₦airaland Forum

yarimo:
Nice one from TINUBU, World leaders struggling to meet and associate with Nigeria's president.

Offpoint1:
Happy birthday to the first man who drank tea with God in our era

If it was the era when the Bible was written, the writers would had included it in the Bible and today we will believe a certain servant of God drank tea with God

teekaynson:
Nothing last forever. Mrk this day and inscribe it in your brain; Their days are numbered.

ednut1:
Power changes hands from time to time. One day USA fir dey at the receiving end. Actions like this will be use to justify reciprocal evil. Israel should stop all this nonsense abeg

A Nollywood actor, Tolani Quadri Oyebamiji. popularly known as Sisi Quadri is reportedly dead.

Oyebamiji’s death was announced by some of his colleagues in the Yoruba movie industry.

Announcing his death, Nollywood actress, Abiola Bayo wrote on her verified Instagram handle, “You will be greatly missed, Sisi Quadri. May your soul rest in perfect peace”.

Details later…

Golan007:
Chest beating incorporated.

Wetim you want make Bangladesh and Mauritius talk?

fergie001:
It depends on where the pressure was coming from.

I understood there was enormous pressure to downtools by the NUEE due to alleged contracts inflation and heavy corruption. Interestingly, the NUEE was headed then by Joe Ajaero.

What broke the camel's back was the privatisation of the DISCOs & GENCOs, an interested former Head of State had told GEJ personally that Nnaji must be fired because it will seem the former Minister had interests in what one of the Ogas wanted.

Jona called Nnaji into his office, read out the long list of allegations and asked for his resignation before the close of work.

benuejosh:
discuss Fulani issue with Ortom. He left with it. Who in Benue ia complaining of Fulani? Must every herdsmen be fulani? Igbos too have cattles in large quantity and the owners are in Abuja. And those watching over them are their tribes men. Do you know that?

Families Of ‘Repentant’ Terrorists, Displaced Persons Threaten To Return To Jungle Over Hardship, Neglect, Says Life Was Better Under Boko Haram Occupation

Just like the IDPs, the families of the repentant Boko Haram fighters have accused authorities of neglecting the daily supply of food and other necessities.

Some displaced persons in Borno state have threatened to return to the territory under the control of Boko Haram terrorists, SaharaReporters has learnt.

Like the IDPs, some family members of repentant Boko Haram fighters have issued the same threat, citing hunger and hardship in the IDP camps.

This comes as hardship bites hard across the country, sparking nationwide demonstrations by organised labour.

Just like the IDPs, the families of the repentant Boko Haram fighters have accused authorities of neglecting the daily supply of food and other necessities.

To them, life was better under Boko Haram occupation; as such, returning to the jungle was a matter of survival.

According to them, the supply of basic necessities has been cut off and there are no farmlands available to cultivate.

"Some of our colleagues here in Dikwa have decided to return to the bush because life is not any better here in the camp. We're just suffering here," a displaced person lamented.

"We took the decision to leave our families behind and relocate to the Boko Haram-controlled area because it is all about dying whether here or there," another person added.

However, the Borno state governor, Babagana Umara Zulum described the complaints as baseless, saying, "those who want to return to Boko Haram in the bush are free to do so."

The defendant however pleaded not guilty to the charges.


A pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Emmanuel Orekoya, has been arraigned for allegedly raping and impregnating his 17- year-old daughter.
The defendant was arraigned before the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Tuesday.

The Lagos State Government slammed two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and sexual assault on the suspect.

According to the state’s prosecution counsel, Abimbola Abolade, the defendant committed the offences in 2017 at Jacob Adeleye Street, Odoeran, Itire area of the state.

She added that the suspect sexually assaulted the victim, by inserting his finger inside her vagina and inserting his penis inside her mouth.

She said that Orekoya’s offences were contrary to Section 137 of the criminal law of Lagos State 2015.

The defendant however pleaded not guilty to the charges, prompting Justice Soladoye to adjourn the case until April 17, 2024, for the commencement of trial.

Crisis Brews Between Kogi Governor Ododo, Predecssor Yahaya Bello Over Sacking Of Loyalist, 1200 Bags Of Rice

Governor Usman Ododo of Kogi State is on a collision course with his predecessor, Yahaya Bello following the sack of the transition committee chairman of the Ofu local government area, Hassan Atawodi, SaharaReporters has learnt.

