creating such a hue and cry over nothing. What has he seen that no one else can see? One wonders what his motives are. Does he have to rule every government by proxy? Must every leader take instructions from him? Is it a case of ‘’if I cannot control you and tell you what to do then you must go?’’

“President Obasanjo spoke about President Gbagbo and he claimed that President Jonathan was attempting to do a Gbagbo in Nigeria. The question that must be put to him is this: ‘Who got Gbagbo out?’ Was it not Jonathan’s government that played a key role in ensuring that democracy was fully established in the Ivory Coast and did he not play a key role in ensuring that the Gbagbo plan to ‘’stay in power forever plan’’ did not work?

“If anyone doubts this they should ask President Alhassan Outtara of Cote d’Ivoire the role that Jonathan and Nigeria played in helping to restore democracy and stability to his country.

“They should also find out the role that Obasanjo played in attempting to keep President Gbagbo in power at all costs and the deep friendship that exists between the two men. It is a matter of fact and public record that when he was President, Obasanjo, perhaps more than any other African Head of State with the exception of President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, propped up and supported President Gbagbo and it is an irony of fate and history that he is now condemning the actions of his old friend and accusing others of trying to emulate them.”

“Again it is ironic that Obasanjo has accused President Jonathan of having a grand plan to stay in power at all costs and by all means yet it is the same Obasanjo that tried to stay in power for a third term even though the Nigerian constitution specifically forbids it. He tried all he could to change the constitution but the whole thing failed and he was compelled to leave power.”

On Obasanjo’s alleged demands from Jonathan, Fani-Kayode stated:

“After Jonathan came to power, Obasanjo not only tried to control and teleguide him, but he also asked him to do a number of things that were simply wrong and unacceptable. It is for Jonathan himself to divulge those things and I am sure that he will do so at the appropriate time. Needless to say Jonathan refused to be teleguided and told what to do even though at all times he showed Obasanjo maximum respect and accorded him all the privileges, access and courtesies that is due to a former Head of State and a father and mentor. This continued to be the case even after Obasanjo consistently attempted to undermine his government and ridicule his efforts.

“Yet Obasanjo could not be appeased and was not satisfied. As far as he was concerned, he must either control Jonathan or Jonathan had to go. That is why he decided to secretly support the APC and became their ‘navigator- in-chief’. He was determined to pull the whole house down rather than allow Jonathan to return to power. This is simply because he believes that if he cannot control someone, that person must be destroyed. Control and domination is an obsession for Obasanjo. That is the bottom line. He is prepared to put even the devil in power provided he can control him. That is why he is so determined to stop Jonathan and put in place an interim government which he, or one of his surrogates, will head. That is his plan and he is determined to achieve it no matter what it takes.

“Obasanjo does not want genuine democracy. He only pretends to want it. What he wants is control and a stooge in power. It does not matter what type of government it is as long as he controls it and it is headed by his puppet. It can be a military government, a civilian one, a democratic one, an interim government or a government of National Unity. To Obasanjo it does not matter as long as he can control it. That is his objective. That is why he hates Jonathan so much and that is why he wishes to stop him at all costs.”

“The bottom line is this: “Obasanjo’s grouse with Jonathan is personal and it has nothing to do with Nigeria. He should leave Nigeria out of it and let us all be. If he has a personal score to settle with Jonathan, he should not do so at the expense of the peace and stability of Nigeria. If he wants to stop Jonathan then let him attempt to do so through the democratic process and through the ballot box and not through foul and unconstitutional means. We said it before and we will say it again: gone are the days that any president can be teleguided and controlled, because we have all come of age.”

On Obasanjo’s alleged anti-party activities Fani-Kayode said: “‎It is very difficult to say that he (Obasanjo) is a member of the PDP and he is saying these sort of things and doing these sort of things it makes things very difficult for us and I think with this, it is left for the party chairman and leaders to make their own determination on our part as the Presidential campaign organisation to ensure that President Jonathan gives a good fight in terms of the elections. That is our job, we need to take on anybody.... or any institutions or...but he has made his choice and we have made our choices and we intend to stand where we stand nobody will be pushed around or intimidate us.

“I sincerely hope and pray that Obasanjo pulls back and rethink and join forces with us against the opposition. It is never too late even if it will be on the eve of the election, to have him on our corner will be great privilege and honour. As long as he stands on the other side and continues to cast aspersions on the character of the president and raise questions on him, what the president wants to do and suggesting that the president wants to stay in power by hook or by crook and all that sort of stuff, we cannot possibly expect us to keep quiet. We have to set the records straight. We have to stand with our president and with our party.”

Campbell, a Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa Policy Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in a report titled, ‘Nigeria’s 2015 Presidential Election: Contingency Planning Memorandum Update, the envoy said, “despite the strength of the opposition, Jonathan remains the likely—but not certain—winner.

According to him, the 2015 elections again might precipitate violence that could destabilise Nigeria, and Washington has even less leverage in Abuja than it did in 2011.

In his recommendations to the U.S government, he advised the Obama administration not to comment prematurely on the quality of the elections. Observers from the National Democratic Institute and the International Republic Institute are likely to issue preliminary assessments immediately after the polls close. So, too, will observers from the European Union, the Commonwealth, and the African Union. There will be media pressure for early, official comment. But, following a close election and the violence likely to follow, the timing and content of official U.S. statements should take into account the views of the vibrant Nigerian human rights community, which will likely be the most accurate.

The U.S Secretary of State in the wake of the elections postponement issued a statement declaring that the shift was unacceptable, a statement that has been rejected by some Nigerians as hypocritical.

Campbell further asked the U.S government to facilitate and support humanitarian assistance. The north is already in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, with the prospect of famine looming. If the postelection period is violent, there may be need for international humanitarian assistance in

many other parts of the country.

Campbell has been generally regarded a critic of the Jonathan administration, an ally of APC leader and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Meanwhile, the Southwest Zone of the Presidential Campaign Council of the PDP has said that the

postponement of the elections was a crucial opportunity for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remedy “ its apparent lack of preparedness to conduct a minimally credible presidential election on the earlier date of February 14th 2015.”

