Hon. Faleke wish the professor a successful confirmation by the Senate and also wish him well as he replaces the late Bar. James Ocholi in the Federal Executive Council to serve the people of Kogi State and the nation at large.
Friday, 31 March 2017
Hon. Faleke Congratulates Prof. Stephen Ikani Ocheni
Hon. Faleke wish the professor a successful confirmation by the Senate and also wish him well as he replaces the late Bar. James Ocholi in the Federal Executive Council to serve the people of Kogi State and the nation at large.
Wednesday, 29 March 2017
We’ve adopted Tinubu’s economic policies – Adeosun
The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, who spoke during the ninth annual Bola Tinubu Colloquium to mark his 65th birthday in Lagos, noted that the tax mobilisation formula and other policies the APC chieftain deployed as governor were what the Federal Government had adopted in its efforts to revamp the national economy.
The tribute by the Buhari government underscores the growing cordial relationship between the presidency and Tinubu and in contrasts with a notion of the existence of a no-love-lost relationship between President Muhammadu Buhari and Tinubu.
The assumption was given expression recently when Tinubu’s protege Governor Akinwumi Ambode and his predecessor, now Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, had a public spat over the development of Airport Road in Lagos.
At the event titled, “Make it in Nigeria – Use what we make, make what we use”, Adeosun further revealed that states were adopting the Tinubu economic model.
“We are following that template which you laid down. Oil has proved to us that it is a very unreliable source of revenue. As a matter of fact, it is a lazy way of economic revenue.
“The situation we found ourselves today demands that we should have multiple sources of revenue. We need to create jobs for our people by diversifying the economy but unfortunately, what we had before now was an unproductive economy which solely depended on oil.”
The minister stressed that the nation needed to drive the economy by creating jobs, adding: “We will change Nigeria by consuming what we make and make what we use. Using what we make and consuming what we make is the best way towards economic recovery.
“The tax mobilisation we copied from Tinubu is what we are using. And we thank you for leading the way in tax collection. As a matter of fact, when you embarked on aggressive tax collection, which eventually led to increased internally generated revenue (IGR) in Lagos, many people complained. But the truth is that we all can see the massive infrastructural development achieved from your aggressive tax collection.”
Adeosun vowed that very soon, she would employ an aggressive tax system towards wealthy Nigerians similar to that of Tinubu.
President Muhammadu Buhari, represented by the Minister of Interior, Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd), said the celebrant is the most outstanding South West politician of his generation.
“Tinubu is a great mobiliser, very good at planning and executing government plan. He played a great role in the transformation of Lagos State. Today, it is no exaggeration to conclude that Tinubu and his associates, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Minister of Power, Housing and Works, Babatunde Fashola and the incumbent governor of the state, Akinwunmi Ambode, are the architects of the new Lagos.”
Buhari sends names of new ministerial nominees to Senate
A source close to the Senate told NAN that the letter arrived the Senate late Tuesday.
The source revealed that the two nominees are from Kogi and Gombe state.
Our correspondent gathered that the Kogi nominee will be replacing the late Minister of State for Labour, Barr. James Ocholi, while the nominee from Gombe would be replacing former Minister for Environment, Ms Amina Mohammed, who had gone to serve in the United Nations as a deputy Secretary General.
The list of ministerial nominees is coming at a time when the Senate stood down for two weeks consideration of the request of President Buhari for the appointment of Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).
The Senate based its decision on what it termed disregard for its resolutions.
The upper legislative chamber specifically berated the President for appearing to be doing nothing about the rejection of Ibrahim Magu a the Chairman of the EFCC but allowing him to function in acting capacity.
The senate stressed that it was wrong to leave any appointee in acting capacity even after he had been rejected twice by the senate.
PDP crisis: NJC clears Justice Abang of alleged misconduct
In a letter dated March 15, 2017, and signed by its Secretary, Mr. Danladi Halilu, the NJC said it found no merit in the petition against the judge.
Halilu disclosed that the council, following the receipt of the petition, deliberated on it at its meeting of February 23, 2017 but found no merit in the petitions.
Justice Abang had on July 29, 2016 declared as illegal the Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee of the PDP.
Abang in a ruling he delivered held that the Makarfi-faction was illegal because it was a product of the party’s convention which held on May 21 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in defiance of an earlier order of Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court, which had stopped the said convention from holding.
But the Makarfi faction not satisfied with the judgment wrote a petition to the NJC dated August 25, 2016, in suit Nos. FHC/ABJ/CS/439/2016 and FHC/ABH/CS/464/2016, accusing Justice Abang of assuming appellate powers to sat over the decision of the court of coordinate jurisdiction.
However, the NJC in its letter with reference number NJC/ F.3/FHC 44/VII/55 stated: “At the end of deliberations, the council found that your petition finds no merit as there was no sufficient material before the NJC to infer that the judge sat on appeal over the decision of his brother judge of coordinate jurisdiction.
“The appeal therefore lacked merit and is subsequently dismissed,” it said.
In another development, the NJC also dismissed the petition dated November 7, 2016 by Heritage Bank Plc against Justice Abang for lacking in merit.
The bank in a petition against the judge, accused him of improper judicial conduct and bias against in judicial proceedings before him.
But the NJC in Ref. No NJC/F3/FHC44/VII/556 dated March 15, 2017 dismissed the petition for lacking merit.
It would be recalled that Justice Abang had on July 29, 2016 declared as illegal the Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee of the national leadership of the PDP.
The court, in a ruling held that every action the committee (PDP National Chairman) had taken since it emerged through a convention the party purportedly held in Port Harcourt on May 21, amounted to nullity.
The court held that the Lagos Division of the court had also made orders on May 12 and 20, forbidding the PDP from removing the Sheriff-led Caretaker Committee. That order is still subsisting.
“Having regard to the order of the court, PDP had no lawful authority to hold the convention that led to the emergence of the Markafi-led committee.
The convention was unlawfully held and the caretaker committee was unlawfully and illegally appointed and could not take any legal decision for the PDP, in view of the subsisting order of the Lagos Division of this court.
EFCC to invite Saraki’s aides, others over Paris Club scam
About N3.5bn out of the N19bn was said to have been traced to Saraki and several persons close to him, an EFCC report has said.
In the report, which was submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari about two weeks ago, the EFCC mentioned Saraki’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Gbenga Makanjuola; Mr. Kolawole Shittu, Obiora Amobi and Oladapo Idowu.
Others, who allegedly took part in the diversion, include a former Managing Director of Saraki’s family defunct bank, Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria, who is the current boss of Melrose General Services Limited, Mr. Robert Mbonu; and the Relationship Manager to the Senate President in Access Bank, Kathleen Erhimu.
A reliable source within the EFCC said on Tuesday that the commission could invite any of them soon and might go ahead to arrest them based on the outcome of investigations.
He said, “We can arrest any of the indicted persons anytime. The fact that we submitted a report to the Presidency doesn’t mean we are waiting on the President for the next line of action.
“We only submitted the report to intimate the President with the development and current investigation. It is a normal practice.”
