₦airaland Forum

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/more-suspects-to-join-diezani-uk-govt/


There were indications, yesterday, that a former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke, arrested and released in the United Kingdom, on Friday, on money laundering allegations, may be charged to court, this week.
And feelers showed that she will not be the only person in the dock.
Sunday Vanguard learnt that besides the four other persons arrested with the former minister, more suspects may also be arraigned.
Meanwhile, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detectives, who raided the Abuja home of Allison-Madueke, just at about the time of her arrest in the UK, on Friday, reportedly recovered cash running into millions of Naira.
The trial is expected to be conducted in London and is likely to draw thousands of Nigerians resident in the United Kingdom (UK) but no date was specified, last night, when Sunday Vanguard made contacts with the National Crime Agency (NCA), which arrested and released Diezani and the four others on Friday.
An official of the NCA gave indication of the trial in a telephone chat but pointed out that the identities of all the suspects would only be unveiled at the point of charging them to court.
The official explained that the law establishing the NCA does not allow it to name those being investigated before charging them to court.
The official said: “Indeed we cannot name the five persons who were arrested and granted police conditional bail until we are ready to charge them to court.
“The law does not permit us to do so and we will release appropriate information to the media as the case progresses”.
But it was learnt from sources close to the British government that the NCA might have concluded arrangements to arraign Diezani and other suspects believed to be mostly Nigerian oil business men, suspected to have aided and abetted money laundering while the former minister was in office.
One of the sources said the British Government started investigating Diezani as early as 2013 following sustained allegations of financial wrongdoings at home and abroad, leveled against her and some officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
In the meantime, a team of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives, which raided the Abuja home of the former minister in Asokoro, Abuja, was said to have recovered cash running into millions of Naira from the place.
But a source close to the operation said only N1.2 million was recovered.
The security agents, who stormed the home, on Frederick Chiluba Street, Asokoro, in six vehicles, reportedly gained access to the expansive mansion with the aid of some former security aides of the embattled former minister.
The team allegedly gained access to the well fortified house using one of the windows.
Reports said Diezani had not been sighted near the palatial home since leaving office in May but had been staying in the United Kingdom, where she reportedly sought medical attention over an undisclosed ailment.
In updated information on its website, yesterday, the NCA disclosed that investigation of the suspects was initiated in 2013 by the Proceeds of Corruption Unit, which transferred the matter to it early this year.
The agency said that the suspects were merely granted what it called “conditional police bail” pending further investigation to be conducted in the UK and overseas.
It was learnt that the EFCC, which has a working pact with UK anti-corruption agencies, swopped on Diezani’s home and recovered vital documents, which it hopes to use to prosecute her when the trial begins in London.
According to the NCA’s website, the International Corruption Unit (ICU) investigates bribery of foreign public officials by individuals or companies from the UK and money laundering by suspected corrupt foreign officials and their associates.
The ICU also traces and recovers the proceeds of international corruption, support foreign law enforcement agencies with international anti-corruption investigations; engages with government and business to reduce the UK’s exposure to the proceeds of corruption.
It works to support increased compliance with the Bribery Act 2010 and draws on the specialist support available to it within the NCA, while also working closely with other UK law enforcement agencies and overseas partners.

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/more-suspects-to-join-diezani-uk-govt/


There were indications, yesterday, that a former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke, arrested and released in the United Kingdom, on Friday, on money laundering allegations, may be charged to court, this week.
And feelers showed that she will not be the only person in the dock.
Sunday Vanguard learnt that besides the four other persons arrested with the former minister, more suspects may also be arraigned.
Meanwhile, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detectives, who raided the Abuja home of Allison-Madueke, just at about the time of her arrest in the UK, on Friday, reportedly recovered cash running into millions of Naira.
The trial is expected to be conducted in London and is likely to draw thousands of Nigerians resident in the United Kingdom (UK) but no date was specified, last night, when Sunday Vanguard made contacts with the National Crime Agency (NCA), which arrested and released Diezani and the four others on Friday.
An official of the NCA gave indication of the trial in a telephone chat but pointed out that the identities of all the suspects would only be unveiled at the point of charging them to court.
The official explained that the law establishing the NCA does not allow it to name those being investigated before charging them to court.
The official said: “Indeed we cannot name the five persons who were arrested and granted police conditional bail until we are ready to charge them to court.
“The law does not permit us to do so and we will release appropriate information to the media as the case progresses”.
But it was learnt from sources close to the British government that the NCA might have concluded arrangements to arraign Diezani and other suspects believed to be mostly Nigerian oil business men, suspected to have aided and abetted money laundering while the former minister was in office.
One of the sources said the British Government started investigating Diezani as early as 2013 following sustained allegations of financial wrongdoings at home and abroad, leveled against her and some officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
In the meantime, a team of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives, which raided the Abuja home of the former minister in Asokoro, Abuja, was said to have recovered cash running into millions of Naira from the place.
But a source close to the operation said only N1.2 million was recovered.
The security agents, who stormed the home, on Frederick Chiluba Street, Asokoro, in six vehicles, reportedly gained access to the expansive mansion with the aid of some former security aides of the embattled former minister.
The team allegedly gained access to the well fortified house using one of the windows.
Reports said Diezani had not been sighted near the palatial home since leaving office in May but had been staying in the United Kingdom, where she reportedly sought medical attention over an undisclosed ailment.
In updated information on its website, yesterday, the NCA disclosed that investigation of the suspects was initiated in 2013 by the Proceeds of Corruption Unit, which transferred the matter to it early this year.
The agency said that the suspects were merely granted what it called “conditional police bail” pending further investigation to be conducted in the UK and overseas.
It was learnt that the EFCC, which has a working pact with UK anti-corruption agencies, swopped on Diezani’s home and recovered vital documents, which it hopes to use to prosecute her when the trial begins in London.
According to the NCA’s website, the International Corruption Unit (ICU) investigates bribery of foreign public officials by individuals or companies from the UK and money laundering by suspected corrupt foreign officials and their associates.
The ICU also traces and recovers the proceeds of international corruption, support foreign law enforcement agencies with international anti-corruption investigations; engages with government and business to reduce the UK’s exposure to the proceeds of corruption.
It works to support increased compliance with the Bribery Act 2010 and draws on the specialist support available to it within the NCA, while also working closely with other UK law enforcement agencies and overseas partners.

Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/buharis-laconic-idiosyncratic-october-1-speech/


IT is unlikely that at any time in his presidency, Muhammadu Buhari will ever bore his audience. His inauguration speech was a model in terseness, with no frills, and nearly with no memorable sound bite. The speech was relieved perhaps only by the almost aphoristic “I belong to everybody, and I belong to nobody” statement he used to underscore his wistful desire for personal and political independence. His inauguration speech was supposed to be the biggest thing on the day he was sworn in, something to announce his return to power, his grand success after three failed attempts at the presidency, and something to define the new Buhari. It rose to no such peak, having of course exhibited no ambition to soar either at the rhetorical or tactical level. Indeed, the speech was absolutely idiosyncratic. It gave Nigeria the essential Buhari, the one forgotten from 1985, the one that has in fact changed little since then.
President Buhari has since then given a few other speeches at home and abroad. To his credit, none has been denounced as long-winded. All have been as terse as possible, ending barely moments after he started delivering them. In France, he was laconic; and in the United States, he exampled brevity. But as terse as they often were, the speeches gave no opportunity to his audience to make up their minds to like or dislike what he had to say. Someday in the future, when a verbose and tedious president will weary the country with offensive nothings, and lather them with pompous, jaded and swollen phrases, the beauty and even nobility of President Buhari’s taciturnity will be appreciated anew.
It was no surprise, however, that two days ago the president once again failed to conflate a great speech with a great and unique moment. October 1, Nigeria’s Independence Day, had been consistently belittled by past leaders, sometimes in favour of May 29, the so-called Democracy Day, but President Buhari who claims to exemplify change was expected to lead a reawakening of that irreplaceable and historic day. Alas, in his speech, he paid only lip service to the day. After acknowledging it as an anniversary the country should be proud of, he then proceeded to misconceive the spiritual and political import of the anniversary. Other than a few platitudes, and one or two florid statements, there was nothing else in the speech to qualify it as an Independence Day anniversary speech, nor anything memorable to emblematise the change he spoke fondly and glowingly of, nor yet something deep, historical and inspiring.
Really, the speech was inappropriate for the occasion. It was reassuring and thoughtful of President Buhari to acknowledge the contributions of former president Goodluck Jonathan to the peaceful succession that enthroned the All Progressives Congress (APC), a fact his first few giddy weeks in office seemed to ignore until some Christian leaders, including Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor the Christian Association of Nigeria president and Bishop Hassan Kukah, angrily reminded him. And he also spoke fervently of the country’s natural endowments as springboard for Nigeria’s economic development. Then he applauded the country’s staying power, remarked its unsteady ability to transcend open divisions, and announced its resolve to overcome security challenges, especially the Boko Haram war.
All the president managed to say about the allegations of vendetta leveled against his government is that he bore no one ill will. While this would have been sufficient to answer questions about his altruism in calling the previous government to account over allegations of corrupt practices, it was certainly inadequate to explain his government’s puzzling and sometimes hesitant approach to the full-fledged rebellion in the Senate by lawmakers elected on the ruling party’s platform. He needed far more nuanced and analytical exposition on the matter, backed with a short excursion into historical antecedents, but he gave nothing of such.
On the equally deeper and complex issue of the country’s raison d’etre, especially the convoluted search for a national identity, the president offered the even blander solution of “unity of purpose’. In his view, the country’s inability to rise to world prominence is caused essentially by the failure of its people to achieve unified purpose. To resolve this problem he launched into a platitudinous admonition of his countrymen, from whom he expects exemplary behaviour. Said he: “You and I and all of us must appreciate that we all have our part to play if we want to bring change about. We must change our lawless habits, our attitude to public office and public trust. We must change our unruly behaviour in schools, hospitals, market places, motor parks, on the roads, in homes and offices. To bring about change, we must change ourselves by being law-abiding citizens. ” There were of course moments in his speech when the president seemed set to achieve some flourish and depth. The bland ending of the October 1 speech thwarted all that.
Overall, the speech was undone by its failure to recognise what the day called for. Even if he hated lengthy speeches, a prerogative no one can take from him, it was still important that he avail his long-suffering and sometimes confused countrymen his view on the salient, deeper and complex issues that trouble or even undermine Nigeria as a state. He talked at length on the manifestations of the problems that ail the country; when he instead needed to draw upon historical analysis to explain where the country is situated, why it has found it difficult to soar, and how it can be made to run competitively.
Except for his views on corruption, insecurity and discipline, there was nothing in his speech on economic blueprint or the much-needed new ethos that should form the bedrock of the country’s focus and purpose. In fact, the president enunciated a rather confusing and a little detached perspective on democracy, particularly partisan politics and the limits and possibilities of presidential powers. Not too long ago he had embraced troubling political anachronisms, whether as it concerned the value of his cabinet or the lack of breadth of his kitchen cabinet. And now he has incredibly zeroed in on the absence of unity of purpose as the reason for Nigeria’s troubles, when clearly, to nearly everyone, and especially analysts and leaders themselves, the problem is much more that of leadership failing than anything else.
It is understandable why President Buhari, a ranking member of the country’s leadership elite, is reluctant to indict that elite for undermining the nation’s peace and progress. But there is no running away from the fact that Nigeria’s underdevelopment is in large parts attributable to leadership failing than any other factor. If on October 1, the president was unable to provide his own unique perspective on the country’s woes, nor agree to leadership failing as an explanation, then the road will be much tougher and longer than anyone may presume. No country has been able to rise above the quality and competence of its iconic leaders. Nigeria will not be an exception. If President Buhari can’t persuade his countrymen that he understands the nation’s problems, he cannot also persuade them he has the magic wand. Without a magic wand, it is unlikely his remedies will go beyond addressing the superficial, let alone achieve anything more than the placebo effect.
President Buhari needs help. There is no question he is a more appropriate and zealous leader for these times than his predecessor, the undisciplined Dr Jonathan. But he must be made to understand that theory drives practice, and abstract comes before reality. Except he is helped to conceive or envision great things, it is impossible to engender great and anticipated realities with energy and passion.

Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/2nd-ministerial-list-oyinlola%e2%80%88akeredolu-ex-ui-vc-on-the-card-as-buhari-ponders-over-fresh-nominees/

Barely three days after submitting the list of the first set of ministerial nominees, President Muhammadu Buhari is weighing options on the next batch of nominees.Last minutes of intense horse-trading and lobbying are ongoing in the affected states.
There were strong indications yesterday that the Presidency is shopping for a new Group Managing Director for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) following the nomination of the present holder, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu as a Minister-designate.
The thinking of the presidency is that since Kachikwu will be the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, he cannot continue to be in charge of NNPC.
It was learnt that President Buhari believes a Minister cannot be a regulator and an operator at the same time.
Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the jostle for the other slots has become intense in the last 72 hours.
Most of the states are Ondo, Kogi, Abia, Enugu, Imo, Bayelsa, Borno, Cross River, Nasarawa, Yobe, Zamfara, Osun, Kaduna, Bauchi, Sokoto, Adamawa, Lagos
A reliable source, who spoke in confidence, said: “Despite the fact that the President has set his own criteria, he is weighing options on the remaining candidates because of interplay of factors.
“Although some aides are proposing the retention of the 42-man ministerial structure, others are urging the President to stick to the 36-team model prescribed by the 1999 Constitution.
“The submission of the first batch of 21 names to the Senate has heightened lobby for the remaining slots.”
It was gathered that governors, party leaders at all levels and associates have been trying to reach out to the President and “strategic aides.”
But the battle for the slots was said to be keen at press time because no one knew the mindset of the President.
Another source said: “For instance in Imo, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo wants the slot for a former Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Chief Festus Odimegwu but Governor Rochas Okorocha is rooting for his in-law, Prof. Anthony Anwuka (a former vice chancellor).
“Also in contention is a former governorship candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) in 2011, Hon. Emeka Nwajuba.
“In Abia State, the jostle is between Buhari’s old associate, Ike Emenike and the party’s governorship candidate, Anyim Nzeribe, who is a loyalist of Governor Rochas Okorocha in the state.”
“Having been familiar with the politics of Kaduna, President Buhari is taking sole charge of the ministerial nominee from the state, based on certain indices.
“In fact, Governor Nasir el-Rufai is actually staying away from making any input in the nomination process. He has left the President and other stakeholders to sort it out.
“In Ondo State, the race for the ticket is between a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) and a top politician from the state, who was an executive of a multinational company.
“In Osun, there are three candidates for the slot and Buhari is expected to pick one. They are ex-Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola (recommended for his support and loyalty to Governor Rauf Aregbesola and APC); the immediate past Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Isaac Adewole and a prominent politician in the state.
“Apart from also being a favourite of Obasanjo, ex-Governor Oyinlola’s candidacy is also being promoted by some forces in APC.
In Enugu State, our source said the list is longer despite the fact that the state chapter of APC could only garner 14,000 votes (less than 3 per cent of the total votes cast) for Buhari.
The source added: “We have Comrade Osita Okechukwu, who is a reliable associate of Buhari. Although Okechukwu, the National Publicity Secretary of CNPP, has not met Buhari since his inauguration, he is said to be not too keen.
“But others vying for ministerial slot are ex-Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji (seeking a third term in FEC); APC National Vice Chairman, South-East, Emma Eneukwu; APC governorship candidate, Chief Okey Ezea and Chief Onyemuche Nnamani.
“In spite of the Kwara State slot going to the National Publicity Secretary of APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki is still lobbying for the return of his “godson” and ex-minister of sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, who was the Deputy Chairman of the Strategy Committee for the APC Presidential Campaign Council.
Abdullahi was rated as an asset during the campaign, and for resigning from ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet, he has earned the respect of some APC leaders.
“Saraki’s position may lead to the resuscitation of geopolitical representation in the Federal Executive Council to make the team 42.”
Investigation revealed that the challenge at hand is how Buhari will manage the choice of the remaining ministers because there are more than qualified party members, technocrats and long-standing and trusted associates.
A source in the Presidency added: “From the look of things, we may have to resort to consensus on some nominees as the case in some states.
“Let me give you the example of Ekiti State. When the nomination of the candidate for the state was knotty, ex-Governors Niyi Adebayo and Segun Oni met with Buhari where Oni declared without reservation that the slot should be given to Dr. Kayode Fayemi. And that assisted in tackling the matter.
As at press time, findings confirmed that most APC governors were shocked that the President did not allow them to make input into the choice of his ministers.
A source in the APC Governors Forum said: “The President determined those he wanted to work with him. To a large extent, the governors were not consulted on those picked from our states. But they have to bear with the President because it is his constitutional prerogative.
He said many governors woke up to read the list of cabinet members like every Nigerian.
“Since the President does not choose commissioners for the governors, they cannot pick his ministers for him. I think he is trying to do away with the past culture put in place by the PDP.
“The governors were no doubt shocked or surprised but the consolation is that he has chosen credible people.”
Apart from the governors, senators desirous of having the ministerial list would have to wait till Tuesday because the Senate President was said to have refused to open the envelope sent to him.
A Senator said: “We have all been pestering Saraki to have a glimpse of what was sent to him by the President but he said he would not open it until Tuesday.”
Meanwhile, the Presidency is shopping for a new Group Managing Director for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) because the present GMD. Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, is minister-designate.
“The thinking in the Presidency is that as a minister, Kachikwu cannot be a regulator and an operator at the same time.
“We have had instances in the past when the two portfolios were combined, but the Presidency does not think along this line at present. Kachikwu is an asset; this is why he is moving up.
“After the inauguration of the ministers, a new GMD may be appointed by the President after consultations with Kachikwu and other stakeholders.”

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/for-ndigbo-its-thanksgiving-all-the-way/

SINCEPresident Muhammadu Buhari, PMB came to power, people have argued that Ndigbo should be punished for not voting massively for him. Some say it was a political miscalculation by the Igbos, that they put all their eggs in the basket of former President Goodluck Jonathan, they are politically naïve, and all that. Such people do not understand where Igbos are coming from. Igbos are very grateful to God for the turnout of events, because if it were not so, they would have been the victims of post elections violence in the north. Igbos have investments in almost every nook and corner of Nigeria, which would have been torched. Ndigbo are the ones who need a peaceful Nigeria more than any other tribe, because they have more at stake in the unity and stability of Nigeria. We simply continue to thank God for Nigeria, in spite of all.
But these men have continued to goad PMB to do all he can to punish Igbos for not voting for him, and his kitchen cabinet appointments, to the complete exclusion of Ndigbo, confirms his position.
Newspaper reports carry a speculated list of PMB’s Ministers’ nominees, and out of 27, there are only three Igbo names, 10 percent, of which two of them, were major instruments in hacking down GEJ. In essence,and properly too, Igbos have only one person on that list.
The South South has six names, 22 percent; The north has four names,15 percent, while the Yorubas, the owners of APC have 14 names, 52 percent of the list. Subject to Senate clearance, these plus the northern dominated kitchen cabinet will be the face of leadership under PMB for the next four years.
This list explains why all our fiery newspaper and television commentators could not see anything wrong with the last four months as they are mostly on the list. Two Igbo proverbs will suffice here; when your pear roasts, you lick it, and enjoy it, and; If the hunted game escapes today, there will be hunting tomorrow. We thank God for them and for this nation.
President Buhari
During the struggles for Nigeria’s independence, the three major tribes of Igbos, Hausas and Yorubas worked, fought for, and got it, but while the Yorubas and Igbos fought for a Nigeria, that would be a free state for all, the Hausas wanted a Nigeria, that they would rule, dominate, and control politically. Post-independence, the three regions, were in healthy competition, with Agriculture as the mainstay of the economy. Power was delicately balanced between the regions, until there was a confirmation, that abundant oil resources was in the bowel of the South South (Niger Deltans), and South East (Igbos). To dislodge the arrangement they provoked the pogrom against Igbos from 1965 in the north, which lead to the declaration of Biafra, by Igbos and the war that followed from 1966 to 1970, during which Igbos were killed mercilessly, and blockaded economically.
Owelle Azikiwe in the heat of that war made a representation for Peace Keeping, to the world, at the United Nations, but the world looked the other way, engineered by our Colonial masters, and Biafra was defeated. After that war, the UN subsequently dusted Owelle Azikiwe’s presentation, and started applying it for Peace Keeping around the world today. What they laughed at when it was the case of Igbo man, they used to prevent killings in subsequent cases. We thank God that it was an Igbo man who sowed the seed of Peace Keeping to prevent genocide around the world.
Ndigbo must always thank God for General Yakubu Gowon. But for him, some of those claiming to love Igbos more than their own parents today, wanted to wipe Igbos from the face of this earth. They are still around us today, and have continued to make highly provocative statements against Igbos, taunting Igbos, gloating in the victory of PMB. Yes, they have put Igbos out of governance today, but Igbos are grateful to God for this; they have come a long way from 1966, and have made great contributions towards the building of the robust, virile, and growing economy of Nigeria.
God is using these hateful Nigerians, to pull Igbos back to develop their region, which they shall begin to do with the guidance of the same God that kept them thus far. This is why good counsel must be given to MASSOB to remain peaceful, and within the confines of Nigeria’s constitution, because, until the philosophy that places one tribe in Nigeria above the rest, is permanently discredited, lasting peace and stability will remain an illusion.
Wisdom should teach MASSOB to avoid exposing themselves to blood thirsty Igbo haters in power.
It has become obvious that Owelle Azikiwe, and Chief Awolowo played into the hands of the north, and lost their mandate to create, and maintain equal opportunities for all in Nigeria. Forty eight years after that mistake,Yorubas and Igbos have refused to look at where they stumbled and fell from, in order to plan their restoration.
2015 is a year of Jubilee, and Change. All things come beautiful in God’s time, and it is time for the recovery of lost mandates.
So why should an Igbo man expect any appointment from a President they voted against? Igbos are wired differently from the rest. They operate a clean system of Council of Elders. They are republican, and free people. The maxim is when a young person washes his hands he can dine with the elders. They cherish and encourage hard work, and achievement in life. Yes, Ndigbo needs and want money, and they use it well, so let the wealth of all other tribes of Nigeria, who do not like money, flow to Ndigbo in Jesus Name. Can I hear someone say Amen ?
Let Ndigbo weep not for what they have lost, and fight for what they have; Weep not for the one who abandoned them and fight for those with them. Weep not for those who hate Ndigbo, but fight for those who want them. Ndigbo must work with others to recover the mandate that they lost in 1965.

Source : http://www.punchng.com/news/ministerial-list-senate-sets-criteria-for-screening-wed-%e2%80%a2-its-no-longer-business-as-usual-saraki/

The Senate will on Wednesday decide the procedure for screening ministerial nominees submitted to it by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, who said this in an exclusive interview with one of our correspondents on Thursday in Abuja, assured Nigerians that the screening of ministerial nominees would not be delayed by the upper legislative chamber.
Ndume said that the screening by the Senate would be thorough just as the nomination process adopted by the Presidency was.
He said, “The communication from Mr. President, which contains the list of the ministerial nominees and which remained sealed as I am talking to you, will be opened by the Senate President as soon as we resume plenary on Tuesday.
“It will appear on the Order Paper on Wednesday morning and the Senate will set up the necessary legislative procedure for the screening exercise. I wish to assure Nigerians that the screening exercise will be thorough just the way the nomination process was thorough.”
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, had on Wednesday confirmed receipt of the ministerial nominees list from the Presidency.
Already media speculations had indicated that 21 names were contained in the list and that a former Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola; and a former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, made it.
Also said to be on the list are Kayode Fayemi, a former governor of Ekiti State; a former governor of Anambra State, Chris Ngige; and a one-time governor of Abia State, Ogbonaya Onu, among others.
Saraki also on Thursday said the process of lawmaking in Nigeria would no longer be business as usual.
He said he would ensure that the National Assembly under his leadership was people-oriented.
The Senate president spoke in an interview with State House correspondents shortly after taking part in an event to mark the country’s 55th independence anniversary inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said, “I am hopeful and confident that the future is very bright. In the next few years, things will be even better.
“It will not be business as usual. We will ensure that the National Assembly will be people-oriented and will make laws that will make impact on Nigerians.”
In a separate interview, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, said the nation had been progressing on the right path.
“We will make it by the grace of God. We are on the right path,” he said.
But the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, told reporters that the nation had finally discovered that it had been on the wrong path for long.
He said the nation had finally moved to the right path.
“At 55, we have finally discovered that we are on the wrong road. We have finally moved to the road that leads to progress, hope, employment, prosperity and that will lead to Nigeria finally attaining that greatness that God destined it for. We are on the way,” he said.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress member representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, Hamma Missau, said on Thursday that his colleagues, and not Senate President, Bukola Saraki, prevented Senator Ahmad Lawan from becoming the Senate Leader.
Missau told journalists in Abuja that the APC caucus in the Senate had no option but to align with the position of their North-East colleagues who insisted on Senator Ali Ndume as their preferred choice for the seat.
He said the South-West caucus of the party for instance, had no issue with the choice of Senator Olusola Adeyeye as the Chief Whip by the party hence they elected him as their leader even when his name was on the party’s list submitted to the Senate President.
Misau, therefore, said that Saraki should not be blamed for the inability of Lawan to emerge as Majority Leader of the Eighth Senate as proposed by the leadership of the APC.
He explained that rather than blame Saraki, aggrieved party members should focus attention on the North-East caucus of the APC in the Senate, who overwhelmingly voted against the party’s choice.
“Out of the 11 Senators who are members of the caucus, eight voted for Ndume while three voted for Lawan and since politics is a game of numbers, the candidate with majority of the senators emerged as leader,” he said.
Misau noted that the explanation became necessary in view of the belief that the senate president deliberately antagonised the party leadership by refusing to name Lawan and the others into leadership positions.
He said, “Many people did not know or understand what happened then. Truly, many of us prefer Ndume to Lawan. The fact that Ndume contested the post of Deputy Senate President and at that time and he sought the support of most senators, made it easy for him to get our support.
“In any case, Senator Lawan never told anybody that he was interested in the post of the majority leader. We therefore voted for a person who actually lobbied and sought for our support. So, we take responsibility for our decisions. Nobody should blame the Senate President.
“The Senate President is just first among equals. He represents one district like every other senator. He is not like a state governor or President who has executive powers and discretion to select ministers and commissioners.
“The Senate President must always do what the senators want and must even carry along his colleagues at all times. Saraki is very popular among us today because he is always respecting our opinion and usually doing what we want.
“He has a way of relating to all of us as equals that we are and trying to aggregate the overall interest and position of majority in taking decisions. So, when we said we wanted Ndume as Senate majority leader, he could not have done otherwise.”