Also, the Chairman, Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of the South West PDP, Prince Buruji Kashamu, has called on appropriate authorities in Nigeria to investigate, prosecute and imprison Obasanjo for alleged acts of corruption perpetrated during the latter’s regime as president.

Making the call yesterday during a press conference at his Lekki, Lagos residence, Buruji, who presented a researched ‎document entitled: ‘Obasanjo Wants to Rule Nigeria Again,’ which contained over 500 alleged corruption acts carried out during the latter’s administration, said the former president lacked the moral right to castigate Jonathan.

On his part, a former Deputy National Chairman, PDP South West, Chief Olabode George, eually berated Obasanjo for comparing President Jonathan with former president of Ivory Coast, Larence Gbagbo as an insult to Nigeria.

Addressing the media in his Ikoyi residence yesterday, George said Obasanjo was simply aiming to destabilise the country based on his selfish motive

George and Buruji accused the former president engaging in anti-PDP activities making unguarded utterances capable of heating up the polity.

In a statement yesterday in Ibadan by its chairman, publicity sub-committee, Chief Akin Oshuntokun, the campaign council said it was “a matter of great concern that INEC appears unconcerned about such potentially explosive and puzzling lapse of sharp disparities in the distribution of the Permanent Voter cards (PVCS) which it says, systematically puts a section of the country at clear advantage whilst pitting others at severe disadvantage.”

It went on: “A distribution pattern in which insurgency ravaged areas record over 70% collection rate of PVCS to the 40% average distribution rate in the relatively stable and peaceful South West calls for concern and most certainly requires a lot of explanation. More puzzling still is the surprising acquiescence of the All Peoples Congress (APC) leadership in the South West in an emergent electoral situation in which majority of voters in the zone would have been disenfranchised.”

Further, it said “there is no more eloquent demonstration of this tacit endorsement and connivance than the description of the postponement as a ‘coup against democracy’ by the APC national leader, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

“For the APC leadership to have referred to the postponement of the election dates as a coup against democracy, even as it became apparent that about 60% of the people of the region would not have been able to vote, is sheer wickedness and a coup against the people they claim to lead.”

It further queries “how a remedial postponement that responds to the electoral disempowerment of a less than 40% collection rate in Lagos state amount to coup against democracy, insisting that the INEC Chairman, Professor Atahiru Jega has not been able to convincingly justify the high rate of distribution of PVCs in areas of high tension and terrorist attacks relative to the security conducive Yoruba area where the PVCs have been barely available for collection.

The committee urges INEC to take urgent measures to eradicate the prevalence of underage voting in areas that have been clearly identified with such credibility eroding practice.”

It further stated that “the aggregate percentage of distribution of PVCs, by the figures released by the INEC, shows in an inexplicable manner that the South West lags behind, adding that the development would have disenfranchised more than 45% of likely voters on the average in the region.

“The argument that the high percentage would not have mattered because there was never a time that there is 100 per cent turn out of voters is reckless and should be discountenanced, insisting that the right to vote is inalienable to every Nigerian of voting age.

“The deliberate attempt to disenfranchise some set of residents as unravelled by the Resident Electoral Commission in Lagos recently is worrisome and deserves more than cursory attention stressing that the announced extension period is opportunity to make amends.

“We ask that the postponement of the election by six weeks be capitalised upon by INEC, to, as a matter of urgency, provide the PVCs and make necessary logistic arrangements for their speedy distribution

“The INEC chairman should endeavour to jealously guard the good track record and reputation he earned for conducting the credible 2011 widely adjudged to meet international standard. There is the need for him to disabuse the mind of the public of any misgiving and resolve to remain a fair and unbiased umpire.”

It thus enjoined “all residents of the zone to exhibit vigilance and dedication and wait to collect their PVCs so as to support PDP candidates across the zone and in the presidential election, even as it demanded that Nigerians should be vigilant and reject war mongers now masquerading as change champions through the power of the ballots.”

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/lead-story/198289-jonathan-obasanjo-feud-gets-messier

Men of the Special Task Force have rescued Pa Dariye Defwan, father of former governor of Plateau state, Chief Joshua Dariye


http://www.punchng.com/news/soldiers-rescue-plateau-ex-gov-dariyes-father/

Disclaimer:
In other words arrest APC the perpetual perpetrator.

funny

The All Progressives Congress in Cross River State has challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission to arrest and prosecute all those alleged to be buying Permanent Voter Cards from the electorate in the state.

The party also tasked the relevant law enforcement agencies to take the bold step of assisting INEC in arresting the buyers which it alleged are agents of the Peoples Democratic Party.

But reacting, the state PDP chairman, Mr. John Okon, said the allegation was not true, adding that the APC had resorted to propaganda after failing to campaign in any local government area ahead of the elections.

In an interview in Calabar on Thursday, the state Secretary of APC, Mr. Victor Ebong, cautioned the electorate against selling their PVCs for whatever reason, adding that those who sold theirs risked being disenfranchised.

He said, “The PDP has been going about buying PVCs from members of the electorate with the aim of manipulating the polls in their favour. What they do is to go about purchasing these PVCs in our stronghold.

“In fact we hear that they are targeting at least 20 members of the electorate from our stronghold who are actually our supporters and sympathizers and if you multiply that figure by the 2,283 polling units across the state, you know what number of people would have been disenfranchised as a result of the manipulation of their names and data in the card reader mechanism.

“Giving out your PVC means you have sold your birthright to the devil for a porridge of beans and it only remains what you’ll tell your conscience when the celebration of change comes up that you did not participate in,” he stated.

Also, the state Chairman of the APC, Mr. Usani Usani, described the purchase and collection of the PVC VIN numbers as “criminal and antithetical to democratic successes in the country.”

Usani urged INEC and law enforcement agencies to take concrete steps to stop the development and arrest such persons to justify the need for a credible election in the country.

In his reaction, the state PDP chairman challenged the APC to also purchase PVCs from electorate if they think that was what the party was doing.

