₦airaland Forum

To address the humanitarian challenges caused by Boko Haram terrorists, the Muhammadu Buhari administration, in 2016, spent more than $2.6 billion.

Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin, made the disclosure in Washington, D.C. at the meeting of the ‘Global Coalition Working to Defeat ISIS’.

“After over $2.6 billion was spent by the Nigerian Government to address humanitarian needs in 2016 – more needs were seen when areas were recovered from Boko Haram.

“Many in this room joined us in Oslo, Norway just last February to show support with Nigeria. “Coalition is fundamental. We, therefore, commend Secretary Rex Tillerson and President Donald Trump for remaining committed to fighting the global enemy of us all – terrorism,” Olonisakin said.

The defence chief explained that Iraq’s story in the war against ISIS was similar to Nigeria’s story in the fight against Boko Haram.

“This meeting, therefore, will further strengthen our collective resolve and determination to destroy and defeat ISIS. “To this end, Nigeria is prepared to work with the coalition in the pursuit of the first lines of efforts towards the realisation of the aims of the global coalition,” he said. He commended the steady progress made in Iraq and Syria in denying ISIS access to territories and closing up their supply routes.

According to him, it is, therefore, imperative that as part of the objectives of the meeting, global leaders consider the value of timely sharing of information and best practices on addressing cross-border threats.

He also emphasised the need for mobilisation of resources for partners in the conflict and confronting violent extremist organisations with the digital battle space or cyberspace. He added that reshaping the public narratives around ISIS to one of failure was also critical in the battle to defeat ISIS. “Let me also add that this meeting is of great importance to Nigeria.

This is because Nigeria’s effort to defeat the Boko Haram terrorists is viewed as part of wider efforts to combat violent extremism globally, especially the defeat of ISIS. “Nigeria is open and willing to adopt strategies from the coalition that could further enhance its success story,” Olonisakin was quoted by the News Agency of Nigeria as saying. Olonisakin emphasised the role of the coalition to defeat terrorists, drawing from the Boko Haram experience.

“The multinational joint task force is a good example of how a coalition can help tackle terrorism and extremism – in our case, the terrorist group Boko Haram,” Olonisakin said.

Nigeria’s defence chief said ISIS, just like Boko Haram, is a threat to collective global security and challenged the international community to act decisively to defeat the terrorist organisations.

“In the words of Secretary of State Tillerson, ISIS presents a great threat to our collective security. So we must act now. We must act collectively. We must act decisively to destroy ISIS and other terrorist organisations,” he said. At the event, Nigeria and its neighbours received the commendation of the US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson for the effective strategies adopted to combat the destructive activities of the Boko Ha- ram terrorists.

Tillerson described the coalition of the Multi- National Joint Task Force against Boko Haram as a success story that the Global Coalition Working to Defeat ISIS must build on. “Our information sharing as a coalition has prevented a number of attacks, and this must expand and accelerate regardless of departmental or international rivalries. “One example of this is West African nations who have put aside national differences to combat Boko Haram.

“Let us build on this good example,” the Secretary of State said. Tillerson commended Nigeria and the other neighbouring countries for putting aside their differences and uniting against Boko Haram.

“We need greater intelligence and information sharing within our own domestic intelligence agencies and among our nations. “We know military strength will stop ISIS on a battlefield, but it is the combined strength of our coalition that will be the final blow to ISIS,” he said.

He said ISIS was connected across every continent, adding that we must work to break every link in its chain. “Our information sharing as a coalition has prevented a number of attacks, and this must expand and accelerate regardless of departmental or international rivalries. “We also must look this enemy’s ideology in the eyes for what it is: a warped interpretation of Islam that threatens all of our people.”

According to him, “many come from middle class or even upper class backgrounds, drawn to a radical and false utopian vision that purports to be based upon the Quran.”

“My husband killed our baby when he beat the hell out of me three days to my delivery.

“When I was finally delivered of the baby, he was dead as he was confirmed to have been wounded while in my womb due to the battering. ”

Mrs Ekwutobi Mgbenka disclosed these to an Igando Customary Court in Lagos State on Thursday.

She added , “ He used to beat me; and when I was pregnant , the beating continued unabated.

“ Sometimes, my husband would strip me naked me, pour pepper on my body, before beating me,’’ she said.

The 41- year -old businesswoman disclosed these while responding to a divorce suit filed by Edwin , her husband of 24 years.

The respondent accused her husband of being a flirt, saying, he impregnated two married women.

“ My husband was having an affair ; he got two married women with children, pregnant.

“Edwin gave one of his married lovers the documents of four out of his 14 shops he built inside Igando Market without collecting a dime from her.

“ He also bought her a house in Ikotun, Lagos state, ” she said.

The mother of two said that her husband had been starving her of sex for the past four years and had now turned her to an abandoned property.

She explained to the court how she lost her first two babies.

“ My first baby died through the medical doctor’s negligence, the second died through the beatings I received from my husband. ”

She, however, begged the court not to grant her husband ’ s wish for the dissolution of the marriage.

“Please, do not grant my husband’s wish, we both built the houses together but now he wants to push me out and bring in his `wives', ” she said.

The petitioner, a 55- year -old businessman, Mr Edwin Mgbenka, had approached the court for the dissolution of his 24-year - old marriage over what he called his wife's alleged threat to his life.

Mgbenka said that his wife was always threatening his life with dangerous weapons.

“My wife always tells me that blood will flow whenever she is fighting me. She stabs me with dangerous weapons.

“ There was a day she broke our standing mirror on me in my sleep because I refused to follow her to a church programme.

“ She always tells my apprentices that I will soon die that she will be the one to settle them.

“ Ekwutobi threatened to kill me if I marry another woman , and now I have two women after her.

“She fought with one of the women that had a set of twins for me and that landed her in a police station, ” he said.

The petitioner alleged that his wife killed their first baby.

“ Few days after she gave birth to our first baby , it was discovered that the baby had hernia and surgery was recommended.

“She was told not to back the baby but immediately after the surgery, she backed him and the baby died on her back, ” he said.

Mgbenka said that Ekwutobi was violent in nature and that she had broken his car windscreen on four occasions.

He said that his wife used his money to buy a motorcycle for her man friend.

According to him, his wife encourages his children aged eight and 13 to steal his money for her.

He urged the court to dissolve the union that he was no longer interested and that he was not ready to die now.

The court president , Mr Adegboyega Omilola , adjourned the case to May 30 for further hearing.
( NAN)

The Nigerian naira dramatically recovered on Wednesday to 405 per dollar, less than 24 hours after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting.

In Abuja, the naira is currently trading between 405 to 410 per dollar, while the British pound is going for 520/523 — all at the parallel market.

For Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, traders are selling at 415 per dollar, and buying at 410. The pound and euro were also going for 530 and 460 respectively.

On Tuesday, after the CBN MPC voted to keep existing monetary policies, Godwin Emefiele warned speculator that the bank had all it takes to sustain its prevailing interventions.

He said those who think the policy actions were not sustainable, are on the wrong side of the bet.

“I am happy, indeed very gratified that those interventions have proved very positive. We’ve seen the rates converging and we are strongly optimistic that the rates will converge further,” he had said.

“The fact that we have done this consistently for almost four to five weeks should tell everybody or those who doubt the strength of central bank to sustain this policy that they are taking a risk and they will lose in this bid to want to place a wrong bet on the direction that we are going.

“The direction is that there is a determination to see to the convergence of those rates and with what we have seen so far, we are very optimistic that those rates will converge.

“It is a program and I am happy to say that the program is looking good, in fact beyond our expectation and those who remain on the sideline doubting the level of CBN’s ability to sustain this policy are on the wrong side of the bet.”

Cajetan Mmuta


Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, yesterday gave reasons why he was yet to appoint commissioners and special advisers to help in the governance of the state, three months after assuming office.

He said he needed time to sanitise the ministries and in the process set up a template that would enable the incoming commissioners, when appointed, to function appropriately.

The governor spoke when members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Edo State council, led by its Chairman, Sir. Rowland Osakwe and Secretary, Alemma Ozioruva Aliu, paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Benin.

