Inner Room is a news agency, political, entertainment, latest breaking news and hottest gossip across the world and more.
Our professionalism is high and our experience an assets that can help execute required services.
Politcal Activist, Political Scientist and freelance editor to some Nigeria daily newspapers.
Lil Kesh has confirmed he is leaving Olamide’sYBNL record label which brought him to limelight.
Kesh confirmed this via his Instagram page yesterday.
“Ok so it’s true that my contract ended about two weeks ago. Like we all know, my contract with YBNL was for two years but that’s the business side to it. And did I state that my contract included three videos for me and one album? But Baddo went out of his way to shoot five videos for me. Business or no business, YBNL is family and will always be till I go 6ft under the ground. YAGI records is real with the support of my big bro Olamide, YBNL doesn’t just produce successful artistes it produces artistes that will help produce other successful artistes. That’s the dream Baddo shared with me about a year ago.
“If baddo did not believe in me my talent will still be wasting in the streets. It’s only proper that I start believing in other people’s legacy. So if you think YAGI, think YBNL, think family.”
Olamide also confirmed Lil Kesh’s departure from YBNL.
“Good day guys, sorry we didn’t put guys in the loop…maybe because we see no point in bringing it up because family is family business or no business. I signed two years deal with Viktoh and Kesh, it ended weeks ago but the bond is 007 (James Bond level) don’t touch it. Kesh got his own record label now #YAGI but still works with YBNL management.
Viktoh is still under YBNL management too so worry not. The world is ours for the taking… #YBNL #Family forever
Lil Kesh joined YBNL in 2014 and dropped an album titled YAGI, an acronym of Young and Getting It.
The federal government is set to reintroduce toll on some roads that will be built or reconstructed.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola SAN, made the declaration while fielding questions as guest on the popular Channels Sunrise Daily programme.
The minister said it would be pretentious to assume that the roads would get better if we continued to make our roads absolutely toll free. He added that, there would however be alternative roads to the ones that would be tolled.
Fashola declared, “We should stop being pretentious that roads can be had for absolutely free everywhere. There will be toll roads if we want to get out of this situation. There will be alternative roads as well so that people can choose.”
Fashola also talked about severance package for ex-workers in the three ministries. He explained that the record he met showed that about 50,000 such workers were due severance pay and that about 47,000 have been paid representing about 97 per cent compliance.
“Now, for me, it is a clear evidence of an intention and good faith to pay. Pensioners are about 5,000 and 3,000 have been paid; that is more than 50 per cent compliant. When I queried the reasons for the delay, they told me there was a verification process going on and the approvals they had to spend money on that process had expired. I gave them a new approval”, the Minister further explained.
He said the seeming delay in payment was as a result of the verification exercise going on adding that the verification was due to the allegation that when the payment started “people were altering records, issuing employment letters at severance point and backdating them to people who were not members of staff”.
“That is what has delayed this process. The money to pay is there but they said they are not going to pay until they are sure of the people they are paying. So that process is going on. It has to be properly done and when it is completed we will pay. These are the issues. So when people get angry or agitated, it is to do so in a context”, he said, adding that it is not an unwillingness to pay as some people have already been paid.
On the call for review of the privatization policy especially with regards to the Power Sector, Fashola, who recalled that the nation’s refineries were concessioned in 2006, noted that there was agitation then “by the voices that we are now hearing”, that they shouldn’t have been concessioned adding that as a result, the YarÁdua administration responded to that and stopped the process.
He declared, “I think our choice as a nation must be experiential. The YarÁdua administration responded to the agitation and stopped the process. But that was in 2007; where are we today, nine years after? We still don’t have the quality of refineries we want”.
“The Ministry of Petroleum just shared with us the hard work they are doing getting the refineries back on after about seven years. Perhaps, as you are aware, Dangote is now building a refinery. Perhaps if we had allowed that process, and I think Dangote was one of the concessionaires at the time”, he said.
Noting that government could start reviewing and nothing would happen, Fashola said in lieu of reviewing, focus should be “on getting what is on the ground to work”, adding, “And that is what I am doing, that is what I’ve told you about getting all the various power plants to work”.
The Nigerian showbiz industry recorded one of its most extravagant wedding ceremonies of all time on April 26, 2014. And the white-wedding (as the traditional phase had held a couple of months before) which held at the luxurious Armani Hotel, Burj Khalifa, Dubai, was between Nigerian singing sensation and super diva, Tiwa Savage, 35 and Tunji Balogun in his late 30s, (a.k.a. TeeBillz, his manager and lover at the time).
