₦airaland Forum

Ifeanyi Onuba, Okechukwu Nnodim and ’Femi Asu

International oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region are not thinking about pulling out from Nigeria at the moment despite the continued bombing and destruction of their facilities by militants in the area.

However, some of the IOCs plan increased production shut-ins, particularly in areas that are worst hit by the activities of the militant group, Niger Delta Avengers.
On Friday, the NDA bombed a pipeline belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

The group had carried out series of bombings that had reduced Nigeria’s crude oil production by close to one million barrels per day, and had rebuffed any discussion with the Federal Government on ways to address it grievances.

A senior official of one of the affected oil majors operating in the Niger Delta told one of our correspondents on Saturday that although the bombings had shown no sign of stopping, his firm had yet to consider pulling out of Nigeria, although it had scaled down its operations in the area.

“We are not thinking of pulling out of Nigeria for I’ve never heard it and I don’t have an answer to say that we are pulling out from the country. However, this does not mean that we won’t shut operations in areas where explosions and destruction are high,” the official, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said.

The Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor, told our correspondent last month, “Shell is not leaving Nigeria. Our strategy in Nigeria is to optimise our onshore oil footprint, while making further investments in other growth areas, particularly in deep water and the gas value chain, including domestic gas.”

When asked if the company was considering pulling out amid the increased hostility in the Niger Delta, Chevron’s General Manager, Policies, Government and Public Affairs, Deji Haastrup, said, “We will not be making any comment at this time.”

In its latest financial and operations report, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation explained that the recent upsurge in vandalism had negatively impacted on the country’s crude oil production output, making it to lose its African top crude oil producer status to Angola.

According to the corporation, about 380,000 barrels of crude oil per day remained shut-in due to vandalism of the 48-inch sub-sea export line on February 15, 2016.

“Also, the nation has lost over 1,500 megawatts of power supply to the damage as gas supply from Forcados, which is Nigeria’s major artery, accounts for 40 to 50 per cent of gas production. Incessant pipeline vandalism poses the greatest threat to the industry,” the NNPC said.

Chevron, Shell and Eni, the parent company of Nigeria Agip Oil Company, have been hard hit by the attacks by militants in the Niger Delta, home to most of the nation’s oil and gas production.

Currently, three of the nation’s five largest export streams, Forcados, Bonny Light and Brass River, have been totally suspended as a result of the attacks.

On Wednesday, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited shut the Trans Niger Pipeline, which transports around 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the Bonny Export Terminal, after a leak was found.

Crude oil production in the country has dropped to about 1.4 million barrels per day from 2.2 million bpd, upon which the Federal Government assumed an oil revenue of N820bn at $38 per barrel benchmark price.

The sabotage of oil and gas infrastructure in recent months has contributed to a significant decline in production levels, and loss of revenue by government and oil companies.

According to the Managing Director, Frontier Oil Limited, an oil and gas field developing firm, Mr. Dada Thomas, it makes no business sense trying to earn income when one lacks the guarantee of staying alive to enjoy the revenue.

He said although the IOCs might not pull out immediately from Nigeria, if in the long term nothing meaningful was done to address the menace of the militants, the option of divesting might surface later.

Thomas said, “People only want to invest in an area where they can make money and enjoy their returns. This is a simple business strategy. There’s no point trying to make money if you are going to die in the next minute. It doesn’t make sense.

“Now, the solution to this trouble has to be a carrot and stick approach. There must be engagement, because to some extent there is a political arm to this menace. But is it criminality and that is why we must adopt a carrot and stick approach. Let the people know that I’m willing to engage but this engagement will be with legitimate people who can put the interest of their people on the table.”

Prof. Wumi Iledare of the International Association of Energy Economics stated that the IOCs would not just pull out from the country because of their level of investments, adding that many of them were operating based on shared contracts with the Federal Government.

He said, “I don’t think divestment by oil majors is something that can just happen quickly; where are you divesting to and who will want to come and buy those assets? However, many of them are operating on PSC (Production Sharing Contract) terms and it helps them in recovering their cost.

“However, if I am an investor, I will think twice before I invest in a place where my assets are not secured. But you should know that some of these oil companies have operated in a more hostile environment. It, however, does not mean that they don’t record losses as a result of the criminality in the region. So, what we need to do is to find a way to stop this criminality.”

The Chief Executive Officer, Gacmork Nigeria Limited and ex-Chevron executive, Mr. Alex Neyin, said, “We are already faced with reduced production. We are already faced with reduced gas to run our power plants. Some of the IOCs have already shut some of their operations and evacuated a number of their workers in the Niger Delta. But I don’t think they will pull out of the country.”

“If they (militants) wipe out their installations, the IOCs will leave. And there are documents showing force majeure. When there is force majeure, any expense they incur goes back to the government. If they cannot meet their shipping obligations, it goes back to the government.”

Olufemi Atoyebi

The Oyo State Police Command said a kidnap victim, Alhaji Adamu Auta, was slaughtered by his abductors even after the victim family agreed to pay a ransom of N2.5m.

A Kwara State indigene, Mohammed Bello, was arrested by the police while trying to collect the ransom demanded for the release of the deceased. The state Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade, said Auta left his home in Igangan town for Abule-Tapa in Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State on May 15 but was kidnapped by Bello and members of his gang. He said the suspects called their victim’s family with a mobile telephone and demanded ransom payment of N2.5m before he could be released.

“After his kidnap, the police swung into action after the case was reported. The family played along and said the amount would be paid. An agreement was also reached on how and where to drop the ransom.

“After realising that they had walked into an ambush, they engaged the police in a shootout. In the process, one of the kidnappers, Bello, was caught while others escaped. Unfortunately, the victim was discovered to have been brutally murdered by the dare-devil kidnappers,” said Oyebade.

Bello said he was arrested around 1am while coming out of a bush.

He said, “My father is a herdsman and the cattle is being tended to by my brother, Usmanu. He called me to come and see him in the bush but I lost my way. Around 1am, I came out of the bush and ran into a shootout between the police and some people and was arrested.”

Oyebade however said that during interrogation, Bello confessed to being a member of the kidnapping gang and that he had been helping the police in their effort to arrest the rest of the kidnappers.”

By Ejiofor Alike and Obinna Chima

Following the recent adjustment of the price of petrol to N145 per litre by the federal government, sales of the product have drastically reduced by about as much as 40 per cent, according to the Chairman, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Group Chief Executive Officer of Forte Oil Plc, Mr. Akin Akinfemiwa.

It also emerged yesterday that as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) prepares to release inflation figure for May 2016 next week based on the bureau’s data release calendar, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has been predicted to hit 14.7 per cent.

Akinfemiwa revealed that though Nigeria is a driving country with a lot of dependence on petrol for both passenger and commercial vehicles, there are strong indications that motorists have devised various means of using less petrol in view of the high cost.

He confirmed this development in a statement at the weekend, stating that as the foremost indigenous energy solutions provider, his company’s customer surveys showed that motorists had resorted to various journey-planning initiatives to reduce fuel usage.

He identified some of the initiatives to include; “car-pooling, use of government mass transit buses and even cutting down on unnecessary movements and visits”.

“If you may agree with me, there has been a light flow of traffic in the Lagos metropolis in very recent times. We however deem this to be the initial reaction and thus believe that the demand will improve over time,” he added.

Akinfemiwa insisted that marketers would continue to clamour for deregulation, saying that the recent price adjustment was not deregulation.

“The clamour is still on and the market is not deregulated as we speak. What we have is an adjustment of the foreign exchange line items on the modulated template to approximately N285 per naira from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s N197 rate previously used. However, we view this as a significant achievement and departure from the subsidy regime in which petroleum product imports accounted for over 50 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings leaving very little headroom for spending on social infrastructure,” he explained.

According to him, the over-dependence on the CBN window at the time implied that marketers were stifled with respect to import volumes and hence various supply outages at the time.

He said the industry would continue to work towards the full deregulation of the downstream sector and allow the customer benefit from the overall efficiencies.

“ In addition, the new pricing structure would create a more structured approach for the operations of the downstream sector with a reduced dependent on NNPC by all marketers for petroleum products supplies as we now go and source ourselves. I am aware that some Major Marketers have been approached by some independent marketers for integration and absorption as some of these independent marketers may not have the scale required to operate in the days to come. This is the beauty of this new structure and it shall be to the ultimate benefit of the consumers,” he explained.

The MOMAN boss noted that the foreign exchange constraints are still there and recalled that when the price adjustment was made, there was an allusion to a secondary foreign exchange market.

“But I am aware that the authorities are finalizing modalities for this and should be implemented in the coming days. There are sufficient petroleum products from both the NNPC and the Major Marketers pending the implementation of this policy,” he added.

Inflation Projected to Hit 14.7% in May…
Meanwhile, as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) prepares to release inflation figure for May 2016 next week based on the bureau’s data release calendar, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has been predicted to hit 14.7 per cent.

The Economic Intelligence Group of Access Bank Plc in a report yesterday forecasted headline inflation for May to increase to 14.7 per cent from the level of 13.7 per cent.
Also, in a separate report yesterday, the Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC) also estimated a spike in year-on-year inflation to 14.5 per cent in May.

