₦airaland Forum

Increasing the price of a non-existing service is more like a broad day light robbery.It can only happen in Nigeria,

One annoying thing is; My girl friend calls me up when am at work or driving, and she says, '' Baby, Tell nme you love me now" What is that? Why can't they learn to trust us? Cry. I'll Talk about this later, Gotta GO!

which kain dodo is all this? methinks some people need to have the fear of God put into them. . .beginning with these daily trust ppl

Twenty members of the dissolved Federal Executive Council (FEC) have been renominated by the Acting President Goodluck Jonathan and their names have already been sent to the State Security Service (SSS) for screening, Daily Trust learnt in Abuja yesterday. The sources said the presidency awaits nominations from state governors to fill in the remaining ministerial slots. The governors have been asked to turn in three names for the Acting President to choose from.

Most of the renominated former ministers belong to the “pro-Jonathan” camp, while those excluded from it belong to the “pro-Yar’adua” group of former ministers. Among those our sources said “are not on the list” sent for security screening include former FCT Minister Mohamed Adamu Aliero, former Agriculture Minister Abba Sayyadi Ruma, former Works Minister Dr. Mohamed Hassan Lawal, former Minister of State for Communications Ikira Aliyu Bilbis, former Minister of Niger Delta Chief Ufot Ekaette and former Minister of State for Education, Aishatu Jibril Dukku. All these men were known Yar’adua loyalists, while Mrs, Dukku was very close to Hajia Turai Yar’adua.

Among the big names said to have been nominated as new ministers include former Speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Bello Masari from Katsina State and Adamu Maina Waziri from Yobe State. However, Daily Trust learnt in Katsina that Governor Ibrahim Shema has nominated his close confidants, the Commissioner for Works Architect Musa Sada, Ali Hussaini Dutsinma, former Group Managing Director of the NNPC Abubakar Lawal Yar’adua and Kabir Saidu Daura. Daura is said to be a close ally of the National Security Adviser, Gen. Aliyu Gusau.

In Bauchi State, Governor Isa Yuguda is said to be playing his cards close to his chest, but our reporter learnt that Senator Bala Mohammed Duguri is being considered because he was a front liner in the elevation of Jonathan to Acting President. Former Police Affairs Minister Ibrahim Yakubu Lame, who was nominated to Yar’adua’s cabinet by the Northern Union, is said to be still in contention, even though Secretary to the Government of the Federation Mahmud Yayale Ahmed is also believed to nominate others.

In Plateau State, Daily Trust learnt that Governor Jonah Jang may have nominated Bulus Kewa, his long time associate. Kewa hails from Mangu Local Government, home of former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Bagudu Hirse. Also being touted is Barrister Danjuma Maina from the Mwghavul tribe where Hirse comes from, even though Jang is preparing to appoint Maina as Director General of his 2011 re-election campaign.

From Adamawa State, although former Minister of State for Health Aliyu Idi Hong is said to be on the list already sent to the SSS, other nominees such as Abdulrahman Adamu, Ambassador Hassan Tukur as well as Umaru Aliyu Sarkin Yamma are said to be in contention. Aliyu is a close associate of Governor Murtala Nyako.

From Yobe State, Daily Trust learnt that former Army Chief General Alwali Kazir, believed to be backed by Gen. T.Y. Danjuma, and former Minister of State for Agriculture Adamu Maina Waziri is on the list of nominees. Waziri is a member of the Ken Nnamani-led Good Governance Group (G3) that has fronted for the transfer of power from Yar’adua to Jonathan.

The nominees from Kano State, according to Daily Trust’s findings include Ibrahim Yakubu Waziri, Magaji Mu’azu and El-Nafaty, while those that make the list from neighbouring Jigawa State are Ambassador to Turkey Abdulhamid Ahmed Malam Madori, former governor Ali Sa’ad Birnin Kudu, who is an Obasanjo man, and Hassan Alhaji Haruna, a former minister.

