₦airaland Forum

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that Nigerians have a democratic right to conduct peaceful protests.
The party made the comment in reaction to a nationwide protest championed by popular musician, 2Face Idibia to protest the policies of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

“For us, it is about the constitution of Nigeria, Tuface or any other citizen of the country has the right to stage a peaceful protest,that is the position of our constitution. We as a party will not be part of anything that will abridge or take away the right of citizens to protest, especially in a democracy,” APC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi told ThisDay.

“We have as a party benefited greatly from citizen’s right to express their democratic rights and our being in government is not going to change that orientation to promote the liberties and right of citizen hold dissenting views,” he added.
He also spoke on a threat made by the police to prevent the protest from holding as planned.

“Well I don’t know exactly what the police are saying about banning the protest. I think what the police will probably be saying is that they are concerned about the issue of safety and

threat to lives and property in the course of the protest,” he said.

“There are always fears that hoodlums might hijack a peaceful protest and use the opportunity to perpetrate violence on innocent citizens. I suspect this might be the consideration of the police. But this should not be good enough reason to deny citizens the full enjoyment of their constitutional rights however they wish to express them.

“We believe that protests are a form of feedback, although we may not agree with the grievances but at same time, it may be an opportunity for us to communicate more about what we are doing that the citizens may have had sufficient information on. It may an opportunity for us to give better clarification on what our government is doing.

“But fundamentally, it will be a form of feedback for us to do more in citizen’s engagement and enlightenment and to focus more on our commitment to the promises we made to our people. I do not see it as anything that is antithetical to our democracy,” he added.

http://pulse.ng/politics/apc-ruling-party-says-nigerians-have-a-right-to-protest-id6161737.html

EXCLUSIVE: Buhari shipping out Oyegun as ambassador, pencils Oshiomhole as replacement

It appears the forces insisting on the removal Odigie Oyegun as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), are about to have their way.

Nigerian Times sources at the Presidency have disclosed to this paper that barring a last minute dramatic development, President Muhammadu Buhari has concluded plans to forward Oyegun’s name as an ambassadorial nominee to the Senate for approval.

The source said President Buhari is caving in to pressure by top party chieftains who want Oyegun out.
A notable party chieftain who has consistently called for the resignation of Oyegun is suspended Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Timi Frank. Frank has repeatedly accused Oyegun of engaging in actions that have tended to divide the party. His suspension early last week was the result of his persistent attacks on the national chairman.

http://nigeriantimes.ng/news/exclusive-buhari-shipping-out-oyegun-as-ambassador-pencils-oshiomhole-as-replacement/

The decision of President Muhammadu Buhari not to forward the name of Walter Onnoghen, Acting Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN) to the Senate for confirmation after he had been duly recommended for the job by the National Judicial Council (NJC), and cleared by the Department of State Services (DSS), was deliberate, Nigerian Times investigation has revealed.
Nigerian Times sources in both the Presidency and the DSS, disclosed that contrary to insinuations that President Buhari did not forward Justice Onnoghen’s to the Senate because he received the recommendation late and was still mulling it over by the time the tenure of the immediate past CJN lapsed, he actually did not forward the name to the Senate because he did not want to.
A Presidency source told Nigerian Times that President Buhari is determined to cleanse what he feels is the rot in the judiciary and he feels the Supreme Court is the best place to start.
According to the source, the president is thinking of setting aside the age old convention of picking the oldest serving judge after an outgoing CJN to replace him. This has been the norm for over four decades and was what the NJC relied on to forward Onnoghen’s name to President Buhari for onward transmission to the Senate for confirmation.
Onnoghen having appointed to the Supreme Court in 2005, is currently the most senior in terms of longevity at the hallowed court.

http://nigeriantimes.ng/news/exclusive-buhari-plotting-to-appoint-outsider-as-chief-justice-of-nigeria/

EXCLUSIVE: FG Paid $2 million, food, drugs, fuel to Boko Haram for release of 21 Chibok Girls

Despite vehement denials by the Presidency and the high command of the Nigerian military, Nigerian Times can confirm that the Nigerian government did pay ransom to the Boko Haram for the release of 21 of Chibok girls abducted in April 2014 by the terrorists.
The 21 girls were released in late October by the terrorists after negotiations with officials of the Nigerian government.
Newspaper reports indicated later that the Muhammadu Buhari administration has in exchange for the release of the girls, paid a ransom of $5 million dollars with other reports indicating that the figure was as high as $21 million.
The reports prompted denials from both the Presidency and Defence Headquarters, which dismissed them as baseless and unfounded.
Nigerian Times checks at the Presidency however revealed that the Buhari administration was being economical with the truth in the matter of ransom in exchange for the girls. Sources there told this paper that though the figures bandied about in the
media were outlandish, the Buhari administration actually paid money to the terrorists to secure release of the girls

http://nigeriantimes.ng/news/exclusive-fg-paid-2-million-food-drugs-fuel-to-boko-haram-for-release-of-21-chibok-girls/

Dr. Reuben Abati, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to former President Goodluck Jonathan, was on Monday arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Details of his arrest are sketchy but a source at the anti-graft agency told Nigerian Times that his arrest is ion connection with ongoing investigations into corrupt practices by the EFCC. He is currently being detained at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

Details later…

http://nigeriantimes.ng/news/breaking-former-presidential-spokesman-reuben-abati-arrested-by-efcc/

Nigerian Times can exclusively report that , Mrs Aisha Buhari, Nigeria’s First Lady, left the Aso Rock Villa for London on Tuesday morning after recording her explosive interview with the BBC on Monday.