Okon said, “If they think we are buying PVCs let them go and buy as well. They are not campaigning in Cross River State, yet they are making noises. I am sure they are making noise for their leaders at the national level to think they are working. We (PDP) have been canvassing for votes from electorate through campaigns. We are not buying PVCs.”


http://www.punchng.com/news/arrest-pvc-buyers-apc-tells-inec/

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has described the declaration of support for the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a political somersault.

The Governor asked Nigerians to ignore Obasanjo because he was more of a liability than a gain in the ongoing political scenario.

He asked if Obasanjo had any electoral value as a politician since he had been consistently defeated by the opposition parties in his own place before and after he left office as the President of the country.

Fayose, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday, said Obasanjo’s endorsement of Buhari had clearly shown that he had lost wisdom.

He said, “Leaving President Jonathan and vote for Buhari is like to abandon the road and enter the bush. God forbid we enter the forest which we may not come out from for years.

“How can you follow somebody who because of old age is senile, but being propelled by his followers to fly the plane at all cost. Won’t that plane crash?”

The governor said only gullible minds will obey his call that Buhari should be voted for‎ saying that Obasanjo should not be trusted for anything.

According to him, anybody that follows the word of Obasanjo is doing so at his own peril because the former President is no more in tune with modernity.


http://www.punchng.com/news/dont-trust-obasanjo-fayose-tells-nigerians/

The Nigerian military has commenced an operation in the dreaded Sambisa Forest to flush out members of the Boko Haram insurgents.

The Sambisa forest is widely speculated to be host to some of the training camps and facilities of the Boko Haram insurgents in the North East.

It was learnt that the military high command decided to carry out intensified operation in the vast forest in bid to achieve the task of making the North East safe for the elections.

It was gathered that Nigerian Air Force pilots started the raid on the forest on Monday and simultaneous surveillance activities and raids are on-going.

The source said that a massive ground operation would follow the aerial operations over the Sambisa.

The source did not give details of the on-going operation.

“The military has started the operation in the Sambisa Forest; the operation started on Monday.

“For now there is no specific cases of arrest, we don’t have that information now. The Air Force has been operating in the area since Monday. It is after that that the ground troops who are on red alert would move in.

“Also, a source close to a security office strategic to the operations of the Federal Government said on Wednesday that a lot of activities were going on simultaneously in the Sambisa area and other parts of the North East.” The source said

It was said that the military had achieved a reduction in the number of local government areas under the control of the Boko Haram in the North East.

It was gathered that the military authorities are combing the Sambisa Forest because of intelligence reports that some of the insurgents who were dislodged from some of the communities were withdrawing into the forest.

Our correspondent could not get the Director, Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, to comment on the invasion of the Sambisa forest as the calls to his mobile telephone did not connect.


http://www.punchng.com/news/military-commences-operation-in-sambisa-forest/

The plaintiffs who filed one of the suits before a Federal High Court, Abuja to challenge the eligibility of President Goodluck Jonathan to seek re-election in the March 28 presidential election‎ have withdrawn the case.

Justice Ahmed Mohammed on Wednesday struck out the suit following an application by the plaintiffs to discontinue the suit.

The court also ordered the plaintiffs to pay N50,000 to Jonathan whose lawyers had been made to file responses before the decision to withdraw the suit.

The plaintiffs are Prof. Tunde Samuel, Dr. Junaidu Mohammed, Mr. Rasak Adeogun and Yahaya Ezeemoo Ndu. President Jonathan was the only defendant in the suit.

‎The court had on February 3, 2015 fixed Wednesday for the hearing of the suit. But the notice of discontinuance of the suit was filed on February 4.

A counsel for the plaintiffs, Mr. Alex Akoja, who appeared in court on Wednesday, said the plaintiffs gave the instruction to withdraw the suit and the notice of discontinuance was subsequently filed on February 4.

Jonathan’s counsel, Mr. Ade Okeanya-Inneh (SAN), did not oppose the application but asked for cost on the grounds that the calibre of six senior counsel, including Mallam Yusuf Ali (SAN), who filed the suit ought to have weighed the merit of the case before instituting it.

He added that his client was entitled to cost because he had been made to file responses to the suit.

The court agreed with the the defence counsel, and therefore in striking out the suit, it awarded the cost of N50,000 against the plaintiffs.

‎There are about two other suits challenging Jonathan’s eligibility to seek another term in office, still pending before Justice Mohammed.

On Monday, the judge referred one of the cases to the Court of Appeal for determination following an application filed on November 28 by the plaintiffs in the suit – Adejumo Ajagbe and Olatoye Wahab.

The ruling by the court on Monday now made ‎it the second of such cases now pending before the Court of Appeal.

The plaintiffs in the suits, including the one that was withdrawn on Wednesday, contended that Jonathan was ineligible to re-contest for the office of the President, arguing that allowing him to do so could amount to spending more than eight years allowed for anyone to serve in the office.

They want the court to declare that it was “unconstitutional, unlawful, illegal and not permissible for any person to occupy the office of the president of Nigeria for more than a cumulative and aggregate period of eight years when the country was not at war.”

They contended that if Jonathan won another term of four years from 2015, he would have been permitted to occupy the office of the President for more than eight years.

They asked the court to declare that in computing the period already spent in office as President by Jonathan, the period from May 6, 2010 to May 28, 2011 should be reckoned with.

They also sought a declaration that having spent a period of more than four years in office as President since May 6, 2010, Jonathan no longer had the “competence, authority or entitlement to contest for the same office for another term of four years.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/don-others-withdraw-eligibility-suit-against-jonathan/

https://thenationonlineng.net/new/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Jonathan-1.jpg
Igbo traditional rulers in Lagos, under the aegis of Eze Ndigbo in Lagos, have endorsed the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari.
At a briefing in Lagos yesterday, Eze Uchechukwu Nwachukwu said Ndigbo in Lagos will vote for Buhari and the Lagos State APC governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, on March 28 and April 11.
Nwachukwu said Ndigbo has enjoyed robust and cordial relationship with the APC administration since 1999.
“After a strategic meeting of Ndigbo in Lagos, we have resolved to vote for the APC. Our interest in the state has been protected and we equally want to show appreciation by voting for the APC candidates.
“I call on all our brothers and sisters to use their vote wisely, by this pronouncement we have endorsed General Muhammadu Buhari and Akinwunmi Ambode.
“I equally urge Igbo to go about the business without fomenting trouble. Our new task is to look forward to the new dates given by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and participate.”


http://thenationonlineng.net/new/ndigbo-endorses-buhari-ambode/

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday boasted that his administration is the first in Nigeria’s history to create 5,400 direct jobs for the nation’s unemployed youths.

