₦airaland Forum

A student under the scholarship programme
of the Presidential Amnesty Programme
(PAP), Eric Yanyangbini, has emerged the
best male graduate of Oba Erediauwa
College of Law, Igbinedion University (IU),
Okada, Edo State.











Yanyangbini, who obtained his first degree
over 15 years ago from the former Ondo
State University, Ado-Ekiti (now Ekiti State
University), shared the top spot of the
graduating law class with the best female
graduate, Ukuroma Ada Sambo, at the
2014/2015 Valedictory Session of the Law
College, last Saturday at the university’s
auditorium in Okada town.











In a chat with newsmen after his
conferment with the award, the Arogbo-
Ijaw, Ondo State-born law graduate urged
the Federal Government, under the
leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari,
not to scrap the PAP, to allow other
beneficiaries of the scholarship and other
programmes of the amnesty conclude their
programmes and achieve re-integration into
the society.












While making the plead, Yanyangbini noted
that it would be a waste of resources for the
country and big loss to the affected students
if the programme were stopped mid-way, as
many of the students would not be able to
afford the school fees of their various
private universities, where they are currently
undergoing studies.













“Let me use this medium to thank the
Federal Government of Nigeria, through the
Amnesty Office, for giving me and my
colleagues the very unique opportunity to
obtain university education through the
scholarship programme of PAP.













“I will equally urged our new President,
Muhammadu Buhari, to continue with this
laudable programme in order to allow the
beneficiaries of the amnesty programme
conclude their studies and vocation so that
the money spent on them so far will not be
a waste.













“In this university alone (IU), about 500
students are currently enjoying the
scholarship programme from the Amnesty
Office, not to talk of other private
universities, both home and abroad, which
will make it pretty difficult for the parents of
these students to meet their financial
obligations if the scholarship programme
suddenly stops,” he said.











Yanyangbini also thanked the Federal
Government for the opportunity of fulfilling
his dream of becoming a lawyer after he
graduated with bachelor’s degree in English
Language, adding, “I feel very happy today
to have had the opportunity to study in the
premier private university in Nigeria, and
eventually graduate as a lawyer.”















source:www.dailyindependentnig.com/2015/06/dont-scrap-amnesty-programme-beneficary-begs-buhari

A former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has
pledged his loyalty and support to President
Muhammadu Buhari.
Mr. Abubakar’s pledge is contained in a
statement on Sunday by his media office.
“Make no mistake about it Atiku Abubakar
holds Buhari in the highest esteem, and
would always remain loyal to him, and
support him in every endeavour to succeed
as president,” the statement signed by the
head of the media team, Paul Ibe, said.
Mr. Abubakar’s pledge comes amidst
rumours that he was a mastermind of the
emergence of Bukola Saraki as the senate
president. Mr. Saraki, who like Mr. Abubakar
is a member of President Buhari’s All
Progressives Congress, APC, emerged senate
president contrary to wish of his party. He
got a block support of opposition senators
of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to
emerge senate president at an election were
51 APC senators were absent due to a
scheduled meeting with Mr. Buhari.
Since his emergence, which was initially
rejected by the APC, Mr. Saraki has been
making efforts to reconcile with the
president.
Mr. Abubakar, who like Mr. Saraki decamped
from the PDP to APC before the general
elections, described the politics of the
emergence of Mr. Saraki as a product “of
interplay of politics which is itself in
constant motion.”
Read the former vice president’s statement
below.
A former Vice President and chieftain of All
Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar
says it is dangerous for any individual or
group in the ranks of the ruling party to
constitute themselves into an opposition
even before the constitution and take off
President Muhammadu Buhari’s
government.
The former Vice President made the call
against the backdrop of developments in
the polity, which he notes are interplay of
forces and interests that are dynamic, but
must not be promoted to the point of being
a threat to our democracy and the new
administration.
In a press statement released by his media
office in Abuja on Sunday, 21 June and
signed by Paul Ibe, the Turaki Adamawa
while acknowledging that it is legitimate
and desirable for individuals or groups to
seek to pursue their interest, it must be
done with the benefit of sustaining our
democracy and promoting equity, fair play
and justice in mind.
“Anything to the contrary may jeopardise
our hard-earned democracy and constitute
a clog in the wheel of the new
administration,” Atiku said.
He noted that because of the historic nature
of the mandate of President Muhammadu
Buhari and the arduous challenges ahead to
deliver on making Nigeria work for all
Nigerians, it is important, especially for
members of his own party, to rally behind
him in the quest to enthrone good
governance, that will spur security and
stability, economic and social development,
job creation, infrastructure renewal and
above all a better life for Nigerians.
The former Vice President urged members
of the APC to emulate the unity of all the
presidential contestants after the party’s
Lagos primaries and support the President
to form his government and get to work.
The statement exonerated Atiku Abubakar
of the purported hijack of the party and the
National Assembly towards 2019 as figment
of the imagination of those promoting it
and asked Nigerians to ignore all such
insinuation.
He notes that the recent outcomes of the
National Assembly election contrary to
insinuations are products of interplay of
politics which is itself in constant motion.
“In politics, it is a mistake to expect fixed
outcomes. As the President has done, let’s all
come to terms with what has happened in
the interest of the system and move on.
Suffice it to say that the new administration
should be allowed a smooth take off and be
allowed the atmosphere to deliver. On this, I
stand with President Buhari,” Atiku said.
“Not only did Atiku Abubakar congratulate
Buhari after his emergence as the
presidential candidate of the APC at the
party’s national convention in Lagos, he also
handed over his best assets to the Buhari
Presidential Campaign. The former Vice
President enthusiastically handled the
diplomatic assignment of seeking
endorsement for Dr. Adesina as the
President of the African Development Bank
on behalf of President Buhari and would be
available for any other assignments as the
President pleases.
“Make no mistake about it Atiku Abubakar
holds Buhari in the highest esteem, and
would always remain loyal to him, and
support him.




Source:www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/185451-i-remain-loyal-to-buhari.html