Nigerian Times learnt that while she has resolved to throw the sink at the trio of Mamman Daura (nephew and ultimate power broker), Lawal Daura ( nephew to Buhari and head of the DSS) and Abba Kyari ( Chief of Staff to Buhari and Mamman Daura’s foster son), she needs the trip to cool off away from the oppressive environment they had turned the Villa to for her.A source close to Mrs Buhari could not confirm last night if her trip was an exile from Nigeria. “We don’t know yet. Nor is she sure herself. But she knows what she is up against and a few days away from the Villa would give her enough time to ponder her next move”

Another source lamented the recluse she had slowly become in the Villa. “ What she was doing before was to travel to state capitals once her husband travels abroad. But even that they blocked with frivolous security reports. And a few governors who had formed the habit of coming to the Villa in the evenings to say hello had been warned off”.


http://nigeriantimes.ng/news/exclusive-first-lady-moves-to-london/

Details emerged on Tuesday of an angry letter of protest the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mahmoud Muhammed, penned to President Muhammadu Buhari in the aftermath of the raid on homes of senior judges and their subsequent arrest by operatives of the Department of State Services over the weekend.

A source who saw the letter told the Nigerian Times that Justice Muhammed left very little unsaid about various attempts by senior members of the administration to bribe judges and subvert the cause of justice.

In the letter, the out-going CJN directly named Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers State and current minister of Transport and Daura Lawal, Buhari’s nephew and DG of DSS, of shopping for favourable judgments with “sacks of dollars” during the sitting of the Rivers State Governorship Elections Tribunal, which sat in Abuja.

The CJN alleged that both men followed up the matter to the Supreme Court with the “sacks of dollars”. They are said to have done everything to swing the Court’s decision in favour of the APC candidate.

The candidate of the All Peoples Congress (APC) Dakuku Peterside on whose behalf Daura and Amaechi were moving sacks of dollars, won at the Appeals Court but was flattened out at the Supreme Court. One of the judges arrested by the DSS, Justice Muazu Pindiga, was head of the Rivers State governorship Elections Petitions Tribunal before he was removed for untold reasons.

A flustered Buhari was said to be reeling at the directness of the CJN’ s letter and the gravity of the accusation.

http://nigeriantimes.ng/news/exclusive-cjn-writes-buhari-accuses-amaechi-and-dg-dss-of-corruption/

Nigerian athletics legend, Innocent Egbunike, who was the coach for Team Nigeria’s athletics team to London 2012 Olympic Games blames AFN President, Solomon Ogba’s divide and rule tactics for the team’s failure.

Ogba also led the athletics team to another disastrous outing at the Rio Olympics last month.

Egbunike’s report, obtained exclusively by our correspondent, details how nepotism, lack of discipline, etc, created a split among the athletes to produce a house of horror.

According to the report, the problem started at the trials in Calabar,

“Considering that the Olympic trials is a competition that gives athletes the opportunity to compete for a spot on their nation’s team, the 2012 Olympic trials was faced with class division among the athletes. We had Delta athletes, AFN invited athletes and athletes with “A” standard from 2012 season. The “A” standard athletes were housed in a five star hotel and the remaining athletes stayed in a regular hotel. This created divisions among the athletes. This was part of what spilled over throughout the duration of the Games.’’

Egbunike wrote in the report that Ogba selected the team for the trial without recourse to the laid down rules.
“We had met before the trials and I requested that we (myself, Yussuf Ali, Maria Wophill, Gabriel Okon, and Evangelist/President Ogba) put the standard for the African Championships and the standard for Olympic Games in black and white and decided that A and B standard athletes will represent Nigeria at the African Championships and A standard athletes will represent Nigeria at Olympic Games. We were supposed to meet to pick the team after the trials. To my surprise, the team was announced that night and when I asked, I was told that it was the AFN tradition to announce the team the last night of the competition.’’

Read more here http://nigeriantimes.ng/news/nigerian-times-exclusive-report-reveals-ogbas-divide-and-rule-tactics-led-to-nigerias-failure-at-london-2012/

Olympics: Why Ogba Should Not Only Resign But Apologize to Nigerians


I have been on some sort of sabbatical from sports. The last time I commented seriously on the happenings in the Nigerian sports sector was in 2014 when my former boss Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi exited the cabinet of the Goodluck Jonathan administration as minister of sports. But last week, a news item caught my attention. It was a report in the Vanguard newspaper with the screaming headline, ‘’Your policies, politics killed athletics, Urhobo tells Abdullahi.’’ But on reading the body of the story, I realized that there was no correlation between the story and the headline. Urhobo was flailing without making any valid point. It then occurred to me that the story may be a very lame attempt by the President of Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Mr. Solomon Ogba to attack the former minister using a proxy.

It is understandable why Mr. Ogba would be unhappy with the former minister. A few days earlier, Abdullahi had called on him to throw in the towel for his disastrous leadership of the AFN which led to the woeful performance of the athletics team in the last Olympics in Rio, Brazil, which is worse than the failure of London 2012.

Any doubt I had about this was erased the next day when Mr. Ogba himself was reported in Vanguard calling for Abdullahi to be probe for the high performance system, which the former Minister began, but was mismanaged after he left office. Ha, at last the man had managed to muster enough courage and finally shown the face behind the mask!

But, seriously, let us look at the issues that have been raised. In the said story, Ogba made several allegations against the former minister. One, he alleged that there was some form of mismanagement of funds released for the high performance system (HPS); two, he claimed the former minister recruited incompetent people to run the HPS; finally alleging that Abdullahi starved the various federations of funds when he was in charge.

Of course, there is no iota of truth in any of these allegations as they are products of the fertile imaginations of a frustrated Ogba. It was obvious that Ogba never wanted the high performance system to succeed probably because he was getting grants from the IAAF to build a high performance system in Port Harcourt. Perhaps, reason why he conspired to work against the HPS initiated by ministry of sports. I recall that Abdullahi’s first choice for the position of technical director was Mike Afilaka, a Nigerian coach who was with the UK athletics team. It was Ogba who insisted that he preferred Americans for the job and was part of the team from Nigeria that interviewed various applicants for the position. Now he has made a volta-face.