Bankole Wellington popular called Banky W, the president of EME label, was Balogun’s best man at the lavish weeding . Not in a hurry would one forget the glitzy account of that celebration of love. The fairy tale wedding was organised by an upscale events planner, Elohor Aisien of the ‘Prive Events’ fame, and to the admiration of all was Tiwa Savage resplendent in Vera Wang wedding dress, Joyce Jacob’s make-up with her hair embellished by Debola Falana while the groom clad in Mai Atafo’s suits posed amid the drooling of eligible and waiting spinsters.
The spectacular gig became the envy of others. They’d perhaps watched their co-travellers, Annie and Innocent Idibia who had wedded in the Arab city of gold just a year before and resolved to give the industry what to talk about for years to come.
You see why cynics were quick to conclude this marriage is but a farce? It was barely five months after the honeymoon that the cynics’ claim got validated. Words had travelled far and wide that the marriage was in tatters and it all sprang from a story posted online by a blogger, Kemi Filani, on September 26, 2014, which reads; “Bad news guys! Tiwa Savage and hubby, Tunji Balogun, are having issues.
“I have got some bad news guys and yes the parties involved can deny it but it’s TRUE! Heard this last night but didn’t put it up till I was able to do some little confirmations here and there…Tiwa Savage and Tunji Balogun’s marriage is heading for the rocks, but I pray they are able to manage the situation well…they are undergoing some serious marital crisis.”
Their marriage is barely five months old… but Tiwa can’t hold it in anymore, she’s tired of putting up with Tunji. He beats her etc… so many incredible stories I can’t even put here and it all revolves around her money. Three different sources in their inner circle confirmed this. “Kemi it’s nothing new abeg.
We were shocked when she accepted to marry him, he’s been beating her even before he asked her to marry him, but love is stupid sometimes.she agreed to marry him fine, we said ‘okay, do a private and not a big wedding in case things fall apart, but they said no…it’s money sharing formula that is worrying them,” one of the sources in the circle confidently told me. Today is Tunji’s birthday and although congratulatory messages have started pouring in, Tiwa is saying nothing and that’s ‘kinda’ unusual of her.
Also, she has sacked him and got herself a new manager too, someone else now answers as her manager. If you have noticed, since they attended the Nigerian Entertainment Awards in New York, Tee Billz and Tiwa have not been spotted together, nor have they shared pictures of each other on their respective social media platforms. Tiwa performed at her Africa Unplugged concert in London and the husband wasn’t there, and the same was the case at Mo Abudu’s birthday party and Senator Ita- Giwa’s daughter’s wedding.”
Filani’s account turned out to boast of some shreds of truth as Savage would later announce that she’d got a new manager, Emeka, a young man by the alias, ‘Mekka Millions’. But the ploy seemed like one to taunt Balogun because Mekka Millions was actually one of his acolytes.
Since then, the two were hardly ever spotted together. But weeks after Savage had sacked her husband as manager, they were spotted together at a Sunday service held at the House on The Rock Church, Lekki, Lagos where they fellowship. Savage, who had remained disturbingly silent over the matter would later shock everyone with a witty reaction, and it reads; “All sales are final.
No exchanges, no return, which means you MrBillz @teebillz323 cannot return me to my parents or exchange me.” In a previous report, Saturday Telegraph had published that the first cold war between the couple could have stemmed from the new wave of distrust that festered between the couple.
From the grapevine, it was gathered that Savage was irked by the manner her husband had been managing the family’s finances. it was learnt on good authority, that Savage was rude to Ayo Animashaun, the owner of Hip TV because the latter had breached their agreement to pay N2million for the exclusive coverage of their wedding.
Obviously disappointed and embarrassed, Animashaun told Savage her husband had been paid. Apparently Savage had no knowledge of this hence her reason to begin to probe other transactions handled on her behalf by her better half.
This and more evidently explain why Savage relieved him of one role (manager) and permitted him to continue with the other (husband). Two days ago, the hell was let loose with a damning revelation TeeBillz had made about his wife on his Instagram page. His unedited lamentation partly reads:
“Lord knows I tried. I can’t take it anymore. I decided that I wanted to take time out from music business so you and I will not be in the same basket of music industry. You never supported me from day one. Every move I made and every project I laid my hands on was going bad. Thanks to your mum’s witchcraft! Tell her to confess to you. Tosin Yusuf a.k.a. Omawumi’s husband.
I wish I met you earlier when I just moved to Nigeria. You have been a great friend and brother too. I should have done this two weeks ago, but the joy of being around didn’t let me. You have a wife that did not let the music business to take the best of her. I know how Mrs. Yusuf treats us when we are at your house.
