₦airaland Forum

VickJames:
Now he has entered, what next?

Journalists of 2015: reading meaning to the tiniest thing ever.

Our journalists may one day lead us to something else one day!

kodded:








Another beer parlor gist from an attention seeker

Can he bring any evidence that over N100 trillion tax payers money is missing


Does he know how much is N100 trillion ?

anonimi:
He should STOP this nonsense and work on delivering on his mandate and promise to the people of Rivers state.

Myself2:
Mallam Ramalan and all the mofos screaming here can go jump in the Lagoon.For those who dont know where the Lagos Lagoon is,kindly as Oba Akiolu for direction.

#NA UR OYEL

Imagine an aboki heading NIMASA,why not go and head DESERTMASA??

Truckpusher:
Tah Nkita racha gi anya.


Who be 'we'?

My friend, justice demands that he who comes into equity must come with clean hands - You gave Nigerian oil wells to few individuals in the North and the South West that runs into billions of Naira, but you want Tompolo's minced meat contract revoked because he is from the Niger Delta and that of the presumed owners left alone because they are not freedom fighters?


Make thunder fire that ya mouth.

Bloody stinky hypocrites

chukwudi44:
WHAT ABOUT THE NORTHERNERS OWNING OIL WELLS.YOU HYPOCRITE SHOULD ALSO CONDEMN IT

Truckpusher:
Tompolo deserves every kobo he is being paid, after all when Madam Folorunsho Alakija was given billions in oil royalties I didn't see you hypocrites condemning it - It was Hosanna and hallelujah because the richest woman in Africa is a Yoruba woman on top of Niger Delta oil. ...smh


Your hypocrisy will soon catch up with you people and as for those Niger Delta people that are condemning such outrageous pay to Tompolo, I hope you're also aware that people like TY Danjuma and the rest of the Northern parasites and their South west lapdogs has been milking the Federal Government for years without recourse to the damages it will cause for the rest of the country, how much more the wanton destruction of the Niger Delta ecosystem.

I have said it and I will say it again that any Niger Delta individual that has the guts to use violence to get his own fair share of the oil proceed, should go ahead and do it using any means necessary.

Kenobus:
This is how people just tell lies in order to paint the ex-militants bad. How many news do we hear of Sea Pirates in Nigeria? What concerns NiMASA with NNPC pipelines? NIMASA pays for due services rendered. And to say we lose 400000 crude per day is totally unfounded. Yes due to the issue of vandals, the impact of shut down could be up to. This isn't the same thing as theft. What we lose daily is about 40000 or less. In Russia, they lose 150000Bpd to theft; go to Angola and others, it is like that. These are intl racket. Some Nigerians have suddenly forgotten where we were before the protection contracts. With the drop in oil prices, if we go back to less than 700000; the country would be finished. The North/SW need to be very careful. As we speak, the North gets more allocation on the skewed LGAs they have, which are majorly desert. Nigeria needs to be restructured.

chukwudi44:
You are a terrorist ode!!!

IzonOwei:
Oboy ehh see money....

But this is isnt fair with the militant leaders...I think this tompolo and his gang of militants need to rest and leave the niger delta struggle alone... ...its obvious they care about there tommy more than the majority of niger deltans....1.5billion naira to protect the water ways when of recent sea piracy almost cost the lives of my dad and uncle while embarking on a journey to the village... ....this is not fair...these guys dont even create welfare programmes for the poor and unemployed in the oil rich zone with all the monies theyv been paid..

Let the payments be stopped and the money given to responsible indigenes to join hands with the navy to protect the waters so that they navigable..

What arrant rubbish from tompolo...

chukwudi44:
Buhari might just go ahead and revoke the contract and we start losing N 20billion monthly. For those fanning the embers of war,do note that the Nigerian economy and army cannot at the moment cope with insurgency in both the north east and Niger delta simultaneously.

Buhari in the first few days has not proven to be any better than GEJ.boko haram have even increased attacks since he came on board. We don't need niger delta I insurgency now

chukwudi44:
Before nko? Is It not their oyel money? Besides he is working for it.We need to know how many barrels were missing before Tompolo started securing the waterways. Mentioning the amount also without the scope of work is childish. What are the area of dimensions of the waterways? How many people are involved in the job?

kheart:
Chai som1 should help do d maths 1.5bn X 48 month cos I m goin gaga ryt now

PassingShot:
I am very interested in what Barcanista, Dearpreye, Mogidi (more like Shigidi), SeverusSnape (more like Severe headache), and their fellow Lower Niger Republicans will say on this thread.

Waiting .......

