₦airaland Forum

ayox2003: What makes you communicate is what you calling that name?

Siena: ...[/i]Had more than the regular servicing done, like:

01) Replaced timing belt and associated tensioner and idlers?
02) Replaced brake fluid?
03) Replaced clutch fluid (manuals)?
04) Replaced ATF (automatics)?
05) Replaced pollen filters?
06) Replaced coolant?
07) Had mechanical tappets adjusted (valve clearance)?
08) Had your wheel alignment checked, and adjusted as required?
09) Replaced secondary fuel filter?

I have left out the normal service items:

a) Engine oil.
b) Engine oil filter.
c) Primary fuel filter.
d) Air cleaner element.
e) Spark plugs[i]...

..[i].[/i]because the average mechanic would be aware of their existence. The items in the top list however, very rarely get touched by the average mechanic. Some mechanics (and vehicle owners) aren't even aware of their existence!

So guy, how often do you have the items in the top list (01 - 09) replaced / checked? Or when last were these attended to? Do you wait till the engine starts making horrible noises, runs rough, misfires and dies, before action is taken?

Let's share!

escobar07: Really, i wouldnt know whether an account has immunity. They should have used a bag 4 this money transfer to avoid this sort of nonsense. At least, a bag has immunity.

The treaty is an extensive document, containing 53 articles. Following is a basic overview of its key provisions.[2] For a comprehensive enumeration of all articles, consult the original text.[3]

Article 9. The host nation may at any time and for any reason declare a particular member of the diplomatic staff to be persona non grata. The sending state must recall this person within a reasonable period of time, or otherwise this person may lose their diplomatic immunity.

Article 22. The premises of a diplomatic mission, such as an embassy, are inviolate and must not be entered by the host country except by permission of the head of the mission. Furthermore, the host country must protect the mission from intrusion or damage. The host country must never search the premises, nor seize its documents or property. Article 30 extends this provision to the private residence of the diplomats.

Article 27. The host country must permit and protect free communication between the diplomats of the mission and their home country. A diplomatic bag must never be opened even on suspicion of abuse. A diplomatic courier must never be arrested or detained.

Article 29. Diplomats must not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. They are immune from civil or criminal prosecution, though the sending country may waive this right under Article 32. Under Article 34, they are exempt from most taxes, and under Article 36 they are exempt from most customs duties.

Article 31.1c Actions not covered by diplomatic immunity: professional activity outside diplomat's official functions.

Article 37. The family members of a diplomat that are living in the host country enjoy most of the same protections as the diplomats themselves.

kunlexdino: Us government is wrong here. Nigeria is a sovergein state and you cant just impose on nigeria without informing nigeria government. Though we are corrupt ridden nation, but USA is going beyond it bond

bakila: It provides foriegn direct capital investment into their economy. They will never prevent it from coming into their economy if we are foolish to let them steal it,

Billyonaire: Did they say the $50,000 was used for illegal purchase or was the $3.6m used for illegal dealings, do you find out that ?

Billyonaire: What if someone needs to buy a home that cost that amount using the embassy staff as a broker ? Is there any law yet in US saying no embassy staff should be used as broker, am not in support of money laundering, but all am saying, USA has been very intolerant with Nigeria and Nigerians lately, can they tell us what is biting them ?

Billyonaire: Are they losing Oil bloc bidding to China ? IS the Halliburton contracts not coming ? Are we seeking space satellite and nuclear energy resourcing from Russia and not USA, Nairalanders should stop being myopic and start searching for causes and not effects, your enemy will punish you severely for stealing his needle while letting his friends steal his trucks with impunity. Look beyond a mile, people

escobar07: If true, this is against d spirit of diploamcy. Can they do this to d chinese, for example. Why dont they search diplomatic bags belonging to our embassy officials.