Obaseki said he would send the list of the commissioner- nominees to the House of Assembly for confirmation within the next few weeks, asserting that anyone who failed to perform according to expectation when appointed would be dropped immediately.

He said: “A lot has been said about me not appointing commissioners and so many other issues.

But the truth is that I decided to run for governorship at this time when things are so difficult because I believe that I can impact on the lives of our people.

I have looked at the situation and we must stop wastages in areas where that were happening and manage our resources in a manner that it will benefit the people.”

“In doing that, we needed to plan and say this is what we want in each of the ministries so that when a commissioner comes in, he will work according to the plans on ground.

We are going to have a Government House in the 18 local government areas and that is why we are appointing special assistants in the 192 wards of the state so that every part of Edo State will feel the impact of government.

“And that is why we are holding workshops in different sectors of the economy and the reports of these workshops will be implemented.”

lalasticlala

By Kazeem Ugbodaga


The Lagos State Government has reported that an Iroko Tree located at Topo Garage in Badagry area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria has burst into flame itself and raged on for almost a day.

Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe told PM News that the Iroko Tree burst into flame on its own without anybody setting it ablaze around 7.00pm on Sunday.

“An Iroko tree on its own burst into flame for about six hours ago in Badagry. Firemen are on ground to prevent the fire from spreading to buildings,” he said in a text message around 1.00am on Monday.

Spokesperson, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Ibrahim Farinloye also confirmed the incident.

He said firemen had been on ground to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby buildings, but said strangely that despite all efforts, the fire could not be put out on time.

“Firemen are on ground to prevent it’s spread to the nearby buildings, Surprisingly when water with chemical was applied, the fire increase rapidly,” he said.

Around 5:30pm, Farinloye said the fire on the Iroko tree had been put out.

“Two branches of the tree burnt down but the leaves are as fresh as if nothing has happened. The tree was located on Topo garage, Badagry,” he said.

By Christopher Oji and Itoro Godwin

..............

The CP ordered the deployment of drones and boats to the scene, to retrieve the man’s body, it was gathered.

A witness to the suicide last night shared his experience on Instagram.

The lady, who identifies herself as @bimmms24, wrote: “I witnessed the worst thing ever today (yesterday). The owner of this particular car jumped into the lagoon right in front of me. I saw him get out of his car, then jumped. I was directly behind him. I parked and ran as fast as my legs could carry me, but it was too late.

“I wish he had waited a little longer. I wish I was able to stop him. I wish I was about to hold his hands. I wish he could tell me what the problem was. Depression is real. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’m still in shock. I couldn’t control my tears.

“I ran after him. I tried to save him. I called for help. Suicide is not the answer. It’s a pity, a problem shared isn’t a problem solved anymore; it’s a problem gossiped about. We now live in a world where negativity is like 90%.”

In a related development, an unidentified woman also jumped into the lagoon from Maza-Maza Bridge in the Mile 2 area of Lagos.

The woman was however, lucky, as rescuers fished her out before she could drown.

According to a witness, the woman, dressed in a blouse and trousers, was trekking and got to the middle of the bridge, climbed the rail and jumped.

“The thing happened so fast that we could not stop her. However, when she jumped, we called for help, prompting people under the bridge to dive in and rescue her,” said one of the witnesses, who gave his name as Emeka.

When Daily Sun got the the scene, the woman was lying unconscious by the shore of the lagoon, while her rescuers tried to press her bloated stomach to expel the excess water she took in before her rescue.

Adewale, one of those who rescued her, said: “We were under the bridge, when suddenly the woman’s body dropped from the bridge. At first, we thought she was either pushed over or fell over by mistake. We had to jump into the river and went for her. That was how we rescued her.”

What would make people take their lives or attempt to commit suicide? A psychologist, Alex Lickerman, writing in an online site, Psychology Today, identified six things that could make a man or woman attempt suicide.

He wrote: “In general, people try to kill themselves for six reasons:
“They’re depressed: This is without question the most common reason people commit suicide. Severe depression is always accompanied by a pervasive sense of suffering as well as the belief that escape from it is hopeless. The pain of existence often becomes too much for severely depressed people to bear.

“They’re psychotic: Malevolent inner voices often command self-destruction for unintelligible reasons.

Psychosis is much harder to mask than depression, and is arguably even more tragic. The worldwide incidence of schizophrenia is one per cent and often strikes otherwise healthy, high-performing individuals, whose lives, though manageable with medication, never fulfill their original promise.

“They’re impulsive: Often related to drugs and alcohol, some people become maudlin and impulsively attempt to end their own lives. Once sobered and calmed, these people usually feel emphatically ashamed. The remorse is often genuine, but whether or not they’ll ever attempt suicide again is unpredictable. They may try it again the very next time they become drunk or high, or never again in their lifetime.

“They’re crying out for help, and don’t know how else to get it. These people don’t usually want to die but do want to alert those around them that something is seriously wrong. They often don’t believe they will die, frequently choosing methods they don’t think can kill them in order to strike out at someone who’s hurt them, but they are sometimes tragically misinformed.

“They have a philosophical desire to die: The decision to commit suicide for some is based on a reasoned decision, often motivated by the presence of a painful terminal illness from which little to no hope of reprieve exists. These people aren’t depressed, psychotic, maudlin, or crying out for help. They’re trying to take control of their destiny and alleviate their own suffering, which usually can only be done in death. They often look at their choice to commit suicide as a way to shorten a dying that will happen regardless.

“They’ve made a mistake: This is a recent, tragic phenomenon in which typically young people flirt with oxygen deprivation for the high it brings and simply go too far. The only defense against this, it seems to me, is education.”

By Tunde Oyesina

Son of the late military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, Mohammed, had begun a legal battle to reclaim the $1.3 billion Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245, which was allocated to Malabu Oil Gas Limited. Mohammed Abacha is a Director and the largest shareholder of Malabu Oil Gas Limited. The two other major shareholders are Amafagha Kweku and Hindu Hassan.

There have been a couple of suits before different courts in recent time over the oil bloc. While the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had approached the court seeking a forfeiture order of the said licence from Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited, and Nigerian Agip Exploration Company Limited, the Federal Government had, in another suit, slammed a six-count corruption charge on a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN); former Minister of Petroleum, Chief Dan Etete and nine others for their involvement in the sales of the oil bloc to Shell and Agip.

The newest of the suit was filed by Malabu Oil at the registry of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday wherein Abacha joined the Federal Government and eight others over alleged illegal re-allocation of the oil bloc to Shell and Agip. Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court, Abuja had, on Friday, in the suit filed by the EFCC, reversed a forfeiture order it earlier granted against Shell and Agip as regards the oil bloc.

The forfeiture order was at the instance of an ex-parte application filed by the anti-graft agency praying the court to take over the licence of the oil bloc from the companies and return it to the Federal Government.

However, on Friday, the day the forfeiture order was reversed, Malabu Oil approached the court on ground that the Federal Government has no power to re-allocate the oil bloc to Shell and Agip while its (Malabu) rights and interests in the oil bloc is still pending. In the fresh suit filed by Malabu Oil through its lawyer, J.A Achimugu, the plaintiff is asking the court to grant an order compelling the Federal Government to restore the rights to the exclusive possession of OPL 245 to it.

Joined, as 1st to 7th defendants in the suit, were the Federal Government of Nigeria, Minister of Petroleum Resources, Shell Ultra Deep Limited and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited.

Others are Nigerian Agip Exploration Company Limited, EFCC and Chief Dan Etete. In a 29-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Mohammed Sani Abacha, he averred that Malabu Oil was incorporated in April 1998 with the Certificate of Registration number RC 334442, adding that the company was incorporated with a total share capital of 20 million ordinary shares.

Abacha further averred that out of the 20 million shares, he is holding 10 million shares, while Kweku and Hassan are holding six million and four million shares respectively.

He further stated that Etete does not directly or indirectly hold any shares in the company as there is no transfer of shares in his favour, even though he claims to indirectly hold 30 per cent shares of the company in the name of Amafagha Kweku, adding that there is no such transfer.

The son of the former Head of State also averred that Malabu had applied for Oil Prospecting Licence and same was granted by the Minister of Petroleum on April 29, 1998 via letters of allocation of OPL 214 and 245.

