Saraki - I would appear before the code of conduct tribunal on tuesday

The Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki will appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal tomorrow Tuesday 22nd of September 2015.

Saraki, however stated and maintained that he is ready to submit himself to due process of the law on any issue concerning him, noting that, he also believes that he has an inalienable right to resort to the same judiciary for protection when he feels his fundamental rights are about to be infringed upon.

“The Senate President is a law abiding citizen and his absence from tribunal was based on legal advice he received from his counsel that it is not necessary for him to appear before the tribunal at this stage since the jurisdiction of the tribunal and the process of initiating the matter are being challenged before the federal High Court Abuja,” a statement issued by him read.

“Following the adjournment for the determination of the motion on notice and the substantive suit before the Federal High Court to 30th of September and the appeal pending before the Court of Appeal adjourned to the 29th of September 2015, the Senate President has decided, as a law abiding citizen, to appear before the Tribunal in the interim.”

“Saraki has taken the decision to attend the Tribunal sitting to demonstrate his respect for the rule of law in spite of his personal reservation on the process of his trial and the purpose it may be intended to serve.

“Saraki wishes to assure Nigerians of his absolute belief in the judicial process and is therefore confident that the course of justice would be served at the end of this matter,” the statement said.

Sen Moa Ohabunwa - Buhari can't succeed without Ndigbo

Senator Mao Ohiabunwua representing Abia North district, has told President Muhammadu Buhari, that his administration would be a flop if he continues to sideline the Igbos.

The Peoples Democratic Party Senator who made the assertion on Saturday in an interview with journalists in Umuahia, Abia State capital, expressed disappointment in Buhari for excluding the South East zone in his appointments so far.

The former Speaker, ECOWAS parliament, described the deliberate exclusion of the South East from the political equilibrium of Nigeria by the All Progressives Congress-led federal government as “a time bomb waiting for explosion.”

He said, “I don’t believe we can be running this country without Ndigbo. I believe that sidelining Ndigbo is a time bomb that is waiting to explode.”

Ohuabunwa told Buhari to stop denying Ndigbo opportunities to serve in his administration under the pretense of searching for saints, contending that Ndigbo parades an army of people with unquestionable character.

He asked Buhari to go outside the APC camp and choose other competent hands with proven integrity from the zone, carrying Ndigbo along.

“But since the man said he is looking for people with impeccable character, lets assume he hasn’t found any among South East APC members. Let him come to me and I would donate a man of integrity to him.

Buhari - Im ready to give Boko Haram members amnesty

President Muhammadu Buhari told newsmen on Wednesday that Nigerian authorities were talking to Boko Haram prisoners in their custody and could offer them amnesty if the extremist group hands over more than 200 schoolgirls abducted last year. Buhari added that he was confident “conventional” attacks by the group would be rooted out by November — but cautioned that deadly suicide attacks were likely to continue.

“The few (prisoners) we are holding, we are trying to see whether we can negotiate with them for the release of the Chibok girls,” Buhari said in an interview in Paris during a three-day visit to France. “If the Boko Haram leadership eventually agrees to turn over the Chibok girls to us — the complete number — then we may decide to give them (the prisoners) amnesty.”

Boko Haram fighters stormed a school in the remote northeastern Nigerian town of Chibok on April 14 last year, seizing 276 girls who were preparing for end-of-year exams in an abduction that shocked the world. Fifty-seven escaped, but nothing has been heard of the 219 others since May last year, when about 100 of them appeared in a Boko Haram video, dressed in Muslim attire and reciting the Koran.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has since said they have all converted to Islam and been “married off”. Buhari, who has promised to stamp out the group’s bloody six-year insurgency, said the government would not release any prisoners unless it was convinced it could “get the girls in reasonably healthy condition”.

But he cautioned that negotiating with Boko Haram militants was fraught with difficulties. “We are trying to establish if they are bona fide, how useful they are in Boko Haram, have they reached a position of leadership where their absence is of relevance to the operation of Boko Haram?” he said.

‘Occasional bombings’ won’t stop

Boko Haram’s insurgency, which has claimed more than 15,000 lives and forced 1.5 million others out of their homes, has intensified since Buhari came to power on May 29 on the back of a historic election win. While it has lost territory it once controlled in northeastern Nigeria, the group has nevertheless stepped up deadly ambushes in its traditional heartland and across the border in Cameroon and Chad.

In August, Buhari gave a brand new set of military chiefs a three-month deadline to end the insurgency. He said Wednesday he was confident this deadline would be respected — but only on Boko Haram’s “conventional” assaults and not necessarily on the random suicide attacks that have killed hundreds since he took office.

“The main conventional attacks, where Boko Haram use armoured cars they took from Nigerian troops, or mounted machine-guns on pick-ups and so on, we believe by the end of the three months, we will see the back of that,” he said.

“What may not absolutely stop is the occasional bombings by the use of improvised explosive devices,” he cautioned. “We do not expect a 100 percent stoppage of the insurgency.”

