₦airaland Forum

The Peoples Democratic Party, Kunle Ologbodiyan, has accused Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo of not being bold enough to mention names of those he claimed stole public funds.

Mr. Ologbondiyan said the vice president was only fond of bandying figures he cannot trace to a personality in the PDP.

His reaction followed Mr. Osinbajo’s speech at the colloquium organised to mark the 66th birthday of a leader of the All Progressives’Congress (APC) in Lagos on Thursday.

Citing differences in cash releases to three ministries as example, Mr. Osinbajo said the looting that took place in the last five years of PDP administration cost the nation dear hence, he would continue to talk about corruption in PDP’s administration.

“The corruption of the previous five years destroyed the economy,” he said.

While featuring on a programme on Channels Television, Thursday evening, Mr. Ologbondiyan cautioned the vice president to either “keep quiet” or present a list of PDP members who amassed wealth through illegal means.

“We want to caution the Vice-President that he should stop bandying figures. Anytime the Vice-President has the opportunity to face the camera, he begins to announce figures that he cannot support,” he said.

“Our advice to him is that as a professor of law, he knows the pathway to follow when you accuse somebody of corruption. We challenge him to stop bandying figures but he should mention names of those who he claimed corrupted themselves. And if he cannot mention their names and he cannot charge them to court and he cannot cause their arrest and he cannot even list these people, he should keep quiet.”

“Why can’t they come out and say in the last three years, we have done these, we have done that? All they do is to come back and say the last 10 years of the PDP, last five years of PDP. Is that what Nigerians are asking?

“As far as we are concerned in PDP, until the Vice-President comes out clean and says that your party members by so names corrupted themselves to the tune of so amount, you don’t expect us as a party to begin to respond.”

Mr. Ologbondiyan said the APC government has not been able to convict any PDP member as the party is only engaging in ‘media trial.’

He said the APC’s ascent to power was financed with stolen public funds.

“Don’t forget, the PDP established all the anti-corruption agencies in the cpuntry. Name it; EFCC, ICPC and whatever agency you think about. They were established by the PDP. PDP remains the only party in our modern democracy that have tried its members for corruption charges.

“Our people challenged the government of which Prof. Osinbajo is Vice-President that the corrupt money they are looking for is what they spent to bring them into government that is the position of PDP.

“If they are searching for corruption money, if they are searching for people who stole money, they should look inwards, that the position of PDP.

“If they are current members of the rebranded and repositioned PDP, declare them so, but if they are hiding under villa protection and you are busy going around villages and towns announcing that PDP stole money, you are being unfair and you are not acting like a man of God. That is the position of PDP,” he said.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/263506-pdp-challenges-osinbajo-to-name-looters-within-party.html/

WITH unending controversies surrounding actual remuneration figures of members of the National Assembly, Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has again clarified its position on the matter.

In a press statement signed by Mr Ibrahim Mohammed, RMAFC’s Spokesperson, the Commission pointed out that the clarification has become imperative in view of the recent revelation by Mr Shehu Sani, a Senator of the Federal Republic who was reported to have disclosed to the public that each Senator collects monthly running cost of N13.5 million in addition to the monthly salary of N750,000.00 prescribed by the “Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc.) (Amendments) Act, 2008”.

According to the statement, the Law on Salaries and Allowances of Public Office Holders is very clear and as such it is only the management of the National Assembly Service Commission that can explain the N13.5 M running cost allegedly being enjoyed by each Senator as the Act only covers Salary and Allowances but not Running Cost.

“A closer look at the monthly entitlement of Senators reveals that each Senator collects salary and allowances of the sum of N1,063,860:00 consisting of the following basic-N168,866.70, motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance allowance N126,650:00,

“Personal Assistant N42,216.66, Domestic Staff-126,650:00, Entertainment-N50,660:00, Utilities-N50,660:00, Newspapers/Periodicals-N25,330:00, Wardrobe-N42,216.66, House Maintenance-N8,433:00 and Constituency-N422,166.66 respectively”

“It is instructive to note that some allowances are regular while others are non-regular. Regular allowances are paid regularly with Basic Salaries while Non-Regular allowances are paid as at when due.

For instance, Furniture allowance (N6,079,200:00); and Severance Gratuity (N6,079,200:00) are paid once in every tenure while Motor Vehicle Loan-(N8,105,600:00) is optional which the beneficiary has to offset before leaving office”.

The payment of Running Cost is not part of RMAFC mandate, therefore only the NASS can explain it.

The statement adds that auditing does not fall within the purview of the Commission.



Thus, RMAFC also wishes to use this opportunity to state that any other payments enjoyed by any political, or public office holders outside those provided in the Remuneration Act of 2008 is not known to the Commission and the chief accounting officer of the agencies concerned should explain it.

To avoid misinformation and misrepresentation of facts capable of misleading citizens and members of the international community, the Commission considers it most appropriate and necessary to request Nigerians and any other interested party to avail themselves of the opportunity to access the actual details of the present remuneration package for political, public and judicial office holders in Nigeria published on its website.

http://www.tribuneonlineng.com/senators-total-take-home-is-n106386000-monthly-rmafc/

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has officially declared his intention to run for president in 2019 on the Platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Mr Abubakar announced his candidacy in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Tuesday.

The former Vice President said his decision to make the announcement in Rivers State because is because he believes Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike represents what he represented in 1998/99 as the live wire of the PDP.

Mr Abubakar who defected from the All Progressives Congress to the PDP in December 2017, was in Rivers with the former Governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel; Senator Abdul Ningi and some other party leaders.

Governor Wike, in reaction, described the former VP as a presidential candidate feared by the APC.

The governor, however, played down his own position in the PDP, insisting that all genuine members of the party are its live wire.

Three years and several legal battles after, the PDP was ousted from power at the federal level, its leaders believe it has what it takes to reclaim power in 2019.

According to Governor Wike, the PDP is not just interested to getting power in 2019, it is out to rescue Nigeria from what he described as a period of maladministration.

The Governor called on other aspirants of the party to do nothing to jeopardise its chances in the 2019 general elections.

https://www.channelstv.com/2018/03/27/atiku-abubakar-declares-intention-to-run-for-president-in-2019/

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has described the release of majority of the Dapchi schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram as a gesture of goodwill by the insurgents.

Mr Mohammed also revised upwards the number of kidnapped schoolgirls as well as the number of released girls.

Speaking during a press conference in Lagos on Sunday, Mr Mohammed reiterated his earlier claims that the federal government neither paid ransom nor swapped any Boko Haram member to secure the release of the girls.

“This is a fact, irrespective of how a section of the press has tried to spin the story,” he said.

“The insurgents brought the girls back to the location of the kidnapping themselves as an apparent gesture of goodwill, following relentless efforts by the Government to find long-lasting solutions to the conflict.”

The minister’s comment came just as the schoolgirls arrived Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, on Sunday morning on their way to reunite with their families.

REVISED FIGURES

Four days ago, Mr Mohammed said a total of 106 abducted persons, comprising of 104 Dapchi schoolgirls, one other girl and a boy were freed by the insurgents.

But on Sunday, the minister reviewed upwards the figure of abducted persons based on “a lot of developments.”

“Gentlemen, a total of 111 girls were abducted from the Government Girls Secondary and Technical College (GGSTC) in Dapchi on 19 Feb. 2018,” the minister said.

“That means one student was not captured on the list of 110 abducted students that was compiled by the school, on the basis of which the Federal Government gave the number of abducted schoolgirls
as 110.”

That first figure of 110 was provided to Nigerians by the federal government after a presidential delegation went on a fact-finding mission to Dapchi, days after the February kidnap.

