₦airaland Forum

Wanted former chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on Pension Reform, Abdulrasheed Miana, has filed a N10 billion suit against acting chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu for granting interviews in November and December last year in which the chairman of the antigraft agency allegedly used “slanderous, untrue and malicious” words against Maina.



In the writ of summons filed before a high court in Nassarawa, James Onyilo, Maina’s counsel asked the court for a declaration that the interview granted were slanderous, untrue, injurious and intended to lower the reputation and integrity of the plaintiff. He also asked the court to order the defendants to retract and publish an unreserved apology to the plaintiff in at least three daily newspapers within seven days from the day of the judgement. Maina's counsel also asked the court to compel EFCC not to further make comments considered defamatory of the plaintiff.



Maina also asked for an order directing the defendants to pay jointly the sum of N10billion ‎as damages for the publications.

In the statement of claim, Onyilo said, “the 1st defendant. (Magu) who has a personal score and vendetta to settle with the plaintiff using the instrumentality of the 2nd defendant‎ (EFCC), maliciously embarked on a campaign of calumny against the plaintiff. The plaintiff avers that on the 30th of November 2017, the 1st defendant in the cause of a press interview aired different news report as well as on Internet medium of the various news media agencies made. The following statement, ‘it is terrible, as a result of Maina’s action, so many people, so many of our fathers and mothers who render service to this country had premature death, so many people had died…..he has been a civil servant, an assistant director. You people should stop celebrating criminals’… In a related development, on the 14th of December, 2017, the 1st defendant‎ was captured on air during another press interview at the International Airport, Abuja, where he further made the following statement, “we are working very hard to get the criminal who stole pension money and decided to go into hiding because you people are the ones covering him, we will surely get the criminal and bring him to justice”.

Recall that there was an uproar in the polity last October when Maina who has been declared wanted for committing N2bn fraud while serving as chairman of the Pension reforms, was reinstated and promoted by the Buhari government. The reinstatement is currently being investigated. Maina has since been dismissed from the civil service.

Tithing should only be done by those who can afford it. If you have not fed your children for the month please do not tithe.

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Emir of Kano, says no president influenced his decisions unduly while he was governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

He disclosed this in an interview with CNBC Africa at the annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

Speaking on the need for collaboration in building sustainable institutions, Sanusi said the country had institutions that work but that the right people should be appointed to do the work.

Rahmon Ojukotola Finance analyst...

He said: “Institutions are those things that lay the foundation for longterm growth and development. And when we speak of institutions, we are talking about the legal arrangements that define their roles; that also give transparency and consistency to their actions.

“Whether we are talking about independent electoral bodies, independent central banks, independent regulators or the police force, how do we get them to understand that they have a role that is in the service of the entire nation and not at the short term discretion of whoever happens to hold political power? This requires the legal framework that can assess them of their roles.

“I keep saying that the CBN act is one of the best central bank acts in the world. So, in terms of decision arrangement, we have it. But we also need the executive to respect that independence. We need the central bank itself to protect that independence. We need the legislature to ensure that is being done.

“Look, I was governor of central bank. In my five years as governor, I never had a situation in which politicians influenced my decisions unduly. Sometimes, they will like to have lower interest rates; sometimes, they will like you to be a bit softer, but none of the presidents I served ever said you must do this.

“They didn’t express the view. If the central bank wanted to do it and it was within our purview, they allow us do it. Because of that, we were able to control the inflation, fix the banks. We were able to transform the payment system, do the BVN.”

On the issue of migration, the Emir said: “You cannot discuss migration exclusively when you don’t discuss development. What is it that makes people want to leave?

“You cannot impoverish a part of the world and create a ghetto and expect people not to run out to prosperity. You need to create some pockets of prosperity where they live. And that is all I want African leaders to do.”

Earlier this week, a former staff of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) was accused of sexual misconduct by a Facebook user, Funke Dezarn in the wake of Oprah Winfrey‘s explosive speech at the Golden Globe Awards.

The lecturer in question Francis Fakoya has since left the university and now works at St. George’s University in Grenada, West Indies. After St. George’s University got wind of the issue, it released a statement via its Facebook page, promising to look into the issue and take appropriate action.

The statement read:

St. George’s University (SGU) has been made aware of allegations against a member of its faculty, while previously employed by a university in Nigeria. At SGU, we take all allegations of sexual misconduct very seriously.

In light of these allegations, a thorough investigation into this matter has been initiated and appropriate action will be taken.


https://www.bellanaija.com/2018/01/st-georges-university-to-look-into-charges/

Former military leader, Ibrahim Babangida, has affirmed that the controversial statement issued by his media aide, Kassim Afegbua, was on his instruction. In an exclusive interview with Thisday, Babangida said his “original statement still stands”.



According to Babangida, the second statement was issued by friends and had nothing to do with him. He however stated that the initial statement had been misrepresented by the media.



According to him, what his statement titled, “Towards a National Rebirth,” emphasised was for a new breed of leadership to emerge through the electoral process, but was not intended to deny President Muhammadu Buhari his right to vote and be voted for in the 2019 elections.



The confusion arose due to the pressure mounted by the former military ruler’s son, Mohammed, on his father to retract the first statement and issue a toned down version. Investigations by Thisday shows that the second toned down version was not signed by Babangida but by Mohammed who simply appended the retired general’s name to the revised statement.