Atawodi was handpicked to head the Ofu local government transition committee chairman on 9th January 2024 by the former Governor, Bello.

Meanwhile, the sack of Atawodi by the present governor is believed to be used to test the waters in what has been described as a "silent crisis" going on between the two leaders.

Although the real reason behind the sack of Ofu Transition Chairman may not have been heard, political watchers suspected it was in connection with the alleged diversion of palliative rice meant for distribution to indigent constituents.

The governor according to sources accused the chairman of diverting 1,200 bags of rice which the deputy governor hijacked but wanted to pin on the Chairman.

Insider sources told SaharaReporters that trouble for Atawodi started when he allegedly disobeyed instructions of the Deputy Governor, Joel Salifu Oyibo, who is also from the same Ofu local government area.

The deputy governor was said to have told him (the chairman) to share the palliative rice meant for the indigent citizens of Ofu to party stakeholders instead of the targeted poor.

The idea of sharing the rice to party stakeholders, which the lion share had been prepared to go to the former Vice Zonal Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Hon. Alfa Muhammed and the Deputy Governor himself, was allegedly opposed by the caretaker chairman, Mr Atawodi, who saw it as heartless considering the current economic hardship, high rate of inflation and high cost of living.

"Atawodi ignored the arrangement and made it clear to the deputy governor, Mr Joel Oyibo that the people are going through a lot this time and it would be unwise to share 1,200 bags of rice to stakeholders when in actual sense, the rice was not even enough to distribute to indigent families.

"This got the deputy governor infuriated and consequencetly threatened to deal with the caretaker chairman Hon. Atawodi for daring him."

Continuing, the source said "Atawodi was subsequently, barred from the venue where the rice was shared. Instead the deputy governor appointed one Alfa's loyalist in the person of Musa Muhammed Lawal a.k.a Solar whom he directed to take charge."

In a video made available to SaharaReporters on the sharing of the palliative, it shows Musa Lawal when he was collecting the 1,200 bags of rice meant for the Ofu council.

According to the source, the rice he collected were allegedly sold in Lokoja the state capital to a business tycoon as directed by Hon. Alfa and Joel Oyibo (deputy governor).

Sequel to the development, Kogi State Governor, Ododo, on Monday, approved the immediate removal of Hon. Hassan Atawodi as the Transition Chairman of Ofu Local Government Area.

Governor Ododo, however, approved the appointment of Musa Muhammed Lawal a.k.a Solar as the new Transition Chairman of Ofu Local Government Area with immediate effect.

In a statement issued on Monday by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mrs Folashade Ayoade, said the appointment of Lawal was immediate and ordered Atawodi to hand over government property to the new TC chairman.

The source, however, revealed that Hon. Atawodi who is a loyalist of former Governor Bello, is seen as a threat to the new governor while Hon. Alfa who was once Bello's loyalist has switched loyalty to Governor Ododo as he is no longer in the good books of Bello.

Another source told SaharaReporters that "there was a kind of little dispute from the day one of the flag off palliative rice. The day of the flag off palliative rice there was a meeting called by the deputy governor in his residence. He called the meeting and invited the transition chairman from Ofu.

"In the first place, they accused him of excesses. They accused of not carrying the stakeholders along. Then after the flag off palliative the time he supposed to go and look for trucks to carry the Rice for the Ofu to the council Secretariat, they were calling him here and there for their meetings. He, then went for the meeting and by the time he came out of the meeting it was late. Then, the following day he supposed to get clearance to pick the rice to the Secretariat, unfortunately they denied him of the clearance.

"They now said that only the local government secretary, the party chairman and one other person will be assigned to the collection of the palliative rice. So they denied him of getting that clearance.

"When he called the deputy governor of the state who is from the same council to explain to him what was going on, he told him that he was on his way travelling. He never got back to that. Throughout that, no response from the deputy governor. He called the House of Assembly member representing the local government at the state assembly, there was no response and that day passed.

"The following day being the third day, that was the day they cleared him and now told him that it is only the Council Secretary, DLG and party chairman that would be assigned to get the rice. Luckily I was one of the house that was dissolved, so I was asked to be in venue to monitor things going on when loading the rice. And DLG of the local government, the secretary and the party chairman and one external body by name Danjuma were part of them collecting the rice

"They came that day with four small vehicle called Diana and loaded 110 bags each and that four contained 440 bags. Then big trucks were loaded 760 bags a total is 1,200 bags allocated to Ofu local government. All was captured on video and pictures but they never knew. So after the whole thing, when the rice were loaded they packed the truck the same place and covered with tarpaulin.

