₦airaland Forum

sarrki:
Life in prison will do

On the second thought I will recommend death by hanging

20 years to a 50 years Akpabio is like live. Let even pray the 20 comes to stay

tendercharles:
I hope they didn't mean to say 20 days or 20 weeks cos most of them are guilty o

The Senate may ambush the bill n refuse to concur. We need people like you n me to rise and support.

Published April 3, 2017
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Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida


Niyi Odebode and Friday Olokor

A former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi (retd.), has blamed a former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), for the indiscipline in the armed forces.

Bamaiyi, in his new book, Vindication of a General, said a former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd.), was the first Nigerian leader to encounter the problem of indiscipline in the armed forces.



He said that Gowon, however, made efforts to restore discipline in the armed forces.

“The efforts were successful until 1985, when General Babangida overthrew General Buhari and declared himself President,” Bamaiyi stated.

Bamaiyi also explained how Buhari’s removal by Babangida brought back indiscipline into the armed forces.

He stated, “I was then the Commander Officer Guards Battalion, Keffi. The unit was in charge of security for Abuja, and it handled General Buhari’s security anytime he was in Abuja. Discipline was thrown to the winds when General Babangida used majors to arrest Gen. Buhari, a head of state and a major general.

“These majors had known Babangida at the Defence Academy, and he mostly influenced their postings to the armoured corps. It was bad enough that junior officers were used to arrest a head of state, a major general, but these same majors were compensated by being appointed as military governors.”

According to him, under IBB, majors and lieutenant colonels were posted to states which were supposed to be governed by major generals and brigadiers.

“In the Army, majors are supposed to be company commanders in charge of 90 to 100 men, at best, they are battalion second-in-commands in charge of battalion training. They are supposed to run around in the field with soldiers in training,” he stated.

Explaining indiscipline under Babangida, he said, “As a result of their special relationship with President Babangida, these majors had free access to the President. It got to a stage that senior officers who wanted to see the President had to go through them.

“This made some of these officers arrogant and sometimes rude and they became uncontrollable. Eventually, this attitude spread to other officers, who were close to them.”

He said the indiscipline continued when Babangida stepped aside as President.

Bamaiyi added that IBB implemented one of the longest and “uncertain transition programmes in Nigeria’s history.”

He added, “After several false declarations, President Babangida’s military administration found itself under much pressure from within and outside the country to return power to civillians.”

He said Babangida’s successor, the late Sani Abacha, was expected to hand over to the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief Moshood Abiola.

Bamaiyi added, “Abacha did not do what MKO Abiola had expected him to do. What may not be clear to us until the fullness of time is the understanding between both generals Babangida and Abacha.”

Meanwhile, the pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, has said that Bamaiyi’s claim in the book has confirmed its suspicion about Abiola’s death.

The National Publicity Secretary of the group, Yinka Odumakin, in an interview with The PUNCH, said, “Bamaiyi’s claims in his book only corroborate our suspicions all along that Abiola’s death must have been aided and could not have been natural. The circumstances of his death clearly showed that a permanent solution was applied because the business mogul refused to relinquish his mandate.”

Afenifere renewed its call for an inquiry into Abiola’s death without further delay.

He stated, “Thank God, Abdulsalami Abubakar is alive with many of the actors in that sordid event.

“This country cannot and will not know progress until we appease the soul of MKO and bring closure to his death. What was mortal of him was buried but the scars and memories of his elimination are still with us and the ghost of Abiola walks all over a murderous country that often opens its land to swallow the blood of the innocent.

“We cannot ignore Bamaiyi’s comments as a member of the inner core of the forces that held Nigeria down in those five years of evil.”

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All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.

Contact: editor@punchng.com

Published April 3, 2017
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House of Representatives
John Ameh, Abuja

The House of Representatives wants persons convicted of economic and financial crimes to be jailed for 20 years.

This is part of the details of the new amendments to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act, 2004, which The PUNCH obtained on Sunday.