He said the feat was achieved through the Federal Government’s Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin).

Jonathan spoke during the presidential launch of Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The programme was designed to encourage youth employment and self-reliance.

Jonathan also said 2,500 entrepreneurs empowered by his administration had also created an average of nine jobs each therefore bringing the total jobs created to 22,000.

The President said, “This will be the first government in the history of Nigeria that will directly create 5,400 jobs through the YouWin programmes.

“I am also proud to say that the 2,500 entrepreneurs have created an
average of nine jobs each making it a total of 22,000 jobs so far.

“Entrepreneurs are the engine room of the Nigeria’s economy as they are responsible for more than 60 percent of our $510bn Gross Domestic Product and the MSMEs are responsible for almost 98 percent of the new jobs created in our economy on an annual basis.

“The new jobs we are targeting will come from the SMEs.”

Jonathan expressed delight that the success story of his administration’s job creation efforts is impressive and beyond expectation.

The failure rate of the programme, he added, is less than 10 percent.

He said his administration at inception identified unemployment among youths as one of the greatest challenges to tackle.

This, he said, was the reason why his government took numerous steps to tackle the challenge.

He said his administration’s target was to create not less than two million jobs annually.

Minister of Youth Development, Mr. Boni Haruna, had earlier described the programme as private sector-driven initiative that seeks to empower youth.

The Chief Executive Officer of Anabel Group, Mr. Nicholas Okoye, said the present administration had empowered over seven million youths.

Okoye said the figure had surpassed the total of those empowered by previous administrations put together.

“Those who say you (Jonathan) have not done anything for the youth are simply not saying the truth,” he said
Describing all Nigerian problems are subset of employment crisis among the youth, Okoye commended the Federal Government for tackling the challenge headlong.


http://www.punchng.com/news/im-first-to-create-5400-jobs-in-nigerias-history-jonathan/

tinkinjow:
Only fuuls would believe or think that oil prices will remain this low for more than a year.
So long ss there's no likely substitute in the nearest future, it will only continue to rise albeit with occasional fluctuations.

Had a bet which matures on July with a friend on this...he's been having a good laugh at me for some time now, always tell him wait till July

True Talk!!!

Suspected members of Boko Haram kidnapped 20 people from a bus in northern Cameroon, then executed 12 of them, a security source and resident said Monday.
The kidnapping occurred on Sunday and all of the survivors have since been released, said a resident, on condition of anonymity, whose wife was among those abducted. An official from a local NGO also confirmed the incident.
According to the security source, who is based in the region, the victims were travelling in a bus stormed by alleged Boko Haram members.
“The bus was coming from Koza and was travelling to Mora,” the source said, referring to two towns in the country’s extreme north near the Nigerian border.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/boko-haram-kidnaps-20-people-cameroon-executes-12/

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries has said the demand for crude oil is expected to rise this year, boosting prices of the product in the international market.

The oil cartel made this known in its monthly oil market report released on its website on Monday.

OPEC forecasts that demand for its oil will average 29.21 million barrels per day in 2015, up by 430,000 bpd from its previous forecast.

It also slashed its forecast for the rate of growth in non-OPEC supply, citing a slowdown in the United States shale oil boom and lower capital investment by energy firms.

Brent crude prices rose above $58 a barrel on Monday after OPEC forecast that demand for its oil would be greater than expected this year.

Oil demand and Gross Domestic Product growth in Nigeria and other African countries’ supply increased by 10,000 barrels per day year-on-year to average 2.41mb/d in 2014.

On a quarterly basis in 2015, total oil supply from Africa is expected to average 2.44mb/d, 2.41mb/d, 2.40mb/d and 2.39mb/d, respectively in the first, second, third and fourth quarters, according to OPEC.

The oil demand outlook for this year is currently anticipated to rise by 1.17mb/d; however, developments need to be monitored closely, particularly following the sharp drop in crude prices seen in recent months, it said.

As prices drop, the cartel said oil requirements were likely to respond positively “although this can be impacted by other factors. For example, in 2008, prices fell sharply, starting in the summer with the onset of the financial crisis and the global economic recession, which also led to a deterioration in demand.”

It added, “This time, the sharp fall in prices has been mainly driven by excess supply.

“As a result, lower prices are likely to help to accelerate the pace of oil demand growth this time. Other factors can also impact the degree to which any acceleration in demand takes place.”

In addition to economic growth, the organisation said the adoption of energy policies and regulations could also influence oil requirements greatly, adding, “These factors tend to vary considerably from one economy to another and, as a result, their impact will also differ.

“A review of oil demand patterns going into 2015 bears this out. Preliminary data for the US oil demand shows a continuation of the positive momentum started in Q4 2014. Gasoline (petrol), in particular, remains a key driver behind the growth in the US oil demand, largely a result of lower oil prices. Gasoline pump prices in the US currently average $2.07/gallon, down $1.22/gallon from a year earlier.

“Preliminary data for January shows another significant rise in gasoline demand of 0.70mb/d, continuing the general positive trend seen in the previous three months. Over this period, middle distillates have largely experienced the opposite trend, with preliminary data showing year-on-year growth falling for two-consecutive months.

“Overall, US oil consumption has seen a noticeable rise and is expected to stay firm in the near term amid lower oil prices and as economic activities improve. US oil demand growth is forecast to be around 0.18mb/d and could see further upward revisions as the situation continues to improve.”


http://www.punchng.com/business/business-economy/oil-prices-to-rise-amid-growing-demand-opec/

clevvermind:
Nice one. I will definitely get a new job there.

