₦airaland Forum

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is set to invite Mrs. Feyisetan Fayose, the wife of Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, for receiving N100m through an account which is operated by her and her husband.

According to the EFCC, the money, which emanated from the account of the Office of the National Security Adviser, was paid into the Zenith Bank account of Spotless Investment Limited on June 17, 2014, less than a week to the June 21 governorship election in Ekiti State.

The money was paid into the company’s account with bank teller number 0540997 by Abiodun Agbele, an associate of the governor.


The two signatories to Spotless Investment Limited’s account are Fayose and his wife.

An EFCC detective told one of our correspondents, “N100m was paid into the Spotless Investment Limited account with number 1010170969 at Zenith Bank. The two signatories are Fayose, with Bank Verification Number 22338867502, and his wife, Helen Olayemi, with BVN 22298990256.”

The account has since been frozen by the anti-graft agency.

As a sitting governor, Fayose cannot be prosecuted or arrested because he enjoys immunity.

“His wife, however, has no immunity,” the source added.

The PUNCH had reported on Wednesday that N1,219,490,000 was flown to Akure Airport on June 12, 2014, by a former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, ahead of the June 21, 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State.

The money was said to have been part of the N4.7bn, which was paid into the Diamond Bank account of Sylvan McNamara by the Office of the National Security Adviser. Sylvan McNamara is a company in which Obanikoro’s sons are signatories.

A large chunk of the N1,219,490,000 was said to have been paid into Fayose’s private and company accounts, including the N100m, which was paid into the account of Spotless Investment Limited.

PDP, APC bicker over anti-corruption fight

Meanwhile, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday described the freezing of the personal accounts of Fayose as politically motivated.

The party said it had observed with dismay the dangerous trend of “politically-motivated trials and tyrannical administration” of President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress.

The PDP demanded that the ruling party must stop the witch-hunt in the interest of peace and stability of our nation.

This was contained in a statement by the Publicity Committee of the PDP Caretaker Committee, Mr. Dayo Adeyeye.

The party described the freezing of Fayose’s personal account as unlawful, undemocratic, autocratic, oppressive, draconian and the height of desperation by the Buhari administration to cover up for its failure to deliver on his campaign promises to Nigerians.

Adeyeye stated, “This government is all out to silence any voice of the opposition. Nigerians will recall that Chief Olisa Metuh, the former National Publicity Secretary of our great party, is today standing trial for receiving campaign funds and since his arrest and prosecution by the anti-graft agency, Chief Metuh could not challenge the APC government on policy issues until he left office.

“Nigerians will also recall that one of the known opposition voices, apart from some individuals and governors of our party, who has exposed the APC-led administration for running the country aground in the last one year, is the former spokesman for the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode; and he is now standing trial for receiving campaign funds from the Director of Finance of the Campaign.

“ It’s now the turn of the Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, who has been consistent in condemning the woes the APC government brought upon Nigerians and for remaining critical of the APC and President Buhari’s administration.”

The party condemned the freezing of Fayose’s personal account and asked the EFCC to unfreeze the bank account immediately, saying the action violated Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, as a sitting governor could not stand trial until after office.

In its reaction, the APC said the opposition PDP did not have the right to dictate how the Buhari-led administration should fight corruption.

APC said this in a statement by its National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, in Abuja, on Wednesday.

The party said this in its reaction to the declaration by the PDP National Assembly caucus that it had withdrawn its support for the Buhari administration following what it called the persecution of its members.

Buni said, “For the umpteenth time, the PDP and their agents do not have the luxury of dictating how the current administration and the anti-corruption agencies carry out their legitimate duties of investigating and prosecuting cases of corruption as long as they conform to the rule of law.

“The PDP Caucus must be reminded of their primary responsibility of law-making and representation of their constituents at the National Assembly.”

The ruling party advised the PDP Senate Caucus not to allow “political shenanigans” to becloud the overall national interest.

It said the caucus’ allegations of a selective anti-corruption fight and “belligerent” stance of the current administration was hogwash and baseless.

How my campaign was funded –Fayose

Also, on Wednesday, Fayose explained that his 2014 governorship election campaign was funded by the Zenith Bank, fundraising, donations from friends and associates as well as sales of campaign souvenirs.

The governor was reacting to media reports that the EFCC traced N4.7bn from the ONSA to his account and the company account of the two sons of Obanikoro.

Fayose in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, challenged the EFCC to publish statements made by Obanikoro, his sons or any other person associated with money from the NSA’s office, where they claimed they gave him money for the election.

He stated, “I have no financial transaction whatsoever with the Office of the National Security Adviser under Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), and former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, either by cash, cheque or electronic transfer.

“The EFCC is only acting a movie scripted, produced and directed by the All Progressives Congress government of President Muhammadu Buhari just to silence me, being a major opposition voice in the country.”

