₦airaland Forum

The Acting National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Chief Martin Agbaso has boasted that the party will win convincingly the Anambra State governorship election slated for Nov. 18.

Agbaso who said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja noted that the achievement of APGA in Anambra in the past 11 years showed how reliable the party is.
He said APGA under his watch would consolidate on the achievements of past leaders of the party to make APGA an enviable institution rather than developing individuals.
“The founding fathers of APGA have a vision and that is to create a party that will include and give impetus to those locked out of opportunities; it is those for those who have not been able to partake in the governance of this great country.
“All those interested in good governance look forward to APGA, and what has happened in Anambra in eight years of Peter Obi set the state miles and miles apart from other governments in the region.
“He saved so much money, he showed physical presence, took interest in provision of infrastructure for the state, rebuilt the entire education infrastructure, totally overhauled hospitals, created due process in every aspect of governance, made government open and created level playing ground for those who has capacity to perform in Anambra to work.
“It was eight years of successful administration. Now we have 3 years and half of successful administration of Willie Obiano and he has followed suit.
“He started by working on the template set up by Peter Obi and he has done reasonably well. So, Anambra is a model case for other states in the South-East and South-South region, so when you ask of the preparation ahead of Nov. 18 election, I will tell you that we have no fear because governance in the state is a testimonial for the good work the party has done.
“If the party has not done well, we will have very poor testimonial; given the fact that APGA has done well in Anambra better than any other party in the region and given similar circumstance on the part of revenue, we expect that APGA will sweep the vote in November.” Agbaso said.
On his rise to the position of APGA Acting National Chairman, Agbaso said the death of the party’s former Acting National Chairman Ozo Nwabueze Okafor, made his emergence unavoidable.
He explained that as the then party’s deputy national chairman when Okafor died, it behoves on him to steer the leadership as Victor Ike-Oye remained suspended.
Agbaso who performed his first official visit to INEC on Friday said the electoral body had received the date for the party’s congress and primaries in preparation for the Anambra governorship election.
He also said that the party had submitted to INEC the ruling of an Appeal Court sitting in Enugu which upheld the ruling of the lower court compelling the electoral body to recognise him as the acting national chairman.
It would be recalled that Ike-Oye was suspended as APGA chairman for alleged abuse of office and running the affairs of the party as his personal enterprise against the ideals of the party.
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/apga-will-win-anambra-guber-polls-says.html

At least 27 people have perished and 54 are missing after an overcrowded boat sank in a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a local official said Sunday.

Most of the victims of the tragedy on the Kasai river were students on holiday, local administrator Jacques Mbila told AFP.
The main reasons for the sinking were “overcrowding and drunk drivers”, Mbila added.

The accident happened overnight Thursday to Friday on the river Congo in the Idiofa area in the southwest of the vast country.
Local radio journalist Nelly Mafuta said she saw two nuns among the 27 dead, and the Idiofa cathedral said it held a mass in tribute to the victims.
The boat had left Dibaya in the restive central Kasai province on Thursday, heading northwest for its final destination of Ilebo more than 500 kilometres (300 miles) away.
Such transport is one of the most used in DR Congo with its numerous waterways including the Kasai river, the country’s second longest after the mighty Congo at over 2,360 kilometres.
Boats frequently capsize in DR Congo, most often due to taking on too many passengers, the lack of safety measures and inexperienced helmsmen.
Violence in the Kasai region erupted last year after a tribal chieftain known as the Kamwina Nsapu openly challenged the authority of President Joseph Kabila’s government and was killed in a police operation in August 2016.
more at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/27-dead-54-missing-in-dr-congo-boat.html

At least eight people were killed on Saturday in a stampede in a soccer stadium in Senegal’s capital Dakar during a match between two local teams.

A fight broke out between fans of rivals US Ouakam and Stade de Mbour at the Demba Diop stadium and police fired tear gas to break it up.
The resulting confusion triggered the stampede, Sports Minister Matar Ba told journalists.
The minister added a young girl was among the dead, while around 60 injured fans had been taken to health facilities in Dakar.
Campaigning for Senegal’s legislative elections due on July 30 will suspended out of respect for the victims, said a spokesman for President Macky Sall.
Sall also wanted “punishments serving as a warning” following the tragedy, his spokesman El Hammiodu Kase, said.
more at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/football-stadium-stampede-in-senegal.html

Nobody will ever understand the mental and physical battles that come with such an ambitious dream as yours brother, the easiest path would have been a stone cold heart, yet Your heart is filled with so much love and great intentions. You never publicise the sacrifices you make for friends and family, that's how great of a guy you are. God sees, knows and hears your hearts desire brother and He will meet your every need. @wizkidayo your only competition is you,
more at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/your-only-competition-is-you.html

To bridge the wide gap of inadequate manpower in the force, Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has disclosed plans to recruit 31, 000 men and women.

The IGP, who was in Kano on a condolence visit to the family of Yusuf Maitama Sule, at the weekend, said the move would enable Nigeria Police meet the United Nations’ requirement of one police to 400 citizens.
He explained that the recruitment, which would capture largely the rank and file cadre, would be sustained for the next five years, as no such exercise has been conducted since 2011.

He lamented dwindling resources to power sufficiently logistics and activities of the force in line with international best standard.
On the quit notice issued by a coalition of Northern Youths to people of Igbo extraction living in the North, the IGP insisted that the Police maintains its initial position on the assurance of security of lives and property of all Nigerians, irrespective of where they reside.

more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/nigeria-police-set-to-recruit-31-000.html

Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, on Friday said President Muhammadu Buhari nominated late Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin for two-year extension of his service at the UN shortly before his death.

Onyeama stated this in Abuja at a memorial service for Osotimehin organised by the UN.
He said that Nigeria was proud of the late professor, and pointed out that he diligently served the country and the international community.

