Selig Reporters' Blog

Boko Haram terrorists ambush Army Chief’s advance team

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai</td></tr>
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A soldier was killed in an ambush Friday during a daring visit by the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, to troops currently battling Boko Haram terrorists in parts of Borno state. 
 
The army chief, who arrived Maiduguri first, set out on the journey through Mafa to Gamboru-Ngala border town where regrouping terrorists were dislodged recently. 
 
On the way to Gamboru-Ngala, Mr. Buratai, a Lieutenant General, stopped at Mafa town where he addressed troops of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army currently manning the reclaimed community that is still deserted. 
 
He commended the soldiers for “a job well done” and assured them of improved welfare and allowances. Mr. Buratai said the issue of troops’ welfare was already before President Muhammadu Buhari. 
 
He however informed the soldiers that “there is still more job to be done and we have to do this once and for all so that all of us can go back to our respective barracks and continue with our normal jobs and soldiers”. 
As the convoy moved on to Dikwa, a message was sent in that an advance team was ambushed by Boko Haram terrorists and one soldier was killed while  two others were also injured. 
The soldiers in advance however subdued the terrorists by killing five of them and arresting five others. Those arrested surrendered their arms. 
 
While the Chief of Army staff’s convoy proceeded to Dikwa, soldiers spotted suspected Boko Haram members in the bush amidst flocks of cattle. Mr. Buratai stopped the convoy and ordered that the group be rounded up for prompt investigation. 
 
An elderly herdsman confessed that four of the arrested suspects met them in the bush and forced them to move together. The four suspects later owned up that they were members of the Boko Haram. They were immediately arrested and sent back to Maiduguri. 
 
In Dikwa, the chief of Army staff was welcome with cheers by over 4000 internally displaced persons from Gamboru and neighbouring towns, who were full of praise and prayers for him and the soldiers.  
 
He addressed them in the local Kanuri language and assured them that they would soon be resettled as his troops were working round the clock to rid the area of all terrorists. 
 
The convoy later moved on to Ngala town where a large number of solders were met celebrating the liberation of the area. 
 
Lieutenant General Buratai addressed the troops and commended them for keeping the morale high. He urged them to be more vigilant and ensure no Boko Haram is left to cause any form of attack on troops and innocent civilians. 
 
He was accompanied on the trip by the GOC 7 Division and other top officers from the Army headquarters, while the Chief of Air Staff also made the trip by air.

Boko Haram terrorists ambush Army Chief’s advance team

Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai A soldier was killed in an ambush Friday during a daring visit by the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Bura...

All I need to steal any car is wire – says car robbery suspect

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kehinde Oluomo</td></tr>
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If there is one thing Kehinde Oluomo has become adept at doing, it is carjacking. According to him, no matter what brand or how high-tech a car is, all he needs to break into it and steal it is a piece of wire. Oluomo, who was arrested by the Nigerian Police Force, Kwara State command, confessed to having stolen six cars through this means. The suspect, who said he was from Lagos State, explained that he started car robbery in 2013. According to him, his strategy was to monitor where vehicles were parked, ensured that nobody was watching him and then he broke into the vehicle with the aid of a wire. He, however, pleaded for forgiveness, saying he would never be involved in car stealing again if he is released. “I stole cars and sold them off. I normally sold to Sakiru (his co-accused). I have stolen only six cars. I brought the cars from Lagos to sell in Ilorin. I stole my first car in 2013,”Oluomo said. His co-accused, who identified himself simply as Sakiru, said he was arraigned for car theft sometime ago, but the case was later settled out of court. He claimed that since then, he had been an informant to the police, exposing to security operatives people involved in car theft. Sakiru said the devil pushed him into receiving a stolen car which led to his arrest by the police. He also expressed remorse for his action, saying he would never receive or buy stolen vehicles again. Another suspected receiver of stolen cars, Alhaji Oba Suleiman, who wept intermittently when they were being paraded by the police, said he sometimes bought stolen cars for as little as N25,000. The Police Public Relations Officer, Kwara State Police Command, Mr. Ajayi Okesanmi, said the suspects were arrested in Ilorin on Monday by the anti-car theft team of the command through the efforts of the men of the command’s Intelligence and Investigation Department. According to him, the suspects led the team to recover five different cars from different locations. The PPRO stated that the recovered exhibits included one Mazda 626 car with registration number MUS 995 DC; Rav 4 Toyota SUV with registration number ARP 123 MY; Volkswagen bus with registration number EQ 819 ABY; Toyota comfort car with registration number BB 855 MWR and Toyota bus with registration number APP 965 CX.

All I need to steal any car is wire – says car robbery suspect

Kehinde Oluomo If there is one thing Kehinde Oluomo has become adept at doing, it is carjacking. According to him, no matter what brand...