Meanwhile, one of our correspondents learnt that Buhari had yet to take a decision on the report presented to him by the EFCC.
A source in the Presidency said that it was not Buhari’s style to rush into taking a decision on such a matter.
“You should know the President’s style by now. He will not rush into taking a decision. He will weigh all options before a decision will be taken,” he said.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said he did not have any information on the matter.
“I don’t have any information on the matter. Be assured that once I have information on it, it will be communicated,” Adesina said.
The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Senate President, Yusuph Olaniyonu, said he was not aware of any plan to arrest Saraki’s aides.
Olaniyonu had earlier denied allegations that any money from the Paris Club loan refund was paid to Saraki.
He alleged that the EFCC boss was on a revenge mission based on the false belief that Saraki blocked his confirmation at the Senate two weeks ago.
“It is obvious that at this point when Mr. Magu believes the Senate President should be blamed for his failure to secure confirmation as the chairman of the EFCC, he would want to fight back by cooking up reports and masterminding its leakage,” he added.
Sat Guru Maharaj Ji calls for El-Rufai’s impeachment over Southern Kaduna crisis
He made these known in a release he personally signed and made available to journalists on Tuesday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
He said “If Nigeria were to be a no nonsense country, the governor would have been impeached”
Maharaj Ji then urged the state House of Assembly “to begin his impeachment as he has demonstrated that he is incapacitated to lead by example and upholding the mandate given to him by the people of the state”.
While berating the governor for his actions over the crisis, Maharaj Ji said after visiting the scene of the unprovoked massacre, rather than treading the legal path to bring the perpetrators to justice, he choose to pay them to stop the killings.
Maharaj Ji maintained further that rather for the governor to join hands with the security agencies to bring to book the brains behind the gruesome murder of hundreds of innocent Nigerians in Southern Kaduna, he preferred to treat them with kid-gloves.
He called on the governor to meet with the grieving families and communities in Southern Kaduna and beg them for forgiveness by appeasing to the spirits of those who lost their lives as a result of the massacre which happened under his watch.
Tuesday, 28 March 2017
2017 Budget: Dogara gives committees Friday deadline to submit reports
Dogara gave the deadline at plenary and said that there was the urgent need for the House to conclude work on the 2017 Appropriation Bill.
He said that any committee that failed to meet the deadline will face the consequences.
According to him, the affected Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of committees should endeavour to submit their reports latest March 30 to enable the Appropriation Committee hasten the process of passing the 2017 Appropriation Bill.
Spokesman of the House, Rep. Abdulrazak Namdas, had on March 16, told newsmen that March 30 deadline set by the National Assembly for the passage of Bill was not sacrosanct.
Namdas had explained that the inability of the lawmakers to meet the deadline was due to the new software being used in the process.
According to him, the new software is slowing down the work of the Appropriation Committee.
“The new budget software is different from what we used to have before and it is slowing down the process of the Appropriation Committee,’’ Namdas added
Nigeria’s President Buhari ‘reduces his working hours’
According to Voice of America, the development was likely to slow down the pace of economic reforms “advanced in his absence”.
Quoting diplomats and government sources, the report said that the west African country leader was spending between one and four hours a day in his office to “conserve his energy levels”.
“Things are slowing down, particularly on the economic front, which is a concern,” a Western diplomat was quoted as saying.
Buhari, 74, returned to work a few weeks ago after nearly two months’ medical leave in Britain.
During his absence, his office had repeatedly denied claims the leader was ill and insisted he was “hale and hearty”.
But when he returned home, a gaunt-looking Buhari said he “couldn’t recall being so sick since I was a young man” and described receiving “blood transfusions”.
Reports indicated that Buhari was due to return to Britain for further treatment in April.
The nature of his illness has not been revealed.
National Museum to be built in Sambisa forest
The museum, he said, would collate all de-classified information, materials recovered by the military in relation to the fight against Boko Haram insurgents and document history of insurgents, their victims, fallen soldiers and relevant materials in order to preserve lessons learnt from the crisis and to attract local and foreign tourists.
The governor disclosed this inside the Sambisa Forest at the opening of the Nigerian Army Small Arms Championship which is currently holding in the Forest formerly used by insurgents to perpetrate evil
Shettima paid tribute to the armed forces for their successes in suppressing the Boko Haram, noting that the people of Borno State will remain indebted to all those who made contributions to addressing the Boko Haram crisis and it’s effects.
The Minister of Defence, General Mohammed Mansur Dan Ali, represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the opening of the Championship.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai hosted the event while National Assembly members in Committees dealing with the armed forces were also at the Sambisa Forest to mark the event.
There were ceremonial shooting by the Minister of Defence, Chief of Army Staff and National Assembly members who all wore military camouflages.
El-Rufai lacks moral standing to criticise Buhari – APC faction
The group also accused the governor for the lingering crisis bedeviling the state chapter of the party, alleging that he has remained obstinate in spite of all efforts to resolve the issues.
Addressing a news conference, the Chairman of the group, Dr. Matamaki Tom Maiyashi, maintained that El-Rufai’s memo which described the president as a failure was out of disrespect, adding that he rode on the integrity of the president to become governor.
“This memo he sent to the president, in our view, is total disrespect, discourteous, and it is shocking that El-rufai will write this type of memo to the president.
“After all what he is doing in Kaduna, there is no story to tell anybody.
“So far, what we can see are gutters being dug all over the place, and I wonder whether that should be the mark of progress or development of our state,” Maiyashi said.
He alleged that El-Rufai is more guilty of the accusations levelled against the president in the memo.
Maiyashi said: “Here (in Kaduna), when we said he should correct his actions and pay attention to the things that will enhance the dignity and happiness of our people who gave this mandate to our party, he said we should go to Kufena hills, jump and commit suicide. How can that sort of person think that he has the moral pedestal to correct the president?
“We think this is distasteful, it’s disrespectful, it is arrogance. If he really wants to change the president, he should change himself. Charity should begin from home and he should know that he is benefiting from the integrity of the president, otherwise he wouldn’t have been governor.”
The factional leader regretted the crisis rocking the state chapter of the party which, according to him, has lingered for too long, blaming the governor for frustrating efforts by the national leadership of the party to resolve the problem.
He said the North-west zonal Chairman of the party, Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, and a reconciliation committee set up by the national secretariat headed by Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State to help resolve the crisis could not achieve results.
“But as things stand, El-Rufai is still obstinate, and he does not want to cooperate with these organs set up by the party.
“We are calling on the national headquarters of the party to intensify its commitment to resolving this crisis.
“We are calling on the governor to, in the name of God and in the interest of the people of Kaduna State, save the party from this crisis because it is portraying the state and the party in very bad light.
“We don’t want this crisis because it is hindering the progress of the party and we want the party to have an image of honour and respect as we march towards 2019 so that even if the governor wants to contest again, it is that image that he is going to benefit from,” the group said.
