₦airaland Forum

The problem is I was expecting the stadium for a rally like this to be filled to capacity, its 16000 capacity was only about 15% filled. I meam you had all the big wigs in APC, Buhari, tinubu and co, 23 LG chairman and the could not fill the stadium? Then they truly are not on ground. Ameachi said when they started about 12noon the stadium was filled to capacity but by 1.40pm its only 15%? What happen they got tired and left b4 the program ended? henn eeeh, Ameachi look well o. You said jonathan wants Rivers pple to die from cholera by not approving the loan, that you drink bottle water. My question is that is it now you realised after 7years as Governor your don't have water while you drink bottle water? I mean you applied for this loan in may this year. So what happened since why did you expose them to cholera all this while. Ok world bank said they are(cos you just said there two banks not just the ADB you ve talking about) so is the $200M for the water project comming from world bank or ADB or both, if both how much is each bring and what for? By a staff of what bank said they are ready does it mean you ADB is not ready?

This is huge, anybody on ground to confirm all this? At this rate Bayelsa will soon be a destination of choice

This is really huge. Anybody on ground to confirm all of this? At this rate Bayelsa soon will be a destination of choice.

Abagworo: What has name got to do with the quality of work? I'm impressed with the quality of work. Its exactly like Amaechi's roads. They dig 6 to 10 feet into the ground and refill with sharp sand then use cement and concrete on it before tarring. Forget about the aesthetics or finishing and consider the quality of materials being used.

However the poster seems to have emphasized on the areas that predate Jonathan like Trailer Park to Ikot-Abasi and Warri to Ughelli. The issue has always been Patani to Eleme. One side has reached 80% between Mbiama and Choba while the other lane has not even been started yet. I believe one lane of the road will be finished before the end of 2014 but the 2nd lane will take 2 to 3 more years going by the slow pace of work.

Warri to Ughelli didn't predate Jonathan, it started after Jonathan became acting president in 2010, use to drive that route every day to drop my wife at work. Pls get ur facts right.

The only reason you tamper with the budget is to pad it with money for yourselves. Before the Jonathan's administration, members of the national assembly where the biggest contractors to the MDA. Now that this govt has stop your daylight robbery, you are shouting oversight and corruption. how come anytime you conduct probes, you indict yourselves like the Fuel subsidy and SEC probes[b].( how far with Farouk and Mr. Herman Hembe?)[/b] Yet you say Jonathan is condoning corruption! And when the MDA's dont dance to your tune you move resolution for sack. Tell me who approves the projects MDA's will budget for every year? you? the directors in the MDA's or the Minister who have the mandate of the Executive arm of govt, who may have carried out due dilligence consider factors such as engineering, finances and capacity/. Pls just shut up. If you guys can just sit up and clean up your acts. you will be able to effectively monitor the executive arm of govt and nigerians will file behind you. Till then just shut up

As CBN's financial recklessness threatens its regulatory roles Banks confess loss of confidence in regulator's abilities

AS 2013 is rounding off, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is yet to release its 2012 financial report and from all indications the apex bank will not be able to do this because of unanswered questions arising from a query Mr. President issued to the Governor of the Bank, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, over questionable transactions.


