₦airaland Forum

For the sake of a dear, seemingly inevitable friend, Nasir el-Rufai, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, is once again attracting flaks. El-Rufai is well-known to be a close pal of Jimi Adebisi Lawal, former managing director of the defunct Alpha Merchant Bank and businessman with the scruples of an alley cat. On behalf of Lawal, el-Rufai is currently entangled with Gbenga Ikuomola, consultant to a firm based in Venezuela.

Ikuomola is claiming that el-Rufai, on 16 July 2006, threatened to use the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, “to deal with me,” because he, Ikuomola, is insisting that Lawal refund a sum of 45,000 pounds sterling, balance of 160,000 pounds sterling that the former banker swindled the consultant. The story is that Lawal sold two plots of land in Lekki to Ikuomola after using the same property as collateral to secure a loan from a bank. The matter became so messy that, according to Ikuomola, the bank began suspecting him of conniving with Lawal to commit the fraud. The bank eventually took ownership of the property and Ikuomola ended up the loser.

But Ikuomola, who told TheNEWS he had known el-Rufai and Lawal to be some special kind of friends since 1991, would not give up. Last year, he reported Lawal to the EFCC after which the latter was picked up by agents of the Commission. But, the creditor stated, el-Rufai used his influence as an incumbent minister in the present dispensation to get the debtor off the hook. “It is on record that the EFCC investigated the above and found it to be true and correct. Jimi could have been facing prosecution by now from the EFCC, but you made his abscondment possible as a result of your relationship and influence,” Ikuomola told el-Rufai in an open letter dated 17 August 2006 addressed to the minister.

El-Rufai and Lawal seem to be more than ordinary friends. Ikuomola actually described Lawal as “your boyfriend” in the letter to el-Rufai. When asked to elaborate what “boyfriend” connotes, Ikuomola only chuckled, but promised to unearth a stinking can of worms on the manner of the relationship between the two men at the appropriate time. The consultant reminded the Minister of how he had assisted him and Lawal in their businesses when el-Rufai was, as he put it, “a nobody and junior business partner to Lawal.” He specifically mentioned a proposal on the establishment of Omega Cement Company, “when Jimi used to send you to my house at Probyn Road to see, talk and brainstorm with me.” El-Rufai was said to have actually written the proposal on the cement project. But the project allegedly failed when the two partners could not put together the required credible documentation to back up a government policy demand that such a project must have a certain degree of local content.

Ikuomola also mentioned Lawal’s importation of Uncle Ben’s rice for which he (Ikuomola) arranged the foreign exchange sourcing, but “which Naira value he (Lawal) never completed.” Ikuomola threw light on the controversial Banco Bilbao shares which Lawal sought to use to buy over Afribank when he was managing director of Alpha Merchant Bank, but failed because he could not provide genuine documents as demanded by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. He told el-Rufai in the letter that “at BPE (Bureau of Public Enterprises), you sold to Jimi shares which he and Lord Chief bought from Banco Bilbao (40 per cent shares in IBWA) and this you know made Jimi a lot of money without references to shareholders of Alpha Merchant Bank and its depositors. You are fully aware that Jimi Lawal was sentenced in absentia to eight years imprisonment for converting depositors’ money, public funds and shareholders’ investment and went to hide in London, Toronto and Atlanta with your knowledge and connivance.”

When Lawal first attempted to buy the BIAO shares in 1992, TheNEWS’ investigation revealed, he was rejected because he could not provide proof of ownership of the fund and proper documentation as demanded. Desperate to have the shares, Lawal was said to have dropped the name of the then Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.) before the erstwhile CBN governor, Abdulkadir Ahmed (now deceased), as having approved the transaction. Ahmed was, however, shrewd enough to seek confirmation from Babangida rather than just take Lawal for his word. Babangida, it was gathered, was angry at the effrontery of the banker to attempt to use his name to perpetrate an illegal transaction. He was quoted to have directed Ahmed to ‘‘bring me that boy.’’ In Babanigda’s presence, Lawal was said to be speechless. That was how the BIAO share purchase effort flopped.
But Lawal and el-Rufai allegedly cooked up the deal once again when the latter became the BPE director-general under President Olusegun Obasanjo.
For Lawal, the opportunity was a timely rehabilitation because, by 1999, he was known to be so financially unhealthy. With el-Rufai in the saddle at BPE which prioritised the sale of the BIAO shares, Lawal made $3.7 million. Details of the scam were reported in the 5 February edition of TheNEWS. The windfall marked the beginning of huge monetary gains for Lawal, as el-Rufai grew more influential in the Obasanjo administration. In 2001, Lawal was recommended as technical adviser to the Investors International (London) Limited’s bid to buy the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited, NITEL, even though he has no pedigree whatsoever in telecommunications. When the IILL bid failed, Lawal and his cohorts would not give up. TheNEWS has it on very reliable authority how Lawal, fronting for some other partner(s), went to Holland to make efforts at registering a telecommunications company, mainly with a view to buying over NITEL or bagging a management contract. He, however, ran into problems on registration because he had no resident permit, a vital requirement.

