PDP spokesperson, Olisa Metuh arrives Kuje prison through the Federal
High Court Abuja in his signature handcuffs. Mr. Metuh hasn't been able
to meet bail conditions.
Femi Fani Kayode has accused the governorship candidate of the All
Progressives Congress (APC), and former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief
Timipre Sylva of being the brain behind the recent abductions in the
state. Mr Femi made the accusation yesterday on his official twitter
handle. His tweets below. Please start reading from the bottom.
President Muhammadu Buhari has finally announced the long-awaited portfolios of ministers, who were sworn in on Wednesday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
President Buhari named himself Minister of Petroleum, while Ibe Kachikwu (Delta State) was named Minister of State (Petroleum).
See full list of their Portfolios:
1. Chris Ngige - (Anambra) Minister of Labour & Employment
2. Kayode Fayemi- (Ekiti) Minister of Solid Minerals
3. Rotimi Amaechi - (Rivers) Minister of Transportation
4. Babatunde Fashola -(Lagos) Minister of Power, Works and Housing
5. Abdulrahman Dambazau- (Kano) Minister of Interior
6. Aisha Alhassan - (Taraba) Minister of Women Affairs
7. Ogbonaya Onu- (Ebonyi) Minister of Science and Technology
8. Kemi Adeosun - (Ogun) Minister of Finance
9. Abubakar Malami - (Kebbi) Minister of Justice
10. Sen Hadi Sirika - (Katsina) Minister of State, Aviation
11. Barr. Adebayo Shittu - (Oyo) Minister of Communication
12. Suleiman Adamu - (Jigawa) Minister of Water Resources
13. Solomon Dalong - (Plateau) Minister for Youth and Sports
14. Ibe Kachikwu - (Delta) Minister of State, Petroleum
15. Osagie Ehanire - (Edo) Minister of State, Health
16. Audu Ogbeh - (Benue) Minister of Agriculture
17. Udo Udo Udoma - (Akwa Ibom) Minister of Budget & National Planning
18. Lai Mohammed - (Kwara) Minister of Information
19. Amina Mohammed - (Gombe) Minister of Environment
20. Ibrahim Usman Jibril - (Nasarawa) Minister of State, Environment
21. Hajia Khadija Bukar Ibrahim- (Yobe) Minister of State, Foreign Affairs
22. Cladius Omoleye Daramola - (Ondo) Minister of State, Niger Delta
23. Prof Anthony Onwuka - (Imo) Minister of State, Education
24. Geoffrey Onyema - (Enugu) Minister of Foreign Affairs
25. Dan Ali - (Zamfara) Minister of Defence
26. Barr James Ocholi - (Kogi) Minister of State, Labour & Employment
27. Zainab Ahmed - (Kaduna) Minister of State Budget and National Planning
28. Okechukwu Enelamah - (Abia) Trade, Investment & Industry
29. Muhammadu Bello - (Adamawa) Minister of Federal Capital Territory
30. Mustapha Baba Shehuri - (Bornu) Minister of State, Power
31. Aisha Abubakar - (Sokoto) Minister of State, Trade & Investment
32. Heineken Lokpobiri - (Bayelsa) Minister of State, Agriculture
33. Adamu Adamu - (Bauchi) Minister of Education
34. Isaac Adewole - (Osun) Minister of Health
35. Abubakar Bawa Bwari - (Niger) Minister of State, Solid Minerals
36. Pastor Usani Uguru - (Cross River) Minister of Niger Delta
Eighteen of the 37 ministerial nominees from the list submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari have been confirmed by the Senate.
They are Udoma Udo Udoma, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi, Audu Ogbe, Christopher Ogbonnaya Onu, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, Lt.Gen. Abdulrahman Danbazzau, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Amina Mohammed, Ibrahim Jubril, Babatunde Fashola, Aisha Hassan.
At the end of plenary on Wednesday, Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki read out the names of the nominees who had fielded questions from the lawmakers. The senators in a vote confirmed all 18 nominees.
The lawmakers carried out the confirmation.
Former Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State was the first to take the stand at the Senate chambers today.
Mr Fashola held his audience spell bound for almost an hour and half answering questions from senators.
He told them that as governor for eight years in office he did not sign a cheque.
Mr Fashola also responded to questions on loyalty and on the 78 million naira allegedly sank to build a website.
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The Delta State governorship election petition tribunal, sitting in
Asaba, has admitted four key documents, including card readers'
accreditation report, tendered by officials of the Independent National
Electoral Commission.