Sources at the Bank say that though the Governor answered the query but the president was not satisfied as the key issues raised in that query were not addressed. His case is made worse as Mr. President, who is said to have expressed utmost disappointment in the conduct of Sanusi, has refused to communicate his decision to the apex bank, throwing the Board of Governors into a confused state.
This situation many say has started affecting the perception of industry players who are in the know over the apex bank's credibility. This is sequel to what insiders describe as loss of confidence emanating from the apex bank's inability to balance its own books. Some bankers who spoke to National Daily on condition of anonymity say that they are beginning to lose confidence in the Central Bank's regulatory abilities because it has shown inexplicable recklessness in the managing of its own finances which has been responsible for non-release of its 2012 financial report till date.
This situation is said to be giving the Central Bank Governor sleepless nights as he would prefer to see his tenure through without being sacked which will affect his perceived political career in future. He is said to have sent lobbyists after lobbyists to the president but to no avail. It could be recalled that few months ago, he led an entourage of some prominent emirs and traditional rulers on a courtesy visit to the president. A source at the presidency said that the purpose of the visit was aimed at pleading with President Jonathan to give Sanusi a soft landing as he prepares to leave office.
According to our impeccable source, the apex bank could not pass its 2012 financial statement because the President queried the Bank Governor over series of infractions detected in the apex bank's 2012 audited account, and since then the Bank has been running from pillar to post trying to lobby the presidency to overlook those infractions. A source at the Presidency however told this newspaper that what was discovered in the books of the apex bank are too serious to be waived aside, and because words have gone out that the Bank cannot balance its book, there is need to ensure due process is followed so as to restore confidence in the system.
It could be recalled that in early May, the Presidency rejected the audited report submitted by the Central Bank because it discovered about 22 issues bordering on massive fraud at the bank, and as a result a query was sent to the Governor on May 6, 2013 with express instruction that the query be replied to on or before May 8, but the Governor could not submit the reply until May 21, a situation a top staff of the Central Bank who spoke to the National Daily described as quite disturbing because the query took the Governor unawares.
The query from the presidency centered on the bank's account, which its auditors, Ernst and Young, passed without officially signing, a pointer to the fact that they are not convinced about the apex bank's account. An audit report is worthless if it does not carry the signature of the auditor.
A major aspect of the query bothers on issues such as investment of a huge amount of money in an Islamic bank in Malaysia without any guarantee of its generating returns.
Others are write-off of about N3.5 billion CBN staff housing loan and the donation of about one billion naira to a political party to open up offices across the country. This donation, which was given under the special access item in the account, is believed to be geared towards furthering Sanusi's alleged political ambition in the 2015 general elections.
The query touched other issues such as refusal of the apex bank to consolidate in its account, the trillion debt owed by the Asset Management Company (AMCON) and the non-disclosure of the total liabilities through the bond floated by the company. The governor was also asked to explain the discrepancies noted in the 2012 account regarding the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, a subsidiary of the apex bank.
Other issues include the controversial donations made to some higher institutions in the country. Investigations have shown that some of the donations were inflated in the bank's books. For example, while the Bayero University Kano, BUK, was said to have collected N4billion, the school authorities claimed it got only N1billion.
The state of health of the apex bank's annual statement became suspicious when the governor refused to submit it to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) the body with the mandate to ascertain the compliance of companies with accounting standards, and the International Financial Reporting Standards, IFRS. Rather than submitting it to the body, the governor requested for seven years' grace for the CBN to comply with FRC stipulations.
The audit report of the account, which was submitted directly to the President, was later forwarded to the economic adviser to the President for his appraisal. The official okayed the account and noted that it complied with the CBN Act. However, unhappy with the economic adviser's comment, Jonathan returned the report to him and drew his attention to the refusal of the auditor to sign the account.
National Daily gathered that some of the Bank CEOs who are in the know of this controversy have continued to enjoy unimaginable favours from Sanusi so as to continue to rally support from the industry for him.
This is not the first time the CBN account will be open to scrutiny but the bank has always hidden under its autonomy to stave off close inspection. The apex bank is on the first line charge and receives its appropriation directly from the federation account and exercises enormous financial autonomy.
In May, the public accounts committee of the House of Representatives also had cause to query several expenditure items amounting to N4.7 billion in the CBN accounts. This included the N2.8billion which the bank said it spent on the construction of its Port Harcourt branch.
The House in turn had worked with a report from the office of the auditor general of the federation which queried extravagant expenditure by the apex bank for which documents were not made available for verification.
Chairman of the House committee on public accounts, Solomon Olamilekan at a meeting with officials of the bank alleged that there were indications that due process was not followed in expenditure as no documents were provided.
Some of the transactions that the committee queried include the sums of N23m and N50m claimed to have been spent for the same purpose of renovating the governor's official residence as well as N848m spent on the purchase of a property from the National Planning Commission (NPC) without any transaction agreement.
However, like many probes of public institutions by the National Assembly, the matter appears not to have been pursued. The N4 billion donations to Bayero University Kano (BUK) also mentioned in the President's query had not even been known to the public. What had irked many Nigerians, including federal lawmakers, was the donation earlier in the year of N100 million to victims of terrorism in Kano, Sanusi's hometown.
It could be recalled that the House of Representatives entertained a motion on misuse of public funds on the donation which degenerated into a rowdy session. Many members accused Sanusi of misuse of public funds. Member from Yobe State, Goni Lawan, described Sanusi's donation of N100 million to Kano State and another N25m gift to Madalla bomb blast victims as “an act of terrorism”, arguing that attacks in Yobe and Borno states did not attract the same monetary consolations from the CBN governor.
“When I first heard of the action of the CBN governor, I was surprised. I asked whether Yobe and Borno states were not parts of Nigeria, as these attacks took place there first,” Lawan said.
It remains to be seen how the embattled CBN governor will wriggle his way out of this looming crisis that is set to rock the banking industry and undermine any perceived achieved gains.

