₦airaland Forum

By Micheal Oche

The leadership crisis rocking the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday manifested itself as the Joe Ajaero faction of the NLC insisted that it would not join the Comrade Ayuba Wabba-led NLC to embark on the strike planned for tomorrow.

Also, the federal government has insisted that there is no option to the increment of the pump price of fuel.
Yesterday, stakeholders in the Labour sector, including the governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, and other government officials were locked in a meeting at the office of the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal.

The meeting, which was summoned at the instance of the SGF, was being held to avert the proposed nationwide strike by the NLC and the TUC scheduled for Wednesday, May 18, 2016.

However a mild drama played out as the general secretary of the Nigeria Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Joe Ajaero, and the president National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Igwe Achese, both of whom are president and deputy president of the rival NLC faction, were locked out of the meeting.

Speaking during the opening session, both the SGF, Babachir Lawal, and the minister of state for petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, insisted that the new price increment would remain, saying there was no other option to the hike.

Speaking to journalists outside, NUPENG president, Achese, said oil and bank workers, who are part of his faction, would not be joining the strike on tomorrow.

The meeting, which kicked off at about 6:30pm, had in attendance the NLC president, Ayuba Wabba; TUC president, Bobboi Bala Kiagama; NLC general secretary, Peter Ozo-Eson, and TUC acting general secretary, Simeso Amachree, among others.

The president of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN),Olabode Johnson, was on the Labour side.

On the government side was minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige; the SGF, Babachir Lawal; minister of state for petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu; minister of solid minerals, Kayode Fayemi and Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole

LEADERSHIP gathered that Governor Oshiomhole had earlier met with the vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, possibly to harmonise federal government’s position before they went for the closed-door meeting at the SGF’s office.

At the time of filing this report the meeting was ongoing, but it was not clear whether the NLC would present a common position before the federal government, especially as the factional president, Joe Ajaero, was also at the venue of the meeting.

NUPENG and PENGASSAN, two prominent unions within the oil industry, had earlier endorsed the deregulation policy of the federal government which caused a sharp increase in the price of fuel from N86.50 to N145 per litre.

Speaking outside the meeting, Comrade Ajaero said his group would not be joining the strike on Wednesday, adding that his faction would also be meeting with the federal government’s team immediately after the meeting with the Wabba faction.

The total assets under the Contributory Pension Scheme keep rising and different segments of the economy are hunting for a share of the funds for various purposes, NIKE POPOOLA writes
More project initiators from different sectors of the nation’s economy seeking funds to finance their projects in the country are approaching operators of the Contributory Pension Scheme as the total pension assets under management rose to N5.46tn as of the end of March this year, investigation has revealed.

While most of the funds had been invested in Federal Government of Nigeria’s bond, the portion set aside for infrastructure fell to N1.02bn or 0.02 per cent of the total assets under management as of the end of March, according to the statistics from the National Pension Commission.

In January, the operators invested N1.33bn in infrastructure, and the amount rose to N1.34bn in February.

About N3.68tn or 67.47 per cent of the total pension assets was invested in Federal Government of Nigeria’s securities.

The operators invested N574.3bn and N469.9bn or 10.52 per cent and 8.61 per cent of the total assets in local money market securities and domestic ordinary shares respectively, while N212.2bn and N186.4bn or 3.89 per cent and 3.41 per cent were invested in real estate property and corporate debt securities in that order.

Similarly, N152.8bn and N67.9bn amounting to 2.8 per cent and 1.24 per cent were invested in state government securities and foreign ordinary shares respectively, while N59.299bn or 1.09 per cent of the funds was invested in cash and other assets.

The balance of the growing pension assets was invested in classes of business such as supra national bonds, foreign money market securities, open/closed end funds, private equity funds and other liabilities.

The Chairman, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, Mr. Eguarehide Longe, said the funds were active in different investment portfolios.

According to him, the bulk of the funds is invested in government bonds and some governments, which have taken the money invested them in infrastructure.