I feel very at home and pray that my wife can get a life and be like this. All she cares about is her next single, her makeup, hair and brand. Pls. tell the world, have you asked your husband in the last three years if he has eaten? Thanks to Annie Idibia and Anita, my neighbours, that provided home cooked meals for me when I needed.
Yes you became the bread winner when I decided I’m not in business with you again. You will never have peace except my spirit forgives you. Tell your mother to confess what she mounted in the house for you to shine with my star. It is deeper than what you think. Within what period of time did you fuck Jazzy and Dr. SID but I didn’t care because of the love I have for you.
I looked at it that we all have a past even when at this same f**king time you were f**king with 2face.” And the tears flowed accompanied by words: “Lord knows I tried. The woman I gave everything has mentally tortured me. I’m not perfect but I am far away from being the best husband.
When I didn’t have, you paid the bills and you took my manhood away. You’ve thrown my clothes out of the house more than five times but because of the love I have for you and Jamal I still came back. I don’t want to go through divorce like my father who has been married for four times. Your mother humiliated me so much that I didn’t care. Please just take care of JamJam.
I sacrificed my life for you, put in work and my money to your success. You are Tiwa Savage, the superstar now. You will never have peace with that fame. Your mother wants to turn me to what she turned your dad into? I would rather die.
Ask her to confess what she has done to me!” The tension wasn’t doused as quickly as many would think, so Banky W, replied to one of his posts: “TJ, Please, please call me back right now.” Shortly after, it was reported by Linda Ikeji that TeeBillz was sighted on the Lekki- Ikoyi toll bridge, Lagos, about to commit suicide.
An eyewitness, Chukwuma Ani, shared the story. “I thought I was watching a movie. The man held the railing and tried to jump over it and that was when the yellow man held him and started shouting for help. The two of them nearly fell into the water. I quickly joined the yellow man to pull the guy out and while we were struggling with him, one P-Square twin brother, (Peter Okoye) and Banky W joined us to pull the man out,” Ani said.
A former associate of TeeBillz and musician, Saucekid, wrote on Instagram that he was not surprised. He shared: “It saddens me to see someone I had love for going thru it and keeping my mouth shut. I don’t do this social media bullshit. I mind my own business and handle my own business.
So many things happen behind closed doors, so many secrets will come out to the open, so many disappointments will happen even with the ones you truly love. What brings true happiness is finding you, being true to urself and worrying less about how others feel about u.
To say the least, being selfless is the key. I haven’t talked to my bro@teebillz323 in over 4 yrs nor have I seen him or cared to see him. But I must admit it saddens me to see him in such state. I coulda got ur fone number, email or whatever thru many means but I’d rather do it this way.
This is the only time I will use social media to express myself on this issue. None of these rants come as news to me. A lot of people will try to put dirt on your name and make u look bad at this tough time, do not break, All I have to say is whatever demons u fighting my G, come out on top.
Wish u the best.” The tale bears recalling that before their wedding, TeeBillz has had two kids with a lady in the United Kingdom. She had fought tooth and nail to keep her man who would later slip into the waiting hands of Savage in 2013.
True to type, Tee Billz would later deny the posts were not his but the handiwork of dare-devil hackers. But in an emotive confession Savage would later have with her friend, Azuka Ogujiuba yesterday, she held nothing back. Her words partly read; “Just before I went to Jamaica, I found out that I was pregnant. We were just trying to find out how we were going to manage another baby so soon.
I got to London, on a 10- hour flight to shoot a video with Busy Signal (Reggae Artiste). While doing my makeup, I found out I was bleeding and I passed out. I was rushed to the hospital, and we were trying to call TJ to tell him what happened. While we were sleeping at two AM a number called him saved as Edible Catering….
I checked his phone, and the number was asking him if she can come to his hotel. She responded that He (TJ) knocked her out last night, that he was a great night. I confronted him, and he said he took another woman to the hotel and said they were just chilling.
This happened the period I was in Jamaica, and I was in the hospital. I sent TJ pictures, and he was busy with another woman. I was in a hospital and you couldn’t be bothered find out what happened to me. I packed my stuff, took my son and went to my friend’s house, her name is Tiwa also. I stayed the night, and she asked me for the next step, I told her I was done.”
Virtue is not inherited. Neither is it bestowed on a man by chance. It is something that requires practice before it is mastered. If you ever wonder why Hajia Foluke Kafayat Abdul-Rasaq remains one of the most influential women in Nigeria, it is simply because she has mastered the act of being virtuous. Little wonder dignitaries turned up in their numbers to honour her on the occasion of her 60th birthday penultimate Saturday.