APC replies PDP

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the PDP’s rambling statement on the nation’s economy as part of the opposition’s ploy to distract the Buhari Administration from its onerous task of putting the nation on a sound footing.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the PDP’s statement was a litany of delusional self praise, rather than a genuine concern about the nation’s well being.


”The question the PDP should ask itself is that if it had laid a solid foundation for the economy in its 16 years in charge, could such a foundation have given way in just three months of a new Administration?

”If the PDP had been as fantastic as its statement had portrayed, it would still be the ruling, rather than the opposition party that it is now.

”It is therefore important for the PDP to concentrate its attention on remaking its tattered image rather than continuing to act as a desperate attention-seeking opposition,” it said.

DSS begins screening of ministerial nominees

The Department of State Services has commenced the screening of ministerial nominees sent to it by President Muhammadu Buhari.

It was gathered that no fewer than 20 nominees had been vetted by the DSS operatives since the exercise started.

The President was said to have sent to the agency a total of 36 names of would be ministers for security checks.

The identities of the nominees were top secret as of Wednesday.

The President had indicated in a chat with journalists in Accra, Ghana, on Monday that he would keep his promise of announcing names of his ministers this month.

Investigations showed that the screening process by the DSS involved conducting background checks on the careers of the nominees and operatives were also checking for records of the nominees with anti-graft and security agencies.

One of our correspondents gathered that people on the list included mainly those who worked with Buhari when he was in the military and during his stint as the chairman of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund.

The DSS could not be reached for comment on Wednesday as it had yet to appoint a spokesperson.

‘Security screening not public’

When asked if the Presidency had directed security agencies to vet ministerial nominees, the Special Adviser (Media) to the President, Femi Adesina, simply replied via a text message, “Security screening is naturally a behind-the-scenes matter, thanks.”

Top ranking members of the governing All Progressives Congress have also refrained from speaking about ministerial appointment by Buhari.

One of the APC leaders, who asked not to be named, said, “The truth is that the President is someone who believes in due process.”

“His choice of Daura (Lawal Daura), a member of the old guard, as the DG DSS should tell you something; even those contacted for screening know that any leak of information traced to them could ruin their chances,” the source added.

The National Chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun, has been out of Abuja for almost one week.

Calls to his mobile phone indicated that it was switched off.

Repeated calls to the mobile telephone number of the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Lai Mohammed, were neither picked nor returned as of the time of filing this report.

The ministerial list is yet to be forwarded to the Senate as it is still undergoing security screening.

The President, in an interview he granted the Hausa Service of the BBC on Tuesday, had given a hint about what influenced the appointments he had so far.

He had said, “If I choose people who I know quite well in my political party, people whom we came (together) all the way right from the All Paeoples Party, Congress for Progressive Change and the APC and we have remained together through good and trying times, what then is the reward for such dedication and suffering? They did not defect because of positions; they did not involve themselves in the pursuit of personal gains.”

Such considerations are also likely to influence his choice of ministers, sources indicated.

It will be recalled that Buhari had in July said his cabinet would be made known in September.

The President, in an article published in Washington Post on July 19, said it would neither be prudent nor serve the interests of sound judgment for him to have formed his cabinet immediately he was inaugurated on May 29.

He said it was necessary for the country to first put new rules of conduct and good governance in place before he could make critical appointments into his government.

The article was published ahead of his historic meeting with President Barack Obama of United States in July.

He said it was noteworthy that Obama did not have his full cabinet in place for several months after first taking office.

He said the US did not cease to function in the interim despite that delay.

“When cabinet ministers are appointed in September, it will be some months after I took the oath of office. It is worth noting that Obama himself did not have his full cabinet in place for several months after first taking office; the United States did not cease to function in the interim,” he had said.

President Buhari sacks Chairman of the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service.

President Muhammadu Buhari has fired the Chairman of the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service.

He has also approved the sacking of the Chairmen, Secondary Education and Universal Basic Education Boards with immediate effect.

This was contained in a letter with reference no. SGF.19/S.81/T1/97 sent to the FCT Permanent Secretary, John Chukwu, on Wednesday by the Secretary to the Federal Government.

A statement by the FCT Deputy Director, Press, Mohammed Sule, on Thursday in Abuja quoted the letter as directing the affected chairmen to comply with the Federal Government directive on the dissolution of the governing boards of parastatals, agencies, institutions and government-owned companies.

According to the letter, “The Federal Government’s directive as contained in Circular Ref. No. SGF.19/S.81/XIX/964 on the dissolution of the Governing Boards of the Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies, Institutions and Government-owned companies remains extant.”

It noted that the directive applied to all the boards of the Federal Capital Territory parastatals, agencies, institutions and government-owned companies.

“In view of this directive, the FCT Permanent Secretary has directed the former Chairman of the FCT IRS to hand over all duties and responsibilities of his office as well as government belongings in his possession to the Director of Treasury, FCT, while the Chairmen of the Secondary Education Board and Universal Basic Education Board should hand over all duties and responsibilities of their offices as well as government belongings in their possession to the Directors/Secretaries of SEB and UBEB respectively,” the statement said.

The FCT Administration expressed its appreciation to the officials for their contributions to the development of the Federal Capital Territory and wished them success in their future endevours.