Access Bank’s Economic Intelligence unit based the methodology they adopted in arriving at the projection on an autoregressive analysis of past prices, while recognising all the assumptions used by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its computation of monthly composite consumer price index (CCPI).

According to them, the expected upward momentum in headline inflation in May reflected increases in both food and core components of inflation, adding that with a 51.8 per cent weighting in the inflation basket, the food component has been responsible for a sizeable amount of overall price pressure.

Specifically, increases in the prices of cereals, fruit, meat, fish, dairy, tubers, tomatoes, and vegetables were expected to be the main culprits behind the anticipated CPI acceleration.

“The review of petrol pump price is likely to have mounted further pressure on May inflation numbers, driven by the transport component and the electricity, gas and other fuels components, which together contribute 23.2 per cent to the CPI weighting.

“Continued weakness in the naira, following the announcement of the deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector has also placed significant pressure on the inflation rate. This will have filtered into consumer prices as some firms may have sourced scarce foreign exchange from the parallel (black) market to import intermediate goods to maintain operations,” the report added.

Also, rising inflation is expected to throw real returns for investors further into negative territory while bond yields will likely nudge higher as Investors will want to be compensated for rising prices and inflation.

The Federal Government has said that the looted fund recovered so far from individuals and some former government officials is only a tip of the iceberg, adding that more surprises are on the way.

Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed disclosed this yesterday in Abuja at the inaugural Buharimeter town hall meeting organized by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), in partnership with Department for International Development (DFID) and Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).
Mohammed also said that his only “sin” was that he spoke too much before the election.

He said the cash recoveries totaling N78.3bn; $185m; £3.5m and €11, 250 recovered from May29, 2015 to May 25 this year is a child’s play compared to coming details.

The meeting had five federal ministers – Babatunde Raji Fashola (Power, works and Housing), Amina Mohammed (Environment),Udoma Udo Udoma (Budget and National Planning), and AuduOgbeh (Agriculture and Rural Development) – in attendance and was meant to give the scorecard of their one year in office.

Mohammed reminded the audience that the administration campaigned on three broad areas namely corruption, security and to revamp the economy and even though the administration has not met all its targets, he assures that it is on track in meeting up.

“Today, the Boko Haram insurgency is fast receding from the headlines as the Administration has decisively tackled the insurgency. This did not happen by accident. It was the product of purposeful, credible and courageous leadership by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Director of CDD Idayat Hassan said the centre believe that the quality of citizenship determines the quality of democracy and urged citizens to be more interested in governance.

Olaleye Aluko

Residents of Oke Ota community in the Ibeshe, Ikorodu, Lagos State, on Thursday blocked the Ibeshe Road to protest against the rape and killing of a Ghanaian resident, Grace Obinna, by a man identified simply as Badoo.

PUNCH Metro learnt that apart from 27-year-old Obinna, Badoo had raped two other women in the area, cutting them with knives afterwards.

Our correspondent learnt that
Badoo, who sneaked into women’s apartments only at night, had also struck in Ilemeren, Abule, Oluwoye, Ibeshe Titun, and other communities around Oke Ota.

It was gathered that the attack on Obinna, a mother of one, which occurred around 1am on Sunday, was Badoo’s latest, which had forced other women to relocate to houses outside the community.

PUNCH Metro gathered that on Sunday, Badoo broke the window into Obinna’s apartment and went into the room of the victim while her husband was away.
The assailant was said to have raped Obinna and hit her head with weapons.

It was learnt that when neighbours and local vigilance group members, who heard the victim’s cries, got to the room, the man had fled, while Obinna and her baby were in a pool of blood.

Our correspondent gathered that the Ghanaian was rushed to two hospitals, but was rejected.

She was confirmed dead at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
Our correspondent learnt that the matter was reported at the Ipakodo Police Division and the residents added that the suspect had threatened to wreak more havoc in the community.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the panic prompted the Thursday’s protest, as residents blocked the Ibeshe Road and demanded that security agencies mobilise to the area to arrest the suspect.

When our correspondent arrived at the scene, the residents, including about 200 women, were seen holding leaves and singing solidarity songs.

The Chairman of the landlords’ association, Pastor Abayomi Adelakun, told PUNCH Metro that the man attempted to rape an 86-year-old woman in the community a week before the Ghanaian fell victim.

He said, “Two weeks ago, he came to Oke Ota and attacked an 86-year-old grandma. He attempted to rape her, but when she resisted, he injured her in the nose. The woman was rushed to a hospital. She survived the attack.

“On Sunday, around 1am, I was called by a security man that Badoo had raped and brutalised Grace (Obinna), who was a teacher with a nine-month-old baby. When we got to the scene, I could not recognise the lady again. All her teeth had been removed; she was in a pool of blood. She was rejected at two hospitals, but confirmed dead at LASUTH.

“Badoo forces himself into women’s rooms, rapes and brutalises them if they resist. He was doing that in neighbouring communities and has now come to Oke Ota.”

A resident, who gave her name only as Adenike, said Badoo usually sneaked into women’s apartments naked.

She said, “We do not know the power this man is using. He does not steal; he only sneaks into women’s rooms and rapes them. After the act, he uses a handkerchief to rub the victim’s private parts. Women, who have seen him at night, said he also rubbed oil on his body and walked naked so that no one could easily hold him. All of us can no longer sleep in our houses.”

The Baale of Oke Ota community, Chief Awoyemi Tijani, told PUNCH Metro that his wife also could not sleep at home because of the attacks.

He said, “Nobody has seen him in the daytime. I don’t know what he looks like. We call on the government to guarantee our security and safety. Since the day we heard about this, my wife no longer sleeps at home. I am wondering if Badoo is a spirit.”
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the command had commenced investigation into the incident.

She said, “The command learnt about the protest, although the incident of rape and murder was never reported at the division. All necessary mercenaries have been set in motion to arrest the culprit and to forestall a recurrence.”

(Taiwo Amodu , )

A few days after Ekiti state governor, Ayodele Fayose, raised alarm that he was one of the targets of the Federal Government travel ban to be placed on two serving governors, there is a move by the Presidency to clamp down on his aides and lawmakers of the Ekiti State Assembly.

A source who spoke with newsmen in Abuja revealed that Chief of Staff to the Ekiti State governor, Barrister Dipo Anisulowo, Deputy Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Segun Adewumi; the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Gboyega Aribisogan; the Chairman of the House Committee on Health, Dr. Samuel Omotosho; and the Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, may be invited to explain their role in the letter addressed to President Xi Jinping of China, asking the latter to halt a loan of $2 billion to Nigeria ahead of President Muhammadu Buhari visit to China last April.

The Chief of Staff to the Ekiti State governor, Barrister Dipo Anisulowo, had led the delegation to Abuja to deliver governor Fayose’s letter to the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Gu Xiaojie.

In the April 12, 2016 letter with reference number EK/GOV/28/10, the Ekiti state governor had written to the Chinese Government, seeking the stoppage of the $2bn loan for railway projects in the country.

Fayose in his letter to President Xi Jinping said Nigerians were “totally opposed to increment of the country’s debt burden, which is already being serviced with 25 per cent of the Federal Government annual budget.

He further said that “the government of China should be mindful of the fact that Nigerians, irrespective of their political and religious affiliations, are totally opposed to increment of the country’s debt burden, which is already being serviced with 25 per cent of the Federal Government annual budget.”

Governor Fayose reportedly stormed China same month while President Buhari was still the guest of his Chinese counterpart.
Speaking with journalists the source argued that the Presidency was embarrassed by the role played by governor Fayose and his aides.

“Since Fayose can’t be arrested or invited for questioning, the plot is to arrest and detain, indefinitely and without administratively bail all the officials who conveyed his letter to the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Gu Xiaojie.”

Daily Sun gathered that Ekiti State House of Assembly had earlier petitioned the National Human Rights Commission, (NHRC) National Assembly, Amnesty International, Embassies of the United States and the United Kingdom over the alleged plot by the Federal Government to prevent Governor Fayose from travelling outside Nigeria without getting clearance from the DSS.

U.S. officials on Thursday said there is no evidence that Boko Haram has received significant operational support or financing from Islamic State (IS).

An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in Washington, said more than a year after the group's pledge of allegiance, it has no link with IS.

He added that after Boko Haram killed more than two dozen soldiers in Niger last week, it claimed the attack in the name of Islamic State-West Africa Province, a title meant to tell the world that it was an arm of the Syria-based extremist group.

The official suggested that Boko Haram's loyalty pledge had so far mostly been a branding exercise designed to boost its international jihadi credentials, attract recruits and appeal to the IS leadership for assistance.

He said the U.S. view of Boko Haram, which won global infamy for its 2014 kidnapping of 276 school girls, as a locally-focused, homegrown insurgency likely to keep the group more to the margins of the U.S. fight against Islamic State in Africa.

The official said U.S. military’s attention was largely centered on Libya, home to Islamic State’s strongest affiliate outside the Middle East and where the U.S. carried out air strikes.

He stressed that “no such direct U.S. intervention is currently being contemplated against Boko Haram.