Buhari suspends Nigeria Immigration boss, David Parradang

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President Muhammadu Buhari has suspended the comptroller general of Nigeria Immigration Service, David Parradang. Mr. Parradang was asked to immediately proceed on suspension Friday while the service’s deputy comptroller general, Martin Abeshi, takes over, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. It was not immediately clear why Mr. Parradang was sanctioned. However, the Nigerian government this week launched an investigation into how a wanted suspected terrorist was granted a Nigerian visa in Lebanon to visit Nigeria. The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bulus Lolo, said Wednesday the suspected terrorist was of “Palestinian extraction and resides in Lebanon”. According to reports, the cleric, Ahmad al-Assir, was arrested by Lebanese authorities as he attempted to leave Lebanon to Nigeria via Cairo early on Aug. 15. He was reportedly arrested while attempting to travel with a fake Palestinian passport and a valid Nigerian Visa at the Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport in Lebanon. President Buhari had immediately ordered an investigation into the matter, and it is unclear whether Mr. Parradang’s suspension has any link with the matter. Also, the Immigration Service under Mr. Parradang’s leadership sparked national outrage in 2014 after nearly 20 job applicants died in stampede during an Immigration recruitment test. Ahead of the examinations, an agent commissioned by the Ministry of Interior, extorted N1000 from each of over 700,000 applicants. Despite raising nearly a N1 billion, logistics for the exercise were dismal resulting in the deaths. Mr. Parradang denied any role in the contract. He said the Interior minister, Abba Moro, handled the deal. An investigation launched by the Senate into the matter, ended without a report till date. EDITOR’S NOTE: This post has been updated to reflect the ongoing investigation into the issuance of visa to a suspected terrorist in Lebanon

Buhari suspends Nigeria Immigration boss, David Parradang

President Muhammadu Buhari has suspended the comptroller general of Nigeria Immigration Service, David Parradang. Mr. Parradang was asked ...

Buhari orders Police IG to withdraw orderlies from Nigerian ‘big men’

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 President Buhari on Thursday directed the Inspector-General of Police, Sunday Arase, to prune down the number of policemen attached to dignitaries. Mr. Buhari also directed the police inspector general to redeploy all policemen withdrawn from that role to regular police duties. The President also warned that he would not tolerate any irregularities or extortion of money from unemployed Nigerians in the coming recruitment into the police. At a meeting with officials of the Ministry of Police Affairs and the Police Service Commission in the Presidential Villa, President Buhari sad applicants having to pay bribes before being accepted into the police in the past was totally unacceptable. The President told the officials that those in charge of recruitment and training in the Police must be above board and eschew every form of extortion and underhand dealing. “You must ensure that the recruitment process is transparent. Those who will conduct the recruitment must be above board. It should not be heard that they receive gratification or extort money from those who want to enlist in the police,” Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, quoted President Buhari as saying. On the stagnation of policemen on a rank for many years, the President counselled the Police Service Commission to review the current structure of the police, and make recommendations on how the problem can be solved to boost the morale of serving policemen. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Police Affairs, James Obiegbu, had, in his briefing to the President, listed inadequate police personnel, dwindling finances and non-rehabilitation of police training schools as some of the challenges facing the police. The Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Mike Okiro, said the country needed to have more than the 305,579 policemen and women it has at present for effective policing. He thanked President Buhari for approving the recruitment of 10,000 additional policemen and women earlier this week.

Buhari orders Police IG to withdraw orderlies from Nigerian ‘big men’

President Buhari on Thursday directed the Inspector-General of Police, Sunday Arase, to prune down the number of policemen attached to di...

Buhari sacks Head of Nigeria’s Budget Office, Bright Okogu

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President Muhammadu Buhari today removed the Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Bright Okogu, from office. 
 
The reason for his removal remains unclear at press time. 
 
In his place, Yahaya Gusau, whose details remains unknown at this time, has been appointed his successor. Details about Mr. Gusau 
 
Until his appointment in December 2007, Mr. Okogu held several top positions, including Senior Economist, International Monetary Fund, IMF, in Washington DC; Senior Operations Officer at the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, Fund and Market Analyst, OPEC Secretariat in Vienna, Austria. 
 
He served as Special Adviser to the Minister of Finance (2004 to 2007) and also the pioneer Executive Secretary of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). 
 
Although he worked to deepen openness and transparency about the Nigerian budget for years, Mr. Okogu will also be remembered for failing to make details of the 2015 budget public several months after the budget proposal was presented to the National Assembly. 
 
Journalists and analysts also told this newspaper at the time they were denied the details, amid speculations the government deliberately refused to publish them online or in hard copies as done in past years, to avoid embarrassing reports and analyses.