That would not stop Lawal and his gang. From Holland, in 2003, suddenly came Pentascope as the preferred bidder, by the BPE, for NITEL. As also extensively reported by TheNEWS in its edition of 13 March 2006, the Pentascope deal was clearly a fraud to fleece Nigeria of billions of naira. By April 2004, within only one year, when Pentascope was stripped of the contract, it had ruined NITEL completely to the tune of about N100 billion loss. As the House of Representatives committee on commications which investigaed the case found out, the huge money went into the pockets of the Nigerian traitors who collaborated with the Dutch company to destroy NITEL.

Lawal’s hand might not be absent in the Pentascope set-up. After the IILL failure and his hurried trip to Holland to try and register a telecommunications company in 2001, Pentascope suddenly came up. It was curiously registered on 1 January 2002, a public holiday, and only three months before the BPE advertised for Expressions of Interest from qualified firms to manage NITEL. As required by the Companies and Allied Matters Act, it was not even registered in Nigeria to do business. The firm did not even meet any of the criteria listed in the BPE advertisement. The pre-qualification criteria demanded that “interested managers MUST be international telecommunications operators and MUST demonstrate, one, evidence of having installed and managed at least a million telephones; two, a successful track record of expanding a telecommunications network in a developing country; and three, sufficient management resources to grow NITEL and enhance shareholder value. Pentascope was grossly deficient in all those.

When a team of NITEL directors travelled to Holland to verify the claims put forward by the BPE and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the firm of auditors that was supposed to have done the due diligence on the Dutch firm, they were stunned by their discoveries. Pentascope had only eight staff, including its janitor, and operated from an abandoned old church building. The Pentascope rip-off of about N100 billion at NITEL was clearly a premeditated steal and why those behind it have not been prosecuted only President Olusegun Obasanjo can explain. Although Lawal ran away from Nigeria, to escape trial after he ran Alpha Merchant Bank aground, el-Rufai assisted him well to pave way for his return. And after making hay from the BIAO shares and telecommunication deals, the minister further enriched him with a consultancy on land deals in the Federal Capital Territory.

Even here, Lawal’s activities were tainted with numerous allegations of shady deals. Ikuomola frowned at el-Rufai’s “unwholesome relationship with Jimi Lawal who you continued to offer succour, to the extent of appointing him a consultant in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja to superintend over the allocation and distribution of landed property.” After he escaped from Nigeria, Lawal, TheNEWS scooped, is now in Canada to where he ferreted the stupendous financial gains he made in Nigeria, courtesy el-Rufai. In Canada, the conman now runs J & I Investment, which deals in real property, on behalf of his business partners. Ikuomola was patently furious at el-Rufai’s threat, although Amina Salihu, media aide to the FCT minister, told TheNEWS he (the minister) “does not threaten people; it is either he acts or he doesn’t.” Effort by the magazine to make Salihu comment on the allegation raised by Ikuomola in his letter to el-Rufai were fruitless as she would not respond to calls.
In concluding his letter, Ikuomola said: “I reported your boyfriend Jimi Lawal to the EFCC on good grounds, leading to investigation and it was found that he truly defrauded me. He promised to pay all the money at conclusion of the said investigation, but instead, he ran away again as usual. You want EFCC to arrest me? May I ask you when has the EFCC become an agent of repression and suppression? I, Gbenga Ikuomola, therefore, dare you to take the unenviable path of instigating my arrest. You cannot use the name of EFCC to intimidate or harass me. Don’t ever try. I hereby challenge you to carry out your threats.”



http://saharareporters.com/news-page/el-rufai-accused-homosexuality

jerseyboy: Hopeless Homo. Getting Fu-cked by Jimi Lawal.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/el-rufai-accused-homosexuality

[size=16pt]OMG!!!! just saw the link![/size]

Rubbish!

Chanchit: The fake doctor Sani should be in malaysia by now... What a pity, the doctor no even remove one, leave one... The possibility that the guy will die is very high, they should jst make more arrests/ investigations, in finding the fake doctor, it might takes yrs, but when they catch him, no need to go court, they should jst collect his two kiddnies, sell it and give the money to the Abubakar family..