Ideally, he explained that money borrowed for reasonably long term should be used for long-term assets and not to fund recurrent expenditure.
“We are there to invest in a way that the funds will not be lost,” he said.

According to him, if the funds are used for infrastructure, this could have significant impact on the economy.

While noting that some investors had been approaching the pension sector to access the funds, Longe said the real sector was not a place where they could just invest huge amounts and that sectors like agriculture were areas that needed to be well understood before the funds could go there.

He noted that it was not the job of the operators to build infrastructure or spend the funds on extremely speculative areas.

Longe said there were provisions in the pension investment guidelines that allowed the funds to be invested in projects such as infrastructure, private equity and real estate.

He said the philosophy of managing the money was to add to it by investing it profitably.

“If you think about how pension funds should be used and what the objective is, you will find out that it is being developed and managed to the right objective so that when people retire, they earn their money seamlessly,” he said.

The pension operator noted that if the funds were used to create projects that were not adequately thought out, and rather than add to the money, it either disappears or bring no returns, there would be a problem.

“So, the objective really of investing this money anywhere should be how to create value and how to add to it; that is the first foundation as far as the pension funds are concerned,” he said.

The Director-General, National Pension Commission, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, said all investment of pension funds must follow laid down guidelines.

“The pension funds are not idle but we don’t just give out money arbitrarily. The PFAs are the investors of the fund and PenCom regulates the investment,” she said.

More than a decade after the CPS commenced, the director-general said no fraud had been recorded in the scheme.

“If we have not seen a lot of investments in the scheme, it is because most of the intending investors are not meeting the investment criteria,” she said.
Anohu-Amazu said the Pension Fund Administrators could invest substantial part of their assets in Federal Government bonds because they were safe.

Pension operators, however, said that the industry had made about N2.2tn as profit from investing the money from inception to December 2015, while part of the profit is usually reflected in the Retirement Savings Accounts of the workers.

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Former Senate President David Mark at the weekend said Nigerians can now spot the difference between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Speaking at the North -Central zonal congress of the PDP held in Abuja, at the weekend, Mark said Nigerians know that the PDP was the best party for them.

“Nigerians can now spot the difference. The PDP is still the right choice. Therefore, we must respond positively and ultimately return the nation to the path of glory,” he said, in a statement by his media aide, Paul Mumeh.

He therefore called for a truce among members of his party, ahead of their national convention slated for Port Harcourt on May 21.

Senator Mark told the North-Central delegates to the PDP zonal congress held in Abuja at the weekend, that “I think we have realized our past mistakes and learnt our lessons. We cannot afford crisis or disaffection within our fold any more.

“It is time for all genuine men and women of our party to make the necessary sacrifice and work honestly towards a united and more cohesive party,”, he said.

“We must avoid the pitfalls of the past such as imposition of candidates against the wishes of the majority. We are returning the party to the people and let the people decide,” he said.

A suspected burglar simply identified as Dasuki shocked the police in Ogun State over the weekend when he led detectives to recover two truckloads of assorted goods he allegedly stole from various shops and houses in Mowe area on the Lagos Ibadan Expressway.

The suspect, a native of Badagry in Lagos State, was initially apprehended by a vigilance group employed by a Community Development Association at Gbegira, in Mowe, in Ogun State when he dropped the second of his two Ghana -Must -Go bags full of handsets and bales of clothes at about 3:00am. He was temporarily detained by the vigilance men to enable them arrest other suspects, but he bolted away, and was given a hot chase until he got stuck in a swamp.

He was rearrested and handed over to the police at the Redeemed Camp Division. Explaining his method of operation, a source said when he touches every building with a charm, all occupants goes to slumber, and become insensitive to anything happening in the house. He bores a whole on the wall, steals every valu- able thing, defecates on the floor and leaves a knife on the spot before disappearing into thin air.

According to an official of the Development Association, detectives moved to the suspect’s house where his wife and mother in-law were sighted. But police watched in utter amazement several stolen items which were on the verge of being sold off to receivers of stolen goods.

