₦airaland Forum

e no eazy..hard times but we will scale through..

NLC no get mouth..They are wasting their time..

T he Federal Government has unveiled a social
investment package designed to impact on the
lives of over eight million Nigerians. This was
disclosed on Sunday by Dr. Laolu Akande,
Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity)
to the President, during an interactive session
with journalists in Abuja. Akande explained
that some parts of this package would become
operational in the coming weeks.
One of the highlights of the package, said
Akande, is the feeding of 5.5 million school
children, who are to be fed for 200 school
days in the first phase of homegrown school
feeding programme for which N93.1billion
was budgeted.
Another element of the package is the
proposed provision of soft loans to over 1.76
million traders, market women, men, artisans
and those involved in agriculture. The loans,
he explained, will not require to be
conventionally collateralized. Some traders, he
said, may get about N60,000. A total sum of
N140.3billion has already been appropriated
for this in the budget.
Also, one hundred thousand artisans are to be
trained in a programme for which N191.5
billion has been budgeted.
Also, one million desperately poor and
vulnerable Nigerians are to be paid N60,000
stipend this year in a monthly installment of
N5000.
Five hundred thousand unemployed graduates,
the presidential aide added, will be paid
between N23,000 to N30,000 per month. They
will be trained and deployed to work as
volunteer teachers, public health officers, and
extension service workers among other
responsibilities.
Beneficiaries of the scheme will also be given
electronic devices to empower them
technologically both for their assignments and
beyond.
In tertiary institutions, 100,000 tertiary
students in Science Technology Engineering &
Mathematics (STEM) and Education, Akande
further disclosed, will benefit from education
grants for which N5.8billion has been already
provided for in the budget. This payment, he
added, will be directly made to the students.
"When added together this year alone, more
than 8 million Nigerians would be benefiting
from the Social Investment budget.
"Long before now, the Presidency has made
adequate arrangements in the 2016 budget to
ensure that Nigerians are lifted from poverty
and hardship," said Akande, who operates
from the Vice President's office.
He added that jobs would be created by the
launch of fresh infrastructural projects and
restoration of existing ones.
"The Buhari presidency is keen to ensure that
Nigerians are lifted and that if necessary, on
an ongoing basis, palliative measures would
always be considered to address the
conditions of the people," he declared. http://saharareporters.com/2016/05/15/buhari-unveils-n5-trillion-economic-palliative-package-‎

A fter months of insisting that he had no plans
to devalue the naira, President Muhammadu
Buhari has caved to pressure to change
course; SaharaReporters has learned from an
exclusive briefing by a few top aides of the
president.
A day after the Buhari administration
increased the price of the pump price of fuel
by 67%, from N86.5 to N145 a liter, our
sources disclosed that Mr. Buhari has also
agreed to demands by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) that he significantly
devalues the Nigerian currency. Our sources
indicated that the naira would be pegged at
N290 to one dollar. The current official rate is
about N200 to a dollar.
Our sources said Mr. Buhari and his economic
team took the decision to accept the IMF’s
terms for funds that the Nigerian government
wants to access to bridge a critical shortfall
in revenue occasioned by a drastic decline in
oil revenues. An administration insider told
SaharaReporters that Nigeria could receive as
much as $3 billion in credit facilities from the
IMF.
“The truth is that Nigeria cannot operate
without sourcing credit from the IMF,” said
one of our sources, an economic adviser to
Mr. Buhari, who spoke on condition of
anonymity. “And the IMF was adamant that
we must devalue before they can discuss
extending credit to us,” he added.
Curiously, administration officials took the
decision to devalue the naira without the input
of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN), Godwin Emefiele, another source
revealed. An official of the CBN confirmed to
Saharareporters that bank executives were
kept in the dark about the discussions that
led to the Buhari administration’s decision to
devalue the naira. “Some of us here [the CBN]
are not opposed to devaluation, given our
country’s present circumstances,” the source
said, adding that it was the CBN’s function to
pilot Nigeria’s monetary policies.
One of our sources pointed to the fact that
the naira has been weakened in the parallel
market, where it now sells at N360 per dollar.
“The government cannot continue to operate
under the illusion that the naira is stronger
than it is. The only problem is that we did not
start early enough to admit to Nigerians how
bad the financial outlook was,” the source
added.
The Nigerian economy has been pummeled by
falling oil earnings that have led to a near
collapse of the economy. The IMF had long
indicated its readiness to support Nigeria’s
economy with credit liquidity but insisted on
Nigeria devaluing its currency. President
Buhari had insisted on numerous occasions,
before and after his election, that he would
never devalue the naira.
It is unclear how Mr. Buhari and members of
his economic team plan to justify the about-
turn on devaluation and other policy
somersaults. After initially vowing to reduce
the price of fuel, the government yesterday
announced a significant hike in fuel price. The
administration also set to announce a 10%
increase in value-added tax (VAT), another
indication that the Buhari government was
embracing the kind of liberalization pushed by
the IMF.
To compound dwindling oil prices, militants in
the oil-rich Niger Delta region have crippled oil
exports substantially after bombing oil
pipelines and issuing threats to oil companies
to leave the region.
Last week, several oil companies evacuated
essential staff from the region’s offshore
platform leading to a reduction in daily oil
outputs from 2.2 million barrels a day to 1.3
million barrels a day. http://saharareporters.com/2016/05/13/buhari-bows-imf-pressure-devalue-naira-290-dollar

