President Buhari may be the first African President to resign on account of ill health

President Buhari 

Strong indications have emerged from the presidential villa that ailing Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari is set to make world record by seriously considering resignation as the president of the country due to his inability to effectively pilot the affairs of the country as a result of ill health.

The meeting by three former military Heads of State Generals Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalam Abubakar in Minna, Niger state on Tuesday was to consider two strong burning issues before allowing President Buhari to turn in his resignation letter to the National Assembly.

The three former leaders who met in Minna under closed doors consider the former speaker of the House of Representatives and current Sokoto State Governor Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and immediate past Kano State Governor and serving Senator Rabiu Musa Kwamkwaso as possible vice president to Prof Yemi Osinbajo in the event he takes over.

President Buhari had mulled the idea of resignation with the three former leaders in close confidence which necessitated the Niger state impromptu meeting.

Another strong issue discussed at the Niger meeting according to credible source was whether Prof Osinbajo will want re-election after completing the tenure of president Buhari in 2019 and the meeting resolved to meet with the vice president to seal the agreement in a written document under a witness that he will complete the remaining two years and go to pave way for the emergence of a Northern candidate by 2019.

A credible source at the Presidential Villa who pleaded anonymity told our correspondent that president Buhari has made up his mind to resign and he feels fulfilled that his aspiration to rule this country again has been achieved, in addition to the anti-corruption fight and the war against Boko Haram in the North achieved under his leadership.

“He has also set record as the first Nigerian president to defeat an incumbent and would be happy to be the first president in Africa to resign voluntarily on account of ill health. Apart from the three former leaders, the Vice President, the Attorney General and Minister for Justice and the National Security Adviser are the only officers who are fully aware of the presiden’st plan to turn in his resignation.”

President Buhari returned to the country on March 10th 2017 after spending 49 days and has not been seen in public functions. Also,for three consecutive times,he has not presided over Federal Executive Council meetings where key decisions for the country are taken which is a clear indication that he is not physically fit to pilot the affairs of the country

“PMB is confident that his vice Prof Yemi Osinbajo is capable of transforming the country and continuing with the anti-corruption fight in the country, he demonstrated his ability when PMB was on vacation” the source said

President Buhari according to the source has given the three former leaders the opportunity to select a credible Northerner that will deputise Prof Osinbajo and seal a deal with him that he will only complete this term and leave .

“The assignment will be completed before May 29th,2017 when President Buhari will clock two full years in office.The letter will [then]be made public while Osinbajo will complete the remaining two years and retire” the source hinted

Tambuwal is considered for the position of vice president because of his youthful age, performance as House of Representatives Speaker and governor of Sokoto state as well as his acceptability in not only the north but across the country while Kwamkwaso who equally performed creditably well as Kano state governor is fronted by Olusegun Obasanjo.
                         
Barr. Ayo Odekunle Oluomo1

•Committee Chairman, Senator Hope Uzodinma.

The Senate on Thursday expanded its panel currently investigating alleged N30 trillion revenue leakage in the Nigeria Customs Service following revelation of more leakages.

This followed a ‘Point of Order’ raised by the Chairman, Committee on Customs Excise and Tariff, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, at plenary. 

The chamber also mandated the Committee on Marine Transport to collaborate with the committee on Customs, in the probe in view of more revelations emanating from the exercise.

Uzodinma, who was made chairman of the joint committee, cited Order 42 and Order 52, and said that the committee discovered more startling discoveries beyond the N30 trillion currently being investigated.

According to him, the committee requires more hands in the investigation as it discovered that beyond foreign exchange fraud, more trillions of Naira was lost to shady deals by some Asian companies.

“The recent one which is mind-blowing is that shipping companies will load full cargoes worth billions of Naira, come into the country and go to bonded terminals, offload and Nigeria Government will not collect one kobo.

“All they do is informal negotiation with the terminal operators, the regulators and then they will offload. This is an international crime.

“We have identified over 228 vessels with their registration numbers, the terminals where they offloaded and we are going through Customs database tracking every shipment and vessel that came and offloaded.

“There is another fraud we discovered, which is, all the Asian companies moving all their goods to Cotonou in Benin Republic and these goods are meant for Nigerian market.

“From our investigation, the companies change their documents by mid night as if the shipment is either done from Cote d’Ivoire or Cotonou and they move into Nigeria.”

While lamenting the level of decay in the system, Uzodinma added that the fraudulent activities were carried out through various infractions, including incorrect classification, undervaluation, under-declaration and incorrect origin.

He stressed that the money being lost through the infractions was more than what the country was getting from crude oil, lamenting that nothing serious was being done about it.