Maiyashi was flanked by some prominent members of the faction – Senator Shehu Sani, Ambassador Buba Galadima, Alhaji Yaro Makama and Hon. Isah Ashiru among others.
But, the Special Adviser to el-Rufai on Political Matters, Mallam Uba Sani, has said the state chapter of the APC has no faction.
Sani said those criticising the government are looking for settlement.
“Some people are issuing statements to the media about a faction. The meaning of a faction in a party is when you have elected officials of the party coming out to disagree with the position of the party.
“But when you have the entire executive of the party in the state from the local government level to the state, working together without problem, you cannot say there is a faction.
“Like any other state you could have members of the party who probably are used to the old system where you will go to the media and disagree with the government and the government will call you and settle you.
“In this government, we will not accept that. The governor made it abundantly clear that he will not settle anybody who disagrees with him as a person. You can accuse the government but we will not loose focus of serving the people” he said.
He said the caucus meeting discuss extensively about the progress of the party in the state and how it can improve on its performance.
“I can assure you that we have only one APC in Kaduna state, that is why we have no any descending views either from the ward or local government,” he added.
Refer Melaye’s probe to police – CSOs tell Senate
A lawyer, Macdonald Akhirome, in an interview, noted that the upper chamber was not constitutionally empowered to probe the controversy..
He queried the purpose of the senate inquiry into the issue, pointing out that it may end up as a jamboree without achieving any meaningful purpose.
The activist noted that the purpose of the investigation should determine whether the senate should conduct it or not.
Akhirome said, “The normal legal procedure is that investigation falls within the purview of the executive, that is the police, but the senate could conduct an inquiry.
“Since the issue borders on crime, the senate is not empowered to investigate that. It is not within their purview, that is not the business of the senate.”
He added, “If the purpose of their investigation is to prosecute, they cannot prosecute. Is the inquiry meant to abuse the person of the senator or to cooperate with the executive to prosecute? What is the purpose of their investigation when they are not empowered by law to investigate and prosecute? It is better for them to allow the police to investigate the matter, if they were not out to ridicule the senator.
Speaking in the same vein, a security analyst, Ben Okezie also admonished the senate to hand over the investigation to the police, insisting that the red chamber lacked the capability to handle the probe.
He observed that many senators had had a series of allegations against them which were not probed by the senate, noting that the decision to probe Melaye was taken because the issue was raised during a plenary.
“They (senators) should know that they don’t have the capability to carry out such an investigation. What they should have done is to refer the case to the Inspector-General of Police who would now ask one his departments to investigate the case,” he insisted.
By deciding to probe the certificate mess, Okezie hinted that the senate may be trying to cover up the controversy.
“Now that they want to handle the investigation themselves, how are we sure it would be credible? How are we sure there won’t be a cover up? How are we sure the senators in the committee are not his (Melaye’s) friends? It amounts to nothing in terms of doing the right thing. If they want to do the right thing, hand him over to the police to investigate,” the security expert admonished.
Okezie said it would not be proper for the senate to handle the investigation, stating that it did not conduct the probe of the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, but rather asked the Department of State Services to probe him.
Three things I did while in Yola, Kirikiri prisons – Obasanjo
He also said there should be no position that a man should find himself in life where he should not be useful to God.
He also posited that the major challenge in life was not how to stay alive but “what to live for and what to live with.”
Obasanjo said this while recalling his experience as an inmate in Yola Prison where he said he met a hardened armed robber and serial murderer, Baba Ali, who he preached to and later sent to the bible school and who has today become a pastor over a Baptist Church.
The ex-President spoke at Shepherdhill Baptist Church, Obanikoro, Lagos, where the Lagos State Baptist Conference held a thanksgiving service to mark his 80th birthday.
The programme was tagged, “Special Commemorative, Commendation and Congratulatory Birthday Service.”
Recalling his time as an inmate, Obasanjo said he did three remarkable things, which were that he built a church while in prison; started a farm, converted Baba Ali to a Christian and served as prison pastor.
He narrated, “There’s a difference between joy and happiness. In prison, I had joy but it will be madness for me to say that when I was in prison I was happy. How can you be in prison and say you are happy? But I was having the joy of God with me, not for one day was I sad. And I am grateful to God for the experience that I had in the prison.
“I will mention three things that God made me to do when I was in Yola Prison. One, God made me to build a church. It’s very unusual, I asked the authorities for land, they were reluctant, but eventually they gave me land and immediately, we started getting donations. It was started before I left Yola. Wherever you are, you can still be useful to the work of God.
“Secondly, there was a parcel of land, which was not being used for anything, so, I told the prison authorities that I wanted to farm. They were reluctant but eventually they granted me the permission to farm and I grew enough beans to feed all the inmates and the warders. Don’t remain idle, get something doing.”
The third thing he did, Obasanjo said, was at Kirikiri Prison in Lagos where he took over as the prison pastor.
He said he took over as prison pastor because the prison authorities banned preachers from coming in after some white garments preachers who came to preach had helped some inmates to escape by dressing them in white garments.
He said, “They made sure we did not receive anybody from outside to come and preach to us or fellowship with us. So, I took over as the prison pastor. And there was a boy whom they had introduced to me, his nickname was Baba Ali. Baba Ali was the head of the armed robbers in the North. And if you were an armed robber and you came to the prison, you must first of all go and pay homage to Baba Ali. If you were going out, you must go to Baba Ali and ask him for instruction on what you had to do next.
“So, I called Baba Ali one day and said, ‘You are not coming to fellowship; I want you to be coming to the fellowship.’ He said, ‘Baba, don’t worry me; don’t worry me at all because God can never forgive me. I have killed so many people in my life; I have drunk the blood of so many people; I have eaten the flesh of so many people and God will never forgive me, so, don’t waste your time about me.’
“I left Baba Ali on that occasion, and I waited for some time before I went back and said, ‘Baba Ali, you know all you said that you are a murderer, whether you killed only one person or a thousand people, you are a murderer; but have you forgotten that Moses was a murderer but God used him to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt? David was a murderer but God called him a man after my heart.
“By the time I was leaving the prison, I told Baba Ali that if he was able to make it and he would like to go to bible school, I would send him to bible school. Baba Ali came out of prison two years after me. By the time he came out I had become the President of Nigeria. It took him two years to get through to me, when he got to me, I reminded him of our agreement and he said he was ready to go to the bible school. So, I sent him to the seminary. Baba Ali spent two years in the seminary, today Baba Ali is the pastor of a Baptist Church. What is more? Baba Ali’s junior brother took after him and has also become a pastor.”
The church presented Obasanjo with a bible, a bell and a bottle of olive oil.
He was accompanied by his wife Bola, Senator Olorunnibe Mamora among others.
Buhari to consult Osinbajo, Malami over Magu’s fate as EFCC chairman
It was learnt that the two options would be based on the legal advice from the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, and the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN.
Buhari, who is said to have received the Senate report on the screening and rejection of Magu as chairman of the EFCC, is studying the report and is also forwarding it to his deputy and the AGF.
