₦airaland Forum

This is so true. Kudos to NIPSS DG. This is the time to promote unity and progress in Nigeria. Eid el Fitri reminds us that true service to God begins with love for one another and service to humanity.

Who doesn't know before that the rumour is a well orchestrater marketing campaign by Dangote. Influencers have been settled to fly the story everywhere on social media. If you know you know

President Muhammadu Buhari, has appointed AIG Zanna Mohammed Ibrahim, as Acting Inspector General of Police.

Until his appointment AIG Mohammed was the Commandant of the Police Academy, Kano State.

President Muhammadu Buhari has violated the executive order on mandatory use of face masks and maintenance of physical distance to curb the spread of COVID-19, days after signing it.

Peoples Gazette earlier reported that Mr. Buhari, on Tuesday, signed the regulation in exercise of his powers under Section 4 of the Quarantine Act.

Part of the document states that “a physical distance of at least two metres must be maintained at all times between persons” and nobody should be in a public premise except “he is wearing a face mask covering the nose and mouth”.

However, the president failed to adhere to the order, which prescribes six months in prison upon conviction, on Saturday in Daura, Katsina.

Mr. Buhari had travelled to his hometown where he revalidated his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at his Sarkin Yara polling unit in Daura.

Even though he wore the mask at some point, he was spotted amidst scores of people while holding his facemask rather than have it on, just as the physical distance of two metres was ignored.

The president, who was accompanied by some APC governors like Aminu Masari of Katsina and Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano, was spotted amidst others, as they discussed without maintaining a physical distance.

Similarly, one of the president’s aides Bashir Ahmad was spotted at a friend’s wedding in Bauchi on the same day, without a face mask or maintaining social distancing.



In some of the photos shared online, Mr. Ahmad, who did not initially wear a face mask, only did that at the point of taking photographs.

In his reaction, after lawyer Abdul Mahmud and other Twitter users attacked him for not practising what he preaches, the presidential aide said he is not a law enforcement officer.

”First, I am not a law enforcement officer, so there is a limit to what one can do. Secondly, I can’t love them more than they love themselves, ours is to encourage, advise and also tell them the consequence of their actions. Keep advising people to always wear their masks, please,” he said.

Nigerian officials have regularly disregarded regulations against the spread of coronavirus since the first case was confirmed in the country in February 2020.

Asides disregarding directives to wear nose masks and keep a sensible distance, some officials who returned from foreign trips have also failed to isolate themselves for seven days as recommended by the disease control office NCDC.

Yet, when the Nigerian government published a list of those who allegedly violated COVID-19 guidelines, no recognisable government official was on the list, indicating that the enforcement has only been targeted at ordinary citizens.

Currently, Nigeria has been battling the second wave of COVID-19, and, unlike the first phase, the country now records over a thousand daily cases.

Nigeria has a total 130,557 recorded cases with 103,712 recoveries and 1,578 deaths.
[/b][b]
https://gazettengr.com/covid-19-buhari-violates-nigerian-law-shuns-face-covering-physical-distancing/?utm_source=ReviveOldPost&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ReviveOldPost

I had impacted teeth on each side of my lower jaw. I had to get them extracted eventually after dilly-dallying for years. They were not removed at the same time though, but three years apart as the one on the left jaw started to manifest much later. OP I think you will eventually need to extract. As someone suggested please try and get it done in a reliable government hospital

Sugabelly has done great damage to his political ambitions with the rape allegation. It is an albatross he will continue to bear. Opponents will tear him to pieces when campaigns begin.

https://sugabellyrocks.com/2015/11/surviving-mustapha-audu-and-his-rape-brigade.html

[color=#990000][/color]

REDshouse:
Reason why we have many developers..... Oloripelebe in our state...

Must we bring tribalism into everything? Must we be abusive at all times?

Lol. The bum bum twitter handle is actually a catfish account. Meaning the person behind it is a dude using a female moniker to scam guys. This includes twitting outlandish stories to get likes and retweets. He has been busted. See tweets below:[color=#990000][/color]

I thought he said upon the altar that he had forgiven her?

God bless you. You hit the nail right on the head.

LaRochelle:
He is actually very correct.

First, the "no 's' in million in this context" serves as an adjective to qualify the class. So, if you replace the phrase in quotation marks with a subject, let's say Biology, it would read "There is a Biology class." That makes perfect sense.