It was also averred that the company made payment of N50,000 as application fee, $10,000 as bid processing fees and part payment of or a deposit payment of $2,400,000 as signature bonus. According to him, “On the 2nd of July, 2001, the Federal Government and the Minister of Petroleum revoked the OPL 245. The plaintiff sued the Federal Government at the Federal High Court Abuja over the said revocation.

The matter went on appeal before the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, in appeal no. CA/ A/99/M/06, but was subsequently resolved through an out-of-court settlement agreement executed by the parties namely: Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd. and the Honourable Minister of Petroleum resources on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria on November 30,2006.

“In pursuance of and in the perfection of the under standing in the out-of-court settlement agreement, the Federal Government issued a letter of re-allocation dated July 2, 2010, reallocating OPL 245 to the plaintiff.

The re-allocation of OPL 245 to Malabu Oil brought disputes between the Federal Government and Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep over production of sharing contract. “While the allocation to the Malabu Oil is still pending, the Federal Government, Shell, Agip and NNPC surreptitiously entered what they called, ‘BLOCK 245 RESOLUTION AGREEMENT’ dated April 29, 2011.

In spite of the acknowledgment of the subsisting rights and interest of the plaintiff on OPL 245, the plaintiff was not a party to, but deliberately and purposefully excluded from Block 245 resolution agreement of April 2011 to enable the parties to agree among themselves to allocate OPL to the 4th and 5th defendants,” he stated. Furthermore, the deponent stated that both Shell and Agip resolved to pay $1.3 billion to Etete purportedly in the name of the plaintiff but through the Federal Government as a facilitator.

He also averred that after the allocation of OPL 245 to Shell and Agip, the Federal Government forwarded its escrow accounts to the oil companies with details No. 41451496 IBAN: GB 30 CHAS 609242 411493 with J.P Morgan Chase Bank for Shell and Agip to enable them to effect the payment of the sum of over $1 billion into the Federal Government account.

“Sometimes in May 2011, Shell and Agip paid the sum of $801,540,000 into the escrow account with J.P Morgan Chase Bank. Sometimes in or about August 2011, the Federal Government caused the total sum of $801,540,000 to be paid into two unauthorised bank accounts opened by or at the instance of Etete in the name of Malabu Oil from the Federal Government escrow account,” he added.

He further noted that the said sum was paid in two tranches into two different bank accounts which is: First Bank of Nigeria Plc. with Account no. 2018288005 with the sum of $401,540,000 paid into it, while another $400,000,000 was paid into a Keystone Bank Limited with account no. 3610042472.
Abacha added that the two accounts were opened without the consent or knowledge of Malabu Oil and that same was operated by Etete, in the name of Malabu Oil of which he (Etete) was the sole signatory.

Abacha also averred that Malabu Oil did not, in any way, benefit from the payment of the said payment because Etete was the sole signatory to the two accounts. Malabu is, however, praying the court for a declaration that its rights and interest in OPL 245 granted or re-allocated to it is still valid and subsisting.

It also wants a declaration that not being a party to the Block 245 Resolution Agreement dated April 29, 2011 is not bound by the terms of the said agreement as it relates to or concerns OPL 245. In addition, the plaintiff is seeking a declaration that not being a party to the block 245 resolution agreement dated April 29, 2011, any payment purportedly made by the defendants into any bank account purporting to be the plaintiff’s bank account and or made to the 9th defendant purportedly in the name of the plaintiff was not payment made in pursuance of the said Block 245 Resolution Agreement.

Also, the plaintiff is seeking a declaration that the allocation of OPL 245 by the 1st and 2nd defendants to the 4th and 5th defendant’s via the 2nd defendant’s letter on May 11, 2011 titled: “Re: OPL 245 Resolution Agreement/ Letter of Award” while the plaintiff’s rights and the interests to OPL 245 was subsisting is in violation of the plaintiff’s exclusive right under paragraph 5 of the 1st schedule to the Petroleum Act to explore and prospect for petroleum within the area covered by OPL 245 and is, therefore, invalid, wrongful, null andand of no effect whatsoever.

The plaintiff also wants the court to give a declaration that the grant of OPL 245 by the 2nd defendant to the plaintiff in the exercise of the 2nd defendants powers under Section 2 of the Petroleum Act Cap. P.10 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 does not constitute an offence under any penal law in Nigeria and OPL 245 is not the proceeds of any offence or crime under EFCC (Establishment) Act Cap. E1 Laws of the Federation 2004 or any other law in force in Nigeria.

The plaintiff, however, wants the court to make an order compelling the defendants to restore to it its right to the exclusive possession of OPL 245. It is also praying the court for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants and in particular the 6th defendant from treating and or dealing with OPL 245 as a proceed of an offence and from interfering in any manner whatsoever and howsoever with the plaintiff’s exclusive right to explore and prospect for petroleum in the area of OPL 245.

It also wants an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from carrying out any exploration or prospecting activities in connection with or in relation to the area covered by OPL 245. The suit is yet to be assigned to a judge.

Ndubuisi Ugah and Johnchuks Onuanyim

Strong indications emerged last night that panic and uncertainty may have gripped some cabinet members, including ministers in President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. Saturday Telegraph gathered that the panic-stricken ministers were apparently scared by the recent memo written by Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, who in a 30-page memo sent to the president last year had accused the president of surrounding himself with incompetent and inexperienced persons.

In the memo, el-Rufai, who said the President had developed a frosty relationship with the national leadership of his party-the All Progressives Congress (APC), also warned of high consequences of the President’s action on the party in 2019 general elections.

While speaking on the implication of the memo and the life span of the administration, especially with the future of some ministers, a highly dependable source, who is in the know, told this newspaper that: “Already, there is apprehension, panic and uncertainty as regards the future of these ministers since some of them are believed to have performed below standard.

“The implication also is that the fate of some of the ministers’ is uncertain and with this, there is no ruling out the fact that some of them would be shown the exit door.” Commenting further, the source added: “The President has a lot to do concerning the image of his government.” But responding to el-Rufai’s memo, the national leadership of the APC stated that it would study the memo, stressing that it was his (el- Rufai’s) legitimate views.

The APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie- Oyegun and the National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, who spoke to Saturday Telegraph, said given the number of pages and the issues raised in the memo, that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party would need some time to study it.

Specifically, Odigie- Oyegun, who said the party would make its comments public after studying the memo, also stated that the views of the governor were legitimate as they concerned Nigerians. He said: “We will study it publicly and comment later publicly.

We thought it was a private memo to the President but we will look at it and if we have any suggestions to make, we will make them later. It concerns Nigerians and with legitimate views, which he has expressed. “We will see how it concerns us, the party and the nation and if there is need we will comment on it subsequently.” Also, Abdullahi said: “We are just studying it and we will respond very soon.

It is a 30-page memo, therefore, we have to study it conclusively.” Similarly, a Board of Trustees member of the APC, who preferred anonymity, said President Buhari had disappointed the party members.

According to him, there was nothing in El-rufai’s memo to Buhari that had not been said to him by one party member or the other.

The BoT member expressed the opinion that Buhari only used he party and its members to climb to the position of his ambition and later turned to say they were not worthy to be trusted.

Speaking to Saturday Telegraph on phone, the BoT said: “Everything said, has been said before.” When he wanted to be president, he trusted people and worked with them but now he doesn’t trust anybody, just for some few persons to be eating.

We are just luck that PDP has not sat up. “Look at the disgrace we are having in government with what is happening in the Senate with the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu and Comptroller General of Customs and Exercise, Col. Hammed Ali (rtd).

“The President was in UK for medical treatment, only the national chairman and the NWC members did not go to see him. In an ideal party it would have been the National Chairman who was supposed to be telling people what was wrong with the President and not people telling the party.”

By Evelyn Usman

LAGOS—A notorious kidnap kingpin, popularly called King Solomon, alleged to have been responsible for the abduction of several residents of Festac Town in Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos and environs, has been arrested by police in Lagos.

One of his victims, as gathered, included the female Customs Officer attached to Tin Can Command SDV, a bonded terminal of the Nigeria Customs Service, who was abducted in the presence of her two daughters at an eatery on 22 Road, Festac Town, last December.

