₦airaland Forum

MadamExcellency:
Ali Modu Sheriff was never elected and three months was specified for his tenure, for which has elapsed.

fhranciz:
if its true i begin to wonder how many mouth this government has. say one thing this minute and another next minute

The Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) has confirmed
that there was a jail break in the Kuje maximum
Prison on Friday night.
The Public Relations Officer of the Service, Francis
Enobore told Daily Trust that there was an
“incident” at the prison, Friday night.
Speaking on the news that brother of Henry
Okah, jailed leader of the Movement for the
Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) Charles Okah
escaped during the jail break, Enobore said: “Yes
there was an incident yesterday, but Okah was
not involved.”
“It is not true, Charles Okah is still in custody. I
have been in touch with our men in the prison
facility and there is nothing like that (Okah
escaping),” Enobore said.
“The Comptroller of prisons has ordered an
investigation and that is going on. We want to
know if anybody escaped and if yes, what are
their identities,” he added.

There are strong indications that the National
Assembly is on the war path with President
Muhammadu Buhari over the prosecution of the
Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, and his
deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, for alleged
forgery of the Senate Standing Rules 2015.
Our source gathered on Friday that although
some of the legislators were uncomfortable with
the anti-corruption war of the President, the
relationship between the two arms of government
came to a head with the senate forgery rules suit
filed by the Federal Government.
It was learnt that many National Assembly
members had concluded plans to frustrate any
request by the President because of his anti-graft
war.
Besides the senate president, who is standing trial
at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, eight senators,
including the Chairman of the Senate Committee
on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje, and a
former Plateau State Governor, Senator Joshua
Dariye, are being prosecuted for corruption
related offences.
Goje is standing trial at a Federal High Court, Jos,
for allegedly awarding contract for the purchase
of N1bn dictionaries without due process, while
Dariye is being prosecuted by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission on a 23-count
charge bordering on money laundering and
diversion of the state’s ecological fund.
It was gathered that among the plans of the anti-
Buhari senators, consisting of members of the
Peoples Democratic Party caucus and their others
colleagues in the All Progressives Congress
sympathetic to Saraki, was to delay approval for
Buhari’s appointments.
Investigations by our source showed that those
who could be affected by the hard stand of the
National Assembly included the Acting Chairman
of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, whose
appointment had not been confirmed by the
Senate.
Others in this category, it was learnt, included
ambassadors, who would mainly be politicians. An
APC senator, who is sympathetic to Saraki,
confided in our source that the National Assembly
would be strict in its oversight functions.
He said, “As part of the measures to reveal to
Nigerians that there is corruption in the executive
too, we will be strict in screening appointees and
in our oversight functions.”
Following the frosty relationship, it was learnt that
the lawmakers had vowed to ensure that the
principle of separation of powers was enforced
between the two arms of government.
One of the Like Mind senators, who preferred
anonymity, alleged that the Presidency, in
collaboration with some APC leaders, had made
up their minds to get Saraki and Ekweremadu out
at all costs.
Like Mind senators, consisting of the PDP
members and their colleagues that are
supporting Saraki, were instrumental to his
emergence as senate president last year.
The senator, who spoke with our source, said,
“When the Presidency and some of these party
leaders discovered that they could not remove
Saraki and Ekweremadu on the floor of the
chamber, they are now trying to carry out their
agenda using the court.
“Their intention is to ensure that both Saraki and
Ekweremadu are arraigned in court on Monday
(next week) and make sure that they are
remanded in prison afterwards so that we would
be forced to change our leadership.”
The senator from the North Central geopolitical
zone vowed that all legal and constitutional
means would be explored by his colleagues to
ensure that the Presidency was paid back in its
coin.
Efforts to get the reaction of the senate
spokesperson on the issue were futile as of the
time of filing this report.
The PDP senators during the week announced the
withdrawal of their support for Buhari’s
government over what they called, “unwarranted
threats to the legislative arm of government.”
But 16 members of the APC, led by the Chief
Whip, Senator Olusola Adeyeye, addressed
journalists on Thursday under the aegis of APC
Senate Caucus and expressed their support for
Buhari.
In the House of Representatives, there are also
signs of a deepening frosty relationship between
the executive and the legislative arms.
On Friday, some members called on Buhari to
adjust his administration’s “style of approaching
issues relating to the National Assembly.”
Members of the APC caucus and the main
opposition PDP shared the same view, noting that
there was a drift to military style of leadership.
The members stated besides ignoring the
resolutions of the National Assembly, the ongoing
move to prosecute Saraki and Ekweremadu for
alleged forgery of the Senate’s rules was a step
taken too far.
Some of the APC members opted to speak on
condition of anonymity for fear of being accused
of fighting the President.
One of them said, “Truly, we are worried that
things are beginning to go wrong; the President
has to start making corrections.
“This issue of hounding everyone all over the
place as if our laws or courts are no longer
functioning is creating anxiety.”
Speaking on the development in the Senate,
another APC lawmaker stated, “The feeling of
members is that the executive is taking the
National Assembly for a ride. The President and,
especially some of his ministers, treat our
resolutions with levity.
“If we say we have a democracy, we have to ask
questions. Look at the case of Kogi State House of
Assembly crisis.
“There was a joint resolution of the Senate and
the House that the National Assembly should
assume control of that Assembly until calm would
have returned there. We were ignored because a
particular minister had overriding interest. “