Second, "first person singular" is usually associated with pronouns. The EFCC replier did not use any first person singular. He only used a singular verb "is" and singular article "a".

Third, the EFCC replier's use of quotation marks is appropriate. You are allowed to use single quotation marks inside a sentence/clause/phrase using double quotation marks.

Next time, evaluate well before you throw punches .

Ancient Asaba town and its environs were literally paralysed on Wednesday in jubilation, following news of the release of ex-Governor of Delta State, James Onanefe Ibori.

The news of his release from London prison where he had served jail term for money laundering and other offences filtered into Asaba and its environs in the early hours.

Various Quarters’ residents, especially Asaba youths, rolled out their drums to celebrate the man they described as “Odidigborigbo.”

The youths sang Asaba-Ibo songs along Nnebisi Road, Summit Junction, Okpanam Road and Anwai Road where they danced freely to drumbeats, causing serious traffic gridlock.

Security agents and the popular Ogbeogonogo Market Women were not left out in the jubilation.

The State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. Peter Mrakpor, who spoke to journalists in Asaba, described Ibori’s release as a welcome development; adding that his contributions to nation building cannot be overemphasised.


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“I’m particularly grateful and hope that the Federal Government would grant him state pardon,” Egodike said.

One of the market women, Mrs. Esther Nnamdi, said: “We are grateful to God for his mercies. Ibori is a man and a great man, we are very happy for him”.

In Government House and offices, civil servants and government appointees told stories of how Ibori developed the state.

Palmer Osakwe, a civil servant, told our reporter, “Ibori is a great man; he developed the state. Indeed, we want him pardoned by the Federal Government.”

A lawyer in Asaba, Barr. Lawrence Egodike, also appealed to Federal Government to grant the former governor state pardon, adding that the ex-governor contributed immensely to the development of the state.

https://www.today.ng/news/nigeria/235014/delta-residents-celebrate-iboris-release-london-prison

The postings of the 47 ambassadors recently appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari have been announced.

See the postings of the Ambassadors currently undergoing a four-day induction which ends on Thursday below:

Abia: Obinna Agbugba (Togo), Adamawa: Salisu Umaru (Senegal), Paragalda Audu (Turkey), Akwa Ibom: Inyan Udo-Inyang (Gabon), Anambra: Okeke Nwunaku (Spain), Nonye Udo (Austria).

Bauchi: Liman Munir (Congo), Benue: Ndem Ada (Sweden), Demenongu A. Agev (Equatorial Guinea), Borno: Mohammed Hassan (Kenya), Toko Gongulong (Sao Tome & Principe), Lawan Gashagar (Mali), Cross River: Martin Cobham (Thailand), Odeka Bisong (Zimbabwe).

Delta: Janet Olisa (Jamaica), Edo: Itegboje S.Sunday (Permanent Mission in New York), Queen I. Worlu (Cuba).

Others are: Ekiti: Olatunde Adesesan (Angola), Emmanuel Kayode Oguntause (Benin), Enugu: Lilian Onoh (Namibia).

FCT: Adamu Shuaibu (Rwanda), Gombe: Manaja Isah (Israel), Habu Gwani Ibrahim (Zambia), Imo: Ngozi Ukaeje (Portugal), Kenneth C. Nwachukwu (Cameroon), Jigawa: Bello Kazaure Huessini (North Korea), Kaduna: Enoch Pear Duchi (Ireland), Kano: Garba Baba (Poland), Rabiu Akawu (Algeria).

Katsina: Usman Aliyu (China), Ibrahim Hamza (Iran), Kebbi: Umar Salisu (Botswana), Kogi: Momoh Omeiza (Liberia), Kwara: Kadiri Ayinla Audu (Permanent Mission, Geneva) and Olufemi Abikoye (Ghana).

Lagos: Balogun Hakeem (Indonesia), Nasarawa: Inusa Ahmed (Ethiopia), Niger: Ibrahim Isah (Australia), Ogun: Bankole Adegboyega Adeoye (Belgium), Sonaike Adekunbi Abibat (Philipines).

Osun: Ibidapo-Obe Oluwasegun (Port of Spain T&T), Oyo: Ogundero Sakirat (Washington), River: Eric A. Bell-Gam (Argentina), Sokoto: Attahiru Halliru (Niger), Taraba: Rahmatu A. Dunama (Burkina Faso), Yobe: Musa Saban Mamman (South Sudan) and Zamfara: Kabiru Bala (Mozambique).

