₦airaland Forum

The Minister of State for
Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe
Kachikwu has disclosed that
more than $40 billion had
been dolled out to the Niger
Delta region in the past 12
years through various
intervention agencies,
regretting however, that
there was nothing on ground
to justify such amount.
Kachikwu, who spoke
yesterday at a meeting held
at PTI Conference Centre in
Warri, Delta State involving
prominent leaders from the
coastal states, said the $40
billion came mainly from oil
companies, Niger Delta
Development Commission,
NDDC, 13% derivation and
other intervention funds.
While noting that the state of
infrastructure is
disappointing despite the
huge effort to alleviate the
infrastructural deficit in the
Niger Delta, he called for an
audit of money so far
expended in the region to
know what exactly went
wrong to avoid repeating the
same mistakes.
According to him, “I’ve been
to the creeks myself and
discovered that there was
no meaningful development
of the riverine communities
as expected by the federal
government despite the huge
amount disbursed to the
region.
“I think we need an audit
because it will not be wise to
have agitation of this kind in
circle after each agitation will
come back again to demand
for the same thing when
intervention funds had made
no impact on the lives of the
ordinary people.”
The minister also used the
forum to assure leaders of
the zone that President
Muhammadu Buhari was not
thinking of using the military
to resolve the crisis in the
region.
Instead, he maintained that
the President was desirous
of using dialogue to find a
lasting solution to the
problem.
The minister urged leaders
in the region to prevail on
their youths to allow peace
to reign, noting that no
meaningful development can
take place in an atmosphere
of violence.
He told the Niger Delta
leaders that the federal
government was committed to
the development of the
region, promising to come out
soon with short and long
term plans in that direction.

The pictures of what is said to be one of Speaker Yakubu Dogara’s guest houses emerged on Sunday, as the budget padding scandal rocking Nigeria’s House of Representatives worsens. The pictures were sent to PREMIUM TIMES by lawmakers who asked not to be named. They said the pictures, depicted Mr. Dogara’s guest house located at Vistula Close, along Panama Crescent, in the exquisite Maitama neighbourhood in Abuja. We initially thought the lawmakers were on an errand for the former chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, who has been fighting Mr. Dogara. But the embattled lawmaker telephoned PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday night, saying he had nothing to do with the release of the photographs. “I don’t have a hand in the release of those photographs,” Mr. Jibrin said. “I’m dealing with serious issues and not about guest houses.” Mr. Jibrin had repeatedly said in his allegations that Mr. Dogara allegedly looted funds meant for legislative duties to furnish his guest houses and other apartments being personally used by him. The charges were part of the similar ones Mr. Jibrin had come up with in recent days, following his ouster from the Appropriation Committee’s leadership on allegations that he betrayed the House leadership and other members. Mr. Jibrin denied all the allegations, saying it was Mr. Dogara who had been sitting over massive misappropriation of public funds as Speaker. “Mr. Speaker and Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun diverted millions of naira all in the name of paying for guest houses and official residence. The issue became so messy that the Deputy Speaker openly accused Hon Herma Hembe of short changing them of millions of naira in the deal to the shock of many honourable members,” Mr. Jibrin said in a July 25 statement. Mr. Dogara and others named in the alleged fraud denied the allegations. Mr. Jibrin’s whistleblowing had seen the public inundated with House internal documents about how funds were allegedly allocated to lawmakers for ‘constituency’ projects, triggering sweeping investigation into the scandal.

The Federal Government has banned the
procurement and distribution of conference bags,
T-shirts and other souvenirs at events such as
Conferences and Seminars funded by Federal
Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
This is contained in a statement made available to
newsmen on Sunday in Abuja by the Director of
Information, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr Salisu
Dambatta.
It said President Buhari had approved the ban
following recommendations by the Efficiency Unit.
It said the Chief of Staff to the President, Alhaji
Abba Kyari, had forwarded the directive to the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation,
the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and
the Ministers of Finance and Budget and National
Planning, for implementation.
According to the statement, the ban was in
continuation of the on-going cost-cutting and
efficiency drive in the utilisation of public funds
by the present administration.
It will be recalled that President Buhari had set up
the Efficiency Unit to review all federal
government’s overhead expenditure to reduce
wastage, promote efficiency and ensure
quantifiable savings for the country.
The Minister of Finance, Head of Service of the
Federation, Accountant-General of the Federation,
Auditor-General of the Federation and Director,
Budget Office of the Federation are members of
the Unit.
The Unit identified procurement as the area to
begin the execution of its mandate of reducing
overhead costs and wastage resources.
The Efficiency unit had already recorded success
in cutting government overhead cost in areas
such as travels, welfare, honorarium, sitting
allowance, training, adverts and publicity as well
as refreshments.
It had gone a step further to relocate some of
federal government’s MDAs into recovered looted
properties as ways to reduce overhead cost.
“The directive which is a recognition of the fact
that in a period of lean financial resources
unnecessary expenditure on overheads such
souvenirs are luxuries that the government must
eliminate.
“This will enable release of funds for infrastructure
and services such as health and education that
would have direct positive impact on the well
being of the citizenry and promote economic
development.
“The directive also contained specific guidelines
that would reduce the cost of printing Invitation
Cards, Programme of events, Brochures, Folders
and Note Pads.
“Among the guidelines are that they should be in
black and white and limited to only one page and
in the case of Brochures they should be
streamlined to contain only essential information,”
it said.
Also, the statement said the printing of
unnecessary publications and books of short shelf
life which have no real value to the concerned
public institutions or the citizens has also been
banned.
“MDAs were encouraged to save costs by
uploading such publications on their websites
which has the added benefit of wider visibility,” it
said.