He said that the country had to write a letter to the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres to retain late Osotimehin in his team.
“Two months ago, I actually had to write a letter to the UN Secretary-General at the instruction and encouragement of Mr President and the Acting President.
“The letter was to inform him that Nigeria was immensely proud of what Osotimehin was doing for the past six years.
“And, that we will appreciate very much since he has the right to appoint his team, to retain him for the next two years,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Osotimehin was appointed the UNFPA Executive Director in November, 2010 for a four-year term, which was renewed in 2014.
He was also until his death on June 4, Under Secretary-General of the UN.
Prior to joining the UN, late Osotimehin was Nigeria’s Minister of Health.
He was also the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS after nurturing it as National Action Committee on AIDS, which he managed as chairman.
Onyeama said that Ostimehin had laid a legacy in the health sector and projected the image of the nation at the international scene.
“We are here not to mourn but to celebrate a great Nigerian’s life – a former Minister of Health, who dedicated his life not only to our fatherland but to humanity,” he said.
According to him, any nation on earth would be proud to have him as one of their own.
The minister said that it was not surprising that international community appointed him as Executive Director of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
He said that since his passing on, the narrative about his contribution to global health had been wonderful “and even this morning people were talking about his humility’’.
“I want to place on record our immense gratitude to the international community f‎or giving him the opportunity to serve the world in the capacity of Executive Director and Under-Secretary of UN.
“As Minister of Health, he mobilised all the ministries of the 36 states of the federation to build and developed health plan that focused on primary healthcare.
“He ensured that medical institutions in Nigeria treat gun shots and accident victims before any other thing. He was an advocate of reproductive health and reproductive rights,” Onyeama said.
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/buhari-nominated-osotimehin-for-2-year.html

The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) has described a recent amendment of its establishment Act by Senate as a major step to the realisation of its mandate of providing open and distance education to the Nigerian working class.
The university management said Senators have made both the institution and their students to walk on the streets of Nigeria with their heads high.
Last week, Senate, finalised the amendment process, to allow NOUN graduates, particularly Law graduates to be eligible for admission into Nigeria Law School, while others graduates could also participate in the National Youth Service Corps scheme.
NOUN Director of Media and Publicity, Ibrahim Sheme, told Daily Sun, in Abuja, yesterday, that the action of the lawmakers has boosted the confidence of students on the institution’s programmes.
He said: “This single action would end the fears of the students particularly the law students of the future of their career in Law. Also, students who are under 30 at the time of graduation could also choose to apply to take part in the NYSC programme.”
He also added that the institution has envisaged that the cheery news would result in more students taste for quality education, assuring prospective students that the university has both human and infrastructural capacity to accommodate and give them the best of education.
NOUN equally assured the Council for Legal Education and NYSC of their commitment to churn out students who would make them proud through their outstanding performance in their different areas of specialisation.
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/senators-have-made-us-proud-noun.html

An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, on Wednesday sentenced a 30-year-old applicant, James Ogwuchi, to four months imprisonment for snatching a cell phone, valued at N35,000.


The magistrate, Mrs O.I. Raji, convicted Ogwuchi as he pleaded guilty to a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.

Raji ordered that the convict should serve the sentence with hard labour.

“You are hereby sentenced to four months imprisonment with hard labour and without an option of fine,” she said.


The accused, of no fixed address, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Sgt. Yomi Egunjobi, had told the court that the defendant committed the offences on July 10, at Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos.

He said that the accused and two other still at large, snatched a mobile phone valued at N35,000, property of one Damilola Abiodun.

Egunjobi said the accused approached the complainant on the guise of asking for direction and in the process snatched his phone from him and ran away.

“The accused fraudulently stole the complainant’s cell phone.

“The complainant raised an alarm, the accused was arrested, while others escaped with the phone,” he said.
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/applicant-bags-four-months-imprisonment.html

Governors Ayodele Fayose, Rochas Okorocha, Udom Emmanuel and Okezie Ikpeazu have emphasised the need for public officers to always place the interest of the people they elected to serve above party sentiment when distributing the dividends of democracy.

The four governors made the comment during a recent reception organised by the Ibibio Ethnic Community for Governor Udom and his wife Martha, in Akwa Ibom State.They emphasised the need for Nigerian politicians to always work for the empowerment and development of the people, not minding the party platform the people belong.
The Imo State governor, Okorocha said such understanding has led to the formation of a forum where governors of the Eastern and Southern states, have come together to form an economic bloc “party’s line notwithstanding.”Said he, “We are looking forward to a time where rail lines will run across these states for the benefit of all, political leanings not withstanding.

“It is time we realise that we are people from the same stock, hence we are building this bridge of love between the South-Eastern and the South-South states.”Okorocha noted that in times past, there used to be no parley on growth and development among governors serving on different party platforms even when they were from the same block or region “but that perception has changed. As a matter of fact, such governors usually do not attend events not organised by opposition party. It was time politicians place politics behind, once election is concluded, we should embrace governance so that dividends of democracy can be spread across to everybody.”
He posited that the best way to silent the opposition, is to work for the interest and growth of the electorate. Speaking in the same vein, the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Emmanuel said politicians should endeavour to rise above ethnic tendencies “where justice and equity in not practice, the consequence would be boundary disputes, kidnappings, insurgence and similar crises the country is facing today.”
To him, it is time Nigerians should rise above biases, ethnicity and other vices “this is the new Nigeria we are preaching.”Using the avenue to restate his intention to run for the office of the presidency, the governor of Ekiti State, Fayose maintained that he would have total votes in all the South-South, South-East, South-West and part of the Northern states whenever he launched his campaign, as he called on the people of to vote for him in 2019.
His words, “I want to be the next President and I will also be here to raise up governor Udom’s hand for second term. We have endorsed governor Udom for second term, where is the opposition? INEC is the only opposition whom God will defeat. We’ll change the change and if INEC puts its hand in the mouth of a snake, they should abide with whatever they found in it.”
Chairman of the event and former Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshall Nsikak Edouk (rtd) said Akwa Ibom people made no mistake in electing Emmanuel “his coming was divine. The governor has been able to manage the resources of the state for the benefit of all in the past two years. It is imperative of us to support him to continue beyond 2019.”
more at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/fayose-emmanuel-others-urge-unity-among.html

The upper legislative chamber yesterday described the alleged involvement of the state government to recall representative of Kogi West senatorial district in the Senate, Dino Melaye, as unfortunate.

It also stated that the constitution empowered the senate to take the final decision on whether or not the provision for a senator’s recall was applicable.Adopting a motion by its Deputy President, Ike Ekweremadu, the legislators lamented that the Kogi State government could spend public funds to recall a lawmaker.
At the commencement of proceedings yesterday, Ekweremadu had drawn the lawmakers’ attention to the contents of an advertorial in some national dailies by the state Attorney General, Ibrahim Sanni Mohammed, declaring that the senate had no role in the process of recalling a senator.

