₦airaland Forum

A member of the House of Representatives, Moshood Mustapha, has criticised the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and her Petroleum Resources counterpart, Diezani Madueke, for refusing to release the forensic audit report on the operations of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

Mr. Mustapha, a member of All Progressives Congress from Kwara State, is the Vice-Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Resources.

The audit, undertaken by international firm PriceWaterHouseCoopers, indicted the NNPC and recommended that the national oil company refund about $1.48billion to the Federation Account for various unreconciled transactions.

The investigation was carried out over claim that $20 billion oil money had not been accounted for the government-owned company.
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When I saw the Nigeria Senators laughing and near jubilating because they succeed in approving for the confirmation of Musliu Obanikoro as a Federal minister, little did I know was about dropping down from my eyes was tears. Not Tears of joy but tears of sorrow that senators who should be making laws for me and my people are busy confirming a criminal and yet jubilating for that, confirming an establish fraudster was sweet for them. They were clapping pushing other senators who stage a walk out and almost dancing to that. Instead of passing bills and motions that will correct our institutions they are celebrating confirming dubious characters that will lead the Nation. ObaniKoro said in the Ekitigate that he was on an errand by the president to make sure he rigged an election and yet it was not convincing for the Senators to stop such a character.

The Nigerian presidency has expressed concern with the use of voter card readers for the forthcoming elections, questioning its legality and efficiency, and defending an earlier position of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP on the matter.

Vice President Namadi Sambo said Thursday that while his party was not against the use of card readers, which the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says will help curb vote fraud, it was concerned whether the decision is backed by law and about the possibility of many Nigerians being disenfranchised.
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The Nigerian military has achieved yet another feat, dislodging Boko Haram terrorists from Lame/Bura forest between Ningi and Torro Local Government Areas of Bauchi State.

Sani Usman, Acting Director, Army Public Relations, in a statement Wednesday, said troops from 33 Brigade of the Nigerian Army cleared the area of terrorists in an operation which started last weekend.

Mr. Usman, a colonel, said, “Quite a number of terrorists were killed, their weapons and equipment destroyed. Similarly, a sizeable number of arms, ammunitions, food stuffs, Hilux vehicles, motorcycles and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) were recovered by the troops.”
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The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation on Tuesday insisted that Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State is culpable in the April 2014 abduction of over 200 girls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, by Boko Haram insurgents.
The Director of Media and Publicity of the campaign organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode, alleged that the governor, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Muhammadu Buhari and the party’s spokesperson, Lai Mohammed knew the whereabouts of the missing girls.
Mr. Shettima, however, denied the allegation, saying no one should take Mr. Fani-Kayode serious as he “is one Nigerian that is physically an adult but mentally an infant. We all know that going into exchange with an infant is like having a dialogue with the blind, deaf and dumb.”
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The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday confirmed Musiliu Obanikoro as a federal minister, appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan, brushing aside allegations that Mr. Obanikoro played a key role in election fraud in Ekiti State.
Mr. Obanikoro was named recently in a leaked tape as a principal actor in the state’s governorship election rigging in 2014, sparking national outrage.
The Nigerian government has refused to investigate the claims.
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Actually, it is a bit unfair to single out Mr. Ayodele Fayose, the rigged-into-office Governor of Ekiti State (just listen to the hottest audio record in Nigeria, the Ekiti Election Rigging Tape) as the one, within the ruling party’s crowded barracoon of desperate power-mongers, whose recklessness is fast approaching a suicide bomber’s. Who, I ask you, plays second fiddle to another among these intrepid contestants for the prize of Enemy of Democracy No. 1: Fayose; or Call-Me-a-Bastard-if-APC-Survives Doyin Okupe, aka Dr. Attack Lion; or Femi Fani-Kayode, whose congenital case of logorrhoea, “excessive and often incoherent talkativeness or wordiness,” is his only stock-in-trade; or AIG Joseph Mbu, non-card carrying member of the PDP; or Mujahedeen Asari Dokubo who threatens war if Jonathan loses the election; or National Security Adviser Dasuki, the de facto INEC Chairman; or Mrs. Patience Jonathan, who doesn’t need change because she is not a bus conductor, who would have anybody shouting “Change!” stoned, and who knows a thing or two about “brain dead” people; or President Jonathan himself, whose refusal to curb the excesses of his troops and displays corresponding eagerness to reward high crimes (as in nominating the prime suspect in the criminal subversion of democracy in Ekiti for ministerial reappointment), while betraying a clear preference, his public utterances notwithstanding, for a hand-picked interim government over a democratically elected one?
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The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governors have accused the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, of lying about their claim that Mr. Buhari will fight corruption if elected, saying the former military ruler’s ideas are as old as his age.
The governors spoke in Lagos Tuesday, where they met the media and civil society groups.
The governors at the meeting include Ibrahim Shema (Katsina), Jonah Jang (Plateau), Mukhtar Yero (Kaduna) and Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe).
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Nigeria’s March 28 presidential election will be the first in which the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has faced serious opposition. The All Progressives Congress (APC) was formed in 2013 and is led by former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari – its presidential candidate.
The APC has made rapid political gains and has welcomed swathes of defectors from the ruling party. It now governs 14 states and has edged a majority in the House of Representatives.
Recent public polls put Buhari and President Goodluck Jonathan in a dead heat for the top job, each commanding about 42% support.
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The PDP Governors Forum on Monday said that the party will win elections in all the states in the south of the country including Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Akwa Ibom, Godswill Akpabio said this at a meeting of the forum in Lagos.
Speaking to newsmen before the commencement of the meeting, Mr. Akpabio said the PDP will win on first ballot because it was a national party.
“Forget the propaganda you see. We are on ground and we believe PDP will win.
“PDP is the party to beat. We are not panicking because we have presence across 120, 000 polling units across the nation.
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The head of the Odua Peoples Congress, OPC, Gani Adams, has called for the immediate sack of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Attahiru Jega.
Mr. Adams, an ally of President Goodluck Jonathan, stated this while speaking in Lagos on Sunday.
Among the reasons for his call, Mr. Adams said Mr. Jega has failed to explain how INEC was able to successfully distribute 90 per cent of Permanent Voters Card, PVC, in North East despite the insurgency in the region.
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What is clear to all serious analysts is that certain powers within the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party circles are very frightened about the likely outcome of the presidential elections. That fear has been expressed in the enormous pressure brought to bear upon INEC to postpone the elections. It has also been expressed in flying kites that could lead to the removal of the INEC Chairman, and in the numerous court cases by different party surrogates to remove the presidential candidate of the APC from the ballot or stop the use of the permanent voters’ card or card readers.
I do not know how they intend to scuttle the elections outcome. They themselves may not know and are simply trying out every trick in the book with the hope that one of them works. These people have no love for Nigeria and certainly no belief in democracy. Those of us who believe the love Nigerians have for democracy should be respected have an enormous task being on our toes as the tricks are tried out.
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The Nigerian military has raised concern over careless talks and undue exuberance by some individuals from the military of neighbouring countries involved in the Multinational Joint Task Force, MJNTF, which have the implication of destabilising the spirit of the joint efforts against terrorism within the sub-region.