dope

Dahkogrin007:
Change is when Government find it easy to increase PMS from 87naira to 145naira but find it difficult to increase workers salary a bit more than the minimum wage if not up to what is demanded for by NLC and TUC. Is this the change Nigerians asked for?

bros carry your wahala go politics forum

feeling irie is my best Bob Marley song

lolz.. no time for argument @OP

Abuja - The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is currently quizzing three key Peoples Demorcatic P officials over their involvement in the receipt and sharing of the N24 billion payout by former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke ahead of last year’s presidential election. Those being questioned are former Cross River Governor, Senator Lyel Imoke, whose state chairman of the PDP, Ntifam John Okon received N500 million from Fidelity Bank, former Deputy Governor of Edo State, Chief Lucky Imasuen and former Secretary to the State Government of Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu, whose chapter of the PDP got N700 million from the huge cash. A source said the top politicians are cooperating with operatives in the investigation. http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/05/n24bn-cash/

THE VOICE OF THE MASSES.
ISWB TV TO BE LAUNCHED ON 16TH OF MAY,
2016
www.iswb.tv
https://m.facebook.com/istandwithbuhari/photos/a.986440801442830.1073741828.986384794781764/1069096069843969/?type=3&refid=7&_ft_=qid.6281823935989667019%3Amf_story_key.9171187820806219288%3Aei.AI%403a76351223c0a051caad78da92d76e69&__tn__=E

Baba of life..God bless the president...

The Ukrainian Ambassador to Nigeria, Valeriy Aleksandruk, has disclosed that his country is ready to invest $1 billion into the Ajaokuta Steel Company in order to revive the plant, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) said in a statement yesterday. The Ambassador, who made this known in Abuja on Wednesday, during a courtesy call on the acting director-general of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Dr Vincent Onome Akpotaire, said that the Ukrainian company that built the plant -Tiajpromexport (TPE) – has presented a proposal to the federal government to that effect. He said that the steel complex has a lot of potential which his country want to take advantage of; and that already, meetings have been held with relevant stakeholders in Nigeria for the realisation of the planned takeover of the plant. Aleksandruk said that Ukraine has a very good relationship with Nigeria, especially with economic and trade investments, while noting that there is a big Nigerian community in Ukraine. The Ambassador further noted that Ukraine is ready to “open a new page in its relationship with Nigeria” and pledged to assist the bureau in its training needs to become a foremost privatisation agency in Africa. In his response, Akpotaire said that the bureau would review the proposals from the Ukrainian Government and the multinational financial services firm that would provide the $1 billion investment, Morgan Stanley, before taking the next steps. He added that the federal government is desirous to get the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and the Nigerian Iron Ore Mill Company (NIOMCO), Itakpe running. Akpotaire urged the Ukrainian Government to invest in other sectors of the Nigerian economy, especially in developing the downstream of the steel sector that would service several sectors, including the automobile. http://leadership.ng/news/523968/ukraine-revive-ajaokuta-steel-1bn

I love it..nice one..

