Buhari under pressure to move against oil thieves.

Pressure is mounting  on President Muhammadu Buhari  to  kick start his clampdown on oil thieves following  his recent admission that he now has in his possession a list of such thieves.

Buhari, addressing Nigerians during his just concluded trip to the United States, had announced that Washington gave him the list.

He said  that some members of the Jonathan Federal Executive Council stole as much as  250000 barrels of crude daily.

Several  Western countries including  the United Kingdom and France are said to have reached out to him to waste no further time in bringing the suspects to book.

Nigerians are also  itching  to know the identities of the oil thieves .

A cross section of prominent Nigerians say President Buhri should make the names public forthwith and prosecute them.

Frontline lawyer,Professor  Itse Sagay (SAN)  told The Nation yesterday that he  shocked by  the magnitude of the stealing.

“Before this fresh revelation, one was very disturbed when Okonjo Iweala, raised the alarm that about 400, 000 barrels were being stolen every day. To hear that the quantity is as much as  one  million barrel per day is something else,” he said.

“It shows the country went into a total rot under the last regime of President Goodluck Jonathan.  They would have looted the country to bankruptcy within a year if they were not removed from office. We should be grateful that a disciplined and upright man has taken over to clean the mess and save the country.

“The punishments are not farfetched. They are already enshrined in our law books.

“We may ultimately have to resort to special court with specific time frame to decide the cases. The situation is very grave and we need to deal with it in an exceptional way.”

 Also shocked by the revelation is Chief Ladi Williams (SAN) who said:  “the President should make public everything about it because the oil they stole belongs to the good people of Nigeria. The people have the right to know what is happening.

 “Some schools of thought have suggested  that the Chinese option should be applied in dealing with the suspects. It is a common knowledge that corrupt public officers in  China always end up being executed.  But here in Nigeria, we have the criminal and penal code. The suspects should be tried.

“The National Assembly has the power to  establish a tribunal to try the suspects because the courts have too many cases already.  From the tribunal, the next step should be Supreme Court because many of us are not happy with the way the Appeal Court has discharged itself. The Supreme Court has discharged itself creditably well.

“The suspects should be made to produce the money they realised from the sales of the stolen products. Any of them that parts with a substantial part of the money should be leniently dealt with.”

Elder statesman  Tanko Yakassai said:“The president should not only tell us about the crime, he should go a step further to list the names of those involved in the criminal act and the amount 
involved.  He should get them arrested and prosecuted. The truth is that these atrocities didn’t start 
today. They started way back when Obasanjo was the head of state.

“Key figures during that regime became instant multi-millionaires. There is not going to be any solution to the atrocities except the perpetrators are brought to book.  I want to appeal to President Muhhamadu Buhari not to limit the probe to the Jonathan administration. If he really wants to get to the root of the problem, he should go back to the days of Obasanjo as military head of state.”

Another  Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Second Republic politician, Enechi Onyia, said  the suspects should be made to face the wrath of the law.

“The government should not stop at that. They should also do everything possible to retrieve the full value of the money that the country ought to realize from the product from the suspects. The government should not be swayed by sentiments that people are likely to express about its position or action plan because in everything that happens in life, people would always express sentiments,” he said.

Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamio   called for  prosecution of everyone  found culpable in the crime, saying: “The effort of the President in fighting corruption in the country is highly commendable. This is what Nigerians looked forward to when they voted for him and I am glad that he is living up to his electioneering promises. I want to do everything possible to make sure that the perpetrators do not escape justice.”

Former Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Abubakar Tsav, expressed surprise at the revelation.

He said:“ “If the president’s statement is true, then, it is a serious matter. How can one person steal such quantity of crude oil? What are they using the money for when many people are hungry, homeless and sleeping under the bridge?

“ The crime is capable of collapsing an economy of a developing country. The perpetrators don’t mean well for the country and should be severely dealt with.

“I don’t support death penalty, but the offence is worth it. I will suggest that they should be sent to 25 years or life imprisonment. If the suspects are not fished out and dealt with, there would be a big challenge if Buhari is not re-elected after four years. If Buhari is not elected and another government 
that is worse than Jonathan’s come tom power, the country would be worse for it.

“If I were Jonathan, I would be ashamed of myself and refrain from making any comment. I think he should also be probed  because  it was before his very eyes that all this rots was  taking place and he did nothing to stop it.”

The Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos State chapter, Joe Igbokwe, said more sad revelations of the activities of government officials in the Jonathan’s administration are coming.

