₦airaland Forum

....Warns Buhari Against Cover-Up
Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to order immediate investigation into the controversy surrounding the N2.5billion allegedly stolen from First Lady, Aisha, by her AIde-De-Camp (ADC), Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Sani Baban-Inna.

He warned that any attempt at cover-up will not augur well for his integrity and his administration’s anti-corruption crusade.
Frank in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja insisted that an open, unbiased and transparent probe of the scandal has become imperative to ensure that the First Lady is not unduly maligned or the ADC wrongly punished. According to him, if nothing concrete is done to unearth the truth, former First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, who was in office for five years, will be a saint compare to Mrs. Buhari who has just spent three and half in office as First Lady. He said: “The allegation that your wife’s ADC has helped himself with N2.5billion allegedly routed through him for the First Lady is too close home for comfort considering your strenuous efforts in the last three years to rid the country of corruption. Breaking: Buhari approves N20bn to ASSU to revitalize public versities “I don’t think this scam should be swept under the carpet because as past incidences has shown, it will simply refuse to remain buried. Mrs. Kemi Adeosun’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificate scam that refused to die until she threw in the towel as Minister of Finance should serve as a guide in this circumstance. “Besides, Mr. President must realize that this is a classical case of corruption right inside the “other room” which now needs a full dose of “lawful insecticide” to flush out any attempt at criminality at his Integrity Castle. “I believe that this is a golden opportunity for you to prove critics – who have consistently labeled your anti-corruption fight as “selective” – wrong. “Don’t forget that Patience Jonathan is today being prosecuted by the EFCC over a sum of N3billion allegedly found in her account after her husband’s exit from office. “Moreover, I don’t think this is a case for the police or the Department of State Services (DSS) to handle. I believe the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission statutorily saddled with the responsibility of flighting graft and financial crimes should immediately take over this case and ensure speedy and transparent investigation of the matter and ultimately prosecute those found culpable. “To clamp the ADC in police or DSS detention is tantamount to cover-up of vital information on the matter and shielding of a suspect. Let the EFCC initiate his trial in a court of competent jurisdiction if he had been found wanting. “For the avoidance of doubt, I make bold to say that Nigerians want to know the “politicians and business people” that donated this money, how much was received and for what purpose. “Good that Aisha has through a statement by her Director of information, Suleiman Haruna, denied ordering the arrest and detention of Baban-Inna, however she did not deny that she petitioned the Inspector General of Police to cause an investigation into the alleged stealing incident. “I want Mr. President to know that this ghost of corruption now inhabiting his inner sanctum will perpetually haunt him and his administration if not urgently exorcised through an open and transparent inquiry,” he said. He also called on the nation’s civil society organizations and the international community to closely monitor the development on this high-wire corruption scandal at the very top to ensure that the facts as to what has transpired is made known to Nigerians and the world without delay.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/09/aisha-adcs-n2-5b-scandal-frank-calls-for-independent-probe/

A middle-aged man (name withheld), on Wednesday, in Abuja, climbed a Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) mast to protest alleged insecurity and unemployment in the country, vowing not to come down until President Muhammadu Buhari resigned as the nation’s president.

The incident, who happened around noon in Maitama, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), threw the entire community into panic, as passers-by and onlookers were gathered, but no one was allowed to get closer to the mast by soldiers and other security operatives who immediately besieged the area to apprehend him.

Witnesses told the TribuneOnline that the man, who arrived the area in company of two others, displaced different placards to protest insecurity and employment in the country.

He was later arrested and taken to the nearest Police Station.

source: https://www.tribuneonlineng.com/164208/

“The soldiers and other security personnel were on ground but refused any attempt to capture the scene on camera. Posters with different messages protesting the situation in the country, especially the insecurity and unemployment were all seen around the mast.” One of the witnesses, who did not want his name in print, stated.

An informant, Ismail Yakubu, has narrated how he instigated the raid on the residence of the elder statesman and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, by armed policemen on Tuesday in Abuja.

The 45-year-old indigene of the Federal Capital Territory explained that a taxi driver informed him that a sealed Toyota Hilux was conveying arms and ammunition into the Asokoro, Abuja residence of the Niger Delta leader.

This, he added, prompted him to alert the IGP Special Tactical Force’ which conducted a two-hour search of the building. The search, however, yielded nothing.

Yakubu who claimed to be a member of Waru traditional council disclosed how he got the information about the purported arms at Clark’s residence while being paraded by the Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said, “The point is that I was going to Asokoro on Monday exactly 4pm. I was called to come and receive a message at the back of ECOWAS. I took a taxi from Apo roundabout.

“When we were on our way, I was in front and two other passengers were in the car. I noticed that the whole street was blocked and then I began to ask questions to know what was happening.”

Yakubu further stated, “It was then the taxi man said the street is where the Niger Delta people are living. I probed further to know why the road was blocked and rowdy. He then pointed out to me to see the truck entering the compound, the compound was House 43. The truck was a white Hilux van and it was sealed. The driver said the road was blocked because the van was trying to enter the compound.