The life of the prominent banker, education administrator and business woman has been characterised by lofty accomplishments, but attaining the age of 60 carries much more significance for her in the sense that at three scores, she has achieved so much by dint of hard-work, dedication, determination and belief in herself. Abdul-Rasaq strongly believes that it takes the grace of God to be a success.
She holds a Master of Science degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Ibadan and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, Boston, USA. She is currently a non-executive director of the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) where she is the Chairman of the Bank’s Board Credit Committee as well as a member of the Board’s Audit, Statutory Audit and Nominations and Governance Committees.
Shina Peller is not called the king of night life for no reason. Although he owns one of the most electrifying night clubs in Lagos, he earned the title for revolutionising the night club business in Lagos. It is no news that Peller is a party freak. And when he organises a bash, Lagos freezes and socialites marvel at the affluence and glamour on display.
Another enormous big social event is brewing and Lagos is about to be rocked to its foundation. Peller, son of late Professor Abiola Peller, is set to slide into a new age with pump and ceremony that would not be forgotten in a hurry. In celebration of his 4th decade on earth, Peller is gearing up for an over-the-top shindig in Lagos and a glitzy party in London.
Shina has every right to celebrate. After all, not every son of a great man has the persevering spirit needed to best his father’s attainments. Although his father was a famous magician who left big shoes behind, Shina knew early in life that to carve a niche for himself, he must not only try to be like his father but be better than him. And despite being called ‘the one with the magical hands’, Shina has refused to toe the path treaded by his father. While his late father struck fame through his magical prowess, the fair-complexioned proprietor of Aquila Oil and Gas directed his energy to business. Thus, alongside his oil business, he established Quilox, a night club, bar and restaurant on Ozumba Mbadiwe Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Manchester United have reportedly not reached an agreement with Jose Mourinho for the ex-Chelsea boss to become the club’s new manager.
Since getting sacked by the Blues in December, Mourinho has been linked with a move to Old Trafford due to rumours that current boss Louis van Gaal could be sacked at the end of the season.
There have been conflicting reports over the last few months, but recently it was widely claimed that Mourinho is on the verge of being confirmed as United’s new manager.
According to Sky Sports News, though, no agreement has been reached between the two parties, and executive chairman Ed Woodward is still undecided on whether or not to let Van Gaal see out his three-year contract, which would keep the Dutchman at Old Trafford for one more season.
Mourinho has also been linked to Paris Saint-Germain, but it is believed that the Portuguese coach wants to take over at United.
Hundreds of protesters broke through barricades and threw eggs at police outside a California hotel where Republican Party front-runner, Donald Trump, was due to address the state’s Republican convention.
The demonstrations in the city of Burlingame temporarily delayed a speech by the billionaire businessman, the BBC reports.
Because of the protest, Mr. Trump had to enter the hotel via a rear entrance.
On Thursday, a police car had its windows smashed as Mr. Trump spoke inside a hall in the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. Some 20 arrests were made.
The Trump campaign had to cancel several rallies in March after hundreds of protesters threatened to disrupt events in Chicago and St Louis.
Before his speech on Friday, news helicopters showed Mr. Trump and his security detail crossing a motorway before entering the hotel via a side door.
On stage, Mr. Trump joked about the protesters, saying “that was not the easiest entrance I ever made.”
“I felt like I was crossing the border,” he said, and that he walked through “dirt and mud” to get to the building outside of San Francisco.
Many of the protesters outside his speech were arguing against his positions on immigration.
He has advocated building a border wall with Mexico which he says Mexico would pay for.
He has also referred to Mexicans as “rapists” and criminals responsible for bringing illegal drugs into the United States.
Nigerian songstress, Tiwa Savage has reacted to her husband’s, Tunji Balogun, recent internet meltdown where he accused her of witchcraft and infidelity.
