₦airaland Forum

Following the allegation of corruption levelled against Mr. Babachir Lawal, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, President Muhammadu Buhari, on Sunday, directed the Attorney General of the Federation andMinister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to probe all top government officials accused of corruption.The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, stated this in a two-paragraph statement.Shehu said any of the government official found guilty of the allegations levelled against them would not escape prosecution.The statement read, “The attention of the Presidency has been drawn to a number of reports in the media, in which various accusations of corruption have been levelled against some top officials in the administration.“In that regard, President Buhari has instructed the Attorney General of the Federation to investigate the involvement of any top government official accused of any wrongdoing. If any of them are liable, they will not escape prosecution.”Although Shehu did not mention names, top government officials who have been accused of corruption so far, included the SGF, the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari; and the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, IbrahimMagu.Meanwhile, a human rights lawyer, Mr.Femi Falana (SAN), has called on President Buhari to fulfill his vow not to protect sacred cows in his government by immediately sacking the SGF.The call came on the heels of an allegation by the Senate that the SGF awarded contracts to a conpany, Rholavision Engineering Limited, allegedly belong to him in the Internally Displaced Persons camps.Also, a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Jiti Ogunye, and the Executive Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, Mr. Debo Adeniran, have called on the Presidency to refer Lawal to the EFCC or the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission for probe.Falana, in an interview with one our correspondents on Sunday, said not just Lawal, but all other corrupt members of the President’s cabinet must be “flushed out,” or else the government would lose the moral rightto continue to fight corruption.He said, “So, the President has to decide because he has said that there shall be no sacred cows.“If those involved in corruption are allowed to remain in government and treated like sacred cows, the government will lose the entire moral right to fight corruption.“All the corrupt members of the cabinet have to be shown the way out, they have to be flushed out.”The Senate had at a plenary on Wednesday called for the removal and prosecution of the SGF following alleged complicity in contract award inthe IDP camps in the North-East.Lawal, who denied all the allegations, described them as balderdash even as he said they were aimed at pulling him down.But Falana said Lawal’s defence was not a denial, stressing that it was a confirmation of the allegations levelledagainst him.He said the allegations levelled againstLawal were on the same scale as crimes against humanity, stressing that the President must not allow Babachir to remain in office.Falana said, “The President should relieve him of his position. The SGF has to be relieved of his post.“He was appointed last year May or whenever, now you are telling us that you resigned from the company in August, during which time contracts were going to that company.“His defence is not a denial of the allegation. In fact, it is a confirmation. Under the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, the first rule is that there shall be no conflict of interest.”Also, Ogunye, and the Executive Chairman, CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran, said if the anti-corruption agency established a prima facie case against Lawal, he should immediately be relieved of his post and subsequently prosecuted.Ogunye said, “The Senate has made a report. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation has defended himself in the media. Both the allegations and the defence should be collated by the President and forwarded to the anti-corruption agencies and the President should tell the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to go and appear before theanti-corruption agency and clear himself.“As to whether he should step down or not, an allegation has been made and he has defended himself. I do not knowthe truth of the situation but I believe that either of these two anti-corruption agencies would be in the best position to look into that matter, investigate andcharge him to court appropriately if an offence has been committed.”Also, a Second Republic lawmaker, Mohammed Junaid, said he was not surprised about the allegation of scam trailing Babachir, recalling that he had warned the President against appointing him as the SGF in the first place.He said, “Now that he (Babachir) is enmeshed in a scandal, which has alsobecome public knowledge, the person who should give explanation to Nigerians is Buhari himself. And if Babachir is corrupt, then it is Buhari that is corrupt, because he couldn’t have done what he did without the foreknowledge of General Buhari.”http://punchng. Com