Source : http://www.punchng.com/news/ministerial-list-senate-sets-criteria-for-screening-wed-%e2%80%a2-its-no-longer-business-as-usual-saraki/

The Senate will on Wednesday decide the procedure for screening ministerial nominees submitted to it by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, who said this in an exclusive interview with one of our correspondents on Thursday in Abuja, assured Nigerians that the screening of ministerial nominees would not be delayed by the upper legislative chamber.
Ndume said that the screening by the Senate would be thorough just as the nomination process adopted by the Presidency was.
He said, “The communication from Mr. President, which contains the list of the ministerial nominees and which remained sealed as I am talking to you, will be opened by the Senate President as soon as we resume plenary on Tuesday.
“It will appear on the Order Paper on Wednesday morning and the Senate will set up the necessary legislative procedure for the screening exercise. I wish to assure Nigerians that the screening exercise will be thorough just the way the nomination process was thorough.”
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, had on Wednesday confirmed receipt of the ministerial nominees list from the Presidency.
Already media speculations had indicated that 21 names were contained in the list and that a former Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola; and a former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, made it.
Also said to be on the list are Kayode Fayemi, a former governor of Ekiti State; a former governor of Anambra State, Chris Ngige; and a one-time governor of Abia State, Ogbonaya Onu, among others.
Saraki also on Thursday said the process of lawmaking in Nigeria would no longer be business as usual.
He said he would ensure that the National Assembly under his leadership was people-oriented.
The Senate president spoke in an interview with State House correspondents shortly after taking part in an event to mark the country’s 55th independence anniversary inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said, “I am hopeful and confident that the future is very bright. In the next few years, things will be even better.
“It will not be business as usual. We will ensure that the National Assembly will be people-oriented and will make laws that will make impact on Nigerians.”
In a separate interview, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, said the nation had been progressing on the right path.
“We will make it by the grace of God. We are on the right path,” he said.
But the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, told reporters that the nation had finally discovered that it had been on the wrong path for long.
He said the nation had finally moved to the right path.
“At 55, we have finally discovered that we are on the wrong road. We have finally moved to the road that leads to progress, hope, employment, prosperity and that will lead to Nigeria finally attaining that greatness that God destined it for. We are on the way,” he said.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress member representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, Hamma Missau, said on Thursday that his colleagues, and not Senate President, Bukola Saraki, prevented Senator Ahmad Lawan from becoming the Senate Leader.
Missau told journalists in Abuja that the APC caucus in the Senate had no option but to align with the position of their North-East colleagues who insisted on Senator Ali Ndume as their preferred choice for the seat.
He said the South-West caucus of the party for instance, had no issue with the choice of Senator Olusola Adeyeye as the Chief Whip by the party hence they elected him as their leader even when his name was on the party’s list submitted to the Senate President.
Misau, therefore, said that Saraki should not be blamed for the inability of Lawan to emerge as Majority Leader of the Eighth Senate as proposed by the leadership of the APC.
He explained that rather than blame Saraki, aggrieved party members should focus attention on the North-East caucus of the APC in the Senate, who overwhelmingly voted against the party’s choice.
“Out of the 11 Senators who are members of the caucus, eight voted for Ndume while three voted for Lawan and since politics is a game of numbers, the candidate with majority of the senators emerged as leader,” he said.
Misau noted that the explanation became necessary in view of the belief that the senate president deliberately antagonised the party leadership by refusing to name Lawan and the others into leadership positions.
He said, “Many people did not know or understand what happened then. Truly, many of us prefer Ndume to Lawan. The fact that Ndume contested the post of Deputy Senate President and at that time and he sought the support of most senators, made it easy for him to get our support.
“In any case, Senator Lawan never told anybody that he was interested in the post of the majority leader. We therefore voted for a person who actually lobbied and sought for our support. So, we take responsibility for our decisions. Nobody should blame the Senate President.
“The Senate President is just first among equals. He represents one district like every other senator. He is not like a state governor or President who has executive powers and discretion to select ministers and commissioners.
“The Senate President must always do what the senators want and must even carry along his colleagues at all times. Saraki is very popular among us today because he is always respecting our opinion and usually doing what we want.
“He has a way of relating to all of us as equals that we are and trying to aggregate the overall interest and position of majority in taking decisions. So, when we said we wanted Ndume as Senate majority leader, he could not have done otherwise.”

Source: http://www.punchng.com/news/senate-in-rowdy-session-as-83-members-back-saraki/

THE Senate, expectedly, had a stormy session on Tuesday as some members of the upper legislative chamber protested the passing of vote of confidence in the Senate president, Olusola Saraki, by 83 senators.
Tuesday was the Senate’s first plenary since the arraignment of Saraki by the Code of Conduct Bureau for false asset declaration. The senior lawmakers had been on break since August 13.
Members of the House of Representatives, however, on Tuesday, said they had chosen to support the anti-corruption crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Speaker of the House, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, conveyed the position of the House in an address to lawmakers as they reconvened in Abuja after a six-week annual recess.
There was uproar in the Senate as the senator representing Zamfara Central Senatorial District, Kabir Marafa, complained that he was denied the opportunity to air his own view before the Senate president subjected the confidence motion to vote.
Senator Babajide Omoworare also protested the inclusion of his name as a co-sponsor of the confidence vote in Saraki.
Omoworare, representing Osun East Senatorial District, said his consent was not sought even as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business.
He later, in a statement, dissociated himself from the vote of confidence passed in Saraki.
In an electronic mail to one of our correspondents, Omoworare said he was not contacted before his name was included in the list of 84 senators, who passed votes of confidence in Saraki.
He had then moved that his name should be struck out of the motion.
The motion for the lawmakers to pass vote of confidence in the Senate president was moved by an All Progressives Congress member representing Niger East Senatorial District, David Umaru, on behalf of 83 others.
The motion, reportedly endorsed by 48 Peoples Democratic Party senators and 35 APC senators, was passed by overwhelming shout of ‘ye’ by the lawmakers.
It was the second confidence vote in Saraki in as many as two months. Eighty-one out of the 108 members of the Senate passed a similar vote on July 28
Umaru, while moving the motion, had noted alleged interference in the affairs of the senate “by detractors and media propaganda against senators, the senate and its leadership for selfish politicians.”
He said the Senate would not allow itself to be distracted and that it would not succumb to blackmail in the course of carrying out its constitutional responsibilities.
He therefore called on innocent Nigerians, groups and political associations not to allow themselves to be used by any person or persons to intimidate or blackmail the Senate and its leadership.
But Marafa,who is the spokesperson for the Senate Unity Forum, a group opposed to the leadership of the Senate by Saraki, caused an uproar by noting that Saraki was only calling on his supporters to contribute.
Marafa, who was later recognised to speak after Saraki had ruled on the motion, cited order 53 (5) of the Senate Standing Rule, which forbids the Senate from discussing any issue before the court.
The insistence of Saraki that Marafa should also read the provision of Order 53 (6), which equally forbids any senator from raising any issue upon which the Senate president had ruled upon, degenerated into an open confrontation between the two lawmakers.
While Marafa argued that Saraki deliberately denied him an opportunity to talk before he ruled on the issue, the Senate president stood his ground and ruled the Zamfara senator out of order.
An angry Marafa consequently stood up and accused Saraki of giving only his loyalists the opportunity to speak on the floor and the resultant reactions from both pro- and anti – Saraki senators disrupted the deliberation on the motion on the outbreak of cholera moved by Senator Soni Ogbuoji.
An APC member representing Bauchi Central, Senator Issah Missau, climbed his seat and shouted on Marafa to “shut up and sit down” and Marafa responded by threatening to beat up Missau.
At the height of the confusion in the chamber, the immediate past Senate president, David Mark, stood up and quietly walked out.
In the ensuing confusion, Saraki called on the Sergeant-at-Arms to bring the proceedings to order but some of Marafa’s colleagues in the SUF, led by Senator Ahmad Lawan, sent back the Sergeant-at-Arms, saying the situation was under control.
Marafa was thereafter led out of the chamber by some senators who took him to the office of Senator Olusola Adeyeye (Osun Central) and barred him from speaking to journalists.
The aggrieved senator later returned to the chamber and the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, apologised on his behalf to the Senate.
The Senate spokesperson, Senator Dino Melaye, while addressing journalists after the plenary, lamented “the unruly behaviour of Marafa” and warned that the Senate would take necessary disciplinary action against him in future if he repeated such attitude.
Melaye said, “The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, in session, apologised to Nigerians for the unbecoming attitude of Senator Marafa. That act is disgraceful, unacceptable and condemnable and that the senate regrets that.
“We want to assure Nigerians that this will be the last time that the Senate will condone such misbehaviour. His action contravenes Section 56 of the Standing Rule of the Senate but his misbehaviour is regrettable.
“The Senate will do everything within its powers to ensure that the situation does not repeat itself and where it is repeated, it would be met with stiff adherence to the rules of the Senate.”
Saraki alleges external influence
Saraki on Tuesday fingered “certain individuals outside the Senate” as responsible for his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
He spoke while addressing Senators in plenary.
He said, “I wish to reiterate my remarks before the tribunal, that I have no iota of doubt that I am on trial today because I am the president of the Nigerian Senate, against the wishes of some powerful individuals outside this chamber.
“But what is clear to me also is that the laws of Nigeria and the rules of the National Assembly give consideration only to the wishes and desires of those of you who are here today as members of the Senate; to elect as you wish, one of your peers as President of the Senate.
“This, in your wisdom, is what you have done by electing me to be the first among all of you who are my equals. The laws of Nigeria do not give any consideration to any other forces outside the Senate in the election of its president.
“To yield the ground, on this note, is to be complicit in the subversion of democracy and its core principles of separation of powers as enshrined in our constitution.”
He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for refusing to interfere in the election of the National Assembly leadership even in the face of enormous pressure on him to do so. He said Buhari had “proved quite concretely that he is indeed a born-again democrat.”
“Too many people have fought and died for the democracy that we enjoy today,” he noted.
He said the senators would not be honouring heroes and heroines of democracy and their memories if they should allow the sad chapters of our history to continue to repeat themselves.
He said, “As for me, I am prepared to do my duty in the defence of our democracy and in safeguarding the independence of the National Assembly.
“My duty, as I see it, is to do justice and honour to the memory of those who have paid even higher prices to give us this democracy and this Constitution. Primarily as a senator of the Federal Republic and as the Senate President I owe it to this Senate to stand strong in the face of relentless persecution.’’
House votes for anti-graft
The House of Representatives said on Tuesday that it wholly supported the anti-corruption war of the Federal Government and its decision to cleanse the polity of sleaze.
But, the House urged “great circumspection” in the ongoing prosecution of the Senate president over alleged corruption charges “in order to maintain proper focus in the pursuit of the common good.”
The House commended Saraki for submitting to the jurisdiction of the CCT.
Dogara, who spoke on behalf of his members, said, “The barometer of the polity has been on the rise of late because of certain developments concerning the arraignment of the President of the Senate.
“While commending the President of the Senate for submitting himself to the jurisdiction of the Code of Conduct Tribunal in the recognition that no person is above the law, I wish to caution that there is need for great circumspection in times such as this in order to maintain proper focus in pursuit of the common good.
“In this regard, I wish to commend you, my dear colleagues, for the maturity of avoiding further escalation through media commentaries.
“We commend and fully support the effort of government towards sanitising the polity through the war against corruption, impunity and other vices.”
Dogara noted that the House expected institutions created by Acts of the National Assembly to be fair and ensure that justice was seen to have been done at all times.
He noted that acting to the contrary could be a stain on the success of democracy.
The Speaker added, “As legislators with the mandate of making as well as reforming the law, we expect that these institutions, which are the creation of these laws, would prove their capacity for fairness, justice and strict adherence to the rule of law in order not to endanger our democracy.
“I am confident that our justice system has the capacity to do justice to all citizens. In any case, the legislature remains the bulwark in defence of our democracy, fundamental human rights and rule of law.”
To his colleagues, Dogara reminded them of the fact that they must lead by example by being above board to be able to perform their duties of over-sighting ministries, departments and agencies of government.
“We must at all times remind ourselves that we are equally been over-sighted by the people whose mandate we hold and indeed ultimately by God.
“We will therefore do well to adopt the righteous doctrine of leadership by example, only then shall we be able to face accountability with confidence,” the speaker said to his colleagues.
‘Confidence vote not consequential”
Reacting to the development in the Senate on Tuesday, the Chairman of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, Debo Adeniran, described the confidence vote in Saraki as “unfortunate and tragic.”
Adeniran said the development confirmed that the legislature was made up of people who might not allow Buhari’s anti-graft war to succeed.
He said, “It is a very sad development, no doubt. Of course, they even knew that the gentleman had several corruption and fraud allegations against him before they elected him, and that is the tragedy in which Nigeria has found itself; to have a legislature that has a preponderance of people of doubtful integrity and that will water down whatever dream that the executive led by President Muhammadu Buhari has.
“Well, they can go ahead and pass any vote of confidence that they want to pass but I believe that at the fullness of time, Nigerians will rise against all the looters and they will stone them on the street.”
A former Chairman of the Lagos Chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Monday Ubani, described the action of the lawmakers as “disgraceful and one targeted at further rubbishing the country’s image in the comity of nations.”
Ubani said, “The way we behave in this country is sometimes very disgraceful. We should stop making ourselves a laughing stock in the comity of nations. What is the meaning of vote of confidence? If a man has any criminal issue to sort out with the judiciary, what effect does that have on the judicial process? It has no effect whatsoever; they are just wasting their time.
“If the man has a case to answer with the judiciary, he should go and clear himself. If the judiciary says he is guilty, anybody can go and pass a vote of confidence; it will go to no issue.”
A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Seni Adio, also said the vote of confidence passed in Saraki had no bearing on his trial at the CCT.
“What is happening in the National Assembly has no bearing on what is happening in court. The senators are not judicial officers and they are not a court of law. It is for the court to pronounce on the innocence or otherwise of a suspect,” Adio said.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Onueze Okocha, said what happened in the National Assembly would have no effect on the judicial process at the CCT.
He said, “What happens in court is different from what happens in the National Assembly. Whatever happens within the precinct of the National Assembly is basically a legislative activity and the legislators are at liberty to proceed as they see fit based on what their rules and order of proceedings indicate.
“The standard in every legislative house is that if the members of the house no longer have confidence in the elected leaders, the honourable thing for those leaders to do is to resign. It happened recently in Australia, where it led to the Prime Minister losing his position. It is a standard in legislative houses across the world; if lawmakers lose confidence in their leader, it naturally follows that the end of the road has been reached for that elected leader.”