"I also captured and videod it. I now approached the party chairman and asked him, Mr Shagari, does that mean that the trucks will not move to the Secretariat? He said no that they are moving the vehicle down to the deputy governor's house.

"He said that they cannot move the rice to the council headquarters because night had come. That the following day it will be moved to the Secretariat and up till now as speak the rice has not arrived the council Secretariat. However, in a twist of event, this afternoon the Caretaker Chairman was sacked for allegedly diverting the rice."

FBI charges top NNPC official for taking $2.1 million bribes to help Addax Petroleum escape $2.4 billion liability to Nigeria


Paulinus Iheanacho Okoronkwo used his role as a general manager in upstream department to rake in illicit payments from the Chinese oil giant, filings said.

A senior Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation official has been slammed with bribery and tax-related charges in the United States, court filings seen by Peoples Gazette said.

A jury recently returned a three-count indictment against Paulinus Iheanacho Okoronkwo after the Federal Bureau of Investigation found that he used his position as a general manager in NNPC’s upstream department to obtain at least $2.1 million in bribes.

The alleged bribe was to assist Addax Petroleum escape its $2.4 billion liability to Nigeria as part of an oil-lifting contract that began in 2001, the January 10, 2024, the grand jury indictment said before the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Mr Okoronkwo, 67, a dual citizen of Nigeria and the U.S., has practised immigration and personal injury law in California for nearly 30 years. On May 25, 2015, just days before President Goodluck Jonathan was due to exit office on May 29, Mr Okoronkwo and other NNPC officials hurriedly entered into an agreement that would see Addax Petroleum return to developing Nigeria’s crude and gas reserves after a protracted pause due to a yearslong dispute over the 2001 deal between Nigeria and the Chinese firm.

Addax Petroleum, based in Switzerland but owned by Sinopec, bribed Mr Okoronkwo with $5,263,157.89, including an immediate payment of $2,105,263.16, in October 2015 after the new administration of Muhammadu Buhari threatened the May 2015 contract, court documents said. Prosecutors did not immediately say whether or not Mr Okoronkwo received the balance from Addax, which might have been paid through other channels that may or may not pass through the U.S. financial system.

The $2.1 million payment was made via a wire transfer to Mr Okoronkwo’s law firm bank account in the U.S. It was purportedly billed for “Consultants for the negotiation and completion of a Settlement Agreement with NNPC” with respect to Addax’s dispute over drilling rights, prosecutors said in the indictment first alleged before a grand jury in June 2023.

Mr Okoronkwo helped Addax navigate the challenges from the Buhari administration that initially tried to impose a $2.37 billion liability on the Chinese firm, filings said.

“Addax had calculated that the failure to apply the side letter prospectively would cost Addax approximately $2.37 billion,” the indictment said. Mr Okoronkwo was using his U.S. law firm to purportedly represent Nigeria against NNPC, where he was also working as a general manager in charge of crude oil transactions.

Both Mr Okoronkwo and Addax made several efforts to conceal the bribe payment as legitimate, and a senior vice-president of the company was fired on July 13, 2016, for questioning the $2.1 million illicit transaction.

Authorities also filed obstruction and tax-evasion charges against Mr Okoronkwo for lying to investigators about the nature of the deal while also failing to pay taxes on it in his 2016 returns.

Mr Okoronkwo knew the $2,105,263 payment represented a bribe from Addax in exchange for his influencing the NNPC, that the payment did not represent client funds but rather illicit income and the $45,000 in gross income represented in his individual tax return did not include the multimillion-dollar bribe payment he had received, the filings said.

Mr Okoronkwo will be arraigned in the coming weeks and faces up to 10 years in prison upon conviction. A separate forfeiture proceeding was underway to recover Mr Okoronkwo’s ill-gotten yields, including a home he bought in cash for $983,200 in 2017 from the proceeds.

A spokesman for the NNPC did not immediately return a request seeking comments over Mr Okoronkwo’s case, which marked only the latest in a long trail of prosecutions instituted over illegal transactions from Nigeria by U.S. officials in California. The same district had recently confiscated over $6 million from Ara Dolarian, an unlicensed arms dealer who bilked Nigeria to the tune of $12 million in 2014.

Iykopee:
@ #1500 means naira is gaining value?