₦airaland Forum

THE polemic over the alleged $15 billion wasted on power expenditure continued on Wednesday between a former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode and the spokesman of the President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation for the 2019 election, Festus Keyamo (SAN).

President Muhammadu Buhari had on Monday alleged that former president Olusegun Obasanjo wasted the said amount on power expenditure with nothing to show for it.

Apparently angered by Mr Buhari’s allegation, Mr Obasanjo fired back at the president, hours after the allegation went viral, describing him as ignorant of the allegation he dabbled into.

While stating that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside an Ad-hoc committee set up by the then House of Representatives, after their probe into the issue exonerated him of any implication, Obasanjo said he was ready to be probed again if need be.

For Fani-Kayode, who served as minister of culture and tourism under the former president, Buhari pleaded for pardon from Obasanjo when the latter summoned him and showed him the report of billions of dollars missing under his watch while he was Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) chairman.

In a tweet on Wednesday, the former minister also said he saw the report, describing the alleged ‘presidential pardon’ granted Buhari as the greatest mistake of his then principal.

“The greatest mistake that OBJ made was not to prosecute and jail @MBuhari for looting PTF funds.I saw the report and it was shocking.Billions of dollars had vanished. OBJ summoned him and showed him the damning report.Buhari begged like a baby.Sadly OBJ let him off the hook,” Fani-Kayode’s tweet read.

Fani-Kayode’s submission did not go down well with Mr Keyamo who responded by saying the real greatest mistake made by Obasanjo was appointing the former minister into his cabinet.

Kayamo who did not mention the name of the former minister in his Wednesday’s tweet, described Fani-Kayode as a crackhead.

“The real greatest mistake that OBJ made as President was d appointment of some crackhead into his cabinet with the hope they would stop sniffing the stuff. Apparently, that didn’t work, hence years later they’re still on the stuff & recalling things about PMB that never happened,” he tweeted.

The known phone line of presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, was not reachable for comments on this story as at the time of publishing this report.

EMBATTLED Senator, Dino Melaye, has boasted of bouncing back after his travails.

Mr Melaye, a representative of Kogi West at the Senate, has been battling to save his political carrier. He has been at loggerhead with his state governor, Yahaya Bello.

The lawmaker was hospitalised after he sustained injuries while jumping out of a moving police vehicle transporting him down to Kogi to face trial bothering on sponsorship of a criminal gang.

Though he has since denied the allegation, the police were hell bent on trying him in the state instead of Abuja where he opined that his safety would be guaranteed.

THE Presidency has warned against the removal of President Muhammadu Buhari from office in the forth coming general election.

Mr Buhari was elected president in 2015. His emergence put on hold the ruling of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, since the return to democracy in 1999.

The president before emerging winner of the 2015 election had sought severally for the exalted office. He has been accused of incompetence and treating allies perceived to be corrupt with kids gloves.

The presidency on Sunday said if the president is kicked out from office in the 2019 election, the gains of his administration will be lost.

Senior Special Assistant to the president on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, stated this in an article titled, “The Real Price Of Changing The Change”.

Shehu said PDP politicians were busy going around the country with “Change the Change” campaign, canvassing for the removal of the All Progressive Congress (APC) led by the president whose campaign slogan was “Change.”

While acknowledging that the PDP government established the present anti-corruption institutions, he said the removal of the Buhari will mean a return to the old order where, according to him, corruption had a free rein while seized looted assets will be returned to corrupt individuals.

“The real meaning and cost of the “Changing the Change,” is that if they win the next election, they will not take us back to where we were in 2015, they will mostly reverse the progress the APC has brought to the nation.

THE Nigeria Police has been ordered to transfer Senator Dino Melaye from its custody to the National Hospital.

The Kogi State High Court sitting in Lokoja, gave the interim order on Friday.

Justice Nasir Ajanah, gave the order after the lawmaker’s legal counsel, Mike Ezekhome (SAN) sought for the bail of his client.

While hearing for the bail application was being adjourned until Monday, May 7, 2018, the judge ruled that Melaye must remain under the police custody while he is being transferred to the National Hospital.

Senator Melaye on Thursday appeared before a Senior Magistrates Court in Kogi state, on a stretcher.