His other allegations are bunkum and really do not deserve any attention. The truth is, Abdullahi spoke up because of his interest and love for Nigerian sports. I mean, Ogba has led Nigeria to two disastrous outings in Rio and London, each time the performance was worse than the previous one. To make matters worse, the man does not have any clue or idea on what to do take athletics to the next level. His stock-in-trade appears to be insulting people and making wild allegations to distract attention from his incompetence and bad leadership.

He should know that such underhand tactics won’t work anymore. Nigerians are wiser now. In fact, anyone with as much as passing interest in Nigerian athletics knows that Ogba is the problem of the sport and we will not make progress as long as he sits at the of the AFN table.

On a personal note, I am however not disappointed by his recent actions. It is obvious that Ogba is an ingrate and fair-weather friend who spends 90 percent of his time as AFN President groveling at the feet of whoever the current Sports Minister is. When the APC won the general elections and there were speculations that Abdullahi would return as Minister, Ogba went into over-drive, calling the former minister and his associates, begging to be let in again into Abdullahi’s good books. But by then he was already known for who is – a two-face Janus!

He really does not have any business running Nigerian athletics. His full-bodied frame and comportment are better suited for playing the role of a clown at children’s party. He should not only resign but apologize to Nigerians for his incompetence which has caused us two disastrous outings at the Olympics in London 2012 and in Rio, Brazil.

Julius Ogunro, MD of Peach Communications, was the Special Assistant on Media to Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the former Minister of Sports







http://www.signalng.com/olympics-ogba-not-resign-apologize-nigerians/

At his wits end over how to raise money and keep the Nigerian economy from collapsing completely, President Muhammadu Buhari is about concluding plans to sell off prized national assets to investors form the Middle East.
Nigerian Times learnt from a highly placed source in the Presidency that the government has been in talks with businessmen form Dubai and Qatar over the sale of its entire 49 percent stake in the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas Limited.

The deal, this paper learnt, is being brokered by an influential governor from the northern part of the country. Discussions have been on for some time now but our source said the deal would have been wrapped up by now but for the insistence by the businessmen that the Nigerian government provide cast-iron guarantee that their investment would be safe given the restiveness in the Niger Delta region where the assets are based.

“The bombing of oil facilities by the Avengers is a sticking point. The investors do not want to spend billions acquiring the company only to have it go up in flames. They are asking the president to provide assurance that
facilities belonging to the company will continue to be protected by government after they have sealed the deal,” our source said.

President Buhari is said to have given them his word that their investments would be well secured by security agencies, informing them that his government is also exploring a peaceful resolution of the Niger Delta problem.

http://nigeriantimes.ng/news/exclusive-buhari-planning-to-sell-nlng-stake-in-jvcs-to-arab-businessmen-from-uae/

Minister of Information, Culture and National Orientation, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has written the National Broadcasting Commission demanding a ‘loan’ of N13, 120, 470 (Thirteen Million, One Hundred and Twenty Thousand Naira only) as ‘logistics’ for him and his team to travel to China on assignment they have termed is in the interest of the nation, SIGNAL can report.

The memo, which was exclusively obtained on Thursday by SIGNAL, says the so called loan will be repaid as soon as the ministry receives its allocation, and attached approvals from the Permanent Secretary and the Honourable Minister.

Investigations by SIGNAL however revealed that the demand is illegal and goes directly against civil service procurement and protocol rules. Apart from disregarding and exceeding the approval limit of the acting Director General which the Honourable Minister is enabling, the vague purpose of the trip is not under the purview of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

Also, the NBC is not a bank or official lender. The development raises concerns about the illegal use of taxpayers’ money as fodder for lending transactions between Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). Civil service sources told SIGNAL on Thursday it is criminal to pledge government credit, expending more than N13, 000, 000 of the budget allocated to the Ministry of Information even before it has been released.

http://www.signalng.com/scandal-lai-mohammed-breaks-civil-service-rules-demands-n13-million-loan-nbc/

Crisis is said to be brewing between APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over the refusal of the former to repay a loan of N1 billion reportedly collected from the latter during the 2015 presidential campaign, SIGNAL can report.

A source familiar with the details told SIGNAL on Monday that both political heavyweights may be heading for a showdown over the development.

According to the source who did not want to be named, Atiku loaned Tinubu the sum of N1 billion in 2015 for the financing of deficits incurred during the APC presidential campaign with a promise to repay immediately after the elections. Crisis between the two titans began when months after the election, Tinubu refused to repay the debt, rebuffing Atiku’s attempts to broach the subject.

http://www.signalng.com/exclusive-crisis-brews-apc-tinubus-refusal-repay-atikus-n1-billion-campaign-loan/

Government activities are reportedly sliding into coma at Nigeria’s Aso Rock seat of power as the Chief of Staff to President Buhari, Abba Kyari battles an undisclosed illness, SIGNAL can report.

Sources familiar with the development disclosed the details to SIGNAL on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

Abba Kyari’s illness, which is said to be of an undisclosed nature, has slowed down the efficiency of the office of Chief of Staff to the President, which is the brain box of the President’s office.

“The man has been seriously sick but has been struggling and managing to carry out his duties. Most of the times, files that should be passed on to the President immediately are left untreated for weeks. The condition of the President’s office is in a pretty bad shape. The office is lying in a state of coma”, the source who did not want to be named told this newspaper.

http://www.signalng.com/exclusive-aso-rock-coma-buharis-chief-staff-battles-illness/

Although a high court in the United Kingdom has dissolved the marriage between funky and controversial pastor, Chris Oyakhilome, and his wife Anita, a new line of controversy has been opened between the now divorced couple.” On the whole, it was for long stretches a joyless, sexless marriage. What held it together was hope. Even hope finally gave way to a steady stream of philandering and abuse by the husband”.