“Also kidnapped were two other persons, who are not students of the college. They include a primary school boy who came to the school to sell pure water and another primary school girl. That brings the total number of abducted persons on that day to 113.

“So far, a total of 107 persons, comprising 105 Dapchi schoolgirls and the two non-students, have been released by the insurgents.

“Six Dapchi schoolgirls are yet unaccounted for. All efforts will be made to secure their release,” Mr Mohammed said.

One of the kidnapped girls had told PREMIUM TIMES five of her colleagues died during the ‎kidnap. Another, Leah Sharibu, is believed to have been held back by the insurgents because she refused to denounce her Christian faith.

CEASEFIRE

On how the insurgents were able to return the girls and were not attacked despite the military presence, Mr. Mohammed said the government had been in a cessation of hostility talks with Boko Haram “for some time now.”

“The talks helped to secure the release of the police officers’ wives and the University of Maiduguri lecturers recently. And the talks did not stop thereafter.

“Therefore, we were able to leverage on the wider talks when the Dapchi girls were abducted. As I said earlier, the insurgents decided to return the girls to where they picked them from as a goodwill gesture.

“All they demanded was a ceasefire that will grant them a safe corridor to drop the girls. This is not new. Even in larger war situations, safe corridors are usually created for humanitarian and other purposes.

“Consequently, a week-long ceasefire was declared, starting from Monday, 19 March. That is why the insurgents were able to drop the girls. This counters the conspiracy theories being propounded in some quarters concerning why it was so easy for the insurgents to drop off the girls without being attacked by the military.”

The minister said the return of the schoolgirls was due to the swift response to the situation by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He added that the current government’s response was a marked departure from the attitude of the preceding administration in the aftermath of the kidnap of the 276 Chibok girls in 2014

“Whereas it took that administration 18 days to even acknowledge the kidnap of the girls, the current administration was responsive and was not in denial.

“No stone was left unturned to secure the release of the girls.”

The return of the schoolgirls after their abduction in February raised suspicions among some Nigerians, with the major opposition party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party, saying it was “staged for political purposes” by the ruling party.

Another opposition party, the Social Democratic Party, questioned the circumstances of the girls’ abduction and return.

On Sunday, Mr Mohammed tore into the PDP and other “naysayers” saying that what called for non-partisan celebrations was “rather thoughtlessly turned into bad, despicable politics.”

“Let me encapsulate my reaction to the disgraceful and insensitive politics, that the PDP has been playing with the Dapchi girls, by quoting the statement of the President when he received the Dapchi girls last Friday:

‘May I also warn against those elements who have chosen to make political fortune of our citizens’ misfortune. Government would not tolerate any attempt by any person or group to trivialise or politicise security issues for politically motivated ends. Accordingly, security agencies would not hesitate to decisively deal with such unscrupulous characters.’

“Those are very clear words that need no elaboration.

“The PDP and its co-travelers do not understand that terrorism is a global problem. A terror attack on any country is an attack on all countries. The UN was among the first international organizations to condemn the abduction of the Dapchi girls and also among the first to welcome their release.”

Mr Mohammed also dismissed reports of a supposed sergeant in the Nigerian Army, named David Bako, who claimed to have played a part in an alleged conspiracy by the government to abduct the Dapchi girls.

“This is a classic example of what I have just said: Disinformation and fake news,” he said.

“I can tell you categorically that this David Bako is fake. There is no such soldier in the Nigerian Army. There was no conspiracy anywhere.

“The intention of those behind the disinformation and fake news is to cause disaffection between Christians and Muslims, and between Southerners and Northerners.”


https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/263002-again-nigerian-govt-revises-number-of-dapchigirls-kidnapped-released.html/

The All Progressives Congress (APC),says the party will take over the three states in the South-East zone controlled by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general elections.

It said as a result of the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari since assumption of office, especially the key projects he was executing in the South-East, the job of convincing the people of the area had been made easier.

The states are Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu.

Party chieftains spoke on Saturday in Abakaliki, at a ceremony to mark the 5th anniversary of APC Youth League (APCYL)


National President of APCYL, Mr Solomon Faeren, who spoke, said that the party would fulfilled its mission of winning the entire zone in 2019 to enable it consolidate on its programmes for the region.

Also speaking, an APC chieftain in Ebonyi, Mr Christian Chukwu, said that the party was determined to dislodge the PDP in the region.

Chukwu who delivered a keynote lecture titled: “The Role of Nigerian Youths in Nation Building,” urged youths to get involved in partisan politics.

He said that this would enable them to develop and build leadership capacity.

Chukwu noted that the future of the country belonged to the youths hence the need to strive to participate in the political process.

“Youths are agents of progressive change and the future of any country belongs to the youths.


“The greatness of any nation is directly tied to the vibrancy and resilience of its youths, hence the need to develop and build your capacity to take up leadership roles, ” Chukwu said.

He alleged that the ruling party was intimidating and harassing APC members, but stressed that no amount of intimidation could deter them from achieving their mission.

“Our members were being harassed and intimidated but they have not succumbed. The youths of Ebonyi are not going to succumb.

“When you watch the way they are not succumbing, it is a clear sign that they want to take what belongs to them,” he added.

APCYL Ebonyi Coordinator, Mr Emmanuel Nweke, said that the league was committed to promoting good governance by mobilising youths to participate in the political process.

He said that the organisation which has been in existence for five years had engaged youths in active participation in partisan political activities.

“Our business and concern is to champion, project and promote collective interest of our party, we are not inclined to promoting any particular interest of individual members.

“All we ask is that every party member should come together as one and form a formidable force to defeat the ruling PDP in the state.

“The more united we are, the better and easier for us to bring the desired progressive change we clamour for in the state, ” Nweke said.

The South-East Coordinator of APCYL, Mr Okenwa Uka, said that youths were ready and determined to bring positive change in the political leadership of the country.

He said that PDP led government in Ebonyi has failed to provide needed political leadership that would lift the people from poverty and under-development.

“The youths are driving the progressive change being clamoured for in the state, and we are only asking our elders and leaders to support us to achieve our mission.

“We are committed to positive leadership transformation to redeem the lost glory of our state and we are unstoppable in this resolve,” Uka said.

Chief Austine Edeze, APC Board of Trustees member, Chief Christopher Omo-Isu, former House of Representatives member, in their separate speeches, charged APCYL to mobilise youths to register in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration.

The high point of the event was the presentation of awards of excellence to deserving members of the party.

Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu; former Governor of the state, Chief Martin Elechi; Nigeria’s ambassador to Peru, Chile, and Paraguay, Chief Jonah Mkpuruka, and 22 others received the awards. (NAN)

http://thenationonlineng.net/apc-vows-take-south-east-2019/

Dino Melaye, the Kogi State senator facing the humbling possibility of recall by his constituents, SaharaReporters learned, has fled Nigeria and vowed not to return until there is a new government at the federal level as well as a new one in his home state of Kogi. He also left a stern warning for the Senate President, Mr. Bukola Saraki, and the entire upper legislative chamber to their failure to fight his corner will bring down at least 30 senators.

Sources told SaharaReporters that on Saturday, Mr. Melaye called two senior staff of the Senate President to tell them to pass on the message that he needs the Senate to support him against Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, who is thought to be behind the recall and the recent trouble with the Police.

The sources said Mr. Melaye believes that his support for Mr. Saraki during the election to the office of Senate President.

A source said he overheard Mr. Melaye warning, during a phone conversation, that should he not get the support of the Senate President and the Senate, he would go public with how much has been spent to keep Mr. Saraki in office.