Savage, Friday night granted an all-revealing interview where she told her own side of the story. In the interview granted by inner room correspondent Linda Bankole , the songstress revealed dirty secrets about her marriage where she accused her husband of financial recklessness, drug addiction, abandonment and a whole lot of other issues. “When I woke up, I thought they found him dead. My first thought was that we need to find him, he is suicidal, and we need to make sure he is alive. I didn’t even know what he had said. Someone took my phone from me; they don’t want me to see what was said online. I was just scared for his life,” she stated. Tiwa traced the history of the whole saga to her husband borrowing the sum of N45 million from someone, which he lost refunding EFCC on his trail. “I just found out that EFCC was investigating a case against him, and my brother called me from London and confirmed it that TJ is in deep trouble, and that some people might hurt him, that I should be careful. In my frantic mode to try and suppress this situation, I went to one of my big bros who can help. A week ago I told TJ that we were running out of Jamil’s food, but he didn’t do nothing. He complains, but cuts his hair twice a week. I have been searching for N45M so that they don’t kill him, so that they EFCC does not carry him,” she laments. In the 45 minutes clip, the Mavin Dynasty First Lady revealed how she walked in on TJ taking cocaine in her house in 1004 (Victoria Island, Lagos). “I didn’t even know he takes cocaine. I walked into the kitchen, and I saw him taking cocaine, so I screamed, and asked if that is cocaine. He started screaming that ‘What am I doing down here, where is the cocaine?’ How can someone without money take cocaine? I called his parents and complained that I can deal with weed, but cocaine, no. So I am dealing with his alcohol problem, you come home late, infidelity, cocaine, bad debt, jealousy over my success,” she said. Among other things addressed in the video are the presence of a hitherto unknown third child, accusations of infidelity, as well as her mum’s innocence. “The marriage is finally over, it’s been over for a while, and I have covered up for a while. What happened was God-sent, and he made it easier for me to walk away with what he did on social media. He got so many people angrier; he pulled so many innocent people into this, even his family. He made it easy for me to finally up and walk away,” Tiwa passes a verdict. She concludes the video by apologising for the role she may have played in the whole saga saying; “If there is anything that maybe I overlooked, or didn’t love him enough, or made him less of a man, then I am sorry. I am absolutely sorry. Tunji I am sorry. But you know I tried everything, you know I love you so much, and I am sorry, I never wanted to divorce, and I never wanted it to get to this. I want you to get better and I would always pray for you.”
The new education levy introduced by the Ekiti State Government is setting it against the Catholic Church, which has vowed to take the matter to court.
When the 2015 Ekiti State Education Summit was convened by Governor Ayodele Fayose to chart a new future for education in the state, nobody knew the outcome would generate a fresh crisis in the education sector.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Restoring the lost glory’, the Chairman of the Summit and the Oluyin of Iyin Ekiti, Oba Ademola Ajakaye, lamented that students could not construct simple sentences any longer.
“If we are able to get it right at this level, the story would change for the better,” he said urging parents to be part of the change.
The then Provost, College of Education, Ikere Ekiti, Prof. Francesca Aladejana, in her papers, said education should be built on strong moral values and religious knowledge, calling for a review of the curriculum.
In its resolution, the summit agreed that “funding of education is no more government business alone, all stakeholders must be part. It should be a cost sharing arrangement.
“Entrepreneurship education should be given priority at primary and secondary school levels; welfare of teachers should be given top priority, parents should intensify monitoring of their children and Ministry of Education officials should monitor teachers.”
The governor at the summit also promised to go after private school owners.
“We are going to take the issue of taxation seriously as no government thrives without it. Private school owners should pay up their dues and levies,” he said.
A few days after the summit, the government announced a new tax regime where pupils in primary and secondary schools would be required to pay N500 each and N1,000 each per term, respectively, if finally approved.
The state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Jide Egunjobi, made this known in a press release made available by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Idowu Adelusi.
According to the statement, there are 178,263 students in the 879 public primary schools; 48,960 in Junior Secondary Schools and 55,677 in Senior Secondary Schools in Ekiti State, making a total of 282,900.
Egunjobi said all stakeholders in the education sector, including parents and teachers, consented to the introduction of the education development levy at the Summit.
“Before now, secondary school students were paying N100 as PTA levy, N300 for Extra Lesson and N600 as Examination Fee while primary school students were paying N100 as PTA levy, N300 for extra lesson and N200 as Examination fee, making N600 per term,” he said.
“Apart from the Educational Development Levy of N1,000, secondary school students will pay N500 as Parents Teachers Association’s levy, N600 for examination, N300 for extra lesson, making N2, 400 per term while it is proposed that primary school pupils will pay N100 as PTA levy, N100 for Extra Lesson, N100 for examination, making a total of N800 per term.
“Students of public schools in Ekiti were paying PTA, examination and extra lesson levies before Governor Fayose assumed office,” the statement said.
Egunjobi reiterated the government’s commitment to the restoration of the State’s lost glory in the education sector.
The government, however, did not begin the enforcement of the levy until last term.
Nevertheless, on March 14, private schools in the state began a three-day strike to protest against the imposition of the development levy.
The National Association of Proprietors and Proprietress of Private Schools in Ekiti contended that the extension of the levy to private schools ran contrary to the spirit and letters of Section 42(1) (a) and (b) of the 1999 Constitution.
The President of the Association, Alhaji Saka Adeleye, said the private schools would remain shut for three days to protest against multiple taxation.
Adeleye wondered why the government extended the levy to private schools that enjoyed no benefits from government, despite paying 12 different taxes imposed on them.