According to the Police, Melaye is being arraigned for an alleged criminal conspiracy, as two suspects had earlier this year implicated the senator as their financier and supplier of guns to commit various crimes in the state.

He is also being tried for causing damage to government property, attempted suicide and escape from lawful custody.

As the case commenced, on Thursday, the prosecution council Alex Isihon, however, stated that the court did not have the jurisdiction to entertain the case.

But his lawyer in his submission argued that the court had the power by virtue of the Constitution to try the case.

Furthermore, he quoted Section 97 of the Penal Code which stated that the offence of conspiracy is bailable according to the Kogi State Administration of Criminal Justice.

Furthermore, he presented two medical reports from the national hospital which
stated that Melaye is bedridden owing to a spinal chord injury he sustained after he jumped out of a moving police vehicle on April 24 while being conveyed to Kogi State.

After a short recess, however, Chief Magistrate Suleiman Abdulahi denied the bail application and ruled that Melaye would remain in custody for the next 37 days.

The case was then adjourned until June 11, 2018.

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has arrived Nigeria after concluding an official visit to President Donald Trump.

The president’s arrival is coming two days after he left the United States when the official engagement held.

Mr Buhari was supposed to land in Nigeria on Wednesday. His whereabouts remained unknown until a report over his disappearance emerged.

The online medium, Premium Times reported that the president stopped in London instead of heading straight to Nigeria.

The report fuelled speculation that the president went to see his doctors again, with whom he had been treating an undisclosed illnesses.

However, the Presidency said their principal’s journey was cut down half way over what it termed ‘Technical Stopover.’

The president reportedly touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at some minutes past the hour of ten.

Quoting State House sources, the news medium said the president is billed to be in Katsina his native state on Friday.

SENATOR Shehu Sani, representing Kaduna Central, has explained why there should be no State Police as clamoured for in some quarters.

President Muhammadu Buhari has also kicked against the establishment of the state force.

President Buhari in an interview with the Voice Of America in Washington, stated that it will be a burden on the State if State Police are created as some of them are unable to pay salaries.

“…Don’t forget, how many times did we have to release money to states in the name of bailouts to enable them pay salaries?

“How many states are able to pay their workers in time? And you add the police to them? People should look at this matter very well.”



The president however said for the creation of State Police to take effect, the constitution must first be amended to accommodate the establishment.

“I want the Nigerian Constitution to be consulted first and see what it says. If it says they should be allowed, then they should be allowed,” Buhari said.

However, while commending the president for his rejection, Mr Sani is of the opinion that the creation of State Police will accord State Governors the power to bully their perceived opponents into submission.

Sani stated this in his Facebook timeline on Thursday.

“Despite the weaknesses of Fed Police, a state police will be worse.

“It will simply be a force of evil at the disposal of state Governors,to be used to suppress perceived opposition and dissenting voices.

“State police means officially giving uniforms and arms to a Governor’s enlisted thugs,” Sani opined.

FORMER President, Goodluck Jonathan has opined why the administration of his successor, President Muhammadu Buhari, are still into blame game.

The Buhari’s administration has frequently used any given opportunity it has to blamed it predecessors for woes that has befell its regime.

The blame game has been in all sectors ranging from Economy, Security, Infrastructure among others.

However, Mr Jonathan is off the opinion that the government of President Buhari and his Vice, Yemi Osinbajo, indulged in the act because they have failed to achieve the execution of projects in their three years of being in power.

“It is sad that at a time when the Buhari administration should be telling Nigerians what they have achieved after three years, they continue to blame and point fingers.

“The reason for this is because neither Buhari nor Osinbajo can point to any project that they have initiated, started and completed in three years,” Jonathan said while reacting to claims from the Vice President that three unnamed persons stole $3 billion (N1 trillion) during his administration.

Osinbajo made the claim at The Platform, a programme organised by the Covenant Christian Centre in Lagos on Tuesday.

On March 19, also, the vice president alleged that the Jonathan administration shared N150 billion two weeks to the 2015 elections while it spent a paltry N14 billion on agriculture in 2014; N15 billion on transportation and only N153 billion on infrastructure in three years.