After participating in the 25th Assembly of
Heads of State and Government of the
African Union in Johannesburg on Monday,
President Muhammadu Buhari found time to
speak with Nigerians resident in South
Africa. It was hardly surprising that given his
reputation for talking straight and from the
heart, the president delivered what the
media recognised as a bombshell. Said he: “I
wish I became Head of State when I was a
governor, just a few years as a young man.
Now at 72, there is a limit to what I can do.”
Furthermore, he reminded his audience that
at 33, he was military governor, and at the
age of 40, Head of State. He turns 73 in
December.
By every interpretation, his statement was
semantically unambiguous. He did not have
the strength of youth, he judged, and he
had no illusion that the energy and drive he
would have loved to demonstrate now were
no longer with him. As expected, the
statement touched off a firestorm of
controversy. The Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) suggested Nigeria had been duped.
Perhaps they recalled the former First Lady
Patience Jonathan’s giddy campaign which
stridently warned the country against being
seduced into voting someone she
inelegantly described as ‘dead in the brain.’
Perhaps the PDP faithful also recalled
Governor Ayo Fayose’s coarse attacks on the
president whom, he warned obliquely,
would expire from old age before he ran his
term.
In any case, whether it was the PDP or any
other party, the country was aghast that
President Buhari could make any allusion at
all to his age, especially in the circumscribing
manner of serving as a limiter to his
strength and extenuator to his age-related
incapacity. It was clear the president
reflected nostalgically on his youthful years
and the vigour and drive he put into
executing his tasks. He did not mean his
statement to be understood in terms of the
acuity of his mind, for notwithstanding the
PDP’s cruel mockery of his age during
electioneering he still seems nearly as alert
and reflective as he was three decades ago.
So, the president knew precisely where he
appeared to be deficient, and it had to do
with age, not wisdom.
President Buhari’s media aides tried to rally
to his side to mitigate this needless and self-
inflicted damage. According to a didactic
and expiatory statement from Femi Adsina,
the president’s Special adviser on Media and
Publicity, the president is today like an old
wine that tastes much better. Said he: “As
the saying goes, ‘old wines are tasty’ and the
President Buhari we have today is a man,
like old wine, that has got tastier. At 72, yes,
he can’t be called a youth, but he has in
quantum the wisdom, the patience,
temperance and forbearance that age
brings. And all these virtues he has brought
to the Presidency, to make a difference in
our national life. The President assured the
Nigerian community in South Africa that his
administration would make a positive
impact on the country. And that he would
do.”
“Fine words, “ the English say, “butter no
parsnips.” Mr Adesina speaks grandly about
the president’s wisdom and other attributes,
and he may be indisputably right. He hopes
to convince us he can insinuate these
virtues into a president who yearns for
something else. The president was clear
what ailed him. He pines after the strength
of youth, in a momentary loss of
concentration, when he should place
emphasis on the pearls of old age. It was
not just a lapse, it was a regrettable
misjudgement. Those who voted President
Buhari into office knew exactly what they
wanted: they wanted a wise and honest
man, not a wild, boisterous and avaricious
youth. The greedy youth, as Nigeria’s 55
years history and intense and depressing
present amply show, we have aplenty. The
voters wanted change, even if that change
would be midwifed by an old man.
From the president’s rueful statement, it is
obvious he is a little fixated on age. He
recognises the dissonance between the
chimerical vigour of his youthful years and
the wisdom he is believed to possess in
abundance as he ages, though he is unable
to summon that virtue in the quantity he
hopes. He does not need this internal
conflict. Let President Buhari focus on what
he has comparative advantage in, those
things which, as his media aide argues,
come to him naturally and effortlessly with
age. As his about three weeks in office
already show, and as the problems he
begins to contend with also indicate, the
ubiquitous advantages of youth do not
recommend themselves as a useful anodyne
as much as the rarer therapy of wisdom
unveils the answer to more than 55 years of
national pain and discomfort.











Source:www.thenationonlineng.net/new/buhari-waxes-septuagenarian/

Ahmed Adamu, President, Commonwealth
Youth Council has advised President
Muhammadu Buhari to balance his old age
with young people in his administration.









According to him, the recent proclamation
by the Nigerian president about his age
constraint has justified the inevitability of
youth participation in governance.








A statement Adamu issued on Wednesday
noted that at an old age, the President
cannot do so many things he is expected to
do, but that he can make use of the
excessive vigour in the young people to
move his administration faster.









It reads: “President Buhari was reported to
have confessed that sometimes his age can
get in the way of getting the job done, and
that he wished he became president at a
younger age. He was perceived to have
missed his active energy when he was a
young governor. He said, at the age of 72,
there is limit to what he can do.









“Mr President does not have to worry about
his limitations as long as he knows how to
make best use of the young people in his
administration. The current young
generation have more energy than he had
as a young governor, and therefore he can
balance it up by bringing young people very
close to his administration.








“There have been huge expectation on Mr
President, and if he has to rely on the low
pace energy of the old, he could not catch
up half way to the expectations.










We
understand that governance needs careful
thoughts and plan, but young people can
think and plan carefully as well. Young
people are active partners of today’s
progress. Mr President should reckon young
people as partners not only as children.










“The young people are the ones to live and
immortalise his legacies, and without them
being drawn closer, his legacy will go down
with him. The legacies of Ahmadu Sardauna
live in our time because of his legacy of
empowering the then young people, who as
a result became leaders of this nation. What
legacy is Buhari preparing to live behind?










The answer lies in the youth. We want to see
many younger Buharis in our generation.












Source:www.dailypost.ng/2015/06/18/balance-your-old-age-with-young-appointees-adamu-tells-buhari/

Lagos lawyer and activist, Festus Keyamo,
has urged the National Assembly to set up
an open probe into alleged massive fraud in
the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) regarding the crude oil swap
programme and the offshore processing
agreements.
Keyamo, in a petition jointly addressed to
the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and
House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu
Dogara, said it was important for the federal
legislators to urgently investigate how
Nigeria was massively defrauded via the two
programmes to the tune of over $50 billion
by some unscrupulous officials of the NNPC
in collusion with some local companies in
the oil and gas sector.
Specifically, the lawyer wants the probe to
be extended to the immediate past Minister
of Petroleum Resources, Deziani Allison-
Madueke and the Managing Director of
NNPC, Tony Moneke.
Others are Executive Director, Commercial,
PPMC, Frank Amejo; Group General Manager,
Crude Oil Marketing Division, Gbenga
Komolafe; former Managing Director of
NPDC, and later NNPC Group Executive
Director, E & P, Abiye Membere and some
private companies in the oil and gas sector.
They are: AITEO that is owned by Mr. Benny
Peters; Sahara Energy owned by Tonye Cole,
Tope Sonubi and Ade Odunsi; Ontario Oil
and Gas owned by Walter Wagbatsoma and
Taleveras founded by Mr. Igho Sanomi.
Keyamo recalled that the crude oil swap was
an arrangement whereby about fifty percent
(50%) of the nation’s daily quota of crude oil
meant for domestic refining and
consumption are given to some local
companies in the oil and gas sector which
then sell the products in the international
market and thereafter import petroleum
products, including derivatives or
byproducts on behalf of the NNPC and PPMC
for sale and distribution in the country.
“For the records, our daily quota of crude oil
for local consumption is about 445,000
barrels. This arrangement was necessitated
by the inability of our local refineries to
operate at their fully installed capacities
which would have been able to refine all the
daily domestic quota of crude oil.
“The Offshore Processing Agreements
(OPAs) involved the allocation of the daily
domestic quota of crude oil to some local
companies in the oil and gas sector. The
companies then take the crude oil to
refineries outside the country, refine them
into petroleum products, including
derivatives or byproducts, and import them
into the country on behalf of the PPMC.
“The colossal fraud in both programmes
have reportedly started and heightened in
recent years. The frauds occur when far less
quantity of petroleum products, byproducts
and derivatives are imported into the
country by the local companies in exchange
for the crude oil allocated to them by the
NNPC.
“The staggering shortfalls in the imported
products are done with the active
connivance, collusion and knowledge of the
officials of the NNPC. The proceeds are, of
course, subsequently shared between the
NNPC officials and these local companies. In
fact, it is reported that a colossal sum of
about $50billion (fifty billion dollars) have
been stolen by these people through these
fraudulent programmes in the last few
years,” Keyamo alleged.
Keyamo said though some of the actors are
already being probed discreetly by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) and the Department of State Security
(DSS), he was concerned that, as usual, the
Nigerian people whom the lawmakers
represent would be perpetually kept in the
dark about these investigations and their
outcome, hence the need for the lawmakers
to launch probe into the matter pursuant to
their powers under Section 88(2)(b) of the
1999 Constitution (as amended).
This, Keyamo said: “is to expose corruption,
inefficiency or waste in the execution or
administration of laws within its legislative
competence and in the disbursement or
administration of funds appropriated by it.”











source:www.dailyindepentnig.com/2015/06/keyamo-seeks-dezianis-probe-alleged-50b-fraud/

Alarmed at the dimension of havocs
wrecked by earthquakes in the Federal
Democratic Republic of Nepal, Nigeria based
Dangote Foundation on Wednesday moved
to provide succor for the victims of the
disaster by donating one million dollar to
the government and people of the country.