“If there is no meaningful connection between ISIL and Boko Haram and we haven't found one so far, then there are no grounds for U.S. military involvement in West Africa other than assistance and training,” he said.

Another official referred to it as an African fight and U.S. could only assist.

The official said “it is not American fight, rather, it is an African fight and we can assist them, but it's their fight.”

A senior U.S. official said securities were closely watching for any increased threat to Americans from Boko Haram and any confirmation of media reports of deepening ties with IS.

He said “in spite of suffering a series of setbacks, Boko Haram remains lethal.
“It launched its deadliest raid in over a year last week, killing 30 soldiers and forcing 50,000 people to flee when it took over the Niger town of Bosso last week.”

The official added that the military action against ISIL in Iraq and Syria was conducted under legislation Congress passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and authourised the use of American military power against "those responsible for" those attacks.

He noted that the Obama administration had interpreted it and included Islamic State as third-generation descendent of Osama bin Laden's core al-Qaeda group, but not Boko Haram.

He said the security intelligence report about Boko Haram acknowledged that its internal structure and leadership was imperfect.

He explained that “the U.S. has closely tracked ISIL's leadership, finances and other activities, including its cooperation with other groups such as its branch in Libya, to which Islamic State has sent fighters, commanders and other support.

“However, multiple reports indicated that there are no evidence that Islamic State leaders, based in Syria and Iraq, have transferred significant amounts of cash or weapons or sent high-level representatives to Nigeria.''

The official said the absence of such evidence came as the administration of President Barack Obama debate how Washington and its allies could best support Nigeria and its neighbours.

“Some U.S. lawmakers have already argued that U.S. aid to the region has been too heavily weighted toward security.

“A recent Congressional Research Service reports that U.S. security assistance to the four African countries plagued by Boko Haram, Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon has soared to more than 400 million dollars since 2014.

“This surpasses the aid for governance, human rights, education and rebuilding infrastructure.''

The official added that the Obama administration was poised to approve the sale of 12 attack aircraft to Nigeria to assist the country in the fight against the insurgents.

The official noted that U.S. had offered to send a Special Operations mission to advise Nigerian units, and had dedicated more intelligence and surveillance assets to help African forces to fight Boko Haram.

He noted that some U.S. government experts warned that defeating it required Nigeria to boost policing, education and development in its Muslim-dominated northeast and to crack down on corruption.

Meanwhile, an administration official said it's easier to win congressional support for military assistance to fight extremist groups, especially if defence contracts were involved than it was to muster backing for steps to attack radicalism at its roots.

He said while it was estimated to have killed more than 15,000 people since 2009, Boko Haram had attacked U.S. interests and deep roots in Nigeria's Christian-Muslim divide, which long predated the Syrian-based Islamic extremist group.

“Those uncertainties fueled tension over how best to combat the group, and even how to characterise it, the official said.
He added that “in public, U.S. officials rarely call the group Islamic State-West Africa Province, the name it adopted in March 2015.

“There have been periodic reports of cooperation between Boko Haram and ISIL's Libyan branch,’’ he said.
A senior U.S. intelligence official said that some Boko Haram fighters travelled to Libya ``to work with Islamic State elements.''

He said its shadowy leader Abubakr Shekau established a relationship with the IS Libya branch.

Another U.S. official viewed Shekau's pledge of allegiance to ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi "primarily as a rebranding exercise.

He said the exercise was aimed at boosting the stature of his group, whose leaders previously said it was aligned with al-Qaeda.

U.S. officials and private experts say they fear that as the African military pressure intensifies, the extremists could shift from a regional campaign of suicide bombings, rape and pillage to striking international targets.

Another U.S. official said the resources and intent of ISIL to attack Western targets, combined with Boko’s ability and strength in that part of Africa is a mix that causes great concern.

Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Murphy, a Foreign Relations Committee member, said “whatever its cooperation with Islamic State, Boko Haram is so deadly that Nigeria and its neighbors need U.S. help to crush.

“I think we have an interest in combating this group regardless of their connection to ISIL. (Reuters/NAN)

lalasticlala

Ade Adesomoju, Abuja

The Federal Government has told a Federal High Court in Abuja that the immediate past National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), is yet to account for a large cache of sophisticated arms he imported while in office.

The government said it feared that the missing arms were in the hands of some unidentified persons that were sympathetic towards the ex-NSA’s cause.

It stated this in an application filed by its lawyer, Oladipo Okpeseyi (SAN), seeking an order permitting it to shield the identities of its prosecution witnesses in Dasuki’s ongoing trial before the court.

The Federal Government is prosecuting Dasuki before the court on four counts of money laundering and illegal possession of firearms.

The government said in its application filed on June 3, 2016 that although it had recovered some of the arms and ammunitions, including cash in foreign currencies in Dasuki’s Abuja home, security operatives were yet to locate a large volume of others.

The prosecution said it filed the application because Dasuki was a man of huge influence across the country, and that the safety of witnesses it intended to call would be threatened if their identities were not shielded.

The application read in part, “The defendant (Dasuki), while serving as the NSA, imported into the country a large cache of highly sophisticated arms and ammunition, most of which have not been accounted for.

“Upon the search of the defendant’s residence, some of these arms and ammunition were recovered, while the whereabouts of others is not known till date.

“A huge volume of these highly sophisticated arms and ammunition is feared to be in the possession of persons, who are sympathetic to the defendant.

“The defendant was the immediate past National Security Adviser, a retired senior military officer and crowned prince of Sokoto Caliphate, who undoubtedly, commands large followership throughout the length and breadth of Nigeria and, who may be aggrieved by this trial.

“The fears of highly probable attack on them (the witnesses) expressed above, has completely eroded the confidence of the prosecution witnesses to testify in this case. The grounds mentioned above constitute special circumstances, hence this application.”

The prosecution sought among other prayers, an order allowing prosecution witnesses in the case to enjoy “witness protection by giving evidence behind screen to be provided by the court”.

It also sought, “An order directing that the identities of all prosecution witnesses be not disclosed in any record or report of proceedings, which are accessible to the public.

“An order permitting all prosecution witnesses to be addressed with pseudonyms in the course of proceedings.”
Okpeseyi informed the trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the pending application during the Wednesday’s proceedings.
Dasuki’s lawyer, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), indicated his intention to oppose the application.

He said he intended to file a counter-affidavit against the application which he described as “unfounded”.

The prosecution had earlier on May 18, called its first prosecution witness, Samuel Ogbu (an operative of the Department of State Security Service, who told the court, among others, how investigators interviewed Dasuki on the arms, ammunition and cash recovered from his residence.

Justice Ademola on Wednesday adjourned till June 23 and 24 for hearing of the prosecution’s application.

lalasticlala

Alexander Okere, Benin

THERE was panic among residents of Auchi community in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, following the shocking discovering of the headless corpse of a middle-aged man on the Benin-Okenne-Lokoja expressway.

It was gathered that the body of the victim identified as Clement was found in front of Campus Two of the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi.

It was learnt that the late Clement was likely a commercial motorcyclist as his severed head was sighted by the roadside, a little distance from a motorcycle.

The circumstances surrounding the victim’s death was not clear as at press time, even as some sources gave conflicting accounts on the cause of his death.

While some residents claimed that the deceased was allegedly murdered by suspected ritualists, others said that he might have been crushed to death by a heavy-duty truck on Sunday.

The Unit Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Moses Bature, who confirmed the incident, said that it was a suspected case of a fatal accident involving a hit-and-run driver.

Bature also said that the corpse had been deposited at a mortuary.

He said, “It is hit-and-run. We did not see the driver. We only carried the body to a mortuary.”

Senator Iroegbu in Abuja

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Muhammad Bello, has reportedly turned down food items donated by the Dangote Foundation for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in Abuja.

The Foundation, according to a THISDAY source, had taken the gift items, including sugar, salt, spaghetti, rice, danvita, and wheat meal worth millions of naira to the minister’s office yesterday but was bluntly rejected by him.

All entreaties to make him realise that the items are meant for distribution to the needy like those in the IDP camps fell on deaf ears as Bello was said to have stated that he was not hungry and didn’t solicit for any donations.

In a swift reaction, however, the Special Adviser to the FCT Minister on Media, Mr. Abubakar Sani, said there was no truth in the report that the FCT Administration (FCTA) rejected the purported gift from Dangote Foundation to the IDPs.

According to Sani, “FCTA is not aware of any donations and therefore, not in the position to neither reject nor accept the said gift items.

“I asked who saw the said gifts and the answer was no one did,” he said.
In the same vein, the Director of Public Relations, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Abuja Office, Mr. Ishaya Chonoko, also said that the agency was not aware of such donations.

Chonoko said: “If the normal procedure was followed, we should be aware of such donations, but as far as we are concerned, no donations of such was made, at least to the best of our knowledge.”

The Foundation owned by the richest man in Africa, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, as part of its mandate to give especially in the holy month of Ramadan for the indigent and the vulnerable in the society, has the tradition of donating money and food materials to the less privileged and victims of other disasters across the country.