The lawmaker, who said the investigation panel would explore all available data on the matter, added that it would bring it to a logical conclusion to save the country from losing money that should have been used for development.

“On Tuesday Nov. 15, 2016, we debated the motion on the need to examine the operations of the Nigeria Customs Service revenue drive.

“We resolved to mandate the committee on customs to carry out a holistic investigation into the activities of the service.

“This was with a view to identifying the leakages and irregularities in the import and export circle as well as causes of the reducing revenue profile of the service, and come up with recommendations.

“We have gone into this assignment and honestly speaking, we have identified between 2006 and 2017, over N30 trillion worth of foreign exchange in form of approved Form M and there is no evidence that the goods came into the country.

“The commercial banks apply for this foreign exchange and the Central Bank of Nigeria allocates it to them and these monies are transferred to foreign banks and there is no evidence to show that the goods came into the country.

“So they have been round-tripping with the limited foreign exchange we have in Nigeria.”

In his remarks, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided at the plenary, said the senate ought to be commended for blowing whistle into the fraud in the Customs Service.

He expressed concern that while Nigeria was seeking loans from foreign organisations, it was losing trillions of Naira that would have been used for developmental purposes.

“The Committee on Marine Transport will join the committee on customs to have a holistic investigation into this matter.

“I think this is one area the law enforcement agencies must move in quickly to ensure that these monies are recovered.

“We cannot be going to China and all over the world trying to borrow money when we can recover easily all the monies that were lost through some corrupt practices.

“This is one area the senate must be praised for blowing a whistle. This is the real whistle.” Ekweremadu said.

He commended the committee for a job well-done and urged it to expedite action on the investigation, adding that recovering such money would enable the country to implement the 2017 budget effectively. (NAN)

Source News Express

Posted 04/05/2017 6:29:03 PM

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RCCG Assistant General Overseer dies 8 months after assuming office

•Late RCCG Assistant GO, Pastor Olu Obanure.

The Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, on Thursday announced the death of the Assistant General Overseer and Pastor-in-charge of RCCG, West African coast, Pastor Olu Obanure.

Obanure became the Assistant General Overseer in charge of Establishment following his investiture at the 64th Annual Convention of the church last August.

A statement issued from the church and signed by the Head, Media & Public Relations, Pastor Olaitan Olubiyi, said Obanure died on Tuesday at the age of 65.

The statement said he had been operating from Ghana.

“Pastor Olu Obanure was appointed the assistant general overseer in charge of Establishment during the 64th Annual Convention of the Mission in August 2016.

“He had served the Mission in such various capacities as the special assistant to the general overseer (Admin/Personnel) pastor-in charge of West Coast with base in Accra Ghana and as the provincial pastor, Northern Province 5 with headquarters in Abuja,” the statement said.

According to the statement, the deceased had a Masters Degree in Communications and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan and is survived by his wife and children.

•Source: PM News.

Judge accept EFCC’s apology on media trial, lifts embargo on EFCC’s cases

Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court in Abuja has lifted the embargo placed on hearing of criminal cases brought before him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over false dissemination of court proceedings by the commission.

The judge who had refused to entertain cases from anti-graft agencies accepted the apologies tendered by EFCC for misleading the public in the trial of a case involving a serving Army Colonel Nicholas Ashinze and four others.

The EFCC through its counsel, Mr. Ufem Uket, promised the judge that his client will learn lesson and will no longer subject defendants in its cases to media trial any longer.

Before the apology was taken, EFCC had tendered newspaper publications where the offending EFCC press statements were refuted as directed by the court.

Also, Vanguard Newspaper Editor and the Judiciary Reporter summoned in respect of the offending publication were let go following their defence that their report was based on a press statement issued by one Mr. Wilson Uwujiaren on behalf of EFCC.

Uwujarien, who is the Head, Media and Publicity Department in EFCC, had in a statement claimed that the serving Colonel Ashinze had been indicted over a N36.8bn public fund diversion whereas the defendant was charged with N1.5bn public fund diversion.

The offending press release also referred to Ashinze as a Retired Colonel.

Following the acceptance of the apology, Justice Kolawole agreed to resume the trial of the case but warned the media and the EFCC to always report court proceedings accurately and to avoid unnecessary sensation in the interest of justice.

The Judge warned that extra caution must be observed by the media and EFCC so as not to pollute the mind of the general public on pending trials against the defendants.

Justice Kolawole had at the last adjourned date insisted that the trial of Colonel Nicholas Ashinze, a former aide to Colonel Sambo Dasuki and 7 others in alleged N1.5b fraud would not be resumed until the EFCC retracts fully the misrepresentation of the court’s proceedings that the defendants are being tried on N36.8bn fraud.