Hurry they have started recruiting

NIGERIA on Monday vowed to crush Boko Haram within six weeks as its leader warned a new regional fighting force "will not achieve anything" and the rebels launched a fresh cross-border attack.

National Security Advisor Sambo Dasuki, who this weekend secured a delay to Nigeria's presidential elections, said "all known Boko Haram camps will be taken out" by the time of the rescheduled vote.

"They won't be there. They will be dismantled," he told AFP in an interview when asked what gains could be made against the Islamists before the new polling date of March 28.

Nigeria has previously set deadlines to defeat the insurgents that have come and gone.

But Dasuki said that even if the goal was not achieved, "the situation then would surely be conducive enough for elections", with no need for a further postponement to voting.

Greater regional co-operation made it more likely that the rebels, whose fight to create a hardline Islamic state has claimed more than 13,000 lives since 2009, would be defeated, he said.

Boko Haram last week opened up a new front in Niger after sustained attacks in Cameroon's far northern region, which led to the deployment of Chadian troops alongside Cameroon forces to repel further strikes.

The Islamist group has widened its offensive in recent weeks in the far north-east of Nigeria in an area not far from Lake Chad where the borders of all four countries converge.

On Monday, militant fighters raided a prison in Diffa, southeast Niger, but were repelled, just hours before the country's parliament voted on deploying troops for the regional fight-back.

- Threat dismissed -

Boko Haram earlier released three new videos on YouTube on Monday, one of them a 28-minute speech from its leader Abubakar Shekau in an undisclosed location flanked by eight masked fighters.

In it, he dismissed the threat from regional forces, stating: "Your alliance will not achieve anything. Amass all your weapons and face us. We welcome you."

Nigeria maintains that the involvement of troops from Chad and Cameroon is part of an existing agreement to fight the Islamists between countries in the Lake Chad region.

On Saturday, Nigeria and its neighbours -- Chad, Niger, Cameroun and Benin -- agreed to muster 8,700 troops, police and civilians for a wider, African Union-backed force against Boko Haram.

The size of the new force had previously been set at about 7,500 but Shekau, whom the United States estimates as having between 4,000 to 6,000 fighters at his disposal, dismissed the threat.

"You send 7,000 troops? Why don't you send seven million? This is small. Only 7,000? By Allah, it is small. We can seize them one-by-one. We can seize them one-by-one," he said in Arabic.

Shekau also directly threatened Chad's President Idriss Deby, whose forces have attacked Boko Haram in the northeast Nigerian towns of Gamboru and Malam Fatori in recent days.

Dasuki said that Nigeria had been unable to defeat Boko Haram as it had been "fighting it alone for years... with all the limitations we have -- equipment, support".

"Now we are having support. We are having additional troops. We are having additional equipment coming in. We are better equipped and better placed now to take on that thing than we were before."

- Wider context -

Shekau's speech appeared to put the Boko Haram insurgency in the wider context of global jihad, possibly in response to the regional nature of the conflict.

In the last six years, the group has mainly operated in three states in northeast Nigeria, taking over a succession of towns and villages as part of its aim to create a hardline Islamic state.

Boko Haram, which is proscribed as an international terrorist group, has previously been considered to have essentially "local" aims.

It is thought to have few direct, operational links to jihadi groups elsewhere, although it is believed to include some foreign fighters, most likely paid mercenaries.

But Shekau has mentioned groups such as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the leader of the so-called Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

One of the three latest videos shows Baghdadi with archive footage and a voiceover recalling a battle between British soldiers and fighters from the Sokoto Caliphate in northern Nigeria.

The Sokoto Caliphate was dismantled by British colonialists who annexed the northern Islamic kingdoms and the predominantly Christian south to form Nigeria in the early 20th century.

In his speech Shekau appears to broaden the group's aim: "We never rose up to fight Africa. We rose up to fight the world.

"We are going to fight the world on the principle that whoever doesn't obey Allah and the Prophet to either obey or die or become a slave."



NIGERIA on Monday vowed to crush Boko Haram within six weeks as its leader warned a new regional fighting force "will not achieve anything" and the rebels launched a fresh cross-border attack.

National Security Advisor Sambo Dasuki, who this weekend secured a delay to Nigeria's presidential elections, said "all known Boko Haram camps will be taken out" by the time of the rescheduled vote.

"They won't be there. They will be dismantled," he told AFP in an interview when asked what gains could be made against the Islamists before the new polling date of March 28.

Nigeria has previously set deadlines to defeat the insurgents that have come and gone.

But Dasuki said that even if the goal was not achieved, "the situation then would surely be conducive enough for elections", with no need for a further postponement to voting.

Greater regional co-operation made it more likely that the rebels, whose fight to create a hardline Islamic state has claimed more than 13,000 lives since 2009, would be defeated, he said.

Boko Haram last week opened up a new front in Niger after sustained attacks in Cameroon's far northern region, which led to the deployment of Chadian troops alongside Cameroon forces to repel further strikes.

The Islamist group has widened its offensive in recent weeks in the far north-east of Nigeria in an area not far from Lake Chad where the borders of all four countries converge.

On Monday, militant fighters raided a prison in Diffa, southeast Niger, but were repelled, just hours before the country's parliament voted on deploying troops for the regional fight-back.

- Threat dismissed -

Boko Haram earlier released three new videos on YouTube on Monday, one of them a 28-minute speech from its leader Abubakar Shekau in an undisclosed location flanked by eight masked fighters.

In it, he dismissed the threat from regional forces, stating: "Your alliance will not achieve anything. Amass all your weapons and face us. We welcome you."

Nigeria maintains that the involvement of troops from Chad and Cameroon is part of an existing agreement to fight the Islamists between countries in the Lake Chad region.

On Saturday, Nigeria and its neighbours -- Chad, Niger, Cameroun and Benin -- agreed to muster 8,700 troops, police and civilians for a wider, African Union-backed force against Boko Haram.

The size of the new force had previously been set at about 7,500 but Shekau, whom the United States estimates as having between 4,000 to 6,000 fighters at his disposal, dismissed the threat.