“The driver said the van was filled with ammunition. As an indigene of the FCT and hearing the information. I thought to myself that why ammunition in the FCT because residents of the FCT are peace-loving people. I said I cannot take that. I asked how sure he was and he said he was sure and that was why the whole area was blocked.

“On Tuesday morning, I met Inspector Sada and I narrated what I saw. I told him that I got the information from a taxi man. I told him the address and they went there to investigate.”

source: https://punchng.com/a-taxi-driver-told-me-about-arms-in-clarks-residence-informant/

The Federal Government is asking MTN Nigeria to pay fresh N2bn tax arrears on imported equipment and payments to suppliers.

It was gathered that the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, in a letter to the company, said the tax arrears dated back to 10 years.

“The Attorney General notified MTN that his office made a high-level calculation that MTN Nigeria should have paid approximately $2bn in taxes relating to the importation of foreign equipment and payments to foreign suppliers over the last 10 years,” a statement signed by the Public Relations Manager, MTN Nigeria Limited, Funso Aina, stated on Tuesday.

This fresh demand is coming barely one week after the Central Bank of Nigeria asked the telecommunication company and its bankers to repatriate $8.1bn it allegedly paid as dividends between 2007 and 2015.

However, MTN Nigeria said an initial assessment of the period indicated that total payments made to the tax authorities in regard to the foreign imports and payments amounted to $700m, saying it had fully settled all taxes on the imports under scrutiny.

The company said after it presented its documentation to the Nigerian authorities, the government insisted on recovering the $2bn from it.

The latest demands come two years after MTN, Africa’s biggest telecoms company, agreed to pay more than $1bn to end a dispute with Nigeria over unregistered SIM cards and agreed to list on its stock exchange as part of the settlement.

Source: https://punchng.com/fg-demands-fresh-2bn-tax-arrears-from-mtn/

I got my current job with an IT firm in Lagos Island on Linkedin. It works. Just be patient and ensure your necessary details are well included in your profile. Best of luck.

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a senior Nigerian lawyer as the head of communications and strategy for his 2019 re-election bid.

The appointment of Festus Keyamo was conveyed via an April 16 letter signed by Rotimi Amaechi, the minister of transport and director-general of the Buhari Campaign Organisation.

Mr Buhari announced last week Monday that he would seek reelection, shortly before departing for London.

The news of the appointment comes a day after Mr Buhari told British Prime Minister Theresa May that he was more concerned about governance than the 2019 elections.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, prominent for his rights activism, Mr Keyamo remains one of the most vocal voices backing the Buhari administration since 2015.

He is expected to make a formal statement about his appointment soon.

source: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/265212-2019-buhari-names-festus-keyamo-campaign-spokesperson.html

Bashir El-Rufai, son of Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has taken a swipe at New York Times over its announcement of President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration to contest in 2019.
NY Times via its Twitter account, had tweeted: “Muhammadu Bahari, Nigerian president beset by health problems, Boko Haram and calls for him to step aside, says he will run again in 2019”.
Perhaps angered by the reference to Buhari’s health and critics call on him to stand down, Bashir responded with a reference to President Donald Trump’s sex scandal.
@BashirElRufai wrote: “The President in your country, was on tape bragging about grabbing women by the P**** and eats Big Macs all day, and is a fully open racist and misogynist will run again in 2020 and win too, but hey, it’s the New York Times”.
Meanwhile, President Buhari has explained why he declared his intentions to run for another term in office on Monday, April 9, 2018, during the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He spoke while receiving the Archbishop of Canterbury, His Grace Justin Welby in London Wednesday.
Buhari said: “I declared before leaving home because Nigerians were talking too much about whether I would run or not. So, I felt I should break the ice.
“We have many things to focus on, like security, agriculture, economy, anti-corruption, and many others.
“We needed to concentrate on them, and politics should not be a distraction. The majority of Nigerians appreciate what we are doing, and that is why I am recontesting

Junaid Mohammed, Second Republic lawmaker, has described President Muhammad Buhari and the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed as “liars.”
He made the remark while faulting the looters’ list released by the Federal Government.
DAILY POST reports that Mohammed had released the controversial list of treasury looters at a press conference in Lagos on Friday.
Reacting, Junaid Mohammed said the list released by the Minister was an “anticlimax” after about three years of talking about fighting corruption and looting of public funds.
Speaking with Punch, he said, “I think Mohammed, his party and the President are guilty of the lies that they have been telling Nigerians. If indeed all the noise that has been made concerns only about five people, then something is wrong and I am certainly disappointed.
“So you are telling me that for the three years that you have been talking about corruption and promising to release the names of looters, you have been talking about only five people.
“If indeed they only had evidence that there are about five people who are responsible for our economic woes, then that to me sounds like a monumental anti-climax.
“There are quite a number of people who I believe are thieves and there is a substantial and overwhelming evidence against them and I believe the money they stole is known to people in the Presidency, the government and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
“If they cannot recover the money, then forget about Nigeria, it is finished. And I don’t believe Lai Mohammed because he has lied so many times and if his own idea of politics is to abuse his position and lie to the people, then we are in a very serious trouble because the whole thing is cynical, untrue and you begin to wonder who is to be believed because this government is not believable.”