The judge had dismissed the oral claim by the counsel to EFCC, Mr. Ofem Uket, that the anti-graft agency had retracted the offending publication because the lawyer failed to produce any document or evidence before the court to ascertain its claim.

Justice Kolawole had on March 21, warned EFCC to stop media trial of Nigerians being put on prosecution for any offence and ordered that the alleged N36.8b fraud contained in the EFCC Press Statement issued by Wilson Uwujiaren to media houses in the country be  refuted to correct the court proceedings.

The Judge also ordered the news media involved in the alleged offending publication to appear before it and show cause why they should not be disciplined for misrepresenting the court’s proceedings by dishing out falsehood to the general public through the EFCC press statement.

When the matter was then to resume, counsel to EFCC informed Justice Kolawole that his client had already retracted the offending press statement as contained in some national dailies of April 12, 2017 but however failed to present a copy of the retraction to the court as demanded by the judge.

Justice Kolawole had disagreed with the oral evidence of the EFCC Counsel, lamenting that the counsel as a minister in the temple of justice has not shown any seriousness or do enough to protect the integrity of the judiciary from being unjustly rubbished.

The judge said: “No responsible judge will sit down and allow his court to be rubbished with falsehood as in the case of the EFCC that has been engaging in feeding the general public with falsehood

“It is a fact that the defendants in criminal matter will be prejudiced when they are unjustly subjected to media trial through publication of falsehood and misrepresentation of the court’s proceeding.

“Since the court cannot act in vain, it is hereby ordered that the EFCC must show compliance in the appropriate way with the retraction of the offending press statement it issued out in respect of the proceeding of this court.

“Let it be understood that the press as the fourth Estate of the realm has the responsibility of holding all arms of government accountable to general public but the press has no business in misrepresenting the court so that defendants in criminal matters would not be prejudiced and would not be found guilty though false media trial before the real court trial.”

Three Doctors Arrive In Aso Rock To Treat President Buhari

Mr. Buhari, who has not made any public appearance in two weeks, is described as greatly emaciated, according to two sources knowledgeable about his condition.

Three medical doctors today arrived in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, to attend to the ailing President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, SaharaReporters has learned.

The doctors, all British and Caucasian, are two males and one female, according to our highly placed source at the Presidency.

Mr. Buhari, who has not made any public appearance in two weeks, is described as greatly emaciated, according to two sources knowledgeable about his condition. Despite statements by the government a few days that the president had “resumed work,” Mr. Buhari remains holed up in his official residence.

Apprehension within the Presidential Villa about the president’s condition was heightened yesterday as the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, was seen moving a lot of documents out of the villa. Our sources said it was unclear why Mr. Kyari made the move to take away documents to an unknown location.

A Presidency source told SaharaReporters that the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has set up a “safe house” in Abuja where Mr. Buhari is being treated by a relay of mostly foreign doctors.

Even though President Buhari and his aides have refused to divulge the nature of his ailment, SaharaReporters learned several months ago that the Nigerian leader is ravaged by Crohn’s Disease, an intestinal disorder. He is also known to have prostate issues as well as age-related disorders, including early-stage dementia. Mr. Buhari’s official age is listed as 74, but he is widely believed to be much older.

One of our sources disclosed that Mr. Buhari was slated to leave Nigeria on May 10 for another medical trip to Britain. However, the arrival today of a new set of medical doctors to attend to him might be a further attempt by a cabal of some of his closest associates to frustrate his departure from Nigeria. Members of the cabal controlling events around the President include the Director General of the Directorate of State Security (DSS), Lawal Daura, Mr. Buhari’s powerful nephew, Mamman Daura, his Personal Secretary, Tunde “Idiagbon” Sabiu, a businessman, Isa Funtua, Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, and Babagana Kingibe, a former Secretary to the Government who was the running mate to Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

Some members of the Buhari administration accuse the cabal of opposing Mr. Buhari’s foreign medical trip for fear that his absence would cost them political influence.

SaharaReporters learned that no “advance team” of aides has yet left Nigeria to prepare for Mr. Buhari’s arrival in London, another sign that members of the president’s inner circle, who pull the strings in his administration, continue to oppose such a trip.

In an apparent attempt to reduce pressure on themselves, the cabal last week allowed Mr. Buhari’s wife, Aisha, to have access to funds to cater for her husband. They also persuaded her to draft a series of tweets asserting that the president’s health was not as bad as perceived. However, our sources described Aisha Buhari and other family members as frustrated and sober over Mr. Buhari’s slow pace of recuperation.

