₦airaland Forum

Sincere 9gerian: Deputy Governor of Imo State, Sir Jude Agbaso is embattled no doubt, but the question is; has he resigned? Will he be impeached? In this interview with JAMES UMEH he debunked reports that he has thrown in the towel. Agbaso also advanced reasons for his travails.

Q: There are many conflicting stories coming out from Imo State about you; kindly tell us what you know?

A: Ordinarily I would not have granted this interview but at this point it has become absolutely necessary that I speak to the people of Imo State who freely, a little less than two years ago gave me their mandate that ushered me in as the deputy governor of Imo state. I owe them a duty at this point in time in the history of our state given what is going on, to let them know what has actually transpired.
It is a known fact that the media are awash with stories of the goings-on in the state.

First of all, let me start by addressing the issue of resignation of the deputy governor of Imo State. I put on record and very categorically that at no point in time have I contemplated ever resigning as deputy governor of Imo state.

As I stated earlier, the mandate was freely and massively given me by the people of Imo State as their deputy governor. I still owe them duties today. I never resigned and I do not intend to resign. I will continue to serve the people of Imo State as long as their mandates subsist.

Q: There is this question about what led to the stories of your resignation and non-resignation and the stories in the public domain now that you are being impeached by the Imo State House of Assembly?

A: The matter borders on the issues of allegations by a construction company that I received bribe money to the tune of N458m. I also want to use this opportunity to state in very clear terms that at no pointin time did I demand N458m or any sum of money at that from any company or contractor whatsoever in Imo state, and a tno time did the contractor J-Pros (Joseph Dina) pay me the cumulative sum of N458m as alleged by him.

Let me state this here how this whole issue started: J-Pros is the contractor that is doing the job on the present day Sam Mbakwe Road. Prior to his commencement of work in Imo State on Sam Mbakwe Road, I never knew the construction company, the owners of the construction company or the major holders of the construction company. They were a company that was introduced to the state by the governor who issued and gave the permission for the award ofthe contract to the tune of 1.5bn. A contract of this magnitude can only be issued through the approval of the governor. Such approval was sought by me as the commissioner in the ministry of works and gotten to award the contract to J-Pros International Limited.

Thereafter in the month of February 2012, while I was away on a state duty in India, the permanent secretary in the ministry of works applied for the final approval of the job (so that the governor will give his final approval for the job of N1.5bn); the governor gave his approval and went beyond and gave the approval for the payment of N1.5bn to the contractor via the ministry of finance and the ministry of works. Incidentally his approval was communicated to the commissioner of finance who instead of routing the N1.5bn tothe coffers of works ministry for onward certification by raising of vouchers to pay to the construction company after due processes would have beenfulfilled, the money was routed through the office of the accountant general and paid directly to the contractor, J-Pros Ltd. So at no point did I give the approval, for the payment of the money. At no point did I communicate the approval of the payment, and at no point did I pay the contractor. So the question that comes to mind: why would this contractor pay me N458m; for doing what? I heard from him when I went to the House of Assembly that he paid me N458m in anticipation of a job that I will offer to him in the local government. I was the commissioner for ministry of works; the commissioner in the ministry of works never issues jobs in the local governments. The chairmen of local governments issue jobs in the local governments. I never issued till date one single contract in any local government. So how could this contractor have paid me in anticipation of something I was not in the position to give? Anyhow, to cut the long story short, he said that I conveyed instructions to him via SMS to his phone in the month of April and the month of June 2012 stating the companies, account numbers and the banks to pay the sum of N235m and the sum of N133m, respectively. I state here, also categorically and the records can be gotten from MTN(the carriers of the mobile network I use) that at no point did I convey to this man, Joseph Dina, via SMS to pay money to me or to any account, any bank, any sum of money whatsoever.

So his story is completely false and spurious and intended to malign my person.

(Continued Below)

greatgod2012: Chai! I love gums die, Lord, pls, help me, when im chewing, mehn, i concentrate seriously, all my loved ones know me, no one dare visit me without packing gums along, especially my hubby and my mum, can i stop chewing gum? I dont know, but i will give it a try, to start with, i have to call my mum, not to send that gum again, may be when its not with me, i might stop chewing it, but...mehn, i use it as a concentratin pill.........lol
May God help me.