“Indeed, by the provisions of the INEC regulations for a legislator’s recall, a senator stands recalled upon INEC’s confirmation of majority vote in favour of such recall,” Mohammed said.
But Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, lamented that the Kogi State Government could descend to the level of spending public funds to support the recall of a senator.
His words: “What is even more worrisome and irresponsible is the fact that the state government could spend N10 million on advert. I have been a governor. When you file money for advert, it is a difficult issue.“This pretty much shows that it is government that is truly behind the entire process. When a government can take an advert on an issue like this, it becomes worrisome.”
He cautioned people in positions, whether elected or appointed, to show some level of responsibility, adding that it was a simple constitutional matter. Saraki stressed that the development was unfortunate for the people of Kogi State.Ekweremadu urged the state government to channel the resources used in sponsoring the recall exercise to pay workers’ salaries, which it has been owing for the past 15 months.
Meanwhile, the Senate has passed the compulsory treatment and care of victims of gunshots bill to ensure that they receive prompt assistance from health workers and security agencies.
Passing the bill yesterday, Saraki stated that not every victim of gunshot wound is a criminal and as such, a legal framework should be put into place to avoid unnecessary loss of lives.
more at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/senate-decries-alleged-role-of-kogi.html

Not even a wound on any of them.God you are great. It was a miracle and a thing of great Thanksgiving to God as this car lost control along ph – enugu express way around 6:30pm yesterday and somersaulted three times ending up downwards, the Catholic Rev. Fr.(name with-held) came out unhurt with other four passengers without any casualty.
more photos at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/photos-rev-fr-survives-terrible.html

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday said that Nigeria can still progress despite the challenges facing it.

According to him, Nigeria will experience turn around in the next 20 months if the government remains focused.


He spoke in Abuja during the Presidential Quarterly Business Forum at the old Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja.

The Acting President also said that the private sector involvement was critical to Nigeria’s growth.
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/nigeria-can-turn-around-in-20-months.html

Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of collapsed Bitcoin exchange MtGox, went on trial in Tokyo on charges stemming from the disappearance of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the virtual currency from its digital vaults.

Here are some key facts about the world’s most widely used crypto currency:
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a virtual currency created from computer code. Unlike a real-world unit such as the US dollar or euro, it has no central bank and is not backed by any government.

Instead, Bitcoin’s community of users control and regulate it. Advocates say this makes it an efficient alternative to traditional currencies because it is not subject to the whims of a state that may devalue its money to boost exports, for example.
Just like other currencies, Bitcoins can be exchanged for goods and services — or for other currencies — provided the other party is willing to accept them.
Where does it come from?
Bitcoin was launched in 2009 as a bit of encrypted software written by someone using the Japanese-sounding name Satoshi Nakamoto.
Last year secretive Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright said he was the creator of Bitcoin, but some have raised doubts over his claim.
Hundreds of other digital currencies followed but Bitcoin is by far the most popular, with an increasing number of merchants accepting digital currencies for payments.
Transactions happen when heavily encrypted codes are passed across a computer network. The network as a whole monitors and verifies the transaction in a process that is intended to ensure no single Bitcoin can be spent in more than one place simultaneously.
Users can “mine” Bitcoins — bring new ones into being — by having their computers run complicated and increasingly difficult processes.
However, the model is limited and only 21 million units will ever be created.
What’s it worth?
Like any other currency, it fluctuates. But unlike most real-world units, Bitcoin’s value has swung wildly in a short period.
When it first came into existence it was worth a few US cents. Several years later Bitcoin topped $1,000. It’s now worth more than $2,300, with commentators suggesting some are buying it as an alternative bet in times of global economic uncertainty.
The chaotic withdrawal of high-value notes in India, and Chinese controls on the purchase of foreign currency have also been cited for its meteoric rise.
There are presently more than 16 million units in circulation. Some economists say the limited number of Bitcoins mean its price will increase over the long run, making it less useful as a currency and more a vehicle to store value, like gold.
But detractors point to Bitcoin’s volatility, security issues and other weaknesses as flaws that will eventually undermine it.
What’s the future?
Some commentators say that like many technological developments, the first iteration of a product will encounter difficulties, possibly terminal ones. But the trail it blazes might smooth the way for the next crypto currency.
Problems include an apparent vulnerability to theft when Bitcoins are stored in digital wallets.
A major Hong Kong-based Bitcoin exchange suspended trading last year after $65 million in the virtual unit was reportedly stolen by hackers.
The virtual currency movement also faces legitimacy issues because of the way it allows for anonymous transactions — the very thing that libertarian adopters like about it.
Detractors say bitcoin’s use on the underground Silk Road website, where users could buy drugs and guns with it, is proof that it is a bad thing.
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/things-to-know-about-bitcoin.html

Mubadala, majority shareholder, representing Etisalat of UAE has threatened a showdown if Nigerian investors fail to drop its brand name (Etisalat) from the local arm at the expiration of three weeks.

In a twist yesterday, Etisalat terminated its management agreement with its Nigerian affiliate and gave the managers three weeks to phase out the brand in Nigeria.

Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat International, Hatem Dowidar, disclosed that all the UAE investors had exited the company and have left the board and management and sees no reason the Nigerian operation should retain its brand name.

He however stated that discussions were ongoing with Etisalat Nigeria to provide technical support, adding that it can use the brand for another three-weeks after which it must have to adopt another name to continue with the telecommunications business.

Although, telecoms stakeholders have decried such a short notice insisting that Etisalat Nigeria should at least be given a six month grace period to implement the phase out.

Some of them who pleaded anonymity disclosed that the time frame was too short for the new board and investors to effect the change.

According to them, name change should be gradual and not a spontaneous thing.

But President, A ssociation of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (Atcon), Olusola Teniola, disclosed that the chain reactions are normal in a takeover of a company, saying “In effect, there is new management running Etisalat and an official announcement has been communicated , whatever the case, would be sorted out.

“Well, the customer is king and it is for the new board and new shareholders to decide what quality of service they want to render the current Etisalat subscribers. I would have thought that both CBN and NCC would make sure that there is way forward to know whether the brand should remain and whether it will not adversely affect the telecommunications firm stressing the implications could be small or large depending on how the board steers the company”.