Obasanjo snubs journalists after closed door meeting with President Buhari

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari and a former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, on Tuesday held a closed-door meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Some reporters had approached the former President for details of the meeting but he snubbed the journalists that approached him.

“No, No, joor”, he said in Yoruba dialect.

President Buhari had on August 21 named the former President as his Special Envoy to mediate and help find a solution to the crisis brewing in Guinea Bissau.

The meeting came on the same day the Senate started a probe of the Nigerian Power Sector, covering the regimes of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, late Umaru Yar’adua and former President Goodluck Jonathan.

President Buhari vows to name ministers in September

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday assured Nigerians that he would name his cabinet before the end of September.

The Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, in a statement, said Buhari gave the assurance in Accra at a joint press conference with President John Mahama of Ghana.

Buhari stated, “After I was sworn-in, I said I will have my cabinet in September. I expect that Nigerians should ask me questions after the 30th of September if I do not do so.”

The President was responding to a question on the appointment of ministers.

Buhari spoke amidst concerns that he might not name his cabinet this month because the National Assembly would resume from its recess at the end of the month.

The President also said the Nigerian military, in collaboration with the Multi-National Joint Task Force, had recorded remarkable progress in the fight against Boko Haram since he assumed office.

Buhari - I have declared my assets four times since 1975

President Muhammadu Buhari while speaking to journalists on Monday in Accra, Ghana, said that he had declared his assets four times since 1975 and challenged the newsmen to investigate the details of his possession.

Buhari asked journalists to use the required law to dig up the records of his four separate asset declarations.

He said, “I recall that in 1975 when late Murtala Mohammed became the Head of State, we were lined up in the corridor – governors, ministers, members of the Supreme Military Council – and officials of the Ministry of Justice were brought and every individual was made to declare his assets.

“So right now, all heads of state and government, governors, ministers, permanent secretaries will have to declare their assets because it is a constitutional requirement.”

The President said it was a constitutional requirement that public officers declare their assets.

He said, “In Nigeria, it is a constitutional issue and that is why I am blaming you gentlemen of the press. If you really want to do investigative journalism, you don’t have to worry me at this stage; I have declared my assets four times.

“When I was governor in 1975, I declared. After being Minister of Petroleum and as a member of Supreme Military Council, I declared. When I was Head of State and now as a President, I also declared.

“I have declared my assets and all that I have four times, and you (the media) have the right to go and demand for my declaration. Instead, I am being harassed.”

Also at a joint press conference with the Ghanian President John Mahama in Accra, Buhari said that he would name his cabinet before the end of this month.

The Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, in a statement, quoted his principal as saying, “After I was sworn-in, I said I will have my cabinet in September. I expect that Nigerians should ask me questions after the 30th of September if I do not do so,”

The President was responding to a question on the appointment of ministers.

He spoke amid concern that he might not name his cabinet this month because the National Assembly would resume from its recess at the end of the month.

The President also said that the Nigerian military, in collaboration with the Multi-National Joint Task Force, had recorded remarkable progress in the fight against Boko Haram since he assumed office.

He stated, “The first thing I did after I came into office was to reorganise the military and clear orders were given to them in terms of retraining, re-equipping and redeployment of troops.

“In the North-East, the military is gaining ground and Boko Haram has been limited to the Sambisa Forest.

“Internally Displaced Persons are gradually moving back home and they are being reintegrated into their respective communities.”

Mahama had said both leaders had fruitful discussions on how to enhance bilateral relations and improve regional security.

He said that Nigeria and Ghana would soon begin the process of reviving their joint commission for cooperation.

The Ghanaian President added that both leaders also agreed to encourage closer cooperation between the intelligence and anti-graft agencies of both countries.

He thanked President Buhari for his visit and assured him of Ghana’s support and cooperation with Nigeria in the fight against terrorism.

In a separate interview with the editor, BBC Hausa, Mansur Liman, Buhari said culprits in the theft of the country’s crude oil in the last few years would be named and prosecuted soon.

The President said top management personnel of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation could not feign ignorance of the goings-on in the corporation in the last 10 years.

Buhari, who spoke in an interview with the editor, BBC Hausa, Mansur Liman, said, “I am very pleased with the reorganisation, we are getting a lot of results, which we hope in a couple of months’ time we can make clear disclosures and start to prosecute those that had been stealing the crude.

“Those who have been in charge of NNPC at top level can’t claim ignorance of what has been happening in the last 10 years. And the companies include the shipping companies, which allowed themselves to be used to lift illegal crude from Nigeria or to change at high sea or head to a different destination.”

There had been allegations that the NNPC failed to remit N3.8tn to the Federation Account and allegedly stole 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day under the previous administration.

The NNPC, under the new Group Managing Director, Ibe Kachikwu, had last month announced the cancellation of the contract for the delivery of crude oil to the nation’s refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna.

The government’s oil corporation also announced the termination of the Offshore Processing Agreements entered into in January, 2015, with three companiesp: Duke Oil Company Inc., Aiteo Energy Resources Limited and Sahara Energy Resources Limited.