Stringent punishment awaits randy and
morally bankrupt male lecturers in tertiary
institutions, as the Senate yesterday
recommended a 5-year jail term without any
option of fine for any of them found guilt y of
harassing female students sexually.
A Bill to that effect titled: “Sexual Harassment
in Tertiary Institutions Bill 2016,” co-
sponsored by 45 senators, passed first reading
at the Upper Chamber yesterday.
The Bill, according to its lead sponsor,
Senator Ovie Omo- Agege, “seeks enactment of
an Act to Make Provisions for the Prohibition
of Sexual Harassment of Students by
Educators in
Tertiary Educational Institutions in Nigeria
and for Matters Connected Therewith, 2016.
The senator, at a media briefing, disclosed
that the major intension of the Bill, was to
restore morality, discipline and sanity between
male educators and female students in higher
institutions in the country.
He explained that the Bill, when passed,
“would serve as the needed legal framework of
domesticating the honour code existing
between lecturers and students in tertiary
institutions in United States of America into
our own penal code here.”
The lawmaker further said, after careful and
detailed research on the menace of sexual
harassment of female students by male
lecturers in the nation’s varsities and other
tertiary institutions, the need for such law was
imperative, to stop the trend of turning the
institutions from citadel of knowledge to
prostitution centers.
“After careful and detailed research on the
menace over the years, our position as
proposed in this Bill, is that since the female
students being negatively influenced by male
lecturers into sexual relationship are not
capable of giving voluntary consent to that
arrangement, there
is need for potent law to stop the immorality,”
he said.
Consequently, as stated in the Bill, an
educator “shall be guilty of committing an
offence of sexual harassment against a
student if he/she has sexual intercourse with
a student who is less than 18 years of age.
“Has sexual intercourse with a student or
demands for sex from a student or a
prospective student as a condition to study in
an institution or as a condition to the giving
of a passing grade or the granting of honour
and scholarships.
“Grabs, hugs, rubs or strokes or touches or
pinches the breasts or hair or lips or hips or
buttocks or any other sensual part of the body
of a student; displays, gives or sends by hand
or courier or electronic or any other means
naked or sexually explicit pictures or videos or
sex related objects to a student or whistle or
winks at a student or screams or exclaims or
jokes or makes sexually complimentary or in
complementary remarks about a student’s
physique.”
The senators added in the proposed Act that
penalty for the offences listed shall be five-
year jail term for any convicted person.
“Any person who commits any of the acts
specified in Section 4 of this Act is guilty of
an offence and shall, on conviction, be
sentenced to imprisonment of up to five years,
but not less than two years without any
option of fine.”
Similarly, to curb the wave of kidnapping
across the country, the Senate also
recommended death penalty for kidnappers.
This was sequel to its consideration of a
report on the crime compiled by a committee
headed by Senator Abu Ibrahim (APC, Katsina
South).
In the course of debating the report, the
senators adopted a prayer recommending a
death sentence for abductors in the country.
The recommendation for death penalty, as
adopted by the Senate, was made by Sen.
Adamu Aliero (APC, Kebbi Central).
While contributing to the report, the Senate
Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio (Akwa
Ibom, PDP), regretted that kidnapping
escalated in the country when ex-governor,
and now Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige,
was kidnapped around 2002.
Other recommendations adopted by the
Senate were that “the funding of the security
agencies should be taken as a priority project,
bearing in mind that the practice of envelop
budget for security agencies have proved
ineffective.”
“Efforts should be geared towards creating
employment opportunities for our teeming
unemployed youths and security agencies
should embark on training and retraining of
personnel for effective capacity building,” he
said.
The Senate also tasked “state governments to
enact laws to enable security agencies to
prosecute kidnappers and other crime related
offences in their jurisdictions.”
It, in addition, recommended that “synergy and
intelligence sharing among security agencies
should be vigorously pursued; the Inspector-
General of Police and Director-General of the
Department of State Security in particular and
other security agencies should be
encouraged to do more.”
“It appears the security agencies have not
been able to perform optimally due to
inadequate funding to enable them procure
modern technology and equipment. It appears
to be unnecessary and unhealthy rivalry
amongst the security agencies leading to lack
of required
synergy and intelligence sharing on time.”
The Senate, however, regretted that “relations
of the victims are always ready to pay ransom
which tends to encourage the criminals.”
The session was presided over by the Senate
President, Dr. Bukola Saraki. http://www.blueprint.ng/2016/05/05/sexual-harassment-randy-lecturers-risk-5-year-jail-term-senate/