The Act currently prescribes a penalty of “not less than two years” for economic and financial crimes.

Lawmakers consider this to be “lenient” for the serious crime of stealing public money or other forms of financial crimes.

Four consolidated bills before the House are seeking to further empower the EFCC to fight crime, insulate the anti-graft agency from interference by the Presidency and enhance its financial autonomy.

One of the bills, which was sponsored by a member from Cross River State, Mr. Bassey Ewa, proposes to raise the two-year term for economic and financial crimes offenders to 20 years.

In the new bill, Section 18 of the Principal Act is amended to prescribe tougher punishments for economic and financial crimes.

The new subsection (C) reads: “All convicted persons shall serve an imprisonment of a term not less than 20 years and have their ill-gotten property, accounts or investment confiscated by the government.”

The new proposal also states that plea bargaining or returning the full amount stolen does not exclude the convict from penalty.

Subsection (d) adds, “Where the accused person, upon investigation, accepts to refund the total amount standing in his/her name and willing to plea bargain, he or she shall be convicted for not less than two years.”

Similarly, a company found guilty of economic or financial crimes, will be barred from doing business in Nigeria for 50 years.

This is captured under subsection (e), which states that, “Any company found guilty of offences under this Act, both its assets and finances shall be frozen and the company blacklisted from doing business in Nigeria for 50 years.”

Another key amendment seeks to remove the power of appointing the Chairman of the EFCC from the President and to be vested directly in the hands of Nigerians.

Under the extant provisions, the President appoints the chairman and forwards the name to the Senate for approval.

But in the new amendment, members of the public, through a petition to the National Assembly, are empowered to make the appointments.

For example, Section 3 of the Principal Act is amended to insert new subsections (4) and (5).

The proposed subsection 4 reads: “Petitions against the Chairman or any of the members of the EFCC emanating from the public or the private sector shall be submitted to the National Assembly.

“If upon investigation and found culpable, a simple majority vote of members of the National Assembly is required in considering the fate of the chairman or any of the affected member.”

Subsection (5) provides that the resolution, when passed, will be forwarded to the President, who shall within 30 days, either accept the resolution or reject it.

The section empowers the National Assembly to override the President’s veto with a “two-thirds majority vote” of senators and members of the House of Representatives.

To make the EFCC financially autonomous, the House proposes in Section 35 of the Act that the commission should retain “0.1 per cent” of recovered looted funds.

It is also to retain “0.1 per cent” of its Internally-Generated Revenue.

Another “0.1 per cent” of contracts awarded by the Federal Government is to the credited to the account of the commission.

The PUNCH also obtained the details of amendments proposed to the Act by the Chairman, House Committee on Financial Crimes, Mr. Kayode Oladele.

Oladele’s bill, “A Bill for an Act to Amend the EFCC Act, 2004 to Enhance Effectiveness of the Act, and for other Related Matters,” seeks to grant full autonomy to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.

When contacted, Ewa explained why he sought harsher punishment for economic thieves.

He said, “This provision of two years imprisonment, is mild and it should be raised to not less than 20 years. This will deter public servants from stealing money.

“If your are 40 years old and you know that you will be 60 years by the time you are out of jail, you will have some fear in you and think about your children.

“But to say two years is to encourage stealing the more because people say after all, it is only two years.”

The four bills passed second reading last week at a session presided over by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara.

Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.

Contact: editor@punchng.com

"In our church, people rarely introduce me. I just carry my Bible and walk to the altar. What is the introduction for? I would not even allow them to carry my Bible. If they carry my Bible, will they carry my mouth? Will they carry my message?
"I remember going to a church to preach sometime ago. And someone stood on the altar to speak. He wanted to introduce the host pastor who would, in turn, introduce me. He said, "I want to tell you about someone; someone that has changed my life..." As he began to say more things, I thought he was talking about God. Frankly speaking, the way he spoke about the man, I thought it was God He was talking about. But when he finished, he said, "Can we receive my papa, my daddy in the Lord..." I sank in my chair. I said in my heart, 'People are talking about you like this and you accept it?'