“The Ramadan supplies are delivered to the 36 states, including the FCT yearly and the governors assign a contact person to receive the items which are delivered in trucks on behalf of the governor before distribution to the identified beneficiaries by the state government,” an official of the Foundation who did not want to be named said.

Sources close to the Foundation in Lagos insisted that the FCT Minister did reject the donation to the surprise of the representatives of the Foundation even when it was explained to him that it was for the less privileged.

Informed sources at the minister’s office indicated that the letter for the donation came while the minister was having a meeting with his directors and they all corroborated the fact that the donation was an annual gift from Dangote Foundation for the less privileged but he would not listen to any explanation as he insisted the food items be returned.

Some residents of the FCT expressed dismay at the action of the minister as they condemned his disposition to the plights of the IDPs who the items were meant for and were actually on the lookout for it having been informed earlier that the foundation would soon put smiles on their faces.

Callers at the FCT Secretariat at Area 11, it was gathered, were said to be very displeased on hearing of the minister’s rejection of the items, which they believed would have made the IDPs in the Abuja camp feel the good side of Ramadan.

According to them, the reason behind the minister’s rejection of the food items cannot be justified because those in the IDPs’ camp are hungry and some of them are dying because government could not cater for all their needs.

A Dangote Foundation source confirmed that as at the time of filing this report, about 31 states had already taken deliveries of their items and some had started the distribution. It was learnt that 106 trucks of food items are on their way to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital in fulfilment of Dangote’s promise to make this Ramadan fulfilling for the IDPs in the states.

The latest donation of food items was coming shortly after the Foundation donated N2 billion for the rehabilitation of the IDPs in various camps in Borno State.

The source said the Dangote Foundation had in the past supported victims of disasters with monetary and food items.

Food items were donated to the victims of post 2011 elections violence in some parts of the north, while victims of flood disaster across the country were also helped with various food items and other relief materials.

According to him, the Foundation also took its charity abroad when in 2015, donated $1 million to support the government of Nepal to rehabilitate the victims of two devastating earth quakes that ravaged the country that year in quick succession.
The Foundation also donated $500,000 to the government of the Republic of Niger to support victims of meningitis outbreak in the country.

A married woman in Zimbabwe, Portia Nunta, has been disgraced after she was found to be dating 10 different men, after her husband, Simbarashe White, found out from her phone that she had been sleeping with the other men behind his back.

According to H-Metro findings, Nunta, a security guard, had been having these secret affairs and chatting with the men at various times, describing their sexual escapades » until her husband wanted to use her phone to make a business call and happened to find the evidence of the conversations on her Whatsapp platform.

As White scrolled the phone, he allegedly came across messages from different boyfriends with the majority all about sex sessions she had had or intended to have with the boyfriends.

The contacts, according to H-Metro findings, were saved in pseudonyms while some profess ignorance on her marriage to Simbarashe.

“I do not know why she is not satisfied with dating one man. I thought she would change when I reunited with her but I have realised that she won’t. At one point, she left the child alone just to see her boyfriends.

I think she is actually possessed and needs prayers, when you tell her to stop cheating she adds more. A normal person should understand that she is married and behave herself,” White told H-Metro.

Nunta on her part, admitted to have dated two other men when she and her husband divorced last year.

“I only fell in love with Percie and Shana after we had divorced last year. He is the one who came back asking me to reunite with him.

I informed him that I had been in love with other men whom I was going to notify that we had been reunited.

However, he took my phone before I had informed them that we had been reunited and the evidence he is providing is from that time.

The reason he wanted to be reunited with me is because he heard that I had been employed as a guard. I am the one who provided food for the whole family as he was not employed.

He stole my money when I told him that I wanted to leave, he also confiscated my particulars,” Nunta said.

One of Portia's numerous boyfriends,
Naison Kapfunde, admitted to dating Nunta when she was divorced even though Whatsapp chats reveal that the two were still in communication up to 24 May this year.

“I fell in love with Portia in September after I heard that she had divorced with White. We did not even date for long. We stopped communicating that last year, ” Kapfunde said.

lalasticlala

By Charles Adegbite

A 52-year-old man, Mr. Benjamin (surname withheld) of Ayegbami area of Sagamu, Ogun State, died while having marathon sex with his concubine in her house last weekend.

The light complexioned man, was said to have left his pregnant wife at home, on the excuse that he was going for a vigil in the church.

Instead of going to the church for the said vigil, he allegedly went to spend the night with the secret lover where he met his sudden death.

Daily Sun, gathered yesterday that late Benjamin, whose corpse has been taken to Ijebu-Igbo, his home town, for burial, has allegedly been spending weekends with the secret lover on the excuse of going for vigil.

The main cause of the death has not been disclosed apart from the fact that he died during sexual intercourse.

It was learnt that the man had suffered partial stroke some years ago after the tragic death of his first wife who was involved in the ill-fated Sosoliso air crash at Lisa Village, Ogun State, in 2005, while coming from Abuja.

Late Benjamin, who was living with his wife in a free accommodation and a car belonging to his mother in-law, until his death, was said to have already got children from his first marriage, while the pregnant young wife has no child.

The woman, Mrs. Ajoke (surname withheld), who was still in a mourning mood with her mother were not willing refused to make any comment on the development.

A neighbour who did not want his name published, said: “It’s a shameful development which came as a surprise to us. He was the one his mother in-law put in charge of the construction of her house to supervise the project.”

On whether the case has been reported to the police, he said, “the woman and his mother were all embittered that in spite of all they have done for him, he could still be pretending to go for vigil and be having extra-marital affairs.

“What we heard was that, they sent message to his family to go and remove his body from the concubine’s house.

The concubine, a young woman, named Bimpe, was said to have vacated her house in Ayegbami extension, near Agura, Sabo, Sagamu where the deadly romance took place.

Olalekan Adetayo and Eniola Akinkuotu

The Federal Government has set up an account for the stolen funds it recovered in the last one year.

The Muhammadu Buhari-led government revealed on Saturday that N78, 325,354,631.82; $185,119,584.61; £3,508,355.46 and €11, 250 had been recovered from alleged looters, an amount which adds up to over N115.7bn using the official exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The funds were said to have been recovered separately by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation; Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission and the Department of State Services.

Speaking with The PUNCH on Sunday, the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay, said an account had been set up for the funds.

“An account has been set up for it and at an appropriate time, what is going to be done with the money will be made public. The amount that is available in that account will be announced and what will be done with the money will be publicly announced,” he said.

The committee chairman, however, said the N1.9tn in cash and assets, which had been frozen by the Federal Government, were still under legal contention and thus could not be touched.

He added, “Regarding the funds frozen under the interim forfeiture, the Federal Government can’t touch it for now because certain cases have not been concluded and the forfeiture is interim because technically, the court can order the release to the owners if the occasion demands it but if it goes the other way, there will be a permanent forfeiture order and that is when the properties would accrue to the government and would therefore be used for the benefit of Nigerians.”

Regarding the naming of alleged looters, Sagay said there was no legal impediment in shaming alleged thieves.

The renowned legal practitioner added that the decision not to name looters was more political than legal.

He stated that the decision not to name looters was made in a bid to encourage others, who had stolen, to return money.

Sagay said, “The way I see it, it is more political than legal. It is not party politics but about conduct. I believe the government feels that if you name names, those who are about to come out and also bring out whatever has been looted, would withdraw.

“On the legal side, I don’t see the problem that is being talked about because once a person is going to be charged to court for corruption or illegally acquiring resources, there is no liability in announcing it.

“After all, we have been seeing the names of all those accused and charged. So, the main reason is to encourage others, who are still hiding their loot and speculating what to do, to come out and hand over the loot so that the country can recover more of what has been stolen.”

He added that the decision not to name looters might also have been in a bid not to embarrass some Nigerians who received government funds without knowing that the money was for arms or that the money was stolen.

Some of those who fall under this category, he explained, were newspapers who received money from the Office of the National Security Adviser but later returned the funds.

He said, “There are some people who actually received those assets and money without knowing that it was stolen or whose knowledge of the source would be very difficult to establish.

“So, if you are in a situation, where you thought your political party had raised money legitimately and you were given an amount for the purpose of campaign, then you may have a strong case against any criminal charge like the newspapers, who have received money, but you may be willing to return the money having found out that it was illegitimately acquired.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has concluded plans to spend the recovered looted funds on the development of the nation’s infrastructure, The PUNCH has learnt.

The infrastructure on which the money would be spent includes roads and railways among others.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, disclosed this to one of our correspondents in an interview on Sunday.

Adesina was asked how the Federal Government planned to spend the recovered funds as indicated on Saturday by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

Adesina said, “The President said it sometimes ago in Kaduna that recovered money would be spent on the development of infrastructure. The infrastructure includes roads and railways among others.

“Nigerians can be assured that the money would be spent transparently and judiciously. They have nothing to fear.

“These funds would be spent to better the lives of Nigerians; this is what this government is committed to.”

The government’s target is to recover N386bn of looted fund this year.

This figure is stated in the 2016 Appropriation Act, which has been signed into law by Buhari.

The money, it was stated in the document, would be used to finance budget deficit.
Buhari had, last Monday, said he had decided to stop talking publicly on the $2.1bn arms deal because doing so might lead to a situation where the government would realise less than the figure it wanted to recover.