In Borno State, some of the names being peddled are Ambassador Saidu Pindar, Senator Abbah Aji, Nicolas Mshelia, former Minister of National Planning Sanusi Daggash and Waziri Bulama.

The list from Kaduna State is said to include Dr. Dogara Mato, who is said to be from the camp of the former governor, Senator Ahmed Makarfi. The one time chairman of Lere Local Government is said to be nominated to demonstrate that the reconciliation between Governor Namadi Sambo and his predecessor Makarfi is real.

In Zamfara State, Kabiru Marafa, political godson of the NSA General Aliyu Gusau has made the list. Marafa recently retired from Governor Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi’s cabinet when he was moved from the Ministry of Education to another ministry.

For Taraba State, Daily Trust learnt that Alhassan Zaku, former Minister in the dissolved cabinet may be returned. However, there are strong indications that Jonah Katabs, member of Governor Suntai’s kitchen cabinet, may have been nominated.

Indications in Lagos were that former Minister of State for Agriculture Ademola Seriki may be re-appointed. Also, the High Commissioner to Ghana and former PDP gubernatorial candidate Musiliu Obanikoro may be considered.

In Oyo state, Remi Babalola, the former minister of state for Finance may be returned. From Ondo state, it is almost certain that the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General Mr Adetokunbo Kayode will stage a comeback. He was very close to the Acting President and his role in the confirmation saga was quite noticeable.

Meanwhile, there were indications emerged last night that the planned choice of Ogun State Commissioner for Water Resources Mr. Kola Onadipe for a ministerial position met with strong resistance.

The protest from Yewa division adduced injustice and lack of fairness to the division if the nomination sails through.

Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the Acting President, is well known to Nigerians over whose affairs he now presides. Since 2005 when he hit the limelight as the deputy governor of Bayelsa State, who was elevated to the gubernatorial seat after then governor Diepreye Alamiey-eseigha, was impeached by the legislators, Jonathan has been well known to his countrymen. They have seen him climbing up to become vice president and now acting president.

What Nigerians do not know are his close advisers, confidants and strategists whose counsel, thoughts, ideas and opinions will shape the policies, programmes and plans which the acting president may unfold in moving the nation forward from this week.
THISDAY checks in the presidency indicate that the new men who will shape the corridors of power are from varied generations, educational backgrounds, professions, religions and geo-political zones. Enter Olusegun Obasanjo, Theophilus Danjuma, Andrew Azazi, Hamman Tukur, Edo Obi and the Anyiam-Osigwe brothers. Exit Abba Rummah, Tanimu Yakubu, Ibrahim Shemah and Dahiru Mangal.
THISDAY gathered that the men whose advise may be relied upon mainly by the acting president as he gets set to name a new set of ministers to help actualise his plans to move the nation forward are 12 in number.

First in the list of members of the Jonathan inner circle is president Olus-egun Obasanjo. Obasanjo became close to Jonathan in 2005 after the former president engineered the impeachment of ex-Bayelsa governor Alamieyeseigha. Since then the two men had been very close as Obasanjo was also instrumental to the selection of Jonathan as running mate to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who was then PDP presidential candidate in the 2007 elections. Obasanjo had publicly called on Yar’Adua “to do the right thing in view of his failing health”, a euphemism for him to resign and allow Jonathan take over as president. The acting president will rely on the former four-star general who is the chairman, PDP board of trustees to rein-in the party behind him and to have a firm grip of the military.
As a result of Obasanjo’s influence, Jonathan may also bring in some technocrats into government while he may also have used the old man as an emissary to some Western governments.

Another member of the inner caucus is Lt, General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau (rtd). Gusau, who is now national security adviser, has taken centre stage in the Jonathan led government helping to give it direction and providing adequate intelligence support needed for crucial decisions to be taken. He has also provided good cover for the administration to keep in touch with key power centres at home and abroad.
Lt. General T. Y. Danjuma (rtd.) is also a crucial adviser to the acting president on policy formulation and personnel sourcing. Danjuma, alongside members of the Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC), will be influential in the nominations into the cabinet about to be formed. Danjuma and the PAC members have also been helpful in advising on what should be the focus of the government in terms of programme to be implemented in the next 14 months.