Buhari sacks Head of Nigeria’s Budget Office, Bright Okogu

President Muhammadu Buhari today removed the Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Bright Okogu, from office. The rea...

Police arrest Aregbesola’s ex-aide for 29-year-old lover’s death

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Ogun State police have arrested a former Senior Special Assistant to Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, Mr. Bode Olugbore, after a 29-year-old woman, Kemi Arobieke, was allegedly found dead in his apartment. PUNCH Metro learnt that Kemi, who the family claimed was Olugbore’s lover, was found dead in the ex-SSA’s apartment on Saturday, August 8. Our correspondents gathered that Kemi, an event planner, came from Lagos to visit Olugbore in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, on Thursday, August 6, and promised to return on Saturday. It was learnt that Kemi’s family, however, got a call on Sunday that the lady had been electrocuted in the ex-SSA’s apartment, and her corpse had been deposited in a mortuary. It was gathered that the matter was reported at the Dada Police Division, and policemen from the station removed the corpse from the apartment. It was learnt that the ex-SSA was arrested thereafter. The deceased’s elder brother, Ayoola, who confirmed the death of his sister to our correspondents on the telephone on Tuesday said Kemi had known Olugbore for about four years, but the family initially did not know about their relationship.

Police arrest Aregbesola’s ex-aide for 29-year-old lover’s death

Ogun State police have arrested a former Senior Special Assistant to Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, Mr. Bode Olugbore, after a 29...

Ex-SGF, Pius Anyim and PDP chieftain fight dirty over multibillion naira centenary project scam