“During the raid of his house, the police discovered over 56 assorted handsets, about 10 plasma television sets, desk and lap top computers, bales of clothing materials stolen from various shops and homes in the area,” the CDA official who pleaded anonymity said. One of the victims, a mother was said to have been burgled a day after she took delivery in her shops of bales of lace and Ankara materials. She allegedly wept uncontrollably upon discovery of the theft the following morning.

The items were moved to the station in two patrol vehicles while the police continued their investigations into the matter. During interrogation, the suspect confessed to stealing the items, usually at night and on Sunday when homeowners must have gone to church. “I normally bore holes on the wall to enable me enter into the houses and defecate there after each operation,” he said in pidgin. “I act alone, because I do not belong to a gang.

When get the items, I keep them and sell them off,” he said. The suspect was believed to have perfected his crime with the assistance of a charm said to have been given to him by herbalist who made him invincible.

But the charm allegedly failed, thereby making him vulnerable to arrest. Interestingly, the suspect has been assisting owners of the stolen items who thronged the division to claim them. On one occasion, he told the police that he stole 12 bales of clothes stolen from the shop when their owners arrived. In another instance when the owner of 36 of the entire handsets visited the station, he explained to him while he produced 34. “When I burgled the shop, I actually stole 36 handsets.

I kept 34 in a bag and two others in my pocket, but the two fell off when I was trying to escape in the cover of darkness,” he said. According to a source close to the Divisional Police Officer, SP Martins Olaiya, the suspect has been helping the police with investigation and will soon be charged to court. Ogun State Police Spokesman, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi said he was yet to be briefed on the arrest.

By Peter Duru, Makurdi

Just when Benue farmers were enjoying some respite from the activities of dare-devil Fulani herdsmen in some parts of the state, no fewer than 12 persons were late Friday night reportedly killed by suspect herdsmen at Tarfi village, Binnev Ward, in Buruku local government area. Sunday Vanguard learned that the attack also left so many villagers with varying degrees of injuries while several others were still reported missing and unaccounted for.

According to a source, the armed men stormed the village in their numbers from neighbouring Tarka Local Government at about 11pm, shooting sporadically and burning down houses and huts in the community.

He said, “there is no doubt that it is this same group of herdsmen that have been terrorizing Tarka and Buruku Local Government Areas in recent times that are responsible for this attack.

“This time they stormed Tarfi village, Binnev Ward, in Buruku late last night at about 11pm, in a commando fashion shooting and killing anything that stood in their way.

“It was a well coordinated attack. They marched through the village burning down houses and huts, farmland, food barn and any property that belonged to the indigenous people.

“At the moment, the calls we received from home indicated that about 12 persons were killed while many sustained serious injuries and many others still missing and unaccounted for. “As I’m speaking with you, the locals, including women, children and the elderly, have all fled their homes, trekking long distances to seek a safe place to hide, while the intruders have gone into hiding though their cows are still grazing in the village.

When contacted, the Benue Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Assistant Superintendent, ASP, Moses Yamu, who confirmed the attack, said the Police recorded five deaths in the incident adding that the Command was on top of the situation. Yamu said, “yes I can confirm the attack on Tarfi village, Binnev Ward, in Buruku Local Government Area of the state by suspected Fulani herdsmen; so far we have record five deaths, two persons were killed in the village but three others who sustained injuries in the attack died on their way to the hospital.”

FROM DAVID ONWUCHEKWA , NNEWI

THE struggle to actualise Biafra has gone spiritual as Chief Ralph Uwazuruike’s faction of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) under Biafra Independence Movement has raised over 500 pastors and prayer warriors across the region to pray for the immediate actualisation of a sovereign Igbo nation.

Disclosing this, yesterday, after a meeting at Grace Accord Mission, Ndiakwu Otolo, Nnewi, Anambra State, MASSOB State Coordinator of Religion in Anambra, Pastor Ani Nwede James said the group had decided to renew what he described as its covenant with God. He said the group which is identified as Biafran Clergy Men would be backing up its prayers with occasional fasting to draw down the hand of God.