"You send 7,000 troops? Why don't you send seven million? This is small. Only 7,000? By Allah, it is small. We can seize them one-by-one. We can seize them one-by-one," he said in Arabic.

Shekau also directly threatened Chad's President Idriss Deby, whose forces have attacked Boko Haram in the northeast Nigerian towns of Gamboru and Malam Fatori in recent days.

Dasuki said that Nigeria had been unable to defeat Boko Haram as it had been "fighting it alone for years... with all the limitations we have -- equipment, support".

"Now we are having support. We are having additional troops. We are having additional equipment coming in. We are better equipped and better placed now to take on that thing than we were before."

- Wider context -

Shekau's speech appeared to put the Boko Haram insurgency in the wider context of global jihad, possibly in response to the regional nature of the conflict.

In the last six years, the group has mainly operated in three states in northeast Nigeria, taking over a succession of towns and villages as part of its aim to create a hardline Islamic state.

Boko Haram, which is proscribed as an international terrorist group, has previously been considered to have essentially "local" aims.

It is thought to have few direct, operational links to jihadi groups elsewhere, although it is believed to include some foreign fighters, most likely paid mercenaries.

But Shekau has mentioned groups such as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the leader of the so-called Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

One of the three latest videos shows Baghdadi with archive footage and a voiceover recalling a battle between British soldiers and fighters from the Sokoto Caliphate in northern Nigeria.

The Sokoto Caliphate was dismantled by British colonialists who annexed the northern Islamic kingdoms and the predominantly Christian south to form Nigeria in the early 20th century.

In his speech Shekau appears to broaden the group's aim: "We never rose up to fight Africa. We rose up to fight the world.
"We are going to fight the world on the principle that whoever doesn't obey Allah and the Prophet to either obey or die or become a slave."




http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/national-news/197299-all-boko-haram-camps-will-be-taken-out-in-six-weeks-says-sambo

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau vowed in a new video released on Monday that the group would defeat a regional force fighting the extremists in Nigeria’s far northeast, Niger and Cameroon.
“Your alliance will not achieve anything. Amass all your weapons and face us. We welcome you,” he said in a 28-minute speech, one of three videos posted by the Islamists on YouTube.
Troops from Nigeria have been backed by soldiers from Chad, Cameroon and Niger in recent weeks because of increased concerns about Boko Haram’s threat to regional security.
In the second of the latest videos, images of the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, are shown along with archive footage and a voiceover recalling a battle between British colonial soldiers and fighters from the Sokoto Caliphate in northern Nigeria.
In this screen grab image taken on February 9, 2015 from a video made available by Islamist group Boko Haram, leader Abubakar Shekau (C) makes a statement at an undisclosed location. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau vowed in a new video released on January 9, 2015 that the group would defeat a regional force fighting the militants in Nigeria's far northeast, Niger and Cameroon."AFP PHOTO / BOKO HARAM" -
In this screen grab image taken on February 9, 2015 from a video made available by Islamist group Boko Haram, leader Abubakar Shekau (C) makes a statement at an undisclosed location. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau vowed in a new video released on January 9, 2015 that the group would defeat a regional force fighting the militants in Nigeria’s far northeast, Niger and Cameroon.”AFP PHOTO / BOKO HARAM” -
Shekau has namechecked al-Baghdadi before but appears to be positioning Boko Haram in a wider jihadi context by showing the Sokoto Caliphate, which was dismantled by the British in the early 20th century.
“We never rose up to fight Africa. We rose up to fight the world,” he said.
“We are going to fight the world on the principle that whoever doesn’t obey Allah and the Prophet to either obey or die or become a slave.”
On Sunday, Boko Haram militants waged twin attacks in the town of Diffa in southeast Niger, opening a new front in its offensive after repeated attacks in Cameroon’s far northern region.
The six-year uprising has become a regional crisis and on Saturday, Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin agreed to muster 8,700 troops, police and civilians to fight the group.
But Shekau dismissed the size of the force, which had previously been set at about 7,500.
“You send 7,000 troops? Why don’t you send 70 million? This is small. Only 7,000? By Allah, it is small. We can seize them one-by-one. We can seize them one-by-one,” he said in Arabic.
Shekau also directly threatened Chad’s President Idriss Deby, whose forces have attacked Boko Haram in the northeast Nigerian towns of Gamboru and Malam Fatori in recent days.
Shekau’s challenge comes after the United States said on Friday that Boko Haram could face a stronger test against more capable regional forces.
Washington estimates that Boko Haram has a core of between 4,000 and 6,000 fighters but is well-equipped after raiding Nigerian Army positions.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/ill-defeat-regional-force-says-shekau-new-video/

Dangote Group has said that its current focus is to increase the pace of the development of its multi-billion dollar new businesses to meet completion timelines.

The group in a statement added that efforts were being made to put in place, infrastructure for business projects including refinery, gas, fertilizer and rice production.

The Group’s Executive Director for Strategy, Portfolio Development and Special Project, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, was quoted to have told international business cable television channel, CNBC over the weekend in Lagos that the company was out to ensure the businesses came on stream as planned.

According to Edwin, a few of the new businesses has been redesigned for increased capacity, adding that inflation, exchange rate and increased bank interest rate notwithstanding, the management plans to bring all the businesses on stream as earlier planned.

Edwin said the Dangote Group business models were developed to be one of the biggest if not the biggest in the world and that new technologies employed by the company gave it advantage over others.

He said, “We are building 650,000 barrels per day oil refinery which will be the largest in the world, and our planned rice production would also be the largest in the world.

“We do all these because we believe in Nigeria, we believe in her potential and we believe in her economy. We draw our business model with exportation in mind. We believe Nigeria can be self-sufficient and even produce for foreign market.”

He said that with the country’s large population and the population of many other African countries, the group’s target was exportation.

“That is why we build all our business models with exportation in mind. We had to review the capacity of our planned refinery and increase it. We have never hesitated to have big plants and that is why we deploy latest technologies in their set-up,” he said.


http://www.punchng.com/business/business-economy/dangote-pledges-early-completion-of-refinery-others/

Nollywood actress and President of Actors Guild of Nigeria, Ibinabo Fiberesima has lashed out at all those who blamed the AGN for abandoning late actor, Muna Obiekwe to his fate. Speaking during the candlelight service held in honour of the actor in Lagos, she revealed that she was shocked at reports going round that the AGN dumped Muna.