Source: http://www.punchng.com/news/rivers-tribunal-nigerian-army-lied-says-inec/

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday in Abuja informed the Justice Ambrosa Suleiman-led Rivers State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal that the Nigerian Army lied when it submitted that there was no election in Rivers State.
Some top officials of the army had, in their separate testimonies before the tribunal, insisted that the governorship poll in Rivers State was marred by widespread violence and irregularities.
But INEC told the tribunal that the army, in its efforts to discredit the outcome of the April 11 governorship poll in Rivers State, sent soldiers that gave false evidence before the panel.
At the resumed hearing on the petition by the All Progressives Congress and its governorship candidate, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, INEC produced eight witnesses that contradicted the evidence by the Nigerian Army.
The witnesses, who were all presiding officers who conducted the election, informed the tribunal that the governorship election was peaceful and devoid of any form of violence.
While tendering result sheets from the various local government areas as evidence, the witnesses told the tribunal that they resorted to the use of manual accreditation of voters following the failure of card reader machines.
The witnesses also tendered the incidence forms that were filled by voters when the electronic devices could not recognise their voter cards.
According to them, they personally submitted the result sheets at the collation centre.
The PW 12, Onyije Ifeanyi, who is a former member of the National Youth Service Corps, told the tribunal that he was the presiding officer that was in charge of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA.
He said, “My Lords, I took the result to the collation centre myself where I had to wait for my turn because there were other presiding officers that also came to submit their own. It is not true that there was violence at the area I covered. There was no incident of invasion by armed men or shootings. The election was peacefully conducted and everything went successfully.”
According to him, a total of 114 voters were accredited with the card reader machines, adding that his unit recorded 39 cases of unsuccessful accreditations.
In his testimony, the PW 13, Tubonini Mcbala, who was the presiding officer at Unit 8, ward 1 at Degema LGA, insisted that the election was peaceful.
He told the tribunal that the election was monitored by agents of the APC.
While being cross-examined by the counsel for the petitioners, Chief Akinolu Olujimi (SAN), the witness said, “My Lords, there was no incident of shooting or thugs carting away election materials. Any soldier that comes before this tribunal to testify that there was violence is telling lies.
“As the presiding officer, I was there from the beginning of the election to the end. There was no soldier at the polling unit the only security agents we saw were the police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and they were all without arms.”
Sequel to an application by the APC and Peterside, the tribunal subpoenaed the Chief of Army Staff to produce some of the soldiers that were deployed to the state during the election to appear and testify before it.
The soldiers, in their separate testimonies, told the tribunal that the election was marred by irregularities such as violence and gunshots by thugs, a situation they said scared voters away.
The four Army Captains who testified included Garba Sani, who was in charge of Tai Local Government Area; Abubakar Mohammed from Bony Camp Lagos, Fred Bala from Maiduguri and Isa Almakura.
They had told the tribunal that they led different troops that were deployed to Rivers State during the election.
They took turns to testify that armed thugs attacked INEC officials at different local government areas in the state and carted away election materials, adding that no election took place at Tai LGA.
Specifically, Almakura, who covered Ikwerri LGA, along with 30 other soldiers, told the tribunal that at a time, his team got confused by the “bombardment of phone calls” from INEC ad hoc staff who he said were shouting for help and begging to be rescued from thugs that invaded their polling units.
On our arrival at polling units in Osuala, Onuerelu, Omerelu and Alu, we found the INEC ad hoc staff, mainly corps members, mercilessly beaten by the thugs,” he added.
Further hearing of the petition continues today (Tuesday).

Source: http://www.punchng.com/news/stop-playing-politics-with-religion-osinbajo-tells-nigerians/
Delivering a message titled “Making Nigeria function as a family: Panacea to healthy national integration,”. During an interdenominational church service organized to mark Nigeria's 55th independence Bishop Bagobiri. Of the Kafachan catholic Dioceses did not spare a former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), and Muslim leaders in the country.
According to him, they only opted to condemn activities of Boko Haram when serious damage had already been done.
He said, “I like what President Buhari said that nobody kills in the name of Islam. Why did Buhari wait till he became President before making the statement? Why did he not make the statement when President Goodluck Jonathan was in power? That statement would have made more sense then than now. Ibrahim Babangida followed and condemned Boko Haram. Why did they all have to wait till Buhari won the election before condemning the activities of Boko Haram?
“The anniversary celebration offers us the opportunity to offer ourselves in service for the continuous growth of our country. We thank God that despite all the apprehensions that followed the last general elections, we did not end up like some countries in the Middle East.
“Nigeria is more than any religion, tribe, political party, ideology or anything. No one should toil with the survival of Nigeria. We need Nigeria first before any other thing we are fighting for. Though prayer is highly important, it is not the only thing we are called to do.
“There are many powerful people whose agenda is to serve parochial interests. People that have been entrusted with public offices use their positions to promote sectional motives. Today, we hear of an invisible government that rules this country. Nigerians must ask what happened to the colossal monies budgeted for our security.
“Those who rule with discrimination will not go far. Why must Supreme Court Justices come from one part of the country? We advise this government to evoke fairness, justice and equity. Why can’t we have Igbo or Yoruba people as Supreme Court Justices? Nigerians are smart people. When you genuinely fight corruption, Nigerians know. When you give in to the temptation to use anti-graft agencies as instruments of revenge or vendetta, sooner or later, we will know.
“If you are fighting corruption for the sake of corruption, Nigerians understand it. If we use EFCC, ICPC, CCB and others as instruments of revenge and vendetta, sooner or later we will not be able to get the desired peace.”
The cleric stated that although Christians and Nigerians were not expected to carry arms, “they carry arms when the government has failed the citizenry.”
Speaking on the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East, Bagobiri said Christians had become endangered species, adding that “for every 100 killings of Christians in the world, 60 are from Nigeria.”
While first Bible reading was taken from II Chronicles 7:1-14 was read by Bishop Bagobiri, the 2nd reading was taken from I Corinthians 12: 12-30 and read by the Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara.

tony1918:
best foof or food

Tnx dear

25 Best Foods To Help You Maintain A Balanced Diet

Are you having a balanced diet? Do you even think of what is it that you are eating on a daily basis? Most of the time we are so immersed in our work, that we don’t even give two hoots to what we are putting into our mouths.
First of all, what is a balanced diet? And what all foods should you include in it to maintain a healthy lifestyle? Check out this post for the answers!

What Is A Balanced Diet?

It is time to get the right definition of a ‘balanced diet’. A diet that contains the required amount of proteins, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and minerals is said to be a balanced diet. It is relatively simple to follow a balanced diet that is nothing but a judicious blend of all basic food groups.
Let’s have a peek into the essential food groups:

1. Eat Starchy Foods:

All our meals should be based on starchy foods. According to dietary recommendations, starchy foods should make up one-third of our consumption. This means we should base our meals on these foods. In this respect, wholegrain or wholemeal type of foods, such as, whole-wheat pasta and brown rice or high fibre white bread make a healthy choice.

2. Consume Five Portions Of Fruit And Vegetables A Day:

Fruits and vegetables are a vital source of vitamins and minerals. Ideally, we should consume at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day as doing so has been proven to reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease. Fruits and vegetables protect against some types of cancers too.

Choose brightly coloured veggies, such as carrots, bell peppers, leafy greens, broccoli and squashes. You can make these veggies into delicious treats.
3. Pack Protein In Your Diet:

Meat, eggs, fish and beans are good sources of protein, which is vital to the body’s growth and repair. Meat is rich in vitamins and minerals, apart from being a good protein source. Vitamin B12, iron and zinc can also be found in meat. Fish is a healthy option as it is rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

Eggs and pulses also add to the protein levels in the body. Pulses are a great source of proteins for vegans. If you are not keen on pulses, include tofu in your diet. It is a good source of protein and amino acids that keep the bio-chemical processes in your body working optimally.

4. Include Milk And Dairy Foods:

Milk and dairy foods such as cheese and yoghurt are packed with protein. They also contain calcium, which is vital for strong bones. Yogurt contains good bacteria and can increase the beneficial flora in your digestive tract to keep it working optimally. Try and consume organic yogurt.

Also, consume dairy products made from milk that is procured from pasture-fed cows. These products will not have harmful toxins like hormones or antibiotics.

5. Reduce Intake Of Food And Drinks That Are High In Fat And Sugar:

It is important to consume less fat and sugar. They are sources of energy, but when consumed in excess can lead to weight gain. Obesity can elevate the risk of many lifestyle diseases such as stroke and other cardiovascular ailments. Try to stay away from juices that are artificially sweetened, aerated drinks, processed foods, and even bakery items

Now that you know the kind of foods to be included in a healthy balanced diet plan, go ahead and get to know the top foods that are highly recommended for a healthy lifestyle!

1. Beef And Pork:

Beef and pork are rich in protein, which you can source easily without pinching your pocket. It is advisable to pay a little more and enjoy pasture-fed or grass-fed beef and pork.

2. Chicken And Turkey:

Chicken and turkey make your diet extremely tasty as well as nutritious. Both are rich in protein, but chicken can up your cholesterol levels as it contains more fat and calories. If you are worried about cholesterol, choose lean pieces and try baking, poaching or boiling chicken.

3. Fish:

Fish is rich in protein and Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fats boost your health and keep you fit. Wild salmon, tuna and mackerel are some of the fish you should be looking to consume at least once a week. It’s alright to include shellfish, as long as you know it has low or no mercury.

4. Flaxseed:

Flaxseed is a good source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which is an omega-3 fatty acid. Flaxseed can be ground and added to cereal and salad. Some people also consume flaxseed oil, which can easily be used for salads as a part of the dressing.

5. Pumpkin Seeds:

Pumpkin seeds contain a wide variety of nutrients, magnesium and manganese, protein and zinc. Pumpkin seeds strengthen the immune system and keep the heart and liver healthy. It is known to help manage diabetes. Pumpkin seeds can be consumed as a snack, especially when you are feeling peckish between meals. Or, you can make a healthy granola bar with the seeds.
6. Chia Seeds:
Chia seeds score very high on the health food chart as they are packed with nutrients which can create a positive impact on your body and brain. Today, Chia seeds are considered a superfood and you will do well by adding these seeds to your daily diet.