Source: http://thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2016/12/fg-releases-postings-of-new-ambassadors/

The goalkeeper of a Cameroonian women's side has died after collapsing during a warm-up session, the Cameroon Football Federation has said.

Jeanine Christelle Djomnang, 26, became ill before a Femina Stars Ebolowa match in southern Cameroon on Sunday, and died on her way to hospital.

The federation says initial reports suggest she died of a heart attack but it is now awaiting a medical report.




It comes days after Cameroon player Patrick Ekeng died in Romania.

Djomnang complained of chest pains as she prepared to take on Louves MINPROFF Yaounde in the Cameroon elite league and was taken to hospital.

Cameroon's African Women Footballer of the Year Gaelle Enganamouit, who now plays in Sweden, was one of the first to react to the news.

"It's with sadness that I have learnt of the death of my team-mate Djomnang Jeanine Christelle of Femina Stars Ebolowa, may her soul rest in peace," she wrote on social media.

On Friday, it was confirmed that Dinamo Bucharest and Cameroon midfielder Patrick Ekeng had died aged 26 of a suspected heart attack after collapsing on the pitch.

The 26-year-old fell to the floor in the 70th minute of a televised Romanian league match between Dinamo and Viitorul. He died later in hospital.

A book of condolence has been opened at the Cameroon Football Federation headquarters for both Ekeng and Djomanang

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36246170

The Federal Government on Monday said it has uncovered a massive fraud of N3.3 trillion in its ‎agencies.
Out of the lot, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation cornered N3.2 trillion.
This revelations were contained in a report by the Federal Government to the National Assembly.
The Auditor General of the Federation, Samuel Ukura, who submitted the report to the Clerk of National Assembly, Salisu Makaisuwa, said the N3.2 trillion, realised from sales of crude oil, was not remitted to Federation Account Allocation Committee.
Ukura said total payments amounting to N73.5 billion ‎were made contrary to the established purpose of the funds.
The report reads in part: “The sum of N36 billion was released to the Office of the National Security Adviser for the rehabilitation and construction of Dams instead of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.
“The Sum of N2.9 billion was spent for the procurement of hand sanitizer for schools and critical public places.
“The sum of N31 billion was payment of subsidy on fertiliser and youth employment in Agriculture programme.
“The sum N2.4 billion was payment for group life Assurance Premium for Armed Forces Budget in 2013 but not cash backed.
“The sum of N500 million was payment for schools Agricultural programmes.
“From examination of NNPC mandates to CBN on domestic crude Oil sales and reconciliation statement of Technical Sub-committee of Federation Allocation Committee meeting held in January 2014, amount not remitted to FAAC was N3.2 trillion.
“Review of sales profile on sales of Gas to Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas was not paid to the Federation Account but transferred to ‎some undisclosed Escrow Accounts. Relevant documents were not made available for verification.”
Other agencies listed in the fraud included the Police Service Commission, Foreign Mission, Nigeria Ports Authority, Petroleum Equalisation Fund, Nigerian Prison Service‎ and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.

http://theeagleonline.com.ng/breaking-news-fg-uncovers-n3-3t-fraud-in-government-agencies/

Pankshin...Plateau State. The hometown of Yakubu Gowon

Further to the terms of settlement in Suit No: ID/196GCMW/2015 between Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Daar Communications Plc filed as a result of the broadcast of a documentary titled ‘Lion of Bourdilon’ and which terms were adopted at the High Court of Lagos State on 5th February, 2016 as the judgment of the court, the defendant, Daar Communication Plc, hereby retract and apologise to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as follows:

1. Daar Communications Plc, acknowledges that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is an outstanding political leader of unblemished character and integrity, as well as a leading public figure and opinion moulder who has made and continues to make immense, colossal and gargantuan contributions to the progress and development of the nation in general. And Lagos State in particular.

2. Daar Communications Plc admits that in airing the said documentary, it had no intention whatsoever to embarrass or diminish the high reputation of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu which it respects and attests to.

3. Daar Communications Plc hereby makes a public and unequivocal retraction of the said documentary titled ‘Lion of Bourdilon’, which was broadcast on its television station, AIT.

4. Daar Communications Plc hereby tenders unreserved apology to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the broadcast of the documentary on its television station, AIT.

