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PDP Govs Accuse APC of Cloning PVCs, Fake Security Uniforms For Bayelsa Poll

Mohammed Useni
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PDP Govs Accuse APC of Cloning PVCs, Fake Security Uniforms For Bayelsa Poll

Ahead of the Bayelsa State governorship election slated for Saturday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum has raised the alarm, alleging that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is plotting to rig the poll using cloned Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and fake security agents.

The position of the PDP governors on the Bayelsa State governorship poll came just as the party said the people of Benue South senatorial district are solidly behind the former Senate President, Senator David Mark, to repeat his electoral victory in the rerun election ordered by the Court of Appeal.

In a statement by its Director General, Earl Osaro Onaiwu, yesterday in Abuja, the PDP Governors’ Forum said the APC had brought in Indians to effect the PVCs’ cloning in order to circumvent the electoral process in Bayelsa State since the party knows it cannot win without manipulating the system.

According to Onaiwu, the Indians, numbering five, are lodged in a hotel owned by an APC chieftain in Port Harcourt, where the card-cloning process was ongoing.

“The APC is desperate to capture Bayelsa State as an oil-producing state which fits into the party’s inordinate ambition to take over all oil-producing states which was proposed by Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State.
“To achieve this dangerous plan, the APC brought in five Indians, all IT experts, to help them clone PVCs for the Bayelsa State governorship election. We are raising this alarm so as to alert Nigerians, the Independent National Electorial Commission (INEC) and the international community on the machinations of the APC against democracy and the right of the people to freely elect those who should govern them.

“The INEC must demonstrate its independence and commitment to free, fair and credible election by being vigilant and ensure that it does not kowtow to the wimps and caprices of the APC by ensuring that only authentic cards are used,” the statement read.

Also, Onaiwu alleged that part of the sinister plot of the APC include the procurement of police and military uniforms for agents of the party to wear on election day to achieve their plans to rig the poll.

He urged the Inspector General of Police (IG) Mr. Sunday Arase, the DSS and military authorities to guide against the infiltration of their ranks by fake personnel of the APC.

“The forum appeals to the IG DSS and military authorities to ensure that only real personnel are on the field on election day and not fake APC agents who are already kitted in police and military uniforms to rig the Bayelsa State poll for the party.

“It is important to remind the security agencies that their failure to checkmate against any perceived illegality by the APC will seriously undermine their integrity to safeguard the people and could seriously erode the people’s confidence in the ability of the various security organs to guarantee their safety,” Onaiwu said.

EFCC Arrests Former Sokoto Governor, Attahiru Bafarawa

Mohammed Useni
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EFCC Arrests Former Sokoto Governor, Attahiru Bafarawa

Former Sokoto State Governor, Attahiru Bafarawa, has been picked up by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He is being questioned for his alleged role in transferring money from the office of the National Security Adviser, between December 2014 and May 2015.

This is coming just as the former Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, is spending his second day with the EFCC.

Ambassador Yuguda is being quizzed for allegedly receiving suspicious payments from the office of the former NSA. The former NSA is being investigated over two billion dollar arms deal.

Some of the monies allegedly traced to Ambassador Yuguda include 1.2 billion naira paid to him for unclear reasons.

He is alleged to have also received 775 million naira from the office of the Accountant General and another 1.275 billion naira from Stallion Group.

 

David Mark Flood Otukpo With Rice, Salt, Tomatoes, Begins Road Construction

Mohammed Useni
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David Mark Flood Otukpo With Rice, Salt, Tomatoes, Begins Road Construction
Following the nullification of the 5th term election of former Senate President, David Mark by the Appellate Court, the campaign team of the ousted legislator has flooded the city of Otukpo with iodized salt, rice and can tomatoes paste.

This is just as the Akpegede-born retired soldier has also commenced work on four different roads in the heart of the city.

It was gathered that among the roads billed for reconstruction are Otukpa, Owukpa and two others dominated by Idoma enone (west).

Mark has been criticized for refusing to attract develop to the area, which is populated by most of his political rivals.