7. Whole-Grain Bread And Pasta:

They are good sources of energy, B vitamins and fibre and should form the basis of your meals. Whole grain not only has vital nutrients, it also is necessary to keep your digestive tract healthy. Whole grains ensure you have regular bowel movements and keep you away from the discomfort of constipation.

8. Oats:

Oatmeal is very healthy, and there is nothing like a bowl of cooked oatmeal for the power of nutrition to kick in. Try having a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast with some fruit and it will keep you satiated until lunchtime.

9. Dairy Products:

Dairy products such as milk provide micronutrients, and are a good source of protein and vitamins. Dietary guidelines suggest the use of yoghurt and milk that are low in fat. However, there seems to be an ongoing debate about the benefits of low-fat dairy. Understand the pros and cons of consuming low-fat dairy before you make a choice. Sometimes, low-fat may not be as healthy as health experts would like us to believe.

10. Seasonal Fruits:

Consume plenty of fruits as they are the best source of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fibre. Fresh fruits, frozen fruits, pureed or canned fruits without additives and sugar are good to consume for a healthy body. Make smoothies and fruit salads with a variety of fruits to enjoy eating this healthy food.

11. Kidney Beans: Kidney beans are rich in many nutrients such as calcium, B-complex vitamins, niacin, folate, magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids, calcium and soluble fibre.

12. Almonds:

They are rich in plant omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, Vitamin E and phytosterols. It is believed almonds also improve memory and are great for seniors and the elderly. So, if you are worried about age-related dementia, you should be looking to consume a handful of almonds. In fact, when you feel hungry between meals, eating a handful of almonds should keep those hunger pangs at bay until the next meal.

13. Walnuts:

They contain Vitamin E, folate, magnesium and plant omega-3 fatty acids. Walnuts make a tasty snack. You can eat them as they are, or you can add them to your breakfast cereal.

14. Tuna:

Tuna is a good source of Omega-3 fatty acids, niacin and folate. If you are worried about the environment, go in for tuna that is labelled dolphin-friendly. Also, you should be looking to eat fish at least once a week to maintain cardiovascular health, and tuna is the perfect food for this.

15. Tofu:

Include tofu because it contains folate, potassium, niacin, calcium and magnesium. Tofu can be added to salads, soups and even vegetable dishes to make it tasty and appealing.

16. Brown Rice:

Brown rice is a good source of B-complex vitamins, fibre, niacin and magnesium. Brown rice definitely is much healthier than polished white rice, which hardly has any nutrients. You can eat wild brown rice as well, as it is equally healthy.

17. Soy Milk:

Soy milk is rich in isoflavones (a flavonoid), B-complex vitamins, niacin, folate, calcium, magnesium, potassium and phytoestrogens. Soy milk is great over oatmeal or whole-grain cereal. You can also make a smoothie with soy milk. This is great for people who have lactose intolerance and cannot consume dairy. It allows them to enjoy the benefits of milk without any adverse side effects.
18. Carrots:


Alpha-carotene (a carotenoid) and fibre are what you get when you eat carrots. Remember how your mother used to force you to eat carrots? There was a reason for it. Carrots are great for the eyes, skin and hair. If you eat a carrot a day, you can prevent vision problems later in life.

19. Spinach:

Spinach is rich in lutein (a carotenoid), B-complex vitamins, folate, magnesium, potassium, calcium and fibre. Pick spinach for nutrient-packed salads and sandwiches. You also can add blanched baby spinach into salads, quiche, sandwiches and stews.

20. Broccoli:

Broccoli is rich in beta-carotene (a carotenoid), vitamins C and E, potassium, folate, calcium and fibre. Most kids detest this vegetable, but it can be made into an appetizing dish with some cheese.

21. Red Bell Peppers:

These are rich in beta-carotene and lutein (carotenoids), B-complex vitamins, folate, potassium and fibre. Red bell peppers add color to salads and other dishes. They can also be added to meat and poultry preparations.

22. Asparagus:

Although some consider it an expensive vegetable, you may want to include asparagus in your daily diet, as it contains beta-carotene and lutein (carotenoids), B-complex vitamins, folate and fibre.

23. Oranges:
delicious fruit can provide immunity against diseases. It also contains potassium, folate and fibre. There is nothing like having freshly squeezed orange juice in the morning. Once you drink it, you will never want to sip another glass of canned or packaged orange juice!

24. Tomatoes:

They ensure you are in the pink of health as they contain beta- and alpha-carotene, lutein, lycopene, vitamin C, folate and fibre. Tomatoes can be added to salads, soups, stews, ragouts and much more.

25. Papaya:

Papaya is rich in beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein (carotenoids), Vitamins C and E. This is a tropical fruit and can be expensive. However, the health benefits nullify the cost of the fruit. So, if you spot one in your grocery store, grab it!

Other Foods To Include In Your Daily Diet:

There are a few other fruits that you can make a part of your daily diet if you like. These include the following:

1. Dried Plums:

Dried plums enhance bone health as they are rich in Vitamin K. They are also packed with antioxidants and are good to regulate bowel movements. Antioxidants destroy free radicals from the body. Many health experts attribute aging, age-related issues and cancer to free radicals. So, dried plums definitely are the proverbial fountain of youth!

2. Dark Chocolate:

Enjoy its taste and goodness as it contains resveratrol and cocoa phenols (flavonoids) in abundance. Both keep your cardiovascular health in all its glory and ensure your ticker never has a problem.

You are what you eat. If you consume fat laden food, it will be a surprise if you remain healthy. Stay informed and determined to maintain weight. Consume a balanced diet and enjoy life-long health.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=869296243151921&set=a.164592680288951.41243.100002146613870&type=1

NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT.....! OBAMA TRAVELS TO KENYA, LEAVING PRESIDENT BUHARI AND APC GOVS. BEHIND IN USA....
BY XTRA LIFE TIPS , AT 21:35 , HAVE 0 COMMENTS

NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT......! Obama Travels To Kenya, Leaving Buhari Behind In US.
President Obama have left the US to Kenya for his African tour that will take him to Ethiopia also, leaving the Nigerian President, Maj Gen Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) in the US.





International Diplomats were not perplexed about this unusual development, as they are aware that Buhari's visit was planned at his instance, through Mr David Axellrod (Obama former Campaign manager) and this overlapped Obama's long scheduled African tour.

Buhari's visit was described by the US Foreign office as a private visit and not an official one and there is no way it will interfere with Obama's official program.

The Nigerian President will not be coming back with any documented agreement with the US pledging any help on the Nigerian economy or the war on terror, implying that this N2.2billion tour succeeded in achieving nothing for Nigeria and is now another wasted journey.

Nigeria felt slighted when President Barack Obama overlooked the vast nation on his first African trip as head of state in 2009, instead visiting its shrimp-sized neighbour, Ghana, where he lauded the smaller country’s democratic achievements.

Obama left Nigeria out again in his 2013 visit to Africa. Now, as he prepares for his third and likely final trip to the continent as president, Nigeria is once more being bypassed in favour of Kenya and Ethiopia.

If democratic achievements play a role in the president’s itinerary, Nigerians may be wondering: Why? In March, the vast and divided country of 170 million staged one of the continent’s most significant elections — the country’s first democratic change of power since the end of military rule in 1999.

In contrast, Ethiopia’s election in May saw the ruling party, criticised by human rights organisations for its oppression of opposition members, journalists, critics and bloggers, win every seat in the parliament.

An independent democracy watchdog, Freedom House, described the Ethiopia vote as “far from free and fair”. Yet Obama, who has placed great emphasis on human rights and democracy in Africa, will become the first sitting US president to visit Ethiopia this month, in a move criticised by rights groups.





Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country, is sub-Saharan Africa’s largest economy and an important source of oil for the United States. Its hurt pride at being left off Obama’s itinerary comes at a time of damaged relations between the two countries.

Attempts at military cooperation in the fight against the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram crumbled towards the end of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s term. Jonathan was defeated in the March election by former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari.

There is a consolation prize for Nigeria: On Monday, Obama hosts the new Nigerian president in Washington for talks on increased US assistance in the war against Boko Haram, an Islamic State-linked group with a horrific human rights record.

Boko Haram has been blamed for beheadings of civilians accused of being spies; attacks and killings of schoolboys and teachers; military-style attacks on villages in which hundreds of civilians have been shot, burned or slaughtered like goats; abductions and rapes of hundreds of women and girls; and bombings in crowded markets and bus stations.

The White House has described Buhari’s visit as marking “our support for the Nigerian people following their historic elections and peaceful transfer of power”.

US officials have also indicated their willingness to cooperate with Nigeria in its bid to recover billions of dollars in government funds looted by past officials and salted away in foreign bank accounts.

“President [Obama] has long seen Nigeria as arguably the most important strategic country in sub-Saharan Africa. The question is would there be an opportunity to deepen our engagement and that opportunity is now,” said US Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, according to the Reuters news agency.

Given that, it’s not immediately clear why Obama chose to leave Nigeria off his itinerary. Boko Haram may pose a security threat, but so does Al Shabab in Kenya. Nigeria’s record on corruption is poor, but so is Kenya’s. And Ethiopia is not nearly as free and democratic as Nigeria.

A key factor may be that the United States views East Africa overall as more important strategically than West Africa. (Kenya and Ethiopia are in the east, Nigeria in the west.) And Kenya has personal resonance for Obama, whose father was born there.

Last year, Nigerian officials voiced anger over America’s refusal to sell Nigeria military helicopters seen as crucial in the fight against Boko Haram — a result of US law that forbids sales of military equipment to countries whose military is implicated in gross rights abuses. When the US offered to train a battalion, Nigerian officials rebuffed the team of trainers sent to Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.

Ethiopia, meanwhile, gets about $800 million a year in US military assistance and aid because of its role in the fight against the Somali militant group Al Shabab.

Since taking power, Buhari has fired the top military commanders and promised to investigate human rights abuses exposed in a recent Amnesty International report, which accused the military of causing 8,000 deaths of Boko Haram suspects, rounded up arbitrarily and kept in intolerable conditions in military detention, lacking adequate food or water.

Buhari’s dismissals of service chiefs and pledge to take military abuses seriously may open the way to sales of military equipment and increased military cooperation.

He has made defeating Boko Haram and restoring peace and stability in the northeast of the country his top priority, but the group, driven from many northern towns and villages at the end of Jonathan’s term, has regrouped, launching almost daily terrorist attacks in the north. In recent days, it unleashed a series of bombings at the end of Ramadan that killed at least 65 people.

One of the suicide bombings Friday was carried out by a girl who looked about 10 years old, according to Nigerian army officials.

Buhari is confronting a raft of other problems: a budget crisis, with teachers and public servants unpaid in some areas; entrenched corruption; and widespread inequality and poverty, particularly in the north, where the Boko Haram insurgency has been raging.

Be vigilant.
• Adultery is legalized in South Africa by the Constitutional Court

• Gay Marriage is legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court.

• As if that is not enough, Germany’s National Ethics Council has called for an end to the criminalisation of incest between siblings after examining the case of a man who had four children with his sister.

.Lastly, Japanese court rules"Adultery is Ok if its for business purpose"

All in one week!

It's obvious Satan's agents are working round the clock to win more souls for their master. The battle line has been drawn. Fellow Christians, let's fight back to win the crown of glory for Jesus.