He listed the taxes to include Annual Renewal Fee, Personal Income Tax, Pay As You Earn for staff, Personal Development Fee, Registration of Business Premises Fee, Environment Levy, Vehicle Permit fee and Tenement Rate.
“There is no infrastructural development extended to private schools. Nothing was given to us to develop our schools; all the government does is to extort us with taxes. Even during the outbreak of the deadly disease-Ebola-no kit was given to us.
“We use our capital to fund our schools. There have been no textbooks or chalks from the government. The government distributed laptops to public schools but not one was given to private schools. So what are we gaining?
“Even the meeting we were able to have with the Commissioner for Education (Jide Egunjobi) ended half way as he was summoned by the governor mid-way into the meeting. He promised to get back to us but till this moment, we never heard from him.”
The association described the policy as discriminatory and unconstitutional against NAPPS, which is an employer of over 20,000 workers.
“In view of the foregoing uncontroverted facts, it is practically impossible for members of our chapters to pay the new levy. It is our humble view that our amiable governor has not been well briefed or advised in respect of this matter.
“We call on the ministry to withdraw forthwith all the circular letters relating to payment of the newly introduced development levy in private schools in the state and/or any other development levy.”
But the state government has accused the proprietors of exploiting parents.
Egunjobi said school owners who cannot produce evidence of payment of other statutory levies imposed by the state will remain shut even after the self imposed strike.
Accusing some of the proprietors of inflating the levy, the commissioner noted that some of the schools had already collected the money from parents without remitting the same to the government.
“We have indicated interest to see the receipts of all statutory levies. Receipts of renewal fees, upgrading and approval fees related to the schools must be produced. I have text messages from parents, who claimed to have paid the education development levy, yet some of these schools are among those who have not remitted the money to the government.”
The case took a religious twist when the Catholic Church threatened to sue Fayose over the levy, advising the government to exempt its schools from the schools to pay the levy.
Citing Ekiti State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Law, 2005, the church said the state government had the obligation to provide free and compulsory education for every child of primary to junior secondary school classes.
The Bishop of the Diocese, Most Rev. Felix Ajakaye, stated this in a press statement made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti.
He threatened to file a legal action against the government “in the circumstance that any of the schools under my custody is disturbed.
“No law empowers the state government of Ekiti to impose Education Development Levy on pupils/students of mission schools in Ekiti state.”
Ajakaye said that the church viewed the new tax as another burden on parents, whom he said were already overwhelmed with taxes in different forms by the state government.
He recalled with pain how the state, under the military regime in 1975, “forcibly” took over 106 Catholic primary schools, seven secondary schools and one technical school without compensation.
He added that the new tax was unnecessary because schools established by the Church had been paying various levies and taxes demanded by both local and state governments.
“The Catholic Church in Ekiti land implores the state government to see the Church as great contributor to quality education and a formidable partner in the development of education in the state. Therefore, the status of the Catholic schools must be recognised as defined by their purposes and they should be treated accordingly,” Ajakaye added.
But the state government in a swift response said that there is no going back on the levy in both state-owned and private schools in the state, including the mission schools.
It said that mission schools in the state would not be given preference over other schools because the decision was reached by all stakeholders at the 2015 Education Summit.
The Commissioner for Education in a statement, said, “No other body apart from the federal and state government has power to make policies concerning the operation of both private and public schools in the country.
“It is wrong for any organisation to claim that it has its own education policy that is different from that of the state and that no law empowers the state government of Ekiti to impose Education Development Levy on pupils/students of mission schools in Ekiti State,” he said.
Egunjobi disclosed that seven schools owned by the Catholic Diocese of Ekiti State had already complied with the government policy by paying the development levy, dismissing the threat to sue the government by the Catholic Diocese.
“Christ The King Catholic College, Ire; St. Theresa`s Catholic School, Ikole; Ave Maria International College, Osun; St. Joseph`s Nursery/Primary School, Ado; Immaculate Nursery/Primary School, Ilupeju; St. Philip Catholic Nursery/Primary School, Otun and St. Louis Nursery/Primary School, Ikere have all complied with the government directive on the development levy,” he said.
The commissioner also disclosed that mission schools owned by the Anglican Diocesan, Christ Apostolic Church, Apostolic Faith, Baptist Church, Deeper Life and Muslim Societies have already paid the levy.
“It has become necessary that we correct the impression the press conference addressed by the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Ekiti, Most Rev. Felix Ajakaye, on the payment of Education Development Levy in Ekiti State was meant to create.
“In some states, Crèche Fee, Back Duty Levy, Entertainment or Merriment Levy and others levies are collected from schools and mission schools are not exempted.