The pioneer chairman of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Ahmed Tijani Ramalan, has disclosed that the agency pays the sum of N1.5bn monthly to the ex-militant leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), Mr. Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, to protect the nation’s maritime areas.

Dr Ramalan, however, lamented that despite such gesture, the country still loses over 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily from the nation’s shores.

The former NIMASA chairman, who revealed this to LEADERSHIP in an interview in Kaduna, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to cancel the contract given to the ex-militant by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

He said, “Over 400, 000 barrels of crude oil are being stolen daily from our shores under President Jonathan; yet we had a government that has the Navy, the Army and the Air Force, and the government of Jonathan decides to hand over the security of our maritime waters to Tompolo at a very exorbitant amount of money.

“And these same people that are given the job of our maritime security are the ones that are collaborating with the international shipping companies to steal our oil.”

According to him, one of the ways to help the country’s economy to bounce back is to revoke Tompolo’s contract.

“And if Buhari does not do so, we will be the first to start attacking him. There is no basis to give that kind of billion naira job to ex-militants,” he declared.

Making further clarification on how long the payment has been going on, Ramalan said it started “sometime after 2011 when Jonathan won his election and since then the payment has been on.

nimasa_logo2“I was the pioneer chairman of NIMASA, and NIMASA is the one funding the contract given to Tompolo. This is a guy that is collecting about N1.5bn every month and yet our Armed Forces are not well funded. So, we call on the president to discard such contract.”

He further stated that Buhari’s strong character and honesty would help him to lead country well.

“We supported President Buhari’s presidency because we believe that the country needs a strong leadership. The insecurity and economic problem that we are having in the country today is because of lack of a strong and quality leadership,” he said.

“We believe the country needs a leader that is not corrupt, because the issue of corruption in the country has led the country to its knees.

“The country would have gone down if the administration of Jonathan was allowed to continue. For us, we believe that having a new leader is what the country needs because of the massive corruption. We believe in President Buhari; we believe there is hope in having him as the president.”

He also expressed confidence in Buhari’s ability to solve the problem of insecurity in the country.

Tompolo keeps mum

Attempt by LEADERSHIP to get clarification on the allegation from Mr. Government Ekpemupolo wasn’t successful. Initial calls made to his spokesperson, Comrade Paul Bebenimibo went unanswered, likewise SMS but he later replied to an SMS sent to him saying “I will get across to my boss.” He never got back again to LEADERSHIP up to the time of going to press when several calls around 11:27pm where again made to him.



Ex-Militants To PMB: Review Oil Pipeline Surveillance Contract

Some ex Niger Delta militants have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to review the multi-million dollar oil pipeline security contract awarded to ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemukpolo, alias Tompolo and other ex-militants by the past administration.

Coming under the aegis of The National Coalition of Niger Delta Ex-agitators led by its national president, Israel Akpodoro, they made the call yesterday in a press conference held in Abuja.

In 2012, the President Goodluck Jonathan administration signed a $103 million deal with Global West Vessel Specialist Agency Ltd, a company linked to Tompolo. The deal was to patrol Nigeria’s waterways to stop piracy and oil theft.

Addressing newsmen on behalf of the ex-militants, Akpodoro also called on Buhari to review the Niger Delta amnesty programme, citing “fraud” and “selective treatment” in the federal government rehabilitation programme.

He, however, cautioned Buhari against scrapping the Niger Delta amnesty programmme.

The ex-militants also stated that Jonathan lost the 2015 presidential election because the exercise was a “free and fair” contest.

“We boldly endorsed Buhari before the 2015 presidential election. We were not sponsored. We faced threats,” the ex-militants stated, while declaring continuous support for the Buhari administration.

Billyonaire:
What of Tinubu, his role model ?

Berrymoss:
. Am a learner. Just joined. Gej my role model

Mogidi:
Why are we suppose to trust APC members if Buhari doesn't trust them himself?

dearpreye:
Good evening Bro. I think you should have solely addressed him without unnecessarily mentioning me. I don't like being used as a yardstick for measuring other people's behaviour and attitude.

People are INDIVIDUALS. And they are unique in their behaviour, perception, attitude, and paradigm. Barcanista sees matters from his own very unique binocular.

Thank you sir.

barcanista:
Are you saying that our "poor" president and the husband of the owner of that N10.5M watch has attained the zenith of cluelessness?

ofenmanucom:
Blame APC for that... They empowered and emboldened Sahara Reporters to attack sitting presidents. Their success with Jonathan probably emboldened them more.

Demdem:
u noticed that also Believe u me, with wike on that seat, Rivers is surely in trouble.

A former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu and the outgoing Senate President, David Mark, on Monday disagreed on the need for National Assembly to cut its budget in line with the current economic realities in the country.