Nigerian Times has exclusively gathered that Pastor Anita is seeking the services of lawyers in Nigeria to help recover several properties she had donated to the Christ Embassy church when the going was rosy between her and now ex-husband, Oyakhilome, fondly known as Pastor Chris by his followers. Pastor Chris leads the Christ Embassy Church, AKA Believers LoveWorld, while his ex-wife Anita was a senior member of the Church’s Central Executive Council, its highest-decision making body and was also in charge of the international office based in London before the trouble with her former husband began.

A Nigerian Times’ investigation reveals that Anita, who had since reverted to her maiden name Ebhodhage inherited the said property from her father, the late John Ebhodhage who was the MD/CEO of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation between 1989 and 1998. The property includes a duplex at Isolo in Lagos, an apartment at Ekpoma in Edo State, amongst others. We could not confirm if any of the property is overseas.

“She donated the property to the church believing that she was furthering the gospel and at that time truly believed in Pastor Chris, who in addition to being her husband was also her pastor,” said a close family source to Pastor Anita who has chosen to be anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the issue.

Divorce
The couple’s divorce was finalized on February 8, this year but it was after much legal drama and fireworks in the English court. The major contentions were the sharing of their mutual property as well Pastor Anita’s right to speak freely about life with her former husband, which he had challenged, wanting the court to bar her from disclosing details of the divorce and their life together. He was however willing to consider a sufficient compensation to her, if she agreed not to speak about the matter.

On the matter of compensation, we gathered that Pastor Chris declared a total sum of 120,000 USD and a house in Johannesburg, South Africa and that he was only the spiritual head of the Christ Embassy Church, not its administrative or legal head, and so its funds were communal and not personal to him. Our source, who described the claim by Pastor Chris as a blatant lie, revealed that this was particularly distressing to Anita as she had invested the better part of her life, including finances in the Christ Embassy Church. “She was particularly saddened by this claim, and had to go on vacation to Switzerland, her mother’s country, because of the stress,” he said.

That incident happened in October last year, shortly after which Pastor Chris donated the whooping sum of N1 billion to the Benson Idahosa University.

The court held in favour of Pastor Chris that the funds of the church were indeed communal and so would not be a factor in the divorce, to his great delight and the coterie of aides, hangers-on and senior pastors who accompanied him to the High Court of Justice Principal Registry of the Family Division in October 2015. So much so that it was learnt they threw a party at the Christ Embassy, Bermondsey branch to celebrate ‘the victory.’

The court however did not bar Pastor Anita from disclosing any detail of the divorce or life with her ex-husband, and we have learned reliably that she is getting prepared to write a tell-all about the misery she suffered at the hands of the so-called man of God.

What broke the camel’s back
Talking about misery, our source disclosed that the woman had a difficult and sexless marriage for much of the time they were together but bore the pains because she believed it was the necessary sacrifice for the success of their ministry. She was transferred to UK to start off the international arm of the ministry in the late 90s, when the church had a programme there and Pastor Chris asked her to stay back and kick-start the international arm of the ministry. At that point, our source said, Pastor Chris’ word was life and death to her and she considered him next to God. So in spite of family and friends who cautioned against taking up the offer and that it was not ideal leaving her relatively young marriage for an oversea country, even for the cause of the gospel, she packed her bags in obedience to her ‘man of God.’ She took their two children Charlene and Sharon along with her.

In no time, her hard-work had paid off and the international arm of the ministry was booming, with numerous churches started in the UK and mainland Europe. But this success might have invariably cost her marriage, for while she was away from Nigeria, a few women had allegedly grown close to her husband and were living in the same housing complex known as ‘White House’ as he. ‘White House’ is an exclusive multi story building at the Church’s Oregun-Lagos branch where Pastor Chris stays whenever he is in Lagos. It has several luxury apartments, a swimming pool, and open only to Pastor Chris, and his closest aides, who incidentally are beautiful but unmarried top female pastors such as Pastors Yemisi Kudehinbu, and Deola Phillips, whom his ex-wife was uncomfortable with.

With rumours swirling around town about some suspicious activities bordering on infidelity, our source said Pastor Anita insisted on returning to Lagos, to her matrimonial home, and requested the sack of the strange women – Pentecostalspeak for home breakers , around her ex-husband. The man however refused, insisting that she was more useful to the ministry in the Uk, than in Nigeria and that the women were indispensible to the growth of the Christ Embassy Church.

“What really broke the camel’s back happened after IPPC (the Church’s flagship program for its partners and pastors) in December 2013. While sleeping in their room, she woke up to discover that her ex-husband had exited the room, and locked the door behind him. She was distraught and could not fathom why he would lock her inside the room and left with the key!

“On returning, she queried him and he confessed that he had gone for a meeting in the apartment of one of the controversial women pastors around him, Yemisi Kudehinbu. This enraged the wife and she vowed to leave and never to return. She subsequently filed for divorce on returning to the UK,” our source revealed. “It wasn’t just that he was doing it; but that he couldn’t forgo that one night she had planned to spend with him in Lagos.”

The Family
The ex-couple were blessed with two children, Charlene and Sharon, both of whom were raised by their mother in the UK. That has not however made them stick with their mum in these trying times. “They both currently live with their father, and she has not seen or spoken with them in a while,” the source said, explaining further that “the man is very charismatic and can convince anyone, also I believe the children think they are better off being with their multi-billionaire dad than with their mum who is just trying to get by now.”

http://nigeriantimes.ng/news/exclusive-the-messy-details-of-pastor-chris-divorce/

Although a high court in the United Kingdom has dissolved the marriage between funky and controversial pastor, Chris Oyakhilome, and his wife Anita, a new line of controversy has been opened between the now divorced couple.” On the whole, it was for long stretches a joyless, sexless marriage. What held it together was hope. Even hope finally gave way to a steady stream of philandering and abuse by the husband”.