Similarly an industry analyst, Ifeanyi Ibe, said only the financially stable and strongest may survive the current wave threatening to submerge the telecoms industry.

It would be recalled that NCC and CBN, both regulators intervened last week to save Etisalat Nigeria from collapse after talks with its lenders to renegotiate a $1.2 billion loan failed. Recall that only last week, the company now going through some restructuring had appointed Dr Joseph Nnanna, a deputy governor at the Central Bank of Nigeria as its chair while Mr Boye Olusanya and Funke Ighodaro.were named Managing Director and Chief Finance Officer respectively.


Mr. Nnanna succeeded Hakeem Bello-Osagie, who was the only surviving shareholder after the June 15 withdrawal of the major shareholder, Emirates Telecommunications Group Company, from the company. Other members of the new Board and management of the company as announced by the its spokesperson, Ibrahim Dikko, include Oluseyi Bickersteth, Ken Igbokwe, Under the new management’

The Emirates Group, also known as Etisalat Group, was represented by its affiliate, Mubadala Development Company, a United Arab Emirate, (UAE), development firm.



The Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC) on Tuesday indicated its support for the new management of the embattled telephone operator, Etisalat Nigeria, which is currently trying to restructure its management and operations.

The NCC said it was pleased that parties to the crisis were able to reach amicable terms that have set them on the path of resolving the crisis.

“The Commission is pleased to note that Etisalat and its creditors have successfully reached an amicable resolution of key issues pertaining to its indebtedness, and that a smooth transitional process is currently ongoing on mutually agreed terms,” said Director, Public Affairs of the Commission, Tony Ojobo, said in a statement.

more at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/why-etisalat-wants-brand-name-dropped.html

A Rhema Ministries pastor in Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe is currently enmeshed in an adultery scandal with his lover after he allegedly impregnated and forced her to terminate it.
According to H-Metro, Pastor Jonah Marecha is reported to have impregnated one Hannah, a member of his church who he promised to marry but later asked her to terminate the six-weeks old pregnancy.

Pastor Marecha was said to have secretly met a gynaecologist identified as Ashton Goredema and paid him the sum of $30 as a fee for inquiries concerning the pregnancy termination.


Speaking to H-Metro, Hannah said the overall leader of the church, Prophet Tinashe Mugonda, threatened to kill her if she dared to expose Marecha.
“I was threatened with either death or poverty if I was not to comply with Jonah’s orders to abort the pregnancy. Jonah referred me to doctor Goredema at Chinhoyi Hospital and I questioned why he wanted to do such an evil act and he told me he had already paid for the procedure.'
'I have my WhatsApp and audio conversation with the doctor and that of prophet Mugonda, who is always threatening me for exposing their evil acts in the church.'
'Prophet Mugonda is now saying Rhema is an interdenominational group not a church and Jonah is not one of his pastors after I threatened to expose his secrets that included dating church members along with his junior pastors. My health was affected following the abortion and I’m facing complications.'
The accused pastor refused to comment on the allegation but H-Metro claims they have a WhatsApp conversation between Jonah and Hannah.


Confirming the allegations, Prophet Mugonda, the head pastor of the church said the issue was brought before him but described the accused pastor as only a member of the church as well as Hannah.
“This issue was brought to my attention, but I could not handle it to its fullest since we only met the two at interdenominational prayer meetings only. As for Jonah and Hannah visiting the doctor for abortion that I am aware of, Jonah is only a church member and not a pastor as what Hannah wants people to believe. The issue is being handled at family level as far as I know.” said Prophet Mugonda.


As for Dr. Goredema who was accused of facilitating the abortion, he denied his involvement saying:
“I am a gynecologist, but I never facilitated Hannah’s abortion, I do not know her and neither do I know Jonah whom is said to have paid me,” said Dr. Goredema.
“I only handle issues that come through the hospital, not the back door,” he added.
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/pastor-forces-abortion-on-member-after.html

In line with naira sustenance programme, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday pumped $254.3 million into the retail segment of the Nigerian inter-bank foreign exchange market. Information obtained from the CBN, yesterday, indicated that the deals in the retail window represent requests from the various sectors in the Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS), thereby providing a boost to the respective sectors.

The acting Director, Corporate Communications at the CBN, Isaac Okorafor, while confirming the forex sales, explained that the sale was in response to bids received from authorised dealers, on behalf of their customers, at the retail auction announced by the CBN on Wednesday, July 5, 2017.

He disclosed that the $254.3m sold was for companies in the raw materials, agricultural, airline and petroleum industry. He recalled that the Bank, at its last intervention in the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) on June 23, 2017, injected a total of $240 million for spot and forward deals, just as it intervened with the total sum of $390 million in the wholesale, SMEs and invisibles segments of the market on June 28 and July 3, 2017.

Speaking further, Okorafor said the CBN remained very committed to ensuring that all the sectors continue to enjoy access to the foreign exchange required for their business concerns.

Meanwhile, the naira, yesterday, exchanged at an average of N364/$1 in the Bureau de Change segment (BDCs) across major trading points in Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt and Kano.
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/cbn-boosts-retail-segment-with-2543m.html

The Speaker of Niger State House of Assembly, Alhaji Ahmed Marafa, said the All Progressive Congress (APC)-led government in the state was the best thing to happen to the state.

Marafa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Minna that the achievements of the government in two years was unequalled by any past administration in the state.
“I want to say that the past two years have been a worthwhile journey filled with lot of success stories.
“For those that know Niger state and will be very sincere in their assessment, they will admit that the level of development achieved by this government in two years is unequalled by any past administration.