5. Daar Communications Plc prays that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will live long to make more enormous contributions to the advancement of our nation, Nigeria, Lagos State and the world at large.Below is the letter of apology accompanied with the terms of settlement written to Bola Tinubu over a documentary.

Retraction and Apology by DAAR Communications Plc to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

http://abusidiqu.com/full-text-daar-communications-letter-of-apology-to-tinubu/?UA-34095171-2=

Former governor of Delta State, James Onanefe Ibori has completed his prison terms in the United Kingdom. But he is yet to be a free man, as he was immediately re-arrested.
TheNEWS learnt that Ibori jailed 13 years in April 2012 by a Southwark Crown court in London was released by prison authorities on 22 January.
He was released from Her Majesty’s Prison in Bedford, outside of London, where he finished his prison term. He was also initially at the Long Lartin Prison in Worcestershire.
“He is out of here”, a prison source at Bedford confirmed on Tuesday night.
Our sources said Ibori was re-arrested to face another charge, which borders on the confiscation of his ill-gotten assets, estimated to be about 250 million pounds. The case initially billed for May, will now come up in June, sources told us this afternoon.
We cannot however confirm Ibori’s new prison.
Fifty-seven year old Ibori was jailed for using UK financial institutions to launder hundreds of millions of pound sterling he stole from public funds in Delta State.
His journey to jail began with his arrest On 13 May 2010 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates under Interpol arrest warrants, issued from United Kingdom courts and enacted by the Metropolitan Police.
He had earlier made a mockery of Nigeria’s legal system, walking away free from the multi-billion fraud charge levelled against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, including the $15 million bribe he offered the then EFCC chairman, Nuhu Ribadu.
Ibori’s case and extradition became one of the longest, most complex and expensive operations mounted by Scotland Yard in recent years.
Prosecutors alleged that companies owned by Ibori and his family were beneficiaries from the sale of state assets, including shares in Econet, a GSM telephone operator, as well as crude oil deliveries.
Before his conviction, UK juries two years earlier found James Ibori’s sister, Christine Ibie-Ibori and his mistress, Udoamaka Okoronkwo, guilty on counts of money laundering, in a verdict delivered at the Southwark Crown Court, London.
On 27 February 2012, Ibori himself was docked, accused of stealing US$250 million from the Nigerian public purse. He pleaded guilty to ten counts of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud. Among possessions confiscated were a house in Hampstead, north London, for £2.2million, a property in Shaftesbury, Dorset for £311,000, A £3.2m mansion in Sandton, near Johannesburg South Africa , a fleet of armoured Range Rovers valued at £600,000,a £120,000 Bentley Continental GT, A Mercedes-Benz Maybach bought for €407,000 cash, that was shipped direct to his mansion in South Africa
After the sentencing hearing, Sue Patten, head of the Crown Prosecution Service central fraud group, said it would bid to confiscate the assets Ibori had acquired his riches “at the expense of the some of the poorest people in the world.
Also jailed with him apart from his sister and mistress were his wife, Theresa Nkoyo Ibori, his lawyer, Bhadresh Gohil and his financial advisors, Daniel McCann and Lambertus De Boer.
While in prison, Ibori continued to exercise a lot of influence on the politics of his Delta state, with the present governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, regarded as one of his disciples.
Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, two term governor of the state, who succeeded him in 2007 is his uncle.
Born in Oghara, 57 years ago, the young James Onanefe Ibori was educated at Baptist High school, now Oghareki Grammar School. From there, he went to the University of Benin, where he studied economics and statistics. After his university education, he moved to the United Kingdom, where he worked at Wickes DIY, married his wife, Theresa and tainted his record with two convictions for theft and credit card fraud, that were to later haunt his political career in Nigeria.
He became governor of Delta state in 1999 and held forte for eight years.
http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2016/02/03/breaking-james-ibori-released-from-uk-prison-re-arrested/

"chkdsk" command is your first choice for damaged SD card recovery. Requiring no format, it allows you to fix a corrupted SD card without data loss. Now let’s look how it works.
1. Plug in your SD card to your computer with a card reader.
2. Go to the start menu, type in "cmd" in a search bar, hit enter and then you can see something named "cmd. exe" under a list of programs.
3. Right click "cmd. exe" and then you will get the command windows that allow you to fix your corrupted SD card without format.
4. Note the drive of your sd card. Now you will go back to the command window and type in "chkdsk" then your card's drive letter, followed by a colon and /f (eg if the frive letter is H, just type: chkdsk H: /f)
After this is typed in, hit enter and wait for the program to go to work and find then fix any corruption on the card. This can take a few minutes, depending on the amount of corruption and on the storage size of the card