President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated the Abuja-Kaduna commercial train operation.After series of postponements, the President on Tuesday flagged off the commencement of full commercial operations of the rail project.The modernisation phase of the project commenced with the signing of the contract for the construction of Abuja (Idu) to Kaduna (Rigasa) rail line in 2009.Buhari said the new rail line would significantly enhance and provide affordable and safe movement of passengers and freight between the Federal Capital Territory and Kaduna State.He noted that the train operation would also serve as a major catalyst for industrialisation and generation of employment.Senior government officials were at the inauguration.Details to come…

India's Bharat Petroleum
Corporation Limited,BPCL has
issued a spot tender to
purchase several Malaysian
light sweet crude grades,
raising expectations that
more Indian end-users could
switch their focus to
Southeast Asian supplies
amid growing uncertainty
over the exports of Nigerian
crude grades.
BPCL is seeking up to one
million barrels of various
Southeast Asian light sweet
crudes, including Malaysia's
Miri Light, Labuan, Tapis,
Kikeh, Kimanis and Bintulu as
well as Brunei's Seria Light
and Champion crudes for
loading over September
11-20, according to an
official tender notice seen by
S&P Global Platts.
The latest spot tender is
said to have raised a few
eyebrows in the Asia-Pacific
sweet crude market, as the
Indian state-owned company
does not regularly seek
Malaysian and Bruneian
crude grades in the spot
market.
However, BPCL's latest move
was seen as necessary, as
the procurement of any
Nigerian crude grades would
be a big risk amid ongoing
production hiccups caused by
militant attacks in the Niger
Delta, a company source.
"BPCL, like many other Indian
state-run companies, prefer
to take Nigerian light sweet
crudes like Qua Iboe and
Bonny Light. Those are the
number one choices," the
source said, adding that
"when production (of light
sweet Nigerian grades) is in
doubt, the next best option
would be Malaysian (grades)
."
Last week, ExxonMobil said
Nigerian crude Qua Iboe has
been placed under force
majeure and exports were
halted, while Italian company,
Eni, confirmed earlier this
month that 4,000 barrels per
day, b/d, of oil equivalent of
equity production had been
shut-in following an attack
claimed by militants in the
Niger Delta. Nigerian militant
group, the Niger Delta
Avengers, said weekend that
it would not permit foreign oil
companies operating in the
Niger Delta region to carry
out repairs on bombed oil
pipelines, threatening more
devastating attacks on any
repaired facility.
"There is no guarantee the
Nigerian crudes will load and
set sail safely. It's very
risky," said a Singapore-
based sweet crude trader.

If activist-lawyer Femi Falana has his way, former governors who are now senators would no longer be paid salaries as lawmakers. He also would have the 109 senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives refund the salaries they got for services not rendered. Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said it was illegal for former governors, who have been placed on life pension in their states, to earn salaries and allowances in the National Assembly. He also stated that the lawmakers ought not to have been entitled to the payment of their full salaries and allowances for failing to sit for the mandatory 181 days before going on a seven- month recess. The Lagos lawyer, in a lecture he yesterday delivered as the investiture of Mr. Dele Ojogbede as President of Rotary Club, Ikoyi in Lagos, counselled the Federal Government on what to do with those undermining the anti- corruption war. He also commented on the allegations of corruption against the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Gen. Tukur Buratai, Internal Affairs Minister Abdulrahman Dambazzau and Comptroller- General of Prisons Ahmed Jafaru, as well as the alleged budget padding in the Greeen Chamber. On of ex-governors in the Senate, Falana said: “It is high time the Federal Government stopped the payment of salaries and allowances to former governors who are in the senate. Since they are on pension for life, it is illegal to continue to pay them salaries and allowances at the same time.” According to the lawyer, none of the 469 lawmakers in the National Assembly had justification for the emoluments they collected in the first legislative year under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. His words: “The APC-led National Assembly has also engaged in collecting jumbo emoluments for services not rendered to the nation. “Whereas Section 63 of the Constitution provides that the Senate and the House of Representatives shall each sit for not less than 181 days in a year, Section 68 thereof states that any legislator who fails to attend the proceedings of the Senate for less than one third of the required number of days shall automatically lose his or her seat. “For the first legislative year which ended on June 9, the Seventh session of the National Assembly did not meet the constitutional requirement. Specifically, due to incessant recesses, the House of Representatives sat for only 104 days while the Senate sat for 96 days. This means that the Senate sat for barely 50 per cent of the required sitting period. “Indeed, some of the senators who had to attend criminal courts where they are standing trial for corrupt practices did not seat for up to 70 days throughout the legislative year. The Senate was actually shut down on a number of occasions to enable the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki to attend the proceedings of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) where he is standing trial for false declaration of assets. And in solidarity with him, a number of senators abandoned their duties to accompany him to the tribunal. “Since the labour policy of “no work no pay” is applicable to all public officers the legislators ought not to have been paid when they did not perform any legislative duty. “In other words, having failed to sit for the mandatory period of 181 days the legislators were not entitled to payment of full salaries and allowances for the whole legislative year. “Having been paid full emoluments when they failed to sit for the required number of days, the legislators ought to refund some money to the treasury. “In the circumstance, the Accountant-General of the Federation should ensure that the legislators are made to refund the money collected for the number of days they failed to sit in the National Assembly.” He urged the anti- corruptions agencies to investigate and ascertain how COAS Buratia came about the $1.5 billion property he claimed to have disclosed in his asset declaration form. “Aside the statement, the CCB should proceed to investigate and confirm that the properties were legitimately acquired from the income of the general. This investigation should be speedily and transparently conducted to assure Nigerians that there are no sacred cows in the prosecution of the war against corruption”, Falana said.