Reacting to a purported statement in some media by officials from the MJTF that troops from Niger and Chad made deep incursions into Nigerian territory to battle Boko Haram elements, the Director Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade, advised that it was necessary for officers from participating countries to beware of the terms they use while speaking with the press and also understand the implications of those terms.

According to him, “The location in question has to be mentioned before one can confirm whether it is part of an assigned or authorised mission or an incursion as described. This campaign against terror only makes provision for collaboration and cooperation; not incursion into territories. I think there is a careless use of terms by some inexperienced people or officials eager to make impression without understanding the implications. There’s no allowance for incursion here.

“The truth is that there were some pre-emptive manoeuvres along an axis in the theatre. Nigerian forces were also involved. It is unfortunate if that is what this young man is reporting in this false and divisive way. He may have to be called to order to stop this exuberant attitude of misinforming people as this is not good for our collective efforts. We will take this up where it matters.”

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/178171-boko-haram-nigerian-military-accuses-allied-soldiers-of-careless-statements.html

Godswill Akpabio has said that before he became the governor of Akwa Ibom State there were moments in his life he used to eat from dustbins.
Mr. Akpabio’s shocking revelation is contained in an audio clip exclusively published by a blog, Think Akwa Ibom!
PREMIUM TIMES obtained permission from the owners of the blog to republish.
The governor spoke in Eket during the inauguration of a hotel, Sonak, owned by his older brother, Isong Akpabio, a former public affairs manager of Mobil Producing Nigeria.
The exact date of the event is unknown, but it is obvious from Mr. Akpabio’s remarks that it happened early in the governor’s first term in office.
“I was on the street, struggling with other people to eat, sometimes from the dustbins,” Mr. Akpabio said.
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Nigerian Prophet T.B. Joshua has released a video on YouTube showcasing a side of the cleric unknown to many.
T.B. Joshua is regularly in the news for his alleged prophetic prowess, the controversial deliverance said to be occurring in The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) as well as the purported miracles, signs and wonders.
However, a video released via Emmanuel TV’s official YouTube channel has shown a comic side to one of Africa’s most controversial pastor.
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Players and officials of Nigeria Premier League side, Kano Pillars, have aborted their trip to Owerri in Imo State for their weekend game against Heartland FC, after they were attacked by armed robbers on Thursday afternoon in Abaji, a suburb of Abuja.