But in a statement issued by his media office Wednesday, Jonathan called Pastor Adeboye to caution Osinbajo to stop peddling falsehood against his person.

The former president said if Osinbajo fails to heed this advice, the cleric should “remember that the RCCG ordains its pastors not to lie but to spread the word of God,“ asking if “this is what Vice President Osinbajo is doing?”

He, thus, noted that the vice president “is a liar, forgetting or perhaps not caring that the devil is the father of all liars. I challenge him once again to prove me wrong by mentioning those three people and providing proof that they stole the amounts allegedly stolen.”

Jonathan noted that the people of Nigeria voted for Buhari and Osinbajo because they said subsidy was a fraud and would be stopped; that fuel would be sold at 40 per litre, and that fuel scarcity would end.

After three years, Jonathan said the Buhari administration “is paying more subsidy than former President Jonathan ever paid at 1.4 trillion annually. Fuel price was increased from 87 to 145 per litre, Fuel scarcity is worse.

“Faced with these facts, a desperate Buhari administration, wanting to be re-elected and knowing that it cannot run on its record, has devised a plan to distract attention from its woeful record of failure by making constant false allegations on my person.”

He lamented that the Buhari administration “has yet to tell Nigerians what happened to the $25 billion that was awarded in contracts without due process by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).”

He sought to know how “Maina was returned, reinstated, double-promoted and given armed guards or why the indicted Executive Secretary of Nigerian Health Insurance Scheme was reinstated despite a clear case of corruption or when Babachir Lawal would be charged.

“Instead, they continue to throw mud at those who have achieved what they have not achieved. If Osinbajo cannot stop his habit of lying, I hereby call on Pastor Adeboye to withdraw his pastorate before he brings the church of Christ into disrepute,” Jonathan said.

THE planned return of the oust former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Modu Sheriff, to the All Progressive Congress (APC) is to cause confusion in the party.

This was the submission of the Borno State Chairman of the ruling party, Ali Bukar Dolori on Thursday while reacting to Sheriff’s alleged return to the APC.

Sheriff was among the founding fathers of the APC until he defected to the PDP in 2014 in controversial circumstances having lost out in the power play at the national secretariat of the ruling party.

His exit accorded the Borno State Governor, Ibrahim Shettima to take over as the leader of the APC in the State.

However, Mr Sheriff’s planned return billed to take place at the National Secretariat is reported to have rattled Mr Shettima who sent Mr Dolori to the party headquarter on Wednesday to convey Shettimma’s disaffection over the development to the party national chairman, Odigie Oyegun.

“We have read news on the Social Media yesterday evening and in some National dailies this morning, that the former Governor of our State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff will be received by our National Chairman today at the Headquarters of our great Party.

“I want to assure you that the news remains rumour because somebody is only trying to fly a kite, that is capable of causing dangerous confusion during the State Congresses in Borno State.

“We are aware of that well-articulated plan and we are ready to defend any attempt towards destroying our Party APC at any level and in any State, not just Borno. We shall conduct our congresses peacefully without any rancor and I assure you nobody can create any faction for our Party in Borno state during the Congresses expected in less than two weeks.”

Quoting provisions of the APC Constitution, Dolori noted that Sheriff can only join the party at the ward level, not at the national secretariat.

“I want also to draw your attention to the relevant section of APC Constitution that deals with eligibility for Membership: Article 9.1 of the APC Constitution (October 2014 and amended):
“Subsection ii; Application for membership shall be made to and cleared by the Ward Executives of the party in the Local Government Area where the person was born, resides, works or originates.

“Online registration shall also be acceptable provided that it is cleared by the National Working Committee of the Party.

Subsection iii; Where an application is refused, the applicant may as of right appeal to the Local Government Area Executive Committee of the Party or to the National Secretary or National Chairman, in case of online registration.

“So, Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I don’t see how the National Chairman can receive any person into the Party when the constitution is clear about the process in that regard.

Also, the National leadership has distanced itself from the aborted visit to the party national secretariat and advised the former PDP factional chairman to seek registration at his ward in Borno State if he seeks to return to the ruling party.

“Our attention has been drawn to reports in some sections of the media that the former factional chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff plans to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) today at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja.