The source equally disclosed that Mr. Melaye is working on some senators to ensure that his troubles, to be dressed up as 'persecution', are raised on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday. According to the source, Mr. Melaye wants the Senate to pressure the Police to withdraw the charges of robbery slapped on him.

The senator rejected the suggestion that he should appear in the Senate and move a motion, saying he would be arrested and handcuffed by the Police.

On Saturday afternoon, said sources, some senators met at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja to discuss the threat issued by Mr. Melaye should he not get their support. Sources close to the meeting disclosed that his threat is considered by the senators to carry an enormous potential for embarrassing the leadership of the Senate.

This is said to be related to an investigation into the affairs of a telecommunications company through which the leadership and some other senators cut deals.

An emergency meeting is already fixed for Saturday night to discuss how to counter Mr. Melaye, who is said to have goods on the leadership of the Senate on account of his involvement in many dodgy transactions featuring the Senate leaders, should it be necessary.

http://saharareporters.com/2018/03/24/desperate-dino-melaye-flees-nigeria-warns-saraki-fight-him-or-risk-being-exposed

First of all, let me say that I am delighted that the #DapchiGirls have been returned to their parents by Boko Haram. No matter what happened before, during and after the abduction, it is safe to say that this aspect of the saga (the safe return of most of the girls) is a good thing.

The term ‘back channel’ was introduced into Nigeria’s political lexicon by the minister of defense, Mansur Dan Ali.


Mr. Dan Ali was reported to have said:

“All the security forces were asked to do everything to ensure the safe return of the Dapchi girls. The released Girls are in Dapchi and being documented; Situation is developing; release is outcome of “backchannel” negotiations; no ransoms were paid’.

Let me be unequivocal and say that I commend the Buhari administration for the release of the #DapchiGirls through “back channels”. I welcome the assurances that no ransom was paid. I am saddened at the news that some of the girls died and one still remains in captivity because she is a Christian.

I further urge the Buhari administration to do all it can through its “back channels’ to convince Boko Haram to release Liah Sharibu, the Christian girl that they continue to hold, allegedly because she refuses to abandon her Christian faith for Islam.

I urge no one to politicize her situation, as this may jeopardize her life. Finally, I urge the Buhari government to use their close relations to Boko Haram, which the Minister of Defense described as ‘back channels’ to secure the release of the remaining #ChibokGirls.

But all this talk about back channels and front channels reminds me of the fact that on November 1, 2012, Boko Haram namer Muhammadu Buhari as their representative to head a team that would negotiate with the Jonathan administration on ceasefire terms. At that time, many, myself including, dismissed the move. But in the light of this ‘back channel’ talk of today, red flags are going up in my head!

Muhammadu Buhari was named by Boko Haram to Head a committee comprising Dr. Shettima Ali Monguno, Bukar Abba Ibrahim (a former Yobe State governor) Ambassador Gaji Galtimari, Hajia Aisha Wakil and her husband, Alkali Wakil.

Coincidentally, the Muhammadu Buhari administration has worked with all of these people (with perhaps the exception of Bukar Abba Ibrahim and Shettima Ali Monguno, who himself became a victim of Boko Haram and has now passed away after living a honorable life).

What is happening here?

One thing I know is that Boko Haram and President Buhari have at least one thing in common-a total commitment to Sharia.

Consider the following comments made by President Buhari long before he went into politics:

“I can die for the cause of Islam if necessary. We are prepared to fight another civil war. We cannot be blackmailed into killing Sharia.” – Muhammadu Buhari (Freedom House, 2000 and culled from Akin Osuntokun)

“Muslims should only vote those who will defend their faith. We are more than the Christians if you add our Muslim brothers in the West.”- Buhari (Liberty Radio Kaduna, 2003 and culled from Akin Osuntokun)

At this juncture, I am reminded of a cryptic comment made by former President Jonathan on January 8, 2012 when he admitted that Boko Haram had infiltrated the Nigerian government and had sympathizers even in the military.

At that time, the then President had said:

“Boko Haram backers and sympathisers are in the executive arm of the government; some of them are in the legislative arm of the government. Some are also in the armed forces, the police and other security agencies.”

“Some continue to dip their hands and eat with you and you won’t even know the person who will point a gun at you or plant a bomb behind your house.”

Was Dr. Goodluck Jonathan right? Are we beginning to see the gloves come off? It is very strange for me as a concerned Nigerian to see a collaboration between the government and terrorists.

I find it strange to believe that Boko Haram just released the #DapchiGirls without a ransom being paid and without their captured commanders being released. If that is the case, what was the point of taking the girls in the first place.

And this ‘back channel’ what does it mean? Does Boko Haram have representatives in government or does government have representatives in Boko Haram? Do they have an embassy for their Caliphate operating somewhere in the Nigerian nation state?

The whole issue is suspicious. It raises more questions than it answers. Yes, I am glad that the girls were released but this is extraordinarily fishy to say the least. Is it that front channel abducted #DapchiGirls and ‘back channel’ released them? Is this a recycling game? What is happening here? The more you look, the less you see! There is something not quite right!

In a video of the release, Boko Haram fighters can be seen driving into Dapchi town to the joyous greetings of residents of the town. They were cheered as though they were freedom fighters. They dropped off the girls and even had time for a tête-à-tête with the parents of the girls and the elders of the town. Really? Were these not the same people who stoned Mr. Ibrahim Geidam, the Yobe State Governor a month ago.

How come they can be seen waving to Boko Haram fighters and the fighters are seen waving back?

Even after they delivered the girls back safely, neither the army nor its sister security agencies were at hand to arrest them? Why? That would have been the commonsensical thing to do. After all they have only one girl left.

A report by the Guardian of UK on Wednesday 21, 2018 is even more damning. The report quotes a #DapchiGirl thus:

“It took us three days to get back to Dapchi,” said Fatima (a #DapchiGirl). “We were divided into three groups and flown in planes, and taken over rivers in boats.”

“Neither the military nor the police attempted to apprehend the militants, who even stopped to change a tyre before leaving Dapchi, according to Mataba.”

There is some collusion somewhere because I cannot believe Boko Haram has planes and lands and takes off without collusion.

What the video of the release shows is that terror can only thrive where there is local support. It is hard to see how you can hate Boko Haram and still wave to them and cheer them on. All caught on video. My goodness this is strange. One could have been forgiven if he mistook the fawning affection shown by the people of Dapchi for Boko Haram as a visit by Omotola to Dapchi.

No wonder Mark Twain said “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t”. Mr. Twain could as well have been writing about the Dapchi saga!

We have been told that Boko Haram is defeated and only a few stragglers remain and they are desperately hungry and lacking even the most subsistent necessities.

Yet, they showed up in Dapchi town with almost 100 well fed girls looking as if they just returned from a holiday to Dubai?

Khadija Grema, one of the abducted #DapchGirls returned by Boko Haram spoke to Channels Television about the circumstances of their abduction. Read her account of the abduction:

“That fateful day we were ready for dinner when we heard shootings then one of our teacher was calling and directing us to go out through the gate. When we run into the insurgents at the gate, they gathered all of us in the name of rescue when suddenly they asked Babangida the driver to bring the truck which they packed us in.”

This is an eyewitness testimony. They were eating. They heard shooting. They panicked. They ran. Boko Haram came and got them. Does this not appear to be the act of people that knew for a fact that the security in the town and school had been dispensed with?

And we still do not know the answers to the questions posed by the All Progressive Congress Governor of Yobe State, which was-who gave the order for the soldiers guarding Dapchi to leave just prior to the abduction?