After Using me to Fight Gbenga Daniel, Obasanjo is Falsely Calling me a Criminal-Buruji Kashamu

Written by Headline by Alaba Johnson, Story by Thisday on 15 December 2013.

Businessman cum politician Buruji Kashamu was described in former President Obasanjo’s letter as a ‘shameless criminal’ President Jonathan is associating with. Kashamu, who has virtually taken over the PDP structure in the South-west, spearheading the court-ordered removal of the Obasanjo associates in leadership positions in the party, has taken issues with the former president. He also denies being a criminal. He speaks in an interview with journalists. Anayo Okolie was there..

Former President Obasanjo in his letter called you a ‘shameless criminal’. How do you react to that?

Following former President Obasanjo’s diatribe against the person and office of President Goodluck Jonathan, including my humble self, I have been inundated with calls from family members, friends, business and political associates as to his real intentions. I will situate his vituperations presently.

In the 18-page letter dated 3rd December 2013, Obasanjo called me a shameless criminal. Pray, why should I be ashamed when I am not a criminal or the one being looked for, and he knows! They have called me all manner of names to silence and sabotage me so as to take over the party structure in the South-west in order to work against the government. If Obasanjo could write this kind of letter against his own people, with a view to inciting Nigerians against the man he introduced to them, then it leaves much to be desired. This was the same man who said Jonathan was the only one fit for the job having been cleared by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He told Nigerians to vote him as president because of his unimpeachable character and integrity. It is unfair for him to round to insult the President. He used me to fight Gbenga Daniel and I spent over N3billion to fight his cause and took the PDP structure from Daniel and handed it over to him. He later brought his friend, a 77-year-old Gen. Adetunji Olurin (rtd), to be the governorship candidate. Now, he is casting aspersion on the person of the President and my humble self. Who should be ashamed among us? How many former presidents and heads of state would do this? He thinks he is disgracing his people but unknown to him, he is making himself a laughing stock in the eyes of the discerning. Pray, what is he looking for? Initially, he was given everything he wanted but he was still not pleased. Now that things have changed, he is grumbling.

For me, the old general only sought to exhibit his military training on the element of surprise. According to an ancient Chinese General, Chiang Shang, “The technique for military conquest is to carefully investigate the enemy’s intentions and quickly take advantage of them, launching a sudden attack where unexpected.” But he performed woefully in this task because he failed to observe the condition precedent to using the element of surprise, which is “to investigate”. He allowed his hate campaign to becloud his sense of reasoning and judgment as an elder statesman that he ordinarily should be. He merely ventilated his frustrations over the new political reality that has stripped him bare of any claim to Ogun State and the South-west geo-political zone. Ordinarily, a person of his standing should tower far and above such parochialism. But he won’t have any of such. He would rather eat the fat of the land and still struggle for the crumbs while at one playing the ostrich. If the truth be told, the letter to President Goodluck Jonathan is, to say the least, satanic, self-serving and mischievous.

Obasanjo had earlier denied introducing you to the presidency. What is your reaction?

Chief Obasanjo denied introducing me to the Presidency. But can he deny that we wined and dined together in the past? Can he deny knowledge of my closeness to his daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, especially during the events leading to the 2011 general elections? Can he deny that he introduced me to some leaders of the PDP in the South West, such as the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade; his Agric counterpart, Dr. Adesina Akinwunmi; and Engr. Segun Oni, among others, as his political son in whom he is well pleased? Can he deny that he did introduce me to the former acting Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, and other officials of the PDP-led Federal Government during the events leading to the 2011 general elections, especially as it relates to Ogun State and my role in the whole scenario? Can he deny that he openly praised me to high heavens at various public foras and rallies, including during the reception I organised for the former Minister of Commerce and Industry, Senator Jubril Martins-Kuye (JMK)? Why is it that it is now that he is calling me names and blaming the Presidency for condoning me? What offence have I committed? Is it because I refused to allow him to hijack the party structure so that he can use it to achieve his invidious motive against President Jonathan? Is it because he has now realised that he has lost the platform, which made him relevant in the politics of Ogun State and the South-west? Isn’t there a sense in the assumption that the reason for this unwarranted attack is to portray the Jonathan administration in bad light and discredit its foot soldiers, particularly in the South-west?