The accreditation report submitted by INEC showed that the number of
accredited voters for the April 11 governorship election in Delta state
was lower than the results announced by electoral officials after the
polls.
Two INEC officials - Assistant Director, ICT Department from Abuja
headquarters and Chief Planning Officer, Delta State office - were
directed to give testimony on the conduct of the April 11 election,
following the request by the All Progressives Congress and its
candidate, Emerhor Otega.
The Delta election, won by Ifeanyi Okowa of the Peoples Democratic Party, is being challenged by the APC and Mr. Otega.
Apart from the accreditation report, other documents tendered by the
INEC officials at the commencement of hearing Wednesday, included,
manual for election officials 2015; INEC's April 2, 2015 press statement
making accreditation through use of card readers only mandatory for the
governorship elections; and guidelines and regulations for the conduct
of 2015 general elections.
In their testimony, the INEC officials said that "all documents
tendered were duly certified by INEC, that the card reader has three (3)
functions to with; identification of voters, verification of PVC holder
and voter's authentication on Election Day."
Further, the tribunal was told that "the card readers recorded no
sustained failure during the governorship election in delta state and
accredited numbers of voters as at April 29th was 709,000 and at the
expiration of the shutting down of data upload, the final tally was
715,393."
But on April 13, Delta State INEC had put the figure of accredited
voters at 1,017,796, exceeding actual accreditation number revealed by
the admitted report obtained from INEC central server.
In Nigeria's technology driven 2015 elections, INEC central server
generated data real time from card readers across polling units. This
was to detect malpractices, especially inflation of numbers.
Announcing Mr. Okowa as the winner of the election on April 13, the
Returning Officer, Bio Nyananyo, said the PDP candidate polled 724,680
votes, which translated to 14,980 votes higher than actual number of
accredited voters.
Admissibility of the documents and ordering of INEC staff to give
testimony on the conduct of the election had been strongly objected by
Mr. Okowa, but was dismissed by the tribunal.
Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole says President Goodluck Jonathan's
administration plundered the nation's economy despite the defence being
put forward by the former Minister of Finance, and Coordinating Minister
for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
"If Nigerians know what these people did, they will stone them to death,
jungle justice. 700 million dollars gone on second Niger bridge without
any bridge to show," the governor, who chairs a special committee set
up by the National Economic Council (NEC), told Vanguard in an
interview.
Commenting on the $75 million dollar World Bank loan to Edo State, which
the People's Democratic Party (PDP) opposed to, Oshiomole noted "that
the PDP does not believe in development and for them anything that will
bring prosperity to the people negates what they stand for. Which is
politics for the benefit of PDP leaders. And of course they are
embarrassed by the amount of goodwill that we have continued to enjoy
from the people of the state; it is not easy to be in government for six
and half years and you can still walk the streets - on and off. You
find people trooping out to hail you and, see, they have been praying,
with the declining oil prices such that many states can't pay salaries.
"Their first shocker is that Edo State was never in the club.Then they
started praying that okay if we can't default in salaries we will
default in our contractual obligations, that once people see that no job
is going on, they will now cook up stories to confuse the people.
"So the PDP people are worried that with more resources available to us
to sustain the projects we have started and even start new ones, there
is no hope for them in the state. But you know there is nothing I have
ever done that the PDP did not oppose. While PDP states in the South
South were taking bonds of N100billion, N200billion, we applied for
N25billion and they went to court to try to stop it, but of course they
failed. If you look at the document by the DMO - you have listened to
the narrative by the PDP governors which give a window about the debt
profile of the states in the South South - you will find that even
Bayelsa with eight local Governments is far more heavily indebted than
Edo state, we are the least. From a bond of N25billion we have been
servicing it because we pay N530 million every month and we have paid
over N21billion leaving us with less than N5billion left. If you compare
this with what is happening in other states across the country, Edo
State is the least borrowing. Remember that our neighbours are super
rich states but they have borrowed more than us.
"But even more outstanding for me, is that I am proud to say any day
anywhere that our books are available. We have never borrowed a dime to
pay salaries because I feel that will be the height of irresponsibility.
To borrow to pay salaries because if you borrow to pay salaries what
will you use to do projects. We have met our personnel cost strictly
within our revenues while others could not.
So PDP's worry is basically, 'oh this guy is going to finish stronger
even more than he started. So everything must be done to stop him,"
Oshiomole said.
Gov. Adams Oshiomhole of Edo on Friday advised public officers and
politicians to get rid of their private jets as President Muhammadu
Buhari had begun blocking financial leakages in the country's economy.