Pastor James explained that the move to go spiritual to actualise Biafra started sixteen years ago but had only come to fulfilment this year.

During the Nnewi meeting, he disclosed that there were prayer sessions that lasted hours “during which period we covered ourselves with the blood of Jesus to prepare us for the task ahead.”

The clergy called on Ohaneze Ndigbo, Churches and other religious leaders to join them in the crusade to actualise the sovereign state of Biafra.

On the recent statement credited to President Muhammadu Buhari that Biafra would never be achieved, Pastor James said the clergymen had already petitioned God over that, saying that anybody who in any imagination thought that Biafra would not be actualised was having a day dream “because it is a task that must be done.”

The pastors also told the Fulani herdsmen to leave “Biafran land” for good as God’s anger would descend on them for spilling innocent blood.

By Suzan Edeh

Bauchi- Residents of Ganjuwa local government area of Bauchi state have been thrown into mourning following the discovery of the dead body of a 17 year old man who allegedly committed suicide over a failed marriage proposal.

According to a press release by the State Police Public Relation Officer, DSP Haruna Mohammed, the Victim, Usman Abdu, who hails from Ganja ward in Ganjuwa local government area of Bauchi State committed the act on the 13th of May 2016 at around 9pm by hanging himself on a tree with rope.

DSP Mohammed said that the scene of incident was visited by Police detectives led by the DPO in Soro Police Division of the local government and the victim was photographed and rushed to Soro hospital where he was certified dead by a medical doctor.

"Preliminary investigation revealed that victim hanged himself when his cousin, a 12 years old girl of the same address rejected his marriage proposal"
"Exhibit recovered include rope which the victim used in hanging himself while the corpse has released to relative for burial after postmortem examinations. The PPRO said

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT: THE FUEL PRICING DEBATE: OUR STORY

Fellow Citizens:
I have read the various observations about the fuel pricing regime and the attendant issues generated. All certainly have strong points.

The most important issue of course is how to shield the poor from the worst effects of the policy. I will hopefully address that in another note.

Permit me an explanation of the policy. First, the real issue is not a removal of subsidy. At $40 a barrel there isn't much of a subsidy to remove.

In any event, the President is probably one of the most convinced pro-subsidy advocates.

What happened is as follows: our local consumption of fuel is almost entirely imported. The NNPC exchanges crude from its joint venture share to provide about 50% of local fuel consumption. The remaining 50% is imported by major and independent marketers.

These marketers up until three months ago sourced their foreign exchange from the Central Bank of Nigeria at the official rate. However, since late last year, independent marketers have brought in little or no fuel because they have been unable to get foreign exchange from the CBN. The CBN simply did not have enough. (In April, oil earnings dipped to $550 million. The amount required for fuel importation alone is about $225million!) .

Meanwhile, NNPC tried to cover the 50% shortfall by dedicating more export crude for domestic consumption. Besides the short term depletion of the Federation Account, which is where the FG and States are paid from, and further cash-call debts pilling up, NNPC also lacked the capacity to distribute 100% of local consumption around the country. Previously, they were responsible for only about 50%. (Partly the reason for the lingering scarcity).

We realised that we were left with only one option. This was to allow independent marketers and any Nigerian entity to source their own foreign exchange and import fuel. We expect that foreign exchange will be sourced at an average of about N285 to the dollar, (current interbank rate). They would then be restricted to selling at a price between N135 and N145 per litre.

We expect that with competition, more private refineries, and NNPC refineries working at full capacity, prices will drop considerably. Our target is that by Q4 2018 we should be producing 70% of our fuel needs locally. At the moment even if all the refineries are working optimally they will produce just about 40% of our domestic fuel needs.

You will notice that I have not mentioned other details of the PPRA cost template. I wanted to focus on the cost component largely responsible for the substantial rise, namely foreign exchange. This is therefore not a subsidy removal issue but a foreign exchange problem, in the face of dwindling earnings.