“I can tell you that the president has received the resolution on the matter of Magu and has forwarded the matter to the vice-president, who as you know, is a senior lawyer and also to the attorney general for advice,” presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, was quoted as saying.
He said the president would follow the two options open to him to either nominate him again or send another name, based on his consideration of the advice received from the duo of Osinbajo and Malami.
The senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity pointed out that his principal would not act until he received the appropriate advice from the Vice-President and the AGF.
Meanwhile, the report also stated that senators, angered over the continued retention of Magu as acting chairman of the EFCC, are set to erode the president’s power to appoint persons to act endlessly in positions requiring Senate confirmation.
The proposal, which enjoys the bipartisan support of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, members, is said to have proposed six months, but is likely to be cut down to three months at the end of Senate consideration.
A ranking senator was quoted by the newspaper as saying: “There is claim that the interpretation act has given the president the right to appoint someone in acting position for offices that he is constitutionally empowered to make appointments.
“But our dispute is, for how long can such persons act and should such persons continue to act even when they have been rejected by the Senate.
“We have now resolved on how to move the issue forward and it would be through a bill to limit the duration that persons who act in such positions can stay in acting capacity,” the senior lawmaker said.
The proposal, said to be coming before the upper legislative chamber in the coming days, is expected to get expedited passage through the Senate on account of its endorsement by the Senate leadership.
Monday, 27 March 2017
I don’t have houses in Maitama – Magu
Magu was quoted as saying this in a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, on Monday.
The statement was in reaction to a report captioned, ‘Magu under fresh probe over two Abuja mansions’ which was published by a national newspaper on Sunday.
The EFCC boss dismissed the story as a work of fiction and threatened to take legal action against the newspaper and the authors of the story.
The report claimed that Magu is being probed regarding the ownership of two mansions in the Maitama area of Abuja allegedly linked to his wife.
The newspaper claimed that “the houses being investigated are located in Danube Street, Maitama and Missouri Street, off Colorado Close, Ministers Hill.” It added that the two houses were bought last year.
Magu stated that neither himself nor his wife own any property in Maitama.
The EFCC boss urged Nigerians to disregard the report as false and designed by the authors to achieve motives that are obvious.
He said, “I don’t have any mansion anywhere in Maitama. Would I have two mansions in Abuja yet choose to live in a rented apartment in the same community?
“This is another calculated attempt to smear my reputation. They may have got away with such false reports in the past but I will not let this go unchallenged. I have already briefed my lawyers to institute legal action against the newspaper.”
Court to resume trial of ex-Gov. Ladoja
Ladoja is charged alongside one of his aides, Waheed Akanbi.
They are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on an eight-count charge bordering on fraud.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the case, which was earlier slated for continuation of trial, could not proceed on Monday, as judges were said to be attending a conference.
The court’s registrar consequently, fixed a new trial date as March 31.
NAN recalls that EFCC had in November 2008 arraigned the accused on 10 counts of conspiring to convert properties and resources derived from an alleged illegal act, with the intention of concealing their illicit origin.
The EFCC also alleged that Ladoja used N42 million out of the proceeds to purchase an Armoured Land Cruiser Jeep, and remitted about 600,000 pounds to one Bimpe Ladoja in London.
Ladoja and Akanbi, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
UCH Mortuary attendant remanded for removing corpse head
The 57-year-old mortuary attendant was alleged to have decapitated an unidentified dead man and concealed it in a bag. But while attempting to leave the premises, he was caught with the head.
He tried to run away from the scene but was prevented from escaping by policemen in the hospital who arrested him and took him to Yemetu police station.
The charge sheet signed by superintendent of police, Adeniyi Odebiyi, said, “That you Muritala Raimi, aged 57, on the 15th March 2017 at about 05:30 pm at UCH Ibadan in Ibadan magisterial district did steal human skull inside UCH mortuary and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 3 of the criminal code cap 38 vol. 11 laws of Oyo State of Nigeria.
“That you Muritala Raimi on the same date, place in the aforementioned magisterial district did misconduct with regard to corpse by decapitating a corpse deposited at UCH mortuary and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 242 of the criminal code cap 38, vol. 11 laws of Oyo State.”
After pleading not guilty to the two-count, Magistrate Akanni Monsurat, granted him bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in the like sum, Raimi failed to meet the bail conditions.
He was consequently asked to be reprimanded in Agodi prison custody.
I will resign if Abuja airport is not opened ny April 19 – Minister
The minister made this known at a meeting between the Ministry of Information and an Aviation Industry Pressure Group, round table in Lagos.
The Minister said the level of work on the Abuja runway in the past three weeks shows that the re-opening will be on schedule.
At the same meeting, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, debunked social media reports saying the runway will be closed for an extended 18 weeks.
The Federal Government had on March 8, 2017 closed the Abuja International Airport for six weeks, to enable repair works on the runway which is said to be dysfunctional.
Sunday, 26 March 2017
EFCC to arrest ex-AGF Adoke, others over Malabu scam
It was learnt that the anti-graft agency would soon commence the process of extraditing other suspects, who are abroad and have not shown readiness to submit themselves for trial.
Among the suspects who are abroad, are the immediate-past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke Bello (SAN), who has informed his successor, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), that he was being persecuted by the EFCC.
The EFCC had alleged that over $1.1bn fraudulently exchanged hands in alleged shady transactions over the highly lucrative Nigerian oil well OPL 245, said to have been originally offered to Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd by the then Gen. Sani Abacha junta under controversial circumstances in 1998.
Already the EFCC has filed three sets of charges before the Federal High Court in Abuja and the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Maitama, against Adoke and others.
Sources confirmed on Saturday that majority, if not all the defendants, named in the sets of charges were not within the immediate reach of the anti-graft agency.
“That is why we have not been able to arraign the defendants. At a time, we had to write to the courts where the charges were filed to give us some time in order to bring them to court,” a source at the EFCC said on Saturday.
When asked what steps the EFCC was going to take, the source said the anti-graft agency would next week commence moves to compel the defendants to attend their trial.
According to the source, options available to the commission include applying to court for arrest warrants against the defendants suspected to be in Nigeria.
The source said for those who were abroad, the EFCC would write the AGF’s office to commence their extradition processes.
The EFCC official, who sought not to be named, said, “All these will start happening on the first day the cases are mentioned in court sometime in the first week of April.
“On that day, we may apply for the arrest of those we suspect are in the country.
“We will subsequently ask court to give us more time to enable us bring those of them that are abroad back home.
“The extradition procedure can only be ignited by the AGF, who has the exclusive powers to apply to court to extradite a suspect from Nigeria to another country, or activate the mutual assistance of a host country of a suspect to extradite the wanted person back to Nigeria.
“So, after the first mention of the case in court, the commission will liaise with the AGF to take the appropriate steps in that regard.”
Only Buhari can decide Magu’s fate – AGF
Malami said this on a Channels TV programme titled, ‘Question Time’ on Friday.
The AGF was asked if it was proper for Magu to continue in acting capacity despite being rejected twice by the Senate following a damning report issued against him by the Department of State Services.
