₦airaland Forum

Zamfara State governor, Alhaji Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, as given automatic employment to a former corps member, Mr Kogbe Oluwabamidele, an indigene of Ogun State and a graduate of Public Administration, from the Polytechnic, Ibadan, who distinguished himself during the just concluded service year.

Also, the governor promised to continue to give automatic employment to any corps member who served in the state diligently.

Shinkafi gave the directive at the passing out parade ceremony of the 2009 Batch ‘B’ corps members posted to Zamfara State recently.

The governor also approved the disbursement of corps members’ allowances by e-payment in the state, stressing that “the situation where corps members suffered before getting their allowances will now be a thing of the past. There is no gainsaying the fact that the NYSC scheme is a key player in our quest to attain this great feat despite our numerous daunting challenges. These giant strides by the corps members are giving us every cause to discharge our statutory responsibility to the scheme,” he said.

Shinkafi tasked the corps members to wake up to the realities and diversity of the country and make best use of the opportunities discovered during their service for the development of the country.

A ten-man robbery gang at the weekend invaded the residence of a member of the House of Representatives, Oluwole Olakunde, located in Ondo West Local Government Area, and killed two of his security guards.

The daredevil armed bandits that stormed the federal lawmaker’s residence in the midnight were said to have shot sporadically immediately they gained entry into the residence. A family source said the men forced themselves into the residence, and shot into the air to scare people living in the area.

The incident came barely a week when some unknown gunmen raided two banks in Akure, the state capital, killing five people in the process and injuring several others. The source explained that the armed bandits overpowered the security guards in the compound immediately they gained entry into the compound.

One of the guards, simply identified as John, was allegedly shot within the compound, while the second guard was shot while he was on patrol in the area. The death of the two security guards paved way for the robbers, who entered into the apartments in the compound with ease. NEXT learnt the suspected robbers pulled down the security doors in the house, and cut the burglary proof iron bars of the windows in the house before they could gain access into the personal flat of the lawmaker.

Lucky escape

The armed men, who raided the house for over one hour, could not find Mr Olakunde (PDP, Okitipupa-Irele) who was said to have locked himself up in one of the rooms in the compound. However, they succeeded in robbing residents of several valuables, including handsets, jewellery, and unspecified amounts of money. The robbers also stole one of the cars parked in the compound of the lawmaker as their get-away vehicle.

This is the second time that Mr Olakunde has been robbed in two weeks. His house in Abuja was also burgled two weeks ago. Spokesman of the Ondo State Police command, Adeniran Aremu, who confirmed the incidence, said the police responded when it received a distress call from the federal lawmaker. Mr. Aremu, who said the police had recovered the stolen vehicle, added that police has started full scale investigations have into the crime.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5586046-146/robbers_kill_two_guards_at_lawmakers.csp

The former Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nasir el-Rufai is still at large and has refused to appear before the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) as demanded, if the web site of the commission is anything to go by.

However contrary to the information available on the commission’s web site, Mr. el-Rufai returned to Nigeria on April 30, 2010 and is currently defending himself at an Abuja High court on a 8-count charge brought against him by the EFCC on May 12. The commission, on its apparently outdated web site, listed Mr el Rufai as number 27 on its list of high profile case. The link, http://efccnigeria.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=9&Itemid=72, have 43 names listed on it as high profile cases under investigation and in court. When contacted on the issue at the weekend, Mr. el-Rufai described his continuous listing as a combination of political influences and incompetency going on in the commission.

“When this saga is over, both civil and criminal defamation proceedings would lie in Nigeria and abroad against the officials who exceeded their legal authority and this will go up to the relevant Supreme Courts if necessary,” he said. “I am retired and have no job left but the protection of my reputation.”

Technical glitch

Reacting to the issue, EFCC’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said the error was an ICT issue encountered by the commission, adding that the technical glitch has hampered updates so far. When queried about some sections of the site that has apparently been updated, Mr. Babafemi said, “that section is different. It is the news release section which is updated every day. But I know that there is em,  we are working on the server. I know we have been working on the server for some time now. I think that has to do with ICT problem, it has to do with ICT updates. That thing you saw must have been posted some months ago. Our server is being worked on.”

No value for money

Out of EFCC’s total N28billion budgetary allocation in the 2010 budget, N25million was provided for ICT, while N120million is budgeted for office equipment and purchase of office furniture. In 2009, the commission budgeted N160million for completion of information technology infrastructure. In August 12, 2008, the commission launched an ultra-modern data centre which was partly funded by the European Union grant of $30m; a project which one amongst several other ICT support project in the commission.

Also on the high profile case list are Iyabo Obasanjo, Babalola Aborishade, Ayo Fayose, Adenike Grange, Saminu Turaki, Orji Uzor Kalu, Lucky Igbiniedion, Gabriel Aduku, Jolly Nyame, Kenny Martins, and even Bode George, whose conviction is now almost a year old.