Other victims include a pastor of a Pentecostal Church in Festac, identified simply as Pastor Nwachukwu, and two traders at Trade Fair.

The suspect, whose real name is Chukwudi Solomon, used his apartment on 46 Canal View Road as a den, where abducted victims were kept.

Vanguard gathered that he was traced by undercover policemen from Festac Division, led by the Divisional Police Officer, Chief Superintendent Olukole Oladeinde, Tuesday night.

On noticing police presence, Solomon, as gathered, attempted to stab the DPO, but was overpowered.
Three suspected members of his gang, who also attempted to prevent his arrest, were apprehended by policemen, who had cordoned off the building, while two abducted victims were rescued.

During interrogation, the suspect revealed that some of his members, who had gone on a kidnap operation, were coming with a victim yesterday morning.

Police sources further hinted that the suspect had several boys under his control, with members of other kidnap gangs bringing abducted persons to his apartment.

Confirming the incident, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, Fatai Owoseni, said: “Police undercover agents have been working on information about this suspect.

“One of the victims rescued was traced to his house, which served as haven for criminal activities and den where kidnapped victims around Festac Town are kept.”

Police foil robbery

In a related development, policemen from Denton Division, yesterday, foiled a robbery operation by a gang that has been terrorising residents of Iponri, Ebute-Meta area of the state.

The hoodlums, as gathered, were on the verge of carrying out an operation when policemen swooped on them. On sighting the policemen, the robbers opened fire as they ran into a crowd, abandoning three of their operational vehicles.

When searched, an AK-47 rifle, with 22 rounds of ammunition, three magazines, a revolver and charms, according to Mr. Owoseni, were recovered inside the abandoned vehicles.

Owoseni said: “The robbers fired sporadically and escaped into the crowd. We were careful not to shoot so as not to harm innocent people that were used as human shield. On our part, we will not rest on our oars.”

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, wrote a comprehensive letter to President Muhammadu Buhari on his performance and governance so far, and he had recommendations on steps Buhari must take.

“Mr. President, Sir. You have both a crisis and opportunity in your hands toturn around our country in the right direction. We pray that Allah gives youthe strength and good fortune to succeed,” el-Rufai wrote in the memo obtained by Sahara Reporters.

“This is an honest, frank and objective view of an admirer, a mentee, and a loyalist. I hope it helps, and I apologise if it displeases you. My duty to you is to tell you the truth as I seeit. I have no interest other than the progress of our party, our president, our government and our country”.

TheCable has reviewed the 29-paged memo, and presents you the top ten action plan, el-Rufai is recommending for the days to come.

EL-RUFAI TO BUHARI: RUN AGAIN IN 2019

“As I explained to you shortly after your election in April 2015, you have to run again in 2019 if your objectives of national restoration, economic progressand social justice are to be attained in the medium and long term,” he wrote.

“You must therefore succeed for the good of all of us – individually and collectively, and particularly those of us that have benefitted so clearly from your political ascendance”.

CONCLUDE SARAKI’S TRIAL ON TIME

The governor wants the judiciary to conclude the trials of Senate President Bukola Saraki, who he said is interested in political advancement that in commercial transactions.

He said Buhari must improve his relationship with the national assembly and the Judiciary.

“These relationships need improvement as well. The relationship with the Senate was marred by the betrayal the party suffered at the hands of many of its members, while the recent ‘padding scandal’ has created tensions with the leadership of the House of Representatives.

“These challenges are difficult, but not impossible, to fix once the Judiciary concludes the Saraki cases in a timely manner”.

He said Saraki, “Senator Lawal Shuaibu, Dr. Hakeem Baba Ahmed, Senator Bukola Saraki, Hubert Shaiyen,Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Senator Bunmi Adetunmbi,” are seeking an “entrée into your government through the party and are concerned more with political power than commercial transactions”.

UNDO LOPSIDED APPOINTMENTS

El-Rufai agrees with a lot of Nigerians that Buhari’s appointment have been lopsided and must be corrected.

“A clear evidence of this is the lopsided nature of the appointments made so far, and the absence of any objective selection criteria other thanpure chance and closeness to a handful of people around the President,” he wrote.

“Another crisis is likely to be created if the current system (or lack of it) ofappointment persists with the composition of boards of parastatals. I havehad cause to register my concerns, which also mirrors the grievance of 23 APC Governors”.

CUT N’ASSEMBLY BUDGET TO N65BN, RAISE VAT TO 10%

El-Rufai also went for the sacred cows in the national assembly, by asking both the president and the ministry of budget and national planning to reduce the budget for the chambers to not less than N65 billion.

“Reduce the National Assembly budget for 2017 to not more than N65 billion and require the publication of all line items for all the Consolidated Revenue Fund Charges (UBE,INEC, NDDC, National Assembly and NJC) in the interest of full transparency, and put every federal employee on IPPIS by January 2017″
There has been much talk about reviewing Nigeria’s tax policy, but el-Rufai believes that Buhari should raise value added tax (VAT) by 10 percent from 2017.

“Review tax policy and accelerate TIN registration nationwide to widen and broaden the tax net, reduce personal and income tax rates while raising VAT to 10% as fair compensation,” he suggested.

MERGE MINISTRIES, REVISIT ORONSAYE WHITE PAPER

The former minister, who worked with former president Olusegun Obasanjo, also wants Buhari to merge ministries and review the modus operandi of the bloated civil service.

“The 800-page transition committee report (summarized to 80 slides by Bain & Co.) went some way in recommending the merger of Ministries but implementation has been uneven and selective.

“Prior to this, the Obasanjo administration had done seminal work in merging ministries, (available on request) while the Oronsaye Committee has done some significant work in reducing duplication between parastatals and agencies.

“There exists therefore enough raw material to begin the needed restructuring of MDAs for optimal performance at the federal level. (Copies of both the Bain Summary and the Executive Summary of the Oronsaye Report are provided with this submission)”

SELL AJAOKUTA AND NIGERIA’S REFINERIES

He want Buhari to consider the privatization of other non-productive or potentially valuable assets in governments control.

“Evaluate some idle assets for privatization like Ajaokuta Steel, Itakpe Iron Ore, NIPP power stations, 40% equity in Gencos and Discos owned by FGN and State Governments, and capital injection to dilute FGN in development banks,” el-Rufai advised.

GIVE OIL LICENCE TO CHINA, INDIA

El-Rufai also wants Nigeria’s number one citizen to offer Nigeria’s expired oil mining lease to China, India and other interested investors and raise as much as $20 billion to $40 billion.

“Compile all expired OMLs and offer them to India, China and other interested investors to raise between $20 – $40 billion in signaturebonuses that can be deployed to (i) stabilize the exchange rate by raising the foreign reserves to $40-$50 billion (ii) increase the sovereign wealth fund and (iii) finance essential infrastructure and housing deficits”.

UNIFY BIOMETRIC CAPTURES TO DRIVE E-GOVERNANCE

“E-Governance infrastructure with a foundation in a national biometric identification system is almost non-existent.

“While the NIMC is struggling to register 10 million Nigerian adults out of some 100 million, we have wasted billions in parallel biometric ID systems (FRSC, INEC, PenCom, Nigeria Immigration Service,NCC, CBN’s BVN, etc. to mention a few) without a central,validated and rogue-free AFIS engine.

“The national potential todeploy these data and linking them with GIS, Land administrationand tax compliance has therefore not been realized.”

EXPLOIT NOLLYWOOD, KANNYWOOD

El-Rufai believes Nigerian talents in sports are wasting away, when they can be harnessed for national pride, job creation and revenue generation.
“The same attitude applies to service sectors like Art and Sculpture, ICT,Nollywood, Kannywood, music and other creative sub-sectors. Nigerian movies are now selling our nation positively and negatively all across Africa and the Black Diaspora.

“This is an important component of soft power which we have failed to think through, articulate to exploit tocreate jobs, wealth and prestige for our country. It is not too late to close this gap.”

RESTRUCTURE APC

The 56-year-old governor also requests that Buhari restruture the ruling party to ensure a candidate selection process, which would not be influenced by money.