But you had a relationship with former President Obasanjo?

Let me state from the outset that anyone who knows former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s antecedents would not be surprised at his calling me names. Ask Otunba Oyewole Fasawe. Ask Chief S.B. Oluwalogbon. Ask Chief Bode George. Ask Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. The list is endless. Be that as it may, I am not ashamed to say ex-President Obasanjo was my adopted political father and I was also his adopted political godson. I was one of his foot soldiers and partners. We planned and executed many things together. When it was convenient for him, I was his right hand. I teamed up with him against former Governor Gbenga Daniel; fought the latter to a standstill; took the party structure from him and handed it over to Chief Obasanjo. I worked with him (Chief Obasanjo) to produce the platform that his anointed candidate for the 2011 general elections in 2011, Gen. Tunji Olurin. It is common knowledge in Ogun State and the South-west that Obasanjo and I were inseparable until recently. These are facts that are in the public domain and cannot be denied. So, if he now turns round to be calling me names, then it should be clear to all that it is all politics. The truth is that I have not committed any offence and nobody has ever requested for my extradition. If there is anything to the contrary, I challenge Obasanjo and his cronies to produce it or forever remain silent.

Even when they have refused to see or hear; I yet refer them to the Interpol report, which exonerated me of any wrongdoing, both locally and internationally. It is dated 4th March, 2008. The Interpol in the six-page report, signed by ACP Haruna H. Mshelia for the Commissioner of Police (Interpol), particularly at Clause XI says, “That contrary to the allegation, the suspect was not found to have engaged in fraudulent/clandestine activities as all records were checked both locally and internationally and all our probes were returned negative. The suspect was never declared wanted or convicted either in Nigeria or anywhere in the world.”

It went on to say in Clause XVI of the report “That all our letters written to Interpol London, Lyon, Washington and Cotonou relating to enquiries on criminal/drug/conviction records of the suspect were returned negative to the effect that the suspect was never convicted of such offence in their territory.” The NDLEA in a counter-affidavit in one of the cases I filed in the courts to clear my name said, from their records, I have never been involved in any crime.

Again, in an 11-paragraph filed by the Office of AGF and dated 16th September, 2010, in the suit I filed against it at the Federal High Court, it stated that, “No request for the extradition of the Applicant was made on the 20th day of July, 2010 or on any date to the Respondent or to any Federal Agency by the United States Government or any other country...The Respondent or any of its officers or any agency of the Federal Government has not received any request from any country for the extradition of the Applicant for any offence whatsoever.” These are documents that are already in the public domain. They can be accessed in various court registries.

But I recall that the same former President Obasanjo ounce alleged that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar had criminal issues in America and could no longer enter that country. The former vice-president has visited America many times and even have an institution, a university, where he is partnering with America. If you have been cleared over this alleged criminal records as you said, have you visited that country to convince all doubting Thomases?

You know I challenged them and the so-called extradition order in court as I indicated earlier with documents, and I won. Ounce you do that, they would not even give you a visa and I have never bothered to apply for one.

Emzybrown: The Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), comprising 16 state governors who are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), unanimously elected Imo State Governor HE Owelle Rochas Okorocha as Chairman of the Forum.
The election of HE Okorocha is in furtherance of the commitment of the 16 Progressive Governors to strengthen democratic governance structures in the country with the overriding goal of rescuing Nigeria and facilitating the emergence of accountable leadership at all levels led by APC.
HE Okorocha will provide leadership to PGF to realize the collective vision of the Progressive Governors to engender expeditiously exemplary human development Programmes and policies in all APC states. Considering how consistently the PDP has attacked the foundations of our democracy, and the subsequent erosion of Nigerians’ hard-won freedoms, the PGF under HE Okorocha's leadership pledges to mobilize citizens towards expanding and deepening democratic structures by focusing on initiatives to guarantee the development of participatory governance structures as well as the guarantee of transparent, credible elections and the results reflect the votes of Nigerian people.
We urge Nigerians to support the initiatives of our Progressive Governors under the leadership of HE Owelle Rochas Okorocha; Nigeria will be great again.
Signed:
Salihu Moh. Lukman
Director General
Progressive Governors Forum

http://emekaekeh..de/2013/12/news-release-rochas-okorocha-elected.html

Pls, Ejo, Biko, who are the 16 Governors who attended the meeting, anyone remember take attendance? I want to see their names

This is the result of the much touted anti corruption fight of the previous govt. Let's be careful!