Dangote Foundation donated the amount, in
line with its mandate to provide relief in
times of disaster, with a message that the
Chairman of the Foundation, Aliko Dangote
and people of Nigeria shared in their
moment of grief.









The Chief Executive Officer of the
Foundation, Zouera Youssoufou said on
behalf of Dangote, during the cheque
presentation to the Prime Minister of Nepal,









Mr. Sushil Koilara at Kathmandu, the
country’s capital that the gesture was to
support the government’s emergency
efforts in providing relief to the victims of
the earthquake disasters.









In his message to the Prime Minister,
Chairman of Dangote Foundation, Aliko
Dangote conveyed his sympathy to the
government and people of Nepal, assuring
them of the Foundation’s support in
rehabilitating the victims of the
unprecedented tragedy.









Dangote said: “We join the rest of the world
to express our sympathies over this
unfortunate incident. We hope this donation
will help alleviate the suffering of the
Nepalese people who have been devastated
by the earthquakes.”








Responding to this kind gesture, the Prime
Minister expressed the gratitude of the
people and Government of Nepal to Aliko
Dangote and the Foundation, for their
humanitarian support at this difficult
moment in his country’s history.












Source:www.dailyindependentnig.com/2015/06/dangote-lifts-nepal-earthquake-victims-1m/

The Confederation of African Football has
slammed a two-match ban on Nigeria’s
Super Eagles’ midfielder Ogenyi Onazi over
his sending-off in Saturday’ s 2017 Africa
Cup of Nations qualifier against Chad.









The SS Lazio of Italy player was shown a
straight red card for retaliation.









He committed the act after Nigerien referee
Ibrahim Mamane awarded Nigeria a penalty
kick for a foul on striker Odion Ighalo.









News of the ban was conveyed to the
Nigeria Football Federation in a circular sent
to it from the CAF Secretariat.











The ban was for the violent conduct for
which Onazi was expelled, the CAF statement
added.










Nigeria will visit Tanzania in Dar es Salaam
on Sept. 5 on Match Day 2 of the qualifiers,
and will then host Egypt on March 25, 2016.









Source:www.punchng.com/news/caf-bans-onazi-for-misconduct/

Governorahip candidate of the All
Progressives Congress, APC, in Akwa Ibom,
Umana Okon Umana has restated his position
on the April 11 gubernatorial election in the
state.







Umana in an interview with DAILY POST on
Wednesday in Lagos insisted that there was
no election in Akwa Ibom.








“Again, I wish to tell the world that election
did not take place in Akwa Ibom on April 11.







What we had was enthronement of the
candidate imposed by ex-Governor Godswill
Akpabio,” he said.








“Take for instance in a state like Lagos,
results were announced as they trickled
from units. That way, the winner and the
loser gradually knew what to expect at the
end of the day.








“But in our case, people were intimidated. In
cases where it looked like election would be
conducted, security agencies fired tear gas
claiming some persons were unruly. This
happened in a unit where an 82-year-old
woman was also waiting to exercise her
right.









“She and others were not only
disenfranchised, a case of human rights
abuse could also be established. So, what
went down and what we witnessed in
Akwa Ibom is far from cheering”, he added.









Asked how far he is willing to contest the
outcome of the election which was won by
Udom Emmanuel of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, Umana said “all legal processes
are being and will be explored.









“Our team of forensic experts are already
proving that the election under contest was
perhaps the highest form of rigging in any
state.









“And at this point, let me say that rigging is
crime against humanity and the mastermind
of this act in Akwa Ibom, no other person
than Mr. Akpabio, who is now a Senator
claiming to represent those he has been
muzzling over the years.










“All you need to do is go to Akwa Ibom,
meet those who have been victims of his
power-drunken attitude, meet those who
equally believe an individual was simply
installed in the Government House, then you
know what I’m saying.”










On reports that Akwa Ibom government
was planning to sell the jet purchased by
Akpabio, Umana said the development may
be to return the aircraft to the ex-Governor.










“I urge the media to keep tab on what will
happen. Watch out for those that will bid for
the jet directly or by proxy. But I believe that
the jet is going back to the ex-Governor”.








Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on
Media and Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ekerete
Udo, in a telephone chat with DAILY POST,
had stated that there was no iota of truth in
the speculation.











“We are not in the business of responding
to innuendos and manufactured lies and
answering people trading layers of lies in
order to get wings to fly. We are in the
business of providing service to the good
people of Akwa Ibom State and impacting
lives. We are impacting lives by continuing
with the developmental strides that have
been witnessed in the past eight years. We
want to continue on this path of sustainable
development”, Udo said.














Source:www.dailypost.ng/2015/06/18/rigging-is-crime-against-humanity-akapbio-must-face-icc-umana/

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday
ordered the release of $21 million out of the
$100 million pledged by Nigeria to the Multi-
National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) set up by
Nigeria and its neighbours to combat Boko
Haram.










Buhari, who gave the indication while
chairing the African Union (AU), Peace and
Security Council (PSC) meeting at the on-
going AU summit in Johannesburg, South
Africa, said the order should be carried out
in a week.










The order was in response to a decision by
the leaders of the Lake Chad Basin
Commission (LCBC) and Benin in Abuja to
immediately fund the MNJTF with at least $
30 million.










“The member countries of Lake Chad Basin
Commission and Benin, met recently, where
far-reaching decisions were taken to
immediately put into operations the Multi-
national Joint Task Force.










“To this end, the summit approved the
immediate provision of $30 million for the
Multi-national Joint Task Force.










“Consequently, out of the pledge of $100
million, which Nigeria made to the MNJTF, I
have directed that $21 million be released
within the next one week,” Buhari informed
the AU.











The President observed that the continent
was facing various challenges, which
required urgent attention.













“We are witnesses to the rampant
destruction of homes, roads,
communications lines, vital infrastructure
and displacement of persons, not to
mention terrible loss of lives.











“This is true, I must add, of the North-East of
Nigeria, where we are dealing with the
scourge of Boko Haram.












“The Boko Haram insurgency has extended
its reach to Nigeria’s neighbours but is not
necessarily limited to these immediate
countries as terrorism is a global
phenomenon with linkages across the
globe,” he said.