President Muhammadu Buhari will today receive the clean copy of the 2016 budget from the National Assembly, just as the federal government has unveiled 34 strategic priority projects for this year. Speaking to State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, minister of state for budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, alongside the minister of information, Lai Mohammed, minister of state for industry, trade and investment, Aisha Abubakar, minister of state for foreign affairs, Khadija Abba Ibrahim, stated they discussed the strategic implementation plan for the 2016 budget. She said: “On the 2016 budget, I must say the executive and legislature have worked very hard in putting things together, reviewing the details of the budget and it is at its final stage; so maybe between today (Wednesday) and tomorrow, the National Assembly will start the process of transmitting the details to the president. According to her, the Ministry of Budget and National Planning presented to council for discussion priority economic activities that the administration needs to undertake to ensure that the purpose for which the 2016 budget was made, which is to stimulate the economy, to create jobs for our teeming youths and to extend support to the poor and very vulnerable, is realised. She said the ministry presented 34 strategic priority programmes that need to be realised within 2016, noting that each of these projects programmes has very clear deliverables and targets and indicators which will be measured to ensure that the respective ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) deliver on the desired goals. Ahmed disclosed that these 34 specific areas are grouped into four major objectives. The first is policy, governance and security; the second is diversification of the economy; the third is creating support for the poor and the vulnerable while the fourth is reflecting the economy through investment. She stated that the paper was well received by council and that the 34 priority projects were approved for implementation. According to her, the Ministry of Budget and National Planning has been given responsibility to track and report the performance of these key priority areas to the council on quarterly basis. She said: “The 34 priority areas that we need to implement in 2016 are categorized into six thematic areas. There is policy, governance and security and one item from that is to achieve and maintain a capital spend minimum of 30 per cent on an annual basis starting from 2016. “The objective of doing that is to reflect the economy and enhance employment generation capacity for the productive sector. Another area is to achieve an appropriate exchange regime; the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is leading this particular action. The objective is to achieve a predictable exchange rate by the end of 2016. “There is also a target for us to increase low interest lending to the real sector. The focus is to achieve an interest rate that is single digit, maybe nine per cent, and the purpose is to increase output and growth. Again the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment along with the CBN are taking action on this. “We also have a target to maintain a stable debt management strategy so that we can optimise the local and foreign debts that we have and the Ministry of Finance and the Debt Management Office will be taking action on this.” On the issue of diversifying the economy, she said the administration plans to implement measures to achieve self-sufficiency and become a net export of certain number of agricultural produce, the first one being rice. “We plan to attain self-sufficiency in rice production by 2018, in tomato paste by 2016 and also increase local production of maize, soya beans, poultry and livestock. The deadline for these will be announced later in the year. The Ministry of Agriculture is still trying to work out details. It means we will stop importing and we will get to a point when we will start exporting. “We also have plans to expand the agro-allied sector to intensify local production of cassava, cocoa, cashew nuts, fruits and sesame seeds and the Agric Ministry is also leading in that area. “There is also plan to make use of 5,000 hectares arable land in 12 River Basin Development Authorities and to utilise 22 dams for commercial farming by prospective investors and the objective is to extend farming so that it can become an all-year round activity and that there is productivity all-year round. She further announced a plan to implement a road map to increase private sector investment in tourism and sports “and the objective is to increase investment in the service sector thereby increasing job creation and youth employment. “The power, rails and road are also very important priority area. There are a number of specific activities but one of them is to optimise up to 7,000 megawatts installed capacity and to ensure the associated infrastructure to ensure we transmit and distribute this capacity in the maximum operational level that is obtainable, and also to conclude the privatisation of NIPP plants and improve management and performance of TSA (Treasury Single Account). The Ministry of Power, Works and Housing is leading in this regard. The target deliverables is to increase the availability of power, thereby enhancing investment, productivity and employment and business growth in our country. She added that it was also the government’s priority objective to resolve all issues concerning gas pricing. “The availability of gas is very key to the availability of power to the nation, so gas pricing is a priority and is currently being addressed and will be finalised and payment will be provided to the gas suppliers who are being owed significant amount of money. “And also there is plan to conclude the road map of development, the objective of all of these is to increase investment, and gas peaks supply to the oil industry.” The minister noted the administration’s commitment to reviving rail transportation in Nigeria. She said: “There is also plan to complete the Kaduna-Abuja-Ajaokuta railway lines in 2016. We are also revising the National Rail Masterplan which is commencing construction of the Lagos-Kano standard Gauge Rail line and also to finalise the negotiation regarding the Calabar-Lagos rail line. Of course the objective of this is to increase availability of mass transit, to reduce pressure on road infrastructure. The Federal Ministry of Transport is leading in this regard working in collaboration with Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Budget and Planning to ensure the required funding is availed for this project.” She also disclosed plans to rehabilitate and construct 31 major projects and restore the degraded sections of some major highways and improve connectivity over a distance of 210,093 kilometres through public works maintenance, Public Private Partnership (PPP) and other interventions. Ahmed further spoke on the administration’s plans in the oil sector. The minister said: The fourth thematic area which is oil and gas reforms. One of the key objective is to adopt and execute a comprehensive national oil and gas policy, which is supposed to be the road map for the petroleum industry development diversification as well as privation and also to adopt and execute a road map for the stoppage of gas flaring in our country. “We are setting a three-year deadline to achieve self-sufficiency in refined petroleum products and to become a net exporter of petroleum products. The objective of this is to increase domestic supply of refined products and to reduce demand on foreign exchange for importing refined products in our country. The Ministry of Petroleum is pushing this. There is also a plan to push for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in conjunction with the National Assembly.” She asserted that the administration was taking measures to improve the country’s poor status in terms of the ease of doing business. “We are going to do this by implementing a number of measures specifically targeted at fast-tracking business approvals, acquisition of land titles, and issuance of visas for persons seeking to come into our country and do business,” she explained. “The sixth area is the investment in the lives of our people by implementing various social projects covering health, education and the essence is to bring succour to the poor and vulnerable to achieve the targets set by the Social Protection Policy which is currently under production. Almost every ministry has a role to play in this. “On health sector, we plan to rehabilitate 5,000 primary health centres in 5,000 wards in 2016. The objective is to deliver affordable health care services to Nigerians as close as possible to their homes. “Let me emphasis that when we say we want to move towards a predictable exchange rate in the country; we are not planning to devalue the naira. The CBN and the money policy committee are working on this and will be concluded and made available to the country to enable users to be able to predict the exchange rate at any point in time.” http://leadership.ng/news/523675/2016-budget-fg-unveils-34-priority-projects