“The best thing that has happened to Niger state and Nigeria is the government of APC because of what we’ve been able to do.
“Today, there is no ward you will go to in the state and not find one landmark project or the other and I stand to be challenged on this,’’ he said.
He said that the state government had made giant strides in water supply, road construction, education, health among others.
According to Marafa, the waterworks in the state have been totally overhauled and today, people who had given up on water running in their taps have a reason to smile.
“We have also embarked on roads construction which have opened up the state and greatly improved economic activities.
“Education is not left out as schools are being repositioned and rehabilitated under the whole school approach and before 2019 we should have at least 30 standard secondary schools,” he added.
He commended the governor’s prudence in the management of limited resources available to the state.
“We have never had a governor so prudent financially like Gov. Abubakar Bello.
“He sleeps and wakes up thinking about what next to do for Niger and not what he can gain from the state. It is rare to have such a governor” the speaker said.
On his social services in his constituency, he said that he had offered educational support to 300 students in tertiary institutions.
According to Marafa, who represents Chanchaga in the assembly, the gesture was part of my efforts to support the educational pursuit of youths in his constituency.
“When I came on board, I decided to make education a priority because of its importance in our lives.’’ He also disclosed that he had taken up the responsibility of kitting pupils in three primary schools with uniforms.
On health, the lawmaker revealed that he was working on a proposal for a health insurance scheme for people in the informal sector.
“Most insurance policies only cover the formal sector, so I decided to do the unthinkable by setting up a health insurance capturing only the informal sector.
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/apc-best-thing-to-happen-to-niger-state.html

It is 50 years since Nigeria's brutal civil war calling for the secession of Biafra started. By the time it ended in 1970 over one million people had perished. Now a new movement has emerged calling for independence. The BBC's Tomi Oladipo explores its popularity.

Hidden high in the luscious, green hills of Enugu in south-east Nigeria, down a beaten track - under a sign that says leprosy colony - is the Biafran war veterans' camp.

Like its location, residents there are verging on obscurity.

Four old men sitting on parallel wooden benches, propped up on metal crutches - swaying and chanting along to an old battle song.

They fought and were crippled in the bloody Biafran war.

"We went to that war with nothing, we went empty-handed," says Francis Njoku. "Some held machetes, some had sticks. They [Nigerian forces] had machine guns."

Mr Njoku, now 69, lost his kneecap in a gun battle.

It was a desperate fight for survival. But it ended in a ceasefire and Biafra became part of Nigeria again.At the end of the war, the Nigerian head of state General Yakubu Gowon declared there was "no victor, no vanquished" - this became the motto of reunification.

But for many people in the south-east, the reunion has been an uneasy one.

"If you come to Igbo-land you can see there is no development here," says Mr Njoku.

It's a common perception we heard many times here - that Igbo people are marginalised in a Nigeria that only serves the interests of the two other main ethnic groups - the Hausa and Yoruba.

Although government statistics show that poverty rates are far higher in the north than other regions, there are some genuine complaints.

In almost 30 years of democracy, Nigeria hasn't had an Igbo president.

"We still need [Biafra]," says Mr Njoku. "Nigerians are maltreating us - like slaves."It's a strong sentiment and one that a new crop of activists is playing on. Among them a new leader has emerged.

Despite bail conditions saying he cannot speak to the press, Nnamdi Kanu invited us for an interview. He also invited his many supporters to greet us.

We were to meet in his father's compound in the south-eastern town of Umuahia - the last bastion of the Biafran state before its surrender.

As we approached Umuahia it was clear that the crowds were there for our benefit.

We had arranged the interview the afternoon before and in that time he had gathered up to 1,000 people - they surrounded his father's compound waving huge striped flags, carrying the Biafran symbol of a half-rising sun, and foghorns - chanting their support under the pouring rain.

Senior government and police officials live a few hundred metres away but no attention was paid to their presence.

The cheers escalated to roars as they spotted Mr Kanu emerge onto the balcony of the house with his fists raised.

He has gold and black cloth wrapped around his shoulders and a matching gold cap on his black suede designer loafers. "They're calling for Biafra," he says softly, with a smile.

All of this for a cause that has him facing treason-related charges in court.

"Basic human development, basic economic development, basic social development, can no longer be attained for the simple reason that there exists in the polity mutual suspicion, mutual hatred, mutual resentment," he says.

"So the best thing to do is to separate."Mr Kanu is calling for Biafran independence through a referendum.

"We just want to control our political destiny so we can build factories, [build] our roads, cities, bridges, not having to depend on somebody in [the capital city] Abuja."

The Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) movement that he leads believes an independent region will resolve the issue of the marginalization of the Igbos but they also want to bring the non-Igbo, oil-rich Niger Delta into the breakaway state.

They insist it was part of the original Biafra.

"Should any other part of Nigeria wish to join Biafra they are welcome to do so, as long as they are Judeo-Christian... the value system that underpins Biafra."

The movement for Biafra clearly has significant influence around the south-east of Nigeria.A recent stay-at-home protest ordered by Ipob was heeded in many towns. However it seems from many people we spoke to in the region that while they support the idea of Biafra, they are not clear as to where it may take them.

The generation that witnessed the war insists on pacifism, as the men at the veterans' camp told us.

"We are talking about dialogue, not by fighting," said Mr Njoku.

Some are profoundly afraid of where the current rhetoric could lead.

Reverend Moses Iloh is an Igbo but he grew up in the north and now lives in the south-western commercial hub of Lagos.

When the war broke out, he moved to the Biafran Republic to work with the Red Cross.

"The war was one of the crudest you can find," he recalls. "Sometimes there would be more than 50 or 100 children - you would dig a big trench and pour their dead bodies in. I was there. I am not telling you a lie. The suffering was so bad."

Like many Igbos, he supports their ethnic solidarity but sternly warns that any attempts to secede again would be catastrophic.

"Nigerians will not let them go, they will slaughter them - and the whole world will turn their heads and say it's an internal affair."In response to the recent pro-Biafra agitation, a group in northern Nigeria issued a threat, giving all Igbos in the region three months to leave.

The move received widespread condemnation, even in the north, but reflected the delicate nature of Nigeria, a country created when hundreds of different ethnic groups were brought together by the British colonial powers.
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/nigeria-treats-us-like-slaves-do-you_41.html

Total inherited liabilities by the Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO) from the privatisation of the Nigeria electricity industry stood at N527.261 billion as February 2017. The liabilities cover about 23,154 invoices with about 9,694 verified and settled, leaving outstanding liabilities of 13,460 invoices for verification.

NELMCO, which made the disclosure in its liability management report obtained by The Guardian on Tuesday, listed the liabilities as: engineering N12.363 billion; successor companies N10.591 billion; legacy debts and tax liabilities N77.714 billion; bank loans N154.648 billion; Power Producers and Power Purchase Agreements (IPPs PPA) liabilities N322.198; and contingent liabilities N103.135 billion.
The latest liability figure is about 31 per cent less than the N760.774 billion originally inherited by NELMCO at the outset of privatisation in 2014. The agency said thereafter, it had been able to offset some of its liabilities. These include the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF) legacy gas debts of N14.291 billion; discount from creditors, N1.259 billion; savings from reconciled/negotiated amount, N32.537 billion; savings from verification exercise, N24.320 billion; creditors paid, N26.385 billion, and contingent liabilities N103.135 billion.

