₦airaland Forum

However, an impeccable government source told Sat­urday Sun that the major reason why the government was absent at the burial was because they alleged that Chukwumerije was a secret member of APGA, who part­ly funded APGA campaigns. Our source further said that the government considers such as, anti-party activity and so resolved not to get in­volved in his burial.

BY CHIOMA IGBOKWE

A Nollywood actor and his wife have sensationally told the po­lice why they decided to sell their two-year-old son, Samuel Chukwuneye for N350, 000 to a Port Harcourt based woman simply identified as Ogechi. The couple, though not legal­ly married, had been living together. They were identified as Kanayo Awurum, 29, and Ugochi Kelechi, 28, both of who are from Ikeduru Local Government Area in Imo State.

Trouble started when Ugochi, who is pregnant with their second child, suspected that her live-in lover, who she claimed gave out their son temporarily to Ogechi, was planning to abandon her in Lagos. She alert­ed and confessed to the police about what they did before relocating to Lagos. Kanayo was arrested and handed over to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos police command, Ikeja for further investigation.

According to a police source, Kanayo, who is an upcoming Nollywood actor im­pregnated Ugochi more than two years ago and ran away. He returned sometime in October 2014 and apologized to her with a promise to marry her. Ugochi accepted him back and got pregnant again. When his re­sources dwindled, he convinced Ugochi to relocate with him to Lagos State as soon as they were able to raise money.

He convinced her to use their son as a collateral to collect a loan that will be paid back in three months. Unknown to Ugochi, her son was sold to one Mrs Ogechi who lives in Port Harcourt. Armed with the pro­ceed of the sale, the couple relocated to Lagos and rented an apartment at Ikotun, Lagos. Two weeks later, Kanayo travelled home with an excuse that there was a pro­ject that he was called upon to execute. He left his lover with little or no money with the promise to return in two days. Days dragged into weeks and Ugochi was left at the mercy of the landlord and neighbours who gave her money for feeding.

Although Kanayo called giving excuses why he was yet to return, Ugochi became frustrated especially when her lover told her that their son, Samuel might not return again. She also learnt from the landlord, that her lover was making arrangement to col­lect the remaining part of the rent and send her packing. Ugochi confided in their family friend who alerted the police of the develop­ment.

Pleading for mercy, Kanayo said that he took the decision because of his quest to give Ugochi who he described as his fiancée a better life. “I met Ugochi during our sec­ondary school days in Amakaohia Compre­hensive High School, Ikeduru, Imo state. We became lovers and continued our rela­tionship after graduation. Fortunately, she got pregnant in 2012. I asked her to keep the baby because I loved her so much and wanted her to be the mother of my children. I met her brother who told me what to do to legalize the relationship. Sincerely, I want­ed to legalize it but, I did not have much money so I left Ikeduru for Owerri. I am a trained painter and was also fortunate to be allowed to feature in some Nigerian mov­ies. During that time, I called her severally to explain why I had to run to Owerri. She was angry and refused to pick my call or see reasons with me,” Kanayo narrated.

In October 2014, Kanayo returned and sought the love and forgiveness of Ugochi who had given birth to a baby boy. “With the little money that I had, I was ready to marry Ugochi. I pleaded with her severally and luckily, she accepted. I made another attempt to ask for her hand in marriage and her family vehemently refused. They threatened to get me arrested if I dared to come close to their sister again. But be­cause she loves me so much, we continued our relationship till she became pregnant again.

“At this point we needed to leave town before her family would notice that she is pregnant again. I convinced her to elope with me to Lagos where we will start our lives together till her family is ready to ac­cept me as their in-law.

“I was already broke and was sourcing for loan. My plan was to travel to Lagos and contact my mentor, Jerry Leonard who is also an actor and film producer. All the persons that I met for a loan refused but another actor, Emmanuel (full names with­held by us) gave me the only way out,” he said.

The only way out given to him was to sell his two-year-old son and get quick money. “He told me to use what I have to get what I don’t have. Initially, I wanted to use my son as a collateral to get a loan but Emmanuel said that outright sale will be the best. He was the one who contact­ed, Mrs. Ogechi from Port Harcourt with the promise that I will pay him N50,000. I simply told Ugochi that the baby will be kept with one woman till we settle down. Since we were eloping, there was no need to contact any family member. Luckily, the woman paid N350, 000 and I gave Emma­nuel Ibeh, N50,000.

“I contacted my mentor, Jerry and he was able to secure an accommodation for us in Ikotun area of Lagos,” he further said.