The whole thing is looking like a badly scripted Nollywood movie where a man without a shirt is hit with a car in one scene and in the next scene he is being taken to hospital with a shirt and tie! No continuity between scenes.

The whole thing looks like a tale of a rabbit that gave birth to two bunnies and three out of the two died, while the remaining four were sold! What is going on?

President Buhari who ought to have been in Kigali on March 21 to sign a African Free Trade Agreement ended up not going even though the Presidency had announced that an advanced party had gone on before him.

His refusal to show up in Kigali gave smaller African countries the opportunity they needed to issue a rebuke to Nigeria.

Why did the President not travel? Was it because of the publicly stated reason (he needed more time to consult with those opposed to the agreement) or because the front end was busy preparing for what the back end was about to do?

It almost looks to me like the #DapchiGirls and their parents were pawns in a game contrived to affect the 2019 elections.

The saddest part of the saga are the five girls that died in captivity. At least, Liah Sharibu, is alive and where there is life, there is hope. But five girls are dead. And according to press reports, they died of a heart attack. A heart attack? Teenagers dying of a heart attack? Somehow this does not wash.

Maybe some day, perhaps through the front channels of another regime, we will eventually get to know what really happened at Dapchi and Chibok. But for now, let us pretend to believe this ‘back channel’ fairy tale.

As an aside, let me end by saying that Governors who want to know how herdsmen will show their gratitude if given land for cattle colony only have to look at Kogi where Yahaya Bello gave them 15,000 hectares. Last week they showed gratitude by killing 25 people. Three days ago, they said thank you by killing 10 more!

As Winston Churchill said “An Appeaser Is One Who Feeds a Crocodile, Hoping It Will Eat Him Last.” Yahaya Bello the appeaser has found out that the crocodile is not waiting to eat him last. It is eating him and Kogi state first!

WARNING

This is not about PDP or APC. If the President does not publicly discipline the IGP, he will set a very dangerous precedent. All over barracks in Nigeria soldiers will be saying if a policeman can disobey the President, why should the military respect him. It‘s a bad omen not just for Buhari, but for our democracy. It will be taken that the President is a weak Commander-in-Chief who is dominated by his appointees instead of being in charge of his government and will lead to further insubordination by other military/paramilitary forces.

Reno Omokri

Bestselling author of Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years: Chibok, 2015 and Other Conspiracies

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/03/back-channels-does-boko-haram-have-a-representative-in-buharis-government-reno/

The Senator representing Kaduna Central District in the National Assembly, Shehu Sani, has reacted to the release of Dapchi schools girls.
The schoolgirls kidnapped from Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, in Yobe State,were returned to the town by Boko Haram insurgents on Tuesday.

Shehu Sani in hilarious tweets said,"Since Dapchi has been turned into a Sahelian Tinsel Town,then Steven Spielberg or Spike Lee or Jerry Bruckheimer of the Pirates of the Caribbean needs to visit, to explore the possibility of a blockbuster".


https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/shehu-sani-likens-the-release-of-dapchi-girls-to-a-movie.html

Mynd44:
They had a window where they were promised that they wont be attacked or arrested.

That is how you negotiate peace accords to save civillians

But the question now is, did the Federal Government pay for the release of the girls?

The Federal Government on Wednesday said that 101 Dapchi school girls released by their abductors have been documented by the security agencies.
Here are photos of the girls with their families in Dapchi.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said that former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration shared N150 billion two weeks to the 2015 poll.

Osinbajo accused Jonathan of frittering billions of naira that should have been spent on projects.

Admitting that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari had not completely dealt with corruption in the country, he said it had demonstrated enough political will to reverse the situation.

Osinbajo disclosed this at the old banquet hall of the presidential villa, Abuja during the 7th presidential quarterly business forum for private sector stakeholders.

He said “In one single transaction a few weeks to the the 2015 elections, sums of a N100billion and $295million were just frittered away by a few.

“When you consider that in 2014 as the minister of finance has said that oil price was an average of $110 a barrel and only N99 billion was spent on power, works and housing and when we talk about the economy we talk as if these are normal by every standard.

“Nobody should talk about the economy when you have this kind of huge leakages and huge corruption. Corruption that completely makes nonsense of even what you are allocating to capital projects.

“We saw from the presentation of minister of finance that N14 billion was spent on agriculture in 2014, transportation N15 billion, so the total spent on infrastructure in those three years were N153 billion and in two weeks before the elections N150 billion was essentially shared.

“So, if your total infrastructure spending is N150 billion and you can share N153 billion, that is completely incredible. That sort of thing doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world. And when we are talking about the economy, we must simply understand that that is the problem.

“I must ask again what was wrong with the Nigerian economy and what do we need to do to correct the flaws. There are several issues many of which have already been articulated but I want to talk about what I think is the biggest problem which for some reason we hardly talk about when discussing our national economy.

“This is grand corruption in the public finance space. Sometimes the way we talk about the Nigerian economy it does appear as if it is the economy of say Norway or somewhere where all things are equal. Even when we refer to what has taken place in our economy, we almost sound as if this is in every sense a very normal business environment, a very normal public finance environment but that is not the case.

“I do not think that any consideration about our economy development can be properly and honestly done without fully analysing corruption, especially grand corruption in the public finance space.

“You see that despite record high levels of oil prices, very little was invested in infrastructure and a record level of leakages were recorded in the past few years.

“This is the fundamental issue in our economy. Corruption affects everything. It affects even judgement as to what sort of infrastructure to put in place or whether infrastructure will ever be complete. It is so fundamental that we can’t even think of our economy without thinking of what to do about it.

“Sometimes when we talk about our economy, we talk about the fact that we have relied on single commodity and that is one of the reasons why we are where we are. Yes, that’s quite true but the fact is that proceeds from that single commodity was regularly hijacked consistently by a few. That is really the problem. If we had spent the proceeds from that single commodity the way we ought to, we won’t be where we are today.”

http://dailypost.ng/2018/03/19/jonathan-shared-n150bn-two-weeks-2015-election-osinbajo/

SPECIAL Assistant to Former President Goodluck Jonathan on New Media, Reno Omokri said on Wednesday that President Muhammadu Buhari lied by claiming that he handled the Dapchi Girls kidnapping saga better than Jonathan handled the Chibok girls kidnap.


A statement on behalf of GEJ Media Office by Omokri indicated that the claim made by Buhari during a visit to Damaturu, Yobe State capital was false.

The statement quoted President Buhari, as saying in Damaturu: “The Federal Government’s response to the unfortunate abduction of the schoolgirls is a clear departure from the insensitivity of the past administration which looked the other way while the Chibok girls were taken away in 2014 and held in captivity for over three years.

“Due to our commitment, over 100 Chibok girls have been rescued and reunited with their families, sent back to school and empowered with requisite skills.”

The statement, however, indicated that it beats imagination that Buhari would continue to make unfounded allegations.

It stated that it was not true that Jonathan’s government looked the other way when Chibok Girls were kidnapped in 2014.

According to Omokri, “The Chibok Girls were kidnapped on April 14, 2014. Exactly three days later, on April 17, 2014, then President Goodluck Jonathan called an emergency National Security Council meeting at Aso Rock Presidential Villa.

“Is this the act of an administration or a President that looks away?”

The statement further indicated that more than two weeks after the Dapchi Girls were kidnapped, President Buhari has failed to hold a National Security Council meeting to address the situation.

The statement read: “As a matter of fact, to prove to Nigerians how inept he is, the President cancelled the Federal Executive Council meeting that was to hold after the Dapchi Girls were kidnapped because of a conference he had to attend.