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The Peoples Democratic Party National Vice Chairman, South-South zone, Cairo Ojougboh, has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari asking him to investigate the immediate past Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim, over alleged multibillion naira scam. Mr. Ojougboh, in a five-page letter, dated July 21, to Mr. Buhari, alleged that the Centenary City project in Abuja, which was built by the Federation Government but which construction was coordinated by the former SGF as part of the activities to mark Nigeria’s 100 years as nation, was a scam. He said the government had no equity in the project and that Mr. Anyim, a former senate president, was the sole owner of the 3000 acres of the land owned by the Centenary City. Mr. Ojougboh disclosed the contents of his letter to Mr. Buhari at a press conference he convened in Abuja on Monday to react to the protest by a group, New PDP Reformation Coalition and Support Groups. Members of the group, led by one Danelsi Momoh, had during their protest at the national secretariat of the PDP on Monday, claimed that Mr.Ojougboh, a former member of the House of Representatives, was planning to contest for the position of the national chairman of the party and that he would ruin the platform if elected. “Behind the threat to the PDP is the inordinate ambition of one man, PDP Vice Chairman, South-South zone, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, in his quest to hijack the party for his selfish interest has contrived all manner of crisis to make sure the PDP dies,” the group alleged. “It appears the plan is for Dr. Ojougboh to weaken the PDP and if possible rush it into oblivion to allow the APC operate without any credible opposition and thus set the ground for a large-scale misrule of the country.” They also accused Mr. Ojougboh of masterminding the murder of some top politicians in the South-South region, including Aminasoari Dikibo of the PDP and Harry Marshall of the defunct All Peoples Party. At the press conference, the former lawmaker alleged that Mr. Anyim sponsored the protest over some outstanding issues between him (former SGF) and the Nigerian Export Zonal Authority, NEPZA) whose board he (Ojougboh) chaired. He said Mr. Anyim failed to answer questions relating to his personal interest in the Centenary City, and whether he declared such interest to the Federal Government. Mr. Ojougboh asked, “According to the NEPZA Act, does the Centenary City qualify as a free zone? Does the law establishing FCT allow for a free zone i.e is it in the Abuja Master Plan? “How did Pius Anyim obtain N1.2 billion he paid from his company’s account as resettlement fees? Is the money from the NDDC? On whose custody is the C of O of the Centenary City?” Mr. Ojougboh said the protest by the group showed “how desperate the former SGF and former Senate President can go to cling unto his spoil of office without putting into consideration the millions of Nigerians he is depriving of the dividends of democracy.” He said a few days ago, Mr. Anyim announced that he had sued him (Ojougboh) for N1 billion and that when that did not intimidate him, he (Anyim) immediately resorted to crude tactics and blackmail. “These activities of Pius Anyim are pure anti-party activity and accusing a senior member of his party of this heinous act is bringing the party to dishonour,” he said. “I urge Senator Pius Anyim to seek the path of truth, own up to being the sole owner of the Centenary City and return same to the good people of Nigeria.” Mr. Ojougboh said he had instructed his lawyers to petition the Government of United Arab Emirate, the Nigerian Immigration Service, European Union, the German Government and the African Human Rights Commission over the issue. He also urged the Inspector General of Police to investigate the murder allegations against him and asked the PDP “to ignore the ranting of this mass of protoplasm but to join hands together in building a strong united and virile party for the upcoming elections”. Also, in the letter to Mr. Buhari, the former lawmaker recounted how he was appointed NEPZA chairman by former President Goodlcuk Jonathan after the 2011 elections. He said on October 24, 2014, he got a petition from MC Pal Consult, an Abuja-based law firm accusing NEPZA of misappropriation of funds, corruption and impunity. Some of the allegations, according to him, were the alleged misappropriation of $5 billion paid to NEPZA and that the entity called Centenary City was an affiliate of NEPZA and that it (NEPZA) failed to disclose the interest of the promoters of the project to Nigerians. Mr. Ojougboh said on December 21, 2014, he also received another petition from the Anti-Corruption Network led by Senator Dino Melaye alleging that ‘the idea of certifying the Centenary City as a free zone was to give import duty waiver to the owners of the project through the backdoor”. He told Mr. Buhari that his initial response was to ignore the two petitions thinking they were frivolous and lacking merit. He said when Mr. Melaye later addressed a world press conference, he recognized the severity of the matter and immediately got in touch with the Managing Director of NEPZA, Gbenga Kuye, for his response to the allegations. “He said when Mr. Kuye feigned ignorance of the issues raised he asked the board of NEPZA to convene a meeting. “Senator Anyim Pius, a former Secretary to the Federal Government ordered the MD of NEPZA, Mr. Gbenga Kuye not to allow the board meeting to hold within the premises of NEPZA. The board then relocated the meeting to the Transcorp Hilton Hotel,” Mr. Ojougboh said. He said the Certificate of Occupancy of the free trade zones are kept in the custody of the Federal Government via NEPZA but that it was not the case with the Centenary City, which he alleged was used as collateral to obtain loan from banks. He also told the president that he has “since discovered the landed property appropriated in the name of the Federal Government by the scammers alone is worth more than four billon dollars. This is contradictory to the estimate value which Senator Pius Anyim declared in ThisDay interview. The question then: Why would he want to deceive Nigerians as to the actual value of the Centenary City Project.” Mr. Ojougboh alleged that as a result of the agitation on the eligibility of the Centenary City Project, the former SGF “persecuted me, recommended and ensured that I was removed as chairman of the board of NEPZA”. He added that after a thorough investigation he carried out on the various substantive issues raised by the scam, he raised an internal party memo to former President Goodluck Jonathan in April last year denouncing the scam and elucidated on its ramification to the nation. He said, “I also informed the President that Senator Pius Anyim has been in clear breach of the extant civil service rules on procedure and ethics as he was the sole owner of the Centenary City Project and operated the scam through his surrogate company, Messrs Company First Nigeria. “Also worthy of note is the obfuscation implicit in the scam by Senator Anyim of the names of prominent individuals and organisations eg General Abdul Salam Abubakar, Abubakar Kayode etc as nominal directors of the company while warehousing the entirety of the equity of the companies in the names of the two principal aides of namely Messrs Esther Onaji and Jonathan Onah. “The role played by Julius Berger Plc in the whole shenanigan was confusing as one of their staff by name Mr. George Marks was conspicuously listed as a director to further lend credibility to the farce of the investment vehicle being a reputable corporate entity.” Mr. Ojougbioh however exonerated Mr. Jonathan, saying “Yes, the former President signed the papers as was presented to him by the former secretary of the Government SGF, he was not properly briefed because of vested interests, I can defend him, he was not part of the fraud. If Jonathan had been properly briefed he would not have approved the project not to talk of going to perform the ground breaking of the project. “The former President thought that the Centenary city was for the good of all Nigerians because of the centenary spirit. Unknown to him, it was the private project of the former SGF and his cohorts. I am calling on President Buhari now to revisit the centenary project and he will be shocked at the findings that the project was owned by a private individual but procured with government funds.” However, reacting to Mr. Ojougboh’s allegation, Mr. Anyim said he was already in court over the matter and would not jeopardize the progress of the case. “Anyim has gone to court over defamation of character and he is claiming N1 billion,” Sam Nwaobasi, the media aide to the former SGF told PREMIUMTIMES in a telephone interview Tuesday. “The former SGF will not join issues with Ojougboh over a matter that is in court.” Also in a statement issued Tuesday evening, Mr Nwaobasi said, “The issue is already is in court. Senator Anyim has gone to court to sue him for defamation on the previous press conference and interviews that he has granted in which he has been accused of almost all these things you said he is saying now. “So the matter is already in court and Senator Anyim does not wish to join issues with him on matters that are already in court. “Senator did not raise people to go and protest against Cairo Ojougboh. There is no need for such thing. What he thinks and what he knows is very civilised. Since he feels aggrieved by what Cairo has been saying and writing against him, he is pursuing a very civilised cause of going to court to plead his case and that offers Cairo the same opportunity to defend himself. “So he cannot resort to engaging people to demonstrate which does not in any way mean anything to him. He did not, he will not, and it is not his character to so. So whatever Cairo Ojougboh is making, he will have an opportunity in court to explain all of those and then plead his case. “As far as Senator Anyim is concern, the matter is in court and he does not wish to join issues with Cairo in matters that are already in court.”