“Those of us that look forward to presenting you again to the electorate in 2019 are worried that we need to sort out the party’s membership register, review the primaries system to eliminate the impact of money in candidate selection, and reduce the reliance of the party on a few businessmen, a handful of major financiers and state governments for its operations and expenditures.

“A surgical operation is needed in party machinery, financing and electoral processes if the future political aspirations we desire for you will not be made more difficult, if not impossible, to actualize.”

By Eugene Agha, Lagos


The Head of Research and Development, Ibrahim Badamasi Babaginda (IBB), Lapai In Niger State Prof. Nuhu Obaje, Thursday said the institute has discovered large quantity of crude oil deposit at Bida Basin.

He disclosed that the institution had made its findings known to both the Federal Government as well as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Prof. Obaje said that the management of the university was ready and willing to assist government in further exploration of crude in the area.

This is even as he said that University Research department has also introduced a technology for quick crude oil discovery and drilling.

The Director of the research centre, Prof. Nuhu Obaje, made this disclosure at the exhibition of raw materials and local products, held at Landmark Centre, Victoria Island.

Ali Ndume, former senate majority leader, says if the senate could refuse to confirm Ibrahim Magu, as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) based on allegations leveled against him, Bukola Saraki who has a case in court should not be the senate president.

Citing a report of the Department of State Services (DSS), the upper legislative chamber rejected the nomination of Magu.

The DSS had said Magu was unfit to lead the commission because he had failed an integrity test.

But speaking on Sunrise Daily, a breakfast programme on Channels Television, Ndume faulted the action of the senate.

“We have all been accused, I have been accused of sponsoring Boko Haram, the senate president is still going to court,” Ndume said.

“Same as other members who have cases in court, yet they occupy seats in the senate. So, if you say because of the allegations he (Magu) should not be confirmed, then I should not be a sitting senator and Saraki should not be there as senate president.”

Ndume said knowing the kind of person President Muhammadu Buhari is, he would be surprised if the president mentioned Magu’s confirmation during his last meeting with leaders of the national assembly.

Buhari met Saraki and Yakubu Dogara at the presidential villa in Abuja, a day to the day Magu was rejected at the senate.

“The president I know is not the kind of person that would interfere in such matters. I would have been surprised if the president discussed the issue of confirmation when he met the leaders of the national assembly recently, that would have led to the issue of lobbying for him to be confirmed,” he said.

“There is no crime against lobbying, in fact we are supposed to lobby. I lobbied most of the senators but sometimes you keep on learning because this is kind of new. A government where you (APC) are in the majority and the president re-nominates a candidate, and also in a situation where the issue at stake is an accusation; in the normal circumstance and by our constitution, accusation is not conviction.

“The issue now is not the house in his name, it’s a house called the safe house and that was prompted because after his acting appointment and the rigorous work he is doing, you can’t afford to have somebody like that living in Karu or a densely populated area.”

Ndume, who said he conducted personal investigation on Magu, absolved him of the allegations.

Commenting on the eloquence of Magu, Ndume said: “The bottom line is that we are trying to fight against corruption and if we ask: ‘is Magu doing his job?’, the answer is yes, undoubtedly. He is not an actor, he is a policeman doing investigation. He is not supposed to talk about what his job is in an articulate manner, it’s not important. What he is doing is not a TV show.”

There were complaints, particularly on social media, that Magu performed below expectation during the screening.

By allowing the State Security Service to undermine him in his quest to make Ibrahim Magu substantive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), President Muhammadu Buhari has lost control of his government and should consider overhauling his administration forthwith, two former Nigerian leaders have told PREMIUM TIMES
In separate interviews with this newspaper on Wednesday, the former commanders-in-chief, who spoke on strict anonymity, said Mr. Buhari should be very worried about the direction his administration is headed.

“I strongly reject the notion that Buhari is helpless in his own cabinet,” one of the former leaders said. “I would never have allowed such humiliating insubordination in my administration. It was unthinkable that my own appointee would oppose my nominee at the National Assembly. No one could have tried that with me. He or she would have paid dearly for it.”

“What happened showed clearly that Buhari is not in charge.”

The second official said what happened in the Magu case was “entirely inconceivable in a presidential system anywhere in the world.”

In a painful effort to make sense of the development and convey his “rude shock”, the former leader said Mr. Buhari might actually be the one behind the “repeated humiliation of his own nominee”.

“Unless he is the one behind the whole controversy by deliberately double-dealing with his own nominee and other subordinates, there’s no way I would have thought a situation like this will play out as someone who had been privileged to hold that position.

“As far as I am concerned, things seem to have fallen apart. It is also possible that he has never been in control. It is very unfortunate.”

Weighing in further on the controversy, one of the former leaders said the intrigues were a clear indication the president had lost grip of his government.

“For me, it’s clearly disrespectful,” another former commander-in-chief said. “His (Buhari’s) appointees are hostile towards him and I think that’s not something we see regularly in governments across the world.”

The former leader said “not a single one” of his appointees ever made any attempt that could “remotely be deemed an act of insubordination.”
“Never did any of my appointees even tried to override a decision that had been concluded.”

One of the leaders recommended that heads should roll if Mr. Buhari must regain control of his government.

“I will recommend an urgent cabinet shake-up if there’s a way he could go about that before it’s too late,” the former leader said.

“That’s about the most important decision to take after today.”

The comments came hours after Mr. Magu, Mr. Buhari’s preferred nominee for the EFCC top job, was rejected for the second time in three months by the Nigerian Senate.

The senators hinged their decision on a security report authored by the State Security Service (SSS), which portrayed Mr. Magu as “a liability to the anti-corruption stance” of the Buhari administration.
The disparaging document was produced by the SSS despite President Buhari’s public posturing to get Mr. Magu cleared.

The SSS had last year written a similarly indicting letter to the Senate as its response to the Senate’s request for security appraisal of Mr. Magu in the confirmation process.

In the October 2016 letter, the SSS said Mr. Magu was involved in controversial matters including living in a house allegedly payed for by a man being prosecuted for corruption. It advised that Mr. Magu not be confirmed.

Based on the conclusion of the secret police, senators threw out Mr. Magu’s nomination.

But in another letter in January, Mr. Buhari requested that the Senate reconsider its position and clear Mr. Magu as substantial chairman, saying the allegations against him were false and baseless.

The EFCC chief has been operating in an acting capacity since he was first appointed by President Buhari in November 2015.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Magu appeared before the senators for his confirmation hearing. He answered a series of questions on the activities of his agency.

But Dino Melaye, a senator from Kogi, shocked the nation when he indicated that the SSS had forwarded a new report insisting on the validity of its earlier memo and insisting the EFCC chairman was unsuitable for the post.

“In the light of the foregoing, Magu has failed the integrity test and will eventually constitute a liability to the anti-corruption stand of the current government,” Mr. Melaye, said quoting excerpts of the letter.
Consequently, the Senate ruled Mr. Magu stands rejected.

The botched confirmation could, however, be a fallout of a long-drawn battle for supremacy between different blocs in the Buhari cabinet.

PREMIUM TIMES had exclusively reported in mid-2016 how a major political crisis was brewing between the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, and the Director-General of the SSS, Lawal Daura.

The division within the presidency was largely believed to be responsible for the embarrassing objection raised by the SSS against Mr. Magu last year.

It remained unclear how Mr. Buhari plans to approach the matter going forward. His spokespersons, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, did not answer or return calls seeking clarification on the matter.

By Emmanuel Uzodinma


Over 2000 students of two female secondary schools in Enugu State, Wednesday, took to the streets, protesting alleged threat to kidnap and rape them by Umakashi youths, a community in Nsukka Local Government Area of the State.

The schools involved are St Cypril Secondary School and St Cypril Special Science School, both in Nsukka.
Both schools belong to the Anglican Diocese of Nsukka.

DAILY POST reports that over 200 priests joined the students during the protest in solidarity.

Speaking on the matter, the Anglican Bishop of Nsukka, Rt Rev Aloysius Agbo, condemned the action of the youths, who he said had already destroyed the perimeter fence in the schools.

He said youths from Umakashi numbering about 500 had earlier on March 11, armed with dangerous weapons, invaded the school compound, destroying the school fence and threatening to kidnap female students in the hostel.