"That was what Herod did and God sent an angel to slap him. He was consumed by worms on the spot (Acts 12:23). I sank in my chair. Nevertheless, the host pastor got the microphone and obviously, it was normal. By the time he finally invited me to come and preach, frankly speaking, the anointing had died. There was no move, no flow, nothing. They had killed the atmosphere before inviting me into that mess.

"I went to that altar with weakness and trembling. I had to sing and worship for about thirty minutes, just to try and beg God and ask for mercy, and thank God, His mercy came. Then the service was very wonderful.
At the end, I asked the host pastor in the hotel room, 'Did you accept those things they were saying about you? Did you accept to be praised like that?' He got angry. And that was the last time I was to be there. I have never been there again. And I can tell you that the history of that place is not something to write home about.
"When you over-celebrate yourself, God may withdraw His help so that you can see your unclothedness. When you think your wealth is your making, and your prosperity is your making, or the anointing you carry is your making, God will withdraw a little, so you can see how naked you are without Him.
"The renowned evangelist, Benny Hinn, said one day, he went before the God to pray and he said to God, 'Please, do not take your anointing from me. It is all I have.' And God told him, 'Do not ask me not to take it, rather, ask me to return it, because I took it away a long time ago.'
He lay on his face for two weeks waiting on the Lord, away from human presence... He remembered what became of Samson when the anointing had left him. That is what pride, self exaltation and arrogance can do to a man. God showed mercy on Benny Hinn and restored His presence in his life.
"We were going for a programme somewhere and our officers were using double trafficator. I begged them to put off the trafficator lights. I felt absolutely uncomfortable. What if we entered with so much fanfare, pomp and pageantry as if it is Jesus entering Jerusalem, and by the time we get there, God says, 'Okay, perform the miracles. See the sick, heal them. See the unbelievers, save them. Perform! I am waiting for you...' What would we do?
Today, our protocol officers are aware that they do not have to make any ostentatious, braggadocios entry into any event or occasion. The Bible says, "What have you that you have not received? And if you have received it, why do you behave as if you give it to yourself?" (1Cor.4:7) This is what is limiting people.
"Get this: if it is the apostolic anointing you have, there are more apostles that have gone before and beyond you. Ayi Kwei Armah wrote a book titled The Beautiful Ones are not Yet Born. In case you think you are beautiful, you have not seen beautiful people yet. In case you say you are anointed, you have not seen anointing yet. In case you say you are called, you have not seen calling yet, so calm down.
"Imagine a young boy of twenty two or twenty three years of age who calls himself an apostle or prophet. He is running and elderly people are running after him. Imagine! Your father is calling you papa and you are not afraid? A person who can give birth to you calls you papa and you agree? And you say, "Yes, how are you?"

That person has no future. He is a short distance runner. He is not a marathon runner. Marathon runners do not behave like that. This is one thing that destroys the destinies of many pastors and children of God. They are too proud...

"God needs to chisel something out of your life! Say to Him today:
'Lord, is there anything in my life that makes me unusable? Anything You need to chisel? Go ahead and chisel it out.'

ogunjyde2004:
Madam is like you dnt know anything about Nigeria politics, falana was jubrin lawyer in that case u can check it here
http://www.thelinkng.com/house-seals-defiant-hon-jubrils-office/

Next time don't waste your time when market women rant

gare:
What about those that where suspended before now, Jibrin was suspended for whistle blowing, I expected Falana to fight for him, instead he kept quiet, he never mentioned his case, which very recent, I believe the senate has it rule books which they follow, Nndume may not have followed due process in presenting the issues

Must Falana always fight, what does he have that you don't have?

freeze001:
Does Falana mean that the NASS does not or cannot have an internal disciplinary mechanism applicable to its members? Is that not what the independence of the NASS is about? Is he also going to say the NJC has no power to investigate petitions made on judges and make its pronouncements before further action is taken because they are also subject to the provisions of the Constitution?