Ex-SGF, Pius Anyim and PDP chieftain fight dirty over multibillion naira centenary project scam

The Peoples Democratic Party National Vice Chairman, South-South zone, Cairo Ojougboh, has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari asking hi...

Buhari to personally probe sale of NITEL

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 President Buhari has mandated the ministry of communication to provide details of the recent privatisation of the Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL) and its mobile arm, MTEL, to ascertain whether or not Nigeria was short-changed. 
 
Speaking to journalists Tuesday after briefing the president on the activities of the ministry of communications, permanent secretary Tunji Olaopa said the president requested that a memo detailing how the transaction was processed be submitted directly to him. 
 
He said Mr. Buhari was concerned about the possibility of Nigeria not receiving a fair value from the deal. 
 
“The president was also concerned about the liquidation of NITEL. He is not opposed to its privatization but he wants to know… and he wants us to bring a memo on how the whole transaction was undertaken so that he would know whether Nigeria was short-changed,” he said. 
 
Mr. Olaopa said the president was very concerned about the whole issue of privatization that is hindering investments in ICT and said “that he will personally champion this”. 
 
“The president talked about the potentials of the ICT sector in generating employment,” Mr. Olaopa said. 
 
He said Mr. Buhari was also concerned about the quality of service from telecom operators in the country. 
 
The privatisation of the NITEL and MTEL was completed in December 2014 after the financial bid was opened in October 2014 by the Goodluck Jonathan administration. 
 
A consortium run by Skye Bank’s chairman, Tunde Ayeni, the founder of Sahara Energy, Tonye Cole, and two other companies, received the nod from the Nigerian government to take over the two companies for $242.3 million (about N42.4 billion). 
 
Their investment vehicle, NATCOM Telecommunications, emerged the sole bidder for the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited, NITEL and Mtel. 
 
NATCOM has as members NATSPACE Telecommunication Investment Limited, PCCW Global Limited, Prime Union Investment Limited, Olutoyi Estate Development & Services Limited, Legal Resources Alliance & Co., Sahara Energy Resources Limited, and LM Ericsson Nigeria Limited. 
 
Of the seven firms, Mr. Ayeni, profiled as a businessman and lawyer on Skye Bank’s website, owns three. 
 
He is the founder and operator of Prime Union Investment Limited, Olutoyi Estate Development & Services Limited, and Legal Resources Alliance & Co. There were suggestions that he has link with NATSPACE, but PREMIUM TIMES could not independently verify that claim. 
 
In December 2014, Mr. Ayeni led NATCOM in its acquisition of NITEL/MTEL less than two months after he also led Skye Bank to buy Mainstreet Bank from Assets Management Company of Nigeria, for N120 billion. 
 
In 2013, Mr. Ayeni was the chief promoter of Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Company Limited, a group that eventually bought the Ibadan and Yola electricity Distribution Companies, DISCOs. 
 
Mr. Cole is the owner of Sahara Energy, while LM Ericsson is a subsidiary of Swedish group, Ericsson. 
 
NATCOM, which merges the seven firms, appears to be a new corporate entity created solely for the purchase of NITEL/MTEL. Very little is known about the consortium. 
 
NATCOM emerged winner after NETTAG Consortium, another little known group, was disqualified for failing to attach a $10million bid bond to its bid submission as stipulated in the Request for Proposals (RFP) to prospective bidders. 
 
History of failed sales 
 
Before the acquisition, four previous attempts to sell NITEL failed. 
 
Nigeria started the process of privatising the national telecom groups in 2000 as part of the government’s reform of the telecommunications sector. 
 
In 2001, the government tried to sell 51 per cent equity to Investors International London Limited (IILL) as the strategic core investor. 
 
There was also the failed management contract by Pentascope in 2005, the aborted Orascom Telecoms bid in 2005, and the strategic core investor sale through negotiated sale strategy to Transcorp that was cancelled in 2009. 
 
The last effort was the strategic core investor sale in 2011, where New Generation Communications Limited and Omen International emerged preferred and reserved bidders respectively. 
 
Following the last failed attempt, former Vice President Namadi Sambo-led National Council on Privatisation, adopted the guided liquidation strategy for the sale of NITEL/MTEL.