Enugu Catholic Priest, the
Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, on
Sunday, disclosed that he
had nothing to regret over
his 2015 prophesy of
change, where he had
predicted that former
President Goodluck Jonathan
would be defeated in the
presidential election.
He equally dismissed as
baseless claims that he fell
apart with Jonathan over the
latter’s refusal of his
request for an oil well.
Mbaka, who spoke through
his media aide, Barr.
Maximus Ike Ugwuoke on the
sidelines of the activities
ahead of his 21 years
priestly ordination
anniversary, said he would
not regret the 2015 change
prophesy despite the current
sufferings Nigerians were
experiencing.
Instead, he recalled that he
had also on several
occasions released
prophecies on the current
hard times bedeviling the
nation.
The priest, however,
maintained that the previous
administration, which ran a
wasteful government should
be held responsible for the
present situation.
According to him, “when
these prophesies come, it
must not be what people
think or want; people are
entitled to their views; those
reactions mean nothing; the
important thing is that there
is nothing he had
prophesized which never
came to pass; the ministry
does not care how people
feel about his prophesies.
Some call him controversial
priest; some call him fiery
priest and all that, they are
entitled to their opinion. The
fact remains that he is a true
prophet
“I will tell you something, it
is not for us human to judge
prophesies; he was the only
person who said Buhari
would win; if it were in the
olden days, all those so-
called men of God who
castigated him would have
received the wrath of God
immediately. All of them
should be ashamed of
themselves now.
“When you look at that
prophesy on Jonathan, he
gave it and it came to pass;
don’t forget that two months
before that Prophesy,
Jonathan’s wife came to the
adoration ground; that is to
tell you that the prophesy
came from God; if after such
visit, he had the courage to
reveal such prophesy
against them, that tells you
that it is much more than
what people think; whether
the prophesy is a good one
or not, talking about the
suffering, it has nothing to
do with the prophesy.
“Before Buhari took over,
the dollar was rising, there
was already problem with our
economy. They had oil boom
bit never saved; just wasted
the opportunity. Even the
suffering we are talking
about was part of his
prophesies; I recall that in
31st of January this year, he
said clearly that Nigerians
should brace up for hard
times, he said a lot of
hardship was under way;
this suffering Nigerians are
passing through are process
of change. I’m seeing a great
future for Nigerians; he
made it clear that there are
so many holes which needed
to be filled.”
When asked whether Mbaka
could then be described as a
prophet of doom, he said:
“No way; he is not a prophet
of doom; you can’t say that
this is a government of
doom; this is a government
that has unearthed a whole
lot of things; the other
government had oil boom,
which they squandered, they
handed over oil doom to this
government; we are no
longer talking of excess
crude; this is what the
present government is
facing.”
Speaking on stories making
the rounds that Jonathan
rejected his request for an
oil well, he stated that
“these are lies from the pit
of hell; these were used to
water down the prophesy
because people did not
understand. It was even
alleged that he received N5m
from Buhari; you begin to
wonder what is N5m to
Mbaka. Is it the school fees
he is paying for hundreds of
people? This is all
propaganda.
“There was also these
claims of meeting with APC
chieftains before the
election; he never held any
such meeting; he never met
Buhari before the election,
there has never been any
communication between them;
what he has already is
bigger than oil well; he is a
musician and the ministry is
being sustained with that.”
On the issue of his prophecy
that former Enugu Governor,
Senator Chimaroke Nnamani
would not win second term,
he gave reasons for the
non-fulfillment of the
prophesy thus:
“People who are saying this
do not know what happens; a
prophesy may come but
people may not know what
happens in between the
period it was supposed to
manifest; we have a man in
the Bible, who God
prophetically told that he
would die; however, when he
prayed, God extended his
number of years.

The Department of State Services has arrested one Jones Abari, aka Gen. Akotebe Darikoro, for the alleged mastermind of a hoaxed plan to overthrow President Muhammad Buhari by the military.

A statement issued by an official of the service, Mr Tony Opuiyo in Abuja on Saturday said Abari was arrested in Yenagoa on July 21.

Opuiyo described the suspect as the leader of the Joint Revolutionary Council of the Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force ( JNDLF).