The former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mike Aondoakaa (SAN) yesterday said he is not a security risk in the United States or anywhere in the world.

He also claimed that he has not been banned from entering the United States.

Aondoakaa, who made the clarifications in a statement through his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Onov Tyuulugh, said he does not have foreign accounts not to talk of stashing $44million in South Africa.

The statement said: "I am not a security risk anywhere in the world. I have not been banned from entering the United States and I have my visa intact. Secondly, none of my relatives has a student visa to the United States as claimed by some publications. Therefore, the US Government cannot revoke what they did not issue.

"The publication is a great misconception of how the US State Department works. The issue of revocation of visa of any foreigner, including student visa, cannot be a matter for the President of the U.S, who is considered to be the leader of the world. It is a matter of State Department which ends on the table of the Secretary of State.

"When the publication came online on Wednesday and several newspapers brought it to my attention, I contacted the US Embassy in Nigeria and a person, who described himself as the Deputy Head of Mission, told me that they have no instruction from Washington to revoke my visa."

The former Minister of Justice said the US had not in any way personalized its official dealing with Nigeria.

He added: "My being a member of the Governing Council of a UN body was through an election and the US Government voted for my candidature. And there was an agreement sent by Nigerian Foreign Affairs Ministry to all countries, including the US, before I was elected.

"The US Government supported and voted for me during the election in 2009 in Rome. Apart from the US, France, Britain, Germany and all the super powers voted for me. The records are there for anybody to access. So, it is a blatant and reckless story calculated to embarrass me."

On foreign accounts, the ex-AGF said: "I have no single bank account in the United States and any foreign bank account anywhere in the world, including South Africa.

"I have not visited South Africa throughout my lifetime. The allegation of freezing $44million transaction and linking me with it is an April Fool story.

"I have no foreign account anywhere in the world and I have not done any transaction with anybody anywhere in the world.

"I am surprised that all this is coming when I returned from Rome and responded to reporters’ enquiries that the issue of zoning of any elective office post in Nigeria is not in the Constitution.

"And this publication is coming after I stated that the issue of electoral reform is on course. The simple reason for saying that the electoral reform is on course is that the constitution amendments needed to have an effective electoral law, for the reform were initiated during my time as the nation’s AGF based substantially on Justice Uwais Committee’s Report.

"The late President Umaru Yar’Adua forwarded it to the National Assembly and President Goodluck Jonathan followed it up. Therefore, the electoral reform is on course. And there is nothing the President or INEC can do if these laws are not given to them."

http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/news/3712.html

Former Military President, General Ibrahim Babamosi Babangida, has appealed to Nigerians to forget his past mistakes and give him another chance to rule the country again. Babangida also urged Nigerians not to bother about the mistakes or failures of the past but to boldly confront the task ahead by giving him another chance.

The former Nigerian leader said he has never lost faith in the Nigerian project and in his belief to take it to the promise land. Speaking Saturday at the graduation and prize giving day of the Pacesetters Schools in Abuja, Babangida who was represented by his son, Mohammed, said: “We must decide, however, not to over-burden ourselves with the past mistakes or failures of the past but to boldly confront the tasks ahead of us with the solid experience of our elders and the good-nurtured adventurism of our youths.”

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/june/27/national-27-06-2010-002.htm

Men, have you ever tasted a northern/hausa prostitutt?
Honestly, they are very sweet: just like your babe
You may not even need a CD: skin-to-skin

THE Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Kano State command, has arrested 43 prostitutes, some of who were alleged to be aliens, at a hotel in the state capital.

When speaking with pressmen in his office, NIS Comptroller in the Kano State, Mr David Paradang, said 14 out of those arrested were aliens from Sudan , Chad, Niger, Cameroon, while the rest were from Maiduguri, Kaduna, Kano and other neighbouring states.

Paradang stated that the arrest followed a letter written by a citizen to the office that there were some aliens running a commercial sex business in Sabo/ Gari in the state.

The command, after receiving the letter, did an investigation and when it was discovered to be true, sent some officials to raid the affected hotel where they were arrested.

He added that most of the prostitutes arrested were women, noting that the command could not prosecute those who were not of Nigerians because the law did not permit them to engage in prostitution.

In his words, “the command can only deport those aliens who do not possess the necessary papers that authorised them to stay in the country, while the Nigerians among them cannot be charged for any offence.”

He, however, added that those of Kano origin were followed to their respective local government areas and after ascertaining that they were from there, they will be handed over to their parents.

He said, “we can not hand them over to law enforcement agents to be charged for prostitution; the law does not permit the command. All we can do is to counsel and educate them on the need to go for a decent job.”

TENSION is now mounting over the decision of the Federal Government to prosecute only three of the eight people who were indicted in the $180million Halliburton bribery scandal.