In addition, the cabal around the president arranged for Mr. Buhari to make phone calls to a number of persons, including businessman Aliko Dangote and some political aides and friends. However, sources close to some of the recipients of the phone calls said the calls did not last more than 30 seconds each.

On Monday, Attorney General Abubakar Malami and the Group Managing Director of Nigeria’s National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Baru Maikanti, claimed they held extensive meetings with Mr. Buhari to discuss a range of issues. However, no videos or photographs were produced of the ostensible meetings. Twenty-four hours after Mr. Malami claimed he had met the president, Mr. Buhari failed to attend the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, the fourth consecutive time he was absent at the gathering where a number of policy initiatives are discussed. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who presided at the meeting, apologized for Mr. Buhari’s absence, telling ministers that the president could not make it to the meeting because his doctors had advised him to “rest.”

There is growing concern in Nigeria that the secretiveness around Mr. Buhari’s condition, as dictated by the powerful cabal around the president, was reminiscent of the political manipulations orchestrated by a cabal around former President Umaru Yar’Adua who died on May 5, 2010. Whilst Mr. Yar’Adua lay comatose in a Saudi hospital, then First Lady Turai Yar’Adua led a coalition of associates who insisted that the gravely ill ruler was ably running Nigeria’s affairs remotely from his hospital bed.

Many Nigerians now fear that the cabal around Mr. Buhari could plunge Nigeria into crisis by making questionable decisions in the name of a president who may not even be consulted on the decisions.

One analyst stated that Mr. Buhari’s elusiveness and “rule from a remote location” was also eerily similar to the case of former Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba State. Mr. Suntai, who sustained critical physical and mental injuries when an aircraft he was piloting crashed, spent a long period in German and US hospitals. Despite Mr. Suntai’s extensive brain damage, a cabal led by General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) kept him in office for a long time, claiming that he was fit enough to run Taraba State from abroad and later from secret locations even though he’d become incapacitated by the air crash.

Supreme Court adjourns hearing on PDP leadership crisis till May 25

•The Nigerian Supreme Court.

The legal battle over the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party is set to continue for a while longer as the Supreme Court has adjourned its hearing on the matter until May 25.

The nation’s highest court had on Thursday resumed hearing on the application filed before it by the National Chairman of the Party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, against the appeal filed by the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the party.

The Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee of the party had on March 16 approached the Supreme Court, asking it to overturn the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on February 27, which declared Sheriff as the legitimate National Chairman of the party.

But Sheriff filed his application five days later, arguing that Makarfi had no legal grounds for his appeal.

At Thursday’s hearing, Sheriff’s counsel asked the Supreme Court not to hear the appeal because it was not properly filed.

He argued that this was because the PDP as led by Sheriff did not give anyone the permission to file a suit on its behalf and as such the suit filed by Makarfi is null and void.

The Supreme Court judges, however, asked him if as a party to the suit at the appellate court Makarfi did not have any right to file an appeal, especially as he was aggrieved with the judgment of the appeal court and the judgment was not granted as an exparte order.

In response, Sheriff’s counsel said that even though Makarfi could file an appeal, he wasn’t eligible to do so in the name of the PDP since there was no authorisation by the legally recognised leadership of the party.

According to him, by the judgment of the Appeal Court which recognised the Sheriff-led executive council as the authentic leadership of the party, it is only Sheriff that can decide if the party wants to challenge the judgment or not.

On his part, counsel to Makarfi urged the court to disregard the argument, because the issues raised by Sheriff’s counsel were already in the substantive suit before the court and since issue have been joined there was no need to listen to anybody who was not a part of the suit.

After listening to both parties the court adjourned to hear the objections as an interlocutory appeal on May 25, 2017.

Robbers Invade Imo State House of Assembly, Rob Lawmakers

Suspected robbers have attacked the Imo State House Of Assembly complex in Owerri, carting away valuable items belonging to its lawmakers.

Governor Rochas Okorocha

Among the items stolen, according to Punch, were office equipment, electronics and vital documents.

According to report, this is the third time the robbers would be raiding the assembly complex.

Commenting on the incident, Emma Orie, a lawmaker representing Ohaji /Egbema state constituency said though his office was not burgled, the offices of three of his colleagues, Mike Iheanatu (Aboh Mbaise) Uche Oguwuike (Ikeduru) and Uche Agabiga (Orsu) were robbed.

The lawmaker claimed that the attackers gained access into the offices of the three lawmakers through the ceilings.

He noted that it was when the staff members attached to the lawmakers resumed for work in the morning that they discovered that the tables and chairs had been turned upside down.

He also said the computers, documents, television sets and other valuables in the offices were moved by the gunmen.

Ben Ilochonwu, the chief press secretary to the speaker, confirmed the development, said the case has been reported to the police.