There is trouble brewing in Sokoto state, as the governor of the state, Alahaji Magatakarda Wamakko is about to face the embarrassment of being in a different political party from his deputy, Alhaji Mukhtar Shagari, who has refused to cross carpet with him to the All Progressive Congress, APC, electing to remain in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.



It would be recalled that Shagari was a minister of water resources under the PDP administration of Olusegun Obasanjo, and has a longer history in the party than the governor who was previously in the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, before he cross carpeted to the PDP in 2006 After he had a falling out with his then boss, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, whom he served as deputy governor.



wamakko is one of five PDP governors who recently cross carpeted to the APC.



This would be the first time in Nigeria's history that a governor and his deputy would belong to different parties.



It would further be recalled that Major stakeholders in the Sokoto state chapter of the PDP last week visited the PDP headquarters in Abuja and declared loyalty for the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, stating that they would not cross over to the APC with Wamakko and that he was on his own.

lily_tender: It is APC that put the illegal subsidy money into PDP chairman's son's account.

Oh you noticed that the chairman's son is being tried for corruption? Did u also notice that nobody is shouting victimization, intimidation, infact the chairman has said his son should face the music. Compare it to the response we would get if it was the son of someone with different political orientation from the President. Remmember when Lamido's son was arrested for corruption?

More fresh air, and mods, front page pls

Mazi_Omenuko: For the interest of those listening; ASUU is not making any fresh demands after the 13 hour meeting with the president. All they are saying is that the agrrement of the meeting should be made binding by involving some important stakeholder from the finance sector to sign; datz all!

ASUU don't want to be played twice by the same govt. Sign the damn agreement and the schools will be opened; what's hard in that? If the govt is sincere, that agreement would have been signed already and the classes opened.

What GEJ expected was for ASUU to swallow his words hook, line and sinker and return to classes?

No way! Once beaten, twice shy!

Mazi, pls be honest, ASSU demanded that FG should sign that non of their members wud not be victimised because of the strike. That is a new demand and this demand only came after majority of the branches voted to end the strike. There was another demand that they claim is personal to them, though I havnt verified this.

excell12go: Their new demands aren't too much for FG to implement if they(FG) really want us to go back to school.

Why can't d FG put into writing their promise of N220B annual grant to these institutions? ? That means they are not ready to drop this money next year and they know they can be sued by ASUU if they dont.

if paying their four(4) months salary will settle things a bit, why can't they just pay Don't they(FG) have the money? Would the FG not have paid if ASUU had not been on strike?

If the federal government really wants us to go back to school, they know what to do. Let them do the needful.

I beg; I don't wanna go to work for the next 5 months, hope my employer go pay me for the 5 months? My salary is to small I want him to increase it.

isale_gan2: If that's the case, what stops them from amending the constitution? Unless the supporters don't have the votes to support an amendment.

Save it for the national dialogue and plead ur case there

HNosegbe: I decided to read the editorial in question for myself, and I came across an interesting part.



Paul Nwabuikwu did not address this part of the Punch editorial.