By Rotimi Ojomoyela

To some people this may seem stranger than fiction, but as the reality of the mysterious death of a 35-year old woman begins to dawn on her family, they have vowed to unmasked her killer and bring the culprit to justice. Simply identified as Busayo Ojo, the mother of one, died on April 17 after a prolonged illness.

Strange happenings and confessions
Chiefs and people of Ogbagi-Akoko in Ondo West Local Government Area are still at a loss as to how Busayo met her unfortunate end. But the deceased's father, Mr. Jimoh Clement Ayibiowu, fingered a popular herbalist and native doctor in Ilawe-Ekiti, Ekiti West Local Government Area, as being responsible for the death of Busayo.

Father of the deceased, Ayibiowu has allegedly confessed to asking her to follow him to a herbalist sometime in 2015 to find a solution to the strange illness which he was suffering from.

According to the council of Chiefs in Ogbagi-Akoko, where Pa Ayibiowu and Busayo were living, the former allegedly learned about the healing powers of Chief Alado on a radio broadcast, which prompted them to come to Ilawe-Ekiti around May last year to seek Alado’s help when a strange development occurred.

Speaking with Vanguard, one of the chiefs-in-council of Ogbagi-Akoko community, simply identified as Chief Oshodi, disclosed that “Ayibiowu and Busayo his daughter are both from our town, Ogbagi-Akoko. He impregnated Busayo’s mother at a young age but the union later crashed with both going their different ways, but because a child had solidified their relationship, Ayibiowu still related with his daughter and her mother in spite of the separation.

“When on April 17, 2016, Busayo suddenly died under strange circumstances, some of the family members and residents of Ayibiowu cried out, alleging that he must have been the cause of his daughter’s sudden death. He was also putting up very strange behaviour. It was gathered that shortly before she passed on, Busayo had confessed to her mother that a strange thing had happened to her and her father when they visited chief Alado in Ilawe-Ekiti,” he said.

Oshodi further explained that Busayo had said that her father had asked her to follow him to the herbalist’s place and described Chief Alado’s place in Ilawe-Ekiti, as one built on a small hill and painted red. She said they met an elderly man at the gate of the building who told them to go in, saying that Chief Alado was around and that his secretary would attend to them first.

In addition, he said: “Busayo said further that on getting to the bigger building of Chief Alado and entering the first room on the left, a lady asked them to pay a sum of N1,000 as consultation fee, which they did before they were allowed to see Alado. She added that there were expensive vehicles inside the premises of the herbalist which include a limousine, a Hummer Jeep among others.

“The young lady added that Chief Alado turned out to be the same old man they had met at the gate who had directed them to his secretary. She said when Ayibiowu explained to him the motive for their visit, he told him to pay a sum of N135,000 for a permanent cure to his ailment as many fetish materials would be procured for the treatment.

“Busayo said that they pleaded with Chief Alado to reduce the fee as they had only N15,000 on them and could only part with 10,000 because they would need the remaining N5,000 for transport back home.

“After much persuasion, Busayo said Alado accepted and gave some concoction to Ayibiowu and asked him to forcefully vomit something by opening his mouth three times. She said after this, her father vomited a strange object which Alado showed her saying that it was part of the evil deposits that caused Ayibiowu’s illness.”

According to Chief Oshodi, Busayo alleged that she noticed that since she had carried out Alado’s instruction with her father, her health condition had been deteriorating and she soon became critically ill and was emaciating. Her once robust and youthful body turned lean and scary.

Oshodi added that the young woman couldn’t make the confessions until her condition worsened to that critical stage because of the custom in the community which places an open disgrace to anyone who commits such abominable act. “Such culprit would be paraded round the town while many would sing shameful songs against him or her”, adding that Busayo’s condition worsened until her death on April 17.

“It was this confession that angered members of the community and made them to apprehend her father and forced him to confess also. After he was paraded round the town as it is our custom, Ayibiowu confessed and corroborated what his late daughter had said. That is why we are telling the whole world about this development now,” Chief Oshodi said.