Under the terminated agreement, NNPC was allocating a total of 210,000 barrels of crude oil per day for refining at offshore locations in exchange for petroleum products at pre-agreed yield pattern.

According to the corporation, the decision to cancel the oil delivery contracts to refineries was taken after proper evaluation of the contract terms.

On the OPA arrangement, the firm said the current agreement was not in the interest of Nigeria and the national oil firm, a development that led to its cancellation.

The NNPC also observed that the structure of the agreement did not guarantee unimpeded supply of petroleum products as delivery terms were not optimal.

To address these lapses, the NNPC informed that it had commenced the process of establishing alternative OPA based on optimum yield pattern with tender processing fees.

Buhari - No corrupt person would be spared

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday vowed to strengthen his anti corruption campaign in the country noting that his administration would not spare anyone found guilty of corrupt practices.

He also vowed to step up his anti-corruption campaign through the reinvigoration of all anti corruption agencies in the country such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission.

Buhari stated these while speaking at the opening session of the 45th Annual Accountants Conference and 50th Anniversary celebration of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
The conference with the theme “ICAN:Building on a legacy of service”, is the single largest gathering of chartered accountants in the country.

The President in his address delivered by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs Anastasia Nwaobia, stated that the lack of prudence, transparency and honesty in the management of public resources had left Nigerians in a state of suffering and deprivation.

He called on the ICAN to assist his administration in reversing the trend by ensuring that the resources of government are duly accounted for with all sense of transparency.

He said, “We are at the threshold of history where we must collectively take the destiny of the nation in our hands.

“As Nigerians, no one can love Nigeria like you and me. On our part, we will continue to lead by example, making efforts to live above board.

“As we strive to walk our talk, we will carry our initiative to overhaul the bureaucracy in the public sector to logical conclusions in an effort to engender transparency and improve productivity in public governance.

“In addition, we will reinvigorate the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission, such that the processes of accountability in public governance are reinforced.

“I assure you that persons found wanting will not be spared.”

He said with the huge number of resources at the country’s disposal, it’s citizens have no business of being classified poor among comity of nations.

The President said his administration has commenced the process of rebuilding a better country for all through the enthronement of honesty in the management of public resources.

Buhari said, “As blessed as we are as a nation, Nigerians have no business being classified as poor.
“Yet, through the greed of some unpatriotic few, our commonwealth has been badly pillaged in the name of public service.

“Our ability as a nation to create wealth has increasingly been hampered by lack of prudence, transparency and honesty in the management of public resources by some of those entrusted with the duty of governance at all levels in the past, so much so that, in the midst of plenty, Nigerians are now suffering great deprivation.”

Oshiomole - Buhari's appointment based on merit

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has urged Nigerians to encourage the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to confront the problems militating against the nation by appointing persons based on merit and not ethnicity.

Oshiomhole stated this while commending the President on the appointments of the Chief of Staff, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and others made so far, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Peter Okhiria.

According to Oshiomhole, “The Nigerian nation has come to a point where we have to use the best hands to confront the peculiarity of our problems.

It is not all the time we descend to the level of geopolitical balancing; we need to employ unusual methods to solve an unusual problem. The level of decay in the country at present requires very seasoned hands and incorruptible Nigerians that will help translate the APC agenda of change for the benefit of all Nigerians.

“We must not reduce governance to political patronage of bread and butter.

 The governor congratulates the Chief of Staff, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Comptroller General of Customs, all of who he had very close relationship with and whose credentials stand tall among their compeers. He wishes them well in their new jobs of helping to sanitize a system that has become so rotten and corrupt as a result of manifest incompetence and mismanagement.”

Fayose - Buhari is nothing but a Northern President

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has said President Muhammadu Buhari was operating as a president of Northern Nigeria only, describing steps taken by the president since May 29, 2015 as tainted in ethnic and tribal colouration, which is inimical to the unity of Nigeria.

The governor, who descried what he called President Buhari’s “Northernisation of Nigeria”, said “appointments made by the President so far negate the principle of federal character and it appears the unity in diversity of Nigeria is being taken for granted by the President.”

According to a statement issued on Monday, by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said it was wrong for President Buhari to have made 31 major appointments and only seven will come from the South while 24 were from the North.

He asked: “Under Buhari, are people from Southern Nigeria only meant to be hounded and harassed by anti-corruption agencies and the Department of State Security (DSS) while those from the North are meant to enjoy federal government juicy appointments?”

The governor added: “Apart from lopsided appointments being made by the President, I am worried that construction of Lagos-Ibadan expressway has been slowed down while work has stopped on Lokoja-Abuja roads, which are the major roads linking the Southern part of Nigeria with the North.

“Also, we have been told by the Federal Government that the Second Niger Bridge project has been suspended and one is now beginning to remember how Buhari cancelled the Lagos Metroline Project in 1985 at a loss of over $78 million (then) to the Lagos tax payers.”

Governor Fayose, who maintained that Nigeria can only move forward if there was equity and fairness, said those who made the country’s constitution and enshrined the principle of Federal Character were mindful of the ethnic diversity of the country, adding that President Buhari running Nigeria as if he was a Northern Nigeria’s President was not in the interest of the country.