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/07/senate-rules-ive-no-hand-in-alteration-ekweremadu/

DEPUTY Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, yesterday, dissociated himself from the amendment of the 8th Senate Standing Rules, saying he was no longer a senator when the rules were made.
Senator Ekweremadu spoke through his Special Adviser on Media, Uche Anichukwu, on a Ray Power Radio morning programme, tagged: “Political Platform”, where he responded to questions on the alleged forgery/amendment of the Senate Standing Rule, 2011.
He washed his hands off the allegation, saying at the time the said Senate Standing Rule/Order 2015 was made, he had ceased being the Deputy Senate President and so was no longer a principal officer to have contributed to the making of the document in question.
He said the making of a new Rule/Order for a new Senate or House was entirely the business of the National Assembly bureaucracy and asked those striving to frame him up to look elsewhere.
Ike Ekweremadu
He said: “Let me just explain here that every National Assembly, that is every Senate or House has its Standing Rule/Order as every Standing Rule/Order normally has a life span of four years. So, if you go to the Office of the Clerk to the National Assembly now, you are likely to find Standing Rules/Orders of 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and the current 2015.
“From the point of the valedictory session of the 7th Senate on 4th June, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Distinguished Senator David Mark and the rest of other members of the 7th Senate ceased to be senators until the 9th of June, when the 8th Senate was inaugurated; and as usually done, the new senators received new Standing Rule/Order 2015.
“The making of that 2015 edition of the Senate Rule/Order is the business of the bureaucracy of the National Assembly. What the 8th Senate can do, which its predecessors have sometimes done is to amend as suitable. And the process of the amendment is spelt out in the that document.
“So, if you say that the current Senate or Ekweremadu or whoever altered the Standing Rule that brought them to power, it is just like saying that former President Olusegun Obasanjo forged the 1999 Constitution upon which he was inaugurated as a president. You know it wasn’t his making and the governors that came that time too, it wasn’t their making. What happens is if Nigerians don’t like what is contained in the 1999 Constitution, they try to amend it. It’s the same with the Rules/Orders of the National Assembly. But you cannot even amend it until you are inaugurated as a Senator or Member. So, haven been inaugurated, anybody not comfortable with any part of the Standing Rule/Order 2015 upon which the Senate was inaugurated can follow the laid down procedure in the Rule within the lifespan of the Senate.
“So, you can see that what they call an amendment is a new document with a life of its own. It couldn’t have been done by any member of the 8th Senate. It is just impossible for it to have been made by Ekweremadu. I guess it is all politics”
Asked whether his principal did not work behind the scene to influence the alleged changes in the Senate Rule, Mr Anichukwu said: “How could he have worked behind the scene to amend it because from the 4th of June, when the 7thSenate ended, he ceased to be a senator, just like every other senator.
“You could remember that after the valedictory session on that day, Ekweremadu and Senator David Mark left without their usual official cars. That showed they were no longer senators or occupying their offices in the Senate. So, how could he have worked from behind the scene? And do not forget that even the main matter they are contesting is not Ekweremadu’s eligibility. They claim the old Rule for the 7th Senate prescribed open ballot in which you mention the name of the person you want to vote in as the Senate President or Deputy President of the Senate, while the Clerk to the National Assembly used the open secret ballot system in which your name is called, you are given a piece of paper to write down the name of your preferred candidate and drop in the box in the full glare of everyone and on live TV watched all over the world. No one has complained that the election was rigged. Even Senator Ali Ndume crossed over to Ekweremadu and gave him a very warm congratulatory embrace”
He explained further: “There is an important point I want to make here, how a new Senate or House is inaugurated is entirely the business of the National Assembly bureaucracy
“Remember that in the 6th Senate, Senator George Akume ran against Senator David Mark for the position of the Senate President. You would remember that some people said no, he was not qualified to run for that office going by the old Rule because he was a new Senator. But the then CNA, Mr. Ogunyomi, said no, ‘this is how I want to run it.”
When told that some people, especially from the opposition APC felt that his principal took a seat that rightly belonged to the APC, Mr Anichukwu said the seat did not belong to any political party.
He said: “Going by Section 50 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, that Office doesn’t belong to anybody or party. It belongs to Nigerians. That is why APC lawmakers became Speakers in Plateau and Benue State Assemblies last June even when the APC was in minority. By the way, are some people trying to tell Nigerians that if the PDP had won majority in the National Assembly, which is an independent arm of government, and head both chambers, the President Buhari Administration would cease to function?”

"Come and see me tomorrow, I will give you one million naira to start your business" Emeka prostrated "Thank you uncle, God bless you, may your pocket never run dry"

Emeka walked with a bounce in his steps as he left his uncle's house. He got home and told his wife, she was overjoyed; they danced and laughed. Relief had finally come, Emeka couldn't wait till the morning. 

Around 9am, Emeka set off to his uncle's house. As he approached the house, he started seeing lots of cars, guests were arriving, he was wondering if his uncle was throwing a party but it was too early in the morning. 

As he stepped in the house, he saw people crying and rolling on the floor. "Can somebody please tell me what is going on?". "Your uncle died around 8:30am this morning, he was jogging when he suddenly slumped and died". 

Emeka could not believe what he was hearing, he felt like the world had come to an end, how would he survive from now on? What should Emeka do?

The bible says in Jeremiah 17:5 (NLT) This is what the LORD says: "Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD. 

As long as your trust is in man, God will make sure that you are disappointed every time but if you put your hope in God. You will never be put to shame. 

This is what the bible says about those who out their trust in Him. Jeremiah 17:7 (NLT) But blessed are those who trust in the LORD

and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.
8They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit.

May all our dependence on men perish so that we can constantly put our trust in God. Amen 
Good morning Nairalanders and happy weekend

Source: http://www.punchng.com/news/morgues-overflow-in-pakistan-as-heatwave-toll-nears-800/

Is this the End Time? Please pray for Pakistan

The death toll from a severe heatwave in southern Pakistan is edging towards 800, with the threat of more deaths to come as temperatures remain unseasonably high for the fourth consecutive day, officials have told Al Jazeera.
At least 775 people have died of heatstroke, dehydration or other heat-related illnesses in Karachi, the country’s largest city, since Saturday, according to government figures.
“The mortuary is overflowing, they are piling bodies one on top of the other,” said Dr Seemin Jamali, a senior official at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, the city’s largest government hospital.
“We are doing everything that is humanly possible here,” she said, adding that since Saturday, the JPMC had seen more than 8,000 patients with heat-related symptoms. Of those, 384 patients had died, she said.
“Until [Tuesday] night, it was unbelievable. We were getting patients coming into the emergency ward every minute,” she said.
Among those who have died, most have been either elderly or poor, officials say.
On Wednesday, the grounds outside the JPMC’s Emergency Ward are teeming with people, many seeking relief goods such as blocks of ice, cold water and juices from one of the many aid tents that have sprung up here overnight. Inside the ward, the crowds have begun to lessen.
“Mostly people coming here are facing heatstroke and they are old people. Their ages are around 45 to 50 years old, so the older they are, the more serious problems they are facing,” Junaid Ahmad, a volunteer, told an agency.

Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/new/nlc-to-lawmakers-slash-n120b-vote-or-face-revolt/


Labour insisted yesterday that federal lawmakers must further cut their N120 billion budget —in line with economic realities.
The Joe Ajaero-led Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) faction said the reduction of the National Assembly’s budget from N150 billion to N120 billion “is too token and not far reaching enough”.

It threatened a mass revolt should the lawmakers and the executive fail to bring down their recurrent expenses.

The faction’s Deputy President, Comrade Issa Aremu, who is also the General Secretary of the Textile Workers Union, advised National Assembly members to appreciate the mood of the nation for leadership sacrifices, resource allocation for national development and common good as opposed to self-help.

He spoke to reporters in Kaduna.

But a House of Representatives member, Mohammed Abdulkadir, said the N120billion is not all for salaries.

Labour said “nations prosper when their leaders are willing to sacrifice; while nations fail when leaders engage in selfish self-help agenda.”

The factional NLC group asked: “Should 109 senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives gulp as much as N120 billion in a year, which is twice the 2015 budget of Ekiti State (N80.774 billion), a state with the population of 2,384,212 people?

“How equitable is it for less than 500 national legislators to gulp N120 billion annually when Osun State with a population of 3,423,535 people and unfunded 2015 Appropriation Bill of N201 billion is yet to pay salaries for seven months?

“Benue State has as many as 4,219,244 people; it budgeted N98.54 billion; Zamfara has 3,259,846 citizens and budgeted N92.80 billion; and Ebonyi, budgeted N80.02 billion for 2,173,501 people.

“The respective budgets of these three states is half of the budget of the National Assembly. How equitable is that?

“There has been illegal and unconstitutional concentration of scarce national resources in the hands of our legislators and Executive office holders alike that must be reversed now.

“For instance, Kano State budgeted N210 billion in 2015. Kano State has 9,383,682 people. The budget per capital of Kano, estimated at N22,379, is miserable, compared to budget per capital of the National Assembly at N293,398,533!

“No country can prosper with this wide and widening gap in resource allocation between the governed and some elected government officials.

“The National Assembly members should take the advantage of the current goodwill of Nigerians in making anamend failing which they provoke mass revolt of the people.

“NLC, therefore, is advocating that the first step is that the National Assembly budget should be reversed to 2003 budget of N50 billion, which will certainly cut the existing budget of the assembly by more than 50 per cent.

It stressed that since 2003, “the number of members remains the same while most of their infrastructural needs have been met. Secondly, the national economy can hardly afford this legislative pay.

“The eighth National Assembly must make a difference. It should be accountable to Nigerian people, just as many Executives have done.

“The eighth Assembly must complement President Muhammadu Buhari in his resolve to cut cost of governance fuelled by corruption, the worse form of which is outrageous pay for public office holders.

“They must emulate governors like Mallam Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and his deputy who have cut their pay by 50 per cent and urged the Members of the House of Assembly to follow suit.

“Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje also reduced the salaries and allowances of public office holders in the state by 50 per cent.

“Significantly the legislators must reject the Greek allowances Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) generously accorded them. These allowances are unsustainable. They are not based on needs in a depressed economy.

“For instance, why pay legislators who already collected over a million naira wardrobe allowance?

“It will take a minimum wage earner about two years and five months to earn what legislators earn as wardrobe allowance of N506,600.

”The eighth National Assembly should rightly redirect national resources to priority sectors, such as education, health and road construction.

“The assembly must also urgently review the minimum Wage Act of 2010 which, according to the Act, expires next month.

“The Assembly should constitute the Tripartite Statutory Committee based on equal basis between government, organized labour and organized private sector,” it said.

Source: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/buhari-orders-disposal-of-nine-presidential-aircraft-to-cut-cost/212433/


As part of the federal government’s cost measures, President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that nine of the VIP transport aircraft under the presidential fleet should be sold.
Industry sources informed THISDAY that the presidential fleet, which are registered as Nigerian Air Force aircraft, is one of the largest in Africa and the third largest in Nigeria after Arik Air and Aerocontractors.
According to an aviation source, who is aware of the directive to sell the aircraft, the presidency has a number of serviceable and unserviceable aircraft that need to be disposed of in order to reduce the amount spent by the federal government for aircraft maintenance annually.
“Nine, which still have market value, are to be sold immediately to reduce maintenance costs,” he said.
For years, the federal government has spent over N12 billion annually for the maintenance of the presidential fleet.
Although information on the exact size of the fleet is treated as classified information, the fleet, according to aviation sources, is believed to comprise about 16 aircraft, chief of which is the Boeing 738 BBJ, NAF 001 or Eagle One, used by the president for his travels.
With its luxury configuration comprising a master bedroom, washrooms and showers, a conference and dinning area, and a living area, the plane seats 25 to 50 passengers and would cost at least $100 million to replace today.
Eagle One can spend 12 hours in the air, covering 11,489 kilomtres or 6,200 nautical miles.
In addition to the Boeing 733 reserved for the president, the fleet boasts two Gulfstream 550 jets. The Gulfstream 550 can seat eight to 18 passengers, depending on the configuration, and has a cruiser range of 12,501 kilometres or 6,750 nautical miles. A new luxury Gulfstream 550 would cost an estimated $53.5 million.
According to Wikipedia, other planes in the Nigerian Air Force VIP transport fleet include two Dassault Falcon 7X jets, one Hawker Siddeley 125-800 and one Cessna 550 Citation II.
Information from a Nigerian web portal and Nigerian Air Force sources further revealed that the fleet also boasts two Dassault Falcon 900 jets, a Gulfstream IVSP, a Gulfstream V, a Dornier Do 228, which can carry 19 passengers, one Beechcraft King Air B200, and three AugustaWestland AW139 helicopters.
Sources said each of the two Dassault Falcon 7X jets were purchased for $51.1 million in 2010 while the Gulfstream 550 cost $53.3 million.
Aviation experts also put the average price of the Falcon 900 at $35 million; Gulfstream IVSP at $40 million; Gulfstream V at $45 million; Cessna Citation at $7 million; and the Hawker Siddeley at $15 million.
THISDAY also discovered that though all the aircraft are under the presidential fleet, about eight of the planes are reserved strictly for the president.
These are the Boeing 737, the two Gulfstream 550 jets, the Gulfstream V jet, two Falcon 7X planes, the Hawker Siddeley aircraft and one AugustaWestland chopper.
Others are reserved for executive airlift. Aircraft used for this function include the two Falcon 900 planes, the Dornier, the Cessna Citation, the Beechracft King Air, and two AugustaWestland choppers.
Aircraft reserved for executive airlift are used by the Vice-President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and could be used to convey African heads of states visiting or departing Nigeria.

Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/new/the-untold-story-of-pdps-coup-behind-sarakis-senate-presidency/






Be patient enough to read this, then you will understand what we in for, for the next four years





Despite some reservations, the new leaders of the Eighth National Assembly emerged yesterday. Managing Editor YUSUF ALLI revisits some of the intrigues behind the choice of Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu as leaders of the Red Chamber.




SAN faults process
A Senior advocate, Robert Clarke, has faulted the process that produced a new leadership for the Senate yesterday.
Clarke, who spoke on Channel Television, asserted that what the senators did amounted to disenfranchising 51 other members at a time they were not sworn in.
He noted that the rule of the Senate that the senators quoted to support their claim on quorum formation was equally wrong.
He called on the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to fight the matter in court.
After two weeks of horse-trading, lobbying and outright conspiracy, the battle for the soul of the Senate climaxed in acoup d’etatby the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that led to the emergence of ex-Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki as the President of the Eighth Senate and the return of Chief Ike Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President for the third term. With a configuration of 59 All Progressives Congress (APC) senators to PDP’s 49, the development saw the PDP regaining a little rebound from the devastating defeat it suffered in the hand of the rival APC on March 28 and April 11 elections.