Solution delivered: an eye for an eye right? A kidney for a kidney.

Good development.

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/45937-nigerias-progress-excites-rockefeller

PRESIDENT of Rockefeller Foundation, a prominent philantropic organisation based in the United States (US), Dr Judith Robin, on Tuesday, met with President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja, lauding the progress so far made, especially in the agriculture and financial management sectors in the country.

Fielding questions from State House correspondents after the meeting, she said the foundation was particularly enthusiastic after meeting with a number of ministers and assessing government policies and economic management.  

According to her, “we have been very enthusiastic and have spent most of our day today with ministers of finance and agriculture, because we have a fervent belief in the productivity that we have seen and the transformation in the agric sector into a real growth sector for the economy of Nigeria.

“We have seen so many exiting innovations here and the mobilisation of the use of cassava. We have taken the cassava bread and the cake, which are very delicious and the production of rice for export and the exciting progress that we have seen in moving Nigeria from a net importer of so many foods to a net exporter.

“So, it is a triple win for this country and we are enthusiastic about what we are seeing.”

Also, Mr Strive Masi-yiwa, former chairman, Econet Wireless, lauded the achievement of the Federal Government in agriculture, as well as economic management, noting that though results did not show overnight in agriculture, the agenda would bring millions of people out of poverty.

“I just want to also endorse the policies. These are the policies we are seeing in agriculture and economic management that, based on the experience elsewhere, reflect the fact that you are going to see millions of people coming out of poverty, particularly rural people,” he said.

[quote author=stallion_]you try[/quote]Huh Ur username?? Looks like me!

Commentless.

He who works more,should earn more. Simple!

Abubakar Buba, from Bununu Village in Tafawa Balewa Local Government area of Bauchi State, is currently battling for his life after a man claiming to be a doctor removed his two kidneys. The young man currently requires at least N7 million for an urgent kidney transplant. It all started when the 23-year-old Abubakar fell ill and was taken to a private clinic, Aminchi Clinic, located at Yakubu Wanka Street in Bauchi Metropolis by his parents who are nomads from the countryside. Aminchi in Hausa means trust, and Abubakar, as well as all people who patronise the clinic, put their trust in the staff, particularly the health personnel to solve their illnesses.

Pronto, a man who claimed to be Dr. Sani, the owner of Aminchi Clinic, carried out a surgery on Abubakar, removing his two kidneys, it was learnt. Abubakar and his parents who are of Fulani extraction, said they protested against the planned operation when the ‘doctor’ muted the idea to no avail. But the adamant ‘doctor’ convinced them on the need for the surgery and it was subsequently done.

He neither disclosed to the parents nor Abubakar the nature of the surgery. The patient’s condition nose-dived after the operation. Abubakar, whose hands, legs and face started swelling and could not urinate again, was curiously referred to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in Kano by the management of Aminchi clinic after the dubious operation, even though a teaching hospital was in Bauchi.

While in Kano, poor Abubakar was placed on a costly dialysis, even though the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), Bauchi has facilities for that at even more affordable rates. With Abubakar’s health condition worsening, his father who had run short of money was advised to transfer his son to ATBUTH, Bauchi from Kano.

Narrating his ordeal in an interview with Daily Sun on his sick bed, Abubakar, who coughed and spat constantly, said:  “I was having headache and stomach pains. When we came here (Aminchi clinic) from the village, I was admitted. After six days, I felt stomach pains. I complained to the doctor that I was having stomach pains. He touched my stomach and told me that I had appendicitis.

“He called me to the theatre room. I was made to lie down on a bed in one of the rooms in the clinic. He touched my stomach by the right side and asked whether that was the place paining me. I said no, it is the middle of my stomach. He started talking of an operation but I said, truly I want an x-ray.

I don’t want operation,’ but he insisted and carried out the operation.” For Abubakar’s father, Mallam Buba, his son’s predicament has become a big challenge in the family. Efforts by Mallam Buba to save his son’s life have drained his finances. The man said his prayer is that his current financial predicament would not cost him his son’s life.

The old man, who looked fatigued by the worsening condition of his son’s health, told our correspondent that he could no longer afford his son’s treatment. Buba said: “I had only two cows in my house before this problem started. I have sold them and they collected the money from me after the operation. “They asked me for N10, 000 which they said was for drugs. After some time, maybe they understood that my son would not survive, and maybe because I started shouting, they now asked us to go to Kano.