Nigerian Times has exclusively gathered that Pastor Anita is seeking the services of lawyers in Nigeria to help recover several properties she had donated to the Christ Embassy church when the going was rosy between her and now ex-husband, Oyakhilome, fondly known as Pastor Chris by his followers. Pastor Chris leads the Christ Embassy Church, AKA Believers LoveWorld, while his ex-wife Anita was a senior member of the Church’s Central Executive Council, its highest-decision making body and was also in charge of the international office based in London before the trouble with her former husband began.

A Nigerian Times’ investigation reveals that Anita, who had since reverted to her maiden name Ebhodhage inherited the said property from her father, the late John Ebhodhage who was the MD/CEO of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation between 1989 and 1998. The property includes a duplex at Isolo in Lagos, an apartment at Ekpoma in Edo State, amongst others. We could not confirm if any of the property is overseas.

“She donated the property to the church believing that she was furthering the gospel and at that time truly believed in Pastor Chris, who in addition to being her husband was also her pastor,” said a close family source to Pastor Anita who has chosen to be anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the issue.

Divorce
The couple’s divorce was finalized on February 8, this year but it was after much legal drama and fireworks in the English court. The major contentions were the sharing of their mutual property as well Pastor Anita’s right to speak freely about life with her former husband, which he had challenged, wanting the court to bar her from disclosing details of the divorce and their life together. He was however willing to consider a sufficient compensation to her, if she agreed not to speak about the matter.

On the matter of compensation, we gathered that Pastor Chris declared a total sum of 120,000 USD and a house in Johannesburg, South Africa and that he was only the spiritual head of the Christ Embassy Church, not its administrative or legal head, and so its funds were communal and not personal to him. Our source, who described the claim by Pastor Chris as a blatant lie, revealed that this was particularly distressing to Anita as she had invested the better part of her life, including finances in the Christ Embassy Church. “She was particularly saddened by this claim, and had to go on vacation to Switzerland, her mother’s country, because of the stress,” he said.

That incident happened in October last year, shortly after which Pastor Chris donated the whooping sum of N1 billion to the Benson Idahosa University.

The court held in favour of Pastor Chris that the funds of the church were indeed communal and so would not be a factor in the divorce, to his great delight and the coterie of aides, hangers-on and senior pastors who accompanied him to the High Court of Justice Principal Registry of the Family Division in October 2015. So much so that it was learnt they threw a party at the Christ Embassy, Bermondsey branch to celebrate ‘the victory.’

The court however did not bar Pastor Anita from disclosing any detail of the divorce or life with her ex-husband, and we have learned reliably that she is getting prepared to write a tell-all about the misery she suffered at the hands of the so-called man of God.

What broke the camel’s back
Talking about misery, our source disclosed that the woman had a difficult and sexless marriage for much of the time they were together but bore the pains because she believed it was the necessary sacrifice for the success of their ministry. She was transferred to UK to start off the international arm of the ministry in the late 90s, when the church had a programme there and Pastor Chris asked her to stay back and kick-start the international arm of the ministry. At that point, our source said, Pastor Chris’ word was life and death to her and she considered him next to God. So in spite of family and friends who cautioned against taking up the offer and that it was not ideal leaving her relatively young marriage for an oversea country, even for the cause of the gospel, she packed her bags in obedience to her ‘man of God.’ She took their two children Charlene and Sharon along with her.

In no time, her hard-work had paid off and the international arm of the ministry was booming, with numerous churches started in the UK and mainland Europe. But this success might have invariably cost her marriage, for while she was away from Nigeria, a few women had allegedly grown close to her husband and were living in the same housing complex known as ‘White House’ as he. ‘White House’ is an exclusive multi story building at the Church’s Oregun-Lagos branch where Pastor Chris stays whenever he is in Lagos. It has several luxury apartments, a swimming pool, and open only to Pastor Chris, and his closest aides, who incidentally are beautiful but unmarried top female pastors such as Pastors Yemisi Kudehinbu, and Deola Phillips, whom his ex-wife was uncomfortable with.

With rumours swirling around town about some suspicious activities bordering on infidelity, our source said Pastor Anita insisted on returning to Lagos, to her matrimonial home, and requested the sack of the strange women – Pentecostalspeak for home breakers , around her ex-husband. The man however refused, insisting that she was more useful to the ministry in the Uk, than in Nigeria and that the women were indispensible to the growth of the Christ Embassy Church.

“What really broke the camel’s back happened after IPPC (the Church’s flagship program for its partners and pastors) in December 2013. While sleeping in their room, she woke up to discover that her ex-husband had exited the room, and locked the door behind him. She was distraught and could not fathom why he would lock her inside the room and left with the key!

“On returning, she queried him and he confessed that he had gone for a meeting in the apartment of one of the controversial women pastors around him, Yemisi Kudehinbu. This enraged the wife and she vowed to leave and never to return. She subsequently filed for divorce on returning to the UK,” our source revealed. “It wasn’t just that he was doing it; but that he couldn’t forgo that one night she had planned to spend with him in Lagos.”

The Family
The ex-couple were blessed with two children, Charlene and Sharon, both of whom were raised by their mother in the UK. That has not however made them stick with their mum in these trying times. “They both currently live with their father, and she has not seen or spoken with them in a while,” the source said, explaining further that “the man is very charismatic and can convince anyone, also I believe the children think they are better off being with their multi-billionaire dad than with their mum who is just trying to get by now.”

http://nigeriantimes.ng/news/exclusive-the-messy-details-of-pastor-chris-divorce/

When it has to do with tithing, he doesnt teach grace but thd law.