Hear her: “Think first before you write. The man was married, he had a wife and children. When you go about writing rubbish about the dead, it will haunt you. If you don’t know the truth about something, don’t spread it. It’s even worse if you are an AGN member. Everyone is sad because of his death. If I had known, being the kind of person I am, I would die to save Muna. I didn’t know, most of us never knew and Muna begged the few people who knew not to tell anyone. He had his reasons and let us respect it. Let’s stop writing rubbish – He drank alcohol, does that make you better than him? Let us respect Muna, he’s no longer with us. Mind your business”
Speaking further she accused some members of AGN of double standards, saying this lot were never the committed ones. “All those throwing daggers at AGN, dumping Muna and not taking care of him. How many of you are registered and validated AGN members. But when something goes wrong, you’ll remember AGN. This AGN is a guild, not a hospital. We are worried about your welfare, but if you’re not registered with us, we cannot help you. We have helped people we don’t even know because they came to us. If you need help, let us know” she says
Continuing she said, “There’s also a publication going round about another ailing actor, Prince James Uche. My heart is broken because we have gone the length to help him, so I’m shocked to hear that we have abandoned yet another actor. We don’t abandon actors. We have paid his rent for three years now, we have paid his hospital bills and put him on a health plan. We have taken him to the best hospitals for medical tests. I’m really shocked at the stories fllying around. If you don’t know the truth about something, you ask. I know the kind of heart God has given me and I have God’s grace upon me. So no matter what you do to destroy me, I can’t be destroyed. I love Muna and if I could help him, I would if I had known about his ailment. But God knows why this has happened”


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/muna-obiekwe-dont-abandon-ailing-actors-ibinabo-opens/

The troops of the Multi National Joint Task Force may have killed a very high ranking member of the Boko Haram sect in the ongoing military operation in the North-East.

It was learnt that the insurgent’s commander whose identity was not revealed was killed in one of the joint raids carried out by Nigerian troops and their counterparts from Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

It was stated that the late commander was one of the top officers to the founder of the Boko Haram sect, Muhammad Yusuf.

The Boko Haram commander was said to have been killed during the battle of Malamfatori

Nigeria’s neighbouring countries are deploying a total of 3,600 troops to the Multi National Joint Task Force to aid the nation’s current onslaught against Boko Haram.

Out of the figure, Chad contributes the largest figure of 2,500 troops while Niger and Cameroon contribute 700 and 400 troops respectively.

It was stated that the insurgent’s top commander was killed in an air raid by helicopter gunships of the Nigerian Air Force involved in the combined operation with ground forces during the fight to reclaim some border towns from the insurgents.

Some of the towns liberated by the soldiers of the Multi National Joint Task Force from Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon are Gamboru-Ngala, Malamfatori, Abadam, Kirawa and Ashigashiya and Michika.

It was learnt that troops had encircled Gwoza, and were moving against the town which was captured and made part of a caliphate announced by the insurgents last year.

An intelligence personnel said on Thursday that the Nigerian Army also made a big break in the battle against the insurgents by recovering some of the most lethal weapons captured by the Boko Haram fighters when they took over the Baga base of the task force.

The recovered equipment included “a Battle Armoured Tank equipped with comprehensive protective system and maximum firing distance and accuracy with anti-aircraft rotating mount; its fire accuracy is attained by range-finder, ballistic computer with a thermal barrel sleeve.”

Also in the list of the captured items are armoured personnel vehicles, artillery guns, arms and ammunition, and Hilux vehicles.

Our correspondent could not get the Director, Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, to comment on the development as calls to his mobile telephone line could not connect.

Meanwhile, Boko Haram fighters have shot or burned to death about 90 civilians and wounded 500 in the ongoing fighting in a Cameroonian border town near Nigeria, officials in Cameroon said on Thursday.


http://www.punchng.com/news/soldiers-kill-bharam-commander-recover-lost-weapons/

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, says President Goodluck Jonathan does not deserve a second term.

He told a gathering of youths at a programme titled ‘Vision of the Child’ in Lagos on Thursday, that he had 60 reasons why Jonathan should not be returned to office on February 14 when the presidential election would hold in the country.

Although Soyinka did not list the 60 reasons, he was specific on one: The April 14 abduction of over 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram insurgents from their hostel in Chibok, Borno State.

“I will not vote and I will not encourage anyone to vote for the continuation of this government, simply because your colleagues numbering over 200 were kidnapped,” he said.

The playwright, who last December described the Jonathan administration as being worse than Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, stated the President’s inability to locate and free the abducted girls represented leadership failure.

He noted that shortly after the girls were kidnapped, Jonathan failed to address the situation and went about as if nothing had happened.

Soyinka said it was, therefore, outrageous for anyone to say he was supporting the re-election of Jonathan.

He added,“It took the Jonathan government 10 days to even accept that the Chibok girls were missing. After that dereliction of duty; after that failure of leadership, after that betrayal of our future, for anyone to think or to put words in my mouth suggesting that I will vote or encourage anyone to vote for this regime is a travesty of intelligence.”

Speaking on the theme, “The Road to Sambisa”, the literary icon stressed Jonathan had not only betrayed children, he had failed as a leader.

“There has been a failure of leadership. Our children whom you represent today have been betrayed,” he said.

Soyinka warned members of the public not to believe every story written about him on the social media on his purported death.

Soyinka had also in September last year accused Jonathan of shielding sponsors of terrorism.

He urged the President not to take likely, allegations by Australian hostage negotiator, Stephen Davis, that there was a group within the Central Bank of Nigeria sponsoring Boko Haram.

The Nobel laureate noted that he personally knew Davis because they both worked together during the Niger Delta militancy crisis.

Soyinka also alleged that information about a suspected financier of the terror group within the CBN was passed to Jonathan but he allegedly sat on it.