Fhemmmy: Are you in UK?
Cos most people from UK could afford to do such , , ,

Billyonaire: The budget, if I am not mistaken is based on oil benchmark price of $70 per barrel, so except the oil price falls below that price, we are above the water, but what might change will be the income accrue-able to the excess crude account, part of which goes to Sovereign Wealth Funds (account) and remaining which are shared to the State (governors). Lets not also forget that America has cut purchases of Nigeria crude, and we are shipping more crude to distant China to meet up the quota, that means longer time to get funds. If the US policy on green energy keep the reduction on importation of our crude on the increasing trend, I assume we have a mental picture of what is to come. I am not TB Joshua, I dont need to prophesy, but all I can say is, if singing is your talent, start developing it. The future is bright but uncertain.

Nigerian crude oil prices came under renewed selling pressure on Monday as unsold cargoes competed with limited buying interest from Asia and Western markets.

20 Nigerian cargoes for loading in July remained unsold and on offer, traders said, just a week before the new loading programmes for August were due to be announced.

Some light crude oil grades saw their asking price lower, particularly those with relatively high yields of naphtha and gasoline.

The ultra-light crude, Agbami, which is so light it is sometimes classified as a condensate, has been sold at least once at a substantial discount to the North Sea benchmark, dated Brent, which is considered of inferior quality.

"Most of the Nigerian grades have suffered from low demand in recent months," said a physical crude oil trader with an independent commodities house.

"Naphtha grades have been hit particularly hard as crack values have narrowed and Mediterranean grades are more competitive."

Nigeria's benchmark Grade eased 5 to 10 cents per barrel to around dated Brent plus $1.80/$2.00, about 30-40 cents below levels only a week ago.

A cargo was heard offered at dated plus $2 a barrel and two cargoes were reported done below that level.

They were Bonny Light: assessed at Qua Iboe minus 20-30 cents, and Agbami: Chevron was reported to have sold an Agbami cargo for July 14-15 to Petrobras as low as dated Brent minus 75 cents, at the bottom of a reported talking range of minus 50-75 cents.

Also,Yoho went under heavy pressure as naphtha cracks have fallen, traders said, but exact levels unclear.

In sheer size and brazenness, details of the bribery deal and the sting operation by the State Security Service (SSS) would rate amongst some of the most startling in Nigeria’s history.

Facing an army of television cameramen, and an anxious public on April 24, Farouk Lawan, the flamboyant House of Representatives’ veteran, who led an audacious investigation into shocking fuel subsidy abuses, led Nigerians through a protracted and often repetitive review of the arduous task his panel had accomplished.

To the delight of a grateful nation eager to see its oil thieves punished, and colleague lawmakers about to debate the committee’s recommendations, Mr. Lawan narrated the fraudulent schemes oil importers used in siphoning more than N2 trillion of federal money, culminating in January’s bloody street protests where at least a dozen died.

Then, mid-way into the debates that had already yielded high profile indictments, Mr. Lawan jolted his colleagues when he requested the House to approve the acquittal of two oil marketers listed alongside 13 others alleged to have received government funding without importing fuel.

The House, for a large part abiding by Mr. Lawan’s guidance through the 63-page report, obliged.

The ad hoc committee, he said, had found, rather belatedly, that the companies, Synopsis Enterprises Ltd and Zenon Petroleum & Gas Ltd did not participate in the subsidy, Mr. Lawan said. Zenon is owned by billionaire oil tycoon, Femi Otedola.

In minutes, the two companies were cleared of culpability over USD284 million subsidy receipts between 2010 and 2011.

But new details, reaped from a mesh of clandestine wiretappings weeks ahead of the House session, now alleges Mr. Lawan criminally misled the nation, and had indeed chosen to ease off the companies after meeting Mr. Otedola, and receiving the now famous US$620,000 in cash.

In sheer size and brazenness, details of the bribery deal and the sting operation by the State Security Service (SSS) would rate amongst some of the most startling in Nigeria’s history.