Buhari to personally probe sale of NITEL

President Buhari has mandated the ministry of communication to provide details of the recent privatisation of the Nigerian Telecommunicat...

Verification of Buhari, Osinbajo’s assets yet to begin – Code of Conduct Bureau

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President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have not commenced the process of having the Code of Conduct Bureau verify details of their declared assets, ahead of making them public, the head of the bureau has said. Sam Saba, chairman of the code of conduct office, said the bureau was prepared to commence the verification of assets declared by the president and vice president, but said CCB was awaiting a convenient time for the two leaders to carry out the exercise. The bureau said none of two steps used for verifying assets has been implemented in the case of Messrs. Buhari and Osinbajo, nearly three months since they took office. “Both the conference and the field verification exercises are pending,” Mr. Saba said in an interview with the Punch, published Sunday. He said a conference verification involves the examination of the particulars of an asset, while field verification requires physical validation of the listed property. “For instance, if you say you have three vehicles, let us see the registration numbers. We don’t have to see all the details. Once we are able to see the receipt of the purchase of the vehicle or the registration documents, we are satisfied,” Mr. Saba said. “But we still have to see it physically and that is the second stage which we call field verification.” The Constitution does not compel office holders to declare their assets publicly, but amid an increasing scale of corruption, more Nigerians have intensified calls for asset details of senior government officials to be made open as an important step in combating graft. Messrs Buhari and Osinbajo’s election campaign centred on rooting out corruption, and the two leaders pledged to voluntarily declare their assets on assumption of office. The ruling All Progressives Congress (opposition before the elections) also assured that its president – unlike former Peoples Democratic Party presidents, Goodluck Jonathan and Olusegun Obasanjo – would declare his assets. Umaru Yar’adua, also a PDP president, declared his assets promptly on taking office in 2007. In June, PREMIUM TIMES reported how President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo ignored a recommendation of the Ahmed Joda transition committee that they declare their assets publicly as they took office. The committee suggested that a public declaration of assets would be a “quick win” for the administration. Reacting to growing calls for the president to fulfil his election pledge, his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, on June 6, assured that Mr. Buhari would make the report of his asset declaration public soon after verification by the Code of Conduct Bureau. “President Muhammadu Buhari has said that in fulfilment of one of their campaign promises, his declared assets and those of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will be released to the public upon the completion of their verification by the Code of Conduct Bureau,” Mr. Shehu said. He added: “There is no question at all that the President and the Vice President are committed to public declaration of their assets within the 100 days that they pledged during the presidential campaign”. The 100-day period since the new administration came to power lapses in September. The chairman of the Code of Conduct bureau, Mr. Saba, told Punch that the first step of the verification will commence once “it is convenient for Mr. President and his vice for us to go and do it”.

Verification of Buhari, Osinbajo’s assets yet to begin – Code of Conduct Bureau

President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have not commenced the process of having the Code of Conduct Bureau verify details of th...

Buhari seeks ‘fearless’ judges to try looters

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President Muhammadu Buhari has commenced the process of identifying a few fearless and courageous judges who will be saddled with the responsibility of prosecuting persons who have been found to have stolen national resources, THE PUNCH has learnt. Buhari had while granting audience to members of the National Peace Committee led by Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar in the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday disclosed that the prosecution of the indicted persons would commence in a matter of weeks. “Those who have stolen the national wealth will be in court in a matter of weeks and Nigerians will know those who have short-changed them,” the President had told his guests. Our correspondent however learnt on Sunday that the prosecution would not be open to “just any judge.” It was learnt that the President was committed to ensuring that only judges who would expedite action on the cases and would be fearless in discharging their duties would be enlisted for the prosecution. ADVERTISEMENT A source confided in our correspondent that that was one of the assignments Buhari gave to the Prof. Itse Sagay-led Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption which he set up on Monday. The source said it would not be necessary to set up special courts to try corruption cases since efforts were already underway to identify judges that would key into the President’s dream of ensuring that no looter was left unpunished. He said, “We do not need to entertain any fear that the prosecution of corruption-related cases will not be fast enough because many of our courts are already weighed down by many cases. “The truth of the matter is that not all judges will be considered to take up the cases of those who have stolen our commonwealth. “As a matter of fact, one of the assignments the President gave the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption led by Prof. Sagay is to identify fearless and courageous judges that will handle the cases. “The idea is to ensure that the judges who will handle the cases will not be just any judges. They must be those who will expedite actions on the cases and discharge their duties with courage. “You can see that with this development, the issue of special courts for corruption cases may not come. It is about special judges.” Our correspondent also gathered that Buhari was already considering withdrawing national honours from any individual found to have looted the nation’s treasury. It was learnt that the President’s position was that the nation should not be seen to be honouring any fruadulent person. “The President will not hesitate to strip any corrupt person of national honour. Can you honour a person for milking the nation dry? It is irrelevant how long such persons have been bestowed with the national honours, they will be stripped of them,” the source said. When contacted, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said it was reasonable that anybody found to be corrupt should be stripped of national honours. Adesina however said such withdrawal of national honours would not be done until affected persons had been convicted by competent courts. “Although it has not been considered, it is reasonable that those found guilty of corruption should be stripped of national honours bestowed on them. However, this will not be done before conviction,” the presidential spokesman said. While announcing the establishment of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption on Monday, Adesina had said its brief was to advise the present administration on the prosecution of the war against corruption and the implementation of required reforms in Nigeria’s criminal justice system. He said the committee was also saddled with the responsibility of developing comprehensive interventions for achieving the recommended reforms.