He said that Abari had confessed to other criminal activities which included a threat to launch missile attacks on selected targets in Abuja and Aso Rock.

Others include writing threat messages to the management of the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) demanding for N500 million and N250 million respectively.

He said that the suspect also masterminded the vandalism of NAOC trunk line in Ogboinbiri, Southern Ijaw and bombing of SPDC oil pipeline.

In another development, the DSS said it had arrested a suspected terrorist, Bulama Ramat, at the Jabi Motor Park, FCT on July 21.

He said that prior to his arrest, Ramat was planning to attack the Federal Capital Territory and its environs in collaboration with other elements of an extremist cell of the Boko Haram group.

Opuiyo said that the service also made other arrests within the month of July in Enugu, Ondo, Jos, Kaduna, Yenagoa, Port Harcourt and Kano states.

The service urged all citizens and residents to remain vigilant and report all suspicious persons, parcels or vehicles to the nearest security formation.

“Members of the public are further called upon to see our societal and individual safety as our collective responsibility,” he said.

He advised the public to support security and law enforcement agencies with critical information that would assist in providing a safe environment for all to carry out their legitimate businesses.

(NAN)

Less than 13 days to the
world's foremost sports
competition, the 2016
Olympics Games holding in
Rio, Brazil, Nigerian athletes
have taken to the social
media platform to crowd-
source funds for the
competition.
American-born Nigerian
sprinter, Regina George, who
represented the country at
the 2012 Summer Olympics,
has launched the campaign
on the World's number one
personal fundraising
website, gofundme.com.
GoFundMe is a crowdfunding
platform that allows people to
raise money for events
ranging from life events such
as celebrations and
graduations to challenging
circumstances like accidents
and illnesses. The company
is based in San Diego,
California
It allows users to create
their own website to describe
what they are raising money
for. During this process,
members can describe their
fundraising cause, the
amount they hope to raise,
and upload photos or video.
Once the website is created,
GoFundMe allows users to
share their project with
people through integrated
social network links
(Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and
email. People can then donate
to a user’s cause through
the website using only a
debit card or credit card and
track the progress of their
funding. Those who donate
can also leave comments on
the website in support of the
project. GoFundMe generates
revenue by automatically
deducting a 5% fee from each
donation users receive. If
the user receives no
donations, then no charge is
made.
George, a silver medalist at
the African Championships in
2012, who is seeking to
raise $4, 000 (four thousand
dollar), described her cause
which she titled ‘Help get me
to the Olympics’ thus:
“To all my family friends and
fans thanks for being here
for me through the good
times and bad times. This
year it's been hard
financially for me but it
wouldn't have been possible
without your support. I just
been told that we will have to
pay our own way to the
Olympics this year . Sadly
this is such short notice for
me to come up with the
money. They also promised a
refund but I'm still waiting for
many refunds promised in
the past. I been through a
lot of obstacles this year and
through it all I made my
SECOND Olympic team. I don't
want to stop now after I
earned a spot to represent
my country in the Olympics.
Any donation will help my
situation. This will not go
unnoticed and I'm truly
grateful for my supporters.
Help spread the word!”
George anchored the United
States 4 × 400 m team to a
gold medal ahead of the
Nigerian team which placed
second at the 2010 World
Junior Championships in
Athletics. At this
championship meet, George
expressed her desire to run
for Nigeria to Nigerian coach,
Gabriel Okon. She began to
compete for Nigeria in 2012,
ahead of the African
Championships and London
Olympics.
The 2012 Nigerian champion
will represent Nigeria in the
4x400m race at Rio Olympic
Games which starts on 5th
August.
Supporting her claim is
Nigeria’s fastest man, Seye
Ogunlewe, who also took to
micro-blogging site, Twitter,
to urge corporate
organistations to rise to the
needs of the country
athletes. In a series of
tweets, using the hashtag, #
helpnigerianathletes, the son
of Lagos politician, Seye
Ogunlewe, lamented the
sorry states the athletes
are.
“Just so everyone knows we
all got that message saying
we should get our own
tickets to Rio! #
helpnigerianathletes,” he
posted.
It will be recalled that there
were reports that there were
no funds for Nigerian
athletes for the 2016 Rio
Olympics., which prompted
federal lawmakers to call for
immediate release of funds to
the Ministry of Sports to
facilitate the country’s
preparations at the 2016 Rio
Olympic Games earlier this
month.

The Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation,
NNPC, yesterday, lamented
that the rising cases of
militancy, pipeline vandalism,
theft and sabotage of oil and
gas assets has led to the
curtailment of about 700,000
barrels per day (BPD) of
crude oil.
Dr Maikanti Baru, GMD NNPC
In his presentation during a
visit to the Chief of Defence
Staff in Abuja, Group
Managing Director of the
NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru, also
warned of dire financial
consequences for the
country as a result of the
low crude oil output, while he
stated that the country lost
N51.28 billion to pipeline
vandalism and product theft
in 2015.
According to him, the 2016
National Budget plan was
based on 2.2 million bpd of
crude oil production, noting
that the budget plan is now
grossly impacted due to
renewed militancy.
He also stated that domestic
natural gas supply to power
is equally impacted by the
militancy, with an estimated
drop of about 50 per cent,
from 1.4 billion standard
cubic feet per day (scfd) to
barely below 700 million scfd,
resulting to significant power
outage exposure of between
2,500 megawatts (MW) to
3,000 MW as a result of
direct and indirect impact.
He said, “Petroleum products
supply and distribution
pipelines have also suffered
huge products losses with
attendant cost of repairs and
loss of revenue.
"For example, over 3,000
vandalism incidents were
recorded every year from
2010 – 2015. In 2015 alone,
pipeline losses of PMS
volume of over 643 million
liters valued at over N51.28
billion was incurred.
"From January to May this
year, about 1,447 incidents
have been recorded
resulting to a loss of about
109 million litres of petroleum
products and about 560,000
barrels of crude oil to
refineries. Along with this
menace is the incessant case
of kidnapping of personnel
and piracy in areas of
operations.
"Other impacts of these
despicable acts include loss
of lives, high cost of
operations, refinery
shutdown, fuel crisis and
large scale environmental
degradation and attendant
cost of oil spill clean-ups.”
He, however, stated that the
NNPC is committed to
collaborating with the Chief of
Defence Staff (CDS) and other
security agencies to bring
lasting solution to eliminate
the hemorrhage of losses,
revenue deferments and
energy security threats.
He promised to strengthen
the collaboration between the
NNPC, the CDS and other
security agencies in securing
and safeguarding oil & gas
assets.
To ensure the safety of oil
and gas asset across the
country, Baru, therefore
called on the CDS to facilitate
and sustaining personnel
deployment at the oil and gas
industry’s critical operational
facilities when required and
also provide support to
Corporate and Strategic
Business Units of the NNPC
requiring security presence
to operate.
In addition, he urged the CDS
to provide support to enable
re-entry into the Chad basin
and Benue trough for
resumption of exploration
and drilling activities.
In addition, he said, “As part
of current NNPC Management
Agenda, an internal Security
Advisory Council (SAC) is
proposed to be established
to principally renew our
strategies and security
architecture and to regularly
provide crucial inputs to the
National Security Team.”

Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani Kayode, has alleged that the corruption allegation against him is politically motivated.
The former spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is currently facing charges before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos for allegedly laundering N4.9 billion between January and March 2015.

Speaking with Channels Television, the former PDP spokesman expressed optimism that he would be set free at the end of the trial.


Fani-Kayode, however, maintained that he had no regret working with the former President, Goodluck Jonathan.
He said, “I have done absolutely nothing wrong and neither have any of my co-accused. I saw this coming the day we lost the elections and it was announced that the other side had won. We all saw this coming.

“I refused to leave the country just as I refused to leave the country in 2008 when I was accused of things then. I have absolutely no doubt that in the end of this particular exercise I will be declared innocent by the court simply because it is very obvious that this is a politically motivated allegation and all others which may come later are politically motivated.

“Why on earth would I regret doing that? I am not the only person that has faced charges since independence. Obasanjo faced charges. He went to prison”.

On the funding of PDP’s 2015 election, Fani-Kayode dismissed claim that he collected money from former National Security Adviser, NSA, Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd), stressing that the party’s director of finance released money from the party’s private company.


“You asked a direct question, did I receive money from any government agency for my operations within the campaign? The answer is no. Our Director of Finance sent money out to the various directors, including me from our own private company account for us to run our operations. I was given only 10% of what I needed to run a campaign for three months and we utilized that money.”

A panel constituted by the
Court of Appeal sitting in
Lagos today, in a unanimous
decision, has set aside the
judgment of a Lagos High
Court banning students in
public primary and secondary
schools in Lagos State from
putting on the hijab with their
school uniforms.
The panel of the court
presided over by Justice A.B.
Gumel in the judgement held
that the appeal is meritorious
therefore same allowed. In
his lead judgement, Justice
Gumel held that the use of
hijab is an Islamic injunction
and also an act of worship
hence it will constitute a
violation of the appellants'
rights to stop them from
wearing hijab in public
schools.
Resolving all the five issues
raised in favour of the
appellants, the appellate
court held that the lower
court erred in law when it
held that the ban on wearing
the hijab is a policy of the
Lagos State Government (the
respondent). The court noted
that no circular was
presented before the lower
court to show that it was a
policy of Lagos State adding
that "he who asserts must
prove."
The court further held that if
there was a policy, such
policy ought to have
emanated from the State
House of Assembly and not
the executive arm of
government. Consequently,
the court declared that the
fundamental human rights of
female Muslim students as
enshrined in section 38 (1) of
the 1999 constitution was
violated by the respondent.
The court dismissed the
argument of Lagos State that
it made an exception by
allowing female Muslim
students to wear hijab
during prayers.
Other Justices in the five-
man panel set are Justice M.
Fasanmi, Justice A. Jauro,
Justice J.S. Ikyegh and
Justice I. Jombo Ofor.
It would be recalled that
Justice Modupe Onyeabor of
a Lagos High Court sitting at
Ikeja had on October 17,
2014, dismissed the suit
instituted against the Lagos
State Government by two 12-
year-old girls under the
aegis of the Muslim Student
Society of Nigeria, Lagos
State Area Unit. Dissatisfied,
appeal against the
judgement,the appellants
urged the appellate court to
set aside the judgement and
protect their constitutional
rights.
The Lagos government had
banned the wearing of the
hijab, arguing that it was not
part of the approved school
uniform for pupils. Following
the ban, the students filed
the suit on May 27, 2013,
seeking redress and asked
the court to declare the ban
as a violation of their rights
to freedom of thought,
religion and education.
In her judgment, Onyeabor
declared that the prohibition
of the wearing of Hijab over
school uniforms within and
outside the premises of
public schools was not
discriminatory.
According to her, the ban
does not violate sections 38
and 42 of the 1999
Constitution as claimed by
the plaintiffs. The judge said
Section 10 of the Constitution
made Nigeria a secular state
and that government must
maintain neutrality at all
times. Onyeabor said the
government, therefore had a
duty to preserve the secular
nature of the institutions
concerned as argued by the
then Lagos State Solicitor-
General, Mr. Lawal Pedro
(SAN).
She noted that since the
public schools were being
funded by the government, it
was, therefore competent to
issue dress codes and other
guidelines to the students.
According to her, the use of
uniforms engenders
uniformity and encourages
students to pursue their
mutual academic aspirations
without recourse to religious
or any other affiliations.
The judge observed that the
uniformity sought by the
government in the issuance
of dress code would be
destroyed should the prayer
of the plaintiff be granted.
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President Muhammadu Buhari has nominated.Mr. Nsima Ekere and Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, as the Managing Director and the Chairman respectively of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)..