Also at the event , the Secretary and Programme Manager for the Vision of the Child programme, Ms. Foluke George, said about 250 students from 60 primary and secondary schools in Lagos would participate in a competition aimed at promoting creative skills.

http://www.punchng.com/news/jonathan-doesnt-deserve-re-election-soyinka/

As promised Monday by President Goodluck Jonathan, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Samuel Ukura, on Thursday, in Abuja unveiled highlights of the forensic audit on the operations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which, among others, shows that $20 billion was spent on petroleum products subsidy between January 2012 and July 2013.

The audit conducted by an international audit firm, PriceWaterHouseCoopers, to assess allegations of unremitted funds into the Federation Account, said the amount went into third party financing arrangements and equity crude processing, besides costs directly and indirectly linked to domestic crude.

Others include signature bonuses, petroleum profit tax and royalties which are yet to be paid by the NPDC.

It faulted the NNPC’s operational modalities which it noted is unsustainable, hence the need to urgently review and restructure the oil behemoth.

This is just as it said the NNPC and its upstream subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), should refund about $1.48 billion to the Federation Account over unreconciled transactions.

The report showed that only $100 million from the NNPC’s portion of eight oil leases worth $1.85 billion had been paid to the NPDC, faulting the transfer value which it says ought to be higher.

According to the report, gross revenue from crude lifting during the period stood at $69.34 billion, more than the $67 billion by the Senate’s reconciliation committee earlier set up.

Of this also, $50.81 billion was remitted to the Federation Account from crude oil lifting, instead of $47 billion reported by the committee.

A further breakdown showed that of the $69.34 billion, $28.22 billion was the value of domestic crude oil allocated to NNPC, adding that total amount spent on subsidy for Premium Motor Spirit amounted to $5.32 billion.

It also noted that the sum of $3.38 billion which was not appropriated in the national budget was spent on Kerosene subsidy.

It said although the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency and the NNPC relied on a presidential directive of June 15, 2009 to stop subsidy on kerosene, the directive was not gazetted, following which there was no legal instrument canceling the subsidy on kerosene.

Specifically, the PWC audit report said: “Total other third party financing arrangement and equity crude oil processing costs amounted to $1.19 billion. Total costs directly attributable to domestic crude oil amounted to $1.46 billion.

“Other costs incurred by the corporation not directly attributable to domestic crude is $2.81 billion. Revenue attributable to NPDC as submitted by the former Managing Director to the Senate hearing is $5.11 billion.

“PWC stated that this amount needs to be incorporated into the financial statements of NPDC from where dividend should be declared to the federation accounts.

“Signature bonus, Petroleum Profit Tax and Royalty yet to be paid by NPDC is $2.22 billion. Total cash remitted into the Federation Account in relation to crude oil liftings was $50.81 billion and not $47 billion as earlier stated by the Senate Reconciliation Committee for the period January 2012 to July 2013.

“Based on the information available to PwC, and from the above analysis, the firm submitted that NNPC and NPDC should refund to the Federation Account a minimum of $1.48 billion.”

The report, whose release many link to the ongoing brickbat between Prof. Chukwuma Soludo and members of the National Economic Management Team led by Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, noted that the NNPC is unable to sustain remittances to the Federation Account and meet operational costs from crude oil revenue, hence the resort to third party liabilities to bridge the funding gap.

Ukura said the report was based on three key areas – NNPC costs, ownership of NPDC revenues and kerosene subsidy - noting that 46 per cent of proceeds of domestic oil revenues for the review period was spent on operations and subsidies.

“The corporation is unable to sustain monthly remittances to the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, and also meet its operational costs entirely from proceed of domestic crude oil revenues, and have had to incur third party liabilities to bridge the funding gap,” it added.

The report said although the NNPC presented a transaction document representing additional costs of $2.81 billion related to the review period, stressing the need to clarify whether such deduction should be made by the corporation as a first line charge before remitting the net proceeds of domestic crude to the federation account.

Consequently, PwC recommended that on the ownership of NPDC revenues, NPDC should remit dividend to NNPC and ultimately to the federation account, based on NPDC’s dividend policy and declaration of dividend for the review period.

But, reacting, a statement by the NNPC said the audit report vindicated its stand that $20 billion was not missing or unremitted.

It said the Minister of Petroleum Resources has directed that $1.48 billion should be remitted to the Federation Account, insisting that the amount is “not part of the alleged unremitted revenues from crude lifting.”

The amount, it continued, was never in dispute as it is made up of statutory payments such as signature bonus, taxes and royalties which are statutory payments that come with assets acquisition.

It said the delay in payment was due to the reconciliation processes between the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the NNPC.

The corporation stated that the forensic audit report and the Senate Committee on Finance report on the unremitted revenue all alluded to the fact that NPDC reported crude oil revenues of $5.11 billion.

Expatiating further on the kerosene subsidy issue, the corporation said the audit report also clarified that subsidy on “DPK is still in force as the presidential directive of 19th October, 2009, was not gazetted in line with provisions of Section 6 Subsection 1 of the Petroleum Act of 1969.

“The Forensic Audit Report also acknowledged that Section 7 Subsection 4 of NNPC Act empowers the corporation to defray its costs and expenses including the costs of its subsidiaries from crude oil revenues, though it also recommended that the laws be reviewed to make the Corporation meet its costs and expenses entirely from the value it creates.”

President Gooldluck Jonathan had on Monday while receiving the report from the accounting firm requested the Auditor-General of the Federation to study the report and make the key highlights public within the week.

The audit followed allegation by the immediate past CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi, now the Emir of Kano, in 2013, that about $20 billion oil money was missing from the NNPC, following the diversion of about $49 billion by the NNPC.

The amount was later scaled down to $20 billion, just as he called for investigations after writing to President Goodluck Jonathan. But the government insisted at the time that no money was missing and promised a forensic probe.

The presentation of the report is coming almost 10 months after Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, in April 2014, announced the appointment of PwC to conduct an investigation that was to last about 16 weeks.


http://dailyindependentnig.com/2015/02/20b-spent-petroleum-subsidy-19-months-audit-report/