It was basically because of the bolded that the new policy was introduced. Waivers are giving to sectors not indidviduals and all the bolded happened b4 2011

Chief Umeh exposes the names of all distribution officers in Idemilli North LGA. They were all from the SW. Apparently they refused to distribute the result sheet so as to enter the figures later on. Ofcourse Channels won't let him conclude the exposition

ONE NIGERIA MAJOR PROBLEM IS THE MEDIA THAT LACK CLEAR CUT AND PROVIDES MISREPRESENTION OF INFORMATION BY MAKING IT CONTROVERSIAL VIS A VIS THE PROPOSED NATIONAL CONFERENCE AND NATIONAL CONFERENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE’S REPORT TO NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Yes, what will be wrong with subjecting a report of an advisory committee for National Assembly’s approval? What will be wrong with ensuring that both the executive and legislative arms of government support the move of a National Conference? And what will be wrong in carrying every person along to support the yearnings and aspirations of the people? It will only be wrong to subject what comes out of the National Conference to National Assembly instead of referendum. It will only be wrong if the President fail to follow this project to the later. And it will only be wrong if the report of the committee is not submitted to National Assembly for approval to enhance providing enably environment by National Assembly
I need Nigerians to understand that either the media lack understanding or they are out to make money for themselves with controversies. What I think the President said was that, the report of the National Conference advisory Committee will be submitted to the National Assembly for approval thereby providing enabled environment that will lead to ensuring National Conference. It must be clear that, what will come out from the National Conference will not just be a report but an agreed yearnings and aspirations of the people of Nigerians and such naturally does not need to go to National Assembly but a referendum for implementation.
Why does Nigerians allow themselves to be deceived with uninformed and not clarified information? Opposition parties and haters of government capitalize on Nigerians lack of understanding to create controversies. This must stop. The journalists must help this Nation. I think reporters of specific information must be very vast in that area. I mean, if you must report in the area of judiciary, you should be a lawyer journalist if you permit me to say so. If you must report in the area of Engineering, you must be very vast in engineering. If you must report politics, you should be very vast and passionate about politics. If you must report on health, you should be very vast and acquainted with the terms used, understands their language and required information to probe. And so on and so forth. Most of our journalist report half baked information and Nigerians assimilate and carry wrong information to the extent the initiators does lose focus at time to even go in line with the new information distorted from the original matter because our leaders are selected not based on competent from the onset. Another major area where Nigeria is battling it out is the judiciary where the lawyers have continued to protect the fraudsters and yet we cry of corruption daily. As for the topic of unpatriotic lawyers, let me leave it for another day.
Our journalists must wake up and take the responsibility to saving Nigeria from collapse by promoting right information that are productive and not those with divisive tendencies. Once again, nothing is wrong in subjecting the report of National Conference Advisory Committee to National Assembly’s approval. And even if the President said National Conference Report (which is not so) it must have been said in error because knowing very well GEJ was swearing in the Advisory Committee, the report mentioned is that of the National Advisory Committee and not that of National Conference as widely reported. We must understand that National Conference cannot just have a report but terms and conditions for our co-existence which can only go for a referendum for implementation as may be recommended. This is where I have problem with Dr. Reuben Apati who should have been very vast in language and expected to always clarify information whenever Nigerians are misinformed. It seems to me that, when most Nigerians get political appointments, they no longer do detail work but relax to just collect “gbenben” at the end of months. Maybe, politics should be privatized for effective result.
It is my prayer that, the truth shall prevail at the end. God bless Nigeria and God bless you all.

This should serve as a clear warning to those governors that wants to subvert the interest of the south south for personal interest. Ameachi take note o!

There appears to be a crack within the ranks of the aggrieved governors on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as some of the governors’ individual ambitions to run for various elective positions in 2015 have threatened the collective struggle they embarked upon two months ago.


Besides, the governors are yet to find a common ground on the political platform to join: a majority of them are said to have made up their minds to dump the PDP, LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered.

The G-7 governors are: Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Abdulfattah Ahmed (Kwara) and Muazu Babangida Aliyu (Niger).

LEADERSHIP Sunday learnt that the reason the aggrieved governors have been unable to make a collective move to either join the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) is because of their conflicting ambitions.

Also, according to a source, while four of the G-7 governors are disposed to joining the APC, three are indifferent to the move spearheaded by Adamawa State governor Nyako. “What we can see in the whole struggle is that although the governors appeared to have a common enemy to fight initially, the biggest enemy is within them, because the unity is fast waning as a result of what each of them wants in 2015,” he said.

“You should know that they are politicians who would not want to remain floating at the end of their tenure; remember that almost all of them are doing their last lap as governors, so they want to cling to something at the end. But the means of how to achieve these individual objectives has broken their unity.

“For some time now, if you observe, two of the governors have been silent and indifferent to the affairs of the group, not because they have joined the Tukur faction but because, most often, the issues that come up for discussion have always been about personal interests.