Sonala OlumhenseAs one who firmly believes that one Olusegun Obasanjo squandered the finest opportunity of any Nigerian leader since independence, I have oftencriticised him.Between 1999 and 2007, he could havetransformed Nigeria into Africa’s most developed, most productive and most functional economy. The records show that he compounded the situation, and then handed over to his handpicked successors who made matters considerably worse.That led, inevitably, to the arrival of one Muhammadu Buhari, who had sworn for years Nigeria needed cleansing, and that he was the man forthe job.When Buhari was sworn in last year, it was evident that Obasanjo had him trapped. But Buhari ignored the obvious.Speaking at the first Akintola Williams Annual Lecture two weeks ago, Obasanjo sprung that trap, telling Buhari to stop giving excuses and, in effect, to get on with being the saviour he advertised himself to be.“It is easier to win an election than to right the wrongs of a badly fouled situation,” Obasanjo sneered. “When you are outside, what you see and know are nothing compared with the reality.”He showed Buhari the clock: “Now thatwe have had change because the actors and the situation needed to be changed,” he should install “a comprehensive economic policy and programme that is intellectually, strategically and philosophically based.”And then he really began to turn the knife. “…Once you are on seat, you have to clear the mess and put the nation on the path of rectitude, development and progress leaving no group or section out of your plan, programme and policy and efforts,” he laughed. “The longer it takes, the more intractable the problem may become.”One source of Obasanjo’s anger is Buhari’s insistence that the governments preceding his, since 1999, have been very corrupt.He dismissed Buhari’s “blanket adverse comments or castigation of alldemocratic administrations from 1999as “uncharitable, fussy and uninstructive,” refusing to be lumped together with the others.And then of course, what is an Obasanjo speech without his taking liberties with the English language? Addressing Buhari’s $30 billion foreignloan proposal, he manufactured terms aimed at helping—or confusing—Buhari’s political thought and digestion: “Adhocry is not the answer,” he said, warning: “…We must be carefuland watchful of the danger of shortermism.”That from a man who perfected the artof the ad hoc and the loud. Obasanjo, the same man who plucked the Vision 202020 out of the sky without investigation. The man who advertised the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy as the final economic plan Nigeria would ever need…but abandoned it just months later. The man who set up the anti-corruption watchdogs but refused to let them fightsystemic corruption. The man whom, legislators said, bribed them for a thirdterm in office.To be faithful to sequence, Obasanjo had whispered to Buhari last March that his persistent complaining about the current price of crude oil was growing tiresome, as President Goodluck Jonathan had left $30 billionin reserves for Buhari, as compared to 1999 when he only inherited $3.7 billion, and at a time the price of oil was only $9 per barrel.Buhari has since insisted that he will indeed continue to criticise his predecessors, a task he performed again last Thursday when he received William Symington, the new United States ambassador, in Abuja.“The corruption we met at personal and institutional levels was unbelievable,” he declared for the 1000th time. “Corruption was turning into a culture…”And then for the 2000th time, PresidentBuhari swore to end that culture.The President’s rhetoric is good, but if it reflects the crime, the quality of his assault doesn’t. Not only is it curious that only a handful of people are in anytrouble, current appointees, who face allegations of corruption, do not get fired or even have to prove themselves.It no longer helps Nigeria for anyone to describe how corrupt Nigeria has been in the past 50 years or 16, without demonstrating how the significant persons responsible for it are being stripped to their stolen underwear and tossed into overcrowded jails.If Obasanjo said anything important atthe Akintola Williams lecture, therefore,it was that Buhari should not call his government corrupt unless he can prove it. That is a fair challenge that Buhari must accept. In addition, he must systematically publish what has been recovered, as well as identify and prosecute, beginning from the top.The trouble is that there seems no such clear plan. Only last week, for instance, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission announced it would prosecute over 100 officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission.Their offence: they allegedly benefitted from a massive $115m fund distributed as bribes in 2015 by the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, tohelp Mr. Goodluck Jonathan retain the presidency.Few situations illustrate the contradictions in the current anti-corruption initiative better than this. Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s name is tied to our worst official excesses sinceindependence, and even this announcement pronounces her guilty.But she is not being tried. In other words, we are treating minor symptoms, not the disease. The anti-corruption masterplan, if there is one, should follow the money-trail upwards, rather than downwards, to identify the sources of the decay, what else was compromised, and how much.What is the moral justification for prosecuting low-level officials who may perhaps have been threatened? How does the squandering of resources on their prosecution, rather than on the senior officials who built the farms and sowed the seeds, change the corruption narrative?Why are there so many former governors who openly looted and openly donated billions of naira to theirparties and officials walking free? Why do we name suspects in the court of public opinion and publish salacious details about their horrendous escapades with public funds, but stop short of the court of law?And why does the government shy away from using the vast swathes of information granted by the Central Bank’s Biometric Verification Number inquiry which has made it easy to unveil a “kill and divide” culture running into hundreds of billions since 1970?These are the reason why a supremely duplicitous and hypocritical Obasanjo, criticises Buhari fairly. If Buhari truly means to conquer corruption, his very first step is to leave the rostrum of criticism for the rostrum of rigorous public policy, and seek the experts—notpoliticians—to get the job done.Obasanjo may have failed the test of the disciplined and patriotic leadershiphe professes, but Buhari can still uproot trees and remould philosophical foundations. But you cannot score a goal for your team witha back pass to your goalkeeper.The dream on which Buhari was elected is of a new Nigeria where talentand effort—not chicanery and nepotism—defines who lives or thrives.To that end, his responsibility it is to seek the answers, using capable men and women who are neither intimidated by challenge nor excited byunearned wealth.There is no other gift he can offer the masses who granted him the opportunity to open to them the doors that had been slammed against them. Through those doors lie Nigeria’s fate, for that is where the best of the people can go to work.Buhari’s choice has never been clearer.http://www.punchng.com