NELMCO was established in 2006, as a company limited by guarantee, to assume and manage the non-core assets, all liabilities and other obligations that would not be taken over by the successor companies.
This is to ensure that the successor companies are not encumbered by these liabilities at take-off.
NELMCO listed sources of funding the liabilities to include sale of non-core assets, proceeds from receivables, inflow from market operator, inflow from MDAs debt recoveries, rent of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) properties, payment through NEMSF, budgetary appropriation, sale of PHCN scrap assets, sale of overtime cargoes and PHCN superannuation fund.
Furthermore, the Minister of Power had also approved the auctioning of overtime cargoes to distribution and generating companies, and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). NELMCO is also working on fishing out additional overtime cargoes at the Ports.
It also referenced recoveries from bank reconciliation as funds to be recovered through revenue remittance audit of various banks in respect of PHCN funds that were not remitted prior to the handover. “This initiative will further be intensified by NELMCO,” it added.
On inflow from MDAs debt recoveries, it stated: “NELMCO in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Power engaged consultants to recover Government debts owed PHCN from electricity consumption. A Presidential approval to recover about N29 billion MDAs debts has already been obtained with necessary deductions started.
“Proceeds from receivables are old PHCN debtors from distribution companies as at the handover date. A deed of assignment of pre-completion receivables to NELMCO was entered into with the DISCOS. While discussions are on-going with the Disco on this, a detailed framework on the best way to accomplish this is being conceptualised.”
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, restated the Federal Government’s commitment to pay debts owed distribution companies by the MDAs.
He however added such debts will be properly verified before payments can be made, saying: “one of the earliest statements I made was that we will pay all the debts once they are verified, and the process of verification is taking place. Right now, we are looking at over 250,000 invoices comprising of I think 4,000 accounts. I won’t make a recommendation to government to pay any kobo of tax payers’ money for a debt I cannot put my signature to.
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/nelmcos-inherited-liabilities-hit.html

The national body of the Fulani, known as Kawtal Fulbe-Nigeria, has directed all its members nationwide, especially the Miyetti Allah cattle breeders, to boycott the ongoing public hearing on the anti-grazing bill in Taraba State.

In a statement yesterday in Jalingo, the national leadership of the group, which alleged the persecution of the Fulani in the state, urged the government to “address the current issues in Taraba, especially as they affect our people.”
The statement by the North-East chairman of the group, Mafindi Umar Danburam, reads in part: “These are definitely not the best of time for the Fulani (Fulbe) in Taraba State as the Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku-led administration is fully out using the state powers to totally eliminate us with a grand plan to make the state a no-go-area for the Fulani.

“For two years running, it has been a total war that has put our people in all spheres of life under tormenting and dehumanising condition. The Fulani are constrained to state that the proposed prohibition of the said grazing bill in the state is part of the agenda to empower ethnic militia groups across the state for total ethnic cleansing as started in Sardauna Local Government Area.”
The Fulani group further said: “We refused to be cajoled into accepting the deceitful phrase in the bill which tends to promote ranching, because even where the ranching system is fully operational in Sardauna Local Government, our people are no longer safe with their livestock. The bill is nothing more than a draconian law intended to segregate, witch-hunt decimate and eliminate the Fulani in the state.
“All Fulani groups across the nooks and crannies of the country had met and agreed that none of us is participating in the state government window dressing approach of dealing with the security challenges, including the deceitful public hearing on the bill put in place to further abuse our sensitivity and show us more hatred less than a week after the massacre of our people on the Mambilla Plateau.”
The group called on all the Fulani “participating in all committees set up by the state government” to as a matter of urgency “disengage immediately as we continue to mourn the hundreds of Fulani massacred by the Mambilla under the protection of the state government.”
They urged the Acting President and the National Assembly to “declare emergency rule in Taraba State to allow for a neutral leadership to restore peace and order based on justice, equity and fair play to all.”
In its reaction, the state government said it had deployed men and materials in the affected areas to give succour and quicken the healing process.
Governor Ishaku, who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Bala Dan Abu, said: “What the government expects is support for this effort and not the evil act of promoting sentiments that can only worsen the peace process being pursued by government.”
Governor Ishaku spoke yesterday as his Benue counterpart, Samuel Ortom revealed that over 1,878 people were killed in cold blood by Fulani herdsmen within three years.
Ortom also said not less than 750 persons were critically injured, 200 still missing and over 99,427 households as well as property worth billions of naira destroyed in the Fulani herdsmen attacks on Benue State.
The governor made the disclosure when he received in his office the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) country representative, Edward Kallon and his team.
According to Ortom, over N95 billion worth of property were destroyed in 2014 alone across 10 local government areas of the state during invasion by Fulani herdsmen.
On the cause of the constant clashes between Benue farmers and herdsmen that resulted in the carnage, the governor said the crops of Benue farmers were usually eaten up by the herdsmen.
He stated that the attacks on the agricultural communities of the Benue valley posed great threat to food security in the nation.
“For over a decade, the people of Benue have noticed the influx of armed herdsmen who have violently attacked many communities in the state.
“Between 2013 and 2016 alone, Fulani herdsmen killed more than 1,878 men, women and children in cold blood from 12 local government areas.”
Ortom urged the UN to support the state towards the implementation of durable solutions to insecurity, violence and displacement of people.
Meanwhile, the youth wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has endorsed Ortom and Ishaku and other governors that are willing to implement anti-grazing laws for automatic second term ticket in 2019 general elections.
While addressing journalists yesterday at the Yola International Airport, the National President of CAN Youth Wing, Daniel Kadzai, said that the anti-grazing laws would bring an end to the daily mindless killings of farmers by herdsmen in those states that implement the laws.
He pointed out that the first priority of any reasonable leader is the protection of lives and property in his area of operation, noting that there is no development more than to end the bloody crisis.
“There can be no development when there is crisis in your area, no contractor can work in places where killings and burning of houses are taking place. We must commend Governors Ortom and Ishaku as well as other governors that are working hard to ensure that the anti-grazing bills in their states are passed into law,” he stated.
Kadzai explained that the anti- grazing law should not be misinterpreted by cattle breeders as a legislation targeted at them to render their business of rearing cattle unproductive, but as a law that will not only bring peace but promote cattle rearing business to international standard of using ranches.
“Some undesirable elements are trying to use the anti-grazing law to cause confusion in the country. When our leaders take a wrong action, they defend it by using developed countries as example, but when the matter on ground does not protect their selfish interest, they don’t make reference to developed countries.
“There is no developed country that is practising open grazing now, what is being operated is ranches which reduce the high level of sickness the animals may contract, so we must embrace ranches in Nigeria,” he said.