Malami said, “I cannot comment on the position of my office but one thing I can tell you clearly is that power is vested in the President constitutionally and it is the President that has the prerogative and the right to make any conclusion that arises from there.”
When probed further if Magu’s integrity challenge would not affect the anti-graft war, Malami said he wouldn’t like to pre-empt the position of the presidency over that.”
The minister admitted that he had investigated Magu and sent a report to the President but maintained that he could not reveal the details of the report.
Malami, however, denied reports that the anti-corruption war was selective.
He said the whistleblower policy of the Federal Government had led to the recovery of stolen funds, adding that efforts were being made to fine-tune the policy including ensuring protection of whistleblowers.
Meanwhile, the Senate has said that the report by the DSS sent to Malami on Magu’s integrity, has vindicated the upper chamber.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, in a statement on Saturday, said the documentary evidence made available to the AGF by the DSS had justified the Senate.
Abdullahi said, “Following several calls made to me today by journalists seeking my comments on the leaked report on Mr. Ibrahim Magu, which was more damning than the one submitted to us, I can only say that myself and my colleagues have been vindicated.
“From that report, which is now public, it is obvious that the DG DSS even tried to give Magu soft landing in the report that was sent to the Senate. The recent report is messier and shows that our decision not to confirm his nomination was right.”
UniJos explains fee increment from N27, 000 to N45, 000
Since the increment, students, parents and guardians had condemned it saying such coming at a time when most families could barely feed is ill-conceived but the Management describes the reactions as propaganda and misinformation by some leaders of the Students Union Government saying the action is based on the implementation of the Federal Government approved harmonized charges for all undergraduate Students in Federal Universities in Nigeria.
In a statement issued at the weekend and signed by the institution’s Registrar/Secretary to Council/Senate, Mr. Monday Danjem, the Management said its attention has been drawn to the media propaganda and misinformation going on by some leaders of the Students Union Government of the University explaining that the action is the implementation of the Federal Government approved harmonized charges for all undergraduate Students in Federal Universities in Nigeria.
It reads, “The University Management feels compelled to put the issues in clear perspective so that the public is not misled. The University of Jos Management was in receipt of a letter from the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC) dated 22nd January, 2015 conveying the newly approved schedule of harmonized school charges to Senate/Governing Councils of all Federal Universities for immediate implementation.
“The directive contained in the letter followed a recommendation made by a Committee constituted by the Honourable Minister of Education comprising the NUC Executive Secretary; Chairman, Committee of Pro-Chancellors; Chairman, Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Vice-Chancellor, Bayero University, Kano that was mandated to review and harmonize the schedule of miscellaneous charges for Undergraduate Students in all Federal Universities.
“However, even though Management secured the approval for the implementation of the new school charges structure in the University, it was later agreed that there should be a phased implementation of the policy due to the prevailing situation in the University at that time.
“Since the implementation of that resolution, it is apparent that the economic situation of the country has taken a downward turn raising significantly the cost of maintenance per student.
“The University of Jos does not charge Tuition Fees as is being erroneously speculated. What Students are required to pay are school charges that are approved by Government and captured in the budget. Every item in the School charge structure is tied to a specific cost for the services provided e.g. Hostel Maintenance, Students Health Insurance, Library, ICT Bandwidth and Network Maintenance, I.D. Card among several others. This is a verifiable fact that is clearly listed in the University’s school charges schedule.”
It added, “based on the increase in the cost of most good and services in the country, it is no longer realistic to continue with the old school charges and still expect to successfully run the University on a sustainable basis. The University incurs huge expenditure in the effort to provide a conducive learning atmosphere for all its Students. Apart from the personnel costs and other related expenses that the Government caters for, the University is virtually left unaided to cater for its upkeep.
“Such necessary services rendered to the University like cleaning services, Electricity and other utilities, Accreditation expenses, Printing and Stationeries, Examination Expenses, Subscription to Academic/Professional Bodies have to be paid for at great expense to the University even as the cost for such goods and services are frequently being hiked.
“The University was paying a monthly charge of Twelve Million Naira (N12,000,000) for electricity supply. This has recently been increased to Twenty-Three Million Naira (N23,000,000) per month. The University is now saddled with responsibility of sourcing for how it can make up for the shortfall. By implementing the new school charges structure of N45,000 across board, the University has done nothing illegal nor has it gone contrary to Government regulations. Indeed, the University is only doing the needful by complying with a clearly spelt out and properly conveyed directive of the Federal Government.”
It would be recalled that since the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Sabastian Maimako, announced the review of the fees, from N27,000 to N45,000, citing dwindling budgetary allocations, rising bills and the need to upgrade some materials, Sydney Daman, President of the institution’s Students Union Government, SUG had described the new charges as “too harsh” and appealed to the students to “hold-on a bit”.
He said, “No student should be in a hurry to pay the new fees. We are consulting with management and shall communicate the final agreement to everyone. We have not exhausted all the options; we are still appealing and shall continue to meet all stakeholders, we should be responsible, mature and peaceful while supporting the struggle for a downward review of the charges.”
Court orders arrest of Ahmadu Bello’s grandson
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Umar Sifawa, gave the order in a ruling on a motion filed by the National Vice Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), North-West, Inuwa Abdulkadir.
Mr. Abdulkadir had dragged Mr. Danbaba, the grandson of the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Ahmadu Bello, to court for alleged defamation of character.
He alleged that Mr. Danbaba had in a publication in August, 2016, described his late father as a ” slave bought by one Gwaggo, for two shillings”.
The complainant had told the court that Mr. Danbaba said that he (Abdulkadir) did not take adequate care of his late mother.
The respondent had filed a notice of appeal on the ground that the court had erred by issuing a summon on March 13 and March 22, giving him only two days to appear before it for his defence.
The motion on notice filed by Mr. Danbaba’s counsel, Yusuf Dankofa, also said the court breached the appellant’s right to fair hearing and fair trial.
This, he averred, was in violation of section 36 ( 6) ( B), of the Constitution that states,” every person charged with a criminal offence shall be entitled to be given adequate time and facility for the preparation of the defence”.
Mr. Danbaba had also filed a motion on notice praying for the stay of the court’s proceedings, pending the determination of his appeal at the State High Court.
The counsel to the complainant, John Shaka, on Friday urged the court to strike out both the respondent’s motion on notice and notice of appeal.
Mr. Shaka had also prayed the court to order the Inspector-General of Police to arrest and produce the respondent before the court.
The counsel to the respondent was, however, not in court on Friday.
In his ruling, Mr. Sifawa refused to grant the prayers of the complainant to strike out the respondent’s motion on notice and notice of appeal.
The Judge said,” it is premature to do so as the accused should be given another chance to present his case, if he wishes to do so”.
Mr. Sifawa, however, granted, in part, the prayer seeking the issuance of an order to the IGP for the arrest and production of Mr. Danbaba.
He said,” This is to the effect that a bench warrant shall be issued immediately for the arrest and production of accused before the court.