According to him, “What Nigerians are hearing and seeing now will be a child’s play when the full story of how Nigeria was pillaged and plundered under Jonathan is told.

“In the fullness of time Nigerians will get to find out that former President Jonathan’s tenure was a systematic regime of heists. I am believing God that President Buhari will have the energy, strength and power to go the whole hog in repositioning Nigeria in the comity of civilized nations. Nigeria is getting better and this, l believe because a good man is in charge.”

Ife declares 7 - days oro festival.

OBA OKUNADE SIJUWADE, OONI OF IFE

A seven-day sacred traditional oro festival known has been declared in Ile-ife, Osun State.

According to traditionalists, during the period of the festival‎, residents of the ancient town, especially women must not stay outaside beyond 7.00 p.m.

Meanwhile, major markets in the ancient town remain opened, as commercial and economic activities continued.

Also, the Ooni palace at Enuwa was devoid of the usual human and vehicular traffic, except for the presence of the private guards and about four police men manning the gates of the palace.

Though the reason for the declaration of the oro festival was not known, but informed sources believed it might be in connection with the alleged death of the traditional ruler of the town, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, which his chiefs have continued to dismiss and described as mere rumour.

Preferring anonymity, the sources said that whoever violates the traditional order of the oro festival might have himself to blame for a dire consequence.

According to the sources, traditionalists would use the period of the festival to appease the gods and perform necessary rituals that would make the town to enjoy peace and also avert looming danger in Ife and its environs.

The sources, however, disclosed that the festival had nothing to do with the alleged death of the Ooni.

They also claimed that this year edition of the festival only coincided with the “rumoured death” of the town’s monarch.

To prove that Oba Sijuwade is alive, they said: “There is a door that remained closed during the life time of a sitting monarch, and since the door remained closed, it means that the monarch is presumed to be alive.

“The closure of markets to business and ringing of a special bell to announce the death of the monarch are two major significant signs to show that a monarch has joined his ancestors and these are yet to be done.”

Crisis: Police take over Ekiti PDP secretariat.

Police on Friday took over the Peoples Democratic Party Secretariat in Ado Ekiti as crisis rocking the party in the state took a new twist.

Armed policemen numbering 50, one Armoured Personnel Carrier and operational vehicles were deployed in the secretariat to prevent attacks from the aggrieved members of the State Working Committee, perceived to be working against the interest of the governor.

The State Executive Committee at its meeting presided over by the acting Chairman, Idowu Faleye, suspended the factional acting Chairman, Mr. Tunde Olatunde; State Secretary, Tope Aluko; Auditor, Tunji Olanrewaju; Woman Leader, Busola Oyebode and Assistant Secretary, Mr.Femi Esan.

The SEC at its Friday meeting also set up a seven-member disciplinary committee to try the suspended members for anti-party activities.

The members are Kolapo Kolade (Chairman), Babade Ige, Animasaun Bamidele, Mrs. Lanre Fajuyi, Smart Adebusuyi, Dele Ajibola and Mr. Kola Lawal.

The party’s resolution was read by the State Publicity Secretary, Jackson Adebayo, whose appointment was also ratified by SEC.

But speaking earlier at a press briefing, Aluko, who appeared to have got the wind of the plot to suspend them, said Faleye remained suspended and lacked powers to preside over any SEC meeting having resigned on May 13.

“Nobody can push me out of PDP. I have invested and sweated so much to build the party. But if the party is heading for implosion, then I will take my destiny in my own hands, because nobody has the right to my happiness more than myself.

“PDP is being run in line with the constitution of the party. If this is the case, it came to me as a shock that the party could come up with this action through Jackson Adebayo and Idowu Faleye, who have been suspended by the authentic PDP leaders.

“Though, we owe it a duty to respect the NWC, but for the suspended chairman to do that was a deliberate attempt to destroy the party. It is rather frightening, embarrassing and also disturbing.”

Aluko told journalists in Ado Ekiti that they would not appear before any panel set up by Faleye as he had ceased to be the chairman.

According to him, 11 of the 14 members of the SWC are not with Faleye so he cannot have the quorum to take any legal action. He added that Faleye had not been properly registered as a PDP member in his ward, having defected from Labour Party.

“If somebody is saying the way to resolve the issue is by suspending others, it shows Faleye is not a core PDP member and does not know the constitution.

“I’m saying there is no suspension in PDP. I’m the secretary of SEC. For you to convene the meeting of SEC, you must give 48 hours notice. If this is the decision of the faction, it means there is a problem coming to PDP and we will not run from it.