Source: Dailly post.

The excerpt below was a similar scenario that occurred during the last administration and the reaction of the then Spokes person of the then Action Congress of Nigeria. The question is, what changed? Indeed, the more things change, the more they remain the same!


THE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday tabled two requests before President Goodluck Jonathan on his proposed trip to Lagos.

According to the party, the requests are to ensure traffic sanity in the Centre of Excellence today as the ACN holds its convention.

One – that the President takes a chopper from the Muritala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja to Eko Hotel & Suites on Victoria Island, where he is billed to attend a centenary event.

The other request is for the President to postpone his visit in order not to create a traffic chaos. The ACN has scheduled his National Convention to hold at Onikan Stadium, one of the presidential routes leading to Victoria Island.



Presidential routes are usually shut against public transportation anywhere the President visits.

The ACN’s requests were contained in a letter written by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, to Governor Babatunde Fashola on the President’s visit.

In the letter, the ACN spokesman said the President’s visit usually creates heavy traffic and grounds movement.

Combined with the convention, Mohammed noted that the traffic situation would be unimaginable, should the President travel by road.

But presidential spokesman Dr. Reuben Abati accused the party of crying wolf where there was none.

He said the President would only be transiting through Lagos, en route Ogun State.



According to Mohammed, the convention was to get the party’s mandate to merge with other political parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC) in line with the Electoral Act 2010.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he said, would be represented at the convention where the merger plan and the new party’s name would be ratified.

Mohammed, who spoke while accrediting reporters for the coverage of the convention, explained the motive behind the party’s requests through the governor of Lagos state governor.

He said: “We have been compelled to write a letter to the Lagos State governor asking him to please prevail on the President to reschedule his visit.

“But if his visit must go on, he should use another means of transportation such as the helicopter so that the whole town is not locked up.

“Anytime Mr President is coming to Lagos, our roads are closed, and traffic congestion is at its highest. The whole city is shut down for the entire day.

“You can imagine when we’re expecting about 10,000 people from different parts of Nigeria to our convention, all heading for the same place. It’s going to be chaos.

“So, we’re appealing to Mr President, through the Governor, to please reconsider his visit.

“And if he must come, he should inflict the minimum pain and hardship on Nigerians.”

Reacting yesterday, Abati said the Presidential visit would not in any way disrupt the ACN convention, wondering what informed the party’s letter to the governor.

He alleged that the CAN spokesman was trying to re-order the itinerary of the President.

Abati said in a statement: “We find it hard to believe that any patriotic and right-thinking Nigerian would have written the kind of publicly circulated letter reportedly sent to the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola by the National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in which he attempts to dictate President Jonathan’s itinerary, mode of transportation within Lagos, and motive, and even suggests that the President’s visit could have been designed to frustrate a planned Action Congress of Nigeria convention and merger with some other political parties.

“The allegation is not only baseless, but another in the series of ‘wolf crying’ that has become the sole strategy and pre-occupation of the ACN. It is clearly a deliberate, further attempt to undermine, ridicule and debase the office of the President of the Federal Republic.

“A courteous and simple discussion of the phantom potential conflict of programmes with appropriate officials of the Presidency would have sufficed to inform the ACN and its officials that President Jonathan is only transiting through Lagos tomorrow on his way to the commissioning of the WEMPCO Cold Roll Steel Plant in Ibafo, Ogun State.

“In point of fact, President Jonathan’s visit tomorrow which was scheduled long before the ACN convention will have absolutely no effect whatsoever on the convention as he will only touchdown at the airport, transit to Ibafo (miles away from the ACN convention venue) by chopper and return to the airport the same way for his flight back to Abuja.

“It is certain that Governor Fashola was already aware of President Jonathan’s itinerary in Lagos tomorrow since in keeping with protocol, the Presidency always briefs state governments well ahead of time on all Presidential movements to their states.

“Alhaji Lai Mohammed’s letter was therefore pointless and serves no purpose other than distasteful muck-raking.”

Abati said the Presidency completely rejected the insinuation that the President’s visits to Lagos are always disruptive.

The statement reads: “The paranoia displayed by the ACN in its plea to Governor Fashola concerning an imaginary plan to scuttle a political merger is beneath the politics of inclusiveness this administration has encouraged in its interaction with the state, as with all other states of the Federal Republic.

“President Jonathan is President of the whole of Nigeria. It is strange and intolerable that any political party would as much as suggest that the President is not welcome in any state, city or local council in any part of the country at any time or date.”

History they say has a way of haunting you. Did anyone remember this?

Emir of Kano, Sanusi, urges Nigerians to defend selves against Boko Haram

November 16, 2014

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has urged Nigerians to brace up to defend themselves against the extremist Boko Haram sect which has mounted a bloody campaign against Nigerians; killing, maiming and overrunning territories.