The decision of the government to prosecute only three of the indicted suspects is not being taken lightly as the three suspects had vowed to spill the beans if all of them were not prosecuted as this, according to them, amounted to selective justice.

Informed sources disclosed to the Nigerian Tribune that the government decided not to charge the main culprits in the scandal because of political influence.

Nigerian Tribune authoritatively gathered that even the principal suspect, who confessed before the panel to have received the sum of $25 million, and was ready for plea bargain, was not one of those to be prosecuted.

The source revealed that the major construction company, which passed the money to a one-time Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), was all left off the hook.

It was also reliably gathered that two former heads of state were pressing President Goodluck Jonathan to mellow down and spare some of the suspects.

Meanwhile, the United States of America has vowed not to assist the Federal Government to retrieve the balance of the over $100 million left in a Swiss bank unless all those indicted by the panel that investigated the scandal were brought to justice.

It also made it clear that it will not support President Jonathan in his 2011 presidential bid if the prosecution of all those indicted was not taken seriously.

This is undoutbtly true; you should have concluded investigation before arresting and prosecuting. It is not after arresting that you will say you are carrying out investigation that you want them to remain in jail so as not to tamper investigation.
Nigeria is still backward, its obvious we do some things because of sentiments an personal beef,
What has finally happened to Cecila, Athuche and the rest: has any of them been convicted of any crime? What if they are not found guilty at last?

Those who argue that the banking reform by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), under the leadership of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, is affecting innocent Nigerians are right after all. This is vividly demonstrated in what is happening currently in a subsidiary of Bank PHB, one of the banks that the Central Bank rescued last year. It was, however, unclear as at press time, the various ways the subsidiaries of the other four banks, Union, Oceanic, Intercontinental, Finbank, and Afribank, whose management were sacked by the CBN, were being affected.

The travails of Francis Atuche, former group managing director and chief executive officer, Bank PHB have become, partly, the pains of other Nigerians whose investment ordinarily should be protected. Since he was sacked by the CBN in October 2009, and his subsequent arraignment in the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), all companies and accounts suspected to belong to him have been seized by the EFCC.

One of such companies is Platinum Capital Limited, an asset management firm, and a subsidiary of Bank PHB. On 1 March, Justice A.O Ajakaye of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, issued an order of temporary forfeiture on all the assets traced to Mr. Atuche. Platinum Capital was listed among the companies allegedly owned by Atuche, and as a result, the EFCC placed a restriction on the company and also froze all its account.

‘We’re in business, but we can’t issue cheques’

A reporter visited the company, following a complaint from a client who felt shortchanged alleging that his rights have been breached. Following the client’s instruction to the stockbroking firm for sale of some of his shares, Platinum Capital has not been able to effect the order because of the investigation currently being carried out by the EFCC. At the premises of Platinum, on Victoria Island, Lagos, on Wednesday, the office, which shares fence with a branch of Bank PHB, was an EFCC sticker on the wall indicating that the premises is restricted.

No staff of the company was willing to talk on record. However, a staff who spoke on conditions of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the issue, said that the company was still in business but that the inability to meet clients’ expectations was due to the restriction placed by the EFCC.

“We are in business; it is only that when we sell shares on behalf of clients, we cannot issue cheques due to the restriction obtained by the EFCC. Francis Atuche, one of our major shareholders, is being held by the EFCC, and so they have placed a restriction on all his businesses, including this,” he said.

But another staff of the company said the EFCC’s action was destroying their business. “It is like refusing current account holders from withdrawing money from their accounts simply because government is investigating one of the shareholders. That is not proper because the business is a going concern with a principal client relationship, which has to be maintained.”

According to him, many of their clients have suffered undeservedly due to the development. “We had a client whose wife needed to go for cancer treatment. After selling his shares, we could not issue him the cheque. The only option is for our clients to bear with us or move their account to another stockbroking firm, and that in itself is another cumbersome process.”

He said the company has gone to court to vacate the earlier court order.

“Apart from that, we have also appealed directly to the EFCC chairman (Farida Waziri) for her to see reasons why this kind of restriction should not be placed on us, at least in the interest of our clients.”

Femi Babafemi, spokesman of the EFCC, however, said in a telephone interview, last Friday, that the restriction was on the order of a competent court and until it is vacated, the restriction will remain. Asked about the implication on the company clients, Mr. Babafemi said the position of the law is clear. “This is the law, not sentiment. What you are asking borders on sentiment but this is the law.”

A class action suit is possible

But Ope Banwo, a lawyer and managing partner of Banwo, Adeyemo and Igbokwe, said the EFCC’s action was clearly in violation of the law.

“I have not seen the court order, but I will seriously doubt that a reasonable court will abridge the rights of third parties, even as it investigates Atuche and as far as I can tell, the courts in Nigeria have been very smart so far,” Mr. Banwo argued.