“Between a President who calls an emergency meeting after Chibok and a President who cancelled an important meeting so he could attend an economic conference, who can be described as looking the other way?

“Which serious leader cancels the most important meeting in his nation at a time when Kaduna is facing ethnic and religious killings, Zamfara is facing mass killings by bandits, Benue, Plateau, Adamawa and Taraba are facing an onslaught from Fulani herdsmen and 110 girls were kidnapped in Dapchi?

“When Yusuf Buhari had an accident, President Buhari cancelled all his engagements and headed straight to the hospital. When the Dapchi Girls were kidnapped, the same President Buhari carried on as usual and went to Kano to go and dance and socialize at a Society Wedding!

“After the Jonathan administration held an emergency National Security Council meeting on April 17, 2014, the Nigerian Army and Airforce began searching for the Chibok girls with sorties being flown in search of the girls.

“Let me remind Nigerians that one of the people who undermined the then administration’s anti-terror war was Muhammadu Buhari who on June 3, 2013, said the “military offensive against Boko Haram is anti-North”. I urge Nigerians to Google this direct quote to know their President better.

“And again, the President lied when he said his administration “rescued” 100 Chibok Girls. The Chibok Girls were not rescued. As a matter of fact, they were released by Boko Haram after the alleged payment of huge ransoms and freedom of captured Boko Haram commanders by the Buhari administration.

“Only two weeks ago, Shuaibu Moni, one of the Boko Haram commanders released by the Buhari administration went back to Sambisa Forest and released a video threatening Nigeria.

“Who knows whether it was the money allegedly paid as ransom to Boko Haram or individuals freed by the government that were used to facilitate the kidnap of the Dapchi Girls and the recent killings of United Nations staff in Rann.
“Again, three weeks ago, Chief Mike Okiro, the head of the Police Service Commission, revealed that under President Muhammadu Buhari, 150,000 policemen are guarding ‘big men’ instead of performing core police duties.

“President Buhari’s son, Yusuf, alone had more guards guarding him than the guards attached to Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi at the time of the kidnapping, yet the President has the guts to say he handled Dapchi better than Jonathan handled Chibok.

“A serious President, knowing how vulnerable the Northeast is would have sent these 150,000 policemen to guard schools in the Northeast rather than send them out to guard APC big shots all over the country.

“Finally, can President Buhari, who claims to have defeated Boko Haram, tell the world how many people are killed daily by Boko Haram under his regime as compared to the previous regime?

“In the first ten weeks of 2018, Boko Haram killed 519 people in the Northeast. Only a patently dishonest leader can claim to have defeated Boko Haram with such numbers.”

http://www.tribuneonlineng.com/buhari-didnt-handle-dapchi-kidnap-better-than-chibok-saga-―jonathans-aide/

A top Presidency source revealed on Tuesday night that President Muhammadu Buhari summoned the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, to explain why he flouted the order to relocate to Benue State to stem the killings blamed on Fulani herdsmen.

It was learnt that the police boss was summoned to the president’s residence on Tuesday morning.

Buhari was said to have demanded a full report on the Benue till date which may now decide the IGP’s fate.

According to the source, “Police IG, Idris was the first caller this morning at the Presidential villa apparently to explain his flouting of the President’s order to remain in Benue at the height of the incidence between farmers and herdsmen.

“President Buhari who is believed to have summoned the IG received him in a private audience.

“The IG left about 30 minutes after without speaking to anyone.

“It is believed that sort of a query the president demanded a full report on police operations till date after which he will make further decisions.

“There is a renewed resolve to make sure that the killings and bad security situation in Benue State abates.”

The Senior Special Assistant to the President, Media Garba Shehu confirmed the meeting.

http://www.tribuneonlineng.com/buhari-summons-igp-over-benue-saga/

Femi Adesina, the Special Assistant to President Muhammadu on Media and Publicity, has reacted to Senator George Akume’s claim that Benue people are not happy with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Adesina also clarified that Benue’s stakeholders did not say they were unhappy with Buhari during their meeting with him, but that were not happy about the killings.
He also spoke on the allegation that President Buhari’s visit to Benue came late.

Adesina spoke on Ray Power Fm on Monday, saying, “Don’t misquote them because I was there. They did not say they were not happy with the President.

“In fact, most of them were full of commendation for the President. Not a single one of them said he was not happy with the President. Rather, they spoke about the confidence they have in him,” Adesina said.

On Akume’s comment, Adesina exclaimed, “How can they be happy when they found blood flowing like that? They won’t be happy naturally but nobody said ‘we are not happy with the President’ rather, they said ‘we voted for you massively in 2015 and we are still with you.”


He added, “In the press statement we issued last week announcing the visits, we explained that having received reports on the various clashes and having studied them, it was time for the President to visit.

“Those reports came first so that he can have a balanced and proper perspective of what actually happened and then the visit.

“The visit was not supposed to be an emotive thing. It was supposed to be a sympathy visit, a condolence visit based on proper information.”

http://dailypost.ng/2018/03/13/presidency-reacts-claims-benue-people-stakeholders-not-happy-buhari/

Solomon Dalung, Minister of Youths and Sports, has accused the Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong of misleading President Muhammadu Buhari into commissioning a bridge which was completed by ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan.

He made the claim while criticizing the governor for refusing advise from him.


In a statement he personally signed, Dalung , however, said he’s not after Lalong for selfish reason.

According to Lalong, “Former President Goodluck commissioned federal secretariat bridge, why did Governor Lalong mislead the president to recommission it again?

“I honestly have respect for him (Lalong) because he is my leader. I have given him series of advice and will continue to do even though he has not taken any.

“The governor should realize where we are coming from and save the state from further drifting into chaos. I have been quite supportive of the governor and his administration despite his repeated turning down of advice.

“I am concerned about the state and do not have any political ambition.

The minister said the state government was not prudent with its resources.

“Where is the $2 billion loan collected from African Development Bank for potatoes processing factory payable in 25 years?

“Where is the factory located? Or where is the money kept and whose account? Why did the state government keep the issue of the loan secret? What is happening to LG funds? What is happening to five percent meant for the traditional council?”

http://dailypost.ng/2018/03/13/lalong-deceived-buahri-commissioning-jonathans-project-plateau-sports-minister-dalung/

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says President Muhammadu Buhari visited Benue state for political reasons.

Buhari met with farmers, herdsmen and government officials during his visit to the state on Tuesday.

The president’s visit happened after a public outcry.

In a statement, Kola Ologbondiyan, spokesman of the PDP, said Buhari’s visit to Benue was an “afterthought”.

Ologbondiyan said it is “appalling and highly disheartening” that the president would visit the state “after a widespread outcry over his aloofness and not out of any genuine concern for their well-being”.

“President Buhari’s visit to troubled states, particularly Benue, serve no sincere purpose since they did not come from the heart but evidently orchestrated for political reasons,” the statement read.

“What is the purpose of condolence visit when it does not come from the heart but orchestrated to deceive and beguile the people ahead of the 2019 general election?

“Indeed, we agree no less with Nigerians that this cosmetic and politically motivated visit is nothing but a direct mockery of the dead and a heavy slap on the faces of the bereaved.

“This is the same president, who at the wake of the massacre, summoned the leaders and the bereaved to Abuja, rather than complying with the age-long tradition of Africans by immediately visiting the bereaved.

“Months after their tears have dried and they are painfully gathering their broken pieces, the presidency is now trying to use them for a political posturing by staging a cosmetic condolence visit just to score a political point.