So what changed?

The BringBackOurGirls, BBOG, has given reasons why the move to grant amnesty to repentant Boko Haram insurgents would be detrimental.
The group also said the President Muhammad Buhari-led administration has to explain to Nigerians their relationship with the insurgents.
It said those freed in the past later backtracked and unleashed terror on the people.
The BBOG questioned the rationale behind the move, adding that the government had not presented any strategy for preventing freed terror suspects from going back to terrorism.
The group’s spokesperson, Sesugh Akume, told reporters that “Some of the insurgents released later went back to join their colleagues.
“We have evidence of this. What is the strategy behind declaring amnesty for terrorists and releasing those in custody and allowing them to go back to what they were doing?
“The Minister of Information said they had a ceasefire arrangement with Boko Haram and they ought not to have abducted the Dapchi girls, so they had a moral burden to return the girls. You are talking about terrorists and morality?
“It seems as if the rest of us understand the terrorists differently from how the government understands them. They need to come down from their high horse and explain to us what is going on.
“How can the government be talking about Boko Haram and morality?
“Those they released in the past went back and unleashed more terror, so how are they going to prevent this from happening again?”

Source: http://dailypost.ng/2018/03/24/boko-haram-buharis-government-explain-relationship-insurgents-bbog/

President Muhammadu Buhari has denied knowledge of days which the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris spent in Benue State after he was ordered to relocate to the state.

President Buhari said this on Monday during a meeting with some stakeholders at the Government House in Makurdi, the state capital.

On January 9, the President had ordered the Inspector General of Police to immediately move to Benue State to restore law and order and prevent further loss of lives and properties, from escalating and spreading in the state.

Although Mr Idris obeyed the President’s directive, he reportedly left Benue State for Nasarwa State.

Addressing stakeholders at the Government House in Makurdi the President said he is just learning of the alleged noncompliance by the IGP but as a loyal leader, he will engage the IGP for inquires upon his return to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory

“What I did was to call him and give him the directive. I didn’t know he moved here (Benue State) and didn’t spend … and then moved to Nasarawa. It’s only now that I am knowing that.

“But I know I dispatched him here,” the President said.

Buhari made this explanation following demands by Governor Samuel Ortom that the IGP steer clear of partisan politics as a Police Chief and desist from holding an opinion on which law to implement or not.

Buhari said further that as a leader loyalty is very important.

The President said he operates with this watchword. According to him, the IGP is slow in using the intelligence and resources available to him but as a loyal leader, all he did was give the directive to the IGP instead publicly exposing his incompetence.

Source: https://www.channelstv.com/2018/03/12/i-never-knew-igp-moved-to-nasarawa-after-i-sent-him-to-benue-buhari/?utm_source=FB&utm_medium=ChannelsTv&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BChannels+Television

Wattana Kunwongse, Thailand’s ambassador to Nigeria, has faulted a claim reportedly made by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, that Thailand accused Nigeria of being responsible for the collapse of its seven rice mills following the drastic fall in rice importation from the country.

The ambassador, in a letter sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday, described the minister’s claim as “misleading and a distortion of the actual discussion that transpired between them”.

A News Agency of Nigeria report published on PREMIUM TIMES on Friday showed that Mr. Ogbeh made the claim, at a meeting of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) and the leadership of the Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers of Nigeria (FEPSAN) held at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

According to the report, the minister said “just like two weeks ago, the Ambassador of Thailand came to my office and said to me that we have really ‘dealt’ with them.

“But I asked what did we do wrong and he said unemployment in Thailand was one of the lowest in the world, 1.2 per cent, it has gone up to four per cent because seven giant rice mills have shut down because Nigeria’s import has fallen by 95 per cent on rice alone”.

However, the diplomat said Mr. Ogbeh may have lied.

“The report is not only misleading but a distortion of the actual conversation between myself and the honourable Minister of Agriculture at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on 30th January 2018, which was nothing short of positivity and optimism on both sides.

“During which I praised President Buhari’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), the essence of which is the endeavour to move the country to a self-sufficiency and export-oriented economy, and to that worthy cause, Thailand stands ready to work closely with the Nigerian Government in the field of technological transfer and agricultural machineries.

“At the same meeting, the honourable minister and I had reached the conclusion that I as Ambassador 0f Thailand to Nigeria will be working closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and rural development to establish a platform to discuss our mutual benefits in the form of MOU on Agricultural Cooperation and by forming a bilateral Working Committee toward that end.”

He added that the report could not have been farther from the truth as Thailand’s official figures demonstrate that its rice export to the world in 2017 reached 11.48 million tons worth $5.1 billion.

“Thailand’s rice export to the world in 2017 (January-December 2017) reached 11.48 million tons equalising to $5.1 billion (USD), a 15.54 per cent increase compared to previous years, which is one of the highest figures on the history Thailand’s rice exportation. There is no proof of any shutdown of Thailand’s major rice mills,” he said.