“While we are aware of such intentions, we wish to restate our earlier position that anyone who wants to join the Party should do so at the ward level. We are happy to welcome new members to our party, but membership cards are not issued at the Party National Secretariat,” its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi said in a statement.

SENATOR Dino Melaye has injured himself while trying to escape from men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad while being conveyed to his native state.

The lawmaker had attempted to escape on Tuesday, by jumping out of a moving vehicle and headed for the bush.

His action forced security operatives who were in the journey with him to also spontaneously jump chasing him in a bid to take captive of the Senator.

However, Daily Sun is reporting that he has since been held hostage and found critically injured in the process of trying to escape.

The paper reports that while Melaye has been taken captive of by the security agency, he was later taken to Zanklin Hospital in the nation’s capital with a neck protection and on a stretcher.

More details later...

MELAYE UPDATE: Senator jumps out of vehicle, flees into bush enroute Kogi


Fred Itua, Abuja

In what was like a typical Sylvester Stallone film on Tuesday afternoon in Abuja, as embattled senator, Dino Melaye, while being conveyed to his native state to face charged by police authorities, did the unthinkable, as he jumped out of the moving vehicle and made for the thick bush nearby.

It was gathered that on seeing what happened, security operatives attached to observe him in the journey, also spontaneously jumped out of the vehicle and gave the fleeing senator a hot chase.

Details later…

OPERATIVES of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) has arrested Senator Dino Melaye, early Tuesday.

This is coming a day after he was detained and released at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by men of the Nigerian Immigration Service.

His Abuja residence was under siege by security agencies which obstructed movement into and out of the building.

The lawmaker, Daily Sun reports, was picked up and subsequently detained in a facility located opposite the old CBN junction along the Area 1 Expressway.

The SARS detention facility is known for imprisoning hardened criminals arrested for theft, murder, cultism and other criminal acts.



When Melaye was contacted on phone by reporters he sounded rattled, as background conversation suggested a struggle between him and some of the operatives, after which his mobile lines were switched off.

The lawmaker had in the early hours of Tuesday noted that he turn himself in to the police.

He had earlier been asked by the police to submit himself at his State Police Headquarters or be declared wanted.

He never did, citing his security reasons, stating that he preferred to be questioned in Abuja were his security could be guaranteed rather than in his State, Kogi. He was later declared wanted after his refusal to submit himself as earlier advised.

The lawmaker in his tweet on Tuesday did not state which if the Police command he would be visiting.

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has approved the withdrawal $462 million from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to the United States for the procurement of 12 Super Tucano aircraft, without a prior approval of the National Assembly, This Day newspaper has reported.

A new letter by the president to the National Assembly, says the U.S. government had given a payment deadline for the aircraft purchase, hence, the need for the hasty approval and payment.

Mr Buhari transmitted the letter to the National Assembly leadership on April 13 and it was received in the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives on April 17.

The letter shows that Mr Buhari had already given anticipatory approval for the withdrawal of $496,374,470 (N151 394, 421, 355) from the ECA for the purchase of the aircraft and was only seeking the inclusion of same in the 2018 Appropriation Bill that the National Assembly is currently finalising.

The date on the letter indicated that the President Buhari had given approval for the withdrawal of the cash and paid before a public announcement of the approval, ThisDay reports.

The Offices of the senate president, Bukola Saraki, and the speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

According to ThisDay, Mr Buhari’s letter reads, “I wish to draw the attention of the House of Representatives to the ongoing security emergencies in the country. These challenges were discussed with the state governors and subsequently, at the meeting of the National Economic Council on 14th December, 2017, where a resolution was passed, with the Council approving that up to US$1 billion may be released and utilised from the Excess Crude Account to address the situation.

“Subsequent upon this approval, we are preparing a comprehensive schedule of all the requirements for each of the security services for presentation to the National Assembly for consideration.

“It would be recalled that, for a number of years, Nigeria had been in discussions with the United States Government for the purchase of Super Tucano Aircraft under a direct Government-to-Government arrangement. Recently, approval was finally granted by the United States Government, but with a deadline within which part payment must be made otherwise, the contract would lapse.