They refused to send us to Bauchi. “All my money was spent in Kano on his treatment. From Kano, when I could not shoulder the expenses for the treatment, the hospital wrote to Bauchi Teaching Hospital to start the treatment. “When we came to Bauchi, the CMD asked me for money and I told him I have no money and I don’t have anybody to go to. If it is the wish of Allah, Abubakar will make it. I don’t have money to do any case with them.

The CMD ordered that they should start giving my son free treatment.” Dr. Habib Maha of the ATBUTH said when the patient was brought to the hospital, scanning and other investigations confirmed that Abubakar actually had no kidney. Dr Maha said: “He is currently admitted in our dialysis centre here. He undergoes up to three sessions per week, which on the average cost about N15, 000. The patient is in serious financial difficulty, as we cannot afford to maintain him on dialysis for life.

But he might have a kidney transplant, which is very expensive. That is the situation the patient is currently in.” Mohammed Abdullahi Hari, who is the Secretary General, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Bauchi State chapter, believes the removal of Abubakar’s kidneys was quite suspicious. Speaking with Daily Sun, he explained: “What happened to Abubakar was unfortunate and sometimes you lack words to speak about our people, the Fulanis.

“We know the hospital as a place where humanity is taken care of, but this time around, they are turning the hospital into something else.” Mohammed believed that such clinics are operating like a syndicate. He said their agents met Abubakar’s parents and convinced them that it was the only place they could get effective and cheap medical attention. He continued: “Abubakar was coughing and vomiting, which we suspect was either malaria or typhoid. Being what we are, the parents agreed and they came to Dr. Sani’s clinic.

“The whole thing is very pathetic. The parents told me that they were just brought in and that they did not know the place. The only name they heard was Dr. Sani. And when they came, somebody who was not Dr. Sani presented himself as Dr. Sani.” Mohammed said Abubakar was administered initially with first aid treatment, and later admitted into the hospital. He added:

“They just said they would operate on him. But after being taken to the theatre room, Abubakar refused. He said, ‘why would you want to operate on me just like that? No test, no x-ray. So they came out with him. After coming out with him, they took him back for the second time. That was when they injected him with anaesthesia. Before the parents knew, they had already removed two of his kidneys.” When our reporter visited Abubakar at ATBUTH, his condition was pathetic. He was breathing hard and said he could not urinate.

A sad Mohammed wondered what the Fulanis had done that they were being singled out for attacks. He lamented: “After all the things that the JTF are doing to our people, now, they will invite our people to hospitals and start removing their body parts for ritual purposes for whatever we don’t know. We suspect this thing was a ritualist attempt because we don’t understand how you would just walk into a hospital, there is no payment of money and they just take you to the theatre and start operating on you.”

He called for a thorough investigation of the issue and also appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to come to Abubakar’s aid to save his life. Mohammed said: “We met the Chief Medical Director of the Teaching hospital, Dr Mohammed Alkali, and the advice he gave us was that we should find money so that Abubakar would be taken to India for a kidney transplant. That is the only solution as far as they are concerned, because Abubakar is on dialysis.

After every five days, he had to be taken for dialysis to refine his blood before he can continue living. But it will not be sustained. The only solution for this boy to live is to get about N7million. They don’t have that kind of money. Even yesterday when the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association met him, we had to give the father some money to feed.

That is why I am thanking the Chief Medical Director and the hospital management for taking the burden of giving him dialysis free of charge because they understand his condition.” Mohammed said they are happy that the police have arrested the so-called medical doctor who removed Abubakar’s two kidneys. “We don’t know Dr. Sani, and the phone number they gave us has remained unavailable.

But we thank God that the man who answered Dr. Sani’s name has been arrested. “When they brought Abubakar to the hospital, those who brought him said they did not know anybody but they came to see Dr. Sani. Somebody who was not Dr. Sani came and accepted them. So, Abubakar was admitted before they used Dr. Sanni’s name and hospital to carry out the ill operation,” Mohammed said.

ebamma: since una no wan make him resign,i hope say when boko boys start terrorise una again,una no go change mouth

So the antidote for a bomb-free environ is to tell GEJ to resign abi? I see...

Naija has moved,we dont live there anymore.

i really dont know what he is....but he is jobless for starters.

Walecole74: Why will you consider GEJ for 2015

OP,why will you vote for him? Or would you?

Nah....he is making the whole thing interesting!

belovedaja: Obj was criticised because of odi and zaki biam and today you want the president to repeat that same error. May GOD help you

But it ended the menace! Don't you think that it's high time such measures are used on this BOKO haram scumbags?

All the kids in this foto look alike...they seem to be from one man!

This man in the Person of the Minister of Power seem to know his onions well.

innocent people ke, innocent people ni! This bokoharamists are reducing in number and loosing wit silly mistakes and they dont want us to know... Na boko dem kill jor!