Despite the minister’s “misquotation”, the Ambassador said he remains optimistic and looks forward to working together with the Nigerian Government in all fronts in the development of Nigerian agricultural sector.

He noted that based on the warm reception from Mr. Ogbeh when he visited the ministry, he believes the minister is “a great man of integrity who has been working so hard to help Nigeria achieve the goal of self-sustainability in food and agriculture.”

When asked to respond to the ambassador’s rebuttal of Mr. Ogbeh’s statement, the special adviser to the minister on media and publicity, Olukayode Adeleye, said he would have “to crosscheck facts” before responding. He was yet to respond as at the time of this report.

Self-sufficiency in rice production is one of the cardinal objectives of the Muhammadu Buhari administration with different officials calling for a ban on the importation of the product.

In his New Year broadcast in January, President Muhammadu Buhari pledged that his administration will further reduce rice import in 2018. Earlier in August, a director at the agriculture ministry, Muhammad Adamu, announced that Nigeria’s rice production reached 15 million metric tonnes annually.

Source: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/260948-rice-production-audu-ogbehs-reported-claim-untrue-thailand-ambassador.html

Transparency International’s latest global corruption perception index (CPI) ranks Nigeria 148 out of 180 countries surveyed.

This shows a significant drop of 12 places, compared to the country’s rating of 136th position in 2016.

According to TI, further analysis of the results indicated that countries with the least protection for press and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also tend to have the worst rates of corruption.

The report, however, also pointed out that the problem of corruption is a general trend across the world.

“This year’s corruption perceptions index highlights that the majority of countries are making little or no progress in ending corruption, while further analysis shows journalists and activists in corrupt countries risking their lives every day in an effort to speak out”.

Also according to the report, while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested and arraigned several politicians and public servants, it accused the Buhari administration of failing to address corruption among key government officials.

The agency, however, opined that activists as well as the media are vital to combatting corruption.

As part of its recommendations the it said: “Governments and businesses must do more to encourage free speech, independent media, political dissent and an open and engaged civil society.

“Governments should minimise regulations on media, including traditional and new media, and ensure that journalists can work without fear of repression or violence. In addition, international donors should consider press freedom relevant to development aid or access to international organisations.”

It also called on activists and the government to “take advantage of the momentum generated by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to advocate and push for reforms at the national and global level.”

Source: https://www.channelstv.com/2018/02/22/corruption-nigeria-getting-worse-transparency-international/?utm_source=FB&utm_medium=ChannelsTv&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BChannels+Television

Human rights organisation, Amnesty International, has accused Nigerian security forces of carrying out widespread abuses such as extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, mass detention in sub-human facilities, attacks on the media and journalists, violent crackdown on peaceful protesters, forced evictions, among other things.

In its 2017/2018 Human Rights Report released on Thursday, the agency said the Nigerian Military had “detained hundreds of women unlawfully, without charge” among other inhumane treatments.

According to Amnesty International, “the military detention facility at Giwa barracks, Maiduguri, held more than 4,900 people in extremely overcrowded cells.

“Disease, dehydration and starvation were rife and at least 340 detainees died. At least 200 children, as young as four, were detained in an overcrowded and unhygienic children’s cell. Some children were born in detention,” the report said.

Furthermore, the agency accused the Police and the State Security Service (SSS) of “torture, other ill-treatment and unlawful detention”, especially in a case involving one Nonso Diobu and eight other men who were arrested and detained by officials of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

Also listing another case involving a member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Bright Chimezie, AI said even after the high court had ordered the SSS to release him, his name was included in another case and he was held in detention for another year.

It also made mention of the case involving the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his wife who has remained in detention since his arrest in 2015, despite a court ordering their release and compensation.

The Police was also accused of breaching the fundamental human rights of Freedom of Expression and association.

“The security forces disrupted, in some cases violently and with excessive force, peaceful protests and assemblies,” the report said.

At the time of this report, none of the agencies had reacted to the accusations of Amnesty.

Source: https://www.channelstv.com/2018/02/22/amnesty-internation-accuses-security-agencies-of-abuses-violence/?utm_source=TW&utm_medium=ChannelsTV-+AutoPoster&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BChannels+Television

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmoud Yakubu on Friday said a panel has been set up to investigate the alleged issue of underage registration and voting in Kano State.

Mahmoud who revealed this during a workshop in Lagos said he believes that the commission’s register is not compromised.

The decision to investigate the issue came after pictures of underaged voters in Kano State were circulated on social media. The images show children participating in the local council elections conducted across Kano State last weekend.

These pictures sparked reactions from Nigerians with many blaming the electoral umpire for irregularities.

source:https://www.channelstv.com/2018/02/16/breaking-inec-sets-committee-probe-underaged-voting-kano/?utm_source=TW&utm_medium=ChannelsTV-+AutoPoster&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BChannels+Television

The Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has apologised to the Catholic bishops and Christians over his alleged comment that those who opposed President Muhammadu Buhari were corrupt Christian leaders who were unhappy because looters were no longer able to pay tithes to them.

