₦airaland Forum

Former special aide to Ex-President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Reno Omokri has said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war is only successful in the media and nowhere else. According to him, Buhari’s economic plan has failed even at takeoff. He made the statement via his twitter page @RenoOmokri.He wrote: “President Buhari’s Anti-corruption war has been more successful in the media than in court.“His economic plan is however successful nowhere.”Recall that Omokri had charged Buhari to prove his integrity by sacking the Senior lawyers representing him in court over certificate forgery

A Russian online cyber security firm, Kaspersky, Thursday, alleged that North Korean hackers are allegedly attacking banks in Nigeria and 18 other countries. The organisation noted in its report that this could be regarded as
the biggest bank heist in world history. Reports said banks and security researchers had previously identified
four similar cyber-heists attempt on financial institutions in Bangladesh, Ecuador, the Philippines and Vietnam. But on Thursday, researchers at Kaspersky said the same hacking
operation, known as “Lazarus”, also attacked financial institutions in
Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Gabon, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia,
Poland, Taiwan, Thailand, Uruguay and Nigeria. But the Central Bank of Nigeria has since said it was not aware of the
development. The new report is coming after more than a year-long investigation into the activity of “Lazarus”, the hacking group allegedly responsible for the theft of $81 million from the Central Bank of Bangladesh last year. The claims that North Korea could have been behind the attack has
added to concerns that the country is becoming bolder in its cyber attacks against global financial institutions. CNN reports that North Korea’s mysterious Lazarus hacking operation
has been blamed for several large international cyber attacks in
recent years.

"With her defection, the resettlement problem of Bakassi will be conclusively handled,”

An erstwhile presidential adviser, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, has declared that she will on Friday join the Cross River State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC.Mama Bakasi, as she is fondly called made this disclosure on Thursday in Calabar. She said the reason for pitching her tent with the APC was because her contemporaries are in the party. She told newsmen that, “I have been idle in the PDP for over one year now. It is time for me to move on politically with my huge Bakassi supporters.“Besides, nearly all my contemporaries are in the APC. So, it is time for me to join them and work for the progress of the party at the state and national levels.”Ita-Giwa represented the Cross River South Senatorial District on the platform of the All Peoples Party from May 1999 to May 2003.After her exit from the senate in 2003, she joined the PDP, and became former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters. Reacting to the development, the Acting state Chairman of APC, Mr. John Ochala, described her defection as a welcome development.“It is a welcome development. Her crossing over to the APC is good. She should take her time to study and understand the party’s constitution.”Similarly, a chieftain of APC, Mr. Paul Adah, said her defection was a big boost to the ruling party, saying that she is a big fish.“She is a big fish for the party. Her defection is the right decision at the right time. I see it as a great sign of appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for the so many things that he has done to the people of Cross River State.“With her defection, the resettlement problem of Bakassi will be conclusively handled,” he said.

Barely seven months after he was promoted from the rank of a commodore to a rear admiral, Daniel Teikumo Ikoli, an officer of the Nigerian Navy, has died in his residence in Apapa GRA, Lagos.He was said to have shot himself in the chest after firing two previous shots that hit the wall and the television set in his house. When THISDAY visited his house in Apapa, it was as quiet as a grave yard, as no soul was found there, although some of his neighbours said his body had since been removed and taken to the morgue.Initially, the navy had suspected it was an assassination attempt going by the deceased’s previous paranoia about assassination threats during his tenure as amember of the arms deal probe.However, after the police were invited and they did a sweep of the apartment and the scene of his death, preliminary investigations revealed that he had shot himself.
Details later…