Narrating how he came about the money found in his Zenith Bank account, the governor said, “The management of Zenith Bank, which majorly funded my election, called me to a meeting, where I was asked to nominate a trusted ally to be related with and I nominated Mr. Abiodun Agbele.

“All the payments into Abiodun Agbele’s account domiciled in Zenith Bank were directly from Zenith Bank.

“Most of the funds posted into Agbele’s account were through the Ibadan, Akure and Lagos branches of the Zenith Bank and sometimes; they brought cash.

“Assuming but not conceding, that cash moved from Lagos to Akure as being claimed by the EFCC in its usual manner of media trial, was meant for my election in Ekiti, why was the cash not moved to Ado Ekiti branch of Zenith Bank or the cash handed to me directly?

“I wish to state further that if it becomes evidently clear that those who willingly provided money for my election can no longer stand by what they did, maybe because of threat from the EFCC, I will not hesitate to name names.”

The governor called on the EFCC to beam its searchlights on the funding of the APC elections, especially that of the President.

Fayose added, “Since we are now in the era in which financial assistance from Nigerians to fund elections is being criminalised, the international community, especially those funding EFCC, must insist that the commission probe the funding of APC elections before further funds are released to the commission.

“Most importantly, Nigerians are interested in the $60m allegedly donated to the APC campaign by Sahara Energy, on which the EFCC has been forced to suspend investigation.

http://www.punchng.com/arms-cash-efcc-set-invite-fayoses-wife/

The Christian Association of Nigeria in Osun State has filed a stay of execution against the judgment of an Osun State High Court, which ordered the use of hijab in all public schools in the state.

The Osun State Chairman of CAN, Rev. Elisha Ogundiya, who confirmed this to our correspondent in Osogbo on Wednesday, said the process was ongoing as of the time of filing this report.

“We are filing the stay of execution now. The process is still ongoing but I went to court this morning to sign some papers. We will let you have the details later,” said the CAN chairman in a brief interview with our correspondent before the meeting of the leadership of the association in the South-West began.

The meeting also had representatives of the leadership of the national body of CAN in attendance.

Ogundiya, while speaking during the meeting, said although the appeal and the stay of execution had been filed, Christian pupils would continue to wear church garments to schools if Muslims students did not stop wearing hijab to schools.

“The appeal has been filed; the stay of execution was also filed this afternoon,” he added.

But when asked if the association would ask Christian pupils to stop wearing church garments to school, Ogundiya said, “If Muslims continue to wear hijab to schools, our children will also continue to wear church garments to schools.”

His response drew a loud applause from the gathering, which included the chairmen of CAN from the South-West and the representative of the national CAN.

The chairmen of CAN in Ondo, Ogun and Oyo states, who spoke at the meeting, said the entire Christian communities in their respective states were solidly in support of the Osun State branch in resisting the wearing of hijab in public schools.

The Chairman of CAN in the South-West, Archbishop Magnus Atilade, said the court judgment violated the religious right of the original owners of the missionary schools, which were taken over by the military government in 1975.

The CAN Zonal Secretary, Rev. Alfred Aro, who read Atilade’s address at the meeting, said Christians would not allow any government to Islamise Osun State or Nigeria.

“The judgment read that hijab is a means of propagation of Islam, which the judge said is a fundamental right of Muslim girls and ladies. This declaration violates the religious right of the original owners of the missionary schools as agreed upon when the schools were taken over by the then government of Oyo State in 1975,” he stated.

The National Director, Education of CAN, who represented the outgoing President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, at the meeting, said the national body was solidly behind Osun State chapter of CAN in its efforts to ensure Christianity was not marginalised.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested seven officials in the Federal Ministry of Health for their alleged role in the diversion of over $4m.

The money, it was learnt, was part of the money given to Nigeria by the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Global Fund is an international financing organisation that aims to attract and disburse additional resources to prevent and treat HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

An impeccable source at the commission told our correspondent that the suspects were arrested following a directive by the Presidency that the culprits should be brought to book.

The suspects, it was learnt, were from the Department of Health Planning, Research and Statistics, which was in charge of managing the fund.

A source at the EFCC said, “The Presidency directed the Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, to investigate the matter. We have made arrests and we are currently compiling our report. We will send it to the Presidency and then charge the suspects to court.

“President Muhammadu Buhari was not happy that the money that was meant to be used in saving lives was stolen. We take this seriously just like the arms scam.”

Global Fund, through its Office of the Inspector-General of Police, had in May issued a report in which it accused Nigerian officials of embezzling part of the fund.

It alleged irregularities such as the payment of $20m to suppliers without confirming delivery and the failure to account for $3.7m supposedly spent on anti-retroviral drugs.

The organisation added that seven out of 10 Nigerian health officials and three consultants were linked to the misappropriation of funds through inflating hotel bills, falsifying receipts, claiming expenditures for travel not made, and colluding with and receiving kickbacks from hotel operators and suppliers.