“This was how the problem started at the centre and they thought it would not make an impact and now it has made an impact,” he said.

We share information on Boko-Haram with Nigeria - US

United States has said it is supporting the Federal Government in terms of intelligence sharing in the fight against Boko Haram.

US Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, stated this on Friday in a Facebook question and answer session.

Entwistle pointed out that the US government under President Barack Obama was doing its best to make Nigeria wins the war against terrorism.

The envoy added, “No partner is doing more to help you against Boko Haram than the United States. We hope to train more of your troops; we are glad to discuss weapons transfers and we engage in significant information sharing, which I cannot discuss in detail in this setting.

“We also are doing everything we can to support the population of internally displaced Nigerians from the north-east and to help Nigeria create conditions that will prevent something like the scourge of Boko Haram from ever happening again in Nigeria.

“The US has for years had a beneficial working relationship with the Nigerian military, especially in the counter-terrorism struggle against Boko Haram. Now more than ever, we are committed to assisting our Nigerian partners as appropriate. That involves training, sharing of information and, in some cases, helping the Nigerian military with its equipment needs.

“The Leahy amendment requires that for all countries, we can not train known human rights abusers or that our equipment not be used in depredations against civilian populations.”

Entwistle noted that paying attention to human rights would not distract from fighting terrorists.

He explained that on the contrary, it would make for a stronger counter-terrorism effort since it allowed the military to keep civilian populations on their side in the midst of the incredibly difficult task of fighting terrorists, who did not care about human rights or protecting civilians.

On stolen Nigeria’s money allegedly in US banks, the ambassador stated that the US government was ready to continue its efforts to “find funds that were ‘looted out of the country’ and may now be in the US bank accounts.”

He, however, urged Nigerians to exercise patience, saying the process of finding the looted funds was an “extremely complicated process which takes detailed investigation.”

According to Entwistle, the cases can sometimes take time in the US courts.

Appeal court orders fresh hearing of petition against Dino Melaye's election.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday ordered fresh hearing of the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Smart Adeyemi, challenging the election of Dino Melaye of the All Progressives Congress as the Senator representing Kogi West in the Senate.

The Kogi State National and State Legislative Assembly Elections Petitions had on June 18, 2015, struck out Adeyemi’s petition on the grounds that it was incompetent and had been abandoned.

The Independent National Electoral Commission had in its result of the March 28, 2015, election declared that Melaye polled the highest valid votes to defeat Adeyemi who was seeking a re-election.

Adeyemi and his party had filed a petition challenging the results declared by INEC.

But the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Akpan Ikpeme, who delivered the ruling of the three-man panel, had held that the petitioner flouted the provisions of the Electoral Act in filing his reply to Melaye’s response out of time.

According to the tribunal, the petitioner, who was served with Melaye’s response on May 13, 2015, filed his reply seven days later instead of five days stipulated by law.

Adeyemi had subsequently filed an appeal against the decision of the tribunal before the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

Ruling on the appeal on Friday, Justice Mohammed Adume-led Court of Appeal panel on Friday held that the tribunal was hasty, adding that it relied “heavily on technicalities” to determine the petition.

The appellate court in a unanimous decision also ordered a retrial of the petition on merit in the interest of substantial justice.

It also ordered the tribunal to accelerate the hearing of the petition so that the retrial is conducted within the 180 days period from the day of filing as stipulated by law.

The appellate court also rejected the tribunal’s decision to the effect that the response of the petitioner to the reply of Melaye  was filed seven days after being served with the reply instead of five days.

Justice Adume held that there was no affidavit evidence from the bailiff of the tribunal that the reply of Melaye to the petition was served on the petitioner on May 13 as contended by Melaye’s counsel, Rickey Tarfa (SAN).

The appellate court ruled that from the available evidence it could hardly be true that the petitioner was served with Melaye’s response on May 13.

The court held, “From the available record, the petitioner was reportedly served with the response of the defendant within 26 minutes the response was filed at the registry of the tribunal, but for all intent and purposes, it is practically impossible for the petitioner to have been served with the response within 26 minutes, more so, when the contact address of the petitioner is outside the tribunal premises in Lokoja.

“It is against natural sequence of human events for a court process to have been served on recipient in just 26 minutes when the recipient is not within the court premises.

“Findings of the tribunal that the service was effected within 26 minutes was not supported with affidavit by the tribunal bailiff. The tribunal was wrong in its hasty conclusion and in striking out the petition on technicality.”

“A tribunal has the duty to verify and evaluate evidence before it in order to arrive at a just conclusion. The tribunal was wrong in stopping the train while on its way to justice.”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and wife expecting baby girl,opens up about pass miscarriages.