Leicester City have completed one of the most
remarkable triumphs in sporting history by
winning the 2015/16 Premier League title.
The club's first top-flight championship in
their 132-year history was sealed following
Tottenham's 2-2 draw with Chelsea on
Monday night, meaning they have an
unassailable seven-point lead at the top of the
table with two games left to play.
Claudio Ranieri's side missed the chance to
claim the trophy on Sunday afternoon when
they could only draw with Manchester United
at Old Trafford - but they needed to wait just
over 24 hours for their title glory to be sealed.
At the start of the season, Leicester were
5000/1 outsiders to become champions after
flirting with relegation for most of last season
and they were playing in League One as
recently as 2009.
But the appointment of Ranieri as manager
last summer heralded an incredible title
charge with star players Riyad Mahrez and
Jamie Vardy being named Player of the Year
by the PFA and the FWA respectively.
Leicester will receive the trophy following their
final home game of the season against
Everton, live on Sky Sports, on Saturday
evening and are set to receive a Guard of
Honour from last season's champions Chelsea
when they visit Stamford Bridge on the final
day.
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11712/10267194/leicester-city-confirmed-as-201516-premier-league-champions

wow.Kudos to the doctors..

RIP bro

priscaoge:
Sorry I'm not here to comment on d topic cos.......


[size=14pt]It's my Birthday today [/size]


Like to wish me HBD!