“More off-putting is the fact that following the public criticisms that trailed the President’s glaring aloofness and failure to visit the direct victims during his whistle stops in Taraba and Plateau states, his handlers have now arranged a put-on visit to some internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Benue, which is nothing but a posturing stunt to further deceive the people.”

He said if Buhari is genuinely concerned about the killings in the state, he should be able to present measures he put in place to stop the attacks.

“What steps have been taken to ensure adequate protection for the people and to end the daily bloodletting in the land? Instead the government has engaged in making reproachful comments and dishing out false information to the people,” he said.

“The PDP therefore charges the presidency to end the unnecessary roadshow and take decisive steps to ensure the security of the people.”

https://www.thecable.ng/buhari-visited-benue-political-reasons-says-pdp/

Nigeria’s External Reserves now stands at $46 billion as at the close of business on Friday, March 9, 2018 steadily heading towards the $50 billion mark.

Figures released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the weekend indicate that the reserves grew by about $3.2 billion between February and March 2018.

The reserves at the beginning of 2018 stood at $39.3 billion, then rose to $42.8 in February before hitting the new high of $46 billion.

Confirming the figures, the CBN Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor attributed the continued accretion to the country’s reserves to “the Bank’s effort at vigorously discouraging unnecessary importation and reducing the nation’s import Bill; inflow from oil and non-oil exports, as well as the huge inflows through the investors and exporters window of the foreign exchange market,” which he said had attracted over $33 billion since April 2017, when it was created.


At the close of commodities trading on Friday, March 9, 2018, Brent Crude, sold at $65.49 a barrel up by 2.54%.

According to him, “the Bank’s interventions in the foreign exchange window had also helped to moderate the pressure on the FOREX reserves by sustaining liquidity in the market and boosting production and trade.”

Okorafor also noted that the CBN policy restricting access to FOREX from Nigeria’s foreign exchange market to importers of some 41 items had made a huge impact on the status of Nigeria’s reserves and boosted the supply of local substitutes for imported goods, created jobs at home and enhanced the incomes of farmers and local manufacturers.

It will be recalled that the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, at the Annual Bankers’ Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) held in Lagos in November 2017, had projected that Nigeria’s external reserves would hit the $40 billion mark in 2018. That conservative projection has since been surpassed.

http://thenationonlineng.net/nigerias-external-reserve-hits-46bn-says-cbn/

Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, has quoted President Muhammadu Buhari as giving governors a directive to ensure people do not block “cattle routes” in their states.

According to him, the president said: “People are building houses to block cattle routes.”

Fayose, who was speaking during a programme on Ekiti State Television (EKTV), said Buhari made the comments during the federal executive council meeting “last week”.

TheCable could not verify the time the meeting occurred because the programme was recorded.

Fayose said the president has not done enough to tackle the continuous clashes between farmers and herdsmen in the country, adding that “if I were to be president of Nigeria, I will not act the way President Buhari is behaving (regarding the crisis)”.

He said similar incidents have happened in countries like Ghana and “they took decisive decision”.

The Ekiti governor said: “The president must be courageous enough to end these mindless killings. He is the president and he has what it takes.

“If I am the president of Nigeria, I will take appropriate steps and stand it down. A criminal is a criminal, whether Hausa man or Yoruba man. If you commit crime, you go in for it.

“I remember when we were in a meeting last week, the president was saying that people are blocking cattle routes. Have you heard that before? How can the president say people are blocking cattle routes? There is no cattle route in Ekiti in the 21st century.

“The president of Nigeria was saying governors should go and make sure they don’t block cattle routes. He said people are building houses to block cattle routes. I was laughing, I didn’t know what to say in council. I just left.”

TheCable was unable to independently verify the governor’s claims as neither Femi Adesina nor Garba Shehu, both presidential spokespersons, responded to inquiries on the issue.

https://www.thecable.ng/fayose-buhari-told-govs-people-building-houses-block-cattle-routes/

Katsina governor, Aminu Masari, has stated that President Muahhamdu Buhari will get more votes from the state in 2019.

He said this Saturday in Katsina during a ceremony organized by the state APC chapter to receive politicians who defected to his party from the PDP.

In the 2015 general election, Buhari got 1,345,441 votes, while former president Goodluck Jonathan polled 98,937 votes.

In his remarks, Masari while receiving
the defectors, said their decision was an indication of good governance in the state.

He explained that the top politicians that joined APC did so out of their own interest and they were ready to serve the people of the state.

Masari said that the reception of the prominent politicians into the APC was assuring and the party was better positioned for the 2019 polls.

“We are going to multiply the votes that we gave to President Buhari in 2015 during the forthcoming election of 2019”, NAN quoted him as saying.

Speaking on behalf of all the defectors, Sen. Ibrahim Idah, pledged their loyalty to the APC and promised to do their best to win more votes for the party in 2019.

Also speaking, the APC Katsina state Chairman, Alhaji Shitu Shitu, said both new and old APC members were going to be treated equally.

Shitu assured that there would be no discrimination in the ruling party.

Thousands of people defected during the special grand reception.

http://dailypost.ng/2018/03/10/katsina-will-multiply-buharis-2015-votes-next-year-masari/

Olusegun Obasanjo, former President, says there will be no Boko Haram if the level of education in the north-east matched what is obtainable in the south-west.

Obasanjo said it took quite some time for Boko Haram to incubate and evolve into a full-fledged terrorist group.

He said history may repeat itself if the women, children and youth of the north-east region are not provided with ample education.

The former president made the comments on Friday in Maiduguri, Borno state, while delivering his closing remarks at the end of a two-day peer review meeting of the Nigeria Zero Hunger Strategic Forum.

“Boko Haram did not start overnight. It had an incubating period, but I do not know how long,” Obasanjo said.

“And although I do not know how long it took to incubate, I am sure if the level of education in the North-East matched the level of education in the South-West, there wouldn’t have been Boko Haram.

“If we do not cater for and educate women, children and youth, they will become the Boko Haram of 15 years to come.

“Education is the panacea, education is the key, it inculcates the values that guard against the emergence of Boko Haram.”

An August 2017 report by the United Nations put the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states at 1.7 million.

Most of them were displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency.


https://www.thecable.ng/241808-2/

She killed her husband and still had a gut to celebrate her daughter's birthday. Some people are just too heartless

A former Minister of Health, Prof. ABC Nwosu has said that vote for President Muhammadu Buhari come 2019 by Igbos will lead to an extension of slavery.

Nwosu stated that Igbo presidency would not be achieved if Buhari is voted in 2019.


He said Ndi Igbo voting for APC in 2019 hoping to become president in 2023 will be making the biggest mistake of their lives, adding that this idea will religate them to become second-class citizens in Nigeria.

The former minister stressed that restructuring and presidency is a top priority on Igbos political agenda, hence the need to reject suggestions that Igbos should wait and rule in 2027.

He told Sun, “Ndi Igbo How can the APC where the leadership consisting of President Buhari, Vice President Osinbajo, the chairman of Party, Odigie-Oyegun and national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu midwife an Igbo presidency in 2023? How will that happen? It cannot happen. As Chief MKO Abiola asked: How can you shave a man’s hair in his absence?

“The best option for Ndigbo is to look for an alternative where they are represented in the center of power in 2019. Ndi Igbo being represented at the centre as Vice Presidential candidate in 2019 will ensure that they are not dealt out in the backrooms where who shall become president and who becomes vice president are settled. If Ndi Igbo are in an alternative political party that absorbs a third force, this will put them at the center where they will make sure that they are represented.