“In the expectation that the National Assembly would have no objection to the purchase of this highly specialised aircraft, which is critical to national security, I granted anticipatory approval for the release of US$496,374,470.00. This was paid directly to the treasury of the United States Government.

“I am therefore writing, seeking approval of this House for the sum of US$496,374,470.00 (equivalent to N151,394,421,335.00) to be included in the 2018 Appropriation Bill, which the National Assembly is currently finalising. The balance of the requirements for critical operational equipment is still being collated from the different security services and will be presented in the form of a Supplementary Appropriation Bill, in due course.

“The Honourable Minister of Defence and other appropriate officers will be available to provide further details, as may be required.

“While thanking the Honourable Members for the usual cooperation, please be assured Mr. Speaker, the assurance of my highest regards.”

The letter also proved false several claims that Mr President did not give a final approval before the announcement.

The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, while speaking with journalists at the end of a security meeting chaired by the president on April 4, announced that Mr Buhari had approved the release of $1 billion to Nigerian Defence authorities for the purchase of security equipment to fight insecurity in the country.

“Of recent, our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, gave approval for the purchase of more equipment for the military, worth $1 billion,” he said.

The announcement was greeted by criticism by Nigerians who questioned the federal government for earmarking such huge amount for Boko Haram it claimed has been ‘technically defeated.’

Few days later, Mr Buhari’s aide took turns to defend him, saying that the president cannot approve such fund without go ahead from the National Assembly.

First was the President’s Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, who said the approval is not final as it signifies only a stage approval while the process is still ongoing.

Also, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the president would soon communicate the National Assembly on the issue.

The withdrawal is a breach on the Sections 80 (3) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution which states that:

“(3) No moneys shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the Federation, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, unless the issue of those moneys has been authorized by an Act of the National Assembly.

“(4) No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly.”

Last December, the state governors at a meeting of the National Economic Council had given the president the green light to withdraw $1 billion from the ECA to fight the insurgency. To make such withdrawal, this would have required the approval of the National Assembly and the 36 state Houses of Assembly since the funds in the ECA belong to the three tiers of government.

The development could also fuel the discord between the executive and legislative arms which have been at loggerheads over some issues since inception.

Senate Spokesperson, Sabi Abdullahi, could not be reached for comments as at the time of filing the report.

THE alarm raised by Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) that he was arrested at the international wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport has been confirmed to be true.

The lawmaker had in the earlier hours of Monday informed the public that he was arrested.

He made this known in short update posted on his social media accounts.

The police recently declared Melaye wanted after he was accused of supplying arms to some murder suspects, who allegedly implicated him.

The senator denied the allegations, which he describes as politically-motivated.



Home Metro News
Why We Arrested Dino Melaye — NIS
By SAMUEL UBOKULO -April 23, 2018




THE alarm raised by Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) that he was arrested at the international wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport has been confirmed to be true.

The lawmaker had in the earlier hours of Monday informed the public that he was arrested.

He made this known in short update posted on his social media accounts.

The police recently declared Melaye wanted after he was accused of supplying arms to some murder suspects, who allegedly implicated him.

The senator denied the allegations, which he describes as politically-motivated.



While notifying the public of his arrest, Melaye did not disclose which of the security agencies arrested him.

His tweet said he was on his way to Morocco for an official engagement when he was picked up. He accused the federal government of perfecting his arrest.

As at press time, the government is yet to react to the accusation.

Stepping forward to confirm Melaye’s arrest is the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).

Quoting the spokesman of the NIS, Mr. Sunday Jamea, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Sen. Melaye was arrested by Immigration officials “based on instruction”.

Mr Jamea declined to provided further details when asked to.

PRESIDENTIAL Hopeful and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, says if he is elected president in the coming 2019 general election his administration will start, complete the second Niger Bridge and execute a third one.

Mr Sowore who stated this on Friday, in Owerri, the state capital of Imo, pledged to achieve all this in a space of four (4) years.

He was in the state for a town hall meeting to notify the people of the South East zone of his presidential ambition to contest the forth coming election.

The Second Niger Bridge is a critical and vital socio-economic, transport infrastructure in the South East. Politicians have in decades used it to campaign and once elected they looked the other way.