Happy Birthday Sugar..My Elder Sis gave birth yesterday...so u got a bday mate..

man must chop

April 27, 2016 By topgist —Leave a Comment Important notice: www.myunicefspicexams.com is 419 (scam/fraud). UNICEF/SPIC SCHOLARSHIP that was advertised on the 26th April, 2016 via www.myunicefspicexams.com is a scam. All candidate that got text messages from this source are to ignore the message. Disclaimer Policy: This is to notify the general public that www.topgist.com.ng is different from www.myunicefspicexams.com. You are solely responsible for any transaction you make via www.myunicefspicexams.com. This information is meant to notify you that www.myunicefspicexams.com is a 419 (Scam/ Fraud) please don’t waste your money. We will notify the general public when UNICEF officially shortlist for the 2016 scholarship scheme. This is the official Nigerian UNICEF website http://www.unicef.org/nigeria/about_3355.html

April 27, 2016 By topgist —Leave a Comment Important notice: www.myunicefspicexams.com is 419 (scam/fraud). UNICEF/SPIC SCHOLARSHIP that was advertised on the 26th April, 2016 via www.myunicefspicexams.com is a scam. All candidate that got text messages from this source are to ignore the message. Disclaimer Policy: This is to notify the general public that www.topgist.com.ng is different from www.myunicefspicexams.com. You are solely responsible for any transaction you make via www.myunicefspicexams.com. This information is meant to notify you that www.myunicefspicexams.com is a 419 (Scam/ Fraud) please don’t waste your money. We will notify the general public when UNICEF officially shortlist for the 2016 scholarship scheme. This is the official Nigerian UNICEF website http://www.unicef.org/nigeria/about_3355.html

The Federal government will on June 2 launch
the kick-off of Ogoni clean-up programme as
contained in the United Nations Environment
Programme Report, UNEP.
The Minister of Environment, Mrs Amina
Muhammed, said this yesterday in Port
Harcourt during a visit to Governor Nyeson
Wike of Rivers State.
Represented by Minister of State for
Environment, Ibrahim Usman, she said the
visit was to seek the collaboration of all
stakeholders in the exercise.
She said: “The programme is expected to be
launched on June 2. It has been designed to
be driven by all stakeholders in the region.
The essence of this is to ensure that the
people of Ogoni and the region at large
benefitted from the process.” http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/ogoni-clean-begins-june-2/

SR is the best

If she is worth it, I will be faithful..

R.I.P

Saraki lawyers are just deceiving him or he is deceiving himself.

Saraki what next?? Basketball Court

In a controversial and surprising move, the
Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has
issued a hearing notice regarding a
jurisdiction case filed by lawyers representing
embattled Senate President, Bukola Saraki. A
judicial source told SaharaReporters that the
Court of Appeal issued the notice late Friday,
a move the source described as not only
surprising but suspicious.
Mr. Saraki’s lawyers want the Court of Appeal
to halt his trial now going on at the Code of
Conduct Tribunal (CCT) before Justice Danladi
Umar. The senator’s huge legal team,
comprising 90 lawyers, has argued that is
contending that the tribunal lacks the
jurisdiction to try their client for false
declaration of assets and corrupt enrichment.
Speaking to SaharaReporters this evening, a
senior lawyer based in Abuja stated that it
was untoward for the Court of Appeal to issue
the notice of hearing on the matter of the
CCT’s jurisdiction. “The prayers of Mr. Saraki's
legal team are not different from the ones
considered and resolved by the Supreme Court
this year. As the country’s apex court, the
ruling of the Supreme Court on the matter of
jurisdiction is and should be the last word.
And the court cleared the way for the tribunal
to commence trial of Dr. Saraki,” he said.
If the Court of Appeal grants a stay of the
trial tomorrow, Mr. Saraki's trial would not
resume on Wednesday as planned. Our judicial
source alleged that the senator’s plot could be
to keep his case in the Court of Appeal for
several months. “If he succeeds, then the
Federal Government will not be able to
continue his trial or to get to the Supreme
Court,” he stated.
In a related development, a source at the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) said the agency was trailing the
movement of more than $900,000 they believe
was being laundered by the Kwara State
government using a woman named Halima
Suleiman. The EFCC source said Ms. Suleiman
is an indigene of Jigawa State, but her mother
hails from Edo State.
The anti-corruption source disclosed that the
EFCC was interested in discovering both how
the funds were sourced and where they would
end up.
The Court of Appeal’s reopening of Mr.
Saraki’s contention that the CCT does not
have the jurisdiction to try him has raised
suspicions that the senator’s associates may
have reached some judges willing to help him
scuttle his trial. http://saharareporters.com/2016/04/25/saraki-moves-halt-his-trial-today-again-court-appeal-issues-hearing-notice-jurisdiction