Call your errant ministers to order, House
tells President
The Chairman, House Committee on Media and
Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, also told
our source that members were feeling that
certain actions of the executive were not
necessary, if the Presidency expected any cordial
relationship to thrive.
He explained that while the feeling of members
did not mean that they would withdraw support
for Buhari, they believed that he could adjust.
He said, “The prosecution of the senate president
and his deputy is unnecessary, especially
considering that this is an internal affair of the
Senate.
“At the last dinner we had with Mr. President, he
even reiterated that he would love to improve on
the executive-legislature relationship. That is what
we are expecting.
“Again, the actions and utterances of some
ministers portray them as constantly being at
loggerheads with the National Assembly.
“We want some actions to be taken in this regard.
We in the House in particular, we are not saying
we are withdrawing our support for Mr. President,
but we are committed to improvement in our
relationship.”
Asked what actions the House would take should
the executive continue to ignore the resolutions
of the legislature, Namdas replied that the House
would wait to see how the executive behaved
henceforth.
“We have passed our resolution and we will wait
and see how those in the executive, especially
some ministers, will react henceforth,” he said.
Members of the PDP caucus in the House said
they had yet to withdraw their support for Buhari
unlike their counterparts in the Senate.
But they stressed that they would not support
any decision that did not promote democracy.
The Minority Leader of the House and leader of
the caucus, Mr. Leo Ogor, advised Buhari to draw
the line between democracy and military
dictatorship.
Ogor said, “We are not supporting whatever the
President is doing that is not in the interest of
democracy. That is not the same thing as saying
that we have withdrawn our support for the
Federal Government.
“There is a difference between democracy and
military dictatorship. What we see happening
seem to us that due process is no longer being
followed.”
The Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila,
could not be reached as of the time of filing this
report.
Text messages sent to him were also not replied.
But a source told our source that Gbajabiamila
had regularly preached “patience” to his
colleagues.


Buhari won’t slow down anti-corruption war
despite criticism –Presidency
The Presidency said Buhari would not slow down
his administration’s anti-corruption war despite
the recent criticism by some federal lawmakers.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and
Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, told one of our
correspondents that Buhari would not slow down
the anti-graft war in view of the criticism that had
trailed the Federal Government’s decision to file
forgery charges against Saraki and Ekweremadu.
Adesina said, “The anti-corruption war will not be
slowed down for any reason whatsoever. Let me
refer you to what the President said on
Wednesday while addressing Presidency staffers.
The war on corruption will never be slowed
down.”
He also said Buhari was not in any way
entertaining any fear that he would be finding it
difficult getting Senate approvals for some of his
appointments and policies because of the
development.
He said, “The President is not here to serve
himself. If the lawmakers are also not out to serve
themselves, then nothing should frustrate the
process of getting approvals.
“The President will always maintain cordial
relationship with other arms of government since
the purpose of being elected is to serve.”


We are reaching out to PDP senators –Enang
When contacted, the Special Assistant to the
President on National Assembly Matters (Senate),
Senator Ita Enang, said, “On the purported
withdrawal of support by distinguished senators
of the PDP, all hands are on deck to ensure that
the executive maintains the cordial relationship
that exists between it and the legislature.”