It was also gathered that the road construction begins today, December 1 and is expected to reach completion before Christmas. The project is under the supervision of a certain Hon. Abel.

“As we speak, they have blocked Otukpa, Owukpa roads. The work is expected to start today, December 1 and reach completion before Christmas. We wonder where they have been,” the source said.

The rice crested with Mark’s picture and inscriptions that read, “Vote back senator Mark. If we retain him, the nation will retain us,” were apparently reserved after the general elections.

Already, Mark’s campaign team has been busy distributing the food items to residents of Otukpo.

It was gathered that while some rejected the ‘Greek gifts’ others accepted them and thanked the Okpokpowulu for remembering them.

Mark and Daniel Onjeh are expected to return to the polls after the Court of Appeal sacked him for rigging his way in.

“Count Me Out Of Arms Deal” – Bukola Saraki Cries Out Of Being Witch-hunted By Sahara Reporters

Mohammed Useni
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“Count Me Out Of Arms Deal” – Bukola Saraki Cries Out Of Being Witch-hunted By Sahara Reporters

Press Releases

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has dissociated himself from the N60bn arms deal involving the immediate past National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd). Saraki in a statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, stated that contrary to report published in an online medium, Sahara Reporters, he has never had anything to do with purchase of security equipment because in his entire political career he never served in any committee or body which has any link with Defence or national security.

“As a member of the Seventh Senate, Dr. Saraki was not a member of any of the committees which have oversight function on the Ministry of Defence or the intelligence and national security apparatus. If he was tagged the leader of the opposition to the Jonathan administration, how then will he be privy to Arms purchases and have the influence to blackmail any government agency or institution over the release of funds.

“The Senate President would like to alert members of the public to this new plot by this particular online medium, SaharaReporters to tarnish his reputation as the medium and its sponsors pursue the singular objective of removing him from the office of the Senate President, an objective they have since failed to achieve within and outside the National Assembly” This time around, SaharaReporters and its sponsors chose to drag the Senate President to this reigning and current issue of arms purchase by insinuating that he once blackmailed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to give him and other Senators the sum of N250 million as a way of covering up the arbitrary withdrawal by the NSA from the security fund approved by the former President. First, there is no logic in SaharaReporters’ claim as Dr. Saraki who was persecuted by the last administration could not have had the influence and good standing to walk up to the Central Bank to demand for any money having exposed many atrocities of the past administration.

Again, on what ground would the Senate President blackmail anyone for 250 Million naira? It must be emphasized here that Dr. Saraki will never engage in any sharp practice or issue which will warrant him to blackmail any individual or government institution. “Therefore for record purposes, Dr. Saraki did not collect any money from any official of the CBN in respect of any arms deal. The Senate President also challenge SaharaReporters or any official of the apex bank, Senator, serving or past, who witnessed or participated in any sharing of the alleged money purported to have been received by him, to come out with evidence. “It should be recalled that SaharaReporters believe it can continue to disparage and defame people claiming that it is operating outside the country. The medium cannot operate above the law.

“This same medium had falsely published the data page of a forged passport it purportedly claimed belonged to Saraki. The Home Office in the United Kingdom has since written to confirm that the said passport, does not belong to the Senate President. Also, SaharaReporters once claimed that Saraki bribed some judges using a former Chief Justice of Nigeria as a front. The claim has since been proven to be false. Anybody who knows the reputation of the retired Justice in question knows that he cannot be used to pervert the cause of justice. ”

It also claimed that Saraki tried to cover up the case of $20 billion missing NNPC fund and indeed collected “cash and gifts” from former President Goodluck Jonathan through Mr. Gilbert Chagoury when in actual fact the Senate President was the only member of the Senate committee who refused to sign the majority report of the Makarfi committee because he disagreed with the report which he believed did not address the matter. It is strange however that a man who dissociated himself from the probe report because he believed it amounted to a cover up was later accused by the same online medium as supporting attempts to hide the issue of the missing funds. This is not only completely false, but also a fiction concocted by SaharaReporters to defame Dr. Saraki.