In his address at the meeting, Mr. Sowore, assured his audience mostly made up of enthusiastic young men and women that Nigeria will be rescued from the hands of those he called the “current set of clueless leaders” in 2019.

“We are leaving Egypt and no longer going back to Egypt, we have left them and power has also left them. We are going to take back our country from them. Analog mentality cannot rule digital generation,” he said.

For Sowore, seeing to the completion of the bridge is not only going to be his priority as his administration will also map out and execute a third Niger Bridge to completion linking Rivers and Lagos States.

“Within four (4) years of coming to power, I guarantee you, not only will we start and complete the second Niger Bridge, we will do a third Niger Bridge that has a fast rail. There is no reason why you cannot move goods and services from Port Harcourt to Lagos within three (3) hours on a train.” Sowore said in the gathering monitored by HEADLINE.

“I have seen it happen before, I have been in places where they are happening and if you are in doubt you can do Google searching while I’m here.

“They just have the fastest train moving in Morocco. The economy of Morocco is not is not as big as that of Nigeria, so why can’t we have it?” the publisher asked.

Sowore resounded his earlier remarks about the Nigerian Senate as a waste of the nation’s scarce resources.

“Why can’t we have youth corpers receiving twelve to fifteen thousand naira as allowances instead of giving it to Senators, thirteen million naira per Senator and the Senators are the laziest bunch of people you can find in the world. You saw what they did the other day, stealing mace and working around. I have been saying it and I’m saying it again, if I have my way I will abolish the Nigerian Senate, it’s a waste of time, space and money.”

Continuing he said, “And then we can have one just one House of Representatives from every local government and we make it part-time if you don’t come to work you don’t get paid.

“I will abolish all the stupid allowances and give it to our people, we use it to build hospitals, and develop our people.

He also restated an earlier statement he made in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, that under his watch, Nigeria must apologize to the people of the South East mainly those of the Igbo extraction for maltreating them unfairly during the Nigerian Civil War.

On Economy, he promised to invest more on the Nigerian people as oil is a lazy economy. He described the Buhari administration as scammers which the people are fed up of urging them to endeavour to collect their Permanent Voters Cards (PVC).

lalasticlala

THE insurrection which occurred at the Senate on Wednesday was scripted to effect a change of leadership at the upper legislative chamber led by its President, Bukola Saraki.

The chamber was invaded while plenary was on with the mace which symbolizes the power of the Senate carted away unchallenged in a broad daylight by some hoodlums believed to be working for a suspended senator, Ovie Omo-Agege.

After the mace was taken away and normalcy returned, lawmakers present at the premises continued their plenary with a replacement for the item stolen.

This saw the Senate ordering the police and other sister agencies to within 24 hours find and return the stolen mace.

The police in the early hours of Thursday claimed the mace was found under a bridge in Abuja.

Hours after this announcement, the police brought the mace to the National Assembly and handed it over to the leadership of the chamber.

A report on Vanguard has hinted how the failed plot to oust the leadership of the Senate led by Bukola Saraki was hatched.

Mr Saraki had suspended Senator Omo-Agege who belongs to the Buhari Parliamentary Support Group, over his comments on the resolution of the house concerning the amendment of the 2010 Electoral Act which sought the change of election sequence. This group was recently disbanded by the president of the Senate.

The aggrieved lawmakers who are loyal to the President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly convened at an Abuja residence of a former governor presently serving in the Senate. Their plot was to use the suspension Omo-Agege to effect a change in leadership thereby recalling the suspended senator.

The paper from its findings reports that 15 lawmakers of the chamber stirred the conspiracy with the aim of provoking a confrontation that would have led to a pandemonium which would at the end trigger a change in the leadership of the Senate.

Their plot, however, failed as three pro-saraki senators, who the dissenting senators hoped to trigger a fight that would have led to the pandemonium, were absent at the sitting when the fortuity for them to strike came up.

The three Senators hoped to have engaged the invaders if present at the plenary on the said day are; Senators Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West); Enyinnanya Abaribe (PDP, Abia South) and Obinna Ogba (PDP, Ebonyi). The expected clash if occurred would have led to the invasion of the Senate chambers by security services.