The faction of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram led by Abubakar Shekau released a video on Tuesday denying that fighters are dying of hunger in its northeast Nigerian forestbase.Nigeria's military last week said it was"ransacking" territory it said it had recaptured from Boko Haram in the hunt for Shekau, who leads one of two main branches of the jihadist group. It also said he might be hiding in the Sambisa forest.Large parts of northeast Nigeria, particularly in Borno state, remain under threat from Boko Haram as suicide bombings and gun attacks have increased in the region since the end of the rainy season late last year.
"There is no food that we lack in this forest of Sambisa. It is not true that we have run out of food supply and that we are being killed by hunger," said an unidentified man with a rifle, flanked by others carrying guns, in the five-minute video.Nigeria's army said in December that it had pushed Boko Haram out of the Sambisa forest,a vast former colonial game reserve that was the group's stronghold, in an operation to reclaim territory lost to the Islamist insurgencysince 2009.Boko Haram split last year, with one faction ledby Shekau operating from the forest and the other, allied to Islamic State and led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi, based in the Lake Chad region."We urge all members to be one hundred percent loyal to him ," said the man in the video. "It is not true that you killed Shekau," he said, referring to previous claims by the Nigerian military that he had been fatally wounded.Shekau did not appear in the video, which was circulated on social media on Tuesday.Boko Haram has killed more than 15,000 people and forced more than two million to flee their homes during its insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state governed by a strict interpretation of sharia law in Africa's most populous nation.

The announcement of the aides was made about three weeks ago. Bello said that in the past, some government appointees looted and diverted fund meant for the development to erect Filling Stations, Hotels and Housing Estates at the expense of the people. “We must go after them to recover the looted fund for use of the common people in the state”, he stated. He charged the new appointees to embark on selfless services as well as make sacrifices for the betterment of the people who elected the government, stressing that any one who is not ready to serve will be shown his way out. In a vote of thanks, Senior Special Assistant, SSA on Entertainment to the Governor, Mrs Mercy Johnson Okojie commended the Governor for being gender sensitive.She said Bello has united the people of the state ever than before through people oriented policiesand programmes.Mercy Johnson, a Nollywood superstar, hails from Okene local government Area of Kogi state.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met behind closed doors with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
It was also gathered that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, was expected to join the meeting.Dogara arrived the Villa at exactly 12 noon.The meeting may not be unconnected with the face-off between the Executive and the legislative arms of government.The grey areas included the summons of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Hameed Ali, who was to appear in uniform, the rejection of Ibrahim Magu as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and the extension of tenure of a Permanent Secretary by the President which the House of Representatives is currently kicking against.The Presidency last week set up a committee to meet with the leadership of both Chambers of the National Assembly to reach a compromise on the issues.The committee chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has membership including ex-lawmakers in the cabinet.The meeting was still in progress at the time of filing this report.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara,
yesterday, took a look at the ongoing
controversy between the Senate and
the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria
Customs Service, Col.Hameed Ali
(retd), describing the development as mere distraction. Dogara, who fielded questions from
senior journalists in Abuja, said the
most important thing that should
have been considered was whether
the man had delivered on his
mandate.Yakubu-Dogara Although he did not mention the
upper legislative chamber in his
briefing, Dogara said it was also
necessary to look at what the
Nigerian laws say about wearing of
uniforms by public officers and see whether any of the laws had been
adhered to or breached by Ali. “So you have to look at all these
issues before you come to a
conclusion. As far as I am concerned,
these are mere distractions. They are
not supposed to be; the main issue is
delivery. What is it that we are delivering? That is it,” Dogara said. The speaker said although he could
not say whether the House of
Representatives would support the
resolution passed by the Senate
against Ali, he would only wait to see
what happens when the discussion gets to the floor of the House for
debate.

Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, has raised the alarm over incessant killings of its members in some parts of Kwara State by suspected men of Vigilante Group of Nigeria. MACBAN has consequently given the state government and security agencies two weeks ultimatum to unravel masterminds of the attacks in order to forestall a bloody reprisal.The warning followed a recent fracas between a vigilante group and some herdsmen in Gwanara, Baruten Local Government Area of the state, where some herdsmen were allegedly murdered. State Chairman, Alhaji Usman Adamu, told newsmen in Ilorin, that it was shocking that some natives have continued to wage war against Fulani herdsmen for inexplicable reasons. He warned that members of his association might be forced to retaliate if urgent action was not taken to unmask those behind the attack and bring them to justice. He said: “Fulanis from across the country and neighbouring countries gathered here last week and they requested for my permission to go and retaliate but I insisted that they should sheath their swords.“From there, they started pointing accusing fingers at me that government was paying money to me, that is why I don’t want them to retaliate despite incessant attacks on Fulanis.“So, we want the Kwara State Government to bring the killers of Fulanis to book; if not, our people are ready to fight for their right.“Then, we want this one to be the last because Fulanis of these days have changed. See what is happening in Nasarawa, Zamfara, Jos and other states.“If you see what our Fulanis did in Imo, and if you are Muslims honestly, you will cry. And if somebody said it was Fulanis that did that, you will not believe it.“The gruesome killing of our members in Gwanara by suspected Vigilante Group is latest in the sustained attack on us, and we are surprised that up till now, no one had been arrested in connection with the attack.“We can’t continue to maintain silence in a situation like this where our members are being killed callously.“We are calling on the state government to do something very urgent on the activities of vigilante groups because we don’t want what is happening in other states to happen in Kwara.“Our people have decided to go and storm Yakira town, in Baruten Local Government Area, to avenge the attack but we have been pleading with them not to seek vengeance.“They have now given us two weeks to see what the state government and relevant security agencies would do over the incident to determine their next line of action”

The Deputy Senate President, Senator
Ike Ekweremadu, on Wednesday
declared that Nigerians are hungry and
angry. Speaking when he received the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
Reconciliation Committee-led by the
Governor of Bayelsa State, Dickson
Seriake in Abuja, Ekweremadu said due
to the crisis in the land, the party cannot afford to be struggling with
leadership issues. Ekweremadu commended Dickson and
members of his committee for their
steadfastness and interest in ensuring
that the party returned to its pride of
place in Nigerian politics. “There is hunger and anger in the land.
There is tension in the land and so as a
party we cannot be struggling and
fighting over leadership instead of
coming together to restore hope to
Nigerians. “The crisis in PDP is not new. There are
crises everywhere even in the
Republican party leading up to the U.S
election, but what is important is that
we find a way to resolve this crisis.” Also speaking, the Senate Leader,
Godswill Akpabio expressed delight at
the effort by the Dickson-led
committee to ensure peace returns to
the former ruling party.

APhoto Credit:Sahara Reporters Media Photo Credit:Sahara Reporters Media SOURCE: READ MORE: SCANDAL, EXCLUSIVE, NEWS YOU MAY ALSO LIKE by Taboola Sponsored Links READ NEXT document retrieved from a driver who was driving an armored Range Rover car said to be worth N298million, has categorically clarified that the car belongs to Senate President Olusola Saraki. The car was seized by officers of the Nigerian Customs, according to regulations, kicking off a frenzied war led by Saraki against Hameed Ali, the Director General of Customs, with the Upper House demanding that Mr. Ali appear in uniform before it. The car, with chassis number “SALGV3TF3EA190243, was seized on January 11, 2017. With a value of N298 million, our Customs sources said the duty on the car ought to be N74 million. But speaking through spokesperson Yusuf Olaniyonu earlier today, Mr. Saraki tried to distance himself from the scandal.

sarrki:
This is what we call confused wailer

FLASH: Ailing @NGRPresident Buhari has revealed that he would be returning to the UK in a few weeks for follow-up treatments for his illness

Only one foreign airline has agreed to use the Kaduna International Airport, as the Nigerian government officially announced the closure of the Abuja International Airport on Monday.

The Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, told journalists that so far only Ethiopian Airlines has agreed to use the Kaduna airport as an alternative.
The government said the Abuja airport will be closed beginning from 12 a.m. Wednesday.

The closure will last for six weeks to allow a comprehensive maintenance of the airport runway.

The decision to close the only airport in the federal capital has been criticised by aviation experts, and several international airlines warned they will not operate the Kaduna route.

Mr. Sirika said observations made by acting President Yemi Osinbajo who was in Kaduna Airport on Friday had been “taken care of”.
More details.