Countdown to inauguration
Prior to the inauguration, there had been bitter straw polls in the APC which led to the selection of Ahmed Lawan and George Akume as the party’s candidates for the Office of the Senate presidency and and Deputy Senate Presidency. Former Minority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila and Tahir Monguno also emerged as the party’s preferred candidates for the leadership of the House of Representatives. The outcome of the shadow elections created rumpus in the party with those defeated threatening to defy the APC leadership. Worried by the threats, APC National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun, said: “I want to appeal to APC members of the National Assembly, both Senate and the House of Representatives, to please respect the party, the views of the party and the decision that they themselves took in selecting the persons that will be presented to the National Assembly as presiding officers.”





Buhari’s neutrality lacuna and G-7 meeting
Despite the choice of National Assembly leaders being a mixture of party politics and legislative duty, the aloofness, or the perceived neutrality of the President allowed the ‘fight’ wthin APC to fester until it went of hand. Until President Muhammadu Buhari left for the G-7 meeting last Friday, the jostle for the Senate Presidency was still an open race between Saraki and Lawan. But pro-Saraki loyalists used the opportunity to work on strategists, friends, associates and relations of the President on why Lawan is loyal to APC National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
A respected source said: “In what appeared like a brainwash, they warned these people not to allow Tinubu to form a ring around the President. They even attributed some concocted statements to Tinubu to create a gulf between him and the President. The overall target was to instigate the relations and associates of the President to influence him. And these propagandists spoke with those who have the ears of the President.
In order to checkmate Femi Gbajabiamila, who enjoyed considerable followership, loyalists of the new Speaker of the House of Representatives dug into archives and recruited some elements to approach the court to hang moral issues on his neck over his alleged disrobing in the United States of America (USA). And the last straw that broke the Carmel’s back was the twilight propaganda among members from the Northwest, Northeast and Northcentral that Gabajabiamila is not a Muslim as being claimed. It was therefore not a surprise that Dogara, who could barely garner 56 votes among his APC colleagues went on to clinch the speakership position with 182 votes yesterday.
The hefty funding of the anti-APC project by some PDP governors, stalwarts and those who served as ministers under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan assisted in deepening the crisis over the scramble for power between the camps of Saraki and Lawan.
Huge funds were spent to camp and cater for potential voters such that those otherwise rated as conscientious lawmakers sold out in the end. “I think the highest bidder had an upper hand, “said a Senator from the Northwest. The target of these PDP moneybags is to prove that the APC is not prepared for governance at all.”
One major issue that dominated the pre-inauguration politics of the National Assembly leadership was the alleged marginalisation of members of the New PDP which defected from the PDP to the APC in the power-sharing formula of the Buhari administration. President Buhari’s delay in appointing key aides like the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chief of Staff also fuelled the suspicion of the New PDP elements that they might be completely edged out. These fears were shared with new senators and representatives leading to leaders of the New PDP taking their destiny in their hands by hijacking the Senate and House leadership. By the time some APC governors convened in Abuja on Monday, it was difficult and too late to salvage the situation





Botched meeting with Buhari
Against all predictions of a possible neck-to-neck contest between Saraki and the former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Sen. Ahmed Lawan, the PDP played a smart one on the ruling APC to “install” Saraki. The day began with suspense and a water-tight security siege on the National Assembly. The militarisation left most mobile phones of Senators and members-elect, guests, workers and journalists buzzing, seeking intervention on how to gain entrance into the sprawling Assembly Complex. No one was sure the election of the principal officers of the Senate would hold. In ensuing confusion, a terse statement by the APC National Publicity Secretary Lai Mohammed inviting the Senators and members-elect for a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the International Conference Centre (ICC) provided some relief. The invitation was said to be at the behest of the President. The summons however provided the PDP an opportunity to act faster to install Saraki.
While 51 pro-Lawan Senators relocated to the ICC, Abuja for an emergency audience with the President, 57 Senators (mostly PDP) hurriedly left for the Senate Chamber for the inauguration of the Eighth Senate. The bewildered 51 APC Senators, who were waiting endlessly for the President in ICC, watched the proceeding of the inaugural session from a nearby TV box. Before the 51 APC Senators could race down the five-kilometre stretch from ICC to the Assembly Complex, Saraki had emerged as an unopposed candidate. To add insult to injury, President Muhammadu Buhari neither showed up nor sent apology to the stranded Senators at the ICC. They were left at the mercy of troops from the Brigade of Guards, who had already been deployed in the centre ahead of the supposed arrival of the President.






Conspiracy and the Buhari factor
According to investigation, the initial plan by the President was to delay the inauguration of the Senate by one hour for fence mending by APC members of the National Assembly and re-strategise on how to stop the PDP from capitalising on the crack in the party. If the strategy had walked, the inauguration would have held at about 11am.
A highly-placed source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The President had actually made up his mind to be at the ICC but there were feelers that some associates and strategists prevailed on him not to dabble in the selection of the Assembly leadership because he will portray himself as an inconsistent leader having promised not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Legislature.
“Probably acting pro-Saraki’s script, these associates/ strategists made the President to realise that his last-minute intervention would amount to dancing to the tune of one man: Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
“The joker probably made sense to the President and he chose to abandon the meeting at the ICC. Unfortunately, there was no communication between his office and the 51 APC Senators who heeded his invitation.
“It was around 10.35am, we saw that the inaugural session was already on and Saraki had been elected. If we were to be defeated, it should have been done on the floor.”
A battle of forces at play
The forces behind Saraki were as intimidating as those for Lawan. These include: former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, some of the former G-5 governors (like Rabiu Kwankwaso, Aliyu Wammako), who defected from the PDP. Others are former governors Ahmed Sani Yerima (Zamfara), Danjuma Goje (Gombe), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Theoodore Orji (Abia) as well as governors Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (Sokoto), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), Dr. Rahman Mimiko (Ondo) and Nyesom Wike (Rivers).
As for Lawan, he pulled heavyweights from the APC National Working Committee (NWC), Asiwaju Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande, APC governors, ex-governors Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa), Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Yobe and Adamu Aliero (Kebbi). They include: senators Kabir Gaya, Ajayi Borrofice, Gemade Barnabas, Adamu Abdullahi, Jide Omoworare, Abu Ibrahim, Bayero Nafada, Gbenga Ashafa, Sola Adeyeye, Abdullahi Abubakar Gumel, Suleiman Hunkuyi, Ahmed Barau Jibrin and Isiaka Adeleke.
Others are: senators Nazif Suleiman, Nafada Ibrahim, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, Shehu Sani, Solomon Olamilekan, Kabiru Marafa, Fatai Buhari, Mrs. Monsurat Sunmonu, Soji Akanbi, Bala Na’Allah, Umaru Kurfi, and Mustapha Sani.




Last-minute deal between Saraki and PDP
The last-minute deal between the PDP and Saraki was sealed at the residence of former Senate President David Mark in Abuja. At the meeting which held Sunday night were PDP Senators and governors. The meeting lasted till the wee hours of Monday. The session was tense on who to support for the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives.
A top source said: “At the end of the day, we could not agree on bloc votes for any of the candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives. In fact, Governor Ayodele Fayose pleaded with party leaders to see the battles as one between PDP and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. He begged the party to ‘clip’ Tinubu’s wings.
“But some senators-elect warned Fayose against going personal. They queried the morality behind PDP supporting candidates who defected from the party to APC. They alleged that their defection led to the defeat of PDP at the Centre.
“The governors also split on who to back for the National Assembly offices. At the end of the day, we could not reach a consensus on casting our votes en bloc for any of the candidates for the leadership of the National Assembly. I can tell you that everyone was on his own.”
Notwithstanding, the PDP senators later opted to vote on Monday night on who to back in the Senate. In the wee hours of yesterday, 28 opted for Saraki/Ekweremadu ticket and 17 consented to Ahmed Lawan/George Akume ticket. The same voting strength was taken to the inaugural session of the Eighth Senate.
A source added: “We were at a crossroads on whether to forgive Saraki for defecting to the APC or paying back the APC in its own coins for making Aminu Tambuwal, the Speaker of the Seventh Senate, to defect in defiance of the PDP directive. We basically went for vengeance because all is fair in politics.
“Our assumption is that were it not for mismanagement of PDP crisis, the likes of Saraki are PDP in spirit and APC by circumstance. When there is realignment of forces, we believe we can still work together.”
But findings confirmed that the choice of Saraki was with a cost. The new President of the Senate was ‘forced’ to sacrifice his favourite for the Office of the Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Ali Ndume, who was the arrowhead of Saraki’s campaign in the North. Although Ndume got a wind of the plot on Monday evening, he dismissed it as “distracting and impossible for Saraki to dump him.”
Another source added: “Till the last minutes, they sold a dummy to Ndume that he will be Deputy Senate President of the Senate if Saraki gets the ticket.
“But as soon as Saraki won, Ekweremadu was nominated for delivering bloc votes of the Senators-elect from the Southeast in collaboration with Senator Andy Uba.”
Five reasons Saraki emerged as Senate President
•Gang up against Tinubu and the Southwest.
The outcome of the results of the election of leaders of the National Assembly showed a deep-seated hatred for Asiwaju Tinubu. Some APC leaders were said to be angry that President Buhari at every forum had always acknowledged Tinubu as if he was the only hero of change in the country. A few ones assumed that the President was conceding too much to Tinubu and that former Lagos governor must be cut to size. Others also felt that with the Office of the Vice President, the Southwest has got more than its fair share of power. The amalgam of forces merely used Saraki as the springboard.




•Sheer politics of betrayal.
Many, who won tickets into the National Assembly on the goodwill of Tinubu, opted to betray him. They just keyed into the plot against Tinubu without weighing the consequences.




•Absence of a power-sharing formula in APC
The refusal of the APC leadership to address this important index of power-sharing formula deprived its National Assembly members of the much-needed unity. If there had been an acceptable formula in place, the situation may not degenerate to this extent. What Saraki did was to be tactical in conceding the Deputy Senate President to the Southeast which is almost relegated to the background by the Buhari administration.




•Emerging politics of realignment.
Saraki’s election has signposted the looming realignment of forces between some APC and PDP leaders in the race to 2019. Ekweremadu has been saddled with the responsibility of repositioning the PDP and he is already reaching out to aggrieved APC leaders. In christening their group, pro-Saraki forces branded it as ‘Senators of Like Minds’. The successful alliance between PDP and loyalists of Saraki might be the beginning of what the nation should expect in the next few months. According to sources, one of the sections which the Eighth National Assembly might review is the one which makes defection unlawful. This will enable APC members in the National Assembly to romance the PDP, or engage in anti-party activities. Some APC leaders saw some hope in the proposed realignment and embraced Saraki.




•Saraki’s antecedents
The records of Saraki has built a huge political network for him. The mileage includes being a former governor, a former Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), his role in the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, experience as a former presidential endowment with charitable war chest and now a two-term Senator.




Consequences of PDP’s coup for Buhari
Responding to the emergence of leadership in the Senate, Buhari said “though a constitutional process has somewhat occurred”, he would have preferred that the wish of the APC leadership was respected on the choice of candidates. The agenda of PDP in supporting Saraki smacked of “vengeance.” The coup is a signal of of likely antagonism, criticisms and reckless opposition politics that Buhari should expect henceforth. At least, President Buhari will be kept on his toes by the PDP if he has the political temperament to withstand it. The PDP is ready to hold him responsible for all his campaign promises and he might not have a rest of mind until he delivers.




What becomes of Saraki’s tenure? Will there be peace in the National Assembly?
Since yesterday, the debate has focused on the legality of the election of the President of the Senate by 57 Senators, the Speaker and other principal officers of the National Assembly. Prof. Auwalu Yadudu, who was a former Special Adviser on Legal Matters to the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, said the election of Saraki was illegal and unconstitutional. The Clerk to the National Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa, however, said “37 Senators were needed to form a quorum.” The Constitution says any member of the National Assembly can lead any of the chambers with votes from one-third of members.
For a National Assembly that has been bankrolled from its first assignment, President Buhari may as well forget his anti-corruption agenda. A case of “money for hand, back for ground cannot be ruled out.”
But the APC raised moral issue on the emergence of Saraki.
In a statement by its spokesman Mohammed, the APC said: “APC decried a situation in which some people, based on nothing but inordinate ambition and lack of discipline and loyalty, will enter into an unholy alliance with the very same people whom the party and indeed the entire country worked hard to replace and sell out the hard won victory of the party.
‘’There can be no higher level of treachery, disloyalty and insincerity within any party,’’ the party said, vowing to resolve the matter using all constitutional and legal means available to it.”
Although the APC has directed the ‘dribbled’ 51 Senators to go to the Senate for inauguration, the nation might have not heard the last word on Saraki’s emergence and others. The PDP coup might lead to a change of leadership or distress in the Senate and House of Representatives. The extent to which Saraki is able to manage the aftermath of the election will determine his political altitude. But certainly, a counter-plot against his presidency is not unlikely by the PDP or even APC.