He said it was wrong for the anti-graft agency to interprete the court order to mean that it could disrupt the business interests of the company. “The company is a separate entity from Atuche, and its operations should not be abridged while they are prosecuting him. They can certainly prevent him from having access to the assets while the prosecution is going on, but the company should be allowed to deal with third party obligations in the interim.”

He said the people who do business with the company can file a class action lawsuit against the government, EFCC, and all other agencies that are part of the process. “As it is, the restriction is wrongly given already and the company can challenge it right now, instead of waiting for more damages to be done to its clients and business.”

Banwo said the EFCC should have completed its investigation, even before arresting Atuche and there would have been no need to restrict transactions while they investigate. “Like everything Nigerian, we act first and then think about it. We were told they all misbehaved or committed fraud before they, including Atuche, were removed. If that is the case, shouldn’t they have all the proof they need before arresting and have no need to freeze the affairs of the company while prosecuting?”

Mr. Banwo’s opinion is justified, as seen in a similar incident involving Thomas Kingsley Securities, another stockbroking firm, in which Kingsley Ikpe, the major shareholder, was eventually jailed 163 years in 2005. Between August 2004 and July 2005, that the case lasted, an interim management team was appointed and the company’s obligations to third parties were maintained, while clients’ buy and sell orders were fully carried out.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Money/5585787-146/bank_reforms_aftermath_hurt_ordinary_investors.csp

Is EFCC supposed to need 'go ahead' from the president to fight corruption? if so the president is actually the 'chairman of EFCC'. No wonder in Nigeria its only the ppl againt the president/his admisteration are known to be corrupt. None of their loyalists are ever found wanting.
I think i have lose faith in this country,
our press are even the 'mad-ess' ppl,
are they not suppose to cry out loud and say this process is bad,
na God go help us 4 this country

Former presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Maj.-Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (retd.), on Wednesday in Kaduna advised Northern politicians agitating for the zoning of the presidency to the North in 2011 to allow Nigerians to choose their next leader freely.



Buhari, who recently dumped the All Nigeria Peoples Party for the Congress for Progressive Change, also said that Northern politicians insisting on the zoning of the presidency to the region were trivialising a national issue.



The former presidential candidate of the ANPP, who spoke in a statement signed by his Secretary, Public Affairs, Mr. Ya’u Shehu Darazo, faulted the raging controversy over the zoning arrangement of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.



In the statement entitled, “Northern leaders’ gang-up against Jonathan,” he said it was “most unfortunate” that 50 years after independence, some prominent Northern politicians could gather to push a position, in which the presidency could be “trivialised along sectional divides.”



He stressed that Nigerians should be allowed to make their choice of the next president in a free and fair election.



The former head of state, therefore, warned that the zoning arrangement should not misconstrued as a position supported by the entire North, adding that it was an arrangement backed by some Northern politicians in the PDP.



Prominent politicians from the North in the ruling party recently met in Abuja to discuss strategies for frustrating President Goodluck Jonathan’s alleged interest in contesting the 2011 poll. The politicians insisted that the North must produce the president in 2011.



But Buhari vowed that he and his new party would have nothing to do with the meetings of the Northern politicians.



Buhari further argued that the issues surrounding the presidency should be about “programme for development,” rather than hammering on sectional issues.



According to him, the presidency should also not be viewed as North versus South or Muslims against Christians.



The statement reads, “Our attention is drawn to widely publicised media reports of meetings held in Kaduna and Abuja by a certain section of the Northern political elite. The meetings, according to the report, were a ‘kind of northern’ opposition against the possible candidacy of President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2011 general elections.



“The communique of the Abuja meeting indicated the decision of the conveners of the meeting to invite Gen. Muhammadu Buhari among others in their next meetings.



“We wish to use this medium and make it very clear that Gen. Buhari and his party, the Congress for Progressive Change, would have nothing to do with the meeting, as it is diversionary; and whose principles are inconsistent with the tenets of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The meetings were largely a PDP affair and Gen. Buhari cannot be a party to them.



“We, however, concede to the right of those northerners who are members of the PDP to continue to advocate zoning or anything they like. That is the business of the PDP, which is quite different from (that of) the North.



“It is rather unfortunate that 50 years after independence, the presidency of the country is still being trivialised along sectional divides. We wish to make it clear that the presidency of Nigeria is not about North versus South or Muslims versus Christians.



“It is about a programme for development; it is about performance or non-performance; it is about integrity and accountability. It is about the fight against corruption and mismanagement of public funds. And Nigerians under a free and fair election should be allowed to make their choice.”

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201006244441751

The Abia state government has said that it will soon release the names of those who are sponsoring kidnapping and other violent crimes in the state, in an effort to put an end to such crimes.

Speaking in Umuahia, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor (CPS), Kingsley Emeruwa, said that some senior police officers and top politicians in the state, were believed to be behind kidnapping in the state.