Meanwhile, Andrew Enwerem, spokesman of the police in the state is yet to react to the incident.

Sule Lamido granted bail, back in court 5 July

•Ex-Governor Sule Lamido.

A Dutse Magistrates’ Court has granted bail to former Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State.

Lamido was standing trial on a four-count charge of inciting public disturbance, defamation of character, criminal intimidation and disturbance of public peace.

The magistrate granted the two-term governor bail on self-recognizance and adjourned the case until July 5.

The court had ordered Lamido remanded after he was charged with incitement and adjourned the case till May 4, for the continuation of the case.

The offences contravened sections 113, 114, 392 and 394 of the Penal Code.

His counsel Yakubu Ruba and Felix Jones said that the offences were bailable and wondered why the court did not grant the accused bail.

Lamido was arrested by the police in Kano on Sunday for the offences. 

NAN

Muslims And Egungun Worshipers Clash In Oyo, 25 Injured

Egungun - Masquerades

A bloody clash has broken out about between Muslims faithfuls and Egungun worshipers in Oyo leaving many people injured.

File photo used only for illustrative purpose

Up to about twenty-five people have been reportedly injured in a clash between some Muslims and Egungun worshipers (Masqueraders) in Kishi, Oke-Ogun area of Oyo state.

According to Daily Post, the ugly incident is happening at a time the traditional ruler of the town, Oba (Engineer) Moshood Aweda Lawal Arowoduye 11, the Iba of Kishi is celebrating his 20th coronation anniversary, which is to hold between May 4th(Today) and 6th, 2017.

Public Relations Officer of the state Police Command, Mr. Adekunle Ajisebutu confirmed the incident to journalists.

Ajisebutu revealed that the state police command has now provided adequate security to restore peace in the town.

Daily Post reports that problem started on Tuesday when a Muslim cleric identified as Alfa Lati, insisted that masqueraders observing the annual Egungun festival should not pass through his (Alfa Lati) street, located at Koso, Mapo area of the town.

The masqueraders considered this as an affront on their own religion, and passed through the street, claiming that Kishi town belongs to every indigene of the town, irrespective of religious affiliation.

It was also gathered that following an instruction from Alfa Lati, his followers reportedly attacked the masquerade (Egungun) with stones and other dangerous weapons, a situation that forced the Egungun to remove his mask, and ran for dear life.

In the melee that ensued, no fewer than 15 followers of the masquerade reportedly sustained serious injuries, and this made the furious Egungun worshippers to plan a reprisal attack on Wednesday.

Source: Daily Post

ADC woos Emir Sanusi for next presidential election

Sanusi

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has invited the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to use its platform to contest for the presidency in the 2019 election.

Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, National Chairman of the party, Chief Ralph Nwosu said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), “having demonstrated enough ineptitude going by the protracted crises within it, should be voted out in the next election while President Muhammadu Buhari appears not to get the grasp of how to move the country forward.”

Nwosu therefore said the next option available to Nigerians is to look for a capable person who can combine integrity with intellectual capacity to move the nation out of its present situation.

He noted that the ongoing controversy over the state of health of the president is “a mere excuse to cover the ineptitude of the government and its party while Nigerians are suffering. The ADC, having lost hope in Buhari and the APC, is inviting Sanusi to come and contest for the presidency on its platform in 2019.”

On why ADC prefers Sanusi, Nwosu said, “Sanusi has been very forthright in pointing out the ills within the government and systems across the nation. He has shown courage in a very thoughtful manner and has also refused to be intimidated.

“The government seems to be after him and you can see the shenanigan currently going on in Kano. They are making mockery of the corruption war and the nation-building project. People like Sanusi are critical to the Nigeria Project.”

He said the ADC “would approach the Emir to contest the presidency in 2019 no matter the outcome of the present brinkmanship within the corridors of power. For a greater Nigeria, we need men with knowledge and courage like the Emir.

“The likes of Sanusi would transform this nation if he is allowed to rule. When several northern leaders and politicians are busy in self-humiliation, he is out against the tide of deception to talk about critical issues facing the country and the calamities facing the North.”

The party noted that if Nigeria operates at the leadership the likes of Sanusi will provide, the sycophancy around the corridors of power will cease and Nigerians will see someone who has been part of the country’s traditional and corporate institutions.

On whether the decision to invite Sanusi was his personal idea, a consensus or due to the ongoing doubt over Buhari’s health, Nwosu said, “I speak for the party. In 2006/2007 we got Professor Pat Utomi to be a candidate on our platform while we also sent our team to Kano to invite Sanusi hoping that whoever wins our presidential primary would be the candidate while the other would be the running mate. Our desire was to truly transform the country and we needed men of integrity as our flag bearers.”