Kanayo insisted that he had plans to re­turn and trace his son. “I know that what I did was bad but I did it to protect my fian­cée. She will be an object of ridicule by her family if they discovered that she is preg­nant again without a husband. I returned to Owerri when my brother called me that there is a big painting job. My plan was to also raise money to buy back our son. Meanwhile, we were having several issues with the house and I asked the landlord to refund us part of the money we paid. Un­fortunately, I never knew that Ugochi had reported me to the police. I was arrested when I returned to Lagos to collect part of the money we paid for that house at Ikotun. I am sorry but all I did was out of love,” Kanayo said.

He claimed that he played prominent roles in several nollywood movies includ­ing Fist of Vengence, Destiny Child and Rough Chase.

Ugochi on her part said that she never knew that their son was to be used as col­lateral. “I am pregnant and he convinced me that travelling down to Lagos with a small child would be stressful. He told me that my son, Samuel will be kept in his sis­ter’s house for about two months when we would have settled down. It was also his son, so I felt that whatever plan he has was for our own good. I never knew that he was having money problem. We just reconciled and he was taking good care of me and my son ever since he returned. He only told me that the process of settling down is very stressful.

“When we got to Lagos, I kept remind­ing him of our son and he told me that he would soon return to Owerri to pick him up. Towards the end of April, he travelled home for a painting job and left me with little or nothing to eat. Life was hard and I relied on the landlord, neighbours and his mentor Jerry to survive. I pleaded with him to return our son and he kept telling me that I should not be in a hurry. I was forced to confess to the police when I learnt that he wanted to collect back the money he paid for the house that we were living in. I felt he had abandoned me, that was why I opened up to his mentor Jerry. I am aware that he wanted us to relocate from that house but he was no longer providing for me,” Ugochi said.

On why she agreed in the first place to elope, Ugochi said: “ I was and I am still in love with him. I have dated him for more than 10 years and so far he is a caring gen­tleman. When I got pregnant in 2012, he asked me to keep the child. He also made effort to see my family but when he was given the list of things to buy, he ran away. I was devastated and refused to pick his calls when he tried to get across to me. He even sent his friends to me. My family protect­ed me till I gave birth in November 2012. Sometime in October 2014, he returned and started begging again. I love him, so I had no choice but to accept him back. He was actually ready to marry me but my family members refused. They even sent my brother to their house to drop a piece of kolanut. What that meant was that they are at liberty to beat him up, if he dares to come around seeking for my hand in marriage. I love him and I am pregnant again. I cannot bear the shame for the second time that was why I agreed to elope with him.

“This was why I did not even contact my family when I was dying of hunger and it was obvious that my baby might not return. He actually called his mentor and told him that our son died in a car accident while they were on their way back to Lagos,” Ugochi further said.

Continuing, she said that she cannot be­lieve that Kanayo could sell their son for money. “I miss my son and I want him back. He was fooling me all this while, but I love him.”

Describing Kanayo as an upcoming ac­tor in Nollywood, Jerry Leonard said he was not aware of the illicit transaction till Ugochi confessed to him. “I am a Martial art instructor and also a successful movie producer. I know him from my maternal village, Ikeduru where I discovered that he had great skills in acting. He had featured in several movies of which I connected him to the producers.

“Sometime in March, he called that he wants to relocate to Lagos and pursue his acting career. As agreed, I got a mini flat for them close to the area where I live in Ikotun. He told me that he was coming with his wife. I signed as guarantor to secure the accommodation. I was surprised when the landlord called me that Kanayo was plan­ning to leave the compound. He was the one who told me that Ogechi was stranded and comes around to beg for food. I intervened and called Kanayo who said that he had a project and would soon return. Ogechi then opened up to me when I informed her, that her husband (as he was made to believe) said that their son died in an accident. I was confused and not sure what my suspicion could be. We now arranged with the land­lord to ask him to come and collect part of the money he spent on rent.

“I had some young men around who overpowered him. He confessed to me, pleading that he had plans to go back and rescue their son. I alerted the police and they came and picked him up,” Jerry nar­rated.

Confirming the incident, Lagos State police spokesman, Kenneth Nwosu said that the police is on the trail of one Emma­nuel who was alleged to have initiated the transaction and Ogechi, the woman who bought the baby. “The Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti has directed the officer in-charge of SARS, SP Abba Kyari to ensure that baby Samuel is found and the other accomplices arrested and prosecut­ed”, he stressed.

just because you're more visible around and the kind of thread you do create

Daily Trust investigation however revealed that while only 15 per cent of the contract sum was paid to the contract, records at the ministry showed that about 40 per cent of the contract sum had been paid out.