Bello said he could never insult men of God as he had “tremendous respect for the Catholic Community.”
He said he would not do anything to disparage any religious organisation.

The governor was reacting to the criticism that greeted his comment in which he was quoted as carpeting the Catholic bishops who paid a visit to Buhari last week and expressed their misgivings about the President’s perceived nepotism and killings by Fulani herdsmen in parts of the country.

The governor said those criticising the President were those sympathetic to looters and that the bishops were angry because tithes were no longer coming from looters.
But Bello in statement signed on his behalf by his Director General of Media and Publicity, Kingsley Fanwo, said the reports that he disrespected the Catholic Community and its leaders was “another low by my detractors in their desperation to portray me as an irresponsible leader.”

He said, “My statements to the press were misconstrued and misrepresented but I take full responsibility for this as I tender my unreserved apology to the Catholic bishops and by extension my Christian brothers and sisters who are displeased with my statement on tithing.

“I recognise the enormous contributions of the Catholic Church to entrenching a social order which is devoid of corruption, oppression and in the promotion of socio-economic justice.”
Bello said he was confident that genuine religious leaders of all faith were united in Buhari’s fight against corruption, insisting that no good religion has a place for corruption and corrupt people.

He said, “The Catholic Church has done very well in promoting literacy and health care. I am quite familiar with a good number of Catholic priests and I know their stance on the issue of corruption. Every church and religion must fight corruption because corruption oppresses the poor and destroy justice and fairness.”

Femi Falana, activist lawyer, has called on Federal the Government to stop the reinstatement of the Executive Secretary of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof. Usman Yusuf.

Falana said this in reaction to the reinstatement of suspended Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Usman Yusuf by President Buhari.
The Senior lawyer warned the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to stop insulting the intelligence of Nigerians, adding that the reinstatement of Prof Yusuf cannot be justified in law.

In a statement yesterday in Lagos, Falana said: “In line with the provisions of the Public Service Rules, the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Messers Babachir Lawal and Ayo Oke, were suspended pending the conclusion of investigations into allegations of corrupt practices and money laundering levelled against them.

“But the established principle has just been set aside by President Muhammadu Buhari in this case.

“In a bid to play on the intelligence of Nigerians, the Federal Government has said the allegation of the criminal diversion of the over N900 million involving the Executive Secretary has not been swept under the carpet and that his purported reinstatement will not stop the investigation being conducted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The Federal Government should be advised to stop insulting the intelligence of Nigerians. Since Section 42 of the Constitution bans the Federal Government from according preferential treatment to any citizen, the reinstatement of Prof Yusuf cannot be justified in law. It should be withdrawn by President Buhari without delay.”

Nigeria has overtaken India as the country with the most people in extreme poverty. For context, India has 5 times the population of Nigeria. According to World Bank standards, living in extreme poverty is living on less than $1.90 (N680) per day. People living in extreme poverty are unable to meet even the barest minimal needs for survival.



In 2015, the UN set up the Sustainable Development Goals, and the first of them is to “eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere by 2030”. However to achieve this globally, 90 people need to leave poverty every minute to eradicate poverty totally by 2030; and to achieve this in Africa, 57 people have to leave every minute; and in Nigeria, 12 people per minute.

As you can imagine, this is not the case. In fact the opposite is the case. On the average, 9 people are entering extreme poverty every minute, and Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo are both responsible for the 9. And individually, Nigeria has about 7 people going into poverty every minute.

For Nigeria, this is due to many reasons, first of all, population. Nigeria’s population is growing faster than its economy. Between 1990 and 2013, Nigeria’s population increased by 81 percent. And by 2050, according to the UN, Nigeria will be third most populous country in the world. Only behind India and China.

And while poverty is billed to wildly increase in 2018, the IMF projects Nigeria’s GDP to rise by only 0.8 percent in 2018, after the 2016 recession slowed down the economy. Nigeria’s 2018 record budget (which President Buhari stood for 69 minutes to present, this was news for some reason) is running on a deficit, and will be funded by much borrowing with government debts already on the rise.

On the contrary, in recent times, Nigeria’s recent dwindling oil wealth due to the global oil price reduction, with oil being the mainstay of its economy, meant its oil-dependent GDP was affected too. The country’s economy was hit hard by the recent recession in the country.

This is not unexpected though. High rate of unemployment, corruption, the lack of basic amenities, difficulty in doing business and now, millions living in poverty? It’s just another Friday in Nigeria.

Aisha Buhari also reposted a video of the Senator represents the Bayelsa East constituency, Ben Murray-Bruce lambasting the Federal Government claiming Nigeria is a lawless country.

https://mobile.twitter.com/aishambuhari/status/954344978930700289

Buhari's opponents recall his 2011 one term pledge:

In this February 2011 interview, Theophilus Abbah, asked Buhari:

Why did you say you will do just one term, if elected?

Below is Buhari's response:

"I’m not getting younger. If I succeed and do one term, I will be 73 years old."