Source:www.dailyindependentnig.com/2015/06/buhari-okays-21m-mnjtf-fight-bokoharam/

The All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State
has asked Governor Ayodele Fayose to stop
deceiving the state workers over failed
promises to pay their salaries.
The party said the endless workers
verification exercise designed to keep faith
with the government was a wicked tactic to
secure workers’ cooperation.










The State APC Publicity Secretary, Taiwo
Olatubosun, in a statement on Sunday
accused the governor of deliberate
falsehood on the state’s financial status,
saying the governor had no excuse to owe
workers’ salaries.









“We have heard the governor say that the
state was broke and we can’t find merit in
that declaration because savings in all the
empowerment schemes cancelled by the
governor, the number of workers in
thousands that were sacked and drastic
cuts in the allowances and running grants
of workers, including traditional rulers,
would have saved the state millions of
naira,” he said.








Olatubosun noted that former Governor
Kayode Fayemi carried out verification
exercise only once through biometric
auditing that brought sanity to wage
payment system.









He wondered why after Fayose did
verification exercise three times within
seven months, the governor was still
subjecting workers “to unnecessary
verification contraption.”










“We in APC pity the workers, including
pregnant women, who queue endlessly in
the sun waiting to do this ill-conceived
verification exercise. The governor assured
that 48 hours after the exercise, the cleared
workers would receive their pay.











“But two months after some workers
completed the exercise, the governor has
refused to pay, instead he is keeping
workers on queue for hours in the sun for
the salary that would not come.












As a result,
the workers have become confused,
dejected and despondent, ” the APC
spokesman said.











Olatubosun urged the governor to come
clean on how he had been spending Ekiti
money, saying rhetoric on state’s
indebtedness was a callous way to deny the
workers their entitlements while the
governor was enjoying his personal life.









He said, “Ekiti people have heard how
N650m is being deducted from source to
pay the governor’s election contractors. For
six months, Fayose didn’t pay kobo on the
purported Fayemi’s over-bloated debts.











“Savings in millions are made from cuts in
workers and Obas’ allowances and running
grants, including the savings in millions
from thousands that lost their jobs. Social
security for 20,000 elders was also cancelled
by the governor.












“Many youths empowerment schemes that
cost Fayemi millions of naira were cancelled
by Fayose. Streetlights supply is now for
three hours daily. Fayemi ran it for 12 hours.











Fayose has stopped funding security
agencies which has led to high crime rate in
the state.









“Almost all the ongoing road constructions
were fully paid for by Fayemi while Fayose
cannot claim to have awarded any contract.









The dividends of democracy Fayose has
given to Ekiti people in the last eight months
is brigandage, thuggery, blocking of
highways, kidnapping and crushing of the
judiciary and the legislative arms of
government.










“He collected N22 billion refund on federal
projects while he also collected N2billion
Ecological Fund which Fayemi did a lot to
access without success. The question is,
what is the governor doing with Ekiti
money,” Olatubosun queried.










The party appealed to Fayose’s election
contractors to spare a thought for the
welfare of Ekiti workers, pleading that they
should give the governor some moratorium
to enable him pay workers salary.








The party also faulted the governor and his
aides for making reference to Osun State
over salary payment default, arguing that
while Governor Rauf Aregbesola had many
development and infrastructure projects he
could point to, same could not be said of
Fayose who sing-song was always on debts.









Source:www.punchng.com/news/stop-deceiving-workers-with-verification-apc-tells-fayose/

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday
urged African leaders to place the interests
of their countries above narrow personal
interests.











He gave the charge while chairing the
African Union (AU) Peace and Security
Council (PSC) meeting at the on-going AU
summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.










The President noted that as the meeting of
PSC focused on the situations of South
Sudan and Burundi, it required the leaders
to put the situations in both countries in
proper context.








“The people of these countries are suffering
while their political leaders are bickering
among themselves.









“I believe that is incumbent upon us as
leaders to always place the interest of our
countries above narrow and personal
interests.









“It is therefore my expectation that at the
end of this summit, the PSC will come out
with a united message to call on all parties
to act in the interest of their people and the
entire continent,’’ Buhari charged.









The Nigerian President added that the
leaders must make deliberate efforts to
“save the face of Africa, we must give hope
to the hopeless.









“The time to do so is now as we look
forward on the march toward 2063 to
deliver a continent that is at peace with
itself, prosperous, a global partner and a
democratic show case’’.









Buhari noted that the continent was
inundated with conflicts of diverse forms
including the crises in Burkina Faso, Mali,
Libya, Central Africa Republic, South Sudan,
and more recently in Burundi.









“As you are aware in 2013 during our 50th
anniversary celebration of our union, we as
African leaders committed ourselves to the
objective of silencing the local guns in Africa
by 2020.









“With just five years remaining, the prospect
of realising this objective looks doubtful,’’
Buhari noted. (NAN)











source:www.leadership.ng/news/440452/buhari-urges-african-leaders-to-place-country-above-self

The Department of Petroleum Resources
(DPR) in Eket, Akwa Ibom, said it had sealed
off 30 and suspended seven filling stations
from operations in the state in one month
over sharp practices.











The DPR Controller of Operations in Eket, Mr
Asuquo Antai, told NAN in Eket that the
stations were closed for under dispensing
and over pricing of their products.












He further said the suspended seven petrol
stations were given products for various
stations which were diverted to unknown
places.











“In the last one month, we have sealed a
total of 30 petrol stations and suspended
seven petrol stations from lifting products in
the state.











“Some were given products for their various
stations but they diverted it to unknown
places and so we have written to PPMC
suspending them from lifting until further
notice.”











He, however, expressed regret that
petroleum dealers in some areas still sold
the products above the approved pump
prices.












Antai said that DPR also arrested eight
station attendants for removing DPR seal
after the stations had been sealed and
asked to stop operations.












According to the controller, the culprits are
in police detention in the state. “Some
station attendants were also locked up in
the last one week for removing DPR seal,
over pricing and under dispensing of their
products.”











Antai said that some of the defaulters had
started coming to the office to pay the
required fine to DPR fees account and
adjusted their prices to reflect the
appropriate pricing policy of government.











“Violation of DPR seal is a criminal offence
by law and so we have the backing of the
law enforcement agents to apprehend the
promoters of such stations and they will be
persecuted in court.”











He said the department was committed to
monitoring activities of the filling stations so
as to ensure adherence to the Federal
Government’s directives.













Source:www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/06/14/dpr-closes-30-petrol-stations-suspends-7-others-in-akwa-ibom/

CONTRACT staff of the Nigerian Petroleum
Development Company, NPDC attached to the
Eriemu oil field, Ughelli North Local
Government Area, Delta State, have
embarked on a protest against the alleged
non-payment of their six months’ salaries
and bonuses.












The workers, who undertake production
operation support, maintenance, security
surveillance and housekeeping in the oil
field, said “NPDC shall not operate the
facilities until they have offset the workers’
entitlements,” reiterating that they will not
resume duties until their demands are met.











In a protest letter addressed to the
Commanding Officer, 222 Battalion of the
Nigerian Army, the workers, under the aegis
of Eriemu Field Workers Forum, lamented
the deplorable condition allegedly meted on
them by the company, listing other grouses
to include non-payment of pending arrears
“of last year (2014) and this year” as well as
the non-provision of Personnel Protective
Equipment.