Emeruwa said that a report indicated that some senior police officers were involved in kidnapping, adding that government was investigating the allegation, “and once they are proved the people will be named so as to expose them as well as make them face the law.”

The CPS said that most of the repentant kidnappers, who had agreed to lay down their arms and embraces peace, had been mentioning names of police officers and some top politicians from the state as their sponsors.

“We are still compiling the list and we shall make it known to the public. The repentant kidnappers have been mentioning names of police officers and politicians from the state; we will expose them after our investigations,” he said.

When contacted on the telephone, the state commissioner of police, Mr. Jonathan Johnson, denied any knowledge of police involvement in kidnapping and armed robbery in the sate.

The police boss challenged the CPS to substantiate his claim by naming the senior police officers involved in kidnapping, adding that, “I do not know anything like that, Emeruwa should be able to tell you the names of police officers involved in such crimes in the state.”

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/7285-well-soon-release-names-of-kidnappers-sponsors-abia-govt

There was pandemonium in Onitsha, the commercial nerve of Anambra State, on Wednesday as hundreds of people defied heavy rains to protest the killing of a commercial bus driver by a member of the police mobile force at a checkpoint.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) spearheaded the protest against the killing, calling it “a grand plan of systematic killing of Igbo Biafrans by Nigerian government-sponsored forces.”

MASSOB, in a statement made available to the Nigerian Tribune on Wednesday and signed by its Director of Communications, Mr Uchenna Mmadu, said “the so-called anti-terrorist squad, army patrol, SARS and others of such have become a terror which has caused trauma for the people as their style has become warlike.”

It was alleged that the mobile policeman shot the driver, whose identity could not be identified at the time of this report, when he refused to give N20 that was demanded from him at the checkpoint.

Witnesses told the Nigerian Tribune that the driver allegedly explained to the policeman at the checkpoint under the Upper Iweka Bridge that the rains did not allow him to commence work early but that the policeman refused and shot the driver, who was said to have died on the spot.

The incident drew the ire of other drivers who protested the killing, but the policemen at the checkpoint were said to have shot into the air to scare away the rampaging protesters, while tear gas was also said to have been freely used to allow the policemen to escape from the scene.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/7299-policeman-kills-commercial-driver-in-onitsha

A prisoner, who was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) and sentenced to 15 years inprisonment in 2008 over advance fee fraud related offences (aka ‘419’), has defrauded a banker of N12million from his cell at the Kirikiri Maximum Prison, Lagos.

The prisoner, Ikechuwku Ogbu (alias Prince Eze), investigations reveal, created a 419 syndicate from inside the inner recesses of the prison, with which he had been duping unsuspecting members of the public. His forte is what is known in advance fee fraud as love scam. He advertised himself as an eligible bachelor who desperately needs a wife.

Those who responded to adverts, ended up adding to the long list of his victims. However, the riddle which EFCC operatives are trying to resolve is how a prisoner managed to place an advertorial in the love links page of the Vanguard Newspapers of March 7, 2009. In the advertorial, Ogbu wrote: “I am Prince Eze, 46, from Anambra State, live in Lagos. Genotype AA, Blood Group 0 needs a working class business lady between 39-45 to settle down with on 07057928637 or 07085350598. Several women that were desperately looking for husband called these numbers.

One of them is a lady, who works with the National Assembly in Abuja. After making contacts with her proposed spouse, she flew to Lagos, to ensure that others didn’t beat her to her prospective husband.
She received the shock of her life when she landed at the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja and no one was there to pick her.

This prompted her to call Ogbu, who now told her that he was actually detained in Kirikiri Prison by the EFCC over money laundering matters, whereas he is serving a jail term. He told the woman to come over to the prison to meet him. She did. On getting to the prison yard, she was accorded VIP treatment by the warders and this gave her the impression that Ogbu was an influential personality who was detained over a minor issue.

When Ogbu finally met her, he told the lady that theirs was love at first sight. He painted the picture of a blissful marital experience for the couple once he gets out of prison. The woman couldn’t believe her luck for getting a husband, a rich one at that, so cheap. While the woman was thanking God, Ogbu moved to the next stage of his plan to pull off a massive scam. He told her that he was a drug baron and that someone was sending $25 million to him from the United States, but that he was afraid of lodging the money in his own account for fear that it could be seized by EFCC.

The woman fell for the bait, and suddenly made it her business to look for an account for the fraudster. Instead of returning to her station in Abuja, she flew to Port-Harcourt to meet her brother-in-law, a manager with one of the new generation banks and told him about the business. The banker immediately flew to Lagos and met Ogbu. And the story changed. He said the person bringing the money from the US said he would not release it until he came out of prison.

The challenge now was for the banker to arrange his release which, supposedly entails bribing key officials of the prison service and the EFCC as well as the judge. He gave the bankers number to fake EFCC officials who were members of the syndicate.