Just wondering...how many Nigerian youths will jump at this kind of opportunity to have government pay your school fees in the UK, plus the guarantee of obtaining a visa. Sometimes we don't appreciate what we have. I believe OP should do the best he can to finish his school programme even if it means getting additional part time jobs. This is not to excuse the flagrant misbehavior of the NDDC officials though. That agency is enmeshed in very deep corrupt practices and needs to be probed.

Meanwhile, Nigerians have backed the decision of the federal government through the CBN to charge N50 stamp duty on bank transactions. Some bank customers who spoke with LEADERSHIP yesterday commended the government on the move urging that the government ensures that the money realized is put to proper use.According to Mrs Ifeoma, a trader and customer of a top tier bank, “everybody knows that the government needs money and this is one way they can make money. But it is one thing to make the money, it is another to use the money for the right thing. I hope they use it for the right thing.”Also Mr Seun said “I think it is a good one. The government is trying to make money to run the economy, pay salaries and build infrastructure, and I think we the Nigerian people should be supportive of the government’s effort.”Other bank customers who spoke with Leadership also commended the move but even as they called on the government to ensure that the money real side is used for the benefit of the masses.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has nullified the Akwa Ibom State governorship elections of April 11, removing the declared winner, Udom Emmanuel, from office.
Mr. Emmanuel’s election was challenged by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Umana Umana.
At the election tribunal, Mr. Emmanuel of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had secured partial victory, with the outcome of the elections cancelled only in 18 out of the state’s 31 local government areas.
The tribunal had ordered a rerun.
Mr. Emmanuel had challenged the ruling, insisting he won in all 31 LGAs.
The APC candidate, Mr. Umana, also appealed against the ruling, seeking a total nullification of the polls.
A five-man panel at the Court of Appeal on Thursday dismissed Mr. Emmanuel’s argument, and cancelled the entire elections.
The appeal court said the tribunal was wrong in its refusal to comply with section 179 (2) of the Constitution.
The court said having agreed with the evidence of principal witnesses, video evidence, and evidence from state collation agents, the tribunal would have concluded that there was no collation and that votes were merely allotted.
“The question is, if there was no collation, can there be said to be an election,” the court asked. “
Indeed where there was no collation of election, there cannot be said to be an election.”
The tribunal was wrong in failing to nullify the entire election, the court ruled, setting aside the judgement of the tribunal in the 13 LGAs.
“The entire election is hereby nullified. The election that brought Mr. Udom is hereby nullified,” it ruled.

The appeal court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct fresh polls within 90 days.
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/195381-breaking-appeal-court-sacks-akwa-ibom-governor-emmanuel-nullifies-entire-election.html

The video below shows the obscene display of wealth at the wedding of the in-law of DG, NIMASA. Dollars being poured on the dancing couple like water. It will be recalled that The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday re-arrested the former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Patrick Akpobolokemi, over fresh allegations of fraud to the tune of N12,905,485.

The former DG was arrested shortly after his trial was adjourned by Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court, Lagos, where, alongside five others, he is facing criminal charges to the tune of N2.3 billion.

Akpobolokemi’s arrest was on the strength of fresh evidence that he allegedly converted N11,737,854,485 and another N816,000,000, meant for the development of the temporary site of the proposed Nigeria Maritime University, Kurutie, Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, for his personal use.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IskVwg3jwBY&sns=tw