“But, the order is to the CP of Sokoto State and not the IGP as applied for, to arrest the accused wherever he is found in Nigeria, pending further instructions by the court.”
The judge adjourned the case till April 6.
EFCC: DSS writes AGF, insists Magu cannot be trusted
The letter was a follow up to the security report earlier submitted to the presidency and the Senate which formed the kernel for the Senate’s refusal to screen Magu and was in response to an earlier letter by the AGF dated 19th December, 2016 with reference number HAGF/DSS/2016/Vol.1/7 which demanded for the basis for the security report.
In the letter from the DSS signed by Folashade Bello for the Director-General of the DSS, leaked to the press on Friday, the security service said Magu’s poor sense of judgment and willingness to compromise official documents for personal interest betrayed the high level of integrity that should be watchword of the holder of such office as EFCC chairman.
The root of the DSS report against Magu was what it claimed as his unusual relationship with Air Commodore Mohammed Umar (rtd.), a suspect being prosecuted by the DSS who was a member of the Presidential Committee on Audit of Arms Purchase with Magu.
Backing up its claims, the DSS in the letter, said it provided a copy of the confessional statement by Air Commodore Mohammed Umar (rtd.) where he affirmed his ownership of Valcour S.A. Nigeria Limited, a company awarded the contract of securing and furnishing an official residence for Magu by the FCTA.
The DSS also presented what it claimed was a forged memo which supposedly originated from the office of the Vice-President and addressed to the President which was recovered from the private residence of Umar during a search operation by the Service.
The document was a request for approval to commence further investigation into the financial activities of a serving minister from the Niger Delta. The DSS also forwarded another annexure being a letter from the Office of the Vice-President affirming that the annexure supposedly from the office was a forged.
The service also attached sensitive official documents of the EFCC found in Umar’s residence during the search which were, however, not attached to the letter leaked to the press.
The DSS stated that a confessional statement by Umar to the Service claiming that his trip to Maiduguri for condolence visit to Magu, sequel to the loss of a close relative and made on behalf of the Presidential Committee on Audit of Arms Purchase was false as investigations revealed that the committee did not send any of its members on such an assignment.
“The visit of Umar to Magu is therefore assessed as an expression of their close sinister relationship at the detriment of National Security interests,” DSS stated.
“An officer appointed as Ag. Chairman of EFCC should by all means be one of impeccable credentials, with proven integrity and capacity to lead the nation’s fight against graft in high and low places. Thus far, it is evident from Magu’s antecedents that he is by no means that kind of officer.
“His relationship with Umar Mohammed which involved disclosure of very sensitive and classified official documents in his possession shows lack of professionalism and assails his integrity.
“Moreso, for an office who was indicted and nearly dismissed six (6) years ago, to again be involved in similar circumstances, it is clear that Magu is a perennial offender and cannot change.
“Also worthy of note is the fact that Magu exhibited a total lack of judgment where it matters most. He accepted to move into a tastily furnished accommodation without any scrutiny of how it was furnished. This is curious and speaks volumes of his personality.
“The recovery of sensitive and classified documents from the residence of Umar further underlays his close affinity to Magu and an apparent penchant for sabotaging official processes and administrative protocols, just to further the latter’s personal material and pecuniary agenda.
“Such mutually beneficial relationships as with Umar, who by his confession, approaches ‘clients’ for possible exploitation, favours and associated returns is unprecedented and very damming for an anti-graft top official.
“It has exposed Magu as a fraudulent officer and betrays the high confidence reposed in him by Mr. President.
“This reinforces the view that Magu may continue to exploit his official position, if confirmed as EFCC Chairman and indulge in other unprofessional and criminal conducts for personal aggrandisement contrary to his oath of office.”
ABU to supply Melaye’s academic details to fed govt
A top official of ABU, Zaria, who pleaded anonymity, said that “the University is already compiling the records of Senator Dino Melaye for the Government that demanded the immediate release to Government and the University will respond soon.”
According to the official, “nobody is in doubt if Senator Melaye attended the University, but what people are saying is whether he completed his course of study and the university will make the relevant information available,” adding that, “to the best of my knowledge, the Senator was on this campus and read a course of study for which I think he graduated between 1997 and 1998 as the case may be.
“These details can always be found in the list of graduating students of Geography in either of those years as the case may be, but for me, I think he ran a programme and I should think he successfully ended up in either of those years I mentioned.”
Besides, a Student Union Government (SUG) official activist and departmental mate of Senator Melaye, who also pleaded anonymity, said, “the Senator and I were in Geography Department and two of us were also officials of the National Union of Geography Students at ABU.”
He remarked, “while Dino was the National President of Geography Department, I was the Assistant Secretary General, I presided over his impeachment during the controversy leading to his ousting from that office.
“Let me tell you, Dino was a radical student activist in campus. I will give that to him and at a point he was confrontational to the establishment in the University. And at last, the institution did everything possible to bring him close and later became the eyes of the authority on campus.”
According to him, “I can attest that Senator Dino actually completed a course of study in Geography in 1998; whether he had carry-over in some courses that were later waved is what I cannot say.”
“I think Dino later graduated from ABU, Zaria with a Third class or Pass. I am sure of that. Let anybody not deceive you that he did not study or graduate in ABU. Go and find out, he did. He is stubborn, that I will give to him. And I think that is what is still trailing him in the Senate,” he said.
Buhari’ll not visit Sambisa on Monday – Buratai
He said the president would be represented at the opening of the event by the Minister of Defense, Alhaji Mansur Dan-Ali.
Buratai announced this while speaking with newsmen on the final arrangements for the event on Saturday in Maiduguri.
“We have been in the North East, fighting the Boko Haram terrorists, and you know the significance of the Sambisa forest to them.
“It used to be one of their centres; in fact, we suspect that their command and control centre was located there before its eventual capture,’’ the COAS said.
He added that following the eventual capture of camp zairo, the Army wanted to consolidate its operations by ensuring that the place was secured.
“We also want the place to be dominated by our troops and also to get firm control, so that we will continue to dominate the area’’.
Buratai said that the championship was part of the training activities of the Nigerian Army, aimed at sharpening marksmanship of its personal.
“The Nigerian Army Small Arms Championship is part of the training activities scheduled for 2017.
“It is a championship among the formations of the Nigerian Army.
“The objective of the event is to sharpen the marksmanship skills of the army personnel’’.
According to Buratai, President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the Commander-In-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, will be represented at the opening of the event on Monday by the Minister of Defense, Alhaji Mannsur Dan-Ali.
First fluorescent frog found in Argentina
Argentine and Brazilian scientists at the Bernardino Rivadaiva Natural Sciences Museum made the discovery while studying the metabolic origin of pigments in a tree-frog species common to South America.
Under normal light the frog’s translucent skin is a muted yellowish-brown color with red dots, but when the scientists shone an ultraviolet light on it, it turned a celestial green.
According to one of them, Carlos Taboada, the case is “the first scientific record of a fluorescent frog.”
“We were very excited,” said his fellow researcher Julian Faivovich. “It was quite disconcerting.”