FG Approves N54bn for Reconstruction of Dilapidated Odukpani-Ikot Ekpene Road

Vice President, Yemi Osibajo

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) Wednesday approved whooping N54 billion for the reconstruction of popular but collapsed Odukpani-Itu-Ikot Ekpene federal highway in Cross River State.

Making this disclosure while briefing newsmen at the end of yesterday’s FEC meeting presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, said the ministry presented a memo to the council on the road reconstruction and was accordingly approved.

Fashola who said the road was first constructed over four decades ago, added that the approval for its reconstruction yesterday was an expression of the administration’s commitment to economic growth through the reduction of time being spent on the road.

The minister who said Julius Berger had been tipped as the contractor for the execution of the project, disclosed that the contractor would quickly be mobilised to resume work on the road.

Also briefing journalists, the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, said the council approved a memo for the purchase of advisory services in the aviation sector on sundry issues such as the establishment of national carrier; creation of aviation leasing company; establishment of airport city; establishment of maintenance and overhaul centre and concession of Nigerian airports at the cost of N1.5 billion.

In the same vein, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, said his ministry submitted a memo on the verification of 2,300 hectare diary irrigation project in Kano and Jigawa States.

He said the project which was started in 1998 under the auspices of Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), had attained 50 per cent completion when the PTF wound up and had consequently been abandoned for almost 20 years.

“There is already a provision in the 2016 budget and it has also been included in the 2017 budget. We are hoping that by the time they finish this budget we will be able to come back to council for approval to continue,” Adamu added.

This Day

EITHER WE RESOLVE NIGERIA NOW OR WE DISSOLVE IT FORTHWITH - LNC

The Caliphate locked the whole of Nigeria into a Master-Servant Union via the instrumentality of the Caliphate-Decreed and fraudulently-imposed 1999 Constitution.

The Countrywide Debates and Disputations pushing for the Grand Renegotiation of these enslaving and debilitating Constitutional Impositions, had been couched as a Campaign for "Restructuring".

There is a clear Consensus on that Restructuring by the  Non-Caliphate rest of Nigeria which translates itself to the Grand Renegotiation of the Terms of the totally dysfunctional and unworkable Nigeria's inverted Federation, which must be undertaken without further delay.

An overwhelming majority in Eastern Nigeria,  particularly the younger generation that were not combatants in the Biafra War,  who had waited patiently for this Consensus since after Aburi, January 1967, had recently moved the decibel of the Nigeria  Debate in that flank of the defunct Federation of Nigeria, to another level with what they framed as the "Restoration of Biafra" with the hardliners notching same up to a "Biafra or Death" Campaign.

The Caliphate-controlled "Federal Government" and its Armed Forces, has of course relished the killing and bloodletting opportunities presented them on a platter of gold by the offsprings of their erstwhile Biafran foes and has been having a happy blood festival on the soil of Eastern Nigeria, most gleefully too.

The Eastern Nigeria older generation seems banished from this new decibel of the Sovereignty Debates in the East because they watch helplessly as the largely ill-informed youth on the Biafra opium dispensed from the airwaves of London, who prefer to die fighting than to continue to live as slaves in Nigeria, are mowed down by troops who wear "Nigerian" Armed Forces Uniforms, on the Orders of the 1967-1970 Caliphate Combatants; those elders of the East would be lynched by the surviving "Biafra or Death" Agitators, if they dare ask those Biafra-or-Death Agitators to stop. No dilemma can be worse.

An even more macabre blood festival is being orchestrated by the same Caliphate in the Middle Belt Territories with great impunity while the dimunitive Caliphate demigod who is also the Chief Security Officer in the Kaduna hotbet of the blood festival, hound out and bundle to detention and prosecution, the Leaders of the Victim Communities in Southern Kaduna, as the trouble makers, whilst the marauding Fulani Invaders from 14 different Countries of the wider Caliphate which stretch all the way from the foot of Futa Jalon Mountains,  are sought out and pacified with good cash.

Somehow, the Yoruba has, against all kinds of debilitating odds and frustrations, managed to keep the Restructuring Campaign alive and substantially potent. There has no letting at all. There has been courageous proclamations and visible actions to push towards a peaceful resolution of the fast deteriorating situation of rickety Nigeria.

Even at the risk of more vicious official hounding, and to the eternal shame of the Eastern pretenders at Political Leadership, it took the Yoruba duo of Ayodele Fayose and Femi Fani-Kayode to go to solidarize openly with the embattled arrowheads of the "Biafra or Death" Campaign standing Trial for Treason, in the Abuja Federal High Court of Judge Binta Nyako where the Igbo Defence Counsel of Igbo Accused Persons, was excoriated in open Court by the Judge for not being versed in Sharia Law that allowed the Secret Trial she had ordered.