“If you do your homework well, you will observe that in all their demands, particularly those of them from the north, there is no room for improved funding of agriculture which is the region’s mainstay; they are not talking about curbing desertification, nor are they even talking about how to fund HYPADEC; all their focus is on political self-survival.”

LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that, apart from the individual ambitions, the governors are sharply divided over the political platform to move into.

Source: Leadership

Bauchi Will Cease to Exist as a State Without Oil-Yuguda

Gov. Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State, on Monday, said the state internally generates only N250 million monthly.

The governor made the disclosure in Bauchi when members of the Ningi Emirate Council, led by the Emir, Alhaji Yunusa Danyaya, paid him sallah homage.

He stressed the need for the state to increase its revenue generation by 95 per cent.

Yuguda said the monthly allocation to Bauchi from the Federation Account was between N3.2 to N3.3 billion, with workers salary alone taking more than N2billion.

“It is our desire to bring development to the door step of the people, but we are constrained by lack of reasonable internally generated revenue.

“As a result, we have to rely solely on the federal government for allocation if not; we will not survive as a state.

“What we generate monthly is so little that we cannot even pay our workers salaries not to talk of (embarking on) capital projects.

“We must devise ways of improving the situation otherwise, when Nigerian oil, which every state is looking up to, is finished or its market falls, Bauchi will cease to exist as a state’’, he said.

Yuguda blamed the state’s poor revenue generation to absence of industries and high rate unemployment.

“How can any government generate revenue when there is nobody to tax?

“You cannot tax people that are not working and business is not booming in the state. No industries to tax, no worker to tax; how can we survive?’’

Yuguda, however, said that in spite of the low revenue profile of the state, his administration had achieved a lot in terms of infrastructure development.

He said that positive development had been recorded in the areas of health care delivery, education, agriculture and other sectors of the economy.

Yuguda called on the people of the state to be law-abiding and maintain peace so as to attract investors for business to thrive and create employment.

Earlier, Danyaya said the visit was to pay homage to the governor and to felicitate with him on the peaceful celebration of Eid-El-Kabir.

He appealed to the governor to include Ningi in his urban development plans, adding that the town had a lot to offer if upgraded to an urban settlement.

Danyaya also appealed to the governor to complete all ongoing projects in the emirate which included roads and rural electrification. (NAN)

Wsdm: Jonathan and his government officials are retuinly holding brief for MEND. They have claimed responsibility and the officials are still claiming they want to investigate. Why the cover up? If it were to be in the north now, even before Boko haram claim responsibility, the security agents will tag it on them even when they deny such attacks. Honestly the government of Jonathan is very FUNNY.

Please don't accept stories without confirming em, and its criminal to broadcast such stories. I have very strong relationship with many of the staffs there, heck! my own younger brother works there. It was an accident! And it was put under control quickly. Working in refinery as old as this is a disaster waiting to happen, one act of carelessness or negligence is enough. They always have fire trucks station by this very unit which helped in reducing the damage.
Where it mend, we would have lost the whole complex.

Aleast he confirmed that scaming has gone down in naija but its thanks to fresh air not obamacare

Waspy: Just as expected, bullshiits have no source

http://xclusivemagazinefun..co.uk/2011/08/fashola-acquire-jeeps-worth-n600.html
FIXED

Reason APC Remains Silent Over Oduah's BMW

Nigerians are still under shock about the silence from the camps of the All Progressive Congress (APC), over the alleged purchase of two BMW armoured vehicles for the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, for N225 million.

As mounting outrage trails the, Elombah.com investigation has exposed the reason behind the silence of APC in the raging matter of the ruling party's $1.6 million dollar car scandal at the aviation ministry. Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola and his political Godfather, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu two years ago took delivery of new acquisitions; three N600 million bullet-proof Jeeps.

The cars are customized- by special order of Lagos state government. The All Progressives Congress (APC) is known to issue condemnatory press releases at the flimsiest of excuse, the last being their statement describing as the height of insensitivity the decision by First Lady Patience Jonathan to receive an Honorary Doctorate award in far away South Korea.



Source identified Fashola and Tinubu's purchase of three bullet proof cars- Jeeps- with bomb detector apparatus and surveillance cameras.