“They cannot afford to wait till 2027 and so, the northern presidential candidate in this alternative party shall serve out the remaining four years and no more. All those advocating that Ndi Igbo should wait till 2027are enemies of Ndiigbo and consequently, enemies of Nigeria because Ndigbo are nation builders.

“For emphasis, the Igbo ethnic group cannot endure beyond 2023. The restiveness in Igbo land and the neo-Biafra agitations are self-evident and only opportunistic ambitious presidential candidates will fail to see this restiveness. The tenure of the president that will emerge in 2019 must be for years only.

“If Mandela with all his greatness did four years, the next President of Nigeria must do four years and give way in the interest of peace and political stability. This was what the north had expected of President Jonathan in 2015. The rest is history. Ndigbo must avoid like leprosy any presidential candidate whose body language indicates eight years especially those of them who have no views on restructuring which is the topmost Igbo agenda currently.

“For the Igbo, restructuring is top of the agenda. The presidency is second. And good governance can only happen when there is peace and security. Restructuring brings about massive devolution of power and resources from the centre to the federating units and stops the massive roguery at the centre.


“The Igbo position is that there must be devolution and restructuring of Nigeria. Those benefiting from the present unfair structure are the ones resisting restructuring not realizing that they are hurting themselves in the long run.

“The summary is that if Ndigbo vote for APC in 2019, they will be voting themselves into slavery in Nigeria. So, the alternative should be for them to look for a platform that offers only a four-year waiting period, a platform where an Igbo man is at the centre, preferably as the running mate. That’s what the Igbo should be looking for.

“Ndigbo expect that any Nigerian whether from the north, south-west or South-South will show understanding that continuing to exclude a major group in Nigeria from the presidency is wrong and a recipe for political instability.”

http://dailypost.ng/2018/03/10/2019-vote-buhari-will-extend-igbos-slavery-prof-nwosu/

IMMEDIATE past President of the Senate, Senator David Mark has charged Nigerians to get their voters cards to change the change in the forthcoming general elections.

Mark made the charge at Ugbokolo in Okpokwu local government of Benue state during the funeral service of the wife of the former minister of Interior, Abba Moro, Mrs Lynda Moro yesterday.

The former Senate President said that the priest had said everything in his sermon and called on the people of the state and Nigerian in particular to heed the advice of the Rev Fr.

Earlier, President of Catholic Diocesan Priests of Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Sylvester Onmoke had who lamented the security problem across country occasioned by herdsmen killings. kidnapping called on Nigerians to get their voters cards and use it wisely in the coming elections.

Benue: Group calls on residents to cooperate with military to end crisis
The priest had described Nigeria as a country in mourning following incessant killings being witnessed across the country.

He said he was ashamed that the government has become docile as it watches helplessly as the country bleeds on a daily basis.

The Rev Father said that President Mohammadu Buhari had made assurances to do something to stop the killings during the visit of Catholic bishops to him at Aso Rock but regretted that instead for the killings to abate it has continued to increase.

He urged Nigerians to continue to pray for the country to overcome the present insecurity situation, Fr Onmoke also advised Catholics to arm themselves with rosaries.
He advised school owners, educators, including Catholics and Methodists to close their schools early enough to enable children to return home peacefully.

Reverend Onmoke who said the Catholic church will never be silent about injustice, condemned the killings, especially the one going on in Benue state, particularly the recent one in sleepy Omusu village of Okpokwu local government which claimed about 24 lives.

“How would they have driven to Omusu and nobody detected them. It is not enough to send soldiers…A fellow Fulani man will not allow a Fulani soldier to kill a Fulani man.

“We will continue to pray because the God we serve is a warrior and he will never abandon his people.”
“Am not a politician but am speaking the mind of the people, we should all go out and register because our country is bleeding”.

“Thank God that the tenure of elected leaders is four years and three years is gone and we are still dangling with killings and kidnapping without development, we should all go out to register to vote when you vote remain at polling unit until your vote is counted."

Immediate past Governor of Benue, Gabriel Suswam also thanked the Rev Father for his timely sermon and called on all eligible voters in the state to get their voters cards to make the good change in forthcoming general elections.

http://www.tribuneonlineng.com/ex-senate-president-mark-charges-nigerians-to-change-the-change/

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State on Thursday reiterated his earlier declaration that he would become Nigeria’s President in 2019.

Fayose spoke while addressing hundreds of women at an event to commemorate the 2018 International Women’s Day in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

“I want them to hear in the Villa, I will be president of Nigeria tomorrow”, he said.

“Sometimes, it is difficult for people to believe but when it happens, I want you to know that I’ve said so before.”

Recall that Fayose had in September 2017 declared his intention to run for Presidency in 2019.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had zoned its presidential ticket to the North and its national chairmanship to the South ahead of the 2019 general election.

http://dailypost.ng/2018/03/08/will-become-president-fayose/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Rivers Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has stated that President Muhammadu Buhari’s proposed visit to the state may be aimed at reviving the fortunes of the All Progressive Congress (APC) that is dead in the state.

Flagging off the reconstruction of Egbelu Street and construction of link roads in East-West in Rumuodara, Obio Akpor Local Government Area on Thursday, Governor Wike said that the Federal Government has not informed him on the President’s visit and the reason behind his visit​.


He said: “I hear they say that the President is coming to our state. I have not been told the President is coming and why he is coming. He has the right to come to any state.

“Maybe the President is coming to make sure that he will improve the fortunes of the APC that is dead in Rivers State.

“Apart from Jesus Christ, we don’t know of anyone who has risen a dead thing. APC is a dead party in Rivers State. No matter how you fast and pray, it will never wake up”.

Governor Wike charged Rivers people not to be bothered by the politics or otherwise of the visit, because the state is very peaceful.

“Let nobody bother him or herself that the President is coming for security reasons. We don’t have security challenges in the state.

“We have never had herdsmen killings or crisis in the state except when some criminals tried to disrupt the peace and they were checked. We resolved that challenge.”

​The governor stated that there is no state in the country where kidnappers and armed robbers are not operating.

He said if President Muhammadu Buhari is visiting because of ​k​idnappers and ​armed ​r​obbers, then he should visit all the 36 states.

​Wike​, however, noted that as the state’
that produces the wealth that supports the country, President is welcome to visit the wealth producers of the nation.

According to him: “Since the administration has abandoned Rivers State for three years, this visit may be a blessing in disguise.

​”​The President may use the visit to complete the Port Harcourt International Airport, the neglected East West road, the neglected sea ports and the rejected Port Harcourt-Aba road”.

http://dailypost.ng/2018/03/08/buhari-yet-inform-rivers-visit-cant-revive-dead-apc-wike/

The Senate committee on public accounts has revealed that 85 government parastatals have failed to submit their audited accounts to the Auditor-General of the Federation since the time of their establishment.

The parastatals include the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture and the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

The Chairman of the committee, Matthew Uroghide (Edo-PDP) said the 85 parastatals have never submitted reports of their audit to the Auditor General of the Federation since they were created.

For other parastatals, he said 235 have about one to two years arrears, 103 have three to five years arrears, 17 have six to 10 years arrears while four have arrears of 11 years and above.

He said the practice contravened the provisions of section 85 (3) of the constitution which vested the powers to audit the public accounts, offices and courts of the federation with the Auditor-General of the Federation.

He added that the Auditor-General has been facing the challenge of making the parastatals comply with the provisions of the constitution.

“Many parastatals are unwilling to submit their audited report without being compelled while others do not take conformity of public expenditure seriously.

“There are no prescribed penalties for non-timely submission of audited accounts, status of privatised parastatals are not clear.