The letter signed by the forum’s Chairman,
Mr. Freeborn Adjanakpo and Secretary,
Comrade Benjamin Ogbidjara alleged that
“NPDC has proposed to hand over
surveillance and flow line guards contracts
to the communities through the Community
Development Board (CDB) in the GMOU so as
to enable the communities to pay the
surveillance and flow line guards with effect
from January, 2015.



















Source:www.vanguardngr.com/workers-protest-non-payment-of-salaries/

Eminent Nigerians have called on the Federal
Government to declare June 12 Democracy
Day, in place of May 29 being celebrated to
immortalise the late Chief MKO Abiola
The eminent Nigerians who made their
positions known at the 22nd anniversary of
June 12, 1993 Presidential Election yesterday
in Lagos , unanimously said the declaration
was the best national recognition the
struggle deserves.










Among the people who made the call were
the Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi
Ambode; Professor of International Law and
Jurisprudence, Akin Oyebode; Human Rights
Lawyer, Femi Falana and Dele Alake..












Speaking at the Lagos Television (LTV) Blue
Roof ground, venue of the occasion,
Ambode said the June 12 date would for­
ever remain unique on the calendar,
describing it as a date that has assumed a
life of its own.














He said it was a day where the people of
Nigeria trooped out to the polling booth to
reclaim their rights and privileges as a
people.










Prof. Oyebode, who was the chairman on
the occasion, said the day was a celebration
of die-hard spirit of Abiola, his wife Kudirat
and hundreds of Nigerians who were killed
in protest of annulment of the freest and
fairest election ever held in the country.











Oyebode said it was sad and almost
inconceivable that the politicians and the
military decided to make May 29 Democracy
Day.








He added that it was unfortunate that the
June 12 watershed has been ethnicised,
with some states in the South west already
marking it as holiday, while others were still
unbothered.











He said it was also amazing that Nigeria
named monuments in Abuja and stadium in
Kano after military junta Sanni Abacha, while
Abiola has not been immortalised as so de­
served.












Falana toed the line of earlier speakers,
saying the onus was on Federal Government
to immortalise the true heroes of Nigeria’s
democracy.











He said: “This day (June 12) must be a
national day and be declared a national
holiday.”












He appealed to Lagos State to further
champion the cause of deepening de­
mocracy, by ensuring that living heroes and
heroines of June 12 struggle are not
forgotten.












Alake, who was the Editor of defunct
Concord Newspapers and a close confidant
to late Abiola, in his lecture posited that June
12 was a day Nigerians were re-birthed as a
true nation-state, adding that the annulment
was the biggest damage ever done to the
country.












He saluted the courage of June 12 activists
like Frank Kokori, Ayo Opadokun, Alfred
Ilenre, Dr. Amos Akingba, Rear Admiral
Ndubuisi Kanu, Odion Akhaine and Segun
Mayegun among others who were also
present at the event.


















Source:www.sunnewsonline.com/news/?p=123189

The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission on Friday filed fresh charges of
corruption against a former governor of
Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, at a Federal High
Court in Abuja.








Mr. Sylva is being charged alongside three
others – Francis Okokuro, Gbenga Balogun,
and Samuel Ogbuku – for allegedly using
three companies, Marlin Maritime Limited,
Eat Catering Services Limited, and Haloween-
Blue Construction and Logistics Limited to
move about N19.2 billion from Bayelsa State
coffers between 2009 and 2012, under false
of using the withdrawn money to augment
salaries of the state government workers.










The EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren,
said the agency awaits the assignment of
the case by the court in order to pave way
for the arraignment of Mr. Sylva and the
other accused.









The commission’s 42-count charge of
stealing against the ex-governor was
dismissed by the court on Wednesday.












The court had accused the EFCC of abusing
court process.










The court’s decision came more than a week
after the anti-graft agency withdrew part of
the charges – a N2 billion fraud case –
against the former governor.












The EFCC said it withdrew a six-count charge
of fraud against Mr. Sylva as a prelude to the
consolidation of all the charges against him.












The commission had two cases against the
former governor pending before two
Federal High Courts in Abuja, and needed to
consolidate them, the EFCC had said.













Source:www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/184918-efcc-files-fresh-corruption-case-against-ex-governor-sylvia.html

The chairman of the transition committee
set up by President Muhammadu Buhari,
Alhaji Ahmed Joda, to study the handover
notes of former President Goodluck
Jonathan, has urged Nigerians to be more
patient with the President as he cannot
make his political appointments “with
immediate effect.”
Joda who said it took them this long to
submit the report because they had to wade
through 18,000 pages of handover note
which only got to them on May 29th, said
the President would have to go through
their 800-page report and understand their
recommendations.









The chairman of the transition committee in
an interview with State House
correspondents shortly after leading other
members of the committee to present their
report to the President at the Defence
House, Abuja, said, “Political appointments
are entirely at the prerogative of the
President.











“He will go through our report and
understand our recommendation. I think he
deserves a little bit more time.












“This is not an ordinary transfer of
government from one President to the
other.












“In this country, we have never witnessed
this kind of transition from one political
party to another; the political party in
opposition won the election.








“Previous transition from one President to
the other did not require long process like
this . I think this is part of the evolution of
democracy.









“The country has to be a little bit more
patient, it cannot be with immediate effect.”
Joda said his committee spent about five
weeks going through memoranda and
listening to presentations from all across the
country.












He said having submitted the report, it has
now become the President’s property and
he believed that in due course, Buhari will
begin to act on it.








Source:www.sunnewsonline.com/?p=123132

Tears flowed freely on Friday as President
Muhammadu Buhari; his wife, Aisha; and the
wife of the Vice President, Dolapo Osinbajo,
met with two women whose daughters are
among the over 200 missing Chibok girls.









The emotional-laden encounter took place
inside the Defence House, Abuja, where
Buhari currently operates from.









Mrs. Osinbajo had earlier led the two
women to a meeting with Hajia Buhari.









The President’s wife later led them into
another round of meeting with Buhari.







By the time they emerged from the meeting
and posed for photographs, the two
women again broke down in tears while
Mrs. Buhari held them tightly.









Mrs. Osinbajo also joined in the weeping.









The Vice President’s wife, with misty eyes,
later told State House correspondents what
transpired during the two separate
meetings.









She said, “Hajia Aisha Buhari had, for many
months, wanted to visit Chibok. She also
wanted to meet with the mothers.








“Today, we had an opportunity for them to
meet face-to-face. We had two of the
mothers who still have their daughters
missing after a year.









“Hajia, being a mother, met with them, held
them and they cried, everybody cried. What
only a mother will do is to say ‘wait, I want
you to see your father and see what your
father will do.’










“We were all extremely overwhelmed that at
this time when the President is so busy, he
had time to meet with the women from
Chibok.









“He spoke to them in English and Hausa. He
explained to them how he keeps telling
everybody to put themselves in their place.










“So, today, we have had the opportunity for
the President and Hajia to show that they
are our father and mother, for that we are
glad.”









Shortly after the photo session, security men
quickly whisked the weeping mothers away.