The youths were allegedly led by their president, Mr Samuel Asadu.

“On that fateful day, youths from Umakashi, the host community numbering about 500 invaded the school compound with dangerous weapons and surrounded the school.

“Some went to the girls’ hostels threatening to kidnap them as a bargaining power for us to vacate the land.

“After pulling down the school fence, they entered the school compound and started mapping out land into plots and sharing it among themselves,” he said.

“We have gone to court on this trespass by the community but later agreed for dialogue and the matter was struck out on November 2016.

“This land was give to the church in 1956 by their forefathers and I wonder why some youths will wake up one day and trespass into land.

“My happiness is that the church has necessary documents of the land and urged elders of Umakashi to call their youths to order and remind them that they are fighting God and not church,” he added.

Agbo said the church had informed the state governor, commissioner for Education as well as the police as security of the schools were under threat, especially given the fact that the two schools are girls schools and that 95 per cent of students live in hostels.

Earlier in a separate interviews, the senior perfect of St Cypril Science Secondary School Miss Shalom Aneke and the senior perfect of St Cypril Girls Secondary School Miss Sandra Ugwu said the development had put fear on them as many students do not come for evening prep any longer owing to fear of being raped.

When contacted, the president of Umakashi youths denied breaking the fence of the school.

However, he accepted that youths from the area were there on March 11 to share part of the land belonging to the community which he claimed the church encroached upon.

“We did not break the school fence but we went there to share part of our land the church encroached upon,” he said.

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Adelani Adepegba, Abuja


Suspected ritual killers have released a young lady, Maranatha Innocent, who was abducted along Katsina Ala Street, Makurdi, Benue State after spending five days in captivity.

She was coming from a bank where she had gone to make a transaction when she was abducted by three men in a car.

Maranatha's cousin, Love, told Northern City News on Sunday that the former came back to the house five days after her disappearance but could not utter a word about her experience.

She said that after she was hospitalised, Maranatha informed the family that she was abducted by suspected ritual killers and kept in a house with two other female victims.

Love said , “Maranatha told us that she took an okada from the bank and when they got to a lonely spot along Katsina Ala Street, the Okada man said he wanted to urinate.

“ As she was waiting for him, a vehicle with three men pulled up and asked her for direction, but she lost consciousness as she attempted to speak and found herself in a room with two other girls who were similarly tied. ”

According to Love, Maranatha said a man who appeared to be the leader of the gang entered the room and selected the victim to be used for his rituals.

“ All this while, they were not eating, but on that particular day, a man came into the room with a staff and he just placed it above the head of a victim and the staff made a weird sound, but when it came to Maranatha's turn, the staff just made a small sound and it kept shaking and shaking, so they slapped her and said she should be taken away, ” she narrated.

She continued, “ She woke up to find herself at that same spot where they abducted her. She woke up to find herself lying on the ground and so she took a bike home, ” Love added.

She disclosed that the spot where her cousin was abducted was notorious for kidnapping, adding that a number of sympathisers phoned to inform her about the high incidence of abduction around the area.

Love said her cousin was molested, but noted that she was recuperating.

The sexual scandal involving Apostle Johnson Suleman of the Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide is becoming messier by the day as another woman has come out to claim that he sexually molested her in 2013 during a deliverance program.

The lady who is a staff of Africa Independent Television (AIT), Honey Phoenix Evarist, according to what she posted on her Facebook page, explained that Apostle Suleman assaulted her when her mother took her to him to deliver her of some perceived demons.

Narrating her story, Evarist said her parents took her to the man of God for deliverance because she was not turning out to be the Christian child they expected but what she met was not becoming of a man » who was seen as being holy.

Writing on her experience at the hands of Apostle Suleman, Evarist said:
''In 2013, my mom told me I needed deliverance because I refused to act like a Christian. She took me to the pastor of Omega Fire Ministries (OFM). He said I would do a retreat with him for one month, so I went back home to pack my stuff.

This man would always enter my room without knocking. His hands would linger around my breasts when he hugged me.

I was uncomfortable but I tried to bring my 'mind out of the gutter'. We used to have night prayers and he would prolong the prayers till his heavily pregnant wife got tired and he'd encourage her to go to bed and rest.

Once she left, he would start to tell me how much he loved me and how I didn't need deliverance because there was nothing wrong with me, and how I was a nice girl whose parents misunderstood.

I was not all that surprised and I tried to take advantage of the situation. I would miss prayers or evening service because I knew he would not do anything about it.

But then, his wife started to notice that I had too much freedom and what surprised me was that he did not seem to care.

He would try to kiss me when his wife was just one room away. He would wink at me when her back was turned; he would hold my hand at the back seat of the car when we were returning from night vigil.

He was like a love struck teenager. I began to avoid him and it made him more desperate. One time, he asked if I was avoiding him and I made him know I did not like what he was doing and he told me if I wanted, his P.A could arrange for us to have a quiet time somewhere.

I had to tell the assistant pastor all that was going on. I still recall the tears and the look of unbelief on his face that night. The assistant did nothing about it but advised me to pack my stuff and leave before things get out of hand.

But I couldn't leave because the retreat was not over. One night at the night vigil at OFM headquarters in Auchi, I went to confide in a friend and my father's driver overhead everything and told my dad once we returned to Abuja.

The sad part about it all was that my parents called the pastor and his wife to ask them instead of me.

And they heaped it all on me. They said I had been misbehaving because I was tired of the retreat and I slept during prayers, that I did not go for the evening services and I always come up with accusations because I wanted to go.

The good thing was that I moved back home. Till today, I wonder what sort of brains the pastor's wife had in her head."

This is the second woman who has come up with accusations of sexual immorality against Apostle Suleman following the revelation by Canada-based Nigerian stripper, Stephanie Otobo who claimed the man of God impregnated and abandoned her.

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By Muideen Olaniyi



Staff of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may likely down tools due to the delay in the payment of their February salary, party sources told journalists yesterday in Abuja.

The Chief John Odigie-Oyegun-led APC National Working Committee (NWC) might also face a revolt from party staff going by the decision to cut by half, the 13th month salary for the 2016 which is yet to be paid.

Our correspondent reports that the APC paid January salary for its staff on February 10, over one month after a Daily Trust story which revealed that the ruling party was facing serious financial challenges.

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Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party on Monday in Abuja accused the sacked national caretaker committee under the leadership of Senator Ahmed Makarfi of collecting N 50m monthly subvention from governors of the party.

It alleged that this was why the members of the committee which had been outlawed by the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, were unwilling to let go.

Deputy Chairman of the party, Senator Cairo Ojougboh, made this allegation at a press briefing in Abuja.

Ojougboh, who spoke at the party’ s national secretariat, said that the caretaker committee was already crumbling.

He also alleged that Makarfi was plotting to pick the presidential ticket of the party in 2019.

He said , “The reason why the caretaker committee members are protesting is that they have seen that the table is now crumbling fast under their feet.

“ All the organs of the party are cueing into the reconciliation and when the reconciliation pulls through , they are out and Senator Makarfi can only come as member of the Board of Trustees and so the N 50m monthly subvention from governors will stop.

“They get subvention from the governors every month and when reconciliation happens , that subvention will stop.

“Secondly, Makarfi wants a situation where he will tailor -make and tailor- made the convention to suit his interest because he has come out to say that he will be contesting the presidency of the country . “

By Adeola Yusuf


The Federal Government has picked May for the commencement of a new licensing round for award-ing oil blocs and allocation of marginal fields, New Telegraph has learnt.A memo of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources sighted by this newspaper, revealed that the minister, Dr. Emmanuel Kachikwu, settled for May as a desirable period to begin the process. Although he had earlier announced the plan for the bid round, this is the first time a date is being given for the commencement of the programme.

“This bid round, which is a part of plans for petroleum industry under current fiscal year, is expected to commence in April, late est May, as announced by the honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources,” the memo stated. Kachikwu, it continued, reaffirmed this date, when he addressed a town hall meeting in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

Investors, checks by this newspaper showed, are already abreast of the May date for the bid round. Risk managers for the oil and gas portfolios in financial and technical institutions are also aware of the date.