The ominous but veiled massage being conveyed in that open Court reprimand by Judge Nyako is that Sharia is now of Countrywide application in Nigeria. Those who do not grasp that message are still here discussing Elections of 2019 in the Caliphate "Democracy" called "Nigeria". What great pity.

The Yoruba Leadership Collective have moved the Restructuring Debate even one notch higher by insisting that the Grand Renegotiation of Nigeria must take place before the next Electoral ritual in 2019 for which voting dates have already been advertised by the Caliphate INEC since March 2017.

It is in this kind of setting that the so-called "Northern Delegates" to the 2014 National Conference gathered in Gombe to repudiate the outcome of that Conference (inadequate as may be), and urged the Caliphate Gladiator-In-Chief who also doubles as Nigeria's Commander-In-Chief, to jettison the Recommendations of the 2014 National Conference, in which according to them, the North was underrepresented and its interests, undermined.

This was an undisguised slamming of the door against the face of the rest-of-Nigeria Restructuring Bandwagon.

The Caliphate  has thus arrogantly declared to the rest of Nigeria, that the Consensus on Restructuring reached by the rest of us is of no moment, import or significance and that we must make do with our slave status or get slaughtered if we dared complain any louder.

The rollout of 2019 Elections Timetable in March 2017  by INEC was aimed at deflation the rapidly rising balloon of Restructuring and Self-Determination and to  railroad the rest of Nigeria to the 2019 renewal and reinforcement of our enslavement cum enshacklement in the Election that would certainly be premised upon the Master-Servant 1999 Constitution.

The untrained eyes from the embattled rest of Nigeria  who seem completely oblivious of these deadly Caliphate shenanigans are busy throwing up permutations of how to plunge into the 2019 self-serving  Electoral gambit of the Caliphate, even after a clear examination and interrogation of the whole situation dictated and still dictates a halt to the preparations towards 2019, to first settle the Grand Renegotiation of the now distorted Protocols of mutual coexistence amongst the mosaic of Ethnic Nationalities entrapped in the 1914 failed experiment of Lugard and Harcourt tagged "Nigeria".

Let it be restated here that the actions aimed at halting the Caliphate brigandage, seeking to railroad Nigeria to another Election under the obnoxious 1999 Constitution already rejected across board by the rest of Nigeria, will of necessity be on a head-on collision with all those, Caliphate or Non-Caliphate, who are on the side of taking Nigeria to another Election in 2019 with the rejected 1999 Fraud we all call  "Constitution".

The outcome of that head-on collision will be most catastrophic for Nigeria and it would certainly be a sad day for those from the Non-Caliphate rest of Nigeria,  who would be caught up on the wrong side of events in this charged matter, irrespective of what name their Political Party may bear or what ideology the Party may profess.

The time to make a choice on this matter is now.

The justifications and concoctions of tales which those who deliberately prefer to make the wrong  choices now, would be no more than cock and bull.

EFCC, NIA and Osborne Towers money By Danjuma Oche

It should have become clear by now to the discerning that the N13.3b‘recovered’ in the full glare of TV live streaming by the EFCC belongs to the National Intelligence Agency. It is also clear that the money is not ‘loot’ by some of our political leaders who dwell in that luxury apartments in Osborne Road, Ikoyi as was initially thought. Quite unfairly, some notable political figures have been embarrassed by searches conducted by the EFCC in their homes and some had their names mentioned in connection with the money.

But now it has come to light that the Osborne find is part of money duly approved by the highest authority in the land for use by the National Intelligence Agency for a stated objective. What is debatable now is what the money was doing in that apartment. But even this has been explained: it was kept in a safe house for use by a branch of our intelligence community.

Reports have also revealed that when the EFCC became aware of this money, there was a discussion between the EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, and the now suspended former head of the National Intelligence Agency, Mr. Ayo Oke, over the money. That it was made clear to Magu who the owner of the money was and why it was in the Osborne apartment premises. It has been further revealed that the premises  is one of NIA’s safe houses and it is not unusual in the world of intelligence agencies the world over to keep, sometimes fairly large sums of money such as the one in dispute now, in safe houses for covert operations.

Given this background, it is a bit surprising that issues relating to this NIA money have been handled the way they have been handled without regard  to the nature of work NIA is mandated to perform. Was the eagerness to go public with the ‘find’ a case of mischief, over-enthusiasm or chest-beating on the part of the EFCC to impress the authorities and to convince skeptical Nigerians that it is the foremost security agency in the country more alive to its responsibility than any other in the country? Or, as some commentators have pointed out, is it a case of inter-agency rivalry, the type of ruinous pursuit that severely divided the various arms of our armed forces under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, a fact which made the fight against Boko Haram futile?