EXCLUSIVE | How Amaechi Diverted Over N40 Billion Into Buhari’s Presidential Campaign http://www.signalng.com/report-how-amaechi-diverted-over-n40-billion-into-buharis-presidential-campaign/

Lol

SHOPRITE APO: Good service, bad, bad location

Shoprite operates several malls in Nigeria and no doubt provides wonderful services to Nigerians. I personally like the services provided by the malls across the country. However, I believe the Shoprite mall at Apo in Abuja is wrongly located.

The mall, I believe, has increased the traffic jam in the Apo area by tenfold. As well worrisome is the security problem around its vicinity as petty thefts have increased since it began operation some years back.


https://www.haveyoursay.ng/shoprite-apo-good-service-bad-bad-location/

Check out some reviews on haveyoursay.ng



Visiting a bank in Nigeria these days is trying experience. Like the late actor Lomaji Ugorji ( of Icheoku fame) in that old Equitorial Trust Bank advert, which ran for a long time on Nigerian television stations, you are tempted to go with your pillow and mattress.
In fact, the last thing you want to do, is visit a bank when you have an appointment closing in on you. And so it was that last week Friday (November 13, 2015), I wanted to effect a transaction at one of the First Bank branches in Nyanya, Abuja. I walked into the premises of the bank and saw a long line of people standing in front of the entrance to the banking hall.
Read more at

https://www.haveyoursay.ng/trying-experience-first-bank-branch/

A consumer review platform, haveyoursay.ng, has been launched in Abuja. The platform provides a forum for users of services and products in Nigeria to review and share their experiences online. The CEO of Peach Communications, Julius Ogunro, said the idea behind the web platform was to give Nigerian consumers power by having their voices heard on the quality of goods and services offered in the country. “We want consumers to exercise more powers over their shopping experience, believing that that will make providers of services take them more seriously if they know that the consumer can easily share his or her experience online, which may affect how other potential consumers perceive that outfit,” he said. “I hear a lot of stories from my friends, associates and family members about the quality of services offered in the country. Some are very pleased with a particular kind of food, or a service provided by a restaurant, airline or bank, so much so that they cannot wait to share that experience with others. “Others don’t have such a pleasant experience and complain and grumble but feel powerless to do anything about it. “With haveyoursay.ng, there is now a comprehensive platform for a conversation about services and products offered in Nigeria. The website is easy to use and the content is user-generated.” The platform, according to the promoter, will be useful to consumers by providing rich and reliable information about services provided by the government and companies in all sectors, including: financial services, food and beverages, airlines, telecoms, schools, religious organisations, NGOs, media, hotels, as well as reviews on promos, events, shows and competitions. “This rich database of information will help consumers make better choices about who, where and what to patronize as well as put providers of services on their toes,” he said.

Please check out some reviews on Nigeria's first consumer review website

SHOPRITE APO: Good service, bad, bad locationPosted in Corporate By Allen Toikumo
Shoprite operates several malls in Nigeria and no doubt provides wonderful services to Nigerians. I personally like the services provided by the malls across the country. However, I believe the Shoprite mall at Apo in Abuja is wrongly located.

The mall, I believe, has increased the traffic jam in the Apo area by tenfold. As well worrisome is the security problem around its vicinity as petty thefts have increased since it began operation some years back.

https://www.haveyoursay.ng/shoprite-apo-good-service-bad-bad-location/

SHOPRITE APO: Good service, bad, bad location

Shoprite operates several malls in Nigeria and no doubt provides wonderful services to Nigerians. I personally like the services provided by the malls across the country. However, I believe the Shoprite mall at Apo in Abuja is wrongly located.

The mall, I believe, has increased the traffic jam in the Apo area by tenfold. As well worrisome is the security problem around its vicinity as petty thefts have increased since it began operation some years back.


https://www.haveyoursay.ng/shoprite-apo-good-service-bad-bad-location/

Check out some reviews on haveyoursay.ng



Visiting a bank in Nigeria these days is trying experience. Like the late actor Lomaji Ugorji ( of Icheoku fame) in that old Equitorial Trust Bank advert, which ran for a long time on Nigerian television stations, you are tempted to go with your pillow and mattress.
In fact, the last thing you want to do, is visit a bank when you have an appointment closing in on you. And so it was that last week Friday (November 13, 2015), I wanted to effect a transaction at one of the First Bank branches in Nyanya, Abuja. I walked into the premises of the bank and saw a long line of people standing in front of the entrance to the banking hall.
Read more at

https://www.haveyoursay.ng/trying-experience-first-bank-branch/

I think the OP has a point. But however it ends I hope it benefits the Kogi people.

A consumer review platform, haveyoursay.ng, has been launched in Abuja. The platform provides a forum for users of services and products in Nigeria to review and share their experiences online. The CEO of Peach Communications, Julius Ogunro, said the idea behind the web platform was to give Nigerian consumers power by having their voices heard on the quality of goods and services offered in the country. “We want consumers to exercise more powers over their shopping experience, believing that that will make providers of services take them more seriously if they know that the consumer can easily share his or her experience online, which may affect how other potential consumers perceive that outfit,” he said. “I hear a lot of stories from my friends, associates and family members about the quality of services offered in the country. Some are very pleased with a particular kind of food, or a service provided by a restaurant, airline or bank, so much so that they cannot wait to share that experience with others. “Others don’t have such a pleasant experience and complain and grumble but feel powerless to do anything about it. “With haveyoursay.ng, there is now a comprehensive platform for a conversation about services and products offered in Nigeria. The website is easy to use and the content is user-generated.” The platform, according to the promoter, will be useful to consumers by providing rich and reliable information about services provided by the government and companies in all sectors, including: financial services, food and beverages, airlines, telecoms, schools, religious organisations, NGOs, media, hotels, as well as reviews on promos, events, shows and competitions. “This rich database of information will help consumers make better choices about who, where and what to patronize as well as put providers of services on their toes,” he said.