The NASS must be and is in fact able to activate an internal investigation and disciplinary mechanism for its members particularly on the conduct of any member as in the case of Ali Ndume.

What internal discipline can interfere with an elected sit whose withdrawal can only be done by those who voted them. Imagine how your bias mind betrayed your sense of reasoning. Something that your role model Dino challenged and won in court.

Leboska:
Falana's argument sounds more like a beer parlour's argument

Hiding under invisible nairaland to showcase your foolishness.

ZombieTERROR:
Asari is a freedom fighter
Drum it into ur empty skull
Let's talk about looters like abba kyari who by now ought to be resting in prison
Remember Mamman daura,the chief looter himself
All ur monthly stipend from BMC where do I think it comes from
APC have killed the country

Freedom from what?

NCANChairman:
Michael Obi, 34, Madman (Ndukwu) , Ifeanyi Ezechukwu,28 and Chinedu Amadi, 18.

NcanSecretary please process.

NCANChairman

U can see how they are shunning the post

Biafra kangaroo judgement. Just imagine

The police have rescued a landlady and her son who were abducted by her tenant, Michael Obi, to raise money to settle the arrears of rent he was owing the former.

The landlady, whose name was not disclosed, was kidnapped in Umuike Allu area of Rivers State while she was on the farm with her son, a student of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State.



Obi, 34, told journalists on Tuesday in Abuja that his friend, Kelechi Ndukwu, carried out the abduction to obtain ransom from the victims which would then be used to settle the N70,000 arrears of rent he was owing his landlady.

He said, “Things have been very difficult for me, so I mentioned this to my friend, Madman (Ndukwu) that I am owing my landlady and I needed N70,000 to settle the arrears of rent.

“He told me not to worry and said he would organise her abduction for ransom which would be used to settle the rent.

“When the woman and her son were on their farm, my friend and his two friends, abducted them and demanded N200,000 but they paid N150,000 after four days.”

Obi explained that the abduction was carried out by Ndukwu, Ifeanyi Ezechukwu,28 and Chinedu Amadi, 18.

The police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, who paraded the suspects, said Ezechukwu and Amadi were arrested at Umuanwa community in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The police tendered the items recovered from them. These included one locally made Revolver pistol, four live ammunition, expended ammunition, one locally made pistol, three live cartridges, one expended cartridge and N200,000.

“The suspects were identified by the victims and will be charged to court on completion of investigation,” Moshood said.

The police spokesman further disclosed that the operatives of the IG Monitoring Unit also arrested two brothers, John Oteh, 25 and Atochi Oteh, 41 for cult-related activities.

Moshood stated that the police operatives swooped on the suspects at their Iceland Confraternity den in Ebitanwo/Rumuakude communities.

Copyright PUNCH.

A former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, on Tuesday terminated his fundamental human rights enforcement suit, in which he sought N1bn as compensation for his alleged unlawful detention by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Yakubu had filed the suit before Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja following his arrest on February 8, 2017 and his continued detention by the EFCC with respect to the sums of $9,772,800 and £74,000 recovered from his house in Kaduna on February 3.



But his lawyer, Mr. Adeola Adedipe, informed the judge at the resumed hearing of the case on Tuesday that he had filed a notice of discontinuance of the suit on behalf of his client.

The lawyer cited the recent arraignment of the former NNPC boss and the bail subsequently granted him (Yakubu) by the court as the grounds for filing the discontinuance notice.

Justice Mohammed, before whom Yakubu was also arraigned on March 16, struck out the suit after Adedipe moved his client’s motion on Tuesday








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subtlemee:
You see them all and well dressed like this thinking they are responsible you'll decide to date them not knowing they are animals

So robbing Peter to pay Paul is being responsible.