“They said the President made the appointments on merit and I wish to ask whether there are no competent people in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southern part of Nigeria, especially South-East where no one has been appointed.

“Are they saying Igbo leader like Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, who graduated with a first class honours degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Lagos, is not competent to be appointed as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF)?

“To my mind, these lopsided appointments skewed in favour of the North is a reminder of President Buhari’s tenure as Military Head of State and I hope the President is not seeing Nigeria of today as that of 1984 because doing so will mean that he has turned himself to a northern president, thereby justifying his notion that those who gave him 97 percent votes must get more benefits than those who gave him five percent votes.”

Presidency asks former ministers - Why are u afraid?

For asking President Muhammadu Buhari to be sincere enough and publish the reports the former administration handed over to him, the Presidency has taken a swipe at the former Ministers under the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan, saying they should reflect on the kind of government they handed over to the present.

According to the Presidency, the former Ministers should allow the President the peace he required to handle the reconstruction of the economy and the nation in a manner that most serve Nigeria’s best interests, adding that President Buhari does not need these types of distraction presented by the so-called association of former ministers.

In a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the Presidency asked the country’s latest trade union formation, the Association of Ex-Jonathan Ministers to do a bit of self-reflection on the sort of government they handed to President Muhammadu Buhari back in May to determine for themselves if it would have been right for any incoming government, not just this one to ignore the issue of the brazen theft of public assets, perhaps the first of its kind we have ever seen in this country,
”
 In this regard that there is no witch hunt or malice against anyone in the pursuit of the county’s stolen assets still stand . This war against corruption knows no friend nor foe.

“There is no intention to deny anyone of their good name where they are entitled to it and that President Buhari reserves the highest regards for the country’s former leaders including Dr Jonathan Goodluck who he continues to praise to the high heavens for the way and manner in which he accepted defeat in the last election.

“That singular action remains a feat that has earned the former president and Nigeria as country befitting commendations all over the world, the latest coming from Mr Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations who visited a week ago.

“For the purpose of emphasis, the issue of fighting corruption by President Buhari is non negotiable. It is sine qua non to the overall reconstruction of the economy and social systems which suffered destruction and severe denigration under the last administration. President Buhari will not be deterred or blackmailed into retreat and surrender.

“No one in the PDP can accuse President Buhari of undermining the economy when all they handed over to him is at best,was a tottering economy hobbled by corruption and the absence of due process.

“Things have become worsened by the continuing fall of oil prices, which is expected to fall even further with the imminent full return of Iran to the market. All he has been doing while around is to put things together, organizing to defeat Boko Haram, paying outstanding salaries, cleaning up the mess left behind, improving security and restoring our relationships with neighbors and the world.

“So what are former ministers afraid of in these things? Have they become a new trade union?

“Let this collection of ex-VIPs allow the President the peace he needs to handle the reconstruction of the economy and the nation in a manner that most serves Nigeria’s best interests. President Buhari does not need these types of distraction presented by the so-called association of former ministers.”

APC lists more massive looting under Jonathan

The All Progressives Congress has listed new instances of alleged looting of the treasury by some officials of the Jonathan Administration, saying the corruption mess that characterised the administration was so pervasive that until it is cleaned, Nigeria will not be able to actualise its potentials.

”Those who would rather give comfort to the looters by dismissing the media exposure of looting cases as mere hell-raising should realise that no sane person can be silent in the face of what is unfolding as the worst cases of brazen stealing of public funds in Nigeria’s history,” the party said in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

”On August 16, 2015, we listed some instances of the breath-taking looting of the treasury by some officials of the immediate past administration. Today, we bring three more heart-rendering cases to the attention of Nigerians. We will not relent until closure has been brought to this issue,” it said, listing the new cases as:

– A mind-shattering 2.2 billion-US-dollar arms scandal.

–  6.9 million-dollar fraud by the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to President Jonathan, committed under the guise of buying three mobile stages for the President.

– 2.5 billion-Naira scam involving the rent of house boats.

”While those charged with handling these cases are finalising the details of bringing the suspects to justice, our immediate concern is the attempt by the PDP, under whose umbrella the looting took place, to blame the Buhari administration for the mess and then infer that things have been worse in Nigeria in the last three months under the APC-led federal government than in the 16 years under the PDP. This is totally provocative, shameless and uncharitable.

”They say we are yet to fulfil our campaign promises to Nigeria, but they have forgotten that if only the PDP/Jonathan administration had not stolen Nigeria blind, there would have been more than enough money to give school children in Nigeria not just one, but three meals a day and even pay 5,000 Naira to 50 million most vulnerable Nigerians, not just the 25 million we promised in our manifesto,” APC said

Despite the almost daily discovery of cases of corruption under the Jonathan administration, the party assured Nigerians of better days ahead, as all its campaign promises would be kept because of the commitment and determination of President Buhari, not only to cleaning the Augean Stable, but also ensuring purposeful governance for the benefit of all Nigerians.