“The game being played by SaharaReporters and its sponsors is clear. As they have done in previous cases involving the on-going trial of the Senate President at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, they are targeting the Appeal at the Supreme Court coming up on Thursday, December 3rd 2015. They want to prejudice the Supreme Court as they have done when they blackmailed a judge of the Federal High Court to withdraw from the case and also published false reports, which compelled the Court of Appeal to postpone its judgment at the last minute. “Whatever the motive of SaharaReporters, it is high time we employed the instrument of the law to stop this act of impunity aimed at publishing false reports believing the victims will not go to court or be frustrated by its dubious claims that they are domiciled outside Nigeria. ” We urge all Nigerians and other well-meaning individuals across the globe to ignore this absolutely false claim by SaharaReporters.

Like we earlier stated, this false claim shall not go unchallenged. We shall meet in court.

“We have allowed SaharaReporters enough latitude to indulge in their unscrupulous and mischievous method of journalism. However, enough is enough. We have no option than to commence legal action against Sahara Reporters in all relevant jurisdictions, particularly on the issue of fake passport, false claim of bribery and the recent one on blackmail, all aimed at tarnishing the image of the Senate President. “We need to put an end to this concerted mischief of defaming the person and good reputation of Senator Bukola Saraki. We will vigorously defend the integrity of the Senate President. We believe law and global best practices should guide these cyber-warriors. They have abused the docility of the law for too long. Enough is enough.”

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Yusuph Olaniyonu Special adviser (Media and Publicity) to the Senate President…..

James Faleke Sues INEC, Begs Court To Declare Him Kogi’s Governor-elect

Mohammed Useni
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James Faleke Sues INEC, Begs Court To Declare Him Kogi’s Governor-elect

The deputy governorship flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress in the November 21 election in Kogi State, James Faleke, on Tuesday filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, demanding his declaration as governor-elect.

Faleke also wrote Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC demanding the removal of his name as the running mate to Mr. Bello in the supplementary election.

Recall that INEC had declared the election inconclusive. It ordered a supplementary election which will hold on December 5.

Faleke had threatened to go to court following the adoption of Yahaya Bello by the APC national leadership as the governorship candidate of the party in the supplementary election.

Mr. Bello’s adoption at the meeting of the National Working Committee of the party followed the death of the former governorship candidate, Abubakar Audu, on November 22.

The party immediately forwarded his name to INEC as replacement for Mr. Audu and that of Mr. Faleke as his running mate.

In the suit filed by his counsel, Wole Olanipekun, Mr. Faleke, a serving member of the House of Representatives, said contrary to the claim by the electoral body, the election was conclusive and that as the running mate to Mr. Audu, he should be declared winner.

The court papers were served on INEC Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Faleke said.

The deputy governorship candidate had written INEC on November 26, insisting that he was the governor-elect following Mr. Audu’s death.

He asked the Commission not to go ahead with the supplementary election.

“In law and logic, no new candidate can inherit or be a beneficiary of the votes already cast, counted and declared by INEC before that candidate was nominated and purportedly sponsored,” Mr. Faleke wrote through Mr. Olanipekun.

“Assuming without conceding that INEC is even right to order a supplementary election, the votes already cast, counted and declared on Saturday, 25th November 2015, were votes for the joint constitutional ticket of Prince Abubakar Audu and our client.

“Therefore, no new or ‘supplementary’ candidate can hijack, aggregate, appropriate or inherit the said votes.”

In another letter to APC Chairman, John Oyegun, Mr. Faleke urged his party to distance itself from the “Greek Gift” being offered to it to nominate a new candidate for a planned supplementary election in 91 polling units. He said

He added that the election had already been won and lost, and that the party should rather support him in actualizing the mandate already given to APC and its candidates.

According to the result declared by INEC, Mr. Audu had the highest number of votes thus leading the 21 other candidates, including the incumbent governor of Kogi State, Idris Wada, who was the flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Breaking News: Raymond Dokpesi Of AIT Arrested Over Arms Purchase Scandal

Mohammed Useni
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Breaking News: Raymond Dokpesi Of AIT Arrested Over Arms Purchase Scandal

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, says it has arrested the former Chairman of Daar Communications, Chief Raymond Dokpesi.