Buhari seeks ‘fearless’ judges to try looters

President Muhammadu Buhari has commenced the process of identifying a few fearless and courageous judges who will be saddled with the resp...

Buhari set to recover govt houses from Jonathan’s men

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 President Buhari has concluded plans to recover all government property still in possession of government officials who served under former President Goodluck Jonathan. The Federal Government’s assets including vehicles, buildings, generator sets and others were said to still be in the possession of the former government officials weeks after they had left office. Irked by the development, Buhari was said to have set up a committee made up of civil servants and security agencies to identify and recover the unreturned public assets from the former political appointees. The development is in continuation of ongoing efforts of the President to reclaim Nigeria’s stolen resources. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, confirmed the development to journalists on Sunday. He said, “That is precisely the case. Even here at the Presidential Villa, there are cars and other property belonging to the government,which are yet to be returned. “The property belong to the Nigerian people. We are not trying to humiliate anyone by asking them to return their cars or houses.” The presidential spokesman however did not disclose the identities of former government officials said to be still in possession of government property. But he expressed the conviction that the committee set up by the President would recover all the government assets. When asked whether the state and local governments were facing similar challenges with retrieving government property from their predecessors, Shehu said that he was not in a position to confirm or deny this. He added, however, that he would not be surprised if that was the case, as this attitude of holding on to government property even after leaving office must be a natural outcome of the culture of impunity that prevailed in Nigeria over the past years of the Peoples Democratic Party’s regime. “But change has come. That is why we have to do things differently now. Imagine how much Nigeria will save by retrieving and re-using these government property instead of purchasing new ones for new government officials,” he said.

Buhari set to recover govt houses from Jonathan’s men

President Buhari has concluded plans to recover all government property still in possession of government officials who served under form...

APC says Jonathan’s govt looted N11tn, PDP kicks

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 All Progressives Congress on Sunday alleged that about $56bn (N11.02tn) was looted during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan and that the Buhari government needed to recover the funds to fulfill the change promised by the APC. In the breakdown by the ruling party, it said $6bn (1.2tn, at the rate of N197 to dollar) was stolen by some of Jonathan’s ministers and that 160 million barrels of crude worth $13.9bn (N2.74tn) were lost between 2009 and 2012 while $13bn (N2.56tn) in NLNG dividends was mostly unaccounted for. The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this in a statement on Sunday. Mohammed’s statement read in part, “Some instances of the looting are as follows: N3.8tn out of the N8.1tn earned from crude oil (2012-2015) withheld by NNPC; $2.1bn (N413.7bn) from Excess Crude Account unaccounted for; Department of Petroleum Resources’ unremitted N109.7bn royalty from oil firms. ADVERTISEMENT “Others are: $6bn (1.2tn) allegedly looted by some ministers of the last administration; 160 million barrels of crude worth $13.9bn (N2.74tn) lost between 2009 and 2012; $15m (N2.96bn) from the botched arms deal yet to be returned to Nigeria; $13bn (N2.56tn) in NLNG dividends mostly unaccounted for; N30bn rice waiver; and N183bn unaccounted for at the NDDC.” The APC consequently lashed out at those telling President Muhammadu Buhari not to waste time probing the Jonathan administration. The statement seems to be in reaction to a statement by the National Peace Committee, which reportedly told Buhari that probing the past administration was not a substitute for governance. The APC, however, said there was no way the Buhari government could effectively take off if it did not recover some of the trillions stolen under Jonathan and that the party’s promise of change was based on the assumption that it would recover some stolen funds. The statement added, “It is absolutely gratifying that Nigerians are vehemently opposed to the few who would rather have the government of the day turn a blind eye to the looted funds and, in their words, carry on with the process of governance. “Truly, what sort of governance can go on if the billions of naira in a few hands are not recovered? In the first instance, the government needs every kobo of the funds it can muster to bring about the change it has promised Nigerians. “Secondly, leaving such hair-raising funds in the hands of the few looters is dangerous, because they can use the funds to destabilise any government. In fact, no one will be surprised if the looters use their dirty funds to sponsor public demonstrations against the government’s determination to recover the funds. ‘’Thirdly, allowing those who privatised the commonwealth to get away is offering a thumbs-up for looting. No responsible government will do that.” The party said that those who stole had embarked on an increasingly-bold campaign to discredit the government of the day and sabotage the funds’ recovery process, using newspaper columnists, ‘talking heads’ and otherwise respectable opinion leaders. The APC submitted that it was necessary to remind Nigerians of the “massive looting of the treasury” that took place in the past few years, so the citizens could better appreciate the seriousness of the issue at stake. The party said the listed “missing” funds constituted just a tip of the iceberg, adding, ‘’The level of looting that went on in other sectors is better imagined, hence the need for all Nigerians to rally around the Buhari administration to recover the loots, bring the looters to justice and to put in place measures to prevent such looting in the future.” But the Peoples Democratic Party, in its reaction on Sunday, said the figures released by the APC were imaginary. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a statement, described Mohammed’s statement as “reckless, irresponsible and highly provocative.” Metuh said, “In trying to escalate their stock-in-trade of lies, wild allegations and falsehood, the APC failed to understand that their baseless fabrications are capable of throwing an unsuspecting nation into chaos. “The spate of fabrications by Lai Mohammed has become a sickening source of worry for well-meaning Nigerians, including those in his party.” The PDP spokesperson called on Buhari and the APC, as a party, to call their spokesman to order before he plunges the country into crisis with wild and unsubstantiated claims. He said the APC-led government should get serious with the fight against corruption by investigating and prosecuting corrupt persons, rather than unnecessarily playing to the gallery.