”It is clear to all Nigerians that the debilitating impact of 16 years of PDP’s misrule cannot be reversed in just three months. It is an obvious truth that it is always easier to destroy than to construct, but nothing will stand in the way of the Buhari administration’s commitment to improving the quality of life of Nigerians and making our country to function again,” it said.

It said a major cog in the wheel of faster progress for the new Nigeria under President Buhari had been the discovery that the pot housing the commonwealth had been licked dry by the looters of yesterday, hence the need to work meticulously to recover the looted funds and facilitate the delivery of good governance that would manifest in abundant jobs, strong economy and improved welfare and security for Nigerians.

APC said while the PDP, ever steeped in the pursuit of lies, presented the recently released data on job creation and economic growth as “clear signals” that President Muhammadu Buhari was failing Nigerians, the disgraced party mischievously omitted the fact that those numbers were basically a manifestation of the disastrous final days of President Jonathan’s failed economic policies.

It commended Nigerians for showing absolute understanding and faith in the leadership of President Buhari to change the way that Nigeria has been misruled in the last 16 years, saying in the days ahead, the painstaking efforts of the President would manifest even more than Nigerians had already witnessed.

Northern Elders Forum - Nigerians should be patient with President Buhari

The Northern Elders Forum has called on Nigerians, especially the Igbo in the South-East, to be patient with President Muhammadu Buhari on his alleged lopsided appointments, saying the President is picking only those he can trust as close aides.

The President had named only one southerner among the initial nine political appointments he made.
The northerners in the first appointments are the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Lawal Daura; acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mrs. Amina Zakari; the Director, Department of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Mordecai Danteni Baba Ladan; and the Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris.

Others are the President’s Chief Security Officer, Abdulrahman Mani; State Chief of Protocol, Abdullahi Kazaure; Aide-De-Camp, Lt. Col. Muhammed Abubakar; and the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.

Only the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, hails from Osun State in the South-West.

The second set of appointments, which was announced through a statement by Adesina on Thursday, which had only one southerner, had caused public outcry.

The appointees are Babachir David Lawal from Adamawa State, who was named Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Mr. Abba Kyari, from Borno, Chief of Staff; Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), from Kano, Comptroller-General, Nigerian Customs Service; Mr. Kure Martin Abeshi, from Nasarawa, Comptroller-General, Nigerian Immigration Service; and Suleiman Kawu, from Kano, SSA to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives).

The only southerner on the list, Senator Ita Enang, was named the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate).

Speaking to newsmen on the criticisms generated by the appointments, the Vice Chairman of the NEF, Dr. Paul Unongo, said Buhari had a better understanding of Nigeria, based on his experience as a general, a former Head of State and as President of the country.

He said Buhari would not work against the unity of the country, considering his experience after his military regime and three failed attempts at the Presidency.

Unongo said, “I want people to look at Buhari as somebody that has gone through the rough and tumble of this nation in the political and military arena. It will be very stupid of him to just take anybody.

“It is his innermost people that are going to help him to implement his clearly-stated ideological orientation against corruption; those who want to give total service. We must know he cannot entrust such responsibility very easily.

“With a military coup against him, and 17 years of struggle, I think this young-old man, at 72, should be allowed to select the team he trusts most to face the security and economic challenges of Nigeria, as well as the lawlessness and impunity of the last administration.”

The northern leader argued that Buhari, who waited 17 years after which he contested the presidency four times, must have had an idea of the type of country he wants Nigeria to become.”

The former steel minister added, “This is the third month of his Presidency and he has not been given the chance to settle down. The people that are trying to play politics by saying that a section of the country has not been reflected (in his appointments) should tarry a little. We will be the first people to shout. He is bringing everybody in Nigeria on board.

“I think it is too early. If somebody is going to appoint someone that is going to be speaking on his behalf, should he go and appoint someone that he doesn’t trust? Should he appoint people that are going to compromise? Should he appoint people that don’t believe in him as a person?”

The elder statesman urged Nigerians, especially the Igbo, to wait till the President announces members of his cabinet. He further stated that it was right to remind President Buhari of “his obligations to morality,” which made him to fight the Biafran War to unite the country.

Rochas Okorocha - I had two private jets before i became governor

Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, on Thursday said he bought his private jets before he became governor in 2011, contrary to publications in the media that he has bought two private jets since he was elected into office.

Okorocha, who was reacting to statement by workers in the state that he should sell his private jets and use the proceeds to pay their salary arrears, described the allegation as a total falsehood fabricated by those who are bent on discrediting his achievements.

In a statement signed by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, the state government said, “as a government, we want to deny with high sense of honesty that since May 29, 2011 when Owelle Rochas Okorocha became governor, he has never bought any private Jet either directly or by proxy. Having made this denial let those behind the allegation make their facts public to fault our denial.

“The period Governor Rochas Okorocha bought Jets was years before he was elected, during the Olusegun Obasanjo regime when some of the presidential jets were auctioned. The governor bought jets then under the aegis of Lamonde Aviation, alongside few other Nigerians. Since he became governor, he has never bought any private Jet.”