President Vladimir Putin in an interview aired Sunday called US President-elect DonaldTrump intelligent and predicted he would quickly grasp his new level of responsibility and act accordingly.“Since he managed to achieve successin business, that shows he is a clever person,” the Russian strongman said in an interview with NTV television thathas already aired in the country’s far east, quoted by TASS news agency.“If he’s clever, that means he will fully and quite quickly grasp a different levelof responsibility.”Putin said that Russia “expects that he will act precisely on this basis.”The Kremlin said last month that the two men agreed, in their first phone call after Trump’s election win in November, on the need to “normalise” Russia-US relations.Putin on Thursday reiterated Moscow’s readiness to work with Trump’s administration once the president-elect takes office in January.“It is important to normalise and start to develop bilateral relations on an equal and mutually-beneficial basis,” Putin said in his annual state of the nation address.Trump has praised Putin’s leadership and said he looks forward to “a strong and enduring relationship with Russia.”During the US election campaign, Putinpraised him for appealing effectively todisenchanted American electors.“He represents the views of a significant part of society in the United States that is tired of those elites who have been in power for decades,” he said in October.“He just represents the interests of such ordinary people, and he presents himself as an ordinary guy who criticises those who have already been in power for decades.http://www.punchng.com

The Kwara State Police Command has arrested six suspected killers of a female rice farmer, Mrs Florence Ede.The Commissioner of Police in the state, Olusola Amore, announced this while briefing newsmen on Thursday in Ilorin.Amore said the suspects are: Kofi Kawku, Ali Dauda, Gomina Umaru, Ali Sabi, Abubarka Basira and Ayuba Adamu.He said they were arrested on November 23 for allegedly matcheting the victim to death inside her farm at Yashikira in Baruten Local Government Area of the state.He said that the suspects being labourers employed by the deceased, conspired and killed her and carted away 11 bags of rice.The commissioner said the suspects were later arrested by the police, while the stolen rice belonging to the victim and the Golf car used in carrying the commodity were recovered.The commissioner said all the suspects would be charged to court oncompletion of investigation. (NAN) punchng. Com

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele FayoseKamarudeen Ogundele, Ado EkitiThe Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has said that he may seek another political platform to prosecute his succession battle in the 2018 governorship poll.The governor said this on Wednesday during a meeting with the members of the Suppliers’ Association of Nigeria, Ikere Ekiti chapter.He also argued that the victory of Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State did not in any way threatenthe supremacy of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti.Fayose said, “I don’t know the platformI will use for the 2018 election yet and at the appropriate time, I will tell you. We are still studying the situation. We have to play the game left, right and centre and whoever we are going to use and the platform, you will all be part of the process because party politics is about the people.“You all saw how people sold their votes in Ondo State, I am confident that that will not happen in Ekiti. I am close to the people; you are the source of my strength. Even if it requires just 48 hours to any election, if I tell you where to go, you will surely follow me there.”At a separate meeting with the junior members of staff in the state civil service, Fayose boasted that he would repeat the victory he got in all the 16 Local Government Areas when he defeated former governor Kayode Fayemi in 2014.“The APC will be fooling itself if it thinks it will conquer Ekiti like it did in Ondo. Ekiti is a peculiar place and I amthe man on the ground here. I want to assure my supporters and Nigerians that the APC won’t win a local government here in 2018, even if President Muhammadu Buhari moves down all the money in the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account.“Governor Olusegun Mimiko and Eyitayo Jegede must have lost in OndoState, but that does not mean the people had voted rightly. In 2015, people clamoured for change and whathave we got now? Nigerians are becoming poorer than ever.“Today, I am the only one among the APC governors in the South-West. I amnow like the nation of Israel surrounded by enemies, but I shall defeat and triumph over them.“The APC has never defeated me in any battle, either political or legal. Whether they like it or not, I will win in Ekiti no matter the animosity, because I have the people behind me,” Fayose declared.He promised that he would continue to do his best in the payment of salaries by opening the account of the state to them. Http:// www.punchng.com