General Andrew Owoeye Azazi, former chief of defence staff, was one of 13 Nigerians to ever wear the rank of a four-star general. He is a close confidant and family friend of the Jonathans. Sources say Azazi is in fact being considered as chief of staff to the president, a situation which would reenact the Obasanjo presidency in which two retired generals whose area of specialisation is intelligence occupied the strategic positions of NSA and chief of staff. Then, it was Gusau and Major General Muhammed Abdullahi (rtd). Azazi is respected in intelligence circles just like Gusau, the NSA , who is his senior. The two men are already providing strategic counsel needed by the acting president to side step the booby traps and to make top policy and personnel decisions. Azazi will have some influence in who becomes a minister in the new cabinet.

Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, the Secretary to the Federal Government, is another key player in Jonathan’s kitchen cabinet. Ahmed, a consumate bureaucrat became a key player in the Jonathan inner circle because of his pioneering bold move in January when he insisted that President Yar’Adua should comply with the provision of Section 145 of the Constitution by transmitting a letter to the National Assembly, which would enable then Vice-President Jonathan to act as President.

His position surprised members of the Yar’Adua group and the first family. When his advice was rebuffed, he started referring key government files requiring the attention of the President to Jonathan in order to ensure continuity in governance in the interest of the nation. This action by a man they considered as a close ally further annoyed members of the Yar’Adua family.
Since then, Ahmed had maintained a close relationship with Jonathan. The SGF is a major decision maker in the ongoing efforts to form a new cabinet. Most advisers in the Presidency report to the SGF, who is said to be a policy formulation expert.

Alhaji Hamman Tukur, another member of the inner caucus is a young, dynamic well-educated northerner, is the secretary of the National Energy Council and former head of the Nigeria-Sao Tome Joint Commission. He is a man with strong intelligence background. He has been a friend of the acting president long before Jonathan moved to Abuja and has been a key policy adviser to Jonathan. Many who are conversant with the goings-on in the inner circle hinted that Tukur may emerge as head of a key ministry or even as the chief of staff to Jonathan. A strong source, however, noted that he is likely to become the next managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Tukur is the link between the northern intelligentsia, the turks, whose opinions now matter in the emerging politics of their area. This group includes Nuhu Ribadu, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Nasir el-Rufai and Mansur Mutar, many of whom may be brought into the government in different capacities.

Ebitimi Banigo, top banker and former Minister of Science and Technology in the Obasanjo government is another silent but key Jonathan adviser. He is a family friend of the Jonathans who has supported the acting president through thick and thin when he was in the cold in the Alamieyeseigha administration as deputy governor. His advise will matter particularly in the nominations into the cabinet and in the area of fiscal policy formulation, budgetary implementation and monitoring.
Also in the Jonathan inner circle is Lt. Col. Edor Obi (rtd), a former military administrator of Bayelsa State who handed over to Alamieyeseigha and Jonathan in 1999. Obi had maintained a close relationship with Jonathan, even when Jonathan was ignored in Yenagoa by members of the inner caucus of the Alamieyeseigha administration. Since 2007 when Jonathan moved to Aso Rock, Obi has been a constant pillar of support to him. Obi is still well regarded in Bayelsa State.

Like Obi, another key operator in the Jonathan inner circle is Tony Ezekiel, an Abuja based furniture entrepreneur who has remained close to the acting president over the years and has the ears of Jonathan.
Mike Oghiadomhe, former deputy governor of Edo State who became a close friend of Jonathan when both of them were deputy governors is a key member of the kitchen cabinet. Jonathan brought him to the presidency as deputy chief of staff until the position was downgraded by Yar’Adua to that of principal secretary. In the new cabinet to be constituted by Goodluck, Oghiadome may head a full-fledged ministry except he chooses to remain with Jonathan as a key adviser.