Following allegations that some senior military
officers were plotting to overthrow the
government of President Muhammadu Buhari, the
Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, Friday,
summoned senior officers to the army
headquarters in Abuja, to review the security
situation in the country.
Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Tukur Buratai
Recall that a consolidated group of militants, the
Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLF), on
Wednesday, claimed that some senior military
officers sought its assistance to over-throw the
current administration through the continuous
bombings of oil facilities in the Niger Delta region.
Against this backdrop, the Nigerian Army, today,
reaffirmed its allegiance and loyalty to civil
authority and the Nigerian Constitution.
Maj.-Gen. Adeniyi Oyebade, the General Officer
Commanding (GOC), 1 Division of the Nigerian
Army, stated this in Abuja today, at an
emergency meeting between top army
commanders and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen.
Tukur Buratai.
Oyebade, who stated that the army remains
apolitical, added: ``the issue of coup will not
happen within the ranks of the army’’.
He said: ``The Chief of Army Staff summoned his
top commanders across the army for a quick
meeting this morning.
``Essentially, the meeting was to review the
security situation in the country and to also let us
know some of the reorganisation that has taken
place over the last few days.
``We want to assure all our citizens that the army
remains apolitical, our loyalty, allegiance to the
constitutional authority of this land, the three
branches of government, Mr President and
Commander-in-Chief, our loyalty is
unquestionable.
``We have decided long before now, since the
beginning of the fourth Republic, to abide by our
code of conduct and to remain subordinate to the
civil authority.
``That has not changed and it will not change.
``We want to assure our people to be rest
assured that the issue of coup will not happen
within the ranks of the army and so also within
the ranks of members of the Nigerian Armed
Forces.’’
Oyebade, however, noted that the military
authority was not taking the issue lightly as it had
commenced a full scale probe to unravel the
mystery behind the matter.
According to him, the army is putting together
resources, assets, efforts to find out where the
dastardly speculation emanated from.
On other security matters, Oyebade said the army
in conjunction with sister services remained
unwavering in stemming the tide of terrorism in
the North-East and militancy in the Niger Delta.
He said despite the challenges the military
encountered in their operations in the North-East,
they still remained committed to accomplishing
their mission in the shortest time possible.
Adding, Oyebade stated that ``You are aware
that there was a reorganisation of the Niger Delta
operations the army is still very strong.
``We will continue to do everything to ensure
that issues of pipeline vandalism and oil theft will
be severely curtailed in conjunction with our
sister services - the Nigerian Navy, the Air Force,
and other security agencies.
``We also did a review of our operations in the
North-East it is going reasonably well there are
challenges here and there.
``But we want to assure the nation that in no
distant future we will bring it to a close, we are
working very hard on that.’’
Oyebade also reiterated the army’s commitment
to the armed forces rules of engagement as they
concern its internal security operations
nationwide.
He assured the public and citizens in particular
that the army would abide by the rules of
engagement at all times.
The meeting also commended the contributions
of the civilian Joint Task Force in the fight against
insurgency in the North-East.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that
top army commanders across the country
attended the emergency meeting held at the
Army Headquarters conference hall.

https://www.sunnewsonline.ng/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/SARAKI-AND-IKE2-750x400-300x160.jpg

Ahead of Monday’s planned arraignment of Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and his deputy Ike Ekweremadu over alleged Senate Rules forgery and Conspiracy, there are strong indications that the duo may be handed stringent bail conditions.

Both are scheduled to be arraigned before Justice Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court on two-count charge of forgery and conspiracy to commit forgery. They were earlier billed to be arraigned last Tuesday but the plan was stalled.

However, a source at the Federal Ministry of Justice and Office of the Attorney General of the Federation claimed that Saraki and Ekweremadu will be given tough bail conditions which they might not meet.

He said ” I can tell you authoritatively that Saraki and Ekweremadu may be slammed with stringent bail condition on June 27.”*

NAIROBI — Thousands of Boko Haram victims are on the verge of starvation in northeastern Nigeria, months after being rescued from the radical Islamist group, the aid group Doctors Without Borders said on Wednesday.

At a remote camp of 24,000 displaced people in the city of Bama, an average of six people have died per day, mostly from diarrhea and malnutrition, according to the organization, also known by its French name Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF. Many more are on the verge of starvation.

“According to the accounts given to MSF by displaced people in Bama new graves are appearing on a daily basis. We were told on certain days more than 30 people were dying due to hunger and illness," said Ghada Hatim, MSF head of mission in Nigeria.

The camp in Bama is one of many that pepper northeastern Nigeria, where more than 2 million people are displaced. Many of their homes have been scorched by Boko Haram, which once controlled a huge swatch of the region before being forced to retreat by the Nigerian military.


The displaced now live in camps managed by the Nigerian military and the country's own aid agencies. The United Nations has a presence as well, but international aid groups are far less present than they are in other humanitarian crises, in part because of the tense security situation and the military's restrictions on their movement.