Further details have emerged on how huge cash estimated at $2billion meant for arms purchase was allegedly diverted by key government officials and politicians during the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan Presidency.
Mr. Shuaibu Salisu, former director of Finance in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), said $47million was withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 11 suit cases.
He said he suspected that the cash might have been given to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He, however, said as a civil servant, he was innocent because he only carried out instructions from Mr. Mohammed Sambo Dasuki, ex-National Security Adviser
Justice Ishaq Bello, chief judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), yesterday ordered that Salisu be either arraigned in a competent court of law if there is any basis for so doing or be released on administrative bail on terms to be settled by the applicant.
It was also discovered that N10billion was withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly elections.
The payment of the N10billion was authenticated by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Finance Minister who has said she transferred $322 million from the Abacha loot to Dasuki, following instruction from Dr. Jonathan.
Salisu opened up in a Statement of Witness/Accused he wrote under oath in the presence of investigators of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The statement was attached to the charges preferred against Salisu and filed in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in preparation for his arraignment by the EFCC today before Justice H.Y. Baba and Justice P.O. Affen.
Salisu, who said he did not benefit from all the slush funds from the CBN, said: “I could remember on the 20/11/2014 , I was directed by the NSA, M.S. Dasuki to go to the CBN and collect the sum of $47m in cash and the balance in Euro and the directive was obeyed and the monies were delivered to the NSA in about 11 suit cases.
“I acknowledged the receipt of the money from the CBN which was handed over to M.S. Dasuki.
“I think the monies were meant for PDP. After delivery, I left, I did not see or know when the money was distributed.
“I did not benefit even one cent. The request for the funds was tag(sic) Special Services signed by the NSA, M.S. Dasuki, addressed to the Governor of CBN.
“I did not know the source of the money into our CBN Account. The foreign currencies that I collected from the CBN were delivered to the NSA in his house, No. 13, John Kadiya Street, Asokoro.”

http://www.nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng/news/2bn-arms-deal-ex-director-delivered-47m-in-11-suitcases-to-dasuki

Finally, the chickens are coming home to roost.

Nigeria’s former minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has thrown some light on the $322 million passed by her office to Colonel Sambo Dasuki, the former National Security Adviser.

The money which was part of the recovered loot from the former military leader, General Sani Abacha, was approved by then President Goodluck Jonathan, to be used for “urgent security operations”, different from the purpose for which the money was to be deployed.

Okonjo-Iweala in a statement by her media adviser,Paul C Nwabuikwu, claimed her role has been distorted, accusing Edo Governor, Adams Oshiomhole and other powerful interests for masterterminding the distortion in some baseless story published by some online media.

Oshiomhole today urged the Federal Government to go after former Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the ongoing probe of the over $2 billion arms deal. The governor spoke to State House correspondents Wednesday after meeting behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Oshiomhole said the money for the purchase of arms could not have been released without the approval of the former finance ministers.

He said the Federal Government should go beyond the former National Security Adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki and other currently facing charges for the arms deal.

According to him, a National Security Adviser is not supposed to be a procurement agent of the government.

Oshiomhole said Dasuki was only one “bleeding point” in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, saying there were many bleeding points there.

But Okonjo-Iweala was swift with a response:
“To achieve their evil propaganda objective of tarnishing her name, these evil elements have distorted the contents of a memo dated January 20, 2015 in which the former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala responded to a request by the former National Security Adviser, Col Ibrahim Dasuki (retired) for funds to prosecute the terror war against Boko Haram.”

Here are the facts, the response claimed:

* The central responsibility of the Minister of Finance IS to find sources of funding for the financing of approved national priorities such as security, job creation and infrastructure.

* It will be recalled that throughout 2014, there were public complaints by the military hierarchy to President Goodluck Jonathan about the inadequacy of funds to fight the anti-terror war in the North East, resulting in Boko Haram making gains and even taking territories. A lot of the criticism was directed at the Federal Ministry of Finance under Dr Okonjo-Iweala which was accused of not doing enough to find funds for the operations.

*In fact, the Ministry, on several occasions, had to call press conferences to provide details of budgetary spending on the military, to show, against the background of limited resources and other urgent national priorities, that it was doing its best on funding security.

* It was about this time that some new Abacha funds of about $322m were returned with another $700m still expected to be returned. (This is not to be confused with the Abacha funds returned in 2005-2006 under the Obasanjo government whose use for developmental purposes was monitored by the World Bank as earlier explained by Dr Okonjo-Iweala).

* Former President Jonathan set up a Committee comprising of the former Minister of Justice, former NSA and the former Minister of Finance to determine how best to use both the returned and expected funds for development.

* The NSA made a case for using the returned funds for urgent security operations since, he noted, there cannot be any development without peace and security. Based on this, a decision was taken to deploy about $322m for the military operations, while the expected $700m would be applied for development programmes as originally conceived.