“The scheming for the bid round has started in earnest. Series of meetings are already taking place in Abuja, London, Houston and other parts of the West for the bid round,” a management staff of one of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) said after his anonymity was assured. His company volunteered two of its matured blocs to the government for the bid round.

“Kachikwu had said at the programme, televised for viewers all over the world, that marginal field is a recurring thing and that the country would begin another one hopeful April, or May of this year,” he added.

Aside from the bid round date, the ministry, the memo stated, is also making moves to reduce petrol consumption in Nigeria from an estimated 50 million to 28 million litres daily, thereby saving about N3.2 billion daily from unaccounted volumes.

Licensing rounds are a veritable avenue to raise quick funds for the government, which award a large expanse of land/oil bloc to exploration and production companies, while also expanding the country’s production capacities.

The last administration had tried to execute a licensing round, but could not pull it off due to lack of confidence in the process, as it was feared that the oil bloc usually awarded to oil drilling and exploration companies would end up in the hands of political cronies, who will go hawking it.

If the plan works, the country will be on the way to meeting new production targets of 4 million barrels daily and 40 billion oil reserves, which it had consistently missed since 2010.

The Federal Government has, in the same vein, begun plot to end the $90 billion investments revenues’ deficit rocking Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. The revenues’ deficits rocking the country would be tamed with clarity of contract terms through passage of law on oil industry governance presently before the National Assembly, Kachikwu said.

While he also noted that the country targets $10 billion to meet up the investments shortfall in gas sector, the minister maintained that measures are in place to address this anomaly.

“Measures are in place and they will be thoroughly deployed immediately the issue of legislation on governance issues of the oil and gas industry are addressed,” he said.

Meanwhile, IOCs have stated that the Federal Government had bad feeling over litigation they have against it in court. Country Chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Osunbor, who stated this on the sideline of a conference in Abuja, maintained that litigation is commonplace among IOCs who are in partnership.

Chairman and Managing Director, Chevron Nigeria Ltd, Jeff Ewing, corroborated this view just as Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director, SPDC, Osagie Okunbor, added that IOCs also seek redress among one another on grey areas of contracts. “We (IOC) are competitors, but we are partners when it comes to cost,” he said.

Suggesting that the crude price rout made seeking clarity in grey areas of contracts necessary, Okunbor said: “When oil price was $100 and above, we all were behaving like drunk people, we cannot now do it.”

Reacting to the IOCs on court cases over alleged breach of contractual agreement, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, said that it was difficult to treat all IOCs equally.

Represented by Group Executive Director, Exploration & Production, Saidu Muhammed, Baru stated that this was responsible for the perspective that NNPC as a partner acts like a regulator and government.

Stating that the NNPC has, despite this, forged ahead with programmes such as exit from Joint Ventures (JV) contracts with IOCs, Baru maintained that government still bears the brunt of its shares in the JV cash calls

Banks are awash with dollars, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continues to support the naira.

The banks have cleared the backlog of requests for foreign currencies for basic travel allowance, school fees and medicals.

A banker told NAN that his bank had so much dollars that its marketers were asked to encourage customers to request for the greenback.

The source said that the bank wanted to avoid a situation where it would be forced to return excess Forex to the CBN.

Doing so would force the CBN to reduce the quantity of Forex sold to the bank.

Another source from First Bank said following the CBN intervention, the bank had succeeded in clearing all pending requests for Forex as far back as September, 2016.

Also, a source in Guaranty Trust Bank commended the decision of the CBN to flood the market with Forex, thereby allowing the banks to meet legitimate requests from its customers.

It was also gathered from Heritage Bank that prior to now, the bank published the names of individuals and companies it disbursed forex to in a page of any particular newspaper.

“Right now, we take two or three pages in the newspaper to publish names of legitimate individuals and companies that we disbursed forex to.

“We have more than enough foreign exchange to meet the request of our customers for school fees and others,” NAN was told.

In a data released by the CBN, the apex bank, within three weeks, injected more than 1.4 billion dollars for both wholesale and retail intervention into the interbank Forex market.

Mr Ayo Teriba, Chief Executive Officer, Economic Associates, is optimistic that the CBN would be able to sustain its intervention on the forex market.

Teriba told the NAN that increase in oil production and high oil prices had increased the foreign reserve base of the country.

“We are back to a situation where the forex at the disposal of the CBN is likely to go up.

“The CBN could not intervene in the forex market in 2016 because of low oil production, prices and because foreign reserves were also low.

“Today, oil price is up, reserves have also gone up, the outlook of the oil prices is stable and production in Nigeria is going back to capacity; so it has the capacity to intervene.

“In a couple of months, the apex bank should be able to meet all of the demands and all the multiple exchange rates will converge.”

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CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

There was a drama at Isolo Magistrate’s court last week when a woman caught her husband and their female neighbour crying together over the detention of the husband in prison custody.

P.M.EXPRESS gathered that the wife was stunned and wondered why the woman will be crying and held her husband tight whereas she was the one that brought her husband to court for assault.

The husband, Tunde Joseph was arrested and charged before the court for inflicting injury on the female neighbour, Ifeyinwa Okafor with his finger ring.

The incident happened at Yele Okeowo Street, off Ago Palace Way, Okota, Lagos where they all reside in different buildings.

It was learnt that Tunde and Ifeyinwa were secretly dating without his wife knowledge, though some of the residents knew.

On the day of the incident that led to the court matter, it was learnt that the secret lovers had a disagreement which resulted to a fight with the slapped the lady and a ring he had on his finger injured her seriously.

The matter was reported to the police over the deep injury inflicted on her face before she was taken to hospital.

At the Ago Police division, the DPO directed that Tunde should be charged to court for the alleged offence.

When Joseph was arraigned, he pleaded not guilty.
The presiding Magistrate, Mrs A.K. Granted him bail in the sum of N50,000 with two sureties in like sum.

The court ordered him to be remanded in prison custody pending when he will perfect his bail condition.

When Ifeyinwa, who was the complainant in the matter realized that Tunde will be taken to prison, both held each other and started crying and that was the time the wife came to court and met them in the mood.

The angry wife then walked away and said she did not knew the two were lovers while she had been wasting her time over the issue between them.

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Afeez Hanafi


Two fake soldiers have been arrested by the police for impersonating men of the Nigerian Army and allegedly beating up a lawyer, Paul Onyilo, and his client, Solomon Chima.

One Gilbert had reportedly led the suspects – Adebayo Olanrewaju, Joseph Daniel – and their fleeing accomplice, who was in a Nigerian Navy uniform, to a restaurant at Sharp Corner, Agbado, Ogun State, where the victims were holding a meeting.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Chima had bought some gallons of paint worth about N 60, 000 from Gilbert sometime in October 2016, owing the trader N1,000 balance.

Chima, however , declined to pay the balance after the person who painted the apartment , told him that Gilbert did not deliver all the paint. Gilbert was said to have refuted the claim.

It was learnt that the lawyer , Chima and his wife were in the restaurant at about 9pm on Sunday for a meeting on a landed property when Gilbert and the suspects in military camouflage stormed the facility and descended on Chima.

The lawyer said his attempt to pacify the men was met with stiff resistance and aggression as they rained blows on him.

He said, “I was at the restaurant with my client and his wife to discuss a deal. We were waiting for someone when he received a call from a man (Gilbert), asking him where he was.

“A few minutes after, another person called him, threatening that they would catch him wherever he was. He was frightened and I asked him what happened . He explained to me that he was owing Gilbert N1,000. He said Gilbert was also supposed to give him three tins of paint . I decided to alert the Agbado Police Station to the imminent violence.

“ The moment I finished sending the distress call, Gilbert and three other men – two in army uniform and one dressed in Nigerian Navy uniform – barged into the restaurant. Gilbert ordered them to beat Solomon (Chima). I tried to calm them. They beat me up, dragged me on the floor, tore my shirt and poured alcohol on my head. ”

Our correspondent was told that operatives from the station, led by the Divisional Police Officer, CSP Shittu Abioye , raced to the scene and arrested Gilbert and the fake soldiers at a nearby bar , where they had fled to. But, the fourth suspect, identified only as Charles, escaped.