He was picked up in Abuja at about noon on Tuesday and was accompanied to the office of the EFCC by his son Raymond Dokpesi Jnr., who is the current Chairman of Daar Communications.

The Head of Media in the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, told Channels Television that Chief Dokpesi was arrested in connection with money disbursed from the office of the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.

He said that there was no explanation about what the money was meant for and it was pathetic that the office of the NSA was used as “a warehouse to dish out money to people”.

He added that very worrisome is that this hard-earned money is taken from the coffers of the country.

When contacted, Mr Mike Ozekhome (SAN), lawyer to Dokpesi said that it is a return to authoritarian regime as only last week Daar Communications Holdings, not Dokpesi, was invited by the EFCC to explain alleged contracts to the company from the office of the former National Security Adviser and that tax payments and other documents should be supplied to EFCC.

He said that as far he knew, no contract was gotten from the office of the NSA but that he sent a lawyer from his chamber, Barrister Justine Omogbemeh to accompany Dokpesi to the EFCC office.

“I do not regard this as an arrest. If you are invited by the EFCC that is not the same thing as an arrest. We got this information through a mere phone call. There is no warrant of arrest and as a well-respected obedient nationalist, Chief Dokpesi decided to go and answer the invitation,” he said.

I Will Back Igbo Presidency In 2019, Says Babangida

Mohammed Useni
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I Will Back Igbo Presidency In 2019, Says Babangida
Former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida, has said that he would support Igbo president in 2019. He, however, condemned Biafra
agitation, describing it as a distraction the nation doesn’t need at this state of her life.

The former military ruler, who disclosed this in Minna in an interview with some journalists, said: “We do not need this distraction now…”
but added that, “I will vote for an Igbo president in 2019, if I find one.”

On his present relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari, who had accused him of staging the 1985 coup to save General Aliyu Gusau and himself, said all is well between him and President Buhari.

Babangida told a story of their 2006 encounter arranged by former Abia governor, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, as proof that there is no love lost
between them; adding, “One thing you guys in the media want is for us to be exchanging words with each other each time we see.”

He also spoke on June 12 and how he received the news of the death of the winner of the election, Chief MKO Abiola, saying, he “was
shocked,” but without regret.

“Do you believe he (Abiola) died of natural causes?” I should know? I didn’t serve the tea…”

He also spoke on the two “most traumatic” coups during his eight-year regime , the Mamman Vatsa and Gideon Orkar coups, revealing, for the first time, a meeting he had with Vatsa before his trial began.

The interview also covered Dele Giwa and the C130 Hercules plane crash in Ejigbo, which left 150 military officers dead.

‘Remi Oyeyemi: The Biafran Truth And The Illegal Trial of Nnamdi Kanu

Mohammed Useni
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‘Remi Oyeyemi: The Biafran Truth And The Illegal Trial of Nnamdi Kanu

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
– Arthur Schopenhauer

“I’m for truth, mo matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it’s for or against.”
– Malcom X

With trepidation, I have been watching the subtle descent into dictatorship by the administration of Mohammadu Buhari. I have been watching with disgust President Buhari’s war against freedom of speech. I am very concerned about desperate attempts by President Buhari and his sentries to muzzle the voice of self determination. I am very upset that a government of All Progressive Congress that claimed to love freedom is engaged in deliberate subjugation of innocent citizens who happens to have different views about the state of the polity.

I am very concerned that an innocent man is being denied his freedom. I am scared that an innocent man is being subjected to illegal detention. I am not comfortable that an innocent man is being tried for desiring freedom for his people. I am very disturbed that a non-violent man is being inflicted with unwarranted and undeserved travails. I am worried that a lot of unwary observers who are not properly schooled in the elementary tenets of democracy are vilifying an innocent man.

Nnamdi Kanu is an innocent man. He has not committed any crime to make him deserve the kind of treatment being meted out to him. You do not have to like Nnamdi Kanu. You do not have to agree with him or his desires for his people. But no one has the right to deny him his fundamental human right to be free. No one has the right to deny him the right to self-determine his destiny as he sees it or wants it. No one has the right to shut him up because they do not like what he is saying or because they feel threatened by what he is saying.