Oshiomhole made this known at a public lecture titled "Labour and the
Nigerian Economy: What needs to be done", held at the University of
Port Harcourt.
He said that businessmen who connived with some officials of the Nigeria
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to defraud the nation through
subsidy claims would be probed.
"Few people (in Nigeria) are taking away so much wealth, while majority of the people are going home with almost nothing.
"A clear example is when you arrive at the private wing of the airport
in Abuja; you will find more than 40 to 50 private jets parked there in
one airport alone.
"The question is what sources do these private jet owners get their
wealth from; and which businesses do they run to acquire this luxurious
lifestyle.
"You find a young man who has connection with state-owned NNPC, which is
suppose to work for the interest of Nigeria, corruptly work for only
the interest of few persons," he said.
Oshiomhole said that billions of state funds had being stolen by a
few individuals due to alleged chronic corruption perpetrated by some
NNPC officials.
He said that the Buhari-led administration is already making moves to
rid the nation of these corrupt officials and institutions.
"Very soon, those who maintain luxurious assets and private jets will
begin to sell them because they will no longer be able to maintain
them.
"The sources of procurement of these ill gotten wealth by these
people is currently being disconnected and more will be disconnected in
the few days and in the coming weeks," he said.
Oshiomhole blamed the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) for its failure
to call politicians to order in the face of the country's current
falling economy.
He said it was unfair that Senators could earn an annual salary of
about N200 million when the lowest grade worker earned a paltry N18,000
monthly as minimum wage or N216,000 as annual salary.
"How NLC has kept quiet and allowed Senators allocate to themselves
annual income of N200 to N300 million both as basic salaries and bogus
allowances combined baffles me," he queried.
The governor said that Nigerians should not be deceived with clamour by some politicians to cut their basic salaries by halve.
He recalled that former presidents Umaru Yar'Adua and Goodluck
Jonathan had cut their salaries and that of their ministers by 25 per
cent each, which meant the officials currently earned 50 per cent less
salaries.
"Now, in the face of current harsh economic realities, some
politicians are saying that 50 per cent should be removed from their
salaries to appease Nigerians.
"This implies that if you plus the current 50 per cent reduction demand
and the already removed 50 per cent which was never restored by the
previous administrations; it will amount to 100 per cent reduction.
"This is a clear case of the more you look the less you see as
politicians are bent on deceiving and confusing everyone because the
main money are not in salaries but in their allowances," he said.
Oshiomhole called on President Muhammadu Buhari to revoke licences of
electricity generation and distribution companies, saying the sector
was "fraudulently" privatised and currently enmeshed with corruption.
According to him, the country will grow economically if policy makers
come up with policies that were in-tune with the character of
Nigerians. (NAN)
The All Progressives Congress in Rivers State has accused Governor Nyesom Wike of running a government of deceit.
The party said Wike and the Peoples Democratic Party do not have any
development master plan for the state but only clone the famous roadmap
to prosperity developed by its governorship candidate, Dr Dakuku Adol
Peterside.
APC, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt yesterday by its publicity
secretary, Chris Finebone, said a confirmation that Wike and the PDP
have no development master plan for the state became obvious last week
when the governor set up a steering committee on the blue print for the
state government.
The statement read in part, “The All Progressives Congress (APC), having
closely observed the slightly over one-month old Rivers State
government led by Governor Nyesom Wike, has come to the conclusion that
we have a government of deceit on our hands.
“During the political campaigns early in the year, Barr Wike and the PDP
claimed to have a development master plan for Rivers State.
However, a quick and careful scrutiny revealed that it was a cloning of
the now famous roadmap to prosperity developed by Dr Dakuku Adol
Peterside, the APC governorship candidate.
“A further confirmation of this became obvious last week when the
governor set up a steering committee on the blue print for Rivers State
government under the chairmanship of Barr Nimi Waltson-Jack, who
explained that his committee was set up to streamline planned government
projects. The question is: did the Wike team really have a development
programme for the state ab initio as claimed?
“The seeming confusion the government is presently bedevilled with is
occasioned by its lack of understanding of Dr Dakuku Peterside’s roadmap
to prosperity which the governor copied so badly.”
President Buhari asked APC members to put their personal interest in their pocket and allow the party system work.
He gave the charge during his opening remarks at the party's NEC meeting currently holding at the party's National secretariat in Abuja.
"What ever your personal interests, put them in your pocket. Let APC work. Let the system work.
I appeal to you to accept the superiority of the party.