If this is the truth about the matter, this is unfortunate and dangerous for our country which is contending with a lot of security challenges. We need our intelligence and security forces to work hand in hand with one another and share intelligence so that we can better deal with the security challenges assailing the nation.

Whatever may be the motive behind EFCC’s action, this incident once again draws attention to the rather unscrupulous tactic the EFCC loves to employ in its fight against corruption. The organisation loves to adopt the unfair weapon of media trial against its suspects. This helps to explain why scores of EFCC’s suspects have earned conviction in the court of public opinion and only quite a small number have been convicted by the courts. For some of my countrymen and women who love the damning information the EFCC dishes out to the media to establish the guilt of its suspects, I will like to say that if you are not a victim of unfair media trial, you will be tempted to hail the EFCC as a great anti-corruption czar. But if you become one, you will see how much it hurts. Moreover, we are said to be running a democracy and in a democracy, the right to fairness is a key doctrine. That is why all citizens of good conscience must condemn the handling of the NIA affair.

If the present government has the suspicion that previous administrations hid under votes and activities of intelligence agencies to steal money, was there not a better, quieter, discreet and more statesmanlike way of handling the matter? Must all of our affairs be conducted in a noisy, uncultured and immature way like agberos in the motor parks? When will we learn to conduct the anti-corruption war and other vital state affairs without drama and media trial of those suspected to be involved? Are there no men and women full of wisdom and circumspection who could have been quietly empaneled and relied upon to investigate and establish the truth surrounding the NIA money and thereafter those with a prima facie case against them dealt with according to law?

There is also the question of fairness and decency. An intelligence agency, such as the NIA, is not supposed to be seen or heard. How come its affairs have now been exposed to such a full glare of the inquiring public? There is a serious financial accusation leveled against NIA. Moreover, its head has been suspended and the man subjected to intense media trial. Even if the man was not on suspension he cannot be expected to publicly defend himself or his organisation without compromising national security. Is not a case of grave injustice already done that a man or an organisation that should not be seen or heard is/ are thrust into public limelight? If in the end, the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo Committee exonerates Ayo Oke of blame in the N13.3b money, who will believe the committee and if he is found culpable who, again, will believe that justice was done; that Ayo Oke was not made a fall guy to cover a sinister sin, especially as it is being rumoured that the money in question is a part of the APC war chest for 2019 elections?

Surely, we urgently need to cultivate some social graces in the handling of our national affairs so that even foreign on-lookers can see and say yes this people are mature an cultured enough to govern themselves. We seem to derive some sadistic joy in seeing ourselves exposed to ridicule, embarrassment or being held in odium by others. How much is the salacious tales of recovery of humongous amounts of loots doing to advance the cause of our anti-corruption war? Rather than hail us for our determination to fight corruption, what the world is doing instead is looking at us with disdain.

For me, the lesson we must learn from this rather messy and embarrassing handling of the NIA money is that while the war against corruption must by all means continue so that we can rid this society of the cancer that is threatening to eat our country’s bowels out, we must exercise circumspection so that we do not unnecessarily expose to public glare revelations that may ironically expose us to ridicule or things that my turn around to unduly tarnish reputations.

What to me  is the greatest wrong in all of this is the unfairness in allowing a person or persons who are not required to speak publicly because of the nature of their work to be put in a position where they are  more or less compelled to now speak and defend themselves. It is like tying a pugilist hand and legs and throwing him into the ring to answer his opponent pound for pound and flesh for flesh. The whole nation is waiting eagerly for the outcome of the Osinbajo committee. If the committee comes out with the findings that the money was not loot but legitimate money kept for a legitimate purpose what redemptive measure will be taken to salvage the image and career of Ayo Oke who is said to have spent 37 years in the agency with great distinction?

Let no one see the concerns being expressed here as countenancing corruption. Far be it from our intention. Our concern here is that the poor handling of this matter could affect the security of our nation. And everything, including our vital national interests, should not be sacrificed in the efforts to be seen to be fighting corruption. Care must be taken to ensure that salacious stories involving huge sums of money that can weaken our faith in the system itself should not carelessly get out in efforts among our security and intelligence men to settle personal or inter-agency scores. Nigeria’s image has been battered well enough by salacious stories of mind-boggling looting of public funds. We should not seek for opportunities to further batter our already battered image in the name of fighting corruption.

Dr. Oche, a public affairs analyst, wrote this piece from Lagos

Source: Daily Trust