The President spoke while hosting State House correspondents to a lunch as part of activities marking his one year in office.

“The most recent one which, we haven’t recovered from, is the $2.1bn which was given by the government then to the military to buy hardware to fight the insurgency which had taken over part of the country and they just sat, just the way you are sitting now, and shared the money into their own accounts. They didn’t even bother,’’ the President stated.

A Delta State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftain, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has predicted that the party will not only win the 2019 general election, but will also mock All Progressives Congress (APC) for severe hardship Nigerians would have gone through.

Reacting to the statement of an APC Chieftain who said “Nigeria will beg Buhari to come back in 2019”, Onuesoke told newsmen in Abuja that it was clear that the current administration was dubious.

“APC would rather apologise to Nigerians and PDP for putting Nigerians in the present hardship,” he said.

“What is happening in the country is a testimony that APC does not have anything to provide for betterment of the life of the people.

“PDP will win the Presidency in 2019 and return Nigeria back to past glory which they have benefitted from the party in term of adherence to rule of law, low inflation rate, provision of power, low exchange rate, cheap fuel, provision of cheap food and other comfort of life which are presently lacking.

“The truth is that people are suffering a lot of hardship now but this was not the promise. The campaign promise was to bring down the cost of fuel, create jobs, Naira to be at par with dollar, provide electricity and other social which have presently become illusive,” Onuesoke added.

lalasticlala

Bayo Akinloye

Jamiu Abiola, a son of late Chief MKO Abiola and his late wife, Kudirat, on Saturday said the late former military Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), allegedly refused to release his father from incarceration when his health was failing.

He also said some Nigerians would have made a hero out of Abdulsalami’s predecessor, the late Gen. Sani Abacha, who incarcerated Abiola till his (Abacha’s) death, if he was alive today.

Abiola’s son said this during the 20th anniversary of Kudirat’s death, organised by the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy and the Campaign for Democracy.

Jamiu also described the assassination of his father and mother as a turning point in Nigeria’s history, adding Abiola had won the June 12, 1993, presidential election but the country’s military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), annulled the election rated as the most credible in the political history of the country.

Kudirat was assassinated on June 4, 1996, by suspected state officials under the Abacha regime, while her husband died in incarceration on July 7, 1998, in a controversial circumstance under the Abdulsamali regime.

Speaking at the remembrance ceremony on Saturday, the younger Abiola noted that people who worked against the enthronement of democracy during the post-June 12 struggle had become ‘heroes’ in the country.

These people, he said, included “somebody like the former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, who refused to release the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Abiola) or saw to it that the president died in detention.”

He added, “A day before he (Abiola) died, he complained that he had malaria for more than a month and the government did not attend to him. The president (Abdulsalami) knew he was very sick but he did not do anything (to salvage the situation). At the end of the day, the country’s president-elect – my father – died.”

According to Jamiu, it is hypocritical on the part of any Nigerian government to see Abdulsalami as a hero and an adviser to the Federal Government.

Among those present at the anniversary were a leader of National Democratic Coalition, Admiral Kanu Ndubuisi (retd.); President, Women Arise, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin; Abdulmumini Abiola and Mrs. Dupe Akin-Ajayi.

Kunle Falayi

A member of a notorious gang operating across the south-south and south-east of the country, Gogo Daniel Ume (aka Full Payment), has told the police about how he usually donated food items and gifts to his church after every successful operation.

Ume is one of the three suspects nabbed by the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team in Rivers and Bayelsa states, following weeks of efforts to track down the criminals.

When the suspects were apprehended, they were found with three AK47 rifles, one automatic rifle, 12 magazines, 310 rounds of live ammunitions and dynamite.

Soon after their arrest, the suspects, Ume, Ikadoi Michael Isere (aka White Witch) and Ifeanyi Kalu admitted to a crime spree that included numerous kidnappings and bank heists in the last three years.

According to the IRT, while being interrogated, the suspects admitted that they carried out the two bullion van robberies which took place between 2014 and 2015 at a Diamond Bank branch at Trans Amadi, Port Harcourt, where they stole N360m.

The suspects also admitted to carrying out the 2014 bullion van robbery at Igrita Roundabout, Airport Road, Port-Harcourt; robbery of a UBA branch on Azikiwe Road in Port-Harcourt in the same year and a 2015 bullion van robbery at another branch of the bank at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port-Harcourt, where they made away with N80m and killed a student in the process.

The suspects told the police that their gang was responsible for a robbery attack on a Fidelity Bank branch at GRA, Port-Harcourt. In all these operations, several policemen were said to have been gunned down.

According to the statement made to the police during a foiled kidnapping attempt by the gang few months ago, they set ablaze a police patrol van along Psychiatric Hospital Road, Rumuigbo, Port-Harcourt.
But those were said to have taken place in Rivers State alone.

The gang reportedly extended their killing spree to neighbouring states like Enugu, where they took part in the robbery of a UBA branch in Owerri, Imo State in April 2014 and stole N5m.

They also admitted to attacking a First Bank branch in Enugu where one of their gang members identified as Akio was killed in June of the same year. The gang were said to have abandoned his body and fled.
However, amidst the robbery spree, the gang also undertook series of kidnappings and car-jacking which fetched them millions of naira.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that when the suspects were arrested, a Toyota Highlander SUV, Toyota Venza and a Ford Edge SUV, were recovered from them.

It was also learnt that in January 2014, the gang kidnapped a worker of an oil company, Agip, on whom a ransom of N16m was paid.
The police alleged that between 2013 and 2016, the gang killed at least 20 policemen in their various operations.

During a December 2013 robbery operation allegedly conducted by the gang at a supermarket along Obasanjo Way, three policemen, Inspector Dennies Akapan, Sgt. Ekwere Epoulo and Cpl. Okougor Nyambi were gunned down, after which the gang members took away the policemen’s Ak47 rifles.

Other police victims were Assistant Superintendent of Police Bamidele Mohammed, Insp. Austen Moore, Cpl. Prince Tigabara, the three policemen from the Elekahia division, who were escorting a bullion van filled with currency when they were robbed and gunned down by the gang.

Meanwhile, 30-year-old Ume has told the police that in February 2016 when they attacked a Fidelity Bank branch at GRA Port Harcourt, they blew up the door with dynamite and stole. He said before they left, they destroyed all the CCTV cameras on the premises and shot two people on the premises.

He told the police that one Promise, who had worked in the bank before as a student on industrial attachment, monitored the bank for two weeks before the attack. According to him, in several other robberies, the IT student provided them vital information about other banks in Port Harcourt.

Ume said, “Promise told us to ensure that operational manager of Fidelity Bank must not leave the bank or the operation would fail.

“I graduated from the Rivers State polytechnic in 2013, and that same year I was sent to prison where I enrolled for studies at the National Open University.
“My journey into crime started in 2012, when I joined the Vikings Confraternity and I became friends with a member known as Fabian, who was already into kidnapping activities by a gang known as Abiye. I also joined the Abiye gang and my first operation with them was the kidnap of a 15-year-old boy that fetched us N2m. I was given N150,000 out of it.

“Later, I followed the gang to rob a First Bank branch and I got N2m from that. I used part of my share of that money to pay my rent. The next operation we did at another First Bank branch in Enugu, one of our members, Kio, was shot dead by one of the policemen. We decided to go back to Owerri to rob another bank, while Promise was our informant.

“Promise told us to look out for the manager of the bank who usually held the key to the bank. But when we got there, we did not see the manager and we entered using a sledge hammer. What our gang got was not up to N10m but I was given N800,000.

“We later kidnapped a woman, and her husband paid N12m as ransom. I got N3m as my share from there. We also kidnapped another woman who was carrying huge money. She paid N2m before we released her. In one of our operations, we got information that money was being moved from a bank at Alakaya, off Trans-Amandi to the Port Harcourt International Airport.

“We once intercepted the bullion van on Airport Road, Port Harcourt. I tried shooting but my rifle jammed. A colleague, Chike, was shot and he fell, then Boma and White Witch rained bullets on the vehicle. Some of the foreign currency in the vehicle was destroyed but I got N4.5m from the money we stole during the operation. I bought a Lexus SUV for N2m, and gave N100,000 to an orphanage home. I also contributed N150,000 towards the roofing of my church.

Each time I go for a successful operation, I normally buy bags of rice, noodles, diapers, and donate money to orphanages.

“I also bought two job slots for myself and my elder brother. I later sold my job slots to someone else who gave me N70,000 monthly. I also gave little money to my mum and sister.”

Ume said in another operation months later, he and his gang members attacked a Diamond Bank branch at Trans-Amandi, Port Harcourt.

According to him, they made away with N75m out of which he got N15m as his share. But that was the point he decided to call it quit.

He said, “I told other members to go and look for what to do with their lives with the money they had got because I was no longer interested since God had given me all I was looking for.

“After giving aids to children at the orphanage, I used part of the money to rent an apartment in Lagos and I paid for two years and half at Ajao Estate. I also bought furniture and other properties I needed. I then bought two plots of land in Bayelsa, I invested the rest into oil bunkering.”