This is contained in a letter sent to Senate President Bukola Saraki on Wednesday by the President.

Mrs Ibim Semenitari is currently acting as MD of the commission.

A Presidency source told THISDAY that the letter may be read on the floor of the Senate on Thursday.

The speaker of Zamfara State House of Assembly, Alhaji Sanusi Garba Rikiji, his deputy, Muhammad Abubakar Gumi, the majority leader, Isah Abdulmumini and the chief whip, Abdullahi Dansadau have been arrested by operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) and detained in Abuja over their alleged plan to impeach Governor Abdulaziz Yari.
Our correspondent reliably gathered that the remaining 20 members of the Assembly have fled to Kaduna, where they issued a statement, last night, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in what they described as abuse of office by Governor Yari.

Though the legislators were short of saying they would impeach the governor, they accused him of misappropriating financial allocation to the state, and failing to implement the budget in the last five years.
The statement, which was signed by the House Committee Chairman on Information, Mannir Aliyu Gidan Jaja, also accused the governor of “corrupt usage of local government funds for state purposes.”
Other charges against the governors by the legislators include “Inadequate explanation of N1 billion commercial agriculture (CBN) loan, non-remittance of pension funds to pension administrators, non-remittance of 5 percent emirate councils funds, the gross misappropriation of bailout funds to the state by the federal government to settle workers’ salaries, including N10b for 2014 and N1.46b in 2016.”
The assembly members also accused Governor Yari of crippling governance in the state through his constant travelling abroad and his refusal to address the issues raised by them.
“Rather he resorted to political intimidation, arrest and detention of principal officers of the House and other supporting staff.”
The statement, therefore, called on President Buhari to give directive for unconditional release of the affected officers.
Meanwhile, the Zamfara State Police Commissioner, Mr Istifanus Shattima, has said that he has deployed additional operatives to stop miscreants from disrupting normal activities at the House of Assembly.
Shattima told Daily Trust that deployment of troops to the Assembly was in response to the action of a mob which attacked the private residence of the speaker.
The attack at the speaker’s residence followed a rumour circulating in the state and the social media, to the effect that members of the House of Assembly were planning to impeach governor Yari.
When contacted to comment on the development, the state commissioner of information, Umar Jibo Bukuyum, did not pick his call or respond to a text message.

The Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission has
detained the Resident
Electoral Commissioner in
Abia State, Mr. Sylvester
Ezeani, for his alleged role in
the N23bn ($115m) that was
disbursed by a former
Minister of Petroleum
Resources, Diezani Alison-
Madueke, during the build-up
to the 2015 presidential
election.
According to the EFCC, the
suspect allegedly received
N20m while he was the REC in
Cross River State during the
March 28 Presidential and
National Assembly elections.
An EFCC operative told our
correspondent that the REC
had failed to explain what
the N20m was for and had
thus been detained.
He said, “The REC was on
Tuesday interrogated by
operatives of the EFCC in
Port Harcourt, Rivers State,
in connection with an alleged
N20million electoral scam.
“While serving in Cross
River State, he was alleged
to have collected the sum of
N20m out of the entire
N241,000,000 which was
released to Cross River
State from the controversial
$115million lodged with
Fidelity Bank Plc, by Diezani.
Ezeani, who has now been
redeployed in Abia State,
was quizzed over his
involvement in the scam. He
is still in custody.”
Meanwhile, the commission
also quizzed the lawmaker
representing Oron federal
constituency of Akwa Ibom
State, Nse Bassey
Ekpenyong, for his alleged
involvement in a certificate
forgery scam.
According to the anti-graft
agency, Ekpenyong ran into
trouble when a non-
governmental organisation
petitioned the EFCC, alleging
that he committed perjury
and financial crimes by
submitting a forged Ordinary
National Diploma/ statement
of result of the Abia State
Polytechnic to the
Independent National
Electoral Commission in the
build-up to the 2015 National
Assembly election.