When our correspondent sent an email to Global Fund as regards the investigation, the organisation confirmed that the Federal Government had commenced investigation and also commended the government.

In an email which was signed by Specialist, Editorial Team, Communications Department, Ibon Villelabeitia, the organisation said it was assisting the Federal Government with investigations.

The statement read in part, “The government of Nigeria has responded in a responsible and energetic way. We are very encouraged by the commitment shown by the current government of Nigeria to dealing with the issues raised in the audit report by the Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector-General of Police. We are cooperating with the Government of Nigeria on these issues, but we are not actively involved in investigations being performed by the Government of Nigeria.”

In a separate report, Global Fund noted that it had stopped disbursing funds to Nigeria http://punchng.com/efcc-arrests-seven-health-officials-4m-hiv-fund/

Very funny Governor.. Putting religion first rather than to invest and concentrate more on the growth and development of his state

Some Muslims clerics stormed some public schools in Osogbo on Monday with the aim of ensuring that female Muslim students are allowed to wear hijab to the schools in accordance with the judgment of the Osun State High Court.

Our correspondent gathered that the clerics went to St. Charles’ High School and Ife Oluwa Middle School early in the morning with the aim of enforcing the use of hijab but the teachers explained to them that they would allow the pupils to wear hijab after they must have received a directive from the Ministry of Education to allow them to do so.

The calm manner the principals in the schools attended to the Muslims was said to have prevented any untoward incident.

One of the principals of St. Charles’ High School, Mr. Anthony Famoriyo, when contacted in his office, confirmed that some Muslim clerics came to the school but he explained to them that he had not received any memo to that effect from the state government.

Famoriyo said the people left but promised to come back in full force.

He said, “ Some Muslims came this morning and said they wanted to enforce the use of hijab. We explained to them that we will allow our students to wear hijab whenever we get instruction from the state government to do so.

“You know that everything we do in schools follows procedure, what you teach, the way you teach. We are not against any group. We are here to teach our children and that is our mission.”

There was calm in the school when journalists visited and some students drawn from many schools were seen on the field holding calisthenics rehearsal.

Some of these students wore hijab.

Some officials of the Nigeria Seurity and Civil Defence Corps deployed in the school also told journalists that there was no crisis in the school contrary to the rumour in some quarters.

Some hours after that, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, while speaking at a roundtable on developing collaborative framework for education organised by the Development and Advancement in Western Nigeria, said he had not ordered the use of hijab in public schools in the state.

The governor said contrary to reports in the media, the education sector in the state was not in any crisis.

He described the media focus on wearing of church garments to Baptist High School, Iwo by some students as a “celebration of idiocy,” saying the media overlooked the inauguration of a school by his government in Ibokun and focused on the ‘misguided students.’

He said, “ Let me say this there is no official pronouncement on hijab. I have not ordered the use of hijab in schools and I challenge them to bring evidence.

“It might interest you that my wife does not use hijab, my daughter does not use hijab. So, I did not order the use of hijab. My view on Islam is why I am suffering unmerited persecution. My crime is that I struggle to be a good Muslim and not because I hurt anybody.”

Aregbesola said it was wrong for any religious body to still claim the ownership of any public school in the state, saying government took over the schools about 41 years ago.

He also stated that Muslim-founded schools were not merged with schools established by Christian missionaries.

He explained that students of St. Mary; St. Anthony and United Methodist were merged with their counterparts at Baptist High School, Iwo.

According to him, just four students of St. Mary, who were using hijab in their former school and were prevented from not using it when they were transferred to Baptist High School, started the hijab crisis in 2012.

Speaking on the topic, he said students in the South-West would perform better if teachers used Yoruba language to teach them.

The Director-General of DAWN, Dr. Charles Akinola, said all the South-West states were together in the efforts to reposition education in the geo-political zone.

He said the objective of the roundtable was to fashion out ways of revamping education in the South-West and restore the lost glory

http://punchng.com/muslims-storm-schools-aregbesola-disclaims-hijab-order/

With my experience, been an ECOWAS citizen you can legally reside in Ghana for 90 days and to extend your stay, you must get a resident permit. Life in Ghana is not always rossy as many people thnk, and cost of living is very high. You might have accommodation problem except you have someone that can accommodate you. Options of hotel is never wn option, as it cost a lot. I can only suggest travelling to Ghana for just a tourism purposes and not for permanent stay. I have been there more than four times. Anyway for your trip, you only need your valid international passport and vaccination certificate (Yellow card) and some cash.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday called on Federal Government to revert to the 10 year passport policy following series of challenges faced by Nigerians living abroad in the bid to renew their passports.