They started calling the banker, demanding for all sorts of money (in millions). And he paid. At the end of the day, he lost over N12million to the fraudsters, yet Ogbu was not released neither was any payment in dollars received.
At this juncture, he realized that he had been fleeced and reported to the EFCC. The commission’s investigations revealed that Ogbu lives like a king in Kirikiri Prison. Although he was not supposed to have access to telephone, five cell phones were recovered from the unrepentant prisoner when EFCC stormed the prison last Thursday, June17. It was also discovered that he had been receiving huge sums of money in the presence of warders.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/june/24/national-24-06-2010-003.htm

house of goats

Abigail Ige

FL Gators:
Hmm interesting. evil666, I'm a married woman tho lol

am not askin you out
i just wanna know you a bit

So FL Gators is female!
i thought it was a male
Girl, i need to know u baby, maybe we talk online lata

@ FL Gators & EzeUche

What is the matter wit u guyyz

Photos 1 & 4: Rep Doris Uboh , being dragged out of the House of Representatives plenary session by the Sergeants-at-Arms, during the brawl in the House on Tuesday; Photo 2: Rep Chinyere Igwe (middle) being taken to the National Assembly Clinic after the brawl and Photo 3: Rep Dino Melaye, chairman, Progressives group, in the House of Representatives, after the brawl, on Tuesday

,

Ahead the build up to the 2011 elections, Vice President Namadi Sambo, on Tuesday, clamoured for more roles for Nigerian women, saying for the country to reach its desired developmental level, women must be given 50 per cent of elective offices in the forthcoming 2011 general election.

The number two man stated this in Abuja during the closing ceremony of the just-concluded national summit on women participation in politics, stressing that experience has shown that whatever a man can do, women can do it better.

In his word, “Time has come for us to increase the number of women participation in politics; this is very important for our country to attain her desired level in development in all sector. Our country will not fair well if women are not involved in policy making and governance.

“We will support them in their quest to be involved in politics and ensure their full participation as well as making sure that every of their vote’s counts in the 2011 general election.”

He, however, urged women to change their mindset about politics, pointing out that politics without bitterness is the only way women can team up against men and be sure of victory.

A final-year student of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, narrowly missed being beaten to death, on Monday, when two policemen and two policewomen descended on her, over allegation of refusal to submit her handbag for search.

The HND II student of Microbiology, Abigail Ige, was said to have been accosted by a policeman inside Fayose Market , on Ajilosun road, where she claimed she went to buy fingerlings needed for her final year project.

Ige, 22, who was rushed to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), Ado-Ekiti, after her encounter with the police at the police post, as of the time of filing this report, on Tuesday, was at the emergency ward of the hospital.

She told journalists at the hospital that she was accosted by a policeman whom she identified as Femi, adding that he asked her what was contained in her handbag.

“I went to Fayose Market to buy some fingerlings to be used for my project. As I was coming back, a policeman met me and said he wanted to search my handbag. I told him to empty the content of the bag right there in the market and carry out his search because I am aware of what they are capable of doing.

“He said no and he snatched the bag from me and took it to their station. When I finished buying the things I needed, I went to the station, since it is not far from where he met me. As I got there, he said he would show me who he was because I refused to allow him to search my bag in the market. He asked me to enter the cell and I said no because I had not done anything wrong.

“Then, they started hitting me. There were four of them; two females and two males. They beat me till I became tired and then, they dragged me into the cell.

The rector of the polytechnic, Mrs Taiwo Akande, in an interview with journalists over the matter, said the case had been reported to police authorities.

She, however, said how police authorities handled the case would determine the next step the school would take.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Jimoh Mohammed, who confirmed the incident, said the police was still conducting investigation into it.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/7227-policemen-brutalise-female-student-in-ekiti

ABOUT two months after the death of former President Umaru Yar’Adua, his portrait is still causing ripple in Enugu State House of Assembly.

There was confusion at the office of the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Honourable Eugene Odoh, on Tuesday, when a security detail attached to the speaker stopped a photo journalist from taking the picture of the portrait of the former president, which hung conspicuously in the office.

Reporters, who thronged the office of the speaker for a scheduled press briefing, on Tuesday, were astonished that two months after Yar’Adua had died, his portrait had not been replaced with that of his successor, President Goodluck Jonathan.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that no office at the state Assembly complex had the portrait of President Jonathan.

An attempt by the photo journalist to capture the portrait, which was placed side by side with that of Governor Sullivan Chime and Honourable Odoh, resulted in a near pandemonium, as the security detail attached to the speaker threatened to smash the cameras and seize the handsets of reporters.

But for the intervention of the speaker, one of the security details had attempted to interrupt the briefing when he tried to stop a reporter who wanted to take a picture of the portraits using his handset.