President Muhammadu Buhari
has forwarded 2016 budget
proposals of 38 Ministries,
Departments and Agencies to
the National Assembly for
consideration, thereby
making it the first time
revenue generating agencies
would be subjected to the
fiscal responsibility Act.
The Senate after an hour
closed-door meeting
announced that President
Buhari has written, seeking
approval of the Senate to
enable MDAs expend funds
for various projects in line
with statutory laws.
“Distinguished Senators, I
wish to announced that
President Buhari has in a
letter addressed to the
Senate President forwarded
38 MDAs Budget, seeking for
consideration of the Senate,”
he announced.
DAILY POST observed that
the provisions of Fiscal
Responsibility Act, 2007
succinctly provides that all
Government Revenue
Generating Agencies shall not
spend revenues they so
generate except through
budgetary approval. This
provisions have been
flouted in the last 9 years
save for the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) and Nigeria
National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) which
partly subjected its
budgetary proposal to
Senate’s scrutiny.
Agencies like the Corporate
Affairs Commission which is
under Federal Ministry of
Trade and Industry and
others have huge revenue
profiles which they have
been spending on their own,
yet got federal subvention.

The House of
Representatives, on Monday
in Abuja met with the nation’s
security chiefs to find
solution to the incessant
destruction of lives and
property across the country.
The lawmakers particularly
expressed concern over the
situation in Aba, Abia, Abuja
and other capital cities in the
country.
Speaking at the meeting,
Chairman, House Committee
on Army, Shawulu Kwewum,
emphasized the need to
ensure safety of the citizens
at all times.
According to him, it is
unfortunate that Abia, as one
of the original nine oil
producing states, is naturally
affected by some of the
challenges facing the oil-
bearing states.
Kwewum said that records
from the Nigerian Police made
available to the committee in
Umuahia, showed that five
kidnapping incidents were
recorded in January, 2016.
He, however, said that the
victims were eventually
rescued.
Kwewum explained that a
single kidnap case in any
location in the country would
not be acceptable and
therefore, said that all hands
must be on deck to ensure
that this menace was
completely addressed.
Image
“At a town hall meeting,
several groups and
individuals told the committee
that at least five persons
are kidnapped everyday in
Aba.
“Three incidents were
recorded in February, 2016
and the three were rescued
and released.
“Also in March 2016, four
incidents were recorded;
three were rescued while
one died. In April, 2016, one
incident was recorded while
two incidents were recorded
in May, 2016.
“Of course, this has become
more urgent because
kidnapping has become
widespread and even the
federal capital territory is
not a safe haven.
“This meeting has become
very important because the
technology developed to
make life easy for Nigerians
is now being used to
facilitate the extortion that
goes with kidnapping,”
Kwewum said.
He said that due to the spate
of kidnappings of innocent
citizens, many businesses
were folding up in Aba.
He further said that the
security situation had taken
a new trend considering the
killings of armed security
operatives.
Responding on behalf of the
security agencies, acting
Inspector-General of Police,
Ibrahim Idris, commended the
committee for convening the
meeting.
Idris, who was represented
by a Deputy Inspector-
General of Police, Force
Headquarters, Joshak Habila,
assured that ongoing
collaboration among security
agencies would rid the
country of crimes and
provide security.
The News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) reports that the
meeting was attended by
representatives of
Department of State Security
(DSS), Nigerian Police and
Nigerian Army. (NAN)

The Presidency on Monday again assured Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buhari would not let Nigerians down on the key promises he made ahead of the 2015 presidential elections. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this in a statement made available to journalists. Shehu said the Buhari administration which came to power on the plank of anti- corruption and good governance will live up its promises and commitments regarding those commitments. Justifying the decision of the government to submit the budget proposals of Ministries, Departments and Agencies to the National Assembly for their consideration, the presidential spokesman said the step was in line with the President’s wish to offer a more accountable and transparent administration. He described the development as the first under this democracy. He said, “The laying of budgets for the MDAs, particularly those regarding the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation behemoth in clearly unprecedented. “The President is determined to make the budgeting more transparent and more participative. “It is all part of the reengineering of the entire processes of government for the benefit and the welfare of ordinary citizens.” Shehu quoted the President as saying that good governance is key to the nation’s progress and that transparency is the cornerstone of any government that has the welfare of ordinary citizens as its mantra. “By responding positively to the demand of the National Assembly that MDA budgets be laid before it for scrutiny, a demand mostly ignored by past administrations, President Buhari has given a clear indication of his commitment to an open, transparent and people- oriented government for Nigerians. “He has shown that he is not hiding any secrets. It is equally a mark of respect for the institution of parliament. “Our hope and expectation is that the National Assembly, acting in the best interest of the nation will allow the immediate operationalisation of the budgets, so that the momentum of growth of the economy which has begun to build up will be sustained,” he said.