“Whether or not mission schools should be treated differently does not even arise because most of the mission schools in the state have paid the development levy. Even the Catholic Diocese that is threatening legal action, seven of its schools have paid.”
But faulting the government’s position, the Catholic Bishop accused the state government of acting outside resolutions reached at the 2015 Ekiti Education Summit.
He maintained that the Education Development Levy imposed on pupils in private primary and secondary schools was not part of the resolutions reached at the summit.
Ajakaye said, “There was never any discussion, let alone any decision on Education Development Levy on private and mission schools.”
He said Catholic Church was one of the stakeholders at the summit and was not part of the resolution that such tax should be extended to private and mission schools, contrary to what the state government had claimed and made the public to believe.
Stating that Education Summit was different from Economic Summit, Ajakaiye advised the state government to look for other means to increase its internally generated revenue.
He said, “Here is a poser for the state government, why can’t it impose same education levy on public and private tertiary institutions in Ekiti State?”
“With the present stance of the Catholic Diocese of Ekiti on the imposition of the Education Levy, Ekiti State Government may decide to close our schools. We have to go beyond threat and weigh our actions today as we plan for tomorrow. Posterity will judge.”
In all this, the State Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, Samuel Akosile, advised all stakeholders to support the government to revitalise the education sector.
In a telephone interview with our correspondent, he said, “Government alone should not be left for the development of education. The task of developing education should be collective. We appeal to parents to pay the money.
“The private and missionary schools are all for profit making. They ply government’s road and so should be ready to pay tax. The privileged and the rich in the society, whose children are in such schools, should support the government.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, has said Enugu State will remain a stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) despite the challenges faced by the party.
Ekweremadu made the declaration in Enugu on Saturday during a stakeholders’ meeting of the party in preparation for the PDP congresses in the state.
He said the party has passed through several challenges for some time but will overcome them.
“Enugu has always been a PDP state and will remain a PDP stronghold in the country,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the Deputy Senate president as saying at the meeting.
He, however, urged members of the party to comport themselves during the congresses beginning at the ward level, adding that everybody would be carried along.
In his remarks, the former National Chairman of the party, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, commended the state government for sustaining the party in the face of trials.
Nwodo also commended Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi on the action taken to address the April 25 invasion of Uzo-Uwani by herdsmen.
He called for support and cooperation of all and sundry in taking the state to greater height.
The diplomatic process that will ensure the extradition of suspected looters who have fled the country will dominate President Muhammadu Buhari’s discussions with his counterparts when 60 world leaders meet in the United Kingdom next month.
Inner room learnt on Friday that the President would at the summit explore ways of bringing to the country politicians who were being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
It was gathered that the outcome of the summit would speed up the extradition of individuals, including a former Minister of State for Defence, Mr. Musiliu Obanikoro; a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu; and a former Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Force, Abdulrasheed Maina.
Others are the ex-Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke; her son, Ugonna; and a former Comptroller-General of Customs, Abdullahi Dikko, whose house was raided in Abuja in January by the EFCC.
Also included are a former Senior Political Adviser to ex-President and Coordinator of Goodluck Support Group, Prof. Rufai Alkali, who coordinated the disbursement of N320m allegedly collected
from the Central Bank of Nigeria during the 2015 elections and the immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, who is being allegedly investigated over $1.1bn Malabu Oil deal.
While Obanikoro, who is believed to be in the United States, is wanted in connection with the alleged payment of N1.45bn to his companies, Muazu is reportedly wanted over disbursement of funds to PDP zonal chairmen. He was reported to be in Singapore.
Alison-Madueke and her son are being investigated for N2.3bn disbursed to some staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission through Fidelity Bank before the 2015 general elections.
While the former minister is in the UK, the whereabouts of her son is unknown.
Findings revealed that some of the pacts that would be signed by the world leaders at the summit would pave the way for the extradition of those who were being investigated.
A senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who confided in Inner room , said at the sideline of the summit, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) and the Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, would meet with law-enforcement agencies from 59 other countries.
The senior official said, “The Federal Government is determined to bring politicians, who are under investigations, but have fled the country. The summit will afford the EFCC and the Ministry of Justice the opportunity of discussing how those guys will be interrogated for the offences they have allegedly committed.”
Efforts to get the attorney-general and minister of justice did not succeed on Friday as he did not pick calls to his mobile telephone or respond to an SMS sent to him as of the time of sending this report.
But a source in the Ministry of Justice confirmed to one of our correspondents that Malami would be attending the London conference.
The source said, “Though it is a conference of heads of state, the minister will attend with the President since it has to do with corruption.
“You can also not rule out the fact that there may be the need to sign one agreement or the other with some other nations. In that regard, the President needs the AGF to be with him.”