Asked whether it was out of love that the portrait was still being hung on the wall, the speaker said the portrait was still there because the House had not formally deliberated on it.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/7228-yaraduas-portrait-causes-ripples-in-enugu-assembly

I sympathise with every patriotic Nigerian

9jawear:
Rubbish,these dudes are paedophiles ,can you imagine,
The police should start arresting this people one by one

Very funny
how many police wan arrest

ABUJA — A political pressure group, People’s Zone Alliance, PZA, has taken the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and the 56 other political parties in the country to court to seek an interpretation over the issue of zoning ahead of the 2011 elections.

Explaining its position at a press briefing in Abuja, yesterday, President of the Alliance, Alhaji Mohammed Bolori, said the concept of zoning adopted by most of the political parties was only meant to serve the selfish interests of some individuals within the parties and did not represent the will of the people.

He said: “Quite recently, we have noticed with amazement calls for the zoning of elective offices by almost all the political parties across the country. This practice has gone unchallenged for some time and has produced nothing but national ridicule.

“This approach to our governance is primitive, selective as opposed to participatory participation. It is equally disrespectful to people’s right to choose, and detrimental to the growth and development of democracy in our society.”

He explained that the “warped concept of zoning has become entrenched in the political system that only a judicial surgery could extricate the vestigial remains of hegemonism, divisionism, separatism and fascism,” hence recourse by the group to the courts.

Bolori said through the concept of zoning, credible candidates were denied chances to contest elective offices.

“Zoning, as a political concept, is a fraud on the constitution and against the will of the people.

The whole concept of zoning is unconstitutional as it runs contrary to Sections 131 and 224 of the 1999 Constitution, as well as Article 13 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act 1990.

According to him, it is based on “the obvious limitations and infractions on our rights as citizens that we as a people and members of PZA are challenging the practice of zoning in the courts and now request the court to interpret the constitution to all involved, including the 57 political parties, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.”

Prayers of the group
He added that the particular prayer of the group was for “the court to declare such practice unconstitutional and an abridgement of the fundamental rights of citizens.”

The courts, he said, should also compel INEC to exercise its regulatory rights to the extent of sanctioning any political party that adopts the zoning formula or any similar policy by whichever name called, in fielding candidates in any elections henceforth as enshrined in Section 86(2),(3) and (4) of the Electoral Act 2006.

The PZA leader noted that the court action would be the first in a continuum by the group to address some anomalies that manifestly militate against the survival of democracy in the country.

He declared that the group would embark on massive re-orientation of citizens across the country to educate them on their rights with regards to the forthcoming elections in 2011.

“Our situation in Nigeria calls for greater resourcefulness. This is certainly a battle between the will of the people and entrenched interests in the political parties; it is the disenfranchised versus the usurpers,” he added.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday expressed concerns that the House of Representatives had become enmeshed in “scandals upon scandals” since 1999.



The chairman of the commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri, said that it was worrisome that the House had failed to meet the aspirations of the people, who voted its members to protect their interests.



“I think most Nigerians have been very concerned because there have been scandals upon scandals in that House. And that is the bastion of democracy and the hope of the common man,” she said.



She spoke when a group of lawmakers, Progressive-Minded Legislators, submitted a petition to the anti-graft agency at its headquarters in Abuja.



The group, which is led by Mr. Dino Melaye, has been calling for the resignation of the Speaker of the House, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, over alleged corrupt practices.



One of the demands contained in the petition is for the EFCC to investigate how Bankole and the Body of Principal Officers allegedly spent N9bn out of the N11bn budgeted as the capital vote of the House between 2008 and 2009.



Waziri, while receiving the document from the group, recalled that from the certificate forgery involving a former speaker, Alhaji Salisu Buhari in 1999, to the latest N9bn allegation, it had been “scandals upon scandals.”



She stated that the commission would commence investigation into the matter immediately.



She said, ”We have to salvage our nation. For the National Assembly, the House of Representatives, in particular, I have been worried.



”All the citizens who trusted you and voted you into that House feel that you are there to protect their interests.



“But when we have issues all the time starting from the era of Buhari, you remember the certificate forgery scam, and now the car scam.



“I mean it is something that is worrisome. And I think with this step you have taken and the action that will follow, it is obvious that there is need to sanitise the House of Representatives and make it like any other House anywhere in the World.”



She said that on the strength of newspaper publications of the alleged scam, the EFCC had commenced the process of setting up a committee of “diligent, loyal and hard-working” officers to look into the matter.



Waziri said, “The law, as we say, is no respecter of person. Nobody is above the laws of the land; everybody is equal before the law. And this is what we have been preaching and this is what we have been trying to do.



“When you talk of the body of principal officers, we will swing into action and you will see what we are doing. I am particularly happy when people discover that something is wrong, economic crimes-wise, and they take it upon themselves to expose and to bring it to our attention.



“We have been crying out loud that fighting corruption and economic crimes is not the exclusive preserve of the EFCC and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other- Related Offences Commission. It is everybody’s fight and it is every Nigerian’s fight.