Billionaire CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan are going to be parents. Mark shared the photo on the left announcing the happy news and also shared details about previous miscarriages 'to give more people the same hope they felt and help more people feel comfortable sharing their stories as well'. The couple were married in 2012. The soon-to-be father proudly shared this emotional post with his 33.2 million followers on Facebook.

"Priscilla and I have some exciting news: we're expecting a baby girl! We've been trying to have a child for a couple of years and have had three miscarriages along the way. 

"You feel so hopeful when you learn you're going to have a child. You start imagining who they'll become and dreaming of hopes for their future. You start making plans, and then they're gone. It's a lonely experience.

Most people don't discuss miscarriages because you worry your problems will distance you or reflect upon you—as if you're defective or did something to cause this. So you struggle on your own." 

"Our good news is that our pregnancy is now far enough along that the risk of loss is very low and we are very hopeful," he said. 

"Cilla and our child are both healthy, I'm extremely excited to meet her and our dog Beast has no idea what's coming." 

"So I'm already convinced she takes after me," 

"We're looking forward to welcoming her into the world and sharing more soon when she's ready to come out and meet everyone!"

Congratulations to the couple!!!

No more faction in the house,say Dogara,Gbajabiamila.

•Gbajabiamila 

House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara has said the Eighth House is set to work for Nigerians.

He said lawmakers in the lower chamber knew that Nigerians were tired of the prolonged face – off over leadership in the House.

Dogara spoke yesterday at the conclusion of a meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus on Wednesday night. The meeting ended about 12.15am yesterday.

He said: “There are no more factions in the House. What we have today is a group of lawmakers loyal to the House leadership and our great party.

“It is only in unity that we can positively contribute to the change we all worked for and move Nigeria forward towards our desired dream of a greater nation”.

He also said the Southeast geo-political zone, which was not represented in the new leadership because it has first-time lawmakers would be taken care of.

“We are working on that to see how the zone will be compensated,” he added.

Majority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila said the division in the House was over.

He assured that those perceived to have lost out, especially the Southeast, would be compensated.

“There are no longer factions in the House; whatever happened earlier is now behind us and we are ready to serve Nigerians to the best of our ability. It is not right to play the ethnicity or regional card for now but they will be compensated.”

Abiodun Faleke (Lagos) said:  “We are no longer fighting as you can see; we are now ready to work with other legislators and move our country forward.”

Abdulmunin Jibrin (Kano) said: “This meeting has healed all wounds. There is nobody here that is nursing any anger or ill-feelings any longer.”

I wanted to impeach Ekweremadu - Senator Ndume.

Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu

The Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, on Thursday, caused a stir in the upper chamber when he revealed how he collected signatures of other senators to impeach the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, in the 7th Senate.

Ndume stated this while raising a point of order to draw the attention of the Senate to an “offensive report” published in The Nation newspaper of Thursday.

The newspaper’s report had alleged that 22 Northern senators who signed the vote of confidence passed in Senator Bukola Saraki leadership of the Senate, were working against the interest of President Muhammadu Buhari, in the red chamber.

Ndume said he contested the deputy senate president position with Ekweremadu on June 9, 2015 with the intention to win but had to accept his fate when the latter defeated him.

He said, “I personally still want to be senate president. I also believe that any of us will not mind to be the senate president. As for the deputy senate president, I contested against the deputy senate president. I did not contest with him to lose that election.

“I contested with him in order to win that election but it is God that gives power to whoever he wants. What ever happened on the 9th of June, my friend Ekweremadu became the deputy senate president.

“Let me say for the record and for those that were not in the 7th Senate, it is not something of pride, but I stand here to say, he is here, that I am the only person that attempted to impeach him.

“ I collected signatures in order to impeach him because of certain things which I explained and we discussed.

“Why I am taking us through all these is because the nation is watching us and this drama that is going on cannot continue because that is not why we are here and this leadership thing whether we like it or not, whether we change it or we maintain this one, only one person will be the senate president.

“I want to say something about an issue that has been lingering in this Senate and it is about to distort or take us away from the main reason why we are here.

“I said it before and I am still maintaining this position. Each and every one of us here that is elected as a senator is qualified to be the senate president by all standards but it only that out of the 109 of us, one has to be the senate president while another person has to be the deputy senate president. It so happened, that Senator Bukola Saraki is now our senate president.

“Senate leadership has gone beyond an individual. You cannot become the leader of the Senate when the senators are not ready to accept your leadership. If two-thirds of the senators say today that I am not the leader I am out.”