The House of
Representatives has
explained that the Senate
President, Bukola Saraki and
his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu
as well as the Speaker of the
House of Representatives,
Yakubu Dogara, and his
deputy, Yussuff Lasun will
not benefit from the
proposed immunity for the
presiding officers of the
National Assembly in the
ongoing constitutional
amendment.
Addressing newsmen
yesterday, the Chairman,
House Committee on Media
and Public Affairs,
Abdulrazak Namdas assured
that the immunity clause
which is already referred to
the House ad-hoc committee
on Constitutional Amendment
will pass through the normal
rigorous process.
He regretted that already
some people had concluded
that the National Assembly
had given the presiding
officers immunity, stressing
that the immunity could be
dropped by the ad-hoc
committee which he said were
made up of experts on
constitutional matters who
will also get inputs from
knowledgeable Nigerians.
The House spokesman
stated that the proposed
immunity was not done in bad
faith but was carried out for
good governance, adding
that for the fact that the
debate took place in the
chamber during plenary, did
not mean that it had been
adopted.

*Obanikoro: DSS’ Narratives on My Wife’s Arrest Misleading, Malicious

*As EFCC invites first daughter, Salewa

Former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, has reacted to Thursday’s arrest of his wife, Alhaja Moroophat, by officials of the Department of State Security Service, and condemned in its totality the different versions of the agency’s narratives as published by some media houses.

He had issued a statement giving the family’s side of the story before the news of the invitation of his first daughter, Salewa, broke.

Sources hinted THISDAY that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), upon releasing Mrs. Obanikoro on Thursday, had also asked her to report to their office this Friday and that she should come with their first daughter, whom they want for questioning in connection with their investigation.

But in a statement signed by Obanikoro’s media aide, Mr. Jonathan Eze, the former minister urged that his wife should not be maligned in whatever way, neither should facts which are supposed to be sacred distorted to skew investigation, thereby influencing public opinion negatively on a patriotic, hard-working and innocent woman, who is completely apolitical.

He said: “We are saddened by the fact that the media was awash with false and conflicting information about the invitation of Senator Obanikoro’s wife. Ordinarily, we considered ignoring these concocted lies but for the sake of the discerning and right thinking public, hence the need to straighten matters.

“First, Alhaja Moroophat has always been in the country managing her businesses as against the lies that she sneaked in last week from the United States. Second, No documents were found in her possession and the lies that she was arrested while trying to evacuate documents were a fabrication and can only survive in their warped and distorted minds. It should also be noted that the officials only came to invite her for questioning and as against the phrase that she was whisked away; her driver actually drove her in her own car to the office of the DSS.

“Third, it was shamefully reported that the DSS were involved because there were so many armed policemen guiding her. This is another fabricated lie. The Obanikoros stopped enjoying police protection from the day he left office as minister and as a woman, who is above board in all her dealings, she does not need one.

“Finally, we are using this medium to call on the officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to desist from persecuting an innocent woman, who has no dealings at all with either Sylva McNamara or MOB integrated that they are investigating.

“For emphasis, the innocent woman has a history of High Blood Pressure and heart related ailments and as such, should not be dragged into their biased and politicised investigations. We have absolute confidence in the judiciary and we hope to get justice in the course with the proviso that they obey the rule of law and avoid arbitrariness that we are seeing on daily basis.”

A family source however claimed that the invitation of Salewa in addition to her mum’s has shown clearly that the political slant to the alleged investigation outweighs the fight supposed against graft.

The source contended: “What business has Salewa and her mum in this whole thing? You needed to have heard the kind of questions they were asking the woman. Indeed, the problem of our security architecture is intelligence and no wonder they are always susceptible to abuse by every successive government.”

According to the source, when the EFCC sought, albeit unsuccessfully, an order to arrest Mrs. Obanikoro, it then involved the DSS, from where it picked her up as part of its own investigation. The source, which consistently queried the involvement of the DSS in the matter, however warned of the growing abuse of court processes and disregard for the rule of law by the present administration, adding that the country might pay dearly for it.

The Board of Directors of the Nigeria LNG Limited on Thursday approved the appointment of Mr. Tony Attah as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company. Mr. Babs Omotowa, who has held the position for nearly five years, will be returning to Shell International in the Hague, Netherlands, according to a statement signed by the company’s General Manager, External Relations, Kudo Eresia-Eke. The NLNG said Omotowa, who was appointed CEO by the board in December 2011, would be sorely missed for his uncommon vision, professionalism, compassion and commitment. It said Attah, a former managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, would be taking over from him after returning from an assignment at Shell’s Group Integrated Gas business as senior projects advisor, working on projects in the Netherlands and Singapore. Attah comes to the NLNG with a 28-year experience in the Nigerian oil and gas industry, the statement said. At NLNG, he will be responsible for sustaining NLNG’s top quartile performance in supplying liquefied natural gas to the global energy market and advancing the company’s expansion programmes, according to the statement. NLNG is owned by four shareholders, namely, the Federal Government, represented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (49 per cent), Shell Gas BV, (25.6 per cent), Total LNG Nigeria Limited (15 per cent), and Eni International (N.A,) N. V. S. a. r. l (10.4 per cent).