THE Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Chairman, Attahiru Jega, has rated the 2015 general elections better than those conducted in 2011.
He spoke at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja when a delegation led by Ambassador of Mexico in Nigeria, Marco Antonio Garcia Blanco, visited him.
Prof. Jega, who admitted that there was room for improvement, explained that the last general elections proved false prophets wrong.
He said: “We are indeed very happy that our elections turned out to be well and to have been recognised both nationally and internationally as free, fair, credible and peaceful.
“Leading to the election, some impressions had been created, particularly in the international media as if this may be the end of our country. Thank God it was doomsday prediction, which turned out to be false.”
Prof. Jega, who was delighted by the offer to share experiences with other countries, added: “We know that the election has not been perfect; we know that it was better than 2011. But there is also a lot of scope for improvement and that is why we welcome every opportunity to visit other countries and to see how they do their own elections and to be able to exchange ideas and to also learn good practices, which we can continue to adapt to our own circumstances for continuous improvement of our own electoral process.”
He lauded the efforts of the Mexican High Commission in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between both countries in sharing electoral experiences.
He urged that such bilateral relationship should be extended to other sectors.
“You facilitated the signing of the MoU, which has been very useful. Many of our staff have benefited by participation in some conferences. All these experiences have been useful and beneficial and we cherish the opportunity,” he said.
Ambassador Blanco said his mission to the commission was to “transmit congratulatory message for a great job that the commission did in the last electoral process.”
He said everybody recognised the key role played by INEC in the successes achieved in the last electoral process.
He called on the commission’s leadership to share experience with his country, which, he said, was very important in improving the electoral process in Mexico.
He said: “Your expertise, knowledge and wisdom will be a great asset to our electoral body. With experience sharing, Mexico will benefit a lot”.
He advocated for continuous strengthening of existing bilateral relationship between both countries.

BeeBeeOoh:
had it been GEJ promised us 1 USD to 1 NGN ...............

The states owing salaries or pensions are Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Cross River, Ekiti, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, and Kogi.
Others are Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers and Zamfara states.

A member of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has faulted the emergence of his Zamfara State counterpart, Abdulaziz Yari, as the NGF chairman.

This is just as the Jonah Jang-led faction, on Thursday, disowned the forum’s peace meeting that took place on Monday.

Fayose, in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja, said the process of producing the new leader for the forum was wrong as it excluded the governors-elect, who would constitute the majority members of the group after their inauguration on May 29.

The NGF, during a meeting in Abuja on Monday, elected Yari as its chairman.

It also resolved the crisis that had plagued the forum since 2013 after the election of officials split the body into two groups.

At the meeting on Monday, the forum recognised the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, as the winner of the 2013 NGF election.

Amaechi had in 2013 defeated his Plateau State counterpart, Jang, by 19 to 16 votes.

But in the interview, Fayose likened the decision among the incumbent governors, led by Amaechi to choose Yari as the chairman, to a situation where outgoing senators would elect a Senate President for the incoming members.

“It is more sensible to allow the incoming governors to be inaugurated before such a decision can be taken. It is like the outgoing senators choosing the Senate President for the incoming senators,” the governor said.

He maintained that the decision did not follow due process and he urged the All Progressives Congress not to be afraid of losing the seat of the NGF chairman by taking the right step.

Fayose said, “The APC should not be afraid. They are the majority; so their candidate will still win.

“But for us to have a respectable Nigerian Governors’ Forum that will stand together in nation-building, that strategy cannot work. We, as governors, must lead by example.

“The election of the chairman of the new Nigerian Governors’ Forum did not follow due process.”

Responding to Fayose, Chief Tony Okocha, an aide to Amaechi, said the issue of who was the NGF chairman was not in doubt.

He added that only those who play politics without ideology would oppose the fact that the Rivers State governor remains the NGF chairman.

Okocha, who is the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, said it was wrong for anybody to oppose the recent acknowledgement that his boss was the NGF chairman.

He recalled that even the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, conceded that Amaechi was the head of the forum and maintained that there was no dissenting voice when the governors arrived at such a conclusion.

Describing the dissenting voice as an afterthought, Okocha said, “How can they be speaking from the two sides of the mouth. Akpabio was in that meeting. It was not a secret meeting and the person who presided over the meeting was Amaechi.

“If people are speaking against the acknowledgement of Governor Rotimi Amaechi as the NGF chairman, then it shows that some people still play politics without ideology. If you take away ideology from politics, then it is no more politics,” he added.

On Fayose’s criticism, Okocha said, “Nature abhors vacuum. The leadership of Amaechi expires May 29, 2015 and I did not see or hear any dissenting voice over the decisions taken at that meeting.

“It was reported in the dailies. It is an afterthought and ignorance is not an excuse in law. My emphasis is that Nigerians must embrace the fact that politics should be played with ideology and not a matter of interest.”