The Air Component of OPERATION LAFIYA DOLE at
the weekend foiled a plan by Boko Haram
Terrorists to ambush forces harboured at Doron
Naira, north of Borno State.
Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, Director of
Public Relations and Information, in a statement
said a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) King Air A350i
Beechcraft aircraft on Intelligence, Surveillance
and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission sighted “a
group of terrorists in 7 Hilux vehicles, hiding
under tress at a location along the axis of
advance of own ground forces towards
Kangarawa, north of Borno State.”
It noted that following the discovery, an Alpha Jet
was scrambled to attack the Boko Haram location.
The statement added that: “The attack was
successful as 15 members of the BHTs were killed
and the whole vehicles knocked out.
“The casualty figure was confirmed by ground
forces, who subsequently consolidated on the
gains of the air effort to pursue and inflict further
casualty on the fleeing wounded members of the
terrorist group.
“Troops also confirmed that 2 gun trucks were
among vehicles destroyed by the Alpha Jet as 2 x
AK-47 rifles, 2 x RPGs and cache of assorted
munitions were recovered.
“The latest victory against the BHTs brings to fore
the important role of airpower in counter
insurgency operation.
“In furtherance of this role, the NAF has been
relentless in its effort to shape the battlespace
and provide favourable environment for own
surface forces to operate.”

BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW
YORK
JUN 19, 2016
Brigadier-General Felix
Omogui, Commander, 28 Task
Force Brigade, has
commiserated with the
families of the victims of last
week's terror attack by
suspected Boko Haram
insurgents in Kuda, a village
in Adamawa State. The
incident claimed 18 lives and
left many others injured.
Omogui expressed his
condolences during a visit to
the community, which saw him
interact with the community
leaders and the vigilance
groups. A statement issued by
Colonel Sani. K Usman, Acting
Director, Army Public
Relations, said the
Commander went to Kuda to
assess the situation in the
town following the terror
attack. Speaking during the
visit, Omogui assured the
community that his command
will do its best to apprehend
the terrorists. He also
assured that remnants of
Boko Haram terrorists hiding
in the area would be
expelled.
However, the commander
said the security agencies
require the active
cooperation and support of
the people to be successful
in their bid to end terrorism.
He enjoined members of the
community to see the fight
against terrorism and
insurgency as a collective
responsibility that requires
cooperation as well as
prompt and accurate
information sharing.
Brigadier-General Omogui
also advised members of the
community to be more vigilant
and report any suspicious
movement or persons
immediately.
Speaking on behalf of the
community, the District Head
of Gulak, Alhaji Ijadi Bello,
thanked Omogui for the visit
and acknowledged that
success in the war against
terrorism requires closer
collaboration between the
security agencies and people
of the community. Bello
promised that the community
will support the military in the
fight against Boko Haram.

The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) has alerted Nigerians of plans by security agents to scuttle the marking of this year’s Qud’s Day celebration in the country. In a statement signed by Ibrahim Musa, President, Media Forum of IMN, the movement said it received intelligence reports indicating that Nigerian Security agents have planned to carry out false flag operations unleashing mayhem in some unmentioned cities in the country, in an attempt to scuttle the marking of Qud’s Day celebration in the country. “This annual event, the IMN had peacefully marked successively for the past three decades in solidarity with the suffering people of Palestine every last week of the Holy month of Ramadan. “Two years ago, the event held simultaneously in more than twenty towns and cities across Nigeria, but it was only in Zaria that soldiers under the command of Lt. Col. S.O. Okuh brutally attacked the peaceful protesters, killing 34 people, including three children of our Leader Sheikh Zakzaky. With the benefit of hindsight, that was only a dress rehearsal for the Zaria genocidal attack of December 2015, in which over a thousand members of the IMN were extra-judicially killed in cold blood. “For the benefit of doubts, we wish to reiterate to the public that IMN has been a peaceful entity from conception and has consistently employed peaceful means throughout its existence. That is not going to change, no matter the provocation. We therefore want the general public to know that any act of violence done in our name is not from us, and we by this hereby dissociate ourselves from it and denounce same. “The Nigerian constitution has guaranteed citizens the right to free assembly and peaceful protest. This we will employ as we have always done in all our gatherings and processions. We will mark the Annual international Qud’s Day as has been the tradition just as it will be marked simultaneously all over the World. Nigeria cannot be an exception. We will bring out the name of Nigeria to take its rightful place among the comity of Nations in this regard.”

…demand N7m ransom


Three people were last Monday kidnapped by a gang of armed robbers who claimed to be members of a Niger Delta militant group, along the Lagos/Ogun waterways. The victims, identified as a politician in Obadero Akesan area of the Lagos State, a naval officer and a lady, were among passengers that boarded a boat at Adeckson bus stop, Ojo in Lagos State, to Moshe village, on the outskirt in Ogun State.

An eye witness, Mr. Femi John, told our reporter on Saturday, that the three people are still in the custody of the kidnappers who demanded for a ransom of N7millon. John, a Local Council Development Area (LCDA) staff in Lagos, said residents in both Moshe and Totowu village now live in palpable fear due to the constant attacks from the gang of militants.