I cannot confine myself in Sambisa forest and refuse to participate in the meeting because I respect the superiority of the party."he said Senator Saaraki and Hon Yakubu Dogara are present at the meeting while Bola Tinubu is absent.
Following the expiration of his five-year tenure, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, is set to vacate office on Tuesday.
A statement issued by the Public Affairs Department of INEC said that Jega is to bow out of office with six National Commissioners who were appointed the same day with him by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2010. We wish him all the best.
Senate President Bukola Saraki has written to the leadership of his party, APC , on why he could not follow their directive on the appointments of principal officers in the Senate. According to Senator Saraki, the letter from the party stating its choices of party members to fill the principal positions, came after another APC caucus in the house had met and selected their choice for principal officers.
He stated that as much as he would have loved to respect the position of the party, his hands were tied as parliamentary rules and standard have to be followed. A copy of the letter after the cut.. (Saraki is pictured above with, Senator Francis Alimikhena Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Ali Ndume Majority Leader, and Senator Bala Ibn Na’alla Deputy Senate Leader.)
35 yer old Paul Jamasuru Tankwa from Taraba state has announced he will be trekking from Taraba to Bayelsa state to congratulate President Jonathan for conceding defeat after the presidential election. Mr Paul has designed an award which he will be presenting to President Jonathan when he meets with him in Bayelsa. Good for him!
Michael Igbinedion, younger brother to former Governor Lucky Igbinedion
of Edo State was yesterday found guilty by a Federal High Court sitting
in Benin City in the N25 billion money laundering case preferred
against him and five others by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission and would be sentenced today.
Michael and others were arraigned on an 81-count charge of money laundering.
The offence was committed when his brother, Lucky, was the Governor of Edo State between 1999 and 2007.
Others accused in the case are Patrick Eboigbodin, a former
Accountant-General and the four companies are Gava Corporation Limited,
Romrig Nigeria Limited, PMI Securities Company Limited and PML (Nigeria)
Limited.
Justice A.M. Lima in the judgment that was read for over three hours,
convicted Michael on count 79, 80 and 81 which bothered on collecting
cash payment of over N500,000.
Patrick and PML (Nigeria) Limited were convicted on count 50, 51, 52,
53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58 and 58 which bothered on collaboration to conceal
the origin of the funds amounting to millions of naira paid into their
private accounts.
He said the prosecution proved alleged collaboration beyond reasonable doubts.
Lima however, discharged all the accused on other count charges because the prosecution failed to prove the allegations.
According to him, the prosecution only proved suspicion and failed to prove illicit origin of funds deposited in some banks.
He said he could not sentence the accused after reading the judgment and adjourned till today.
Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, yesterday withdrew the suit
against the 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) members of the state
House of Assembly from impeaching him and his Deputy, Kolapo Olusola.
In the suit, the plaintiffs, including speaker of the House of Assembly
which is occupied by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) factional
Speaker, Olugbemi Joseph Dele; Ekiti State House of Assembly, Fayose and
Olusola through their counsel, Ahmed Raji (SAN), had approached the
court seeking to stop impeachment moves against the governor. The suit
however had already been struck out by Justice Ahmed Mohammed.
When the matter was called for hearing yesterday, counsel to the
plaintiffs, Raji, informed the court of his client’s intention to
withdraw the case. The plaintiff’s counsel did not give any reason for
the withdrawal.
The crisis rocking the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) reached a
crescendo on Tuesday evening when the party’s National Chairman Adamu
Muazu was literally bundled out of a meeting meant for State Governors
on the platform of the PDP.
Muazu who was an uninvited guest at the Akwa Ibom State Lodge in Abuja,
venue of the governors’ meeting, was shocked when some of the governors
began to charge at him accusing him of betraying the party at the just
concluded presidential elections.
The angry governors led by a governor from the South-West and another
from the South-South began to scream at him: “what are you doing here
after you have betrayed us? Leave here now!”
Nigerian Times was reliably told that the bewildered party chairman
while making attempt to appeal to the governors’ for understanding was
pushed out by the two governors who were too angry to pay him any
attention.
Stories have been making the round that there are plans by members of
the party’s leadership to remove Muazu from his position if he fails to
resign voluntarily after leading the party to a woeful outing in the
just concluded elections.
It is not clear what will be the next line of action of the governors,
National Working Committee, Board of Trustees and the embattled chairman
but pundits believe that Muazu’s days as chairman is numbered.
Recall that he became chairman after such feeling of incompetence greeted his predecessor Bamanga Tukur.