#OccupyNASS, the civil event at which
Nigerians will demonstrate on April 26 against
Senate President Bukola Saraki and the cabal
around him, has gone global.
In an update, Citizens United for Peace and
Stability (CUPS), the organizers, said that last
Saturday alone, Nigerians donated a total of
N183,500 towards actualizing the historic #
OccupyNASS and #ReclaimNigeria movement.
“The largest donor donated N30,000,” the
group said in the statement, signed by Dr.
Idris Ahmed & Dr. Bunmi Awoyemi.
“Other patriots donated N20,000, N10,000,
N5,000, N2,000, N1,500 and N1,000. A total
of 26 compatriots made the donations. This
means that in five days’ time we are able to
raise one million, two hundred and fifty-six
thousand Naira! - N1,256,000.”
It explained that following due consultations
with Nigerian organisations in Diaspora, the
group decided to extend the #OccupyNASS
and #ReclaimNigeria event to a global affair.
“This means that we will be demonstrating
against Bukola Saraki and his cabal around
the globe on the same 26th April.”
CUPs reassured concerned Nigerians that the
Police Act, which sought to empower the
Police to issue permission for demonstrations,
has been deemed unconstitutional by the
Federal Court of Appeal.
“According to the law, all that is required from
us to host a peaceful protest is to inform the
Inspector General of Police or state Police
Commissioner that we are embarking on a
peaceful demonstration, and that we need the
Police to provide security,” the statement said,
adding that CUPS has already done that, and
also written to the DG of the Department of
State Security, the Minister of FCTA, and the
FRSC Marshal.
Stressing that the plan to host the historic
event is well underway, the group appealed to
Nigerians to donate generously to its
corporate to enable the dream to be
actualized, pointing out that no donation is
too big or too small.
“Every single Naira donated counts towards
providing food, water, shelter, medical care,
and other facilities to peaceful
demonstrators,” it said, noting that donating
to support peaceful demonstrators at #
OccupyNASS is one of the best charitable acts
that any patriotic Nigerian can do.
“Think about it, our mere plan to occupy the
NASS is already yielding impressive results at
the Senate,” CUPs said. “They recently
capitulated on their unlawful attempt to
amend our constitution.”
Below is the account information for
donations:
Account Name: Citizens United for Peace and
Stability.
Account Number: 1140085583.
Bank: Skye Bank. http://saharareporters.com/2016/04/24/nigerians-are-making-quick-donations-occupynass-group-says

Embattled Senate President, Bukola Saraki, continued to witness a backlash against him, this time during an appearance at a mosque in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, last Friday.

After attending a wedding at the palace of Emir of Ilorin, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, Mr. Saraki hurried away to attend Jumaat prayers at the Sharia Court Mosque, avoiding the nearby Ilorin Central Mosque where he had been heckled and stoned in the recent past.

But Mr. Saraki encountered mild embarrassment at the Sharia Court Jumaat Mosque located on Ahmadu Bello Way, a more controlled environment surrounded by administrative offices, including the office of the Secretary to the State Government and the Kwara State headquarters of the State Security Service (SSS).

The presiding Imam at the mosque, Justice Salihu Muhammed, who is also the Grand Khadi of Kwara State, startled the worshipers with an announcement that prayers would be slightly delayed because a VIP was being expected. When Mr. Saraki eventually entered the mosque, Justice Salihu Muhammed started to pray for the Senate President to overcome his difficulties, an allusion to his trial before the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja. Spontaneously, many of the worshipers started chanting, “Sahu!” The word meant that they wanted their Imam to enter the spiritual line of praying to Allah. The Imam, who seemed rattled, hurriedly concluded the prayer for Senator Saraki and started the Jumaat prayer.

A source, who was present at the mosque, told SaharaReporters that Mr. Saraki made a quick exit from the mosque once the Friday prayers were finished.

Hostility against the Senate President seems to have increased following revelations at the Code of Conduct Tribunal of the huge perks that Mr. Saraki arranged for himself during his two-term tenure as governor and even after leaving the Government House to take up a seat in the Senate.

http://saharareporters.com/2016/04/24/worshipers-interrupt-imam%e2%80%99s-prayers-senator-saraki-ilorin