He said the discovery “radically modifies what is known about fluorescence in terrestrial environments, allowing the discovery of new fluorescent compounds that may have scientific or technological applications.”
It also “generates new questions about visual communication in amphibians,” he said.
The team studied some 200 more examples to ensure the phenomenon was not due to the frog’s captivity, and detected the fluorescent properties in all the specimens.
Maria Lagorio — an independent researcher and expert in fluorescence, who the research team contacted after the discovery — told AFP that the trait is common in aquatic species and seen in some insects, “but has never been scientifically reported in amphibians.”
The finding was recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Friday, 24 March 2017
N1.3bn grass cutting contracts awarded to 20 ‘ghost’ firms – Senate
Part of the contracts was for the cutting of grasses.
The Senate said its investigations so far in locating the companies have not yielded fruits.
The Chairman of the Senate AdHoc Committee probing the contracts, Senator Shehu Sani, revealed this, after the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, failed to show up for the investigative hearing.
Sani said the Committee, known as the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in the North-East, was not out to witch-hunt Lawal, but for him to offer explanations on the perceived shortcomings noticed in the award and executions of the contracts since his office oversees the Presidential Initiative on the North-East, which is in charge of the rehabilitation of the North East.
Sani told newsmen: “Now, we are set to invite all those persons.
“It was supposed to be today, but, unfortunately, it could not happen.
“Meanwhile, you should understand that we are not investigating the SGF alone.
“We are investigating contracts that were awarded under the PINE.
“And over 20 companies were involved, but something very strange is the fact that some of these companies involved in these contracts, we cannot actually trace their addresses.
“We went there but they were not there.
“The option before us is to either report that they are ghost companies or we keep on searching until we find them.
“But it is most likely that it will be easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for us to find some of these names here.”
Sani had at the plenary on Thursday stated that the panel would pursue its mandate to a conclusion, insisting that Lawal and others summoned must appear before it.
He said the panel received a letter from Lawal that he had an official engagement which clashed with the date and time of his appearance on Thursday.
Sani said the letter was different from the one in which Lawal said he would not appear before the lawmakers as he had instituted a legal action against the legislature.
He said: “We were scheduled to hold a public hearing today to give a second opportunity to those persons who were either deliberately or conspicuously absent in the first sitting (hearing) we had last year.
“Today, the newspapers were awash with reports that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Babachir Lawal, has taken us to court to restrain our committee from doing its work.
“We have yet to receive any court order (originating summons) in that respect, perhaps later.
“But what we did receive is a letter from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.”
The letter, dated March 22, 2017, was addressed to Sani.
It read: “Your letter of invitation to appear before the above committee refers.
“I wish to kindly request that you draw the attention of the other members of the committee that l will not be able to appear before the committee primarily because of a pressing engagement of government which clash with the date and time of the hearing.
“I kindly request (a) rescheduling of the hearing, please.”
After reading the letter, Sani said: “There are people who believe in the quote of Shakespeare, which says: ‘The hell is empty, all the devils are here.’
“But I will say it in another word.
“The same Shakespeare says: ‘There is a tide in the affairs of men.’
“I believe we should take this as a challenge.
“The Senate committee will give a new date for hearing and we assure this Senate and the people of the North-East that the committee will deworm, disinfect and fumigate the north eastern part of Nigeria with the job which we are going to do.”
Buhari orders sack of permanent secretary for alleged fraud
The permanent secretary, was appointed by Buhari in 2015, was fired, Tuesday, on the orders of the President.
A source in the ministry confirmed that two police officers drove the sacked permanent secretary from the Federal Secretariat, Abuja, raising concerns as to what might have led to such an action.
A Presidency source confirmed that the President ordered the immediate removal of the top civil servant, who presided over the affairs of one of the strategic ministries handling intervention programmes in the country following evidence that he awarded contracts to companies belonging to him.
It was learnt that the sacked permanent secretary had deployed several strategies to evade a sting operation, which had been planned by one of the anti-graft agencies, thereby making it impossible for the operatives to track him down.
It was also learnt that key officials of the ministry, who got wind of the illicit activities of the permanent secretary, drew the attention of security agencies to the development and called for urgent investigation of the man.
One of the security agency officials, who handled the investigation of the sacked permanent secretary, told our correspondent that the sting operation planned against the official was frustrated by him and his agents, forcing them to delay his arrest since January this year.
“We have been monitoring the man and the various companies being used by him to siphon huge sums of money from the ministry, which handles intervention programmes in the Niger Delta region but he has been very smart and suspicious of our movement, thereby making it impossible for us to arrest him despite the ambush we laid for him and his cronies,” one of the operatives told Vanguard last night.
He said: “But Mr. President did not waste time in asking the Head of Service of the Federation to sack the man with immediate effect as soon as he got to know that the man had used over 500 companies to award fake contracts to himself and move huge sums of money from the ministry in question.”
“In fact, the discovery of the large scale fraud in the ministry, which has suffered a lot of project failure and the subsequent sacking of the permanent secretary by Mr. President, followed painstaking investigation by the anti-corruption agencies, which will soon charge the man to court,” the source added.
A statement issued by the EFCC had said the international anti-corruption monitor had endorsed Magu as an anti-corruption icon.
The statement of the EFCC had come on the heels of the rejection of Magu by the Nigerian Senate as the nominee for confirmation to head the commission.
However, in a statement by TI announcing the event to which Magu was invited, it was categorically stated that the invitation was not an endorsement by the organisation.
TI-UK stated on its website that it had to clarify that inviting Magu did not constitute an endorsement as reported in the Nigerian media.
It said: “In light of reports in Nigerian press, TI-UK would like to clarify the following points:
“The event is being hosted by Transparency International UK, Global Witness and The Corner House.
“This event does not constitute an official follow-up to the London Anti-Corruption Summit, hosted by the UK Government in May 2016.
“The purpose of this event is to contribute to the discussion about the effectiveness of the UK-Nigerian asset recovery process, and more generally the UK’s asset recovery regime.
“All invited guests speak on behalf of either themselves or the organisation they represent – their participation does not represent an endorsement by TI-UK.”
Last week, the Senate had rejected Magu’s nomination following a report by the Department of State Services, which alleged that he would constitute a liability to the anti-corruption fight of the current administration.
The security body had alleged that Magu hobnobbed with individuals who were under investigation by the commission.
The report added that Magu lived in a N40 million house paid for by someone being investigated by the commission.
Following the report, which was sent in October 2016 and reaffirmed last week by the DSS, the Senate rejected Magu’s nomination.
Magu however has debunked the DSS allegations.
I’ll mellow in my criticisms of Buhari – Fayose
Fayose made the promise to the minister of power, works and housing, Babatunde Fashola when the minister paid him a courtesy visit on Wednesday.
Fayose pledged total cooperation with Fashola’s ministry and in lieu of the minister’s promises as regards federal roads in Ekiti and the South-west in general
Magu’s re-nomination not permitted by law, Senate rules – Lawyer
Vice President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani, yesterday said President Muhammadu Buhari cannot re-nominate Magu to the Senate based on the internal rules of the National Assembly regarding such issues.