Date: 3 december time: 20:30
Http:livescore. Com

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Is now 1:1 wy una still put 1:0

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Confirm ni

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Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday saidthe State has a critical role to play in taking Nigeria out of the current economic doldrums, just as he harped on the need for partnership between government and the private sector to address strategic challenges confronting the nation.Governor Ambode, who spoke at the Lagos House in Ikeja when he received on courtesy visit members of the Governing Council of CharteredInstitute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN),who came to notify the Governor of the hosting right of the 22nd World Conference of Banking Institute to be held in Lagos in April 2017 and other activities of the Institute, said Lagos, as the economic hub of Nigeria and the West African region, contributes about 70 percent of the financial services in the country, and as such the State was in a good stead to lead the nation out of recession. The Governor said the visit by the CIBN Council led by its President, Professor Segun Ajibola was apt as itcame at a time that Nigeria was undergoing recession, but the cheering news was that the country was abundantly blessed with a groupof people that can actually help the country out of recession, to which many of them are members of the Institute.He, therefore, harped on the need for partnership between the government and the private sector, saying:“This is like a clearing call, we need this partnership to take us out of the doldrums. Irrespective of the fact thatLagos contributes like 70 percent of the financial services in this country and if there is anything that can take us out of recession, it has to start from us and from Lagos.”Besides, Governor Ambode said the story of the growth and development of Lagos could not have been completed without the huge contribution of the financial service industry, adding that the sector remained a veritable vehicle that has been able to drive professionals to contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the State.According to the Governor, “The financial service industry stands out in terms of creating employment for our people, and in terms of contributing to the taxes, and as well creating capacity, and as such it will be unfair not to appreciate and commend everything that the CIBN has actually done to the growth and development of Lagos.”Speaking on the hosting right of the World Conference, Governor Ambode expressed excitement at the development, and assured that the State Government will partner with CIBN to use the platform to promote investment potentials in the State, as well as celebrate the 50 years anniversary of the creation of Lagos.“Lagos is going to be 50 next year and President of the Council has talked so much about the hosting right of the conference. As a government, we are also trying to brand Lagos as a world class city to live in, and so we will partner and support the conference and list it as part of the events to celebrate Lagos at 50 and use it as a platform to promote financial tourism for the State.“Lagos is the financial hub of Nigeria and by extension maybe the West African coast, and the good thing is that the infrastructure we have been able to provide are aimed at allowing businesses to thrive. We are trying our best but the fundamentals remained the fact that the city has to be safe so that businesses can thrive.The Governor also expressed readiness to partner with CIBN to create a structured capacity building for State officials with the view to getting a stream of hardworking professionals, Ajibola commended GovernorAmbode for the massive infrastructure development ongoing in the State, especially the improvement on security, the Light Up Lagos Project, ingenious traffic management strategy in strategic locations across the State such as the Iyana Oworo Lay-by, Ketu-AlapereSlip Road, multifaceted Berger expansion projects, Ojota Pedestrian Bridge; road rehabilitation, Light Rail Project, among others.“As at today, the banking community is more than happy with the State of security in Lagos State. Our banks are now safer; hy our ATM locations aresafer; we see secured human and properties more than ever before within Lagos and its environs,” Ajibola said.

Simon Utebor, YenagoaBayelsa State students on scholarships studying at King’s University College, Ghana, may be sentback home over unpaid school fees, it has been learnt.The students are reportedly said to be having a tough time over the development, with the school authorities threatening to expel them.A human rights activist, Mr. Aluzu Augustine, raised the issue of Bayelsa students stranded at the the KUC in Ghana.Aluzu expressed the concern following a letter addressed to the students by the registrar of the school, Mr. Simion Isekpo, threatening to expel them if Bayelsa State Government failed to pay their (students’) fees.The letter, a copy sent via electronic mail to our correspondent, reads in part, “Management of the university wishes to inform all students being sponsored by the Bayelsa State Scholarship Board that should your outstanding and current fees not be paid by October 15, 2016 deadline, the university would have no choice but expel you from the university on October 16, 2016.“Also, affected undergraduate and postgraduate students who have completed their programmes would not be allowed to participate in the forthcoming congregation in November 2016.”Already, it was learnt that the Ghanaian school had barred the affected students from participating in school activities, but had yet to issue a circular expelling them.“We have been told that Governor Seriake Dickson is sending a delegation to our school. But for now, we have been stopped from taking partin school activities,” the statement quoted the students as saying.