It is also believed that Mr. Oronto Douglas, the acting president’s senior special assistant on strategy is another key member of the new kitchen cabinet. Unassuming but highly intelligent, Douglass is a cat with nine lives and one of the few people in the world to have survived cancer. He is a dependable ally of the acting president since the latter’s days in Bayelsa State’s government. He is Jonathan’s link to the civil society groups, the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) and the international community where he is very strong and viewed as an environmental rights crusader. He is seen as a good strategist in the Jonathan’s inner circle.

In the inner circle of Jonathan also are the Anyiam-Osigwe brothers, Michael and Chukwuka. The two scions of a wealthy family have been very close to acting president Jonathan since his days as Bayelsa State governor. They are a pair of influential business leaders who can serve as Jonathan’s link with the business community at home and abroad. The duo will sure have a role to play as the acting president gets ready to interface with different sectors of the economy and the international business community.
It is believed that there may be other influential Nigerians whose opinions will count as Jonathan strengthens his hand on the lever of power, but the above named men are the key players in the newly emerging inner cabinet.

There are strong indications that the Central Bank of Nigeria has directed non-executive directors that have spent 12 years on the boards of their banks to quit by December 2010.

The decision, which, according to sources close to the Bankers‘ Committee, is in line with the code of corporate governance of 2006, is causing ripples among the directors, who think their stakes in the banks are at risk.

A top official of the CBN, who spoke in confidence with our correspondent on Friday, confirmed that directors, who fell in this category, might have to go by December, adding that the CBN was only enforcing the code of corporate governance issued in 2006 by the apex bank under Prof. Chukwuma Soludo.

He said apart from the part of the code, which required that banks should have succession plans for chief executive officers; non-executive directors were also not expected to spend more than 12 years to allow young people with fresh ideas to take over the affairs of the banks.

According to him, ”The code says maximum tenure for non-executive directors of banks is three terms of four years each. It also says that banks must change auditors after a maximum of 10 years. The CBN is only reminding the banks to comply.

”This is the reason why no new circular was issued on the CBN website to that effect. The code had been there but many items on it were just not being implemented.”

He also said that Guaranty Trust Bank Plc had told four of its non-executive directors to go in line with the code and had alerted the CBN even before the apex bank reminded other banks comply.

”GTBank complied voluntarily without prompting, so why should others not do the same thing,” he said.

However, another top official of the Bank added that affected directors were not being chased away from the industry, saying, ”they could go to other banks if they so wish.”

All the banks contacted on Friday declined to comment on the issue.

When contacted, the Head, Corporate Affairs, CBN, Mr. Muhammed Abdullahi, simply said, ”The true position is that the provision is contained in the code of corporate governance issued by the CBN in 2006.”

Muma Gee may not be a commercial success, but when it comes to music, the diva sure knows what the time is. She has come to be known and appreciated as one of the prominent female musicians in Nigeria.

And when she was included as one of the celebrities in a soon-to-be-aired reality TV show organised by a multinational company, a lot of people believed her presence would trigger a lot of drama, going by her sultry and seductive roles.

Expectedly, Muma may have caused a sensation in the show. The gist that is making the rounds is that she was caught in the ‘act’ with actor Emeka Ike in the bathroom.

But reacting to this, Muma said the story is false, adding that she was shocked to hear it. “I don’t know what these people are insinuating. It is not true at all. Emeka Ike is a married man. It was just that we were very close when we were in the camp. As for sleeping with him, that story is just false,” she said.

As shocking as she might find the allegation, however, Muma said she was not bothered by the “stupid stories.”

“I have developed a thick skin against these scandals and allegations. I have something important I am doing and I am moving on with my life. People can continue wasting their time by saying rubbish.

Life and Beat called Emeka on the phone to hear his side but the calls could not go through.