“AGF is handicapped due to budgetary constraints and absence of Board of Directors to approve appointments of external auditors has been used as excuse for unaudited reports,” he said.

Adopting the report of the committee, the Senate resolved to withhold the 2018 budgetary approvals for parastatals who have not submitted their reports since inception and those who have six to 10 years arrears.

The senators gave a deadline of May 2018 to others who have over 2 years arrears.

The senate mandated the Auditor-General to ‘constantly update and reconcile with parastatals with the compliance’ with a pledge to strengthen the office through budgetary allocation.

The lawmakers also mandated the Auditor-General to liaise with Bureau of Public Enterprise and Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to clarify the status of ”privatised, merged or scrapped parastatals”.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/261038-efcc-boi-83-others-never-submitted-audit-reports-since-inception-senate.html/

The Plateau government has declared Thursday, March 8, a work-free day to enable residents welcome President Muhammadu Buhari on a one-day working visit to the state.

Mr Izam Azi, Head of Service, announced this on Tuesday in Jos, after an emergency State Executive Council meeting.

“The holiday will afford civil servants and other citizens the opportunity to give the President a rousing welcome,” Azi said.

Commissioner for Information and Communication, Yakubu Dati, ‎also announced that there would be restriction of movement during the visit, especially around areas the President would inaugurate projects.

Dati said that government had created alternative routes in affected areas, adding that security agencies would guide movements during the day.

http://dailypost.ng/2018/03/06/buharis-visit-plateau-govt-declares-thursday-public-holiday/

President Muhammadu Buhari travelled to Ghana on Monday night to attend the country’s 61st Independence Anniversary celebrations on Tuesday.

The President was received upon arrival by Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo.

President Buhari is expected to use his speech to reaffirm the long-standing warm relations between the peoples and governments of both nations, according to the Presidency.

The President travelled to Ghana after visiting Taraba State to commiserate with the people of the state over the killings that have occurred there due to the herdsmen-farmers clashes.

Earlier on Monday, the President received Liberian President George Weah at the Presidential Villa in Nigeria’s capital Abuja.

Both Presidents held a meeting behind closed doors and George Weah later called for stronger trade ties between both countries.

https://www.channelstv.com/2018/03/05/buhari-accra-ghanas-independence-anniversary-celebrations/

Liberian President George Weah on Monday visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja and appealed to Nigeria to come to the rescue of his country's economy. He said though Liberians had voted for change by electing him president, mere political change is meaningless without development, growth and prosperity hence the need for Nigeria's help.

Weah also appealed to Nigerian banks, which he said dominated Liberia, not to shut down businesses because of the country’s (Liberia's) current economic downtown. He said it was his my intention, "with all due respect and affection, to frequently seek Buhari's wise counsel and advice as he (Weah) embarked upon the arduous task of nation building, reconstruction and transformation of Liberia.

Weah, who said Nigeria's historical benevolence towards Lberia could not be quantified, emphatically sought Buhari's "urgent and eritieal assistance." He said the falling prices of Liberia'two basic export commodities, rubber and iron ore, diminished the country's market, foreign exchange earnings from the export of these and other commodities were used mainly on the importation of food and other commodities, causing massive trade deficits, an all-time high youth unemployment and rising prices of basic commodities.

He said his delegation was on a mission of gratitude and respect for the extraordinary and exceptional role Nigerians had played and continued to play in maintaining peace and stability in the West African sub-region, particularly, in Liberia. He said though Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa, with its most powerful army in the sub-region, it had never used its wealth and military prowess to expand its territory, threaten its neighbors or destabilize any sovereign nation in the region. "Our people have voted for change, and for hope. And change is finally here. But mere political change is meaningless without development, prosperity, and growth Your Excellency, we need Nigeria's help to jump-start our economy.

You played a major role in bringing peace to Liberia you reformed our Army and today it is performing it duties to the highest professional standards. As we speak, they are serving in a peace-keeping mission in Mali You have also built and expanded the capacities of Liberians in so many ways. For example, during our recent observance of Armed Forces Day in Liberia, we were informed that two of our military personnel will soon be graduating as pilots from one of your esteemed institutions. "We would like to see a continuation and expansion of that program, women. for both men and My administrations' Pro-Poor Development Agenda, is intended to tackle the many economic and social problems that my Government has inherited, especially in addressing the large fiscal and infrastructure deficits, the urgent problem of youth unemployment, and reviving the education, agriculture, mining and health sectors.

Your sustained technical assistance for capacity building in these sectors is most welcome. "For example, Nigerian teachers and medical volunteers to Liberia, under the Technical Assistance Corps TAC) Agreement with Liberia, have been very crucial in boosting capacity development in Liberia, and it is my hope that this assistance can be considerably increased to address with urgency our most pressing socio-economic needs at this time.

"More specifically, under the Bilateral Teacher Exchange program, we are seeking 6,000 plus teachers to make up for the shortage of good teachers in our educational system. n agriculture, we are seeking experts and extension workers to build capacity in the sector, particularly with crops, (such as cassava, for example,) which lend themselves readily to value- added propositions and export earning potential," he said.

Weah declared that Liberia was now open for business to the Nigerian private sector, saying there was a need to address the current volume of trade between Nigeria and Liberia "which is very low and does not exceed million, by some estimates.

"Yet, the Liberian banking sector is dominated by Nigerian banks, and I am made to understand that their head offices in Nigeria may be considering reducing their support or even shutting them down because of the recent downturn in our economy. If this is true, l urge them not to do so, as l am optimistic that trade and commerce will increase in the near future, There are also major shortcomings in the electricity and power sectors, in road construction, in housing, in mining, and in fisheries, to name a few, that could be of serious interest to Nigerian investors, either as individuals or companies, or through joint-ventures or public-private partnerships.

"We invite all of you to come to Liberia and explore the many new opportunities for investment that are bound to increase under this new politieal dispensation I promise you that you will find a government that is not enly business friendly, but ready to do business.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/amplite/rescue-liberia-s-economy-weah-begs-buhari.html?

Says Uche Nwosu didn’t assault Catholic priest AJV Obinna
Chidiebube Okeoma, Owerri

The Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, on Sunday said God and 24 out of the 27 local government areas in the state have ratified the ambition of his son-in-law to succeed him in office.

Okorocha made this observation when he debunked the allegation that his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, who also doubles as his Chief of Staff, supervised or ordered an assault on Owerri Catholic Archbishop, AJV Obinna.

The incident allegedly happened during a burial service on Saturday in Owerri North Local Government Area of the state.

Okorocha, who spoke in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo in Owerri, said the news that his son-in-law supervised the assault on the archbishop by members of All Progressives Congress was a “blackmail being orchestrated by the opposition.”

Okorocha said the opposition had seen his son-in-law as the aspirant to beat in the race to the State House, and now uses the church against the “project.”

He boasted that his son-in-law’s governorship aspiration has been endorsed by God and 24 out of the 27 LGAs in the state.

Okorocha said, “We say this for posterity sake. Imo people, including youths, students, men and women have “thrown their unalloyed support behind” the youthful Chief of Staff, Uche Nwosu, for the 2019 governorship in the state.

“He has become the subject matter as long as that issue is concerned, with APC officials and leaders from 24 out of the 27 local governments in the state having already endorsed him for the 2019 Imo guber.

“Now, seeing Uche Nwosu as the guy to beat in the 2019 election, they now think that there is no other way to stop him than through unwarranted blackmail.

“That is the reason such a quintessential gentleman and an embodiment of decency should be associated with whatever that transpired at the event in question.”

http://punchng.com/god-24-lgas-in-imo-support-my-son-in-laws-gov-ambition-okorocha/