PDP officials blew N12bilion in nine months - Workers .... Says NWC members shared money made from nomination forms.

PDP National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo

Angry workers of the Peoples Democratic Party have accused the members of the National Working Committee of the party of squandering N12bn in nine months.

Out of the total sum, the workers said N11bn was realised from the sale of nomination forms while N1bn was got from the sale of delegates forms.

They alleged that the money was squandered shortly after the sale of the forms commenced on October 27, 2014 till date.

The workers said this in their response to the letter sent to them by the party’s National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo, on Wednesday.

Oladipo, in the letter, had informed the workers about the decision of the NWC to reduce the party’s workforce by 50 per cent and to also cut the salaries of those to be retained by the same percentage.

The national secretary of the party said the decision, among others, would take effect from August.

He said, “Establishment staff who would remain are required to obtain individual letters of revalidation from their state chapters within one month of this circular to their suitability for service at the national secretariat.”

But the workers, after a meeting in Abuja on Thursday, sent a reply to Oladipo.

Their reply, which was directed to Oladipo, was dated July 30, 2015 and titled, “Re: Organisation and Restructuring of staff at the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party.”

They sent copies of the letter, which was exclusively obtained by our corespondent, to former President Goodluck Jonathan and the acting Chairman, Board of Trustees of the party, Alhaji Haliru Bello.

Also, copies were sent to the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, PDP caucuses in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum, Dr. Segun Mimiko and all the PDP governors.

Besides querying how the N11bn was spent, the workers also said they were aware that the party realised another N1bn in sales of delegates forms recently.

With this, the angry workers wondered how the party that was in power could be in a financial mess.

Their letter to Oladipo read in part, “While we appreciate the fact that the party is no longer in power, we are equally aware that the party realised over eleven billion naira (N11,000,000,000) in income from the sale of nomination and expression of interest forms in the last quarter of 2014.

“We are equally aware that the NWC collected over a billion naira from the sale of delegate forms via a company account called Morufi Nig. Ltd, Zenith Bank Account N0:1014041654.

“With this healthy bank balance, we find it strange that after just two months of handing over power, the NWC is proposing a 50% reduction in staff emoluments.”

They said that they were aware that the NWC members were in the habit of paying themselves huge sums of money after the party lost power during the 2015 general elections.

The letter read further, “We have also observed from publications in the media that the NWC shared outrageous largesse among themselves immediately after the party’s loss in the last general elections.

“We are appalled by the whimsical and derisory nature of the circular which unfortunately negates all known administrative procedures. We wish to recall that the national secretary, who is statutorily in charge of the administration of the secretariat, has never called for a staff meeting or held any interactive session with the staff since his privileged appointment.

“We wish to draw the national secretary’s attention to the fact that there are administrative procedures for the disengagement of staff whose appointments have been duly confirmed.”

The workers said they welcomed the decision of the NWC members to reduce their personal staff and also reduce their emoluments.

But they said they rejected “the directives for staff members to get revalidation letters from the state chapters as this act will amount to accepting our unlawful disengagement from service.

“We reject in totality the proposal to reduce staff emolument by 50%. This is because unlike the members of the NWC, the staff are solely dependent on their salaries and allowances.”

They said they still have unwavering belief in the possibility of the party bouncing back, and, therefore, urged the NWC to have the same faith.

The workers reminded the NWC members that the establishment staff of the PDP national secretariat were engaged on the basis of a well-articulated establishment manual that expressly stated the conditions of service therein.

However, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Olisa Metuh, told our correspondent that the party took the decisions because it realised that majority of the workers had lost touch with their state chapters of the party.

Ooni: Ife Chiefs meet with Aregbesola.

Ooni of Ife, Oba Sijuwade

The Royal Traditional Council of Ife on Thursday met Governor Rauf Aregbesola briefly behind closed-doors at the Government House.

The delegates first told the governor in the presence of some journalists that the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, was alive, contrary to the news in the media.

The detail of the brief meeting held behind closed-doors was not made available to journalists. The chiefs, led by the Lowa of Ife, Oba Joseph Ijaodola, had earlier said it was regrettable   that the Ooni was always a target of negative publicity in the media.

Some prominent indigenes of Ife, who were members of the ruling All Progressives Congress, were present at the meeting. They included Senator Babajide Omoworare; the immediate past Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Sikiru Ayedun; a former member of Osun State House of Assembly, Mr. Adetilewa Sijuade, and a former Special Adviser to the Governor on Youth and Sports, Mr. Biyi Odunlade.