Confirming the incident to PREMIUM TIMES, Idris Malikawa, who is the media officer for the reigning Nigeria League champions, said unknown gunmen attacked the bus conveying the players at about 1.pm Thursday afternoon.

“We are now in Lokoja attending to our players and officials who suffered varying degrees of wound after the bus we were traveling with was attack by armed robbers in Abaji today,” he said.

Asked if the team will still go ahead to honour the Week 1 tie against the Naze Millionaires, Mr. Malikawa said they were only bothered about the safety and well-being of their injured players who are now receiving treatment in Lokoja.

“Please I can’t say anything about match, we are talking of the life of our players, when we have sorted that we will talk about match,” the Kano Pillars spokesperson told PREMIUM TIMES.

Pillars are the reigning champions of the Nigeria League after completing a hat trick of wins last season.

The Kano based club is representing Nigeria in the CAF Champions League where they are through to the next round having recorded wins over South Sudan side Al Malaika.


http://www.premiumtimesng.com/sports/177969-armed-robbers-attack-kano-pillars-players-officials-in-abuja.html

The meeting scheduled to hold between Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, and the nation’s 37 Resident Electoral Commissioners, initially slated for Wednesday, has been postponed to March 11.
The meeting was to let ‎Mr. Jega and his national commissioners receive feedback on the distribution of permanent voter cards in states of the federation, and discuss other preparations INEC is making for the forthcoming general elections.
INEC has announced it will, March 7, begin testing of the card readers , which are to be used for accreditation of voters, across the states.
It was gathered that INEC shifted the meeting so RECs could provide feedbacks on the testing of card readers on the new dates.
The Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman,‎ Kayode Idowu, confirmed the postponement as well and the new date of the meeting.
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President Idriss Deby of Chad said Wednesday he knew the hideout of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, and vowed that the leader of the insurgent group will be killed if he fails to surrender.
“It is in Abubakar Shekau’s interest to surrender, we know where he is. If he refuses to give himself up, he will suffer the same fate as his comrades,” Mr. Deby said at a press conference with his visiting Niger counterpart, news agency AFP reported.
Mr. Deby vowed to “wipe out” Boko Haram, responsible for more than 15,000 deaths.
Mr. Shekau has remained in hiding since his group started out in 2009 targeting civilians, security officials, villages, schools, markets and places of worship. He however appears infrequently in propaganda videos released by the sect.
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Four Nigerian political parties have threatened to pull out of the March 28 and April 11 elections if the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, refuses to suspend the use of card readers.
The parties also called on the chairman of INEC, Attahiru Jega, to proceed on terminal leave, accusing him of exhibiting unprofessionalism and poor judgement.
“Since Prof Attahiru Jega has shown lack of professionalism and good judgment in his actions so far in the conduct of the 2015 elections and since he has about three months to the end of his tenure as INEC Chairman, we the stakeholders urge him to quietly consider proceeding on terminal leave so that a more competent person can handle the current election process,” the parties said at a press conference Wednesday.
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Taking liberties with facts is in the province of political office holders, political parties and agency bureaucrats. It is what they do when they want to frame their case and sell their policies and programmes. What is lost on this President is that we are all wiser now. We understand, that this drawn out elections is designed to cajole us into accepting that which is more of the same, that which is against our pocket books, that which is inimical to progress and that which is not in our self interest. We can’t be fooled anymore.
We thank God that the President finally gets the memo that he is set to lose the next elections in the most humiliating way. The indiscriminate sharing of Nigeria’s money to buy the elections shows us that Mr. Jonathan gets it – there is no stopping the change we have embraced and that is a good thing in itself. One more thing he needs to learn is that; whatever he does, the Nigerian people will always win in the end. He should take it a step further; conduct the elections and go back to enjoying his loot in Otuoke or face the International Criminal Court (ICC) – whatever fate bestows on him.
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The unit of the President Goodluck Jonathan campaign organisation responsible for mobilizing the civil society has been hit by a corruption scandal that has now paralysed its operations.
Members of the committee are divided over the leadership style of its chairman, Nick Eze, a professor.
They accused Mr. Eze of cornering the kick-off funds he received from the presidency and of sabotaging the entire campaign.
“As far as the presidential campaign organisation is concerned, the Civil Society committee is a fraud,” an aggrieved member told PREMIUM TIMES. “Professor Nick has abandoned his office and is now running the committee from his bedroom.”
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The Nigerian military has stepped up air strikes on Gwoza and Bama, Borno State, ahead of possible invasion by troops aiming to retake the two towns seized by the insurgent group, Boko Haram, last year, the defence headquarters said Monday.
Government forces have made some gains in the last two weeks in the fight against Boko Haram militants, retaking some key towns from them and pushing to eject the group from their strongholds in the North East.
Gwoza and Bama are the two most important towns still under Boko Haram control, after the military announced Saturday it had recaptured Baga, a fishing community near Lake Chad. The military had earlier in the week retaken Monguno, also in Borno State.