Mr. Kanu’s exploits are known to all and sundry. His desire is to have a homeland for his people. His desire is to free his people from the shackles of Nigeria. His desire is to see his people get to the promised land of Biafra. His dream is to see his people in control of their own destiny. His desire is to have a say in who governs him and his people. His desire is to ensure that no oligarchy or neo-oligarchic interests within the Ndigbo homeland is able to hold his people in bondage. His desire is to be able to water the tree of liberty for his people. There is nothing criminal in or about all this.

In all this, he has only employed semantics. He has only deployed sophistry. He had only appropriated the airwaves to be able to reach his people. He has not acquired arms. He has not killed anybody. He has not declared any armed war against anyone or organization. The only war he has ever declared is against the continued subjugation, enslavement and denigration of his Igbo people. It is a war of idea. A war of and for the minds of his people to see what he is seeing, to desire what he is desiring, to dream what he is dreaming. And he is doing that peacefully. He has been able to make his case to the majority of Ndigbo and the youths of that nation who are indeed the future of Biafra.

He is mobilizing his people to engage in the struggle to be free from their enslavement by the Nigerian State. He is making a clarion call for his people to stand up for their rights and self determine their destinies, or collective destiny. He has been innovative. He has been peaceful. He has been determined. He has been methodical. He has been deliberate. He has been consistent. He has persevered. And he is making sacrifices. There is nothing criminal in or about this.

Nnamdi Kanu has a dream: a dream of Biafra. He has a dream of the land of the Rising Sun; where there is freedom and liberty; a dream of Biafra where the people are free to be in control of their own destinies. He has a dream of Biafra where the sons and daughters of Biafra can reach for the sky and penetrate the heavens. He has a dream of Biafra where there would not be a despicable federal character that denies the talented and the gifted of Ndigbo the opportunity to achieve their potential. He has a dream where Biafra would be able to take its rightful place in the comity of nations. There is nothing criminal in or about any of this.

So far, apart from those benefiting from the miseries of the Ndigbo nation; apart from the sentries of the status quo; apart from the carpetbaggers and political dealers of the Nigerian State; apart from the scallywags and scared agents of the Nigerian State, Nnamdi Kanu is beloved by the majority of his Ndigbo people and every lover of freedom across the world. If anyone is in doubt of this claim, they should call for the referendum of the people of the Igbo Nation. This would settle the case at least for a while.

Even, if Nnamdi Kanu is a minority voice, he is still entitled to his freedom of speech, freedom to desire, freedom of association, freedom to seek liberation for the people who may or may not want it. The fact that not many people really cares about “heaven” as the Christians call it, or “Aljana” as the Muslims call it has not stopped the Pastors, Evangelists, Reverends and the Imams from preaching their beliefs. Nnamdi Kanu should be allowed to preach his Biafran Gospel. The Ndigbo have the right to believe him or ignore him. They have the choice to follow him or reject him.

The continued detention and trial of Mr. Kanu by this administration is illegal. It is uncalled for in a free society. It is unwarranted in a democracy. It is unfair to any man or woman. It is illegal. It is unacceptable. We do not have to agree with Mr. Kanu before we all protect his rights. We do not all have to believe in Biafra before we protect his freedom. We do not have to be Igbo to protect his desire for self determination for himself and his people. We all must champion his freedom from illegal detention and trial.

From what has transpired so far, it all looks like an oligarchic conspiracy. Everything is pointing to signs of fear by the enslavers within the Nigerian State. It is suggestive that some neo-colonialists who control the levers of power of the Nigerian State are scared stiff of Biafra and other growing voices of freedom from the subjugation of the Nigerian State. The Hausa-Fulani neo-colonialists and their sentries in Yoruba land, Igbo land and Birom land, Nupe land, Kataf land, Mumuye land, Kanuri land among several others are jittery.