To this end, the House after robust debate on the motion which seeks to rescind the “policy on renewal of Nigerian passport on a five yearly basis” sponsored by Samson Olugbemi, mandated the Committee on Interior chaired by Adams Jagaba to liaise with the Ministry of Interior and Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) on the policy.

In his lead debate, Olugbemi observed that before the introduction of the e-passport by NIS, the Nigerian passport had a five years validity period subject to revalidation for another five years only, an indication that it has 10 year life span.

He further noted the process of renewal of the old passport was more simple and efficient than the current regime, as it required mere stamping by an authorised Immigration official to indicate a new expiring date.
While stressing that the 10 year lifespan was in tandem with international best practices because countries issue travelling visas which vary from two weeks to 10 years, Olugbemi argued that the arbitrary chnage in the policy is inflicting hardship and inconveniences to Nigeria’s at home and abroad.
“The House is concerned that the Nigerian Immigration Service, for reason only known to it decided to limit the validity of the new Nigerian passport to five years without any option of renewal, therefore, instead of renewal of the passport on expiration, a new one is to be issued.
“The House wonders about the benefits of this change of policy, other than the selfish intentions of the NIS increase its internally generated revenue profile and by extension increase the funds, it is permitted to offset its operational costs.
“The House is aware that millions of Nigerians who are residing in countries where Nigeria’s passports cannot be used procured due to absence of Nigerian Consular office or Embassy, are stranded abroad because of the expiration of their passports,” Olugbemi lamented.
The lawmaker, who called for the intervention of the House, argued that the five year passport policy has compelled numerous Nigerians who frequently travel overseas to hold passport without visa complimenting each other.

search party commissioned to search for the wreckage of the missing EgyptAir jet has identified several main locations of the wreckage in the Mediterranean Sea.The Egyptian investigation committee confirmed the find.The committee said in a statement the ship “had identified several main locations of the wreckage, accordingly the first images of the wreckage were provided to the investigation committee.”

Flight MS804 plunged into the Mediterranean Sea with 66 people on board after taking off from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris en route to Cairo on May 19.

A search team on board the ship, contracted by the Egyptian government, will now draw a map of the wreckage’s distribution spots.Investigators are now examining photographs taken of the wreckage from the seabed.

It was not immediately known which parts of the plane had been found, nor whether the two black boxes were nearby.The recorders, one for voice and another for data, were contained in the tail of the Airbus A320.Parts of the wreckage and some of the victims’ possessions have already been found.It is not yet known what caused the crash but investigators desperately searching for the black boxes hope the flight recorders will provide the answer. The black boxes are designed to send out signals for 30 days after a crash, leaving the search team until June 24 to find the flight recorders in the Mediterranean, which is up to 3,000 metres deep.



Egypt’s aviation minister initially said the plane may have been brought down by a terror attack, but a technical failure was also likely.

Flight data pointed to the possibility of an explosion after a series of warnings indicating smoke had filled the cabin were sent out.

Debris and some human remains have already been found around 180 miles north of Alexandria, Egypt.

The plane lost contact while cruising at around 37,000ft and had just left Greek airspace.

There were 56 passengers, including Briton Richard Osman, and 10 crew on board.

Source http://www.channelstv.com/2016/06/15/missing-egypt-air-wreckage-found-in-mediterranean-sea/

I just received an email from Zenith Bank announcing that the Naira denominated cards have been suspended for international transaction. Meaning that from 13th June, you may not be able to use your Zenith Bank naira denominated cards to make foreign international payment online, or withdraw on any ATM when abroad, or pay for goods through POS. For us in diaspora, who are using this Bank what is the next option for us in withdrawing money or pay for goods and services using our Zenith naira denominated cards.. I am so confused. Is it also a signal that other banks will follow suit? I heard that some banks have started this before

When using the POS, did you select Naira as an option or Dirham? Of course choosen Naira option would automatically declined your transaction, and you are left with the option of going for Dirham. Your bank would charge you in parallel market rate and based on the prevailing exchange rate as at the time you are performing the transaction. To me GTB mastercard is better of, was charged 82naira per dirham for my transaction when i was there last month. Who knows may be the rate might have been higher than wat it was before though. Contact your bank.

The entire nation woke up to receive the news of the sudden demise of Steven Keshi early this morning. Steven Keshi was such a great footballer cums Coach that served the Nation, and contributed so immensely to Football development in the country. He will always be remembered for all his good work and selfless service to this great country, unfortunately only few people appreciated him during his lifetime. He will forever be remembered for his good work.. Adieu big boss,

The entire nation woke up to receive the news of the sudden demise of Steven Keshi early this morning. Steven Keshi was such a great footballer cums Coach that served the Nation, and contributed so immensely to Football development in the country. He will always be remembered for all his good work and selfless service to this great country, unfortunately only few people appreciated him during his lifetime. He will forever be remembered for his good work.. Adieu big boss,