AgbenuAnna:
where you at gun point when you bought the phone?


you bought it for her so it's hers



Ladies why do we keep sending nude pictures to people or allow them to snap you nude?

Go n return his things. U can't eat your cake n have it. The guy has every right just like anyone else to behave any how he wants.

Funlordmaniac:
I actually remember when this guy was the SUG presido in ABU back then! I know a lot of his homies from abu too, some of them are even chilling with him now in abuja and no one has ever brought up the issue of not graduating before! Even before he became a senator!

He loves toutish and gra gra politics that I know but I doubt if he did not graduate! Anyway ABU over to una!

Say what you know! Dino was never SUG President

Eggcelent:
They are very excited to have their father back in the country. It must have been tough on them hearing rumours of his death gaining traction in Nigeria.

U get sense! I can vow u are not an ipob extraction

Thorhammer:
Family office

U wish

A twitter user matches FFK with words.

kingivie:
Well I was hoping to address 100,000 youth but I can see only a handful of ignorant pple. Anybody supporting buhari is surely not Sane.

Shame on you and your co-travellers. With the 10million youths you had on every TAN rally, how far did it go. With all the sanity you have, come out in 2019, PMB will beat you without campaigning. Am talking from the South South of Nigeria.

It's always very wrong to compare any man with our Lord n Saviour JESUS CHRIST. Am also not angry to see any man rise to a point of glory or authority. Destiny of everyone doesn't tie to whatever qualifications. When a man's time comes, nothing matters anymore. My dear father told me that futunes may be suppressed by human agents but DESTINY can not be altered.

LastSurvivor11:
U mean this same man cannot wear Customs uniform but can collect customs salary

Without Custom he will receive his pension. What will your papa receive?

Smallville10:
Mumu... Buhari dey feed u?

So your hero Nnamdi Yahoo yahoo Kalu n GEJ are feeding u! no wonder you are so fat with foolishness

If u care to listen, this story never happened. Am a christian n a believer by all standard.
1. If u have boarded flight b4, u will know that one can not stand up and exchange sit for another after being checked in.
2. U will know that no matter who u are, u can't stop a moving plane.
3. Who did the statistics to know that others were Christians n pastors but refused to Stand.
4. Was that the only good gesture someone or people have done to Idahosa? If NO, where the other billionires?
5. Was Dangote the only man Idahosa praye for?
6. Why has Dangote in all his speeches never acknowledge having to meet the pastor?
7. So the plane would have still been waiting for all this drama.
8. Who recorded this events?
9. Pictures
10. Be reasonable next time.

God is God! Even if no one believes, HE will still be God so u don't have to lie to make him God.

I don't subscribe to people saying it's because most of these girls come from poor homes that's why they hustle on men. I know of a very beautiful school mate back then who came from an extreme low home. She had to make nails n hair to survive. she still graduated with 2.1 with her mates. Today, God has lifted her, dignify her and made her a testimony.

CROWNWEALTH019:
Wetin this one they talk now

Go and read well! He is stating the obvious. very soon u will say Fayose is arrested because he used to criticise FG. u are their primary target for attention n u will not disappointing them.

Ogashub:

sympathiser loading

Love Machine:
No be the same Obasanjo send soldiers to go and destroyed odi and zarki biam?Hypocrite.

How Odi take relate to South Africa? Meanwhile in case u just born, let me refresh your mind! Odi people beheaded police officers sent on national assignment n put the heads on sticks for their gods! those police officers gruesomely murdered were people' parents, brothers, bread winners, husbands and friends. Next time ask for history before u type. Am from a nearby place to Odi

amyzon:
Even when I told him about it

Learn to say "Sorry am married" Unless u have a plan B

sarrki:
Fayose go soon know say khaki no be leather

But wait oo still prefer Fayose to that betrayal called fayemi

How did Fayemi betray you?