They are not only jittery, they are panicking. They are scared that the slaves are about to break free. They are afraid that the slaves are about to do away with their shackles and chains. They are nervous that the captives are about to break down the walls of subjugation. The dilating dawn of freedom is drowning their deceit and duplicity. They are brimming with tension. They are threatening violence against non-violence agitation. They are murdering freedom fighters and stigmatizing them as criminals. They are shooting and maiming freedom fighters and stigmatizing them as troublemakers. They are resorting to everything and anything to hold on to a modernized feudalism euphemized as “democracy.”

Nnamdi Kanu should not worry about his being detained if he is reading this. He should not be concerned about his trial. This is a battle between body and mind. It is a battle between injustice and justice. It is a battle between matter and spirit. In all these battles, the mind would overcome the body, justice will vanquish injustice and spirit will defeat matter. This is because Nnamdi Kanu represents an idea. It is an idea whose time has come.

Though, the Biafra idea might not be Kanu’s originally, but he is, as at present, the physical representative of that idea. It is not this idea that has created the present crisis. It is the crisis of the Nigerian State that has created the Biafran idea. The Nigerian state and its odious purveyors may be able to subjugate your body, they may be able to vilify and malign your name for desiring freedom for your people, but they would not, should not and must not be able to destroy your spirit. They would not be able to defeat the idea of Biafra. The only people who would be able to defeat the Biafran idea are the Biafran people if they choose to. Otherwise, any effort on the part of the decadent Nigerian State would come to futility. It is a matter of time. Not a matter of if.

For those who believe in the truths of Biafra as a Nation, they should remember the words of Elvis Presley, the American music icon, “Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t going away.” The land of the Rising Sun is not going away. Nnamdi Kanu is not going away. The desire for self determination is not going away. The determination to be free from the shackles of the Nigerian State is not going away. Biafra is not going away.

You can take Nnamdi Kanu’s body out of circulation. You can imprison him. You can try him several times over. You can shoot, maim, kill and or murder his followers and those who believe in him, but what he stands for, Biafra, is not going away. Biafra was conceived as an idea. The obnoxious Nigerian State is its incorrigible catalyst. Then it became a belief. It has become a dream of all proud Ndigbo. It is a dream contextualized in reality. It is going to be achieved.

To someone like me, who believes fervently in Oodua, who prays for and preaches for the advent of an Oodua Nation, free from neo-colonialism, unbounded from the curse and shackles of the Nigerian State, Nnamdi Kanu is an inspiration. For someone like me, who believes that the emergence of an independent Oodua Nation is inevitable, Mr. Kanu is an inspiration regardless of what his detractors or enemies might say. He inspires me like Obafemi Awolowo inspires me. He inspires me like Nnamdi Azikwe inspires me. He inspires me like Mahatma Gandhi inspires me. He inspires me like Kwameh Nkrumah inspires me. He inspires me like Jomo Kenyatta inspires me. He inspires me like Kenneth Kaunda inspires me. He inspires me like Thomas Jefferson inspires me.

The Nigerian State has a date with its destiny which is its eventual balkanization. But Biafra and Oodua Nations have dates not just with their destinies, but also with History. It is inevitable and it is unstoppable.

“In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility – I welcome it.”
– John F. Kennedy, in his Inaugural Address January 20, 1961

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Please follow me on Twitter @OyeyemiRemi

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Nigerian Senate Raises Supplementary Budget To N521bn

Mohammed Useni
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Nigerian Senate Raises Supplementary Budget To N521bn

The Senate Committee on Appropriation on Monday directed the Federal Ministries of Petroleum Resources, Budget and National Planning and Finance to reconcile their records and include an additional N108bn in the N465.3bn supplementary budget submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari two weeks ago.

The additional amount, according to the committee, was the subsidy claims due for payment to the major oil marketers between October and December 2015, which was not included in the N413bn subsidy claims due from January to September 2015.

The committee also asked the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to furnish it with the details of the N437bn which had so far been paid to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation as its subsidy claims but was not appropriated by the National Assembly.