It was gathered that several uniforms and a mask, among others , were recovered from Olanrewaju’ s residence by the police.

Thirty-year - old Olanrewaju, an indigene of Abeokuta, Ogun State, who said he was dismissed from the Nigerian Army in 2013, denied partaking in the assault.

He said, “I was at Abule Egba (Lagos State) on Sunday, when Joseph (Daniel) called me on the telephone . He said he wanted to visit his in-law and that I should follow him. As we got there, the in -law (Gilbert) received a call and he exchanged words with the person. He told us that a man he supplied paint to was owing him N1,000 and insulting him.

“ We asked him to let us go and caution the man. On getting to his house, we didn ’ t meet him . We went to the restaurant. Charles started beating the lawyer and I cautioned him. I took the two parties to another bar to settle the matter. I have never committed any crime with my uniform. I use the mask to prevent cold when I ride a motorcycle.”
Daniel , who hails from Enugu State , stated that he got the uniform from Olanrewaju , adding that Charles was a naval officer.

“ I wore the uniform to avoid being harassed by security agents . I regretted my action. It was Charles that beat them, ” he said.

The Ogun State Police Public Relations, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed the arrest, said the case would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation and prosecution.

FIdelis Soriwei , Abuja

The Indepedent National Electoral Commission has announced February 16, 2019 as the date for the next Presidential election in the country.

The INEC National Commissioner in charge South West, Solomon Soyebi, who made disclosure during a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday said further that the commission also fixed the governorship/state assembly /Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections for Saturday , March 2, 2019.
Details later …

lalasticlala

I WON’T SHARE MY HUSBAND’S MANHOOD WITH ANY WOMAN, CHILDLESS WIFE VOWS


CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

A 37-year- old woman, Ngozi Ezenwagu, who sent her husband to prison for marrying a second wife has said that she was not ready to share her husband, including his manhood, with any woman because she was unable to have a child for him for now.

Her husband, a 50-year- old Adolphus Ezenwagu was arrested and charged before a Lagos court after he had altercation with Ngozi for marrying second wife after 13 years of childlessness.

Adolphus was remanded in the prison custody following Ngozi’s report to the police that she was assaulted by Adolphus because of his second wife.

The incident happened at 12 Musibau Saidi Street, Fataki in Egan area of Lagos State where they have a family house.

The embattled Ngozi said her husband went to their village in Anambra and married the second wife against her wish and brought her to Lagos to live with them in the same house.

According to her, the husband was fond of leaving her in the night to sleep with the second wife in the other room under the disguise that he wanted to get the new wife pregnant.

“Painfully, I used to be alone all night since December he brought her to Lagos, ” Ngozi lamented.

Adolphus had earlier told P.M.EXPRES that he married Ngozi 13 years ago and they were unable to have a child.

He said he had taken her to several hospitals and churches with all efforts proved abortive. He said the idea of getting a second wife was a join move by him and Ngozi.

“I told her to bring a woman of her choice for me, but the kind of women she brought was not my taste.

This forced me to travel to her home town and married the second wife who I brought to Lagos, ” Adolphus recounted.

He said since the second wife came in, I have not known peace in the house with Ngozi on a number of occasions went on rampage damaging valuables in the house.

On the day he wanted to stop this action, she contacted her family and claimed he assaulted her.

The matter was reported at Igando Police Division where Adolphus was arrested and charged to court with one count charge of assault.

At the Ejigbo Magistrate’s court where he was arraigned, he pleaded not guilty.

The presiding Magistrate, Mrs J.O.E Adeyemi granted him bail in the sum of N50,000 with two sureties in like sum.

He was remanded in prison custody pending when he will perfect his bail condition.

The matter was adjourned till 10 April 2017.

By Evelyn Usman


LAGOS—Doctors at the General Hospital, Shomolu, Lagos, are battling to save the life of the Vice Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Palm Grove branch, who was allegedly stabbed by one of his members, Tuesday night, over a girlfriend.

Two suspects, Ayodele Muyiwa and James Friday, alleged to have carried out the attack, have been arrested by police and are still being detained at Shomolu Division.

Vanguard gathered that the main suspect, Ayodele Muywa, has been having a brawl with the victim, identified simply as Omotunde, whom he accused of snatching his girlfriend.

A member of the union, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “When Muyiwa came to the park on Tuesday, he engaged Omotunde in a quarrel, accusing him of snatching his girlfriend to spite him because he was rich.

“They started exchanging words. In the process, Muyiwa carried a plank with which he threatened to hit Omotunde. He bent down and dared Muyiwa to carry out his threat, but he did not.

“At night, Muyiwa stormed the park in the company of another person to attack Omotunde. They beat him, stabbed him in the stomach and left.”

As at yesterday, some loyalists of the injured man were spoiling for a fight. Vanguard gathered that to prevent a free-for-all, loyalists to the main suspects were prevented from collecting tolls from motorists at the park.

Preliminary investigation, according to police sources, revealed that the main suspect had earlier been arrested for being in possession of a gun during the union’s election.

He was reportedly taken to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, SCIID, Yaba, but was later released.

Confirming the incident, spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Olarinde Famous-Cole, said investigation had commenced.

Lopes Hobjana nearly lost his manhood when a woman allegedly threw boiling water at him.

WHEN his friend came to visit him, Lopes Hobjana had no idea he was an angel who would save his 4-5!
[b]On Thursday, Lopes almost lost his manhood when a woman who lives in the same yard as him allegedly poured boiling water over him.[/b[

The 25-year-old from Palm Ridge, Ekurhuleni said he believed God had sent an angel to protect him.

“This woman had beef with me because I refused to sleep with her. She thought I was going to tell her husband and she started swearing at me,” he said.

“I have not been eating at the main house and I kept it to myself as she asked me to, but she’s always restless.”

Lopes said he had accepted that his relationship with the woman had turned sour.

“I stay in my room but she sometimes knocks on the door just to swear at me. I don’t fight back as I have always respected her.

“On Thursday, my friend came to visit me and her husband asked us to help other tenants carry a bed into their room. Out of nowhere, the woman came out of the house with a bucket of boiling water and threw it at me, but luckily my friend pulled me away.

“The water hit my thighs and she started shouting at me that she wanted to burn my manhood! I am grateful to God that I’m alive. But I want her to go to jail.”

Eden Park police spokeswoman Captain Buyisile Mvelase said a case of assault was opened.

Despite the intervention of the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC, to broker a peaceful resolution between Etisalat Nigeria and a consortium of banks, it appears the effort may not have yielded a truce, as the banks are set to take over the telecoms firm today (Wednesday), PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

The consortium of some foreign and Nigerian banks, including Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank, have been having a running battle with the mobile telephone operator over a loan facility totalling $1.72 billion (about N541.8 billion) obtained in 2015.

The loan, which involved a foreign-backed guaranty bond, was for Etisalat to finance a major network rehabilitation and expansion of its operational base in Nigeria.

However, following the failure of the company to meet its debt servicing schedule agreed since 2016, the three Nigerian banks, prodded by their foreign partners, reported Etisalat to banking sector regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and its communications sector counterpart, the NCC.

Although Etisalat blamed its inability to fulfil its obligation to the banks on the current economic recession in Nigeria, the banks said their attempt to recover the loan by all means was fuelled by the pressure from the Asset Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON, demanding immediate cut down on the rate of their non-performing loans.

A senior official of one of the banks who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES late on Tuesday said one of the options they have proposed to Etisalat management as a middle way out of the crisis was for it to request for a bankruptcy status.

The official, who requested that his name should not be revealed, since he was not authorised to speak on behalf of the consortium, said the bankruptcy option would require having receivership management appointed by the banks to oversee its operations.

But, the NCC appears not to be favourably disposed to the takeover proposal, the source said, as it believes Etisalat was not only a viable going concern, but also willing and able to negotiate its loan servicing.

However, atop source at the NCC said late Tuesday that the commission had approved the takeover, which is expected to occur today.

Etisalat is Nigeria’s fourth largest telecoms operator, with about 21 million subscribers as at January 2017, according to the NCC. It commenced business in Nigeria in 2009.

More details later…