Theophils asked Buhari again: If you’re doing just one term, you may want to urgently do some things? What are they?

Buhari responded:

"There are two issues and I have said it in one sentence. Security and power. This country has to be secured and managed. People in Nigeria must not go about fearing that they would be abducted. You must not be afraid to the point that you can’t drive from Kaduna to Kano any time of the day. If you are in Lagos, you should have jobs to the point that you can afford to have three shifts in a day. That is eight hours each. But people are now very scared wherever they are. People have built houses worth over a billion naira, but they are afraid to live in them. What is the use? So, security is number one. Number two is structure. We have to revive the electricity sector so that people will have access to power to carry out their businesses. Others include the roads, the railways, the shipping lines. We used to have all these things. In spite of what we earned in the last eleven years, the whole infrastructure has already collapsed."

G9, the umbrella body for all self determination groups in Nigeria, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to order immediate disarmament of all Fulani herdsmen throughout the country to stem the tide of imminent civil war.

In a release personally signed by the convener of G9, Akogun Tola Adeniyi, the Group challenged the Commander-in-Chief of Nigerian Armed Forces retired General Buhari, the Chief of Army Staff General Buratai, and the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police, Mr. Idris Ibrahim, to live up to their constitutional responsibilities and convince Nigerians that they are not partisan.

The continued and condoned brutal and brutish barbarism of the Fulani herdsmen terrorists is about to plunge Nigeria into imminent war following the gruesome murders perpetrated in Benue state. The Fulani herdsmen regarded by the world body as the third most deadly terrorists group in the world must be disarmed immediately if Nigeria is to prevent another Boko Haram.

We cannot fold our arms like sheep tied to a stake as Fulani herdsmen marauders continue their recklessness with impunity. Nigerians are horrified by the horrendous sight of the horrific butchery, which claimed over 50 lives in Benue communities on New Year’s Day!

Benue state Governor Ortom in his reaction said the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore threatened to invade Benue communities and has carried out its threat without let or hindrance!

Nigerians are not deceived by the underlying intentions and designs of the Fulani herdsmen as the terrorists rampage the length and breadth of the country while those who should stop them turn a blind eye.

Enough is enough!, declared the G9.

A group known as Global Peace and Rescue Initiative organised a prayer session for the ailing son of Predident Muhamadu Buhari, Yusuf Buhari in Jos. The group said that this has become necessary for the quick recovery of the president son.

Centrum Initiative For Development and Fundamental Rights Advocacy, CEDRA, has condemned in strongest terms, President Buhari’s “insensitivity” to killings in Southern Kaduna.

It said Buhari has refused to speak against the killings and has also failed to visit the area.

The group said it has lost courage in Buhari’s ability to advise Governor Nasir El-Eufai, stressing that history would remember him for his disposition to the plight of the people of the area.

In a press statement made available to newsmen in Kaduna on Tuesday, Chairman of CEDRA, Dr. John Danfulani, said “President Buhari’s conscious refusal to include visiting of Southern Kaduna to commiserate with the immediate family, Chiefdom, and the good people of Southern Kaduna for the brutal and gruesome murder of a First Class paramount ruler of Numana Chiefdom in Sanga local government and his wife by the “unknown known” gunmen is a gargantuan contradiction to the recently released commentary on his human side.

“No persona with modicum of humanity, let alone a democratically elected leader will exhibit this hyperactive insensitivity on a community that has suffered protracted acts of terror that is beginning to show some features of a genocide.

“It has come to our knowledge that President Muhammadu Buhari will be in Kaduna on Thursday 4th January 2018 to commission a dry port and a few railway coaches. Aside the niceties of tape-cutting at designated sites and a few remarks, his itinerary is quiet on his other activities while in Kaduna.

“A similar scenario unfolded on 12th September 2017 when he visited the state for the commissioning of a feeds milling plant called OLAM along Kaduna-Abuja Road. The President left after fulfilling the righteousness of tape-cutting. We guess his Thursday 4th January 2018 visit will ply the same lane.

“This is not the first time President Buhari is showcasing a lackadaisical and I-don’t-care attitude to the barbaric annihilations of the people of Southern Kaduna. When terminations and arsons in Southern Kaduna became a national embarrassment, President Buhari via his Special Adviser Media on 27th December 2016 simply said Governor Nasir El-rufai has assured them that he is in full control of the situation. And has been briefing his boss regularly. Every Tom, Dick and Harry knows that Governor El-rufai isn’t in control of the situation.Foreign terrorists he compensated were the ones in full control.

“The Governor of Kaduna State is an overrated person that can’t walk 5% of his elephant-sized talks. His landmark deficiency in administrative and physical security management is an open secret.

“While leaving Southern Kaduna at the mercy of a certified panjandrum and self acclaimed genius called El-rufai, President Buhari treated Zamfara State differently. He physically visited Zamfara in full military regalia . Since then, the degree of insecurity has greatly scaled-down. Zamfara people are enjoying relative peace,right now. It is only in President Buhari’s world that the goose and the gander don’t share the same pot of sauce.