The CAN youths commended the security agents, especially the military, for their quick response during the last month communal clash in Sarduana Local Government in Taraba State where about 18 people were reportedly killed, urging them not to be selective in their operations since they are all working for Nigeria’s unity.
“When Agatu people in Benue State were attacked by
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/fulani-leaders-ask-herdsmen-to-boycott.html

Fractious political scene, uncertainty over the health of President Muhammadu Buhari, violent unrest and severe economic difficulties will remain sources of instability in Nigeria in the next five years, the latest five-year outlook by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) has shown.

According to the business unit arm of the United Kingdom-based Economist Group which provides advisory services through research and analysis, Nigeria faces the biggest challenges to its constitutional democracy since the return to civilian rule in 1999.
It noted that risks in the early part of the 2017-2021 prediction are heightened by a likely transfer of power before the electoral cycle at the presidency.
With the President having spent much of the first half of this year in the UK receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment, the EIU said: “We view it likely that Mr. Buhari will be forced to leave office before the official end of his term in 2019. He will be replaced by his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, to serve the remainder of the term as stipulated in the constitution.”

Indeed, the outlook, contrary to some expectations by government, noted that policy reform will be slow as efforts to introduce market-oriented reforms and diversify the economy away from oil come up against vested interests, ideological opposition and bureaucratic inefficiency. It added that real GDP growth would ebb to recover from the recession of 2016, given an ongoing period of historically low oil prices and the weak policy response which will sap confidence in the economy more generally.
Similarly, the EIU projected that the average yearly inflation will rise further to 17 per cent this year owing to currency falls coupled with generally higher commodity prices, adding that greater currency stability will see inflation edge down, although not rapidly in 2018.
Reacting to the report, an economist and investment banker, Bayo Rotimi, said: “I understand the anxiety around the political situation, movement in oil prices. These are things that we are aware of. If there are problems in those areas, then the nation’s economy may be adversely affected.”
Rotimi, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Quest Advisory Services Limited, continued: “The EIU tends to be pessimistic. I do not agree with their position on the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). As always, everything is a function of implementation.”
For the Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Muda Yusuf, he acknowledged the concerns but noted that government efforts in the areas of policy initiation and implementation had reflected genuine commitment to growth and development.
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/nigeria-to-witness-more-unrest-hardship.html

I thought they said Nigerians want "One Nigeria" and that Biafrans are the only ones agitating for self-determination? Well, here are some Nigeria policemen who are boldly in support of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and they also asked him to keep fighting hard and never give up. More photos at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/keep-fighting-and-never-give-up-nigeria.html?m=1

More at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/our-site-is-undergoing-maintenance-now.html?m=1

30th MAY 2016 (The areas covered are
Asaba and Onitsha). May their souls rest in
peace
Those killed in Asaba include:
Ichoku Ndu
Ebere Obidike
Nwabueze Uzonna
Okey Roland
Chukwudi Ifenna
Isaac Uzochukwu
Eberima Aguh
Henry Gideon
Efion Apani
Abuchi Obi
Ozoemena Chukwuma
Lotenna Ifeajuna
Ifebuchi Okenwa
Wisdom Omota
Ejike Abunchukwu
Ozobu Ogbonna
Emeka Madueke
Paschal Gideon
Afam Onyeburu
Izu Onwubiewe
Okey Agubata
Celestine Nnamdi
Obieke Lotenna
Nwabueze Oti
Chijioke Ozoro
Nwadike Chibuzo
Azuka Ifeake
Chioma Nkemjika
Obiora Okonkwo
.
Those killed in Onitsha area include:
Obi Nkemakonam
Ubani Nwenneakonam
Nwuzo Friday
Ilo Friday
Olisama Chukwuemeka
Awah Sopuruchi
Okoye Chinedu
Ezeilo Chuka
Onyeduna Ifesinachi
Nnamani Sunday
Chinonso Amadi
Tagbo Chibuzo
Anyanwu Chika
Egbe Johnson
Osukwe Ijeoma
Nkechukwu Ikechukwu
Kenneth Eni
Orjichukwu Chigozie
Solomon Izundu
Ebili Edward
Gabriel Onyedikachi
Ilo Ozoemena
Nwauju Charles
Onuoha Chidozie
Onyemaechi Nwaezeoma
Innocent Obodoekwe
Ifeanyi Azubuike
Adigwe Chukwudi
Ogochukwu Mbam
Obiosa Chukwueme
Ugochukwu Samuel
Onuoha Chigozie
Maduka Egwela
John Onuchukwu
Maduabuchi Onwukanjo
Izuchukwu Nwaogba
Nnamdi Okonkwo
Ibekwe Okechukwu
Felix Odianwu
Okafor Moses Madukasi
Egwu Joseph.
Full details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/names-of-biafrans-supporters-killed-on.html

Willy Obiano, those that were massacred by the Zoo police, army, navy, civil defence etc on 30 of August 2015 at Uga junction/Headbridge on your orders were the sam people who voted you into power before.

Go and bring them back to life before we can think of the need for voting again.
Willy Obiano, those that were massacred by the Zoo police, army, navy, civil defence etc on the day court granted unconditional bail to our leader Maazi Nnamdi Kanu on your orders were the sam people who voted you into power before.
Go and bring them back to life before we can think of the need for voting again.
Willy Obiano, those that were massacred by the Zoo police, army, navy, civil defence etc at Mkpor on 30th of May 2016 Biafra heroes remembrance day on your orders were the sam people who voted you into power before.
Go and bring them back to life before we can think of the need for voting again.
Willy Obiano, those that were abducted, kidnapped from there various homes and places of work by DSS and thrown into secret detention centre's while many executed in army barracks and their corpse buried in unknown secret mass graves on your orders were the same people who voted you into power before.
Go and bring them back to life before we can think of the need for voting again.
It now obvious that the same people we voted into power are the same people who will kills us, pour our corpses chemicals to melt them, dump our corpses in a borrow pit.
And finally, Obiano, as if your sins are not enough, you went and testified that we were not killed in army panel of enquiry.
Obiano, go & call the Zoo soldiers, zoo navy, zoo police, the Zoo DSS etc to come and vote.
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/willy-obiano-we-are-not-voting-again-we.html

Suspected billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, aka Evans, has expressed shock over reports that he dragged the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, and the Nigeria Police to the court.