The Lowa said, “We were all shocked when we heard the rumour of baba’s death. If at all such an incident had occurred, the Royal Traditional Council of Ife would be the first to know and equally break the news to the entire public.

“Sixteen of us are his chiefs and when he was travelling out, he didn’t look like he was going to die and should such a thing have happened to him, we would have been informed even before anyone would hear about it. We pray that Ooni Sijuade will live long in good health.”

Aregbesola thanked the chiefs for holding forth the monarch’s domain while he was away and he prayed God to give the monarch long life in good health.

Meanwhile, the palace of the Ooni looked deserted on Thursday when our correspondent visited the place.

There was no crowd. The hordes of okada riders, who had gathered at the entrance of the palace on Wednesday when newspapers broke the news of the Ooni’s death, were clearly absent.

While visitors to the palace including journalists were not allowed to go beyond the first court which houses the Press Centre, the Emese’s court and the police station, some chiefs who visited the palace were seen going inside the inner part of the palace.

A palace source, who spoke to our correspondent, said the rebuttal of the news of the Ooni’s death by the RTC was in order.

The source said although the monarch had passed away, the procedure for breaking such big news must be followed.

He said, “The Traditional Council did a good job. They tried as much as they can to ensure that things are done the way they should be done.

“Although they may not be able to do all those things the same way they were done about 100 years ago, there must be a semblance of it. He was not just an ordinary person, so the announcement of his death must follow the due process.

“The news quickly filtered out because it happened outside the country. Nobody would have known except some very few persons if he had died right inside the palace.

“You know that the same thing happened to one of the foremost Obas in the country (name withheld); it is almost two months now and they have not announced it officially. But the Ooni passed away outside the country; so it is difficult to manage the situation but the chiefs did what was expected of them.”

Asked when the corpse of the departed monarch was expected to be brought back into the country, the source declined comment.

I was once a danfo driver, says Fayose.

Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has appealed to members of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria against allowing themselves to be used by kidnappers to perpetrate evil.

Speaking on Thursday during the swearing-in of the new State Executive of the union in Ado Ekiti, the governor, who said he was once a ‘danfo driver’ appealed to the drivers to be orderly and not to be desperate.

He said, “Please, I want to commend you for contributing immensely to the development of the state’s economy, but don’t allow yourselves to be used by evil doers. You can see that some kidnappers were paraded recently. Information from them revealed that they have been using some of your members.

“I was once a driver like you. I used the money I got from driving to sponsor myself for HND at Ibadan Polytechnic, but I did not get desperate. All I’m saying is that being a driver you can make it in life. You will become what you want to become in life with hard work. Don’t join evil gang for you to get rich overnight, try and rise through the ladder like we did.”

He cautioned drivers against reckless driving, reminding them of the ‘don’t drink and drive’ rule.

“Though I am part of you, if you breach the law, I won’t save or spare you. You will be arrested and prosecuted by the security agents,” he said.

The governor, who recalled that he united the two unions — RTEAN and National Union of Road and Transport Workers — during his first term, said the occasion was a sign that good things were coming to Ekiti.

“We should emulate this kind of occasion. This is very good. We will always identify with this kind of achievements. You are doing a good job for this country. I don’t want to be the enemies of drivers, I want to be your friend.”

He also thanked the unions for standing by him during the failed impeachment plot against him by the former 19 All Progressives Congress lawmakers.

Fayose, who had earlier spoken at the 2015 Annual Conference of the Institute of Strategic Management, appealed to leaders to focus attention on how to banish poverty that is killing the potential of many Nigerians.

Speaking on the theme, ‘Strategies for Poverty Alleviation’, Fayose said his desperate bid to banish poverty in the land had propelled him to pioneer the stomach infrastructure concept that had become a brand in the country.

“In tackling poverty, the first thing to do is to empower the people. But before empowerment, you must make them look healthy through provision of food. Let them get access to you as a leader, this will give them a sense of belonging and relief.

“Some of the projects being executed by MDGs centred on poverty alleviation. Poverty has become a serious issue in Nigeria. That was why my government made the payment of salaries the first thing, because this will keep the people and the economy going.

“I receive close to 200 to 300 calls and messages daily on stomach infrastructure thing. Though 90 per cent of it is about money, we should not shy away from the fact that the concept has become a way of life in Nigeria as a good weapon to tackle poverty among the common people.”

I'm not expecting ministerial appointment from Buhari - Pastor Bakare

Pastor Tunde Bakare

The General Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said that he is not expecting a ministerial appointment from President Muhammadu Buhari.