Edo residents, on Tuesday, November22, clashed in state capital Benin overplans by the new administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki to give ex-governor Adams Oshiomhole N200million mansion as reward for ruling the state for eight years.News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the residents, who were divided between pro-government and anti-government protesters, fought at Ring Road, Benin, when the latter marched through the streets over the amendment of the law for the pension for Oshiomhole and his deputy.The anti-government protesters, under the aegis of Edo Civil Society Organisations, gathered at the museum ground in Benin early on Tuesday and marched toward the Anthony Enahoro House of AssemblyComplex to announce their rejection of the new pension benefits passed for Governor’s assent by the governor.They were however confronted by supporters of the amendment who blocked them from gaining access to the major entrance of the building in a clash that lasted almost one hour. The supporters drove the CSO members away while security officials simply stood by and watched.Spokesperson for the civil society groups Osazee Edigin said his members were attacked by thugs allegedly sponsored by the government.‘’They mobilised thugs to attack us and we are trying to revive a guy whofainted, the thugs have taken over Ring Road,’’Edigin said.But John Mayaki, the Chief Press Secretary to Edo Governor, said the state government there was no iota of truth in the claim of the CSOs because the government would not inany way attempt to gag the people’s freedom.the“2007 Pension Rights ofthe Governor and Deputy Governor Law”in order to ensure that the Oshiomhole and his deputy Pius Odubu got residential buildings worthN200million.The bill is now awaiting the assent of new state governor Godwin Obaseki who Oshiomhole worked hard in the campaigns to get into power.

Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu has warned Nigerians about spreading false reports that he is in disagreement with Buhari and the APC.The APC co-founder made the disclosure in an address to Nigerians via one of the APC-run Facebook pages.According to the statement titled:“Stop all these media nonsense, I stand with Buhari and APC”.Tinubu said: “Its all falacy, am fine with Mr president, there is no cause for alarm, I don’t need to be living in Aso Rock before you know I am in government, VP Osinbajo is there, Abike Dabiri is there, Fashola is there,Lai Muhammed, Fayemi, Fowler and so many others are all there, I and thePresident still discuss time to time about national issues.“Tinubu while speaking in Lagos asked the people to disregard what they read on media, attributing it to the handwork of the mischief makers,he further said, Yes we may have hadour own disagreement, which is the beauty of democracy, we are not forming any party neither are we going anywhere. We built and nurtured APC to its present state and together we must make it work.”Meanwhile, Governor Simon Lalongsaid on Monday, November 21, that the South West All Progressives Congress (APC) governors who were absent at the Saturday APC Mega Gubernatorial rally in Akure, Ondo, had sent in their apologies and given cogent reasons for their absence.He said that the national leader of theparty,Lalong, who is the Chairman of Ondo APC Governorship Campaign Council, made this known to State House correspondents after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Thank God for that

Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has hit back at an alleged homophobic attack by saying he was “a gay*ot with a lot of money, sh*thead”.TheReal Madrid striker was responding toAtletico Madrid playe Koke who allegedly called him “a gay*ot”.Spanish radio revealed the exchanged occurred during Saturday’s derby betweenthe two teams where Real Madrid won three-nil thanks to a hat-trick scored byRonaldo.Koke refused to comment on the allegeddiscussion after the game.Ronaldo was given a yellow cardfor his part in the altercation and had not received one in any of the previous 12 meetings with Atletico Madrid.The Portuguese player has continually refused to comment on speculations about his sexuality.Last year, hedenied rumoursthat his relationship with a close friend was, in fact, a same-sex romance.He was also snapped on holiday with boxer Badr Har where the two ‘got married’.Ronaldo has receive homophobic abuse in the past.In April, aSpanish LGBT rights group complained over abuse the star received in a game against Barcelona.2010

Too Too bad

Nawa ooo

Soro ni ye

Any body dey see chop na dey luck na

Na only God go help d poor[color=#990000][/color]

Any thing dey lk mk dey use dey mouth talk. Always say BABA!!!

Na so una go dey talk

Ok

Nice one

Is so

Is ok

Tank God for them