Conspiracy
When Chief Alado was contacted on phone and asked for his reactions to the allegations, he said: “I don’t know those people. They were never my clients. In fact, if you come to check the records of my visitors which I take daily, you won’t find their names there because they were never here.”

Alado handed over the phone to a man he identified as his lawyer to respond on his behalf, but Vanguard later discovered that he was a popular broadcaster (names withheld), and a freelancer with a radio station in Ado-Ekiti.

Attempted cover up
In what appeared like a cover up, the freelance broadcaster told newsmen that the allegations by the Ogbagi-Akoko Council-of-Chiefs against Alado were untrue. When asked why he was defending Alado when he was not his lawyer, he said he was entitled to his own opinion about the herbalist. He maintained that all that has been alleged against the herbalist were false.

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It was learnt that the cultists resorted to attacking their victims with machetes and axes after they failed to lure the victims and many other youths in Umunya community into their group.

BY NDAHI MARAMAS

MAIDUGURI - A heavy explosion has rocked the busy Musa Usman Secretariat main Gate in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

The incident took place at about 11:40am Thursday, left two dead and scores injured sources said.
The area has since been condoned off by military troops and men of the Civilian JTF.

Just yesterday a suicide bomber killed himself in an attempt to enter a mosque in Maiduguri, leaving 6 people injured. Details later

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Kamarudeen Ogundele, Ado Ekiti

The protest rocking the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido Ekiti, heightened on Wednesday as protesting workers locked Governor Ayodele Fayose out.

Some staff had staged violent protests following the death of two doctors from the hospital that were among the six doctors and a driver that died along Abuja-Kaduna road on April 24.

The deceased and six others were on their way to the Nigerian Medical Association’s Annual General Meeting.

The protesters had called for the immediate removal of the Chief Medical Director, Dr Majekodunmi Ayodele, accusing him of being responsible for the cause of the accident.

Two of the doctors, Dr. Tunde Aladesanmi and Dr. Alex Akinyele, were staff of the hospital.

Fayose had met stakeholders consisting of all medical and non-medical workers, traditional rulers and Ayodele at the Government House, Ado Ekiti, where he pleaded with parties to sheathe their swords and allow peace to reign.

But the situation in the hospital got worse on Wednesday as the protesters barricaded the highways and carried three mock coffins of Ayodele with the inscription “R.I.P. Dr Majekodunmi Ayodele”, with the photograph of the CMD affixed.

The governor, who rushed to the hospital on hearing about the protest, was barred from entering the premises by the protesters. They blocked the main gate with a hummer bus belonging to the hospital.

The presence of some traditional rulers did not help as the monarchs left in a disappointed, having been held in the sun for over an hour.

The governor, after about an hour of waiting at the gate, eventually succumbed to the will of the staff and addressed them outside the hospital premises.

Fayose said, “I’m not here for Ayodele. I’m here for you. This is a federal hospital. As much as you don’t want him again. I support you. I want to thank you for your patience, but we have to remember that we have no other place than Ekiti State and we should ensure that hooligans don’t hijack this protest from us. What you are doing today goes to show that the people’s power is greater than those in power.

“The death of our six doctors is still fresh in our memories, so we cannot afford to lose other lives. It is so unfortunate that the actions and inactions of Dr Ayodele has led us to this level and deprive many Ekiti indigenes the needed medical services.

“If it is in advanced clime or advanced democracy or if I were Dr. Ayodele, I will resign. I held a meeting with the management on Tuesday, May 10, where I told the CMD that he has not done well for this state and the hospital in the way he manages the affairs of this institution. Nobody can give kudos to him with the way he has run this place.

“Dr Ayodele cannot be bigger than this institution. There was a rumour that I brought him here to resume office, this is not true. I cannot identify with him under this circumstance. I want to tell you staff that you have a good case. One man cannot be greater than you, but you need to be careful.

“I will write my own report before the end of today(Wednesday) and send to Abuja on the need for the federal government through the Ministry of Health to make a change in this hospital by withdrawing the appointment of Dr Ayodele with immediate effect. I will tell them, that the CMD can no longer enjoy your confidence.