Bakare, who spoke in an interview with Sahara TV monitored by inner room correspondent on Thursday, however, parried a question on whether he would accept a ministerial appointment if offered by the President.

Bakare, who was the running mate of Buhari on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change in the 2011 presidential election, defended the President’s style of governance, saying, “slow and steady wins the race.”

The cleric said, “As far as I am concerned, I am not expecting to be named a minister. If I am offered an appointment, when I get to that bridge I will cross it. I am already a minister of the gospel. Ministry is my calling and my life. The word minister means servant. When you expect nothing, you cannot be disappointed. I keep on doing what I am doing, to be a solid supporter of the Buhari movement and what he stands for in public life. I have no regret on what I did in 2011. If an opportunity presents itself, I will do it again. I am not seeking anything.

“Let’s not count chickens before they are hatched. The bible says the expectation of the righteous will not be cut off. That is when the expectation of the righteous is in tandem with God’s expectation. If you are expecting from God, the flesh can fail. Who knows tomorrow? In the next two months, when the ministers would be named, what if nobody is here or alive? ”

He, however, said he would continue to support the President in any capacity.

The cleric said President Buhari’s visit to the United States has improved the relationship between the two countries.

On whether former President Goodluck Jonathan should be probed, he said, “I will not advocate that President Jonathan should be probed or not be probed. A day or two before the inauguration of the President, the transition committee received a report. They worked on it for weeks.

“The President has looked into those reports. If there are anomalies, President Buhari will call the former president   and say things are irregular and the law should take its effect. But as for the witch-hunt of others, that is a waste of time. If you keep on chasing the wrong things, you will not do the right things. But that does not mean anyone who has done evil should get away with it.

Bakare said he would not support the restitution of stolen funds as amnesty for corrupt government officials, noting that this would promote a wrong attitude.

He added, “What Nigeria needs now are not so much of restitution. Some stolen funds that were sent back to Nigeria in the past went into wrong hands. What Nigeria needs is a clear example of good governance, the rule of law as against the rule of men.

“On the rule of men, might is right. On the rule of law, right is might. So if you can get ‘right is might’ in place, if you do something wrong and you are punished for it, those who have the desires to do similar things will know that there are consequences for their choices, that is where we are going. I can tell you that witch-hunt is not something that President Buhari would support. Perish the thought, it is not his character.”

Ambode receives C.E.O of Walmart- Europe, Middle East, Africa & Canada.

Is Walmart coming to Nigeria? Pictured above is Gov. Ambode receiving the President & C.E.O. of Walmart - Europe, Middle East, Africa & Canada at Lagos House, Ikeja

APC chieftain back Senator Ngige for SGF.

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra State and Businessman, Chief Nnamdi Ezeike,  has urged the party leadership to consider appointing Senator Chris Nwabueze Ngige as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, considering that the position has been zoned to the Southeast.

In a statement in Lagos at the weekend, the APC chieftain said Ngige’s pedigree, loyalty and administrative acumen puts him above other contenders for the seat. He stressed that Ngige is a man of strong intellect, integrity and that he is a loyal party man.

He said it is in the party’s best interest to appoint someone who is focused and committed to its rules and regulations like Ngige, who has been with the party from inception. He added that he was once a governor, senator, former President of Aka Ikenga among others.

Reps demand re-opening of ige,Marshall,rewane,funsho wiliam and Daramola murder probes

The House of Representatives passed a resolution on Thursday asking the Federal Government to re-open investigations into several unresolved high-profile killings in the country.

Lawmakers also called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, to take decisive actions against kidnapping, which they said had assumed an “embarrassing dimension ” in Nigeria lately.

Among those on the list of unresolved killings were a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the late Chief Bola Ige; Pa Alfred Rewane; Chief Funsho Williams; Chief Harry Marshall; Dele Giwa and Chief A.K. Dikibo.

It also included the killing of Dr. Ayo Daramola, Chukwuma Ogbuefi, the ‘Apo Six’ and the deaths resulting from attacks on communities in Delta State, Zaki-Biam in Benue State as well as Odi in Bayelsa State.

The House noted that those behind the criminal acts were still moving freely.

The motion on the issue was sponsored by a member from Rivers State, Mr. Kingsley Chinda.

“The House resolves to urge the Federal Government to urgently re-open investigations into the aforementioned high-profile and unresolved murders with a view to bringing the culprits to justice.