Over 200 schoolgirls were a
abducted in
Chibok last year.









All efforts to rescue them have yet to yield
any positive result.













Source:www.punchng.com/news/tears-as-buhari-wife-meets-chibok-girls-mothers/

A suit seeking fresh investigations into the
murder of a late governorship aspirant in
Lagos State, Funsho Williams, was on
Monday reopened before a Federal High
Court in Lagos.










The applicant, Bashir Junaid, approached the
court again after the same suit had been
struck out on April 29, 2015 by Justice Rita
Ofili-Ajumogobia for want of diligent
prosecution.








The judge however allowed the suit to be
returned onto the cause list after
entertaining a fresh motion and argument
from the plaintiff’s counsel, Tunji Adesheye,
on Monday.








Junaid, a cemetery attendant, who was
arrested and detained by the police during
preliminary investigation into Williams’
murder, filed the suit seeking a mandamus
order compelling the Inspector General of
Police to conduct fresh investigation with
the possibility of a fresh trial.












The applicant, who is seeking N5bn as
exemplary damages, joined a former
Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, and
10 others as the respondents.
Williams, who was strangled to death in his
Dolphin Estate residence, in Ikoyi, Lagos, on
July 27, 2006, was a governorship aspirant
on the platform of the Peoples Democratic
Party.











Junaid, in his 48-рaragraph ѕtаtеmеnt of
сlаim, alleged that the police disregarded his
freely made statement, which could have
assisted them to know who killed Williams.











He claimed that the concrete evidence that
he tendered was diѕcarded by the Federal
Central Invеѕtigаtiоnѕ Dераrtmеnt, Alagbon,
Lagos.









Junaid, who alleged that Tinubu used his
influence with the police to exonerate
himself, equally accused the police of
compromise by allegedly allowing the legal
adviser to the All Progressives Congress, Dr.
Muiz Banire, to change his statement after
he had been cautioned.










At the Monday’s proceedings, Adesheye
informed the court that in compliance with
an earlier order of the court before the suit
was struck out, his client had ensured
personal service of the concurrent writ of
summons on the defendants that were
outside the court’s jurisdiction.










The lawyer urged the court to grant the
motion seeking to re-list the suit in the
interest of justice, saying the defendants
would not be prejudiced in anyway
whatsoever if the request was granted.












But counsel for the 1st and 4th defendants,
Kingson Uwandu, while opposing
Adesheye’s submission, pointed out that the
plaintiff had yet to pay the N25, 000 fine
placed on him by the court when the matter
was struck out.











Uwandu said it was improper for the
plaintiff, who had failed to comply with an
order of the court, to turn around seeking a
favour from the same court.











But when probed by the court on when the
order for the payment of the N25, 000 fine
was made against the plaintiff, Uwandu said
he could not remember because he was not
with the case file.











Ofili-Ajumogobia, who eventually vacated
the earlier cost of N25, 000 made against
Junaid, also granted the prayer to enlist the
suit.










Further hearing in the matter has been
adjourned till September 29, 2015.














Source:www.punchngr.com/news/court-reopens-funsho-williams-murder-case/

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Special
Task Team on City Cleaning and Management
has said it has impounded about 4,790
commercial motorcycles and 883
tricyclesalso known as keke napeps in the
last 90 days.













Also impounded by the task team were 645
unpainted commercial vehicles, as well as 84
illegal commercial buses during the period
under review.










The FCT Permanent Secretary, Mr. John
Chukwu disclosed this during after meeting
with the chairman of the Task Team and the
FCT Police Commissioner, Mr. Wilson
Inalegwu in Abuja. The release was made
available by the Assistant Director/Chief
Press Secretary to the Minister, Muhammad
Sule.











According to him, 3,000 commercial sex
workers had also been arrested by the Task
Team and handed over to the Abuja
Environment Protection Board for
prosecution and subsequent rehabilitation.













Chukwu noted that the Task Team also
embarked on city cleaning activities, which
culminated in the closure and removal of 52
illegal car wash sites and 83 illegal auto
mechanic workshops.













“In addition, eight illegal sand dredging and
quarry sites, 205 shanties, 89 illegal markets,
seven illegal car marts and 98 food vendor
kiosks and furniture workshops all located
in unauthorised places within the city have
been closed down.











“Similarly, a total of 2,534 street hawkers
and beggars had been arrested by the FCT
Administration and 102 strayed animals
were removed from illegal cattle markets in
Gudu and other parts of the city during the
same period,” he said.








Chukwu therefore directed the Task Team to
redouble its efforts to rid the FCC of all
environmental nuisances, stressing that it is
not business as usual.











He further directed all operational
departments in the FCTA to be committed to
ensure that their statutory responsibilities
are carried out, insisting that they must be
proactive in city management in line with
the vision of a new Nigeria.










He called on the residents of the FCC to be
law-abiding and remain their brothers’
keepers, urging the residents to report any
suspicious movements to the law
enforcement agents.











Source:www.thenationonlineng.net/fcta-impounds-4790-okada-883-keke-napep/

The wind of Change whose silent whistle
emerged on March 28, 2015 finally reached
its crescendo, when General Muhammadu
Buhari was sworn in as the fifth
democratically elected president of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria.








So much needs to be said and
acknowledged in this particular transition
from one government to another. Due
commendation and credence must first be
given to the good people of Nigeria for their
collective efforts in ensuring that our
democracy remains. It is to the credit of
Nigerians and well-meaning political
gladiators that the 2015 elections(widely
predicted, even by the international
community, to bring about Nigeria’s
eventual collapse) went practically
uneventfully. Violence was minimal, while
the voting process itself was widely
acclaimed to be largely free and fair.







We must also commend the two “giant
players” in the presidential race – Dr Ebele
Goodluck Jonathan, and Ptresident Buhari –
both of who in their respective ways, have
ensured that national interest has been
upheld before, during, and after the
elections.







As a new journey in our national life begins,
the expectations of all Nigerians are high – it
is to be expected!
That relentless patriotic zeal in the psyche of
Nigerians informs their high expectations
and hope that things can only get better
under a totally new dispensation! What
defines this belief as well as the pervading
electrifying current in and around the
country in recent times, is the simple, yet
factual, saying, “forward ever, backward
never!”








I-Nigerian joins all Nigerians to commend
our best wishes to the new President,
Muhammadu Buhari, and his team.







We must also commend the immediate past
administration, led by Dr Jonathan who had
steered the ship of governance for the past
five years. The good statesmanship
exhibited by Jonathan throughout his
tenure as president, speaks volumes for him
in the history of Nigeria. I-Nigerian wishes
him and his family well, and warm wishes
on to his next assignment as a global
statesman.











The new government, under the headship
of President Buhari takes over the reins of
power at a time that the clarion call for a
boost in the great potential of Nigeria as a
country is sounding louder. Suffice it to say
that the new government has its work cut
out, and must from the onset strive to affirm
its appreciation of the huge responsibility
entrusted on it by Nigerians, who were
swayed by that simple word in its electoral
campaign: CHANGE, and came out en masse
to vote for CHANGE!