The Chairman of the committee, Senator Danjuma Goje, said at a meeting with the ministers and heads of Federal Government agencies that intelligent reports at the disposal of the panel indicated that the petroleum ministry was seeking an approval of N413bn out of the total N950bn accrued subsidy.

Goje alleged that while the ministry had paid the subsidy due to the NNPC, as first line charge being its own share of the 48 per cent of the fuel it imported, the subsidies due to the oil marketers had been withheld.

He said the inclusion of the N108bn would enable the Senate to approve the money so that the minds of Nigerians would be at rest and the oil marketers would not hold the nation to ransom during the festive season as a result of the outstanding debts.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Jamila Suara, told the committee that she was representing the minister, Ibe Kachikwu, who was in Lagos to hold meetings with major oil marketers.

She said her ministry’s proposal was N413bn, being a component of N120.552bn outstanding for 2014 and N292.8bn for subsidy from January to September 2015.

She said, “We just called the attention of the budget office to the fact that the proposal for the last quarter had not really been captured because it was about N108bn. When we started discussion on it, it was much earlier in the year; hence, the tidying up was not completed.”

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions) Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, noted that there was no clear synergy between the Ministry of Budget and the Petroleum Resources Ministry.

He then asked whether the N413bn figure included the exchange rate differential and the accumulated interest being claimed by the importers or whether they were agreed figures between them and their bankers.

Also, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Senator Tayo Alasoadura, questioned the details of the subsidy request and demanded that exact payment due to each of the major oil marketers should be highlighted for the purpose of oversight.

The Chairman of the committee, Senator Danjuma Goje, explained that the ministry had been requested to provide the details of the issues relating to subsidy payment from the last quarter of 2014 till date.

He said, “We need the audit details for the purpose of oversight. Nothing stops us from going back to the issues even after the approval of the supplementary budget. We need to know the beneficiaries of the subsidy, and how they came about it.”

Goje asked the permanent secretary to guarantee the committee that the oil marketers would not hold the nation to ransom during the festive season because of the outstanding N108bn subsidy claims.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr. Udo Udoma, sought the leave of the committee to allow his ministry meet with the Petroleum Resources and the Finance for the purpose of including the additional N108bn in the supplementary budget.

The committee approved the suggestion and asked Udoma to coordinate the process and submit the report by 3pm on Monday.

Goje said, “Our committee will submit the report at plenary on Tuesday (today). So, we are doing everything within our powers to ensure that we beat the deadline, hence we invited all the stakeholders to make a final input into the budget. We want to ensure that the issue of fuel scarcity becomes a thing of the past in this country.

Also, Senator Bassey Akpan, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas and also a member of the Appropriation Committee, said, “From our own intelligence, the total subsidy today is about N950bn.”

He said, “What the NNPC and PPRA are reporting is the subsidy due to major oil marketers alone. Major oil marketers import 52 per cent while NNPC imports 48 percent.

“So, the subsidy that the NNPC is presenting, in our opinion, is subsidy due to oil majors only and we asked what is the subsidy due to the NNPC on the basis of their own importation of 48 percent of the total fuel consumption in the country?”

He added that the committee had agreed with the Petroleum Resources ministry that the major oil marketers will take care of the exchange rate differential with the oil majors.

Boko Haram Destroys Nigerian Military Base; 107 Soldiers Remain Missing Two Weeks After

Mohammed Useni
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Boko Haram Destroys Nigerian Military Base; 107 Soldiers Remain Missing Two Weeks After

YOLA, Nigeria (AP) — Boko Haram destroyed a Nigerian military base as soldiers fled and only self-defense fighters prevented the insurgents from retaking a northeastern town, residents said Monday.

The civilian fighters held Gulak town after soldiers ran away Sunday night until the military sent reinforcements who fought off the extremists, former council chairman James Ularamu told The Associated Press.

The military base was burned down, said Ularamu.

Sunday night’s attack came as a military intelligence officer confirmed that 107 soldiers remain missing nearly two weeks after a Nov. 19 battle. The attackers drove off with an army T-72 tank and dozens of new camouflage uniforms, according to the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on the issue.

Nigeria’s military has denied dozens of soldiers are missing.