Is APC’s future bleak?
The tone of the reaction of APC suggested a looming crisis ahead. The APC is already threatening sanctions against some of its chieftains.
It said: “Senator Bukola and Hon. Dogara are not the candidates of the APC and a majority of its National Assembly members-elect for the positions of Senate President and House Speaker. The party duly met and conducted a straw poll and clear candidates emerged for the posts of Senate President, Deputy Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, supported by a majority of all Senators-elect and members-elect of the House of Representatives. All National Assembly members-elect who emerged on the platform of the party are bound by that decision.
‘’The party is supreme and its interest is superior to that of its individual members. ‘Consequently, the APC leadership is meeting in a bid to re-establish discipline in the party and to mete out the necessary sanctions to all those involved in what is nothing but a monumental act of indiscipline and betrayal to subject the party to ridicule and create obstacles for the new administration.”
Unless an urgent reconciliation is put in place, the anti-party activities which led to Saraki’s Senate Presidency might cause a prolong crisis in the party. And with plans by the APC leadership to enforce discipline, some leaders might call it quit with the party.




Will Buhari now assert himself?
Even if President Buhari is not interested in a second term, he owes the APC a duty to keep the party intact. The coup in the National Assembly by PDP is a litmus test for his leadership prowess. The President may need to assert himself by playing a fatherly role to reunite his political platform that is in tatters. When some leaders met with the President after the coup in the Senate, he was said to “be hollow” without a solution to the crisis at hand. The time to act is now.

To crown it all, the wrong footing of the APC led FG is largely due to PMB unavailaibility to handle situations , these has led to the Senate president addressing the VP as a mere commissioner but went ahead contested and emerged the SP while PMB detained and humiliated his party at ICC in an endless wait for the leader of their party. What do we say of a whole country without key appointments like the SFG, chief of staff etc for almost two weeks. Getting power is not enough wielding power is vital

snazzy5050:
All I pray for is development

yes, I think PMB should settle down for business and stop frolicking around the foreign nations in the name of help. Imagine the outcome of the over hyped invitation to G7 is just to recognize the election that brought him in. what any president/leader could sent even via phone. Only to send him back to Nigerian to go and prepare a request, are they suggesting that he doesn't have a clue of what his nation needs

I see nothing important in this. just mere jamboree, my opinion though
The G7 group of industrialized nations has resolved to support President Muhammadu Buhari.
A statement issued yesterday by the Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity) to the President, Garba Shehu, said that “at the end of the presentation he made on Monday, the G7 leaders said to him that they recognised the President’s massive amount of confidence and expectations behind his government.
“They acknowledged him as having emerged from an election adjudged to be the freest in the country’s electoral history, but regretted the severe handicaps his new government has to face from the outset.
“They told President Buhari that they took cognizance of the fact of the several handicaps, including the lack of resources, leaving him with a government over-stretched in capacity, itself riddled with mismanagement.
“The G-7 also noted that the country’s army lacked training and equipment with little or no will to engage.
“In recognition of the fact that the security threat of the Boko Haram had gone beyond Nigeria, equally affecting other countries in the region, the G7 conceded that no one country can tackle it alone.
“They expressed warm sentiments towards the Nigerian leader and praised him for reaching out to the country’s neighbours and the group of industrialised nations within a week of his takeover of government.
“In view of the seriousness he has shown in tacking this problem, the group pledged that they would “engage, cooperate and collaborate” with President Buhari’s government in tackling the serious problems that Nigeria faces.
“They left it to President Buhari to come up with the specifics on his requirements, assuring that they would study the requirements either individually or collectively and offer help. They asked to know the nature and the scale of the problems in order to know the nature and the scale of the assistance they will provide. Suffice it to say that they assured President Buhari that ‘Nigeria will find a partner in the G7.” Buhari, who had the privilege of being the first to address the G7 among the invited presidents and prime ministers, was warmly received at the summit. He returned to Nigeria in the early hours of yesterday.he G7 group of industrialised nations has resolved to support President Muhammadu Buhari.
A statement issued yesterday by the Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity) to the President, Garba Shehu, said that “at the end of the presentation he made on Monday, the G7 leaders said to him that they recognised the President’s massive amount of confidence and expectations behind his government.
“They acknowledged him as having emerged from an election adjudged to be the freest in the country’s electoral history, but regretted the severe handicaps his new government has to face from the outset.
“They told President Buhari that they took cognizance of the fact of the several handicaps, including the lack of resources, leaving him with a government over-stretched in capacity, itself riddled with mismanagement.
“The G-7 also noted that the country’s army lacked training and equipment with little or no will to engage.
“In recognition of the fact that the security threat of the Boko Haram had gone beyond Nigeria, equally affecting other countries in the region, the G7 conceded that no one country can tackle it alone.
“They expressed warm sentiments towards the Nigerian leader and praised him for reaching out to the country’s neighbours and the group of industrialised nations within a week of his takeover of government.
“In view of the seriousness he has shown in tacking this problem, the group pledged that they would “engage, cooperate and collaborate” with President Buhari’s government in tackling the serious problems that Nigeria faces.
“They left it to President Buhari to come up with the specifics on his requirements, assuring that they would study the requirements either individually or collectively and offer help. They asked to know the nature and the scale of the problems in order to know the nature and the scale of the assistance they will provide. Suffice it to say that they assured President Buhari that ‘Nigeria will find a partner in the G7.” Buhari, who had the privilege of being the first to address the G7 among the invited presidents and prime ministers, was warmly received at the summit. He returned to Nigeria in the early hours of yesterday.

Source:
http://thenationonlineng.net/new/what-g7-promised-nigeria-by-buhari/

See how PMB reportedly reacted to the outcome of the national Assembly election on Tuesday 9th of June, 2015

Vikkie14:
Coaster Buses - 4 units
Higer buses - 2 units
Nissan Urvan buses - 2 units
Land cruiser jeep- 1 unit
Hilux truck- 1 unit
peugeot 607 - 1 unit
peugeot 306 - 3 units
peugeot 406 - 2 units
Hummer(hiace) buses- 2 units
18 vehicles in all.
[clears throat].... How much are those vehicles worth? Ehn ehn, is that so, then sentenced them(those whom the vehicles were found with) to 1 Year per vehicle imprisonment-- 18 years imprisonment in all.
That's how to fight kwarauption.

Bros 18years too small

lawrsmith:
onyemachi,who knows tomorrow? you see how dynamic life is? the hunter is now being hunted.continue runing EFCC is waiting

exactly

Source: http://www.punchng.com/news/ekiti-monarch-leads-protest-against-power-outage-2/


People of Iyin Ekiti community in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area of Ekiti State, led by the traditional ruler of the town, the Oluyin of Iyin, Oba Ademola Ajakaye, have protested against power cut by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company.
There were indications on Tuesday that youths from the town may attack BEDC and its officials due to the tension already generated in the community.
At a press briefing in Iyin Ekiti on Tuesday, Oba Ajakaye lamented that the community had been thrown into darkness since May 21, with social and economic activities in the town paralysed.
He demanded an immediate restoration of power supply, repair of vandalised transformers, investigation into persistent tampering with transformers and availability of pre-paid meters.
The monarch, who spoke through one of his High Chiefs, the Odofinyin, Simon Ayodeji Esan, called on Governor Ayodele Fayose to intervene in the matter and prevent an attack on BEDC officials, as witnessed in other communities in the state.
He said efforts by the community to save the situation had been frustrated with the nonchalant attitude of the BEDC officials.
Oba Ajakaye disclosed that the community had spent N477,000 to repair a transformer located along Igede Road, which would now require another N400,000 to fix it again.
The monarch said another transformer located on Ilawe Road had also been vandalised and would need N850,000 to reactivate it.
Oba Ajakaye said to the surprise of the community that BEDC officials hit the town on May 21 to commence a mass disconnection when residents thought that they had come to proffer solution to the problem.
He said, “In its punitive measures, at least, so it appeared, BEDC thereafter disconnected the whole community, throwing the town into total blackout since May 21.
“We have never been humiliated like this; all efforts made to make the company change its mind and see reasons why its action was wearisome and capable of aggravating the bad situation proved abortive.
“We don’t want to be provoked to the extent of joining the league of towns that had their youths drawing daggers with the companies in the state.”

Source: http://www.punchng.com/news/police-recover-10-stolen-rivers-govt-vehicles/

DETERMINED to get back government property looted from the Government House in Port Harcourt, security operatives on Monday evening recovered 10 vehicles allegedly stolen by officials of the immediate past administration in the state.
The vehicles were recovered from two locations identified as Rumuokparali and Trans-Amadi in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.
A statement from Government House identified the recovered vehicles as one Coaster bus, two Nissan Urvan buses, two Higer vehicles, one Land Cruiser, one Toyota Hilux Pick-up, one Peugeot 607 Saloon car and two Peugeot 406 cars.
It was learnt that security operatives who conducted the operation were accompanied to the locations by some Government House employees.
The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, had, on assumption of duty, alleged massive looting of government property and facilities by the immediate past administration.
Wike had also taken leading Rivers State stakeholders on a tour of the Government House to see the points where facilities in Government House were either looted or vandalised.
The governor had, however, vowed that all stolen government property would be recovered while those found to have engaged in the criminal act would be made to face the wrath of the law.
A statement from Government House revealed that security operatives had begun the interrogation of those found at the locations where the stolen vehicles were recovered.
Government House in Port Harcourt says the property recovery process will be a continuous process.
Speaking on the development, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Mohammad, told Southern City News on Tuesday that the command was able to recover the vehicles based on information that the stolen items were seen in unauthorised places.
“Acting on information that some suspected vehicles belonging to the Rivers State Government were seen parked in unauthorised yards, the command recovered three Coaster buses, two 306 Peugeot, two Hummer buses and one 306 Peugeot,” Mohammad said.
He, however, pointed out that investigation was still ongoing with a view to recovering more of the stolen vehicles and property removed without authorisation from the Government House.

Source: http://www.punchng.com/news/over-120-escape-death-as-aero-aircraft-develops-fault-mid-air/



Over 120 passengers, including the Director, Muslim Rights Concern, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, on Friday evening escaped death as an Aero Contractors Airline Flight 180 from Lagos to Kaduna developed technical fault mid-air.
The aircraft was said to have suddenly lost altitude, 20 minutes after it departed the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, forcing the aircraft to wobble in the air for over one hour before it was eventually diverted to Abuja.
Akintola, who broke the news toNew Mail,said the flight took off from Lagos at exactly 6.30pm.
He said 20 minutes into the flight, the aircraft lost altitude and the passengers had to make use of the oxygen masks as the plane continued to wobble, while dropping steadily.
Akintola said, “The plane lost altitude 20 minutes after takeoff. We had to make use of the oxygen masks. We saw smoke outside the plane, probably coming from the engine compartment.
“At this time, the whole plane was thrown into commotion. Many passengers screamed and some fainted. Prayers upon prayers were offered. Some shoutedAllah, others Jesus.”
Akintola said it was in the midst of the commotion that the crew, whom he commended for their professionalism and unusual calmness, announced that the plane would be diverted to Abuja.
He said, “While the pilot was making the announcement of the flight diversion, I noticed that his voice was trembling. He told us that Abuja was 120 miles away and that we would land in 25 minutes. But we were not sure we would make it.
“In fact, I quickly recited theKalimah(the Quranic invocation of the oneness of Allah), believing that the end had come,” Akintola added in messages toNew Mail.
He said that the plane finally touched down in Abuja at about 9.00pm and upon landing in Abuja, the officials of the airline told the devastated passengers that the fault would be hurriedly repaired and that the plane would proceed to take them to Kaduna, their original destination.
As of the time he spoke withNew Mailat about 9.30pm, he said he was already in a taxi taking him from Abuja to Kaduna as he could not risk being “flown in the same aircraft that was divinely saved from crashing.”
Akintola said, “As I am talking to you, I am now in a taxi taking me to Kaduna. They said they wanted to repair the plane and that we should wait so it takes us to Kaduna. Allah forbids. They asked how many of us wanted to disembark and almost everybody came out.”
WhenSaturday PUNCHcalled Akintola at about 11pm, he confirmed the incident and said he was about entering Kaduna.
He said, “When the aircraft wanted to land in Abuja, the tyres failed to come out on time and that again caused more commotion among passengers. At last, we landed at about 7.35, about 50 minute of trauma mid-air.”
A statement by the airline read, “Aero confirms that there was depressurisation in the aircraft cabin leading to the dropping of oxygen mask. And since Aero has a maintenance facility in Abuja, the flight to Kaduna was diverted to Abuja this evening to fix the problem.”
The General Manager, Public Affairs, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Mr. Fan Ndubuoke, said he had yet to be briefed on the matter.

Its sure simple. Its 27 squares in there, the complete box is made of 16 square divisions The central box there is majorly of 2 divisions and minorly of 8 divisions and finally the complete box is also a square which is 1 In Summary: 16+8+2+1= 27