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The Rivers State Governor and Director General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation, Rotimi Amaechi, and a former Minister of Aviation and Director of Media and Publicity of Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode, targeted diatribes at each other Sunday, exchanging abuses on television.
Messrs Amaechi and Fani-Kayode were guests on a Channels Television programme, Politics Today.
Speaking first, Mr. Amaechi had dismissed Mr. Fani-Kayode as someone who “does not have credibility”.
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President Goodluck Jonathan seized the opportunity of an interview with a Nigerian newspaper last week to hit back at a former Central Bank governor, Charles Soludo, who accused his government of failing to account for at least N30 trillion, and allowing corruption to flourish.
Mr. Jonathan dismissed Mr. Soludo’s claim as politically-motivated, and ridiculed his academic standing, saying it was illogical for that sum to be “stolen” as his government had not generated that much in all its years in power.
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Even as Nigerians continue to complain about the earnings of their lawmakers and other public office holders, a recommendation to allow former National Assembly presiding officers enjoy pension for life, has been approved by the state Houses of Assembly as part of the ongoing amendment to the 1999 Constitution, earlier passed by the National Assembly.
Nigeria’s former leaders, including those who came to power through military coups are already enjoying the privilege. Past Chief Justices of the Federation are also beneficiaries.
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The Deputy Governor of Niger state, Ahmed Ibeto, has denied claims that his boss, Governor Babangida Aliyu, appointed the speaker of the state assembly acting governor because he (Ibeto) is away in Saudi Arabia for lesser Hajj.
Mr. Aliyu, who is currently abroad, had Thursday said Mr. Ibeto travelled to Saudi Arabia without permission, thereby leaving him with no choice than to hand over the reigns of government to Speaker Adamu Usman.
Speaking for Mr. Aliyu Thursday, his spokesperson, Israel Ebije, had said, “The deputy Governor was not in any way snubbed by the governor on the decision to make the Speaker acting governor. Ibeto left the state for Umrah without exhausting the necessary procedure of approval from the Governor before travelling.
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The announcement sent a collective sigh of relief to the water corporation staff and civil society activists. After months of negotiation on how to privatize the water supply in Lagos, between the World Bank and the Lagos Water Corporation, the bank has called off the talks.
But before the bank’s decision, activists and civil servants had mounted pressure on the water company against such a move, which they said would raise the cost of having access to water beyond the reach of ordinary Lagosians.
The Corporation’s staff, who stood to lose their jobs, went a step further to threaten to do “everything to frustrate” the move.
Last month, the World Bank issued a statement announcing a breakdown in talks between its International Finance Corporation and the Lagos Water Corporation.
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The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Attahiru Jega, has told Nigerian federal lawmakers he could not guarantee the 2015 general elections will hold on rescheduled dates in March and April.
At a meeting with Senators Wednesday, Mr. Jega said he could not commit himself to the “sanctity” of March 28 and April 11 – dates for the rescheduled Nigeria’s general elections.
He said the electoral commission could not guarantee aspects of the poll that are beyond its control.
Mr. Jega met with the lawmakers to review the decision to postpone the polls from February.
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As far back as December 2013, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, expressing concern about the direction of the latter’s administration, it was clear the former president was on a familiar mission.
In the 18-page letter dated December 2, the unmistakably angry Mr. Obasanjo expressed irritation at the way the Jonathan administration was handling the affairs of the Nigerian state. He spoke of an alleged threat to the unity of Nigeria and complained about the president’s renege on a promise he made in 2011 to spend only one term of four years in office.
He also lambasted the administration over what he described as the increasing cases of corruption in government and the alleged training of snipers ahead of the 2015 general elections, among others.
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The All Progressives Congress, APC, has called for the banning of former Minister of state for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, from holding any public office over his role in the rigging of the governorship election in Ekiti state on June 21, 2014.
Mr. Obanikoro’s name was Tuesday sent to the Senate for confirmation as minister, by President Goodluck Jonathan.
The APC asked the Senate not to confirm Mr. Obanikoro.
APC also asked Nigeria’s armed forces to immediately begin investigating Aliyu Momoh, a Major General for his role in the alleged rigging of the election in Ekiti and repeating same in Osun and ensure that immediate and necessary disciplinary action are taken against all individuals that were involved in what it said was subversion of democracy.
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Since submitting the 2015 Budget to the National Assembly in November last year, Nigeria’s Budget office, although required by law to publish the budget details have failed to do so, preferring to keep it secret.
PREMIUM TIMES, courtesy BudgIT, has obtained authentic copies of the proposal handed to federal lawmakers for vetting and approval.
We are making them available in downloadable formats below in public interest.
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