Sincere 9gerian: By Jide Ajani, Kingsley Omonobi & Ndahi Marama

…Massive arms including anti-aircraft guns, rocket propelled grenades recovered after visit to Borno…

It would have been a national tragedy had it occurred. But, according to intelligence sources, security agencies saved the situation.

The story is that insurgents allegedly planned to attack the plane of President Goodluck Jonathan while flying into Maiduguri, Borno State capital, on Thursday for his two-day visit.
Borno is the hotbet of the Islamist group, Boko Haram.

The alleged recovery of three anti-aircraft guns, two technical vehicles mounted with anti-aircraft stands and 10 rocket propelled grenades, in a cache of arms,in Maiduguri, on Friday, lent credence to the claim of the plot to attack the president’s plane.

Besides the anti-aircraft guns and rocket propelled grenades, the massive arms the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Maiduguri, the day the president left the state capital after the visit, include 17 AK rifles, general purpose machine guns, three G3 rifles, 20 RPG bombs, 12 RPG chargers, 1 x 36 ,hand held grenades, one tear gas rifle, 33 AK 47 magazines, 11 FN magazines, three G 3 magazines and 11,068 assorted ammunitions.

The twist to the story, however, is the claim by some security sources that the Islamist group had hoped that the entire security apparatus in Borno would be diverted for the president’s visit, to enable it deploy the massive arms to also attack the facilities where its members are being held in the state with aview to setting them free.

Whatever may have been the Islamist group’s plan, security agencies alleged that close monitoring foiled it.

Spokesman for the JTF in Borno State, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, in a statement emailed to journalists, yesterday, hinted that intelligence by informants led to the foiling of the insurgents alleged plan.

The statement listed the cache of arms recovered during the Friday operation while saying it was one of the JTF’s operations to combat insurgents in the lastten days. The statement reads: “Based on information and intelligence report, series of operations were conducted by the Joint Task Force Operation RESTORE ORDER in the last ten days in Borno State.

The latest was the one conducted at Bulabulin, Bayern Quarters and Jajeri in Maiduguri metropolis between 3 – 8 pm yesterday Friday, 8 February, 2013. During these operations under the period stated, there were exchange of fire that led to the death of 52 Boko Haram members including ten commanders ofthe sect. 70 terrorists were also arrested. In the period under review, the JTF lost two men, three were wounded and no civilian casualty was recorded. The under listed weapons, ammunition, uniforms and other items were recovered in yesterday’s (Friday) operation:
3 anti aircraft guns; 10 rocket propelled grenade tubes; 3 general purpose machine guns; 17 AK47 rifles; 3 G3 rifles; 1 pistol (lama);
20 RPG bombs; 12 RPG chargers; 1x 36 hand held grenade; 1 teargas rifle; 33 AK 47 magazines; 11 FN magazines; 3 G3 magazines; 11,068 assorted ammunitions;
2 technical vehicles with mounted anti aircraft stands;1 box of weapons cleaning kit; 4 swords and two knifes;5 walking talkies; 4 VHF handheld sets; 1 multi links router; and assorted uniforms and kits.

“The task force wishes to thank members of the public particularly our moles in the Boko Haram’s camp for giving us the information that assisted in the successes so far recorded. Thus, members of the public are reminded to continue to give credible and timely information to security agencies to combat insecurity.”

Sunday Vanguard learnt, yesterday, that security agencies have launched investigations into how the weaponry which, in size, quality and quantity, were capable of waging a full scale war either against air or land opposition and with which targets kilometers away could be successfully taken out, were assembled.

“The fact that assorted uniforms of security agencies, especially those serving in the Joint Task Force were recovered in the Friday operation, is fueling the intelligence that there was indeed a plan by the group and their sponsors to breach the security of the president”, a source added.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/03/boko-haram-plot-to-shoot-down-jonathans-plane-foiled/

sheyie2007: Why do you like posting negative comments/info about this country? You're really stupid

Long One: Nice to see Nigerians making positive news headlines, particularly as it is in London.

Children from balanced backgrounds, (with a father and mother figure) tend to perform well.

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aka tonero: Has Nigeria started using it?