“Federal Government must not treat my request as opposition voice. Let me put on record that the FG will be held responsible if anything happens.

“But as you stage this protest, I want to plead that you allow patients who need medical care to be treated here in the interest of our well being.”

Fayose called on the Police and the Department of State Services to work hand-in-hand and prevent the protest from being hijacked or escalate before controllable state.

In a related development, the Olojudo of Ido Ekiti, Oba Ayorinde Ilori-Faboro in a meeting with the governor at his palace said that the hospital crisis had engulfed the community.

He appealed to the Federal Government to set up a panel of enquiry into the crisis, adding that even if the CMD would go as demanded by the staff, a cabal of the staff workers allegedly insitgating the crisis against the management of the hospital must also be shown the way out.

He also said that he was leading a high-powered delegation to brief the Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, on the recommendation of the governor.

wife still claims she loves her husband.

Expectedly, the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Barrister Babatunde Fashola, has the highest budget in the 2016 budgets, with a total sum of recurrent and capital budgets of N467 billion. This underscores the government’s determination to execute capital projects in this fiscal year. Also, the security sector is given attention.

This is seen in the budgets for the Ministry of Defence (N428,098,182,742),
the Police Formation (N300,100,330,698),
Ministry of Interior (N198,352,766,543) and
the Office of the National Security Adviser (N90,350,068,052).

The allocations to the security sector show that this government, like the previous regime, has put national security on the front burner. It is expected that the Police formations across the country would be better trained to maintain security, and most importantly, improve on its intelligence network to ensure that the Boko Haram menace is brought under control.

With the substantial allocation to the Ministry of Interior, Nigerians would expect a measure of improvement in the services to be rendered by the Nigerian Prison Service, Nigeria Civic Defense Corps, Nigeria Fire Service, and Nigerian Immigration Service. The other ministry with a high budgetary allocation is Education where some N407.6 billion will be pumped into projects. Also, the health sector has been allocated some N258 billion, while the transportation sector will gulp the sum of N202 billion.

A good percentage of this amount will enter into the railway project, a major priority of the Buhari administration. There is also the sum of N200 billion allocated to Special Intervention projects.

Significantly, a huge part of this year’s budget (N1.36 trillion) is allocated to the servicing of foreign and domestic debts. Government’s decision to settle these debts may see to the completion of projects that have been abandoned due to non-payment of contract sums. Also significant in the budget is the N113 billion voted as Sinking fund towards the retirement of maturing loans.As it were, the budget is now law, but previous experiences have taught Nigerians to have measured expectations from government.

However, the Minister of National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma has promised 100 per cent implementation of this budget. This is how he puts it: “Our aim will always be one hundred percent implementation. We know that because we started late, we may not achieve it, but that is our aim. We will start off with that aim because the budget is a law. So, we will try and implement it as faithfully as we can.

However, the reality is that we may not (achieve full implementation) because we started late. So, to cure that, subsequent years, we’ll start earlier to give us a better chance of implementing the budget in full. But we will do our best.”

By ISAIAH BENJAMIN, By Midat Joseph

The federal government yesterday disclosed plans to build three additional refineries in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt.

Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu who dropped the hint at a town hall meeting organised by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, in Kaduna also disclosed federal government’s intention to export petroleum product by the year 2019.

According to him, the federal government will provide free gas cylinders to every Nigerian which will be roll out next year with the aim of pulling  Nigerians away from the use of kerosene.

Kachikwu who apologised to Nigerians for difficulties been experienced in terms of getting fuel in the country, said the refineries cannot work in top capacity “as long as we don’t have the foreign exchange to bring in the products, as long as the price of crude continue to slide.”

To solve the problems, the minister said, “More refineries have to be build, and the target is to build three more refineries to be located in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri taking advantage on the share  facilities.”

“And if we do this, by 2018 if all our refineries are working we will drop importation by 60 per cent. And by 2019 if the four located refineries begin to work and am sure it will, we will actually begin to export petroleum product for the first time in this country,” said Kachikwu.