A Lagos-based lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje, had on Wednesday last week filed a suit on behalf of Evans, claiming that the suspect’s continued detention was an infringement on his fundamental human rights. He also demanded a N300 million compensation from the police for alleged unlawful detention of Evans.

Denying that he ever instituted a suit, Evans was quoted by a Lagos television station at the weekend as saying: “I am not aware of any lawyer coming for my release. It is not possible that any lawyer was contracted to sue the police or anybody. Who is the lawyer and where did I meet him? I did not brief any lawyer and no lawyer debriefed me.”
Continuing, Evans said: “The law suit may be from people who want to cause more trouble for me. Who told people I want to leave police custody? I want to remain with the police for sometime because people will be after me if I am released.”
Corroborating this, a senior police officer told Daily Sun: “That is the truth. Evans was not aware of the lawsuit. He did not send anyone to stand for him in court. Anyway, the lawyer did not tell anyone he was sent by Evans. He said Mr. Stephen Onwuamadike, Evans’ father, sent him.
“Well, we had made it clear that we have a court order to keep Evans for three months to enable us conclude investigation on his case, in and outside Nigeria. We learnt he has some mansions and hotels in South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria. We are still investigating. I don’t know why people won’t let the police do their job.”
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/i-didnt-ask-anyone-to-sue-igp-police.html

I was shocked when i saw this on Facebook today see what the Biafra member said.
Below
To whom it may concern....

Our Supreme Leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is bigger than Jesus....
You must accept Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as the messiah and the saviour of our land for you to inherit the kingdom of Heaven.....
Take it or Leave it
Biafra must be restored on Earth!
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/nnamdi-kanu-is-bigger-than-jesus-says.html?m=1

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has faulted the claim by Senior Special Assistant on Media to President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu, that the Presidential jet was parked in London to await the president’s discharge from hospital, as that was the global standard.

The Rights group said there was no global best practice that prescribes that a president can ruin the domestic health sector to necessitate a seemingly endless medical tour by its political class on public expenses.
It lamented that the case of President Buhari, who has spent cumulatively over 100 working days in a British medical facility at serious financial and logistics costs to the public treasury of Nigeria, was particularly disheartening.

A statement by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director, Zainab Yusuf, said in over a century, there hasn’t been any antecedent whereby a leader of a sovereign state would be flown to a far-away sovereign nation in another continent.
“That such an ailing President spends incredible amount of time receiving medical help whilst the presidential jet maintained at public costs would be parked at a foreign aviation facility to accumulate huge bills, which the national fund would be deployed to offset, makes it even more abhorrent,” the statement said.
HURIWA, therefore, challenged Shehu to show Nigerians any evidence of this kind of prolonged medical sojourn abroad by any political leader of a country to justify his claims that the practice was a global standard.
“HURIWA thinks we should be ashamed of ourselves that we can’t get the best of medical facilities in the country due to prolonged period of mismanagement and organised robbery of public assets by successive and current politicians, instead of attempting to tie a wool of confusion and half-baked media propaganda on gullible citizens by rationalising over a practice that has no global best practice or historical antecedents,” it said.
HURIWA noted that the Presidential jet, if parked in Abuja, will cost nothing and that it will take few hours to be flown to the United Kingdom any moment the president recuperates well enough and wishes to be flown back home.
“The other time, did Acting President Yemi Osinbajo not fly into Italy for the G7 Global Summit on migration of Africans and jetted back home the same day? “Why waste scarce public funds to park the jet belonging to Nigeria in London to await the president, as if public property has now become a family property?
“This is corruption of the severest type when public property is used recklessly just like a privately owned asset by the occupant of the President jet.
more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/07/huriwa-faults-shehus-claims-on.html

Get your news at www.akelicious.com
Congrats OBO

The Presidency on Thursday denied the media reports claiming that President Muhammadu Buhari’s aircraft in London was gulping £4,000 daily.

Buhari had left Nigeria on May 7th for consultation with his doctors in the United Kingdom.

A statement by the Senior Special Adviser on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, said that the aircraft is gulping less than £1,000 daily.

The statement reads “The Presidency is constrained to decry criticisms, mostly on social media, on the retention in London of the Presidential Aircraft, NAF 001 as mostly informed by lack of understanding of protocol around foreign trips by Heads of State all over the world.


“It is important to state that for reasons of protocol, national security, diplomacy and prestige, there is no world leader who travels abroad and is left without plans for immediate return or possible evacuation.

“From operational point of view, this country’s Armed Forces as represented by the Nigeria Air Force are not to abandon their Commander-In-Chief in whichever circumstance he is. This is a standard operating procedure.

“We have also read claims about outrageous fees allegedly paid by Nigeria. The published amounts are totally untrue. Aircraft conveying heads of state all over the world usually enjoy waivers even where payments for parking are differentiated by aircraft categories.

“We been assured that where the waiver is not granted, payment will not exceed £1,000, which is a quarter of the amount being peddled.

“For the avoidance of doubt, this President is not the first to have a presidential aircraft standing by for him, as he will certainly not be the last. All past Heads of this country have had this privilege, and the part that surprises the most is that leaders who in the past travelled with three Nigerian aircraft did not suffer this trenchant criticism.

“We appeal to Nigerians to ignore opposition campaign aimed at derailing this administration’s big plans for the country.


“This is a government that is constructing the Second Niger Bridge, the Mambila Power Plant, the East-West and the North-South standard gauge railway lines.

“We are a government that has saved this country an annual loss of two trillion Naira from fraudulent petroleum subsidy schemes by influential citizens and their children, and rid the public service of about 50,000 ghost workers.
more at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/06/presidential-aircraft-only-gulping-1000.html