The statement added: “Again, the Debit Management Agency penultimate week published the states a*nd their respective debt profiles. And in the case of Imo State, they published N37 billion which was far from the hundreds of billions the opponents of the government have been claiming to be the debt status of the state. And the N37 billion debt include the ones owed by the previous administrations. The good story is that we have been vindicated on that.”

Breaking news : President Buhari approves new appointments

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the following appointments:

• Engr. Babachir David Lawal – Secretary to the Government of the Federation

• Alhaji Abba Kyari – Chief of Staff to the President

• Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd.) – Comptroller-General, Nigerian Customs Service

• Mr. Kure Martin Abeshi – Comptroller-General, Nigerian Immigration Service

• Senator Ita S.J. Enang – SSA to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate)

• Hon. Suleiman A. Kawu – SSA to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives)

The appointments are with effect from today, August 27, 2015.

Engr. Lawal, the new Secretary to the Government of the Federation hails from Hong Local Government Area, Adamawa State.

He graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1979 with a Bachelor of Engineering Degree and worked with the Delta Steel Company, Aladja, Nigerian External Telecommunications Limited and Data Sciences Limited before establishing his own ICT and Telecommunications consulting firm in 1990.

He is also a member of the Nigeria Computer Society, the Nigeria Society of Engineers and the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria.

Alhaji Abba Kyari, the new Chief of Staff to the President holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees from the University of Cambridge and the University of Warwick in Law and Sociology. He has worked with the New Nigeria Development Company, New Africa Holdings, African International Bank, United Bank for Africa, Unilever, and Mobil in various capacities over the years.

The new Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Ali holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Criminology. He was military administrator of Kaduna State from 1996 to 1998.

The new Comptroller- General of Immigration, Mr. Abeshi hails from Nasarawa State. He joined the Nigerian Immigration Service in 1989 as an Assistant Comptroller. His educational qualifications include a Masters Degree in Public Administration.

Tinubu - I'm at peace with Fashola PDP is behind the false allegations

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has distanced himself from the recent attacks against former Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State.

Tinubu added that the attacks were being sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party.

Tinubu, who is a former governor of Lagos State, said this in a statement issued by his media office on Wednesday.


Fashola, according to a report on the state government’s website, spent N78.3m on his personal website, www.tundefashola.com and N139m to construct two boreholes at the Lagos House, Ikeja, when he was governor.

There had been speculations that the reports were being sponsored by Tinubu as part of efforts to discredit him and deny him the opportunity of being appointed a minister by President Muhammadu Buhari.

However, Tinubu said the allegations against him (Tinubu), were the handiworks of mischief makers sponsored by the PDP.

The statement partly read, “The PDP is just recently out of office at the federal level and it built a vast, unprecedented financial war chest to contest the elections. The residual of that war chest is still at work, buying media space to plant rumours in hopes of spreading discord through the APC.

“Thus, the enemy camp may be a minority but it is a large and well-funded one that knows it only chance lies in us attacking ourselves.”

The APC leader said he had nothing against his successor, Fashola. He said Fashola served the state meritoriously for eight years.

He, therefore, condemned those calling for Fashola’s probe.

He said any criticism of Fashola was an indictment on him because he was instrumental to making Fashola governor.

He said, “Our political opponents now try to steal victory when their only entitlement is resounding defeat. Having fared woefully with the electorate, their game plan is to sow discord within the ranks of the party the people had chosen to lead them. The PDP hopes to strike a division in the APC, in that way weakening us and our ability to govern.

“This brings me to recent developments in the Lagos political scene. Born of this motley stew is the recent gossip mongering that I have wilfully instigated false and negative reports against former Governor Fashola to thwart him from being appointed to a major post in the Buhari administration.

“I want to declare clearly and categorically that these rancid attacks do not come from me nor do I endorse them. Neither my hand nor my heart is in these mean submissions. I deplore them.

“An attack against the performance of Governor Fashola is indirectly an attack against me and the edifice of achievements we have constructed in leading Lagos State out of a protracted time of stagnation and into an era of sustained progress and development.”

He said he and Fashola will forever remain close because they had struggled together.

He said having ensured that his party retained Lagos for over 16 years, it would be unwise of him to pull down what he helped build.

He added, “I for one will not bend to the artificial provocation of those seeking to tear at what we have painstakingly built over the years. In my mind, Governor Fashola and I alliance is unshakeable and our journey must not be interrupted. I would no more attack his character or his administration than I would attack myself.”

Orubebe replies Oshiomole - You are a garage boy

Former Minister of the Niger Delta, Mr Godsday Orubebe has fired back a reply to Governor Adams Oshiomole who sent in a statement calling Godsdey Orubebe a disgrace.

Orubebe angrily called the Edo state governor 'a garage boy who he will disgrace publicly'

Orubebe, who reacted to Oshiomhole’s response to his (Orubebe’s) earlier remarks on him, said that Oshiomhole’s attempt to link his critical advice to President Muhammadu Buhari to be wary of popular ‘Villa sycophants’ to his fears of a possible probe in connection with the East- West Road project shows he was indeed a garage boy who lacks focus.

Orubebe who described the governor’s insinuation as laughable, maintained that the Edo governor had failed to address the issue of sycophancy which he accused him of.