It is also a good time to remind ourselves
that CHANGE is a word we must ALL – at ALL
levels – begin to appropriately and
purposefully imbibe in our daily lives,
business dealings, and work performance –
so that the new dispensation will reflect our
much desired renaissance. Indeed, is
CHANGE not all about RENAISSANCE – a
“rebirth” of our dear nation?! In doing so,
we must, however, not fail to appreciate,
and take on board the good in the legacy
that has been bequeathed by the outgoing
government. Positive lessons, experiences,
and policies from the old are there to
consolidate upon, and to serve as a guide as
we work towards ensuring the continuity
for our common good as a people.











Fellow Nigerians, it’s a new dawn, a new
era, a new dispensation, and we must
collectively rally our support and
cooperation with the new administration in
order to actualise our collective vision for
Nigeria our country, and for ourselves as a
people.








Let us continue to imbibe the spirit of
patriotism, unity, nationalism, peace, and
tolerance of one another; and eschew those
negative thoughts and actions that are
inimical to our peace, unity, and continued
existence. Let us continue to uphold
NATIONAL INTEREST in all its ramifications,
and continue to work together for our
common good. We ourselves are
responsible for the success of our new
journey; and we ourselves must rise up and
purposefully be the CHANGE that we voted
for, and wish to see.








As we consistently say: Who is Nigeria?
Nigerians are Nigeria!!!











Source:www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/as-the-journey-of-change-begins/

Members of the #BringBackOurGirls (#BBOG)
advocacy are set to meet President
Muhammadu Buhari over the missin
schoolgirls abducted by the Boko Haram
sect 420 days ago.







The group also said it was saddened by the
continuous death and suffering in the
Northeast.








It urged Buhari to address the country on
the moves he is making to ending
insurgency and bring back the Chibok girls.








A member of the group, Aisha Yusufu, who
spoke on other members’ behalf, said
Nigerians gave the President their mandate
because they believed in him.








She said: “The Chibok girls have been in
captivity for 419 days and they do not have
the liberty to decide to stop living the life of
captivity that they have been caused to live.









Our daughters have been living in the forest
for the past 419 days and still we have not
heard anything about them.







“Now the new President has been sworn in
and we in the #BBOG decided to give him
one week in power before writing a letter
demanding to meet with him. We will send
our letter to him next week and we will not
be begging to be seen but we will demand
to be addressed as citizens of this country.









“We are impatient and are tired of being
afraid. We are tired of wondering who will
be next; we expect that by now, President
Buhari would have addressed the country
and told us what he has been doing so far.








We are tired of being kept in the dark.








Nigerians need to know of the steps being
taken to end this scourge of insurgency
because our Chibok girls are tired of
waiting.”








source:www.thenationonlineng.net/new-activist-to-meet-buhari-over-chibok-girls/

The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ekiti
State has likened most members of the newly
inaugurated state House of Assembly to
garage touts.








According to the APC, the state Governor,
Ayodele Fayose has succeeded in turning
the House into his private property instead
of working for the people’s interest.








APC said such selfish agenda held no
promise for the growth of the state and
political development of the people.







The party in a statement by the state APC
Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, said
the profile of new members in the new
Assembly had revealed that most of them
were incompetent and unqualified.







This, he said, the governor did to advance
his personal interest.







According to the statement, “Only a few of
them are worthy of the exalted position of
legislators. We all saw the intrigues that
characterised the primaries that returned
the new members. It was ballot snatching
and violence on a massive scale during the
April 11 Assembly poll.









“Fayose just selected his cronies across the
state above well-educated members and
imposed them on the party. Most of them
are miscreants and school dropouts who
Fayose compensated as honourable
members”.









“Fayose’s public declaration of political
death for any member who works against
his interest points to where Ekiti people are
headed in the business of law making in the
next four years.









“We saw the first public declaration of
loyalty by the Assembly members on the day
of inauguration when they all prostrated for
Fayose in the chambers, stating he is their
father,” he explained.








“Because of their inadequacies, they will
legitimise and encourage illegality and
impunity because they won’t understand
the nitty-gritty of lawmaking process and
independence of mind required in making
laws that benefit the larger society outside
the narrow interest of the governor.









“We cannot compare this Fifth Assembly
with the outgoing Assembly in terms of
composition of members. The last Assembly
was composed of members who have seen
it all. They are professionals, such as lawyers,
medical doctors, pharmacists, architects,
policy makers, public analysts and retired
top civil servants.








“These are the educated people Fayose will
not work with because of their courage and
independence of mind. In their place are
Fayose’s thugs and those that helped him to
undermine the law to always have his way.








“Ekiti people should brace for many
surprises and bizarre legislations from this
assembly mostly composed of the people of
questionable character working with the
governor to achieve predetermined ends,”








Olatubosun added.
In a swift reaction, the PDP said the APC was
only talking out of frustration.
The party in a statement by its acting
Publicity Secretary, Jackson Adebayo, said
the new members of the assembly were
better in all ways to candidates presented by
the APC at the poll.







Source:www.dailypost.ng/2015/06/08/most-new-ekiti-lawmakers-are-touts-apc/

One of the contestants for the position of
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Hon Yakubu Dogara Saturday made a show
of shame when he deliberately led a motley
of his backers to stand against the plan of
the All Progressives Congress (APC) to
conduct a mock election for federal
legislators, both old and new, wishing to
choose their leaders - Senate President and
Speaker.





The event, held at the International
Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja, was
organised by the APC ahead of the
convention of the 8th Session of the
National Assembly scheduled for June 9 in
Abuja.







Dogara' s intransigence came hours after
the deliberation and intervention of the
National Working Committee (NWC) on the
possibility of conducting the mock election
on Saturday.








Dogara's camp argued that the election
should be postponed because they were not
ready and so they trooped out of the venue
in protest.







Initially, the members were unanimous that
the election should proceed as agreed. But
in a sudden volte face, Dogara's camp
decided to abandon the process when it
was obvious that Gbajabiamila has majority
of APC members by him.









Some of the lawmakers at the venue
expressed surprise that Dogara, who claims
to have more than 200 supporters is now
resisting moves by the party to conduct a
primary election between him and
Gbajabiamila.









An APC lawmaker from Kano said "No matter
how Dogara and his camp keep buying time,
the APC as a party will ensure that the
People's Democratic Party (PDP) does not
hijack the House of Representatives election.







It's obvious that the most popular candidate
would finally emerge on Tuesday. "
The mention of the PDP could be a veiled
reference to Dogara's ties to the party, now
in opposition, from which he had joined his
colleagues in 2013 to move to the APC.









Source:www.thisdaylive.com/articles/speakership-dogara-supporters-protest-apc-mock-election-for-legislators/211320/

Sokoto North Local Government Area has
reinstated about 480 workers, who were
sacked by the immediate past
administration.






The Caretaker Chairman of the Council, Alhaji
Aminu Ibrahim, disclosed to news men on
Saturday in Sokoto when he gave his nine-
month stewardship.








He said the affected workers were sacked
by the immediate past administration,
adding that they were reinstated on
compassionate grounds.








"They were reinstated by my administration
to reduce restiveness and other problems
associated with poverty and unemployment,
'' he said.










Ibrahim stated that the reinstated workers
were redeployed to the various departments
of the Council, saying it was aimed at
facilitating the efforts of the local
government to complement those of the
state government to provide the badly
needed social services to the people of the
area.