“But after the money finished, a month before the election in Rivers State, we trailed a bullion van into the UST campus in Port Harcourt and robbed it of N39m. I got N10m as my share.”

The police have said they are on the tail of other members of the gang as investigation continues.

A Lagos-based Lawyer Olumide Babalola has dragged the popular celebrity blogger, Linda Ikeji before the Lagos High Court for several reliefs bordering on unauthorized and offensive use of picture.

In Suit No. LD/3265MFHR/2016 before Hon. Justice O.H. Oshodi, the lawyer sued the blogger for damages in the sum of N50, 000,000 (Fifty Million Naira) for the unauthorized use of his picture on her blog for crime-related stories which he claimed has subjected him to mental and psychological torture in violation of his constitutional right to dignity of human person and freedom from degrading treatment.

Pending the time of the hearing of the main suit, Justice O.H. Oshodi granted an injunction restraining Linda Ikeji from further use of the lawyer’s picture otherwise she would be committed to prison for contempt of court.

PM News obtained the copy of the court order which was granted on the 12th of May, 2016, wherein the court restrained the blogger from further publishing Mr. Olumide Babalola’s pictures for crime-related stories.

PM News also reliably gathered that the award-winning lawyer who just returned from New York, United States of America, where he was presented with an International Gold award for quality and excellence in business in recognition of his varying public interest litigations had earlier written to Linda Ikeji to desist from further publication but the blogger called him bluff.

The matter has been adjourned to September 2016 for hearing.

lalasticlala

Not less than 12 Edo state governorship governorship aspirants have picked the All Progressives Congress (APC) forms.

The aspirants, who want to contest in Edo state governorship election coming up on the 10th of September this year, include the incumbent deputy governor of Edo state, Dr. Pius Odubu, Mr Godwin Obaseki, Barr. Kenneth Imansuangbon, major general Charles Airhiavbere (rtd).

Others are the former President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Peter Esele, Chris Osa Ogiemwonyi, Blessing Agbomehere, Arch. Austine Ilenre Emuan, Mrs. Tina Agbarha.

A former governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo state, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor, Friday submitted the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship nomination and expression of interest forms.

Prof. Osunbor, who lost the governorship seat to Governor Adams Oshiomhole in court after spending close two years in office, said he was not threatened by the alleged endorsement of a candidate by the governor.

The Professor of Law had earlier said that he left the PDP in 2012 because the party manipulated its governorship primary election when he addressed journalists after obtaining the forms at the APC national secretariat. He also expressed his wish for Edo Central to produce the next governor of Edo state if the APC constitution recognizes zoning.

Meanwhile, Hon. Emmanuel Arigbe-Osula has joined the Edo state governorship race as he obtained the Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms Friday in Abuja.

The former deputy minority leader in the House of Representatives, who spoke after picking the forms, promised to create 50,000 jobs through the private sector within the first year in office.

Arigbe-Osula, who said he has the character and integrity to govern Edo state, stated that the party delegates and other stakeholders would benefit from his new economic model.

In his remarks, the APC Director of Administration, Abdullahi Gashu'a, who presented the forms to the aspirant, said the party was committed to conducting free, fair and transparent governorship primary election on June 18, 2016.

“Edo is dear to us. You are one of many aspirants. Every aspirant is an equal aspirant,” Gashu'a also said.

By Ekele Peter Agbo

Why ex-president’s cousin, aide, Dasuki are still held

Strong indications have emerged that close associates and allies of former former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan have been put under surveillance by the nation’s security agencies.

This followed heightened insecurity in the oil rich Niger Delta following the spate of bombings of oil pipelines and and other facilities by the nascent militant group, Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).

A top security source disclosed that although government had yet firmed up investigations regarding the ‘involvement or complicity’ of some of Jonathan’s close allies, it was not ‘waving aside deeper scrutiny.’

He said the continued detention of former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki(rtd), Mr Robert Azibola(Jonathan’s cousin) as well as the former president’s special assistant on domestic matters, Dr Waripamowei Dudafa had ‘more to do with national security than financial misappropriation.

“The rate at which this issue of Avengers is going, we are looking beyond the surface of the so called conditions rolled out by the avengers. Right now, there are feelers that some top officials of the past administration actually instigated the ongoing crisis in the Niger Delta region. I mean those who were trusted allies of the principal of that period.

“That is why we are not bothered about the blackmail that going on that we are holding people illegally or refusing to allow suspects access to medicals. This is because even though we are yet to conclude preliminary investigation on this unfolding development, we will not wave added the need for deeper security scrutiny.

“What Nigerians have failed to realise is that Dasuki, Dudafa and Azibola are not the only suspects under EFCC probe. They should ask themselves why they are still being held when others with similar cases have been granted bail. Their cases have more to do with national security than financial misappropriation,” he said.

lalasticlala

There was a mild drama at the Senate's plenary Thursday when the Wife of a leader of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Senator Oluremi Tinubu accused the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, of demoting her.

Tinubu, (APC, Lagos Central) who chairs Senate Committee on Women Affairs challenged Saraki for placing Senator Andy Uba higher than her during the adoption of votes and proceedings.

Our correspondent reports that both Tinubu and Saraki are second timers at the Upper Chamber. They have been at the Red Chamber since 2011.

Saraki had at the commencement of Thursday's sitting asked Senator Uba (PDP, Anambra South) to move the motion for the adoption of votes and proceedings of Wednesday in line with the tradition.

He also asked Senator Tinubu to second it, but when she stood up, she protested it, saying " I will second it grudgingly, I won't thank you for demoting me, God is here.

" I was a better Senator than him even when we were at the seventh Senate but I will second the votes and proceedings," she said, and general laughter rented the floor.

Minister of Transport and former Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi has said that immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan, clearly turned his deaf ears to the plight of the Ogoni people and the Niger Delta in general.

Amaechi, who in his address at the flag-off of the implementation of the UNEC report on Ogoniland acknowledged the presence of his successor, Nyesom Wike, lamented that he did everything within his power as a governor to make Jonathan implement the UNEC report on Ogoniland.

He said, “We did everything possible as a sitting government to make the president implement the UNEC report, everything. But the report was not implemented after all.”
Amaechi noted that the 1b dollar clean up exercise would create jobs for the people of the region.

He, however, thanked the President Buhari -led administration for coming to the aid of the Ogoni people and for fulfilling part of his campaign promises of cleaning up the region.

Six suspected fraudsters are now in the custody of the police in Imo State for allegedly defrauding a woman of N13 million. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Andrew Enwerem, said yesterday that the suspects were arrested at the scene of crime in Owerri within two days, following a tip-off.

Enwerem added that two big bags containing fake American dollar notes were recovered from the suspects. He said while the victim claimed that she was defrauded of N13 million, the suspects insisted they swindled the woman of only N1.2 million.

The PPRO gave the names of the suspects as Bennett Okere (57) from Ngor Okpala in Imo State, John Arinze (38) from Nkpor in Anambra State, Angela Emmanuel (29) from Aba Ngwa in Abia State, Chioma Ebo (35) of Obinze in Imo State, Bartholomew Nkwocha (35) from Oba in Anambra State and 42-year-old Chinelo Ani of Nkanu in Enugu State.

Afeez Hanafi and Olaleye Aluko
A family of three has been found dead inside their mini flat on Church Street, Lagos Island, after allegedly inhaling some chemical substance.

Who sprayed the chemical into the apartment had been a thing of concern to the victims’ family members and residents of the area.

The deceased are 30-year-old Ibrahim Yusuf, a tricycle rider; his wife, Saidat; and their five-year-old daughter, Rodiat.

PUNCH Metro learnt that neighbours had heard a scream from the victims’ apartment in the early hours of Monday which they ignored, thinking it was a sign of disagreement between the couple.

At about 2pm, Ibrahim’s friend, Quadri Aderibigbe, who lives on Freeman Street, said he became worried when he did not see him.

He said, “Usually by 7am he should be at the park. When it was 9am and I did not see him, I sent a boy to check on him. The boy came back and said he knocked on his door but didn’t get any response. When it was 2pm, I went to see his mother if she had seen him, she said no.

“We decided to go to his house. As we got there, we heard a faint voice from inside, but the door was locked. We forcefully entered through the window and met Ibrahim and Rodiat dead. Saidat was still breathing. There was no food around them to suggest they took a poison.”

Aderibigbe said Saidat was rushed to a private hospital, from where they were referred to the Lagos Island General Hospital, which pronounced her dead on arrival. He added that they had been buried according to Islamic rites.

“We later went back to the apartment and smelled some chemical, which suggested that the room had been sprayed with chemicals. But who sprayed the chemicals into the apartment is our concern now. The three of them have been buried.

“We reported the incident at the Adeniji Adele Police Station. A policeman who came to inspect the house said they were likely killed by generator fumes. However, the exhaust of the generator pointed outside the apartment,” he added.

Saidat’s father, Biliaminu Sodeinde, who resides in Idumota, said he was in the office when his wife alerted him to the incident.
“I rushed to their (the deceased’s) house and met the husband dead. Rodiat was taken to the Mercy Hospital, but she did not make it either,” he said.