“To achieve the dual purpose of removing the Senate leadership, especially with the absence of the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who is on an official trip to Washington, USA, and the reinstatement of Senator Omo-Agege, it was concluded that the mace should be forcefully taken away,” the paper quoted it’s sources as saying.

“The calculation of the plotters was that some hot-blooded Senators like Senator Dino Melaye and Senator Obinna Ogba would not allow the mace to go without making serious trouble. In the process, there would be fisticuffs and pandemonium in the red chamber.

“The mace would not only be taken away, but the armed invaders would use the opportunity to deal with some ‘heady’ Senators’, including the presiding officer, Ike Ekweremadu. However, it happened that Senators Dino, Ogba, and Enyinnaya Abaribe were not on in the chamber when the assailants came.

“I am thanking God that Dino was not around because by the time he came he was so angry that the thugs were allowed to go away with the mace. He was saying that they would have killed him with the mace that Wednesday,” the source said.

It was further gathered that the expectation was that following the mayhem a motion for adjournment of the sitting to allow heads to cool would have followed.

The plan was that after the adjournment, the group of 15 senators would return to the Senate chambers with the mace earlier grabbed and hold a sitting during which they would have suspended the Senate leadership and elected another leadership.

The first task after that would have been to lift the suspension on Senator Omo-Agege.

It was nevertheless gathered that the Divisional Police Officer of the National Assembly was not taken into confidence of the plot to invade the National Assembly.

The DPO, it was learned, was sold the dummy that the Shiites who had been protesting in Abuja were coming to the National Assembly that day. It was when he went to organise reinforcement for the National Assembly that Senator Omo-Agege came in.

Before Omo-Agege came in, a senator from the North-Central and a key leader of the Buhari Parliamentary Support Group to which Omo-Agege belongs had stepped out to make a call.

“We suspected that he went to inform the group that the DPO had left and that they could come,” the source added.

THEY ARE ONLY WASTING TIME — Saraki

Reacting to the development, the Senate President, Sen Bukola Saraki, cautioned those behind the saga, spoiling for change of leadership.

Saraki, who was represented by Sen Ben Murray-Bruce at TheNiche 4th anniversary lecture, said this in Lagos on Friday.

“What happened was a disgrace and did not make any sense. Looking at it critically, they were working for change in Senate leadership, but they left what they were supposed to do and engaged in the undemocratic act.

“If you want to impeach a President all you need to do is to put it to vote and the majority will have their way instead of stealing the mace.

“Come to think of it, behind us is where President lives. So to escape through the back where the President leaves considering the presence of security agents gives room for many questions that need answers.

“There will be no regime change. They are only wasting time.

lalasticlala

Home National News
Lazy Youths: Buhari Should Apologize And Be Forgiven – Shehu Sani
By AGABA DANIEL -April 20, 2018




SHEHU Sani, Senator representing Kaduna Central, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to apologize over his remarks about Nigerian Youths.

While answering a question at the Commonwealth Business Forum in London on Wednesday, President Buhari had cause to talk about Nigerian youths.

Mr Buhari had described the youths as illiterates who are lazy and want freebies with the notion that the nation is an oil producing country.

He had said: “We have a very young population; our population is estimated conservatively to be 180 million. More than 60 per cent of the population is below the age of 30. A lot of them have not been to school and they are claiming that Nigeria has been an oil producing country, therefore they should sit and do nothing and get housing, healthcare and education free.”

His comments sparked reactions from the country’s young population who lambasted the president over his comments on them.

Defending Buhari, the Presidency blamed those it called ‘statement twisters‘ as those who manipulated the president’s comments about the youths.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in a statement denied the president disparaged Nigerian youths, adding that, “Elementary English recognizes a wide gulf between “a lot of” and the word “all.”

Adesina asked, “How can “a lot of them,” suddenly transmogrify to mean “all of them?”

But reacting, Sani described Adesina’s statement as absurd, noting that, “The President spin doctors are trying to spray fragrances on the feces and lace the dung with olive oil.”

The lawmaker advised Mr Buhari to withdraw and tender an apology to the country’s young population.

“The President should simply withdraw the statement on the youths and apologize; and tell them what he will do for them in addition to what he had done for them,” Sani said.