They spoke at a retreat organised for the Peoples Democratic Party National Assembly members-elect in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

Ribadu had stirred up a hornet’s nest by calling on the lawmakers-elect to make their monthly salaries public and also cut their budgets. His call immediately attracted side talks by the participants which included governors and the leadership of the PDP.

Obviously aware that his advice was not being welcomed by majority of the lawmakers-elect, the former anti-corruption czar, reminded them that they would be going to the National Assembly as the minority.

He said that Nigerians would not support the PDP if they (Nigerians) did not know what was earmarked for the National Assembly and how much a senator or a House of Representatives member earns.

Ribadu, who was the PDP’s Adamawa State governorship candidate for the March 28 election, pointed out that patriotism and quality contributions by members of the PDP in the National Assembly would go a long way in reinventing and preparing the party for a successful comeback in future elections.

He said, “If Nigerians do not know how much is earmarked for the National Assembly or how much money a senator earns, they will not support you. We must understand the pulse or the mood of the nation.

“The first step, therefore, is to open up the National Assembly by ensuring transparency. Public office is what it is; public. Also, at this critical time of austerity, be champions by slashing your own budget.

“My very good friend, Ben Bruce (a senator-elect) has already spoken about this. There are many others already saying it. For you to excel, you must put in extra effort than your colleagues in other parties.”

He stressed that the PDP lawmakers-elect must not only be champions of probity and discipline, they must wage war against corruption in the system and ensure strict compliance with appropriation as well as due process.

Ribadu added, “As legislators, you will be going to the National Assembly as the minority. There is a sense of personal loss no doubt; but there are good opportunities for all and democratic practice in Nigeria.

“Your patriotism and quality contributions as members of the National Assembly will go a long way in reinventing our party and preparing it for a successful comeback in subsequent elections.

“You must demonstrate personal will and commitment towards being above board if you really want to checkmate others. The first charge for you is to be champions of probity in the workings of the National Assembly as well as the Legislature-Executive relations.”

But Mark, who showed his dissatisfaction with Ribadu’s charge, wondered why “every time, people will talk about National Assembly budget.”

Explaining that the budget of the Assembly had always been in public domain, the outgoing President of the Senate argued that Senators and House of Representatives members had always made sacrifices in line with the nation’s economic realities.

“Every time, people will talk about National Assembly budget; for Heaven’s sake, unless you would say you have never seen the national budget, it is a public document. The National Assembly budget is there with every other budget,” he stated in an angry tone.

Mark,who added that the National Assembly members “ were the first to make a cut in 2015 budget,” said that “ people should appreciate what we are doing and not to come and give an impression that our budget is bloated while every other person had made a cut.”

He stated further, “We are trying our best more than any ministry today. I can put my hand on my chest without fear of contradiction at all and say we made a lot of sacrifices in our budgeting system.

“Our budget is open; what we earn as National Assembly members is open. If anybody wants to receive his salary and donate it, he is free to do so. He does not need to consult us. I think we should not play politics with what is a very serious issue. Our budget is in the open and everybody can see it.”

Mark however charged the PDP lawmakers-elect and other PDP members to always speak in one voice.

He said, “We must subject our individual interest for our group interest. In the election of principal officers of National Assembly, we must vote in one accord. We must know that united we stand, divided we fall.

“We must take our destinies in our hands. We must be ready to provide credible, vibrant, determined and focused opposition to the party in power in a manner that would guarantee development and good governance.

“In doing so, we must maintain a strong synergy between our members in the National Assembly and the National Working Committee. The PDP is still a brand all Nigerians know. We just need to reinvent the wheels and move forward.”

He decried the spate of defections from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress after the elections and appealed to those remaining to be steadfast with the ideology of the party.

In his keynote address , Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu maintained that playing the role of the opposition was not a death sentence, but a soul searching for the way out of the predicament.

Ekweremadu stated that the PDP stood a great chance of regaining power in 2019 should its members put their house in order.

He added that the governors elected on the platform of the PDP were expected to play a major role in restoring the party’s fortunes.

Ekweremadu said, “May I also remind you that you have a big role to play in restoring the political fortunes of the PDP because PDP governed-states will now be the major yardsticks for evaluating our performance in the next four years.

“I call on you to demonstrate unbeatable and undisputable capacity for good governance such as would stand the PDP-governed states out as models in uncommon transformation and actualisation of all the blessings and promises that democracy holds.”

Earlier, Governors of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa; and other governors, who were elected on the platform of the PDP gave various strategies on how the party could regain power at the centre in 2019.

CFCfan:
And how did he address the lawyers?