He said if that was the case, then there could be a problem, adding that he may not know what is on President Buhari’s mind as Magu had been rejected for the second time by the Senate.
He also said the law permits the president to re-nominate a candidate for confirmation by the Senate, but doubt if this would work out since there are internal rules in the Senate that may play a vital role in making his re-nomination for the third time possible.
“Under the law, the president can re-nominate Magu, but going by what Senator Dino Melaye said, there are internal rules in the Senate that specify how many times a candidate can be re-nominated for confirmation,” he said.
He added that there are two options for the president. Either he exploits the lacuna in law that provides for perpetually retaining the EFCC boss in acting capacity or he nominates another person for the job.
Another lawyer, Charles Lambo pointed out that the presidency’s insistence on Magu was an illegality and a breach of trust between the executive and the legislature.
“This is because section 171 of the constitution gives the president powers to appoint certain officers, which are subject to confirmation of the Senate without which they act in nullity and the EFCC Act also confirmed that the position of Chairman must be confirmed by the Senate,” he added.
He further explained that for Magu to remain in acting capacity after the Senate has rejected him twice was an illegality and advised the presidency to obey the Senate resolution on the matter.
Unlike Ubani who argued that the presidency can exploit the lacuna in the law, Lambo believes it cannot be possible, even as he made referred to Professor Itse Sagay statement that Magu can continue in Acting capacity indefinitely.
“But this is democracy and cannot be possible under the constitution,” he stressed.
Thursday, 23 March 2017
Kogi West APC Chairmen and Secretaries paid Senator Smart Adeyemi a Courtesy Visit.
Chairmen and secretaries of the All Progressive
Congress, APC in the Seven Local government areas of Kogi west
senatorial district yesterday, paid a curtesy visit on Senator Smart
Adeyemi who represented the area in the 6th and 7th assembly.
The
leader of the delegation and the Chairman of APC in Lokoja local
government, Alhaji Haruna Isah said they came on a familiarization visit
to the senator and to exchange views on political issues and
interacting together.
The Lokoja chairman,
Honourable Isah and his Koto karfe counterpart Alhaji Abdullahi Yusuf
Omoko commended the achievements of senator smart adeyemi while in
office as monumental in infrastructure and human empowerment apart from
his good representation in the senate.
While
addressing the delegation, Senator Smart enjoy APC leaders in Kogi state
to support the administration of president Mohammudu Buhari as the
President is working towards accelerating the socio economic development
of the nation through diversification and effective transportation
system in Nigeria. These federal government Programmes he said will
create employments and Social security in the country as efforts by the
federal government is already yielding results towards economic
recovery.
He said despite the economic
recession, the APC federal government and kogi state government are
focused on human and infrastructural development which require our
collective support as members of the party and indeed as Nigerians
"We
owe it a duty as responsible leaders of the APC to rally round our
Assembly members, House representative members, senator, governor and Mr
president to succeed in office in the general interest and wellbeing
of our people astheir success is our success "
"You
will Observe I have not being talking since I joined the APC, this is
to familiarize myself with the developments in the party, understand the
structure of the party as well as to have an ample time to access the
performance of our leaders who are doing their best despite the global
economy recession across nations of the world.
He
commend the effort of the leader of the party in Kogi State Alhaji
Yahaya Bello saying the governor is out to lay a solid socio economic
foundation for Kogi state which requires our collective support and
understanding. He is repositioning the state for economy prosperity and
infrastructural development, we all should encourage him by supporting
his programs and policies.
On the travails of
his successor who is battling with fake certificate issue, Senator Smart
urge the party exco to support their senator and pray for him as he
faces some challenges.
Attempts to discuss his 2019 ambition was rebuffed by the senator saying only God knows what will happen tomorrow
and in 2019 but his primary focus now is to see how they will work
together to ensure APC retain power at federal level and in Kogi state
in 2019.
This will be the 3rd political
meetings the Senator will be hosting at his residence in the last two
weeks as some of the former PDP members of Kogi state House of assembly
who recently decamped to the APC held a meeting with him before
decamping. The second being the reconciliation meeting between two
former chairmen of Kabba/Bunu Local government area, Honourable Funsho
Olorunfemi and Honourable Joseph Dada.
More Photos:
Herbalists, cleric paid me N4,000 to slaughter woman – suspect
A
55-year-old man, Toafeek Adam, who was arrested with the head and other
body parts of a woman, has told the police that he was paid N4,000 to
carry out the killing.Adam was p
araded on Wednesday by the police at the headquarters of the Lagos State police Command in Ikeja.
He told newsmen that two herbalists and an Islamic cleric participated in the killing of the woman near Ikoga River in Badagry area of Lagos State on Tuesday.
The deceased was said to have been taken from a commercial bus she boarded from Sango-Ota to Badagry.
The herbalists and the Islamic cleric, who were also in the vehicle, sprayed a powdery substance on the woman, who then slept off.
Adam told newsmen: “I was approached by one Baba Ronke Herbalist, where I was selling firewood and coconut at Badagry to kill a woman.
“The woman was brought from Sango-Ota by an herbalist and the Islamic Cleric to Baba Ronke in Badagry for spiritual cleansing.
“When we got to the river with the deceased and the Islamic cleric and the herbalist, I was promised N4,000 after the operation.
“On that fateful day, when they arrived Badagry, Baba Ronke called me on phone and I led the Islamic cleric and the other herbalist to the river where the cleansing wanted to take place.
“When got to the river, the woman was ordered to kneel down by Baba Ronke.
“When all this was going on, she was unconscious.
“Immediately she knell down, he brought out his knife and slaughtered the woman from behind and blood started gushing out from her neck.
“Baba Ronke then brought out another knife and removed the woman heart, two hands and head.
“We started the operation around 9am and finished by 11am.
“But before killing the woman, the woman said they brought her from Sango-Ota, while the Islamic cleric had collected her phone and bag containing money.
“The Islamic cleric could not go with the parts.
“He begged me to bring it for him at Sango.
“I was going to deliver it when policemen sighted me and I was arrested and other parts of the woman were later recovered in the scene.
“When I was arrested, I begged the policemen not to alert the Islamic cleric, who was still around the area.
“Immediately the Alfa noticed I have been arrested, he bolted and ran away.”
Adam confessed that he had been used for the killing of another woman before now.
He said: “After I killed the first woman, few months later, I lost three of my children consecutively.
“I believe God is using the death of my children to punish me.
“I regret my action God should forgive me and have mercy on me.”
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said, the victim boarded a vehicle from Sango-Ota when she fell into the hands of the ritualists.
Owoseni said: “We have contacted the victim family members who confirmed she boarded a commercial bus from Sango to Badagry.
“We are going to get to the root of the matter and arrest the buyers of the body parts.”
Owoseni advised Lagosians to stop boarding vehicles by the roadside but to make use of proper garages
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