“This is our country as you stated, we don’t have any other country; we have just Nigeria. There is no place like home. Even those of you that have gone out, you can compare and see that home is home and that there is no place like home.



“We are pained when our country is being run down as a result of massive corruption. I am in a position to say this because as I sit here, I know what goes on and I feel so much pain.”



She explained that other unresolved scandals such as Siemens, Halliburton and Wilbros had painted the country in bad light.



Melaye had told the EFCC chairman that contrary to the ”blackmail,” the PML was out to sanitise the House by insisting that its affairs should be conducted transparently.



He said, ”If we have oversight functions over MDAs (ministries, agencies and departments), then we need to do same for ourselves.



”Some of us have decided that in the face of tyranny, in the face of very stiff opposition, we have taken the battle line to build a new Nigeria where justice, equity and democratic norms will be the order of the day.”



He accused a 10-member Body of Principal Officers of the House led by Bankole of alleged contract inflation, saying that the speaker had been living an ostentatious lifestyle.



He recalled how his past motions on the floor of the House led to the revocation of the sale of Delta Steel, the imposition of fine on Multi-choice and the cancellation of the N65bn runway contract at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja.



The lawmaker from Kogi State said that recent developments in the House portrayed the country as an entity suffering from “dreadful congenital abnormality.”



He said, “He who seeks equity must come with clean hands. If the House is questioning Ministries, Departments and Agencies through oversight functions, we need to oversight (sic) ourselves so that the public can have confidence in us.



“Out of the N11bn that was allocated to the House in 2008/2009 budgets for capital projects, N2bn was returned to the treasury. But we are asking the House officers to account for how they spent N9bn.



“We have documents to prove that some items approved by the Body of Principal officers, of whom the Speaker is the chairman, were inflated.



“We are ready to lay down our lives for this. We fought for this democracy. We cannot sit here and watch the National Assembly corrupted. We will do everything to protect this democracy. Let me make it clear that we are not fighting Bankole, what we are fighting is corruption.”



Melaye was in company with Messrs Anass Abbah, Bitrus Kaze, Independence Ogunnewe, Austin Nwachukwu and Solomon Ahwinahwi.



Reacting to the comments of the EFCC boss, the House through its spokesman, Mr. Eseme Eyiboh, said that it welcomed the commission‘s interest in the crisis in the House.



“The House of Representatives appreciates the interest of the EFFC chairman in requesting the House to explore available avenues to collaborate with it to thin down avenues of graft,” Eyiboh said in a statement.



He added, ”It is on record that the present House is known for its vigour and commitment to legislative engagements premised on transparency and rule of law.



”These avenues are exercised in our rules‘ book and through various committees. We, therefore, request all agencies of government to avail themselves of this synergy with the House.”



As at 9.31pm on Monday, Bankole, a lawmaker from Ogun State, was meeting with the South-West caucus in the House. It was learnt that the meeting’s agenda was on the ongoing crisis in the House which would resume today after a two week recess.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20100622431846

THE chairman, Kano State branch of Nigeria Council of Ulama, Sheikh Ibrahim Khalil, has said that one can marry a young girl even at the age of five and keep her under his custody until she reaches puberty, saying  that Islam is not against early marriage in all circumstances.

According to him, Islam does not limit age of marriage because sexual contact with a small girl is delayed till she reaches puberty.

Sheikh Khalil was reacting  to the controversial marriage of former Zamfara State governor, Alhaji Ahmad Sani Yerima, saying it was unwise to go against divine laws in the name of criticism or human rights advocacy.

He added that sleeping with one’s wife depends on the nature of her body rather than age, adding that one can find an 18-year-old girl whose body is not ripe for sexual intercourse, while there may be nine-year-old girl whose body is ripe for sexual activity with her husband.

He then attributed the whole issue surrounding Yerima’s marriage to blind accusation aimed at tarnishing the image of the former governor just because he was the first governor to re-introduce the implementation of Sharia in his state, which 12 other states later followed suit.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/7168-islam-is-not-against-early-marriage-kano-council-of-ulama

NORMAL banking activities came to a halt on Monday, in Okigwe, Imo State, as workers in nine banks operating in the town embarked on a five-day warning strike to protest incessant armed robbery attacks on the banks.

Reports from the area said that customers who went to the banks for usual banking services on that day, were disappointed as they met doors of all the banks operating in the town under lock and key, with a notice that they would not operate during the week.

A member of Okigwe City Bank Managers’ Forum, who spoke with reporters on the telephone on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the warning strike was declared by the forum to protest the recurring armed robbery attacks on the banks in Okigwe, which had lost several millions of naira in recent times.

According to him, the crime in the area was becoming unbearable, recalling the bank robbery involving nine banks in the town on April 21, this year that claimed seven persons including a staff of one of the banks and a huge amount of money carted away without any meaningful intervention by security operatives.