Who takes orders from who now? And are we being made referees here? Nope, i think spectators would be beta.

Still looking for the fire!

Josydaky: This is good improvement.

Yes, an improvement indeed only if it can be sustained

T9ksy: Are we really One? Have we ever been One?

Is this your concept of "One" nation? Where northerners are openly slaughtering southerners living in their region.

Southerners living in the northern part of the country are doing so, at their own personal risk.

Mr. You give up that easily? Too bad.

[quote author=yanni.]sorry babe...you cant be, so stop worrying ur head.[/quote]A typical Nairalander for u! dont like to think...

This is not sumtin we shuld be wasting our time wit...only upside down brains wil think that the suspects in d previous related thread were thesame.

Next

[quote author=Ki-Katanga]Politics:
Hold a referendum in the Northern states asking them whether they want to stay party of Nigeria. Respect the result.
Redact or rescind all laws referring to tribal origin or statehood.
Create a system to allow corrupt politicians to be named and shamed with a minimum 5 year prison and enforced bankruptcy, along with a reward system for those who report them.
Any government official soliciting a bribe to be struck off and prohibited from working in the public sector.

Economy:
Remove fuel subsidy
Cut wages for politicians to a maximum of $80,000 (a reduction of 99.4% in some cases)
Require up to 10% duty on all foreign made goods for which a reputable Nigerian or West African Source exists
Increase VAT to 10%
Electric, Water, Gas, Oil to be owned by the state with expertise hired in from major international companies and friendly governments


Education:
Free education to 18
2 hours of sports per week
Testing on the International Baccalaureate
Universities must employ federal invigilators for exams
Invest in new agricultural colleges
Create boarding schools for orphans
Mandatory teaching of personal and social education including contraception and the spread of aids.
Sports academies for those with specific talents who have won events at regional or national level.
More ICT, Agriculture/Biology and Engineering taught in Schools with free university for Science Technology Engineering and Maths Students

Infrastucture
Put the unemployed to work building sewers, roads, prisons.
Invest in railways
Build farmers' markets.
Investigate solar, wave and Tidal power.
Invest in internet connectivity.
Create tram systems along major urban routes and create car free zones in the cities and bypasses around cities.
Stricter driving licence testing

Religion
Require that all Churches and Mosques accepting tithes register with the government and that they issue tithers with receipts - the actions from the tithes must be made public.
Require that all churches and mosques be fit for purpose.

Social:
Criminalise begging
Require all police officers to carry a recording and transmitting CCTV camera at all times whilst on duty
All complaints against the police must be recorded and investigated by an independent body.
Secret Service to be given the task of infiltrating any and all terrorist groups.



Should be a start.[/quote]jeez! have you been thinking about it too?? You brought out a manifestoe/ action plan! i admire that...

I read recently on punch newspapers online(punchontheweb) under the caption:'Jonathan should resign- Northern CAN. I saw how the news report repeatedly hailed the means used by OBJ to raze down Odi and Zaki biam in benue state and was wondering if it was this appreciated then when the act was done. But now its being referred to as a point of reference for the GEJ administration in tackling boko haram. whats your take on this?

engrtee: I wil first ban oil exploration, refining and exportation and focus on AGRICULTURE

ok...so how are you sure that will not plunge the country into more debt cos as clear as it is, thats our major source of income and we are still owing!!!

achi4u: 37million liabilities against 15million productive humans.This is why nigeria should divide because we can never be one.

but we are still one...so where did ur ''never'' originate from?? huh?

hmmn...thats a great office indeed,i just tried to put my self in the shoes of being the President of this great Naija and wondered how it would feel like in this present time and the imaginations kept pouring in that one could go crazy!
I thought of the health sector,making the country malaria free...i just thot that was quite an impossible feat,then i also thot of the labour unions creeping up my a*se everytime someone i put in one sector to manage it messes up, then i thot of making sure the Nigerian image is not tarnished in world politics so that investors are not discouraged,then i thot of cabals of former presidents, and how to reduce their grip on the Nigerian economy & politics. Then i thought of making sure the military are well catered for, to make them always pro-democracy without thoughts of coup. Infact i am already tired of the job already by just mere thinking about it!
have you ever thought of being the president of Naija? what were your thots especially in her present situation? Try it.

Funkymallam: Why not complete the quote?
Am sure u turned ur Cochlea off and failed to hear the area where he mentioned that 'THE COLLATERAL DAMAGE WILL BE HIGH'.

Keep deciving yourself.

that is it...they just pick part of a message and run off with it! too bad.

it all boils down to the issue of no money right?