“When Governor El-rufai unabashedly confirmed to the whole world on the 3rd and 21st December 2016 that he has identified killers of Southern Kaduna people in Niger, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Senegal and Niger Republics and offered them compensations, we wrote an official letter of protest on the ground that; our constitution don’t permit State governments to embark on foreign policy because Foreign Policy is under exclusive list in Nigeria’s 1999 constitution (as amended).

“We demanded for a full blown investigation into this crystal clear act of felony by Governor El-rufai. For reason bordering hatred for the people of Southern Kaduna, party fraternity and Mechanical solidarity President Buhari refused to act.

“We are beginning to suspect that President Buhari has lost the courage to see Governor El-rufai in the eye and tell him some home truth.If it were another Governor that his state has become a hub of kidnappers, a human abattoir, and other high criminal activities, President Buhari would have long before now reacted.

“President Buhari must be afraid of attracting the Governor’s 2010 damning comments on his person or another 30-page assessment letter of his 36 months old administration.

“Still, if President Buhari isn’t avoiding a head-on with the destructive element that crested on the win of change his candidacy triggered in 2015, he would have pulled the brakes after receiving protests letters from AKIDA fraction of APC and RESTORATION group. Lodging of official protests by Kaduna State’s political juggernauts shows that the soul of his party APC is on a cliff. But because the fair of El-rufai is the beginning of wisdom, President Buhari refused to act as prayed by these groups in their well circulated letters.

“Again, if President Buhari isn’t avoiding “a rumble in the jungle-like” skirmish with Governor El-rufai he would have keep-off Kaduna because for the past 36 months,no single peoples oriented project has been commissioned.President Buhari has gone to many state and Commissioned projects but hasn’t commission a single one initiated and completed by Governor El-rufai despite much hype by his spin doctors and unproductive local and international pay-as-you-go conferences.”

In May last year when the price was moved to N145 per litre, the NLC moved to the streets and Nigerians refused to follow us. We went on the streets in Abuja and some Nigerians stoned us. Are Nigerians so quick to forget?
“Trade Union Congress (TUC) and some guys, who claimed they had another NLC and were claiming to be operating under illegal labour body, abandoned the struggle. They were hobnobbing with the federal government. They humiliated us.
“But is history kind to them today? These were comrades that sold out. Today, 18 months on, we are back to the same struggle they betrayed. We told Nigerians not to go to work, but they went.
“So, Nigerians must pay the price, and they are paying heavily for it now. The NLC has been vindicated. No one can blame us for the ongoing hardship. We called them at that time, but they said No; they went to romance with government. This is where the romance has taken them.
“It is not about the NLC not willing to lead the struggle if the need be, but Nigerians must now lead the struggle from the front. Though NLC can call a strike, NLC cannot prosecute strike or protest all alone; struggles can be prosecuted by the mass of the people.
“If Nigerians are not ready, there is no problem, but Nigerians must know that the present leadership of the NLC is ready to lead when the people themselves are ready.”
- PETERS ADEYEMI, DEPUTY NATIONAL PRESIDENT, NLC

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has admitted that he made a mistake in announcing the sum of $2 billion as the money released by the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) for the implementation of the second Niger bridge.
http://www.tribuneonlineng.com/announcing-2bn-2nd-niger-bridge-mistake-osinbajo/



He said in Abuja on Tuesday that he actually meant to say N2 billion while speaking during the flag off of the All Progressive Congress (APC) gubernatorial campaign in Anambra State recently.

According to a statement issued by his spokesman, Laolu Akande, the Vice President “misplaced the figures.”

The statement said: “During the APC Governorship campaign flag-off in Onitsha, Anambra State, on Friday, October 20, 2017, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, had reiterated the Buhari administration’s commitment to keeping its promises to the Nigerian people.

“One of these promises is the construction of the second Niger Bridge.

ALSO READ: Effective border policing will promote Nigeria-made products —Osinbajo

“In the official press release I sent on the Vice President’s remarks during the campaign rally in Onitsha that same day, I did quote the VP as saying that ‘the Sovereign Wealth Fund paid N2 billion for that same project (Sum paid to the contractor: Julius Berger for early works). We will definitely see our second Niger Bridge, we will not make promises we cannot keep.’

“However, a short video clip from the event captured on the news segment of a television channel quoted Prof. Osinbajo as mentioning ‘$2bn’ and not ‘N2bn,’ which was what he had actually meant to say. Mentioning the dollar currency was inadvertent.

the race for the 2013 most coveted individual price in football has never been more divided in opinions than what we have now. CR7,Ribery and of course Messi have been shortlisted..for me a footballing award where club coaches are not allowed to cast their votes leave much to be desired! I believe the voting partens for this presitigious price should be reviewed. a case where an Arsene Wenger cant vote yet the coaches of Thaiti and Faroe Island can decide the highest price in football is for me, nothing to write home about. FIFA should review these voting delegates!