*Following the discussions and based on the urgency of the NSA’s memo, Dr Okonjo-Iweala requested the President to approve the transfer of the requested amount to the NSA’s Office for the specified purposes.

*But, as captured in the memo, she insisted on three conditions: a. only a part, not the entire Abacha funds would be spent on the arms; the rest would be invested in developmental projects as originally conceived b. the money was to be treated as borrowed funds which would be paid back as soon as possible c. the NSA’s office was to account for the spending to the President who was the Commander in Chief, given the fact that the Minister of Finance is not part of the security architecture and does not participate in the Security Council.

* The attempt to link the former Minister’s name to any misuse of these funds for any purpose other than security as far as she understood it is totally false and cannot stand.

http://thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2015/12/okonjo-iweala-jonathan-approved-322m-abacha-loot-for-dasuki/

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has listed Nigeria as the world’s 22nd largest economy in the world. According to a survey by the IMF, with an annual growth rate of 5% during the course of 2015, Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) is set to total $1.105trn in 2015, representing a 5% growth from last year.

The report which was published on the website of the global body stated that despite global crude oil prices falling by about three quarters over the last year, Nigeria has defied the negative growth that afflicted several crude-producing countries.

Africa’s two other economies on the list Egypt and South Africa, who were ranked 24th and 30th respectively, enjoyed GDP growth rates of 5.2% and 2.4% respectively.

In terms of growth, Nigeria, was also the sixth highest achiever as only China, India, Egypt, Pakistan and the Philippines recorded higher GDP growth.

Over the last 15 years, Nigeria has enjoyed annual GDP growth rates of about 7% but with crude oil prices falling to about $40 a barrel from over $100 a barrel, it is no surprise that growth has slowed.

Despite this, the economy continues to diversify and the country remains on course to achieve its goal of becoming one of the world’s top 20 economies by 2020.

https://www.naij.com/649526-nigeria-now-world-s-22nd-largest-economy-imf.html

There were some anxious moments for journalists covering the Presidency on Monday when they sighted former president, Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.



Although no one was allowed to talk to him, it was gathered that he was on a private visit.

Dr. Jonathan was dressed in his usual Niger Delta attire. He arrived just before 2pm and headed straight to the President’s office. He spent about 30 minutes at the villa.

Last week, the former president was in Tanzania where he led a delegation of Commonwealth observers to monitor general elections in the East African nation.

http://www.channelstv.com/2015/11/02/jonathan-visits-aso-villa/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

See number 2 on the list. Date of birth 1956. Date of first appointment 1960. was he 4 years old when he joined custom? One of the greatest bane in the civilservice today is falsification of age. Retirement age is 60 but you will see people of 75 years claiming to be 55 years old, while majority of our youth are roaming the streets as unemployed graduates.

Meanwhile it is now clear why 5 DIGs quickly tendered their resignation yesterday. They were supposed to have retired long ago but they kept earning salaries and would have continued indefinitely if CHANGE had not caught up with them.

The Court of Appeal sitting Abuja on Friday ruled that it was okay for the Code of Conduct Tribunal to try the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki for wrong declaration of assets.

Saraki had approached the court asking it to stop his trial on the grounds that the Tribunal lacks jurisdiction to entertain the matter. Brought against him.

But the Court of Appeal in its ruling on Friday said the Tribunal was properly constituted and can try Saraki.

The trial of the Senate President continues on November 5, when the tribunal will resume hearing on the 13-count charge levelled against him.

http://abusidiqu.com/just-in-saraki-loses-appeal-to-stop-his-trial-by-code-of-conduct-tribunal/

Tanzania’s main opposition candidate on Thursday rejected official results handing victory to the ruling party, accusing the election body of falsifying tallies.
“We refuse to accept this attempt to rob the citizens of Tanzania of their democratic rights, which is being done by the National Electoral Commission by announcing results which are not the actual results and that are intended to take away our victory,” said Edward Lowassa, the Chadema party candidate.
The NEC on Thursday declared John Magufuli of the long-ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party president-elect with 58.46% of the vote, giving Lowassa 39.97%.
Lowassa, however, rejected the result claiming that his party’s own count gave him victory with 62% of the vote.
“We are requesting that the National Electoral Commission announces that Edward Lowassa is the winner of the presidency of the United Republic of Tanzania,” he told reporters in Dar es Salaam.
https://www.today.ng/news/29754/tanzania-opposition-rejects-election-result

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