Read more at: https://www.thecable.ng/nigerian-consumers-can-now-say

Check out some reviews on haveyoursay.ng



Visiting a bank in Nigeria these days is trying experience. Like the late actor Lomaji Ugorji ( of Icheoku fame) in that old Equitorial Trust Bank advert, which ran for a long time on Nigerian television stations, you are tempted to go with your pillow and mattress.
In fact, the last thing you want to do, is visit a bank when you have an appointment closing in on you. And so it was that last week Friday (November 13, 2015), I wanted to effect a transaction at one of the First Bank branches in Nyanya, Abuja. I walked into the premises of the bank and saw a long line of people standing in front of the entrance to the banking hall.
Read more at

https://www.haveyoursay.ng/trying-experience-first-bank-branch/
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A consumer review platform, haveyoursay.ng, has been launched in Abuja. The platform provides a forum for users of services and products in Nigeria to review and share their experiences online. The CEO of Peach Communications, Julius Ogunro, said the idea behind the web platform was to give Nigerian consumers power by having their voices heard on the quality of goods and services offered in the country. “We want consumers to exercise more powers over their shopping experience, believing that that will make providers of services take them more seriously if they know that the consumer can easily share his or her experience online, which may affect how other potential consumers perceive that outfit,” he said. “I hear a lot of stories from my friends, associates and family members about the quality of services offered in the country. Some are very pleased with a particular kind of food, or a service provided by a restaurant, airline or bank, so much so that they cannot wait to share that experience with others. “Others don’t have such a pleasant experience and complain and grumble but feel powerless to do anything about it. “With haveyoursay.ng, there is now a comprehensive platform for a conversation about services and products offered in Nigeria. The website is easy to use and the content is user-generated.” The platform, according to the promoter, will be useful to consumers by providing rich and reliable information about services provided by the government and companies in all sectors, including: financial services, food and beverages, airlines, telecoms, schools, religious organisations, NGOs, media, hotels, as well as reviews on promos, events, shows and competitions. “This rich database of information will help consumers make better choices about who, where and what to patronize as well as put providers of services on their toes,” he said.

Check out some reviews on haveyoursay.ng



Visiting a bank in Nigeria these days is trying experience. Like the late actor Lomaji Ugorji ( of Icheoku fame) in that old Equitorial Trust Bank advert, which ran for a long time on Nigerian television stations, you are tempted to go with your pillow and mattress.
In fact, the last thing you want to do, is visit a bank when you have an appointment closing in on you. And so it was that last week Friday (November 13, 2015), I wanted to effect a transaction at one of the First Bank branches in Nyanya, Abuja. I walked into the premises of the bank and saw a long line of people standing in front of the entrance to the banking hall.
Read more at

https://www.haveyoursay.ng/trying-experience-first-bank-branch/

A consumer review platform, haveyoursay.ng, has been launched in Abuja. The platform provides a forum for users of services and products in Nigeria to review and share their experiences online. The CEO of Peach Communications, Julius Ogunro, said the idea behind the web platform was to give Nigerian consumers power by having their voices heard on the quality of goods and services offered in the country. “We want consumers to exercise more powers over their shopping experience, believing that that will make providers of services take them more seriously if they know that the consumer can easily share his or her experience online, which may affect how other potential consumers perceive that outfit,” he said. “I hear a lot of stories from my friends, associates and family members about the quality of services offered in the country. Some are very pleased with a particular kind of food, or a service provided by a restaurant, airline or bank, so much so that they cannot wait to share that experience with others. “Others don’t have such a pleasant experience and complain and grumble but feel powerless to do anything about it. “With haveyoursay.ng, there is now a comprehensive platform for a conversation about services and products offered in Nigeria. The website is easy to use and the content is user-generated.” The platform, according to the promoter, will be useful to consumers by providing rich and reliable information about services provided by the government and companies in all sectors, including: financial services, food and beverages, airlines, telecoms, schools, religious organisations, NGOs, media, hotels, as well as reviews on promos, events, shows and competitions. “This rich database of information will help consumers make better choices about who, where and what to patronize as well as put providers of services on their toes,” he said.

Read more at: https://www.thecable.ng/nigerian-consumers-can-now-say

Forces from Bourdillon working closely with a Governor from one of the North-West states and some elements in the Presidency on Monday compelled the President of the Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa to arrest judgement in the case filed by Senate President, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki challenging his trial before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) due to non compliance with the provision of the law, SIGNAL can report.

According to a top judicial source who spoke to SIGNAL on Monday on condition of anonymity, a high-powered agenda is being orchestrated to compromise the outcome of Saraki’s appeal.

“I can tell you on good authority that something is really amiss. There is a collaboration of presidency forces, Bourdillon and a governor from one of the North-West states to ensure this process is compromised against the Senate President. You can clearly see with what is happening that this is a carefully scripted agenda that is playing out and even the hands of judges are tied”, the source disclosed.

It will be recalled that two hours before the time slated for the commencement of the delivery of the judgment by the Court of Appeal, an online newspaper, Sahara Reporters, had published a story targeting the Appeal Court judges claiming that “the Court of Appeal Abuja, have concluded plans to order a stop to the trial of Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki by the Code of Conduct Tribunal ordering immediate discontinuation of Mr Saraki’s trial”.

Independent commentators are however wondering whether the online platform got the hint of the content of the supposed judgment and therefore decided to preempt the outcome of the case.

It is curious and unusual that a panel of Judges of the Court of Appeal will fix a date for judgment and less than 30 minutes to the period, the Judges did not even show up to brief either the counsel in chamber or the court but only a court clerk sauntered into the court room to announce that the judgment has been postponed and the court will communicate a new date to the parties at a later day.