The House has pledged to support full investigations into the allegation, and has vowed not to “take side with corruption” but promising to “stand on the side of the rule of law.”

Mr. Lawan, a fourth term House member, has denied the allegations, describing them as “mudslinging and red herring” targeted at discrediting the committee’s report.

That position has been countered by Mr. Otedola, who confirmed the transaction in an interview with THISDAY. He spoke of how he decided to reach out to the law enforcement agency after Mr. Lawan had repeatedly impressed on him that he needed to pay to clear Zenon.

But security officials, speaking to PREMIUM TIMES on anonymity due to the delicate nature of the issue, have painted a covert procedure that may have long been initiated, largely founded on considerations that transcended corruption watch.


In the end, the operation turned out to serve an interest far out-weighing its original intent.

Since leading the politically-sensitive subsidy investigation, Mr. Lawan had long been on the eavesdropping radar of the security agency digging to know whether the probe had partisan motivation, possibly stirred by the opposition to smear the Jonathan administration, our source says.

For several weeks, the effort remained in place with the committee members’ phone calls scrutinized, and their interactions monitored.

With the hearings over in February, and inklings of the preliminary reports gradually reaching an anxious public, officials of indicted companies kicked-off desperate final-minute attempts to overturn verdicts of culpability.

The effort found a committee that appeared willing and in some cases, was the party to initiate the negotiations.

In Zenon’s case, according to Mr. Otedola and the sources, Mr. Lawan, who until then, had woven around himself an impression of an exacting and incorruptible investigator keen on exposing official theft and homing in on a national acclaim, made the contacting.

According to the Farouk Lawan-committee, Zenon Pet & Gas Ltd was paid USD233 million subsidy money, in 2010. The allocation was not reconciled with imported products, the committee claimed, a position denied by Mr. Otedola.

The Zenon quota was by far, the highest paid to a single company in 2010 and 2011. The second highest amount earned by any other company, was USD51 million by Synopsis oil and gas.

On repeated phone calls with Mr. Lawan, Mr. Otedola made it clear his companies did no wrong, and should not be on the list. He explained that against the committee’s position suggesting his companies failed to deliver, his company dealt with diesel which was not under the subsidy scheme.

According to security sources well briefed on the content of the monitored conversations, Mr. Lawan called the billionaire’s bluff, and said the committee had completed its work. However, if he were to help, then USD3 million (N480 million) would be needed to sort things out, he reportedly said.

Evidences of the discussions are available, and have been put before top government functionaries, the sources said.

Within the security circles, striking the compromise note at the time proved invaluable for a covert operation that had failed to establish substantial political links earlier envisaged, but that was prepared to build on any evidence of wrongdoing with the storm the report had generated.

“No one hoped this was going to be in this direction,” a source said. “That was not actually the intent of the whole coverage.”


After the demand was made, the SSS contacted Mr. Otedola in the open for the first time, officials informed about the events said, and offered to assist him only if he would cooperate and play the ball he was being offered. He agreed.


In Mr. Otedola’s interview, he claimed he reached out first for the agency. But officials say it was the contrary, and that the businessman’s position was in the interest of keeping the deal as furtive as possible.

Back with Mr. Lawan, the billionaire demurred on the payment briefly complaining he could not afford that at the time since he was in multiple bank debts, according to the conversations. He however indicated he would make offers.

Mr. Lawan insisted the amount was a fair sum considering consultations would be made, an argument Mr. Otedola agreed with. However, both men settled that a part of the money-USD600,000- be paid first, while the balance is cleared on a later date.

Again, Mr. Otedola raised fears about the report having been released already and soon to be considered by the House. But his worry was put to rest by the lawmaker who assured he knew the “buttons to press in the House.”

Then, the first tranches of the payment were made between Saturday April 21, and Monday, 23 -a day before the House began its considerations-at a location secretly fitted with audio and visual devices by the SSS.

“Farouk came in, sat by Otedola’s right. Then later, he collected the money and put some in his agbada trousers,” a source said, citing visual details of the meeting that was now being documented.