He said that Oshiomhole was suffering from chronic diarrhoea of the mouth, which explains why he has lately been misleading Nigerians, adding that his illiteracy was beyond human comprehension.

“I am proud to have been a vital instrument used by God to take the once abandoned East- West road project to an admirable 80 percent level of completion. 

It is unfortunate that our respected Niger Delta could produced the likes of Oshiomhole who is a garage boy that should be at the motor park as a son.

I will disgrace him publicly and tell the world about his dubious deeds as governor as well as his role in the botched Third Term Bid of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. I am going to open his can of worms to the point that Nigerians will stone him if seen on the streets.

I don’t talk carelessly as I have my facts to prove my points. I am not afraid of probe, am a man of integrity under whose watch the abandoned 42 bridges and 1040 culverts that was initially without designed was upgraded to the level it is today.

Every reasonable Niger Deltan and Nigerians at large knows that I am the admired face of the East West road, I can stand tall, anywhere and anytime to defend my administration as well as account for every dime that was allocated for the several projects we embarked upon.

My Co- ministers and every other person who was a member of the federal Executive Council under former president Jonathan’s watch can attest to the fact that I was a vessel par excellence who had result oriented contributed to make towards moving the nation forward. If he is reasonable, he will not refer to my action at the election result collation centre. This is because, history will talk about it and Nigerians will be proud of me.

Yes, I had to apologise to Nigerians, particularly the youths over what I term ‘wrong approach to a just course’. Yes, I had a just case that was deliberately ignored, as one who felt cheated, and so reacted.

I’m laughing at him because, if there’s anyone who should bury his face in shame, it has to be Oshiomhole who disgraced, harassed and rough handled a poor widow who he should have ordinarily accommodated.

My people are very proud of me, I mean the aged, the poor and orphans. I don’t disgrace them before putting smiles on their faces. I maintain the fact that Oshiomhole is a popular villa sycophant, a garage boy and that PMB should be weary of him, if he must succeed and be really admired.”he said

Oshiomole - Orubebe is a disgrace

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State says former Minister of the Niger Delta, Mr Godsday Orubebe is afraid of President Muhammadu Buhari’s planned probe of several billions of naira squandered on the East-West road and on the Amnesty programme under his watch as Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, adding that this is the basis for his latest outburst in the media.

The Governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Peter Okhiria said the incompetence of people like Orubebe contributed to the dismal failure of the administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan.

He said: “Our attention has been drawn to the latest outburst of one clown called Godsday Orubebe in his attempt to taint the image of the Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

“It is no surprise that the former president, Goodluck Jonathan failed woefully because he surrounded himself with such charlatans as Godsday Orubebe, whose only credential is his ethnic origin and the large size of his bowler hat.

“Here was a man whose un-ministerial conduct at the election nearly plunged the nation into an avoidable crisis.

“Does Orubebe really think Nigerians are fools, does he truly believe Nigerians have forgotten so soon the ignoble role he played in his attempt to truncate the release of the election results and announcement of the eventual winner of that election, a move which could have plunged the nation into another civil war?

“Is it not a shame that Orubebe who should be cooling off his heel in jail for that failed plot to truncate democracy has now found a convoluted voice?

“We are not surprised at the timing of Orubebe’s latest outburst. It is no doubt unconnected with the planned probe by President Muhammadu Buhari of the billions of naira allocated to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, even as the East-West road remains in bad shape and the probe of the fleecing of amnesty funds under his watch.

“We are aware that Orubebe, the perpetual noise maker has raised the decibel of his noise a notch higher so that he would have a ready-made defence of witch-hunting if he is indicted in the planned probe of Amnesty funds.

“Orubebe is a yesterday’s man. We could have chosen to ignore him like his Delta brother, Mr. Sunny Onuesoke, an unknown entity who doesn’t know the arithmetics of financing, but decided to delve into a matter of a World Bank loan, something completely beyond his mental and intellectual capacity, but we simply can’t let Orubebe have the last say.

“We are not unaware that it has now become the fad for drowning and neophyte politicians to take cheap shots at the impeccable character of the Comrade Governor just to gain cheap publicity. However, Orubebe’s image, as he himself knows, is beyond redemption.

“Is it not laughable that Orubebe, the clown, accused Oshiomhole of biting the fingers that fed him? Pray, how did Jonathan feed Oshiomhole? Did he feed Oshiomhole by supervising over a government that fleeced the nation of trillions of naira, thereby denying Edo State her rightful share of funds for development? Or did he feed Oshiomhole by canvassing votes for him!

“Our candid advice is for Orubebe, a perpetual failed Governorship aspirant, to go to his family and apologise for the irreparable damage done to the family name with his infamous outburst beamed live to the whole world, before coming forward to confront Governor Adams Oshiomhole who is not in any way in the same class as him.

“It is no wonder that Nigeria was at a state of near collapse until President Muhammdu Buhari came on a rescue mission and rendered people like Orubebe irrelevant.

“Never again will characters like Orubebe take us on the path of Golgotha; never again will they hold sway in the affairs of Nigeria and ruin the collective aspiration of the people.”