Sodeinde’s father, Chief Lateef Olohunje, said he wanted Saidat’s corpse exhumed and a postmortem conducted on it to ascertain the cause of the death.

A friend of Saidat, who identified herself only as Bilkis, said, “I don’t believe the deaths are natural. An autopsy should be carried out to ascertain the causes of the deaths.”

A neighbour of the deceased, who did not want his name in print, said he was surprised by the deaths, adding that some co-tenants claimed to have heard shouts from their apartment.

He said, “Some of our neighbours said they heard screams from their room, but thought it was a fight. If I heard, I would have come out and checked on them because I have never heard them fight before.”

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident. She added that the police had commenced investigation into the case.

She said, “The matter was reported to the police on Tuesday. Although the corpses have been buried, the police are still investigating the matter. As the case progresses, we will brief you.”

Olaleye Aluko

Two men who are allegedly members of a syndicate that produces fake naira notes have been arrested by the police on Oluwakemi Street, in the Ojodu Abiodun area of Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the suspects – Hope Ihesiaba and his brother, Ifeanyi – were arrested by the Isheri Police Division on Saturday.

Our correspondent learnt that the police were tipped-off by a woman, who sold foodstuffs in the area, that the suspects spent fake N1,000 notes and the operatives moved in on the duo.

Eighty pieces of fake N1,000 notes, two laptops, a sledge hammer and a cutlass were said to have been recovered by the police from the suspects’ house.

It was gathered that apart from the duo, two friends of Ifeanyi, a lady simply identified as Ijeoma, and a man identified only as Paul, were arrested by the police for allegedly receiving and spending some of the fake notes from the suspects.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro, 33-year-old Hope, from Abia State, said he got the fake notes from a friend in Aba, Abia State. He denied that he was the producer of the notes.

He said, “I do not produce fake naira notes. I have a friend who does that. His name is Odiyi, and he sells in a market in Aba.

“I gave him N28,000 real money and he gave me the N80,000 fake naira notes. I knew the money was fake; but I did it to help myself. I gave my brother parts of the money. He in turn gave some to two of his friends.

“I am not married. I just needed money and I was tempted to collect the notes.”

The younger brother, Ifeanyi, who was the first to be arrested, told PUNCH Metro that a woman selling recharge cards raised the alarm after realising he gave her a fake N1,000 note and alerted some security guards.

“My brother and I live together in an estate in Oluwakemi. On Saturday, I went to the Magodo area where I wanted to buy a recharge card from a woman. She just checked the note and raised the alarm. She started shouting on me until some security guards called the police and I was arrested.

“The policemen came and searched my brother’s house. They found all the notes there. I was given the fake notes, I don’t produce them.”

Our correspondent learnt that the police had launched a manhunt for the runaway Aba trader.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said investigation was ongoing into the matter.

He said, “They are a syndicate producing fake naira notes in the state. Investigation is still ongoing.

Samson Folarin

A herbalist, Seye Olufokunbi, has narrated how he defrauded a Lagos banker, identified simply as Lekan, of N2.5m.

The 33-year-old said he told Lekan, who worked in one of the banks on the Victoria Island, that the money was for a special soap.

He said he lied to the banker that the soap, when kept in a box for two days, would produce a lot of money.

The money magic was said to have failed, leading to a petition to the Lagos State Police Command’s Rapid Response Squad in February 2016.

The operatives were said to have trailed and arrested the suspect at his base in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.

The suspect, who spoke with our correspondent at the command headquarters in Ikeja on Tuesday, said he was initially selling herbs to Lekan before the banker told him to perform money ritual for him.

He said, “I have known Lekan for a long time and he is my customer. He was initially patronising me for herbs for his ailment.

“But he later approached me for money ritual, saying the money he was making as a banker was not enough for him. I said I could do it if he could give me N2.5m. He brought the money and I gave him a bar of soap. I told him to keep the soap in a box for two days, after which he should check the box and he would see a lot of money.

“He did that, but it failed, he then reported me to the police, who arrested me.”

The suspect, who claimed to have been into the job since 2011, said he was a member of a syndicate.

He explained that he got N500,000 from the money the victim paid, while the rest of the money was shared among the group members.

“I was initiated into this job by my brother. My ex-wife, whom I divorced after a disagreement, is not aware I am doing this.

I was doing this because after I finished studying Business Administration in 2002 in a polytechnic in Oyo State, I couldn’t get any good job,” he added.

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, advised members of the public to be wary of those they transacted business with, adding that the suspect would be arraigned in court at the end of investigation.

“We are still hunting for the fleeing members of the syndicate and at the end, we will make them face justice,” she added.

Samson Folarin

Some suspected hired assassins have killed Michael Ogunnusi, the owner of the Allonze Hotel on Ishawo Road, Agric, Ikorodu, Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the suspects, who entered the hotel on a motorcycle, pretended that they were lodgers.

The security guard who opened the gate was said to have been tied up by the armed men.

They were said to have made straight for the victim’s room in the hotel and shot him dead.

Our correspondent reliably gathered that the deceased was killed for allegedly dating the wife of the gunmen’s leader.

It was learnt that the suspects took Ogunnusi’s phone before fleeing the hotel.

A source said the men were four in number and brought a car which was parked outside.

He said, “While one was in the car, three went in on a motorcycle, pretending to be customers; they got separate rooms to stay. However, no sooner than they got their keys that they went to the man’s room. One knocked at his door as if he was one of the hotel workers. As he opened the door, they opened gunfire on him.”

However, a police source, who said the incident happened around 11pm on Wednesday, explained that the suspects first tied up the gateman.

He said, “There were four of them and they spoke Ijaw language. They entered into the hotel on a motorcycle. They deceived the gateman by telling him they wanted to book a room. But immediately he opened the gate, they beat and tied him up.

“It is possible they were operating based on information from an insider because immediately they entered, they went into the man’s room in the hotel. He begged them not to kill him. He said he was ready to offer them anything, but they shot him dead. They left with his phone.”

A source said the victim was killed for dating a woman that was not his wife.

The source said, “He was dating a woman that was the wife of the suspects’ leader. On the night that he was killed, he was with the woman. ”

The source said the woman had already been arrested by the police.

It was learnt that policemen from the Owutu Police Division removed the corpse and took it to a mortuary.

The victim’s wife, Mrs. Bolanle Ogunnusi, did not deny the allegation that the victim was caught with a woman.

She said, “I am his wife and we have five children together. The hotel is closed. I don’t know (if he was killed over a woman). The police have not released his corpse.”

The Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Damasus Ozoani, confirmed the incident, adding that four suspects had been arrested.

“The case has been transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investgation, Panti,” he added.

A 43-year-old Nigerian national, Igwe Festus Abraham, has been arrested in India for allegedly duping over 90 persons across the country, Indian Express reports.

Abraham, a resident of Malviya Nagar in Delhi, was arrested by the cyber-crime cell of Pune police.

The police team nabbed him in Delhi on Thursday, revealing that he had 14 ‘overwhelming’ accounts in his name, in reputed banks: HDFC, Canara, SBI, ICICI, Syndicate and other banks.

Reports have it that the suspect has so far duped more than 90 people across India through lottery scams to the tune of around Rs three crore.

His arrest reportedly came after the cyber-crime cell started investigation into a case registered at Alankar police station in which a woman was cheated for Rs 16 lakh after she received an email saying that she had won a lottery of GBP 500,000.

The victim was reportedly made to make several payments on various pretexts, right from processing fees to chemicals needed for cleaning foreign currency notes.

According to the report, the woman had received an email in September last year from a dubious mail address:rbiforeignexchangeonlinedepartment@hotmail.com saying that she had won a lottery.

Subsequently she was asked to make payment by electronic transfers to various bank accounts.

Also, in December last year, she was told that one Abraham (the suspect) was coming to meet her and she was asked to make arrangements in a hotel for him.

However, on December 6, he allegedly met her in the said hotel and showed a suitcase, which had bundles that “looked like currency notes” but were wrapped in green polythene.

Afterwards, Abraham reportedly told her that the chemical needed to clean the notes had spilled and she would have pay more for its purchase.

He was said to have given his victim two real currency notes, which she got converted into rupees, thus trusting the fraudster.

The woman realised that she had been duped after an mail address given by the fraudsters for final payment of the lottery money bounced despite several attempts.

Luck ran out on the suspect after cops traced him based on phone numbers used by him, account numbers to which the payments were made and his photo.

A South African man of God, identified as Pastor Nkundlande, is in a big trouble after he was caught having sex with a cow in a bush in a village in Limpopo region, reports iMzansi.

The sex starved pastor was said to have dragged the cow from where it was grazing, into a thicket and was busy enjoying himself with the animal when a resident identified as Washington, stumbled upon the strange act.

The shocked Washington who could not believe his eyes, raised an alarm, which brought out the other residents armed with dangerous weapons with the intention of dealing with the pastor but he had fled the scene but was later caught by the pursuing locals.

“Immediately he realised I had busted him, the pastor took off as I shouted at him to get the attention of locals. We pursued and caught up with him as he tried to cross a flooded river.