The court clerk then immediately ordered Saraki’s lawyer and other guests out of the courtroom and locked the doors and windows.

Strangely, Mr. Rotimi Jacob, SAN and other government lawyers did not turn up at all, leaving many to assume that they had foreknowledge of the way the events eventually played out.

Another highly palced source who pleaded anonymity confirmed to SIGNAL that Justice Bulkachuwa is under extreme pressure not to allow any development that will jeopardize the plan to convict Saraki by all means at the CCT.

The source added that the President of the Court of Appeal may attempt to reassign the case to a more malleable panel of judges.

Meanwhile, many senior members of the bench have described what happened in the Court of Appeal today as an aberration and a flagrant attempt to bring the judiciary to disrepute.

Some of them are of the opinion that Justice Bulkachuwa herself is under pressure from external forces whose bidding she would be inclined to do because of her on-going investigations for some past misdeeds.

“With what happened today, The President of the court of appeal may make desperate moves that we cannot immediately contemplate. Only God knows where this will end”, a retired judge who did not want to be named said.

http://www.thebreakingtimes.com/buhari-tinubu-influence-appeal-court-process-against-saraki/

THE QUESTION: Why did Buhari overlook Utomi, Ezekwesili, Falana and Abdullahi?

Bolaji Abdullahi

For Bolaji Abdullahi, former minister of sports, lightning has struck twice in his political career as his name is prominently missing from the list of ministerial nominees sent by President Muhammadu Buhari to the senate. Favoured by the stalwarts of the Kwara state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to be the ministerial nominee from the state, Abdullahi was overlooked by Buhari in favour of Lai Mohammed, the party’s national publicity secretary. Lightning first struck in March 2014 when Abdullahi was removed as minister by President Goodluck Jonathan months after Bukola Saraki, who nominated him, defected to APC as crisis rocked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with the formation of the new PDP. The second lightning has struck — again on the account of Saraki’s estrangement from Buhari following his decision to contest for senate president against the preference of the president and many senior APC figures. Abdullahi was the deputy director of the policy and research direction of the APC presidential campaign, working closely with Kayode Fayemi who headed the directorate. Although Buhari was said to have been impressed with Abdullahi’s contributions, including speech writing and inputs into campaign strategy, insiders in the know of the intrigues that went into the compilation of the ministerial list said Abdullahi’s fate was sealed when Saraki decided to defy the party’s position on senate presidency. “In a sense, you can say Abdullahi’s political strength has turned out to be his waterloo. It was Saraki that brought him into politics, made his a special assistant and later commissioner for education. He was also the one that nominated him as minister from Kwara in 2011,” a party insider said. “But it is also indisputable that whatever happens to Saraki will affect him either positively or negatively. So Abdullahi took the bullet from Jonathan because of Saraki and has taken a second bullet from Buhari also because of Saraki. Nobody is questioning his competence and record, but I don’t believe he ever stood a chance of being made minister after the fall-out from the senate leadership elections.”

Read more at: https://www.thecable.ng/question-earth-buhari-overlook-utomi-ezekwesili-falana-abdullahi

Read more at: https://www.thecable.ng/question-earth-buhari-overlook-utomi-ezekwesili-falana-abdullahi



RABIU KWANKWASO

Kwankwaso is a politician’s politician who served as governor of Kano state for two terms. He was one of the key PDP leaders who left the party in 2013 to found the New PDP (nPDP) and later moved into the APC and became a critical bloc of the then opposition party. Like Buhari, he contested for the APC’s presidential ticket but emerged second ahead of other heavyweights like former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Imo state governor Rochas Okorocha. Although a serving senator, Kwakwanso was speculated as a likely nominee from Kano state. Many had said that if he was nominated it would not be unusual for a senator to forfeit his seat for a position in the executive arm of government. The last two ministers of the FCT Bala Mohammed and Mohammed Adamu Aliero were recruited from the senate. In fact, the lobby to name Kwakwanso minister of the FCT was intense. A lobby group Abuja Professionals led this campaign. Buhari named former army chief, Abdulrahman Dambazzau, from Kano state, to the

Read more at: https://www.thecable.ng/question-earth-buhari-overlook-utomi-ezekwesili-falana-abdullahi


ABIKE DABIRI She played very huge role in the APC’s presidential campaign, serving as compere of most of the events and provided the feminine voice on several issues. An APC member from Lagos, Dabiri, a former broadcast journalist, is a two-term house of representatives member from Ikorodu who reportedly initially toyed with the idea of running for governor in Lagos. She, however, threw herself into the presidential campaign and it is no exaggeration to say that no woman campaigned more vigorously for the APC than she did. It was generally expected that she would be compensated with a ministerial slot. But she is from Lagos where there are many APC bigwigs and where Bola Tinubu calls the shot. Many names alongside hers were mentioned, including that of former governor, Babatunde Fashola, and former commissioner of finance, Wale Edun, for a possible ministerial position. Fashola eventually got Buhari’s nod, foreclosing the chances of Dabiri and Edun.

Read more at: https://www.thecable.ng/question-earth-buhari-overlook-utomi-ezekwesili-falana-abdullahi


FEMI FALANA

Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria, is a lawyer-activist who made name for himself over the years fighting noble causes. Especially in the days of military dictatorships, he was one of the notable Lagos lawyers who suffered imprisonments and other hardships while agitating for democratic rights. Although he was not a public supporter of APC, Falana was speculated as one of the would-be ministers. It was even reported that he had undergone security screening and was pencilled in for attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice. Falana’s nomination was being pushed by Bola Tinunu, the former governor of Lagos State and leader of the APC in the Southwest. Falana lost the Ekiti slot to Kayode Fayemi, former Governor of the state, who played prominent role in the APC presidential campaign as its Director of Policy and Strategy, who has been nominated and cleared as minister.