That encounter, will provide Mr. Lawan, at times an eccentric but well respected ranking member of the House, a needed impulsion to convince the House the next day of the innocence of Mr. Otedola’s two companies.

A member of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) representing Shanono/Bagwai constituency of Kano state, Mr. Lawan, a diminutive former lecturer now nurturing a 2015 gubernatorial ambition, is one of the few members of the House who have returned a record four times successively.

Through his years since joining the chamber in 1999, he has cultivated a known shifty disposition of lawmakers pitching tents where power appears to be residing. When out of favour with the authorities in 2007 under Patricia Etteh as Speaker, he rallied support and replaced Ms. Etteh with Dimeji Bankole.

In return, he asked to head the Appropriation committee, a juicy slot often reserved by the leadership for key loyalists. He was instead rewarded with the Education committee; another portfolio aides say he later realized was equally as lucrative.

Mr. Lawan has held on there since 2007 even with the change of leadership in 2011 until the subsidy investigation came knocking in January.

A volatile sector, the investigation met early criticisms from the executive which reportedly viewed the move an attempt to embarrass the government, since it was clear from the start cronies and associates of officials will be indicted, and that it would be nearly impracticable for the recommendations to be implemented.

The approved report, widely applauded by Nigerians, recommended punishment for past and present ministers of petroleum, finance, officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and several oil marketers.

But the Jonathan administration has picked holes in the inquiry, questioning why some past officials of the sector were exempted from the inquiry, a concern critics have feared may be bandied as a getaway from implementing the report.

Therefore, analysts say, an evidence of an underhand dealing between the committee members and marketers-as is with the Lawan-Otedola deal- will sell into government’s hand, a concern the House itself has raised.

“We hope that the executive will not, because of this allegation, abandon its commitment towards bringing to justice, the culprits already in the committee’s report,” spokesperson, Zakari Muhammed, said on Saturday after the allegations became public.

In a move that may underline that factor, two weeks back, the video clip of the money transfer was showed to the president, Vice president Namadi Sambo, Senate president, David Mark, and the Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal.

To possibly further drive home the point of the unreliability of the report, a copy was also played to Nobel laureate and social campaigner, Wole Soyinka, the only non-government figure to view the footage.

Mr. Soyinka had vowed to lead a devastating street protest if the report was swept, as usual, under the carpet.

But after viewing the clip, a shocked Mr. Soyinka said he had never seen a thing like that and appeared to be backing down, the sources said.

Beaf: Funny stuff!
Ok, lets assume your process is correct and the lower house is dumb enough to spit on MKO. This is how it will go:

1. Senate Ok's MAULAG.
2. Reps refuse.
3. President weilds veto power.
4. Case closed.

Give up,sir! All hope is lost!

jmaine: Una no dey ever get sense walahi . . . .na GEJ be the senators na . . .Chai !!! mumu na real bad thing

...Yet most analysts say China's newfound interest in American energy may actually be good for U.S. consumers, as it will likely increase oil and gas supplies worldwide and possibly lower prices.

Big deals: Earlier this month, reports said PetroChina (PTR) is close to buying an old refinery on Aruba owned by American refining giant Valero (VLO, Fortune 500).

China is also said to be interested in building a pipeline to carry 300,000 barrels a day of Colombian oil to the Pacific Coast, according to a recent Eurasia Group note....

These deals come on the heels of some other major energy acquisitions.
They include CNOOC (CEO)'s purchase of a $2 billion stake in Chesapeake's Texas oil fields in 2010 as well as CNOOC's $2 billion purchase of Canadian oil sands operator OPTI Canada in 2011.

Also in 2011, China National Petroleum Corp. paid over $5 billion for a joint venture in Canadian shale gas properties held by Encana (ECA), and Sinopec (SHI) put down $7 billion for a share in Brazil's deepwater oil assets.