APC says Jonathan’s govt looted N11tn, PDP kicks

All Progressives Congress on Sunday alleged that about $56bn (N11.02tn) was looted during the administration of former President Goodluck...

No one can intimidate me, Fayose tells Buhari

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The Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to tread cautiously and be mindful of the body language of those hailing him today. Governor Fayose, who said he was aware of sinister plots to destabilise his government because of his strong and truthful stands on national issues, vowed to “continue to speak the truth no matter whose ox is gored.” Reminding the President that he is not heading a military regime, Fayose added that he could not be cowed by threats from any quarters. According to a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose urged Buhari to take the advice of the former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar-led National Peace Committee, which told him to tread cautiously. The statement said, “Opposition is one of the roots on which democracy stands and any President or governor that does not want opposition will eventually become a dictator. ADVERTISEMENT “I want to state without fear or favour that I will continue to speak the truth no matter whose ox is gored. “Nigeria belongs to all of us and no one can intimidate me or the good people of Ekiti State who freely and overwhelmingly gave me their mandate. “Democracy as a form of government thrives on our ability to ask questions and get answers from our leaders.” The governor urged the President to listen to wise counsel from Abubakar. “The Peace Committee has reminded the President that he is not heading a military government and with the calibre of Nigerians in the committee, their wise counsel should not be ignored. “These are Nigerians who don’t need personal favours from the President and he should get the message very clearly that he is being told not to act as a dictator,” Fayose said. Fayose, who also advised the President to know that Nigerians were not interested in “any honeymoon,” but their well-being, added that Buhari’s achievements in his first 100 days so far were “harassment of Peoples Democratic Party leaders, appointment of his in-law and kinsmen into sensitive positions, selective fight against corruption and arrest and detention of INEC officials who worked in states won by the PDP.” While declaring support for the fight against corruption, Fayose however noted that “fighting corruption should not be synonymous with convicting Nigerians on the pages of newspapers.”

No one can intimidate me, Fayose tells Buhari

The Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to tread cautiously and be mindful of the body language ...

The daughter of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome turns gospel singer (photos)

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22-years-old Carissa Sharon Oyakhilome, the beautiful 
daughter of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy is now a gospel 
singer. Carissa, who turns 22 today, is pictured above singing with a 
group of other gospel acts at one of their church's programme recently. 
More photos after the cut...</div>
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The daughter of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome turns gospel singer (photos)

22-years-old Carissa Sharon Oyakhilome, the beautiful daughter of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy is now a gospel singer...

Check out what Miley Cyrus' 15yr old sister wore out!

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A 15-year-old Noah Cyrus dressed in all-black
 
ensemble with platinum blonde wig as she arrived Kylie Jenner's birthday
 party last Sunday. These Hollywood children grow up too fast...</div>
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Noah with her mum in 2007

Check out what Miley Cyrus' 15yr old sister wore out!

A 15-year-old Noah Cyrus dressed in a ll-black ensemble with platinum blonde wig as she arrived Kylie Jenner's birthday part...