Yomboy4ever:
South East would have taken that post if no b say.....
....

BeeBeeOoh:
#babamustfulfilhispromises

“You can’t even fix a country within four years. Buhari has to take pain in making approvals, otherwise Nigerians will cause trouble for him. So Nigerians should pray for him and be patient with him.”

The Primate of Anglican Church, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh‎, has called on Nigerians to be patient with the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, saying it is “very difficult” to fix the country within four years.

Okoh said this while speaking with journalists in Abuja on Thursday.

While advising Nigerians to be patient with the incoming administration, the cleric said Buhari should be given a year to study the situation and set the agenda properly.

He said, “Nigerians should be patient with Buhari, otherwise, he will worsen things if Nigerians push him to the wall and rush him into action. Let us give him a year to study the situation and set the agenda properly. It is difficult to fix Nigeria within six months.

“You can’t even fix a country within four years. Buhari has to take pain in making approvals, otherwise Nigerians will cause trouble for him. So Nigerians should pray for him and be patient with him.”

The cleric denied the allegation by the Executive Director of the Voice of Northern Christian Movement, Mr. Musa Dikwa, that Christian leaders were offered N7bn by the Presidency to campaign for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan in the last general elections.

According to him, since the allegation came at a time when the two major political parties were working to win the election at all cost, the allegation “should be taken with a pinch of salt.”

He also endorsed the suggestion that churches should be made to pay taxes provided they have an agency that generates income.

Okoh stated that the Federal Government had mandated the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigerian and Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Nigeria to map out measures for the regulation and ownership of churches and mosques in the country.

The Anglican cleric also gave conditions under which churches and religious organization should pay tax to government.

“I believe that character matters in leadership. And it is not just about who becomes the president of a country, but somebody has to be there and the person needs the support of all to succeed.

The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, denied on Wednesday that he was the candidate of National leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, for the speakership of the 8th Assembly.

Gbajabiamila, who is one of the leading contestants for the number four job, spoke in Abuja as he met with Peoples Democratic Party members-elect in continuation of his campaign for the position.

Other contenders include Chairman, Committee on House Services, Mr. Yakubu Dogara; Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, Mr. Mohammed Monguno; Chairman, Committee on Finance, Mr. Abdulmumini Jibrin; and Mr. Pally Iriase.

However, the race has lately narrowed down to Gbajabiamila and Dogara, seen as the front runners.

Speaking specifically on being Tinubu’s candidate, the Lagos lawmaker said he was often surprised when he heard or read about such insinuation.

He stated that, having led the opposition for eight years in the House, he wondered how people came about the idea that he did not have the capacity to lead the House unless he relied on Tinubu to make a case for him.

However, he admitted that prominent Nigerians, including the Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, had pleaded with Tinubu to support him, but that he did not give them any answer until a few weeks back when the APC leader said “ maybe this man (Gbajabiamila) has some appeal.”

He spoke more, “I have led the opposition for the past eight years with the best of my ability. I have faced a lot of threats and intimidation to life right from the time of (Olusegun) Obasanjo up to about two weeks ago.

“The way I stick my neck for the opposition, I seek to do same for Nigeria as speaker. I want this campaign to be about issues and hoped it would be that way, but I heard a lot of many negative stories. I tried to maintain dignified silence, but I want to set the record straight now.

“I intend to be speaker not for anbody. Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu has not hand in it. Lamido Sanusi left his palace in Kano and pleadd with him to support me. He didn’t get a clear answer.

“Shortly after that, Senator Lawan Shuaibu went to Tinubu on the same issue. He still did not respond until when few weeks ago, Nasiru El-Rufai went to meet him, then he said maybe this man has some appeal.

“In 2011, some members from the North went to him to suggest that I should be Tambuwal’s deputy, but he said no to that.”

Gbajabiamila also spoke on how some lawmakers were demanding to be chairmen of particular committees as a condition for supporting him.

He alleged that such members were among the people going about town saying that he was Tinubu’s candidate.

He assured the PDP members that allocation of committees would be based on fairness, justice and quality.

The House Deputy Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor, who led the delegation, said the PDP members would go back and study his campaign promises to see how the caucus would key in into his agenda.

naijanaso:
The story is somehow. She was detained, the man took her to his home without struggles, they made out, no shouting for help nor try to say where are we heading to, they finished and she mutually accepted to come back after the sweet experience with the man to the station. While at the station she reminiscised the goodies, allows the man to take another turn and we call it rape. Even if she doesn't want to raise alrym in the man's house, what of at the police station.
If the story is really true, then the girl is a heavy mumu.

Mafoya was alleged to have brought the girl out from the cell and took her to his home To Molest.
He returned her to the cell but later brought her out To Molest again in his office.