According to him, the re-engaged workers
were being paid monthly allowances and
salaries from N 8,000 and above.








Source:www.thisdaylive.com/article/lg-reinstates-480-sacked-workers-in-sokoto-chairman/211318/

The federal government has agreed to
partake more in the management of the
internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps in
Maiduguri in order to improve their welfare.








In order to ensure that the management of
the camps was brought to standard, the
national headquarters office of the National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has
deployed 40 additional members of staff to
Borno state.






It was gathered that the weekend visit by
the team of NEMA officials to the capital of
the state, which presently accommodates 22
IDPs camps with over 100,000 displaced
persons and about 1.5 million others in the
host communities, was informed by the
determination of the federal government to
ensure that three square meals were
provided for everyone at the camps.







An agreement was reached between the
Borno state government and the federal
government, which was represented by
National Emergency Management Agency
(NEMA), on Saturday.







At the meeting, which was held at the Borno
State Government House, were the
representatives from NEMA led by the
agency's Director, Search and Rescue, Air
Commodore Charles Otegbade, the Borno
state team led by the deputy governor, Alhaji
Zannah Mustapha, and had the chairman of
the State Emergency Management Agency
(NEMA), Mallam Grema Terab.










Source:www.thisdaylive.com/article/fg-to-partake-more-in-cdps-camp-management/211317

THE Leader of the Akwa Ibom State House of
Assembly and Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) governorship aspirant for the 2015
election, Okpolupum Etteh, has warned
Governor Udom Emmanuel to beware of
blackmailers if he intends to stay focused in
the development of the state.







Etteh urged Emmanuel to set up machinery
to checkmate blackmailers and their
activities.







Addressing journalists in Uyo, Etteh, the
member of the defunct G-22 identified
blackmail as one negative trend that has
pitched many public office holders against
members of the state.








His words: “The major problem in Akwa
Ibom State is that we have a lot of
blackmailers, the moment you listen to them,
you lose focus.








“Blackmail has often pitch many innocent
politicians against the state’s executives,
thereby hindering efforts for collective
development.”











“Their intention is to strip you off trusted
supporters and destroy you. What blackmail
does is that if you have five trusted
bodyguards, they would blackmail them to
you and once you do away with them, they
would succeed to kill you. If you do not
checkmate them, they’ll destroy you.”









He advised members of the incoming
Assembly to first of all be honest with
themselves, to be able to deal honestly with
the people.









“You must remember that you are
representing the people, the people still
retains the constitutional right to kick-start
the process of recalling you”.








He advised the incoming lawmakers to be
people-oriented in lawmaking, and should
consider the long-term benefit of any law.











Source:www.dailyindependentnig.com/2015/06/beware-blackmailers-etteh-warns-akwa-ibom-gov/

A former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has
expressed sadness over the fuel tanker
explosion at Upper Iweka, Onitsha, Anambra
State, which led to the loss of over 69 lives
and several properties on Sunday.






In a press statement released in Abuja on
Monday by his media office, Atiku, a
chieftain of the All Progressives Congress
(APC), prayed for the repose of the souls of
the deceased, while soliciting God’s
protection for Nigerians nationwide.









“May God accept the souls of the departed
into blissful eternity and grant the relatives
and families of the deceased bearable
fortitude to accept the loss.
“I commiserate with the government and
good people of Anambra State in whose
abode this huge loss had taken place,” Atiku
said.







Source:www.dailypost.ng/2015/06/02/atiku-mourns-victims-of-fire-accident-in-onitsha/

The long-held notion in Nigeria that the
President of the Federal Republic is under an
obligation to appoint at least 37 ministers
into his cabinet is not correct after all – at
least by a holistic appreciation of the spirit
and letter of the 1999 Constitution (as
amended).



This notion has been taken for granted that
no one has bothered to read the provisions
of the constitution over and again. And of
course, since it suits the politicians to
promote this notion, none of them has ever
dared to suggest otherwise. But, with the
greatest sense of patriotism, I submit that
the President can, indeed, appoint far less
than 37 ministers and have a very lean
cabinet.





The whole idea of having at least 37
ministers is derived from Section 147(1), (2),
(3) and Section 302 of the 1999 Constitution
(as amended) which states as follows:









(1) There shall be such offices of Ministers of
the Government of the Federation as may be
established by the President.








(2) Any appointment to the office of Minister
of the Government of the Federation shall, if
the nomination of any person to such office
is confirmed by the Senate, be made by the
President.



(3) Any appointment under subsection (2) of
this section by the President shall be in
conformity with the provisions of section
14(3) of the Constitution:- provided that in
giving effect to the provisions aforesaid the
President shall appoint at least one Minister
from each State, who shall be an indigene of
such State.”





A cursory reading of the above section will
lead to a quick conclusion that since we
have 36 states of the federation, a minister
from each state would naturally mean that
the President must appoint at least 36
ministers from the states. And if you add the
Minister for the Federal Capital Territory that
Section 302 imposes on the President to
appoint, then the conclusion will naturally be
to have at least 37 ministers of the
federation. However, I respectfully submit
that this long-held notion is built on a faulty
premise, a constitutional misunderstanding
and a restrictive interpretation of Section
147 as quoted above.






Firstly, the constitution does not stipulate
the time-frame within which the President
shall appoint ministers once he assumes
office. If that is accepted, then it means the
President has the whole of the four-year
tenure at his disposal to fulfil the
constitutional provision of appointing a
minister each from each state of the
federation.






Secondly, the constitution does not state
that the ministers so appointed have a fixed
term of office. In other words, they are
appointed and removed at the pleasure of
the President. They are not bound to spend
four years in office with the President.







Thirdly, the constitution does not state that
ALL the ministers from all the 36 states and
the FCT must be appointed at the same time.




To buttress this point, most Presidents in
the past have always sent lists of ministers
in batches to the Senate for approval and
nobody has raised an eyebrow about that.





In fact, a close look at subsections (2) and
(3) will show that the phrase “any
appointment” is consistently used, and not
“all appointments”. It means the
appointments can be done piecemeal.






Fourthly, the constitution does not state that
all ministers appointed from each state must
enjoy equal tenure of office. The provisions
of Section 147 shall be satisfied if, during
the tenure of that administration, at least a
minister is appointed from each state of the
federation– irrespective of the period of
time they spend in office.






Lastly and most importantly, subsection (1)
gives the President an absolute discretion to
establish “such offices of Ministers of the
Government of the Federation”.





That
subsection does not circumscribe the
discretion of the President to create as many
or as little portfolios as he deems fit and is
not made subject to subsection (3).







In sum total, what Section 147 of the
constitution merely stipulates is that during
the term of office of a President, he must
appoint a minister each from each state of
the federation. The provisions of the section
do not state that AT THE BEGINNING of his
term of office, he must appoint a minister
each from each state of the federation.






Thus, at this time when President
Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to cut down
the size of his cabinet, he may consider
drastically reducing the number of ministers.





A large cabinet is an unnecessary drain on
our national resources.






Source:www.punchng.com/opinion/2015/06/buhari-can-appoint-less-than-37-ministers/