He said if the president apologizes, he should be forgiven because he is a Human. Sani challenged the youths to pick the baton and lead and stop holding the Alsatian Dogs of the political elite.

“The President is a human being, he can gaffe and should be forgiven and should not be sent to the political guillotine.

“The President echos the perception of the bourgeoisie power elites,the youths must rise against it.”

Adesina’s statement has also draw wide condemnation from the young people of the country.

The remarks of the presidential aide did not go down well with a Human Rights Activist, Inibehe Effiong, prompting him to describe the attempt by Adesina to defend his principal as ‘imbecilic.’

Effiong, 29, a legal practitioner who resides in Lagos said the President remarks about Nigerian youths amounts to irresponsible assertion of deficit in governance skills while describing him as one who has no integrity.

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Defending Buhari, the Presidency blamed those it called ‘statement twisters‘ as those who manipulated the president’s comments about the youths.

THE effort of the Presidency to defend President Muhammadu Buhari over his comments on Nigerian Youths has been described as imbecilic.

While answering a question at the Commonwealth Business Forum in London on Wednesday, President Buhari had cause to talk about Nigerian youths.

Mr Buhari had described the youths as illiterates who are lazy and want freebies with the notion that the nation is an oil producing country.

He had said: “We have a very young population; our population is estimated conservatively to be 180 million. More than 60 per cent of the population is below the age of 30. A lot of them have not been to school and they are claiming that Nigeria has been an oil producing country, therefore they should sit and do nothing and get housing, healthcare and education free.”

His comments sparked reactions from the country’s young population who lambasted the president over his comments on them.



Defending Buhari, the Presidency blamed those it called ‘statement twisters‘ as those who manipulated the president’s comments about the youths.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in a statement denied the president disparaged Nigerian youths, adding that, “Elementary English recognizes a wide gulf between “a lot of” and the word “all.”

Adesina asked, “How can “a lot of them,” suddenly transmogrify to mean “all of them?”

The remarks of the presidential aide did not go down well with a Human Rights Activist, Inibehe Effiong, prompting him to describe the attempt by Adesina to defend his principal as ‘imbecilic.’

Effiong, 29, a legal practitioner who resides in Lagos said the President remarks about Nigerian youths amounts to being irresponsible assertion of deficit in governance skills while describing him as one who has no integrity.

“How many times has Buhari held a media chat since he assumed office? How many interviews has this President granted in Nigeria? How many new books has Buhari read in the last two years?

“What has Buhari done to change the comatose state of our educational system? A President that only regains his voice when he is abroad should not be taken seriously by the citizens.

“You do not constantly malign your country and people before imperial governments. That is not bluntness or being truthful, it is an irresponsible assertion of deficit in governance skills by a man who is paid to lead.

“Buhari has no integrity. People should stop associating Buhari with integrity.

“Under this same Buhari’s “integrity” administration, We’ve seen how children of the political class are getting preferential treatment in recruitment into ‘lucrative’ agencies to the disadvantage of the “lazy Nigerian youths”. Mr. Fake Integrity has not given citizens equal treatment but speaks condescendingly of the poor youths.

“I live and work in Lagos, a state where people barely sleep well because most residents are ceaselessly busy with their work. As early as 4AM, people are struggling to make ends meet. There is just ‘no dull moment’ in Lagos. A vast majority of residents of Lagos are young people. Go to Computer Village in Ikeja and see the determined spirit of Nigerian youths.

“Trying to distinguish “a lot of young Nigerians” from “all young Nigerians” is the most imbecilic attempt to defend the indefensible outbursts of Buhari. This is a country that has become a Destiny Killer to young people, largely because of failed leaders like Buhari.

“Here is a man whose children are feeding fat on the wealth of the long suffering people of Nigeria whose fortunes have been greatly diminished by his unparalleled incompetence and unprecedented nepotism. Buhari has insulted the lifeline of this nation; young people.

“Buhari behaves like a deaf and dumb person whenever he is in Nigeria by speaking in laconic terms but will always become offensively and irritatingly loquacious once he leaves the shores of Nigeria.

“This President is rude, ungrateful and grossly incompetent,” Effiong said.