The AGF had, in an interview on Friday last week, said that the Federal Government and 59 other countries would sign agreement on the sanctions to be imposed on corrupt political and public office holders.
According to him, the sanctions will include travel restriction or denial of entry visa into the 60 countries; rejection of requests for political asylum by corrupt political and public office holders; likely loss of citizenship; non-approval of naturalisation for any corrupt person; stoppage of establishment of shell companies abroad; and banning operation of foreign accounts in any of the 60 nations.
He had said, “The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is stepping up the fight against corruption. I am happy to bring to your notice that Nigeria and 59 other countries will enter into an agreement in May on the imposition of international sanctions against corrupt political and public office holders. This will take place at the 2016 international summit on anti-corruption in the UK.
“At the May summit, these 60 countries will agree on some sanctions against those who steal public funds or launder money.
“Some of these measures are travel restriction or denial of entry into the 60 countries; rejection of request for political asylum by corrupt political and public officers; no more approval of application for naturalisation by any corrupt person; and the corrupt will not be allowed to operate foreign accounts in any of the signatory nation to the pact, among others.
“The affected countries will also design ways of sharing intelligence on corrupt officers and money launderers. We will all key into this understanding as part of the global action against corruption. “With this development, there is no hiding place for any public office holder who steals funds in this country.”
EFCC could confiscate assets of escaped offenders –Ex-envoy
Commenting on efforts of the Federal Government to extradite escaped suspects, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Angola, Otunba Folorunso Otukoya, said that EFCC could apply to a court for the seizure of assets belonging to Nigerians accused of embezzling public funds.
The retired diplomat also said that the agency could apply for the extradition of fugitives from their countries of residence so they could come and face trial for their alleged offences.
Otukoya explained that Nigeria has extradition treaties with a number of countries which could be
exploited to bring back escaped offenders to the country for prosecution.
He said, “There are many mechanisms for getting someone who is wanted: one, if you have extradition treaty with the country where he has run to. You would make a formal appeal to the government through a court process and he would be handed over to that government and they too would have a system of how to arrive at whether the person should be extradited.
“Other measures may be to impound his assets here through a court order whereby the person could come back and prove his innocence. You can also use diplomatic means to persuade the country of residence of the suspect that he will be given a fair trial; you will assure them that the suspect’s human rights will not be abused.
“That government may assist by encouraging the person to leave their country, not by extradition, but by encouraging him to leave after his visa had expired or they refuse to renew his residency in the country.”
The ex-envoy, however, noted that it may be difficult to extradite a fugitive in a country with which Nigeria has no extradition treaty.
Otukoya said, “Where there is no extradition treaty, it is difficult to persuade another government to send home a fugitive or offender, but if he had been found guilty by a competent court of law in our country, we can use a friendly nation to persuade that country to assist us to get the fellow to come back, but he will not be physically or forcefully extradited.”
A security analyst, Lt. Sola Oremade (retd.) stated that EFCC could explore a wide range of options
to bring escaped offenders to justice, “if they are serious and know what they are doing.”
He said the constitution stipulated measures, including legal and diplomatic options that could be taken against offenders and fugitives, stressing that it was important that the commission adhere to the rule of law in its operations.
Oremade said the anti-graft agency might be handicapped if offenders had escaped to countries that had no extradition with Nigeria.
He said, “If they (suspects) have escaped to countries that have no extradition treaty with Nigeria, there is nothing they (EFCC) can do to bring them back, they have to follow the law, you can’t go against the law in Germany, England or Canada.
“You can’t try to kidnap the suspect as they tried to do to Umaru Dikko in the 80s. You have to follow the law, do the right thing and show you are responsible. The other countries will cooperate with us if they see that we are following due process.”
Any anti-corruption summit is of interest to Nigeria –Presidency
When contacted, the Presidency on Friday said any summit on corruption in any part of the world would naturally be of interest to Nigeria because of President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption stand.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said this in an interview with our correspondent.
Adesina was responding to a question on the benefit of an anti-corruption summit of 60 world leaders which Buhari would be attending in the UK on May 11 and 12.
Although the presidential spokesman said all the questions raised by our correspondent would be addressed when the trip is officially announced, he said Nigeria would naturally be a participant at that kind of summit because of Buhari’s reputation.
He said, “These issues (on the benefits of the planned trip) will be addressed when the trip is officially announced.
“It may be premature to begin to talk about them now.
“Suffice to say, however, that any summit on corruption in any part of the world today would have Nigeria as a key participant, because of the zero tolerance of the Muhammadu Buhari administration for graft, and the reputation of the President himself as a man of probity, integrity and transparency.”