“Last week Wednesday, I boarded a boat from Ishitu Ego jetty to Totowu village, a border community between Lagos and Ogun States at the close of work. All was going on well until we got to the middle of the river and these boys blocked our boat and robbed us of all we had on us. I had earlier called my wife when I was at the jetty that we were about to depart and usually it take us eight to nine minutes to get to our destination.

“But we were trapped on the waterways for close to 30 minutes as the robbers took away our valuables. Two of my phones, a loaf of bread and a folder was taken from me. The robbers came to us and identified themselves as Niger Delta militants. They said our president refused to pay their money hence they will continue to terrorize citizens. There was a lady in the boat who was going home with N250, 000 the money was collected from her and other valuables taken from other passengers,” he said.
He said a similar robbery incident has earlier taking place this time on a boat that was heading to Ibeshe village.

“We learnt that the women on that boat were asked to remove their clothes by the robbers and they handle their breasts. We were all afraid because that kind of thing has not happened before,” John added.
Efforts to reach the Police Public Relations Officer in Lagos, DSP Dolapo Badmos proved abortive as she did not respond to telephone calls and text messages put through to her mobile phone as at press time.

989900:
Makarfi gang working . . . I love this.

The Presidency yesterday clarified that
counterpart funding from states is not required
for the Federal Government’s National Home-
grown School Feeding programme.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on
Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, in a
statement noted that government had already
provided N93.1bn in the 2016 budget for the
effective implementation of the programme
He noted that state governments would not be
compelled to do that, added that states’ support
was vital whether they were able to provide funds
in addition to what the Federal Government
would do or not.
He said, “We want the states to embrace this
programme, it is good for the people, it’s a win-
win for everyone. School feeding programme is
not a counterpart funding arrangement model,
no.
“What we have is a plan where the Federal
Government provides 100 per cent feeding costs
for pupils in primary one to three in all public
primary schools in the country.
“The Presidency has made adequate
arrangements for the HGSF to happen and by the
grace of God, we are going forward to do exactly
that.
“But what is interesting is the fact that some
states have actually gone ahead to start the
school feeding programme on their own, while
some others are also making such a plan.

“In that case, more primary school pupils would
be fed in the final analysis.”
Akande assured stakeholders that if a state was
not able to fund the school feeding in Primary 4
to 6, the Federal Government would not abandon
such a state but instead go ahead and feed pupils
from Primary 1 to 3.
Specifically, he disclosed that 5.5 million school
children would be fed free of charge for 200
school days in the first phase of the home-grown
school feeding programme starting this year.
He said the feeding programme, though a part of
the APC manifesto, was also an African Union
inspired scheme to grow the continent while
ensuring that pupils go to schools.
He added that the programme was also
embedded within the National School Health
Policy and the Universal Basic Act of the FGN
2004.

The Federal Government on Tuesday said it has released N280 billion for the implementation of capital projects captured in the 2016 budget.
The money is part of the N350 billion promised by the government to fund capital projects in the country.
Six key ministries – Works, Housing and Power, Agriculture, Interior, Education, Information and Environment, have been captured in the first phase of the funds.
The government stated that the money was for projects that had already been scrutinized and ongoing.
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Hajia Zainab Ahmed, said the names of 60 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have been sent to the Federal Ministry of Finance for approval.
She stated that the released funds would be used to carry out specific projects, adding that government would not release money for any new projects.
Zainab, who said this at a one day workshop for the review and implementation of the 2016 budget in Abuja on Tuesday, added that another batch of about 30 MDAs where the screening process had been concluded would be sent to the finance ministry on Wednesday.
The event was organized by a civic technology organization, BudgIT Nigeria.
She said: “The release of the N350 billion is ongoing but of course, as I presented, we were not releasing budgets based on one quarter allocation. We needed to scrutinize the process. It took some time but we have sent about N280 billion for projects that have been scrutinized.
“As I said earlier on, the release will be done for specific projects. Our concentration was on projects that are ongoing, except for a few exceptional circumstances; we are not releasing funds for any new projects.
“We have reviewed their projects, approved them and have sent them to the ministry of finance.
“We have sent to the ministry of finance up to about 50 or 60 MDAs, but I can tell you that Works, Housing and Power, Agriculture, Interior, Education, Information and Environment are part of the ministries that we have sent to the finance ministry.
“There are about 60 MDAs already in the first batch. We have another batch of about 30 where the screening process had been concluded and we should be able to send that today (Tuesday) or tomorrow (Wednesday).”