“Also urge the Nigeria Police Force to be more alive to its responsibilities in the prevention and proper investigation of crimes,” part of the motion read.

Chinda had told the House that the unresolved cases had emboldened the killers, who continued in their unlawful acts, forcing Nigerians to live in perpetual fear.

The resolution further directed the Committees on Police Affairs, National Security and Public Safety to monitor the investigations and report back to the House within four weeks.

On kidnapping, the House specifically asked the IG and his men to be proactive in dealing with the perpetrators.

The motion initially sought to wade into recent rising cases of kidnapping in Ondo and Ekiti states.

However, the House later amended it to cover cases of kidnapping in other parts of the country.

There was a mild drama when lawmakers from the South-South and the South-East disagreed over in which geo-political zone kidnapping first started in the country.

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EFCC set to probe Jonathan's ministers,aides.

Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has concluded plans to commence the probe of the former President Goodluck Jonathan with investigations into the financial transactions of his ministers and aides.

Inner room learnt that the Chairman of the commission, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, had already directed that all petitions against former public officers at the federal level should be forwarded to him to be acted upon.

Findings showed that former ministers, special advisers, heads of parastatals and those of other Federal Government agencies would be invited for interrogation by the EFCC in few weeks from now.

Our correspondents learnt that the anti-graft agency would focus on those whose establishments attracted huge allocations from the Federal Government when Jonathan was in power.

Such ministries and agencies, it was learnt, included defence, petroleum resources and power.

Three top sources in the anti-graft agency confided in one of our correspondents that Lamorde was “determined to expose any corrupt act during the administration of the former President.”

One of the sources, who confided in one of our correspondents, explained that anti-graft operatives had yet to arrest any of the former ministers, special advisers and heads of agencies who served under the former President.

The source said, “I am not aware of anybody who has been summoned or interrogated by the commission. Those to be interrogated would be determined by the gravity of the allegations against them as contained in the petitions.

“What happened last week was that a directive was issued to move all petitions against public office holders under the former President to the office of the Chairman.

“The files will be studied and assigned to units to handle the investigations. It is based on the petitions that people will be summoned.

“Most likely next week, action would be taken on those petitions…”

But the Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwajaren, denied knowledge of such a directive when one of our correspondents contacted him on the telephone on Monday.

“I am not aware of the directive you are talking about. It is not to my knowledge,” the agency’s spokesman said.

Reacting to the development, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Abdullahi Jalo, said the party was not afraid of a probe.

According to him, the party and former President Goodluck Jonathan have nothing to hide, saying all the party is asking for is that any probe must be within the ambit of the law.

Jalo said the PDP as a political party discharged its duty of providing leadership for Nigeria for 16 years and that it did so transparently.

He said, “I am sure Nigerians still remember that it was because of PDP’s desire to deal with the scourge of corruption that our government under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo established the EFCC and the ICPC. The records are there.

“All we are asking for is that there must be fairness and justice, whatever probe they want to carry out must have respect for the rule of law, good conscience and the fear of God.

“Such a probe must not be carried out based on vendetta or simply because somebody does not like the name or the face of somebody.”

Jalo also advised the All Progressives Congress-led administration to pay more attention to providing leadership to Nigeria, “rather than dissipating energy in the pursuit of trivialities.”

The Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, had in an interview last week, said President Muhammadu Buhari would probe Jonathan’s government.

He had said that the present administration would recover billions of dollars, adding that “the world is too small a place for anybody to hide if you are running from justice.”

“It doesn’t mean that anybody that has ill-gotten wealth will not regurgitate it. They will. Remember when he (Buhari) went to Germany for the G7 summit, he met with President Obama and Obama told him to just give us information on where the loot is hidden and we will help you recover it and the government has been working on that. So, that shows that looters will never go free,” he had said.

Operatives of the Department of State Services had invaded the houses of Jonathan’s National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) on Friday forcing the former NSA to a house arrest for 24 hours.

The security agency in a statement the following day accused Dasuki of felony, misuse of power and possession of destructive weapons.

It said it recovered from Dasuki’s home seven high calibre rifles (high assault weapons), several magazines, military related gear and 12 new vehicles, including five bulletproof cars.

A top officer of the DSS had confided in one of our correspondents that Dasuki would face further interrogations this week.

Also, the ex-President’s Chief Security Officer, Gordon Obua, was being detained as part of investigations into the security spending at the Presidential Villa during his time.

A lawyer to Obua has raised the alarm about the detention of his client.

The lawyer, Onochie Onwuegbuna, said in a statement that Obua had been in detention since July 16 without being told what offence he committed.