Findings revealed that two of the purchase are with Governor Fashola for official usage as the helmsman of Lagos state. Asiwaju Tinubu is said to have one to his name as party leader. The brand of the bullet proof cars is identified as Toyota Prado Jeep.

The cost of each jeep- including handling, registration, insurance and other fees- is two hundred million Naira. The three jeeps are valued at six hundred million Naira. This is double the amount spent by Ms Stella Oduah in the current bullet-proof jeep scandal.

The three automobiles were reportedly bought for Asiwaju Tinubu and Governor Fashola on grounds of 'security'.

Insiders say that the two political figures have not gone public with their jeeps for fear of attracting public anger.

The Osun state governor is also reported amount 6 other APC governors that have their names to the Bulletproof car. The government of Osun state bought their own bulletproof car at the sum of N125 Million.

We are appealing to our Politicians to look at the faces of Nigerians on the street before going for these monumental waste of scare resources.

About 480 Nigerians die daily for hunger related sickness across the country.

theshadyexpress: why do u guys like depriving this man of the fruit of his labour,where you guys blind when he was convincing AU and UN leaders to endorse Nigerias membership,pls let's be objective for once.

They were convinced by Lie Mohamed of APC that GEJ was drunk to stupor cos NGF election when he was busy canvansing for votes on the sidelines. Even after Abati told us the truth, they refuse to believe him rather it was easier believe Lies Mohammed.

hercules07: Please factor in dual fired nature of Lagos plant.

What do u mean by dual fired nature? All the FG plants above are combine circle gas turbine dat means u reuse the heat from one stage to drive another stage, that means more power and more capital cost but its still less dan lagos generators

Gbawe.:
What is this long-winded nonsense you are trying to deceive others with? 140MW produced at $201 million is $1.44 million per MW. The Oando delivery is 10.34MW IPP built for N3.2 billion or $20 million. This gives $1.93 million per MW. Aside the fact both cost fall within an acceptable range (up to as much as $4 million per MW) and that many legitimate factors (fuel type for example) can vary construction cost, you would have to be illiterate not to know that economies of scale in power generation alone can account for the difference seen.

Ask the clever guys here , like Standing5, to explain the concept of economies of scale in power generation to you since I have no inclination to wastetime on the sort of ignorance that leads you to utter the m0r0nic 'one size fit all' notion that cost per MW should be same for all projects everywhere, with all fuel type and for all MW overall output. You say you are a medical doctor yet you do not appear to be even decent at thinking critically or effectively. I pity anyone you 'treat'.

Ok let's do this debate once for all.
Lagos state. : 400M/MW
Bauchi state. : 230M/MW
Agip okpai. : 150M/MW
FG Olorunsogo-I. : 93M/MW( 70KM where u aleady have gas pipelines.
FG Gerugu 1. : 116M/MW
FG Gerugu 11. : 132M/MW
FG Papalanto 1 and Omotosho 1 : 51.5M/MW each
FG Omotosho 11 : 135M/MW
So why is lagos state's that expensive? And why are pple defending this immoral looting?

What happens to the internally generated revenue from students and what have u? Why can't these be used to settle ur earned allowances and other infrastructions?

prof.femi:
Thanks, U235weapongrade, olu_kenzo, appliedmaths, and others.

@appliedmaths, sadly, I don't know of any substantial funds that the universities remit to FG, so I do not think we can "catch" them there. Even if there were such funds, the universities would not dare seize them, since they depend on monthly allowee from FG...

geeez: Last year a 10MW power plant was built for €12m (N2.6bn) in a country that had the technical and material requirements - Germany

http://cleantechnica.com/2012/06/14/watch-the-construction-of-a-10-mw-solar-power-plant-in-germany/

This is a 10.34MW plant for N3.2bn in a developing country

Inflation Rate in Nigeria between last year and this year stood at 8.7%

So tell me what makes the Power Plant overpriced?

it is grossly overpriced because its a gas gen. The german case is a solar plant covering 10 football fields with 44,000 solar modules. Solar is a very expensive technology for now to start with little maintenance cost while gas gen is a vastly cheaper technology with higher maintenance cost. At best a 10M watts gas gen is about $4m (N700M)including installations and controls

I can take care of warri for u for a fee ofcourse

We cannot asses Jonathan on 2011 unemployment statistic, he just started the race. let's have 2013 and 2012 and compare with 2011. Then we can judge his performance.