Had it not been the timely intervention of the area assistant chief, the man of God would not have survived the wrath of furious villagers who were roughing and beating him up,” Washington narrated.

The assistant chief of the village, identified as Mulalo, noted that the suspect was a known clergyman and belonged to the popular Zion Christian Church, popularly known as ZCC Church, which is about the largest church in Southern Africa, with its international headquarters at Zion City, Moria in Limpopo.

However, the local church leaders have disowned Pastor Nkundlande, though two church leaders later confessed that the pastor had worked at their church but was in the process of starting his own church.

lalasticlala

Twelve months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He came to power following the decisive victory of his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC over the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP and its candidate, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. The victory ended the 16-year reign of the PDP.

President Buhari came to office amidst massive hope and expectation at home and abroad, that here at last was a leader who would stop the slide and lead Nigeria to progress, development and the realization of her destiny. The mood all over Nigeria, the continent and the world at the time he took over was euphoric.

In line with the promises made, Nigeria under Muhammadu Buhari has begun to show that it will be a radically different country than one the world had become used to. Here is a proof of that:

Promise of Transparency and Accountability
A promise kept by the President is of a government that not only preached but also practiced transparency and accountability. The President and the Vice President made public their assets as declared before they took office on May 29th.
For the first time in the annals of our Executive-Legislative relations, this country had all ministers nominated screened and passed without any casualty.
What is important is that not a single incident was reported involving exchange of money in bribery of parliamentarians. The President’s first budget, the 2016 appropriations bill was passed, even though after some delays, without the usual bribery allegations that attended the passage of budgets. The Senate and the House under their current leadership must themselves be proud of this happening at this time.

While still on the budget, the President must take credit for the exposure of a particular kind of fraud, the padding of budget, itself a known and ongoing practice until the whistle was blown by diligent ministers and parliamentarians. For once, the country has a budget, the 2016 appropriations bill that is rid of added billions ending up in the pockets of officials. By putting these changes in place, the government has established a model for transparency in public expenditure.

Implementing the Treasury Single Account, TSA
The President has been trying to right the many wrongs things he inherited, especially in terms of securing government revenues which leaked or were out rightly diverted to private accounts.
President Buhari didn't invent the TSA. What he did is to bring political will to bear on its implementation.
At the last count, the President said he had saved the country money in excess of three trillion Naira which would otherwise have been wasted or shared out to officials at the end of the financial year.

Minimum Government
The President kept his promise to reduce superfluity in government administration by cutting down on the number of ministers, ministries and government departments. The delay in the coming of ministers was first to reduce the number of ministries, and then set a new set of ground rules to stop the theft of government resources through systemic leakages.

Boards of directors will come only when the President is satisfied that agencies of government are brought in line with existing ministries structure and that a new foundation is laid, in all cases, to replace the rotten past that allowed a free-for-all when it came to dealing with public assets.

Fighting Insecurity/Stabilizing the State
The first priority of this government as repeatedly mentioned by the President, is security. "You must secure the country before you can manage it well”, is a classic statement the President has continued to repeat. Where we stand on this today is best captured by the country’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami in saying that “the capacity of Boko Haram to hold territory has totally been decimated. Our focus now is on dealing with the remnants of their forces and re-focusing on the unfortunate humanitarian challenge caused by their activities.” This was achieved following the change in the leadership of the armed forces, the movement of the command and control centre to Maiduguri and realization of how much can be achieved with greater international cooperation. In this respect, the coming together of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Benin in the Muti-National Joint Task Force under a centralized command had been helpful in forging a common, regional response to the Boko Haran threat.

War against corruption/ending impunity
Nigeria is country of paradoxes, one in which the VIP steals an elephant and runs away with it but the poor man stealing a goat goes to jail for up to 30 years.

Things are changing with impunity in the country. For the first time, VIP suspects are being asked questions by the investigating agencies and are being charged to court. Many who would have snubbed the bailiff and go scot-free are now standing before undergoing trials. Would anyone have thought that a Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs, pretenders to thrones, the children of “natural rulers” including “toy” Sultans, Kings, Emirs and Chiefs will be brought to trial and kept in prisons? Ending impunity is one of key milestones of this administration.

In one year of his administration, a miracle has happened, which is that there has been the total absence of multi-billion naira corruption scandals that had characterized the previous administrations.

Global Diplomacy
In one year, the President has successfully reset the relationship between this country and her immediate neighbors and with our lost friends, both far and near. The West, Far East and Middle-East countries as well as our neighbors who walked away from this country on account of the arrogance of our past leaders, corruption and the abuse of human rights have all come back to us.

Over the past one year in which the President travelled to many countries, he has succeeded in convincing the world that Nigeria is now under a responsible management with a government that is inviting of prospective investors. As a result of his travels, Nigeria’s image has improved and the country is occupying a preeminent place in the comity of nations.

President Buhari has indeed been a revelation to the world. In addition to improving the standing of the country, his personal integrity has given him the best ever international attention by any past President of this country.

Fuel Import Liberalisation
The fuel subsidy issue is a well-known cause of trouble in this country. Every government in the past that tried to remove it got tested in its political will and dropped it like a hot metal. There is nothing in this country that is as politically unpopular.

Yet, even those who vocally supported it knew that it wasn't working for the ordinary citizens. The secret service surveyed the price regime of N86 per liter and reported to government five months ago that the price prevailed only in Lagos and Abuja with the rest of the country paying higher. Petrol subsidies served as a scam to line the pockets of officials and cronies in business.

Acting in the best national interest, the President took the very brave action of liberalizing the import of PMS products by first removing subsidy from the budget and then opening the door for marketers to bring the products to sell at a profit, saving the country trillions of naira in fraudulent subsidy payments.
Due mainly to the trust they reposed in him, Nigerians have accepted this change in the belief that the president means for them.

Major Infrastructure Products/Diversification
The President’s campaign for the diversification of the economy, away from over-dependence on oil is already setting the tone for the transformation of the economy into an agaric and industrial one.

The President has equally fared well in his efforts to attract investment into Nigeria following his trips to some of those countries. Discussions are ongoing with a number of them with rich foreign reserves that have indicated a willingness to pour foreign capital to develop the economy and create jobs here. From the sometimes zero capital allocation of the past, his budget this year has 30% of its content devoted to capital projects. After many years of delay, there will be a serious attempt to improve roads and rail transport as well as power projects. His administration is determined to improve the country's infrastructure landscape in a short period of time.

Social welfare program
President Buhari’s administration is the first in Nigeria’s history to take a major step towards the institution of a social welfare scheme as enunciated by the APC.

One million of country’s poorest of the poor will get a monthly supplement of N5,000.00. Another one million will get start-up loans from the Bank of Industry.

Five hundred thousand graduates will get teaching jobs and 375,000 others without degrees will receive training to acquire skills. Under this year’s budget, there is money for scholarship for medical, science and technology students in tertiary institutions and a meal-a-day for five million children in primary school. For the first time, the ordinary citizen can claim that he/she has a budget of his/her own.

While many still believe that it is too early to assess the overall performance of the administration, the sentiment that prevails across the country is that Nigeria will improve a lot under his leadership; that he has a good vision and he is committed to Nigeria and Nigerian people.

In one year in office, the President has fused his own ideas with APC’s program which is strong on social welfare. His government has brought hope and respect to Nigeria. He has made a strong start on security, war against corruption, foreign policy although the sticking issue remains the limping economy he inherited which is hamstrung by corruption and the past failure to diversity.

The President is tirelessly working for Nigeria and will continue to do so with hard work, diligence and honestly for the period he is in office.

President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday that Nigerians should pass a verdict on the performance of his appointed officials during the administration’s first year in office so that he will know if he should change them. Asked if Nigerians should expect changes in his team during this anniversary period Buhari said, “I am waiting for the newspapers to tell me the performance of my ministers and whether I should make changes.”

President Buhari explained why his government took off rather slowly. He said former President Obasanjo, who had experience with hand over and take over, recalled that in 1999 outgoing Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar made each ministry to prepare handing over notes and then brief the president-elect, for him to choose what he wanted out of it. He said President Goodluck Jonathan agreed to do the same and asked all his ministers to prepare handing over notes and brief Buhari but they protested at the last minute that Buhari should not be allowed to take over the government before he was sworn-in.

As a result, he said no proper transition took place and after his inauguration he had to take briefings from two ministries a day in order to make up for lost time.

The president also spoke about budget padding. He said though he had been in public life since 1975, he never heard of budget padding until when he saw Minister of Health Prof Isaac Adeoye on television defending his budget before a National Assembly committee.

Buhari said he was shocked when the minister told the committee that he could not defend what he did not propose because the budget had been padded.

He said, “I went [to the National Assembly] and bowed and delivered [the budget] but I did not know that what I delivered was a shell. They removed what they wanted and added other things.” He said when the budget as passed by the National Assembly was brought to him, he refused to sign it because throughout his life he never signed anything that he did not understand.

At one point, he said, Minister of Budget and National Planning Udoma Udo Udoma persuaded him to sign it and he said “I will sign it because I trust you.”

However, he said before he could sign, Udoma read the budget thoroughly and rushed back to him and advised him not to sign it unless amendments were made.