Premium Times newspaper first reported the soldiers from the 157 Battalion, including their commanding officer, were missing in action along with the tank, three artillery guns and eight trucks including one carrying 60,000 rounds of ammunition.

The military has reported that it destroyed dozens of Boko Haram camps and freed more than 1,000 kidnap victims in recent weeks. But Boko Haram has stepped up the tempo and range of its attacks, with raids and suicide bombings in the past week in Niger, Cameroon and northern Nigeria.

Early Sunday the extremists kidnapped dozens of girls and set ablaze hundreds of buildings in Bam in Borno state, said resident Mallam Ali.

The setbacks come as Nigeria’s government admitted it cannot crush by December the 6-year uprising that has killed some 20,000 people.

Nigeria’s Amina Mohammed Joins 12 Other Women For Vogue Magazine Climate Action Cover

Mohammed Useni
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Nigeria’s Amina Mohammed Joins 12 Other Women For Vogue Magazine Climate Action Cover

The Magazine wrote, every year, the United Nations holds a summit on climate change, where it works to persuade countries large and small to give up fossil fuels. “This annual gathering, now in its 21st year, is called the Conference of the Parties, and it begins today in Paris.”

“Past negotiations have produced important treaties, such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Copenhagen Accord, but this year’s meeting, the COP21, is likely to yield the world’s first binding, universal agreement to cut carbon emissions and begin to address climate change.

“The stakes have never been higher: Scientists have identified 2 degrees Celsius of warming as a dangerous tipping point for the planet, and we are 0.85 degrees of the way there. But hope, too, is at an all-time high: the international community has never been closer to taking decisive action. Here, photographed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, are 13 of the formidable women leading the way prominent amongst the women is Amina Mohammed.

For Amina Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Environment it was said of her below by Vogue…
“In Africa, you don’t just think about the children that you bear,” says Amina Mohammed, special adviser on post-2015 development planning to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “Every child is yours.” In Mohammed’s home state of Nigeria, she says, climate change has exacerbated poverty. “It has come together as the perfect storm to create situations that have fueled Boko Haram, the terrorists that live in my part of the country.” But, says Mohammed, “I think we’re getting nearer the light at the end of the tunnel.”

 

Just In: Former NSA Sambo Dasuki Now Arrested By DSS After Prolonged House Arrest

Mohammed Useni
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Just In: Former NSA Sambo Dasuki Now Arrested By DSS After Prolonged House Arrest

After placing him on house arrest for about a month, the State Security Services on Tuesday arrested a former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, driving him away from his Abuja residence according to reports made available to NewsWireNGR.

Mr. Dasuki was first arrested by the SSS in July after a prolonged siege on his Abuja home. He was charged to court with illegal possession of arms and money laundering.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court later granted the retired colonel a request for his passport to be released, to enable him receive treatment abroad.

However, the former NSA’s plan to travel was thwarted by the SSS, which, on November 5 laid another siege to his Abuja residence.
But on Tuesday morning, SSS operatives ordered the former security chief out of his residence and drove him away amidst tight security cover.

A source said he was driven to the SSS headquarters in the Asokoro District of Abuja but that could not be independent confirmed at this time.

Recently Dasuki denied ever receiving any formal or informal invitation to appear before an Investigative Panel on the Procurement of hardware and munitions in the armed forces.

While responding to a statement from the Presidency he said he was never been invited formally or informally to appear before the panel.

He added that: “For the record I am proud to serve my nation with the best of intention and ensuring the recovery of more than 22 local government councils from Boko Haram terrorists.

“Because of the pride on how we tackled terrorism and defeated Boko Haram terrorists through our gallant troops and partners in the twilight of the previous administration, that is the reason I have insisted on open and public trial of my stewardship rather than secret trial in the court as being canvassed by my prosecutors.

“I wish Nigerians will go back and reflect on what we did with even little or no supports from some countries, we performed miracles before the emergence of this administration. I even though the committee was to investigate procurement from 2007 to 2015. Yet only my name is always being mentioned even when some of the issues were before I came into the government.

“I leave Nigerians to judge”

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