For the upstream sector where production has been climbing down, Kachikwu said, “Our target is to move production up to 2.3million barrel, but I am personally committed to 2.5 million barrel.”

Expressing confidence on ending the perennial fuel shortages, Kachikwu said, “The blowing of pipelines cannot drive us back, we are committed. The days of hopelessness have passed, the days of careless expenditure are passed, the days of corruption are going, and we are heading to the future where we can deliver a country we can all be proud of.”

Recalling the challenges he met on the ground, the minister said, “The refineries were not working when I was appointed in October. If I turn to the pipelines, they were not in existence. If I turn to the upstream, there no funding. So production was sliding. If I turn to the NNPC structure, there was massive issue of transparency that everybody talked about. And if I turn to what the future was to Nigeria, I saw the solution rather than hope.”

“So, I took over the mantle under this circumstances. But I was not discouraged because the President is committed to surmounting the problems.

“This is the first time we have two refineries working simultaneously in the last eight years.

“For the first time in 20 years we are working to restructure the NNPC.

“Do, I want to see the problems continue? No. There is a lot of improvement but there is a lot of work required. And in the next three months I assure you will see great improvement in terms of fuel supply.

“Most important, we need to begin to develop massive infrastructural support in this country.

“The pipelines must get to work, got to get investors to invest in them because we do not have the money to build them up,” he added.

Speaking further, the minister wondered why there was fuel queues in Kaduna, having supplied 80 truck loads of petroleum product to Kaduna in the last four days.

BY NDAHI MARAMA, MAIDUGURI

A suicide bomber suspected to be member of Boko Haram terrorist strapped with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) on Wednesday morning killed himself, with many people injured near a mosque in Sulimanti ward of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

Unconfirmed report said that the suicide bombers, two in number stormed the area, but the other one escaped without detonating his IED, a situation that men of the Civilian JTF and volunteered residents are combing the whole area with a view to arrest the fleeing suicide bomber.

Sources said, "the suicide bomber who disguised as a worshipper attempted to enter the nearby Masalacin Kofar Shehu Councillor (mosque) when Muslim faithful were performing their morning prayers, but the IEDs he was carrying exploded few metres to the mosque leaving the suicide bomber dead with few others who were about to enter the mosque injured".

This is not the first time the mosque will witness an attack, as some boko haram members attacked and killed residents with Ak47 rifles near the Mosque in 2012.

The incident took place at about 4:50am, leaving residents of Maiduguri into awe as it has been close to two months now without any explosion or gunshot within the metropolis.

A resident of Sulimanti, Mallam Ali Aji who also was in the mosque when the explosion occurred told our Correspondent that, "immediately after the blast, worshippers had to desert the mosque for dear lives, before men of the Civilian JTF and military arrived the scene and cordon off the whole area, as I am speaking to you now, the charred body of the suicide bomber is scattered all over the place".

Our Correspondent gathered that the injured have since been evacuated to hospitals within the metropolis.
Details later.

The police in Benin have confirmed the abduction of a 37-year-old man with a hunchback, simply identified as Usokpowu (alias Tokyo), in Benin, Edo state, by gunmen suspected to be ritualists.

According to family sources, the victim said to be a musician and professional Master of Ceremony, was abducted by gunmen at his residence at Okhokhugbo community in Egor local government area of the state.

He was found dead three days later where his corpse was deposited at a primary school.

Vital organs such as liver, private parts and the hunch were found to have been removed.

The State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Chris Ezike, who confirmed the incident, said it was a case of missing person.

Ezike said investigation has commenced into the case and that he has directed the Criminal Investigation Department to take over the case.

``Three years ago he ordered me to buy a cockerel, three colanuts, bittercola and alligator pepper. I was stripped Unclad in the presence of one herbalist from Ondo State.

AN ex-inmate of Ilorin prison, Teslim Mohammed, who was recently arrested by the operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Oyo/Ogbomoso annex, while planning a robbery attack with his gang members, has blamed the devil for his return to crime.