APC lists 24 sins committed by Jonathan, Wike, PDP

The list was compiled by the Rivers APC in a bid to discourage voters from casting their votes for the PDP in the March 19, 2016, State and National Assembly rerun elections.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers state has listed 24 sins committed by former President, Goodluck Jonathan, Governor Nyesom Wike and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the state.

The list was compiled by the Rivers APC in a bid to discourage voters from casting their votes for the PDP in the March 19, 2016, State and National Assembly rerun elections.

The sins, contained in a statement released by Rivers APC Chairman, Davies Ikanya on Wednesday, March 16, are as follows:

1. President Jonathan failed to muster the courage and political will in a PDP-controlled National Assembly to see to the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in the over six years of his administration to demonstrate his hatred for the Niger Delta region knowing that communities in Rivers State will benefit from the bill.

2 The East/West Road, especially Eleme-Onne axis in Rivers State, was not only abandoned but was a nightmare to travellers and commuters.

3 Bodo-Bonny Federal Road was completely abandoned just because it is situated in Rivers State.

4. Refusal to refund to the State Government over 90 billion naira used in the dualisation of Ikwerre-Owerri Road approved by late President Yar’Adua and other Federal Roads in the State executed by the State to ease the sufferings of the people of Rivers State.

5. Wickedly stopped Train 7 at NLNG Bonny and the loss of jobs to our people and revenue to Government.

6 Non-implementation of UNEP Report on the clean-up of Ogoni land despite all the pleas by our people and the International Community – just to punish the Ogonis and Rivers State irrespective of their overwhelming support for him during the 2011 elections.

7 Lack of any visible Federal Government project in Rivers State throughout his over six years as President of Nigeria. Instructively, of all the states Dr Jonathan has visited in the course of his re-election campaign, it was only in Rivers that he could not name a single development project he initiated, not to talk of executing.

8. Ceding of oil wells belonging to Rivers to Bayelsa and Abia states to ensure that the revenue accruing to the State was reduced to nothing.

9. Abandoned construction of the Port Harcourt International Airport after completing other airports started at the same time with it. The airport has thus become an eyesore and the worst airport in the entire world. Pictures of the current state of the Airport attached explain the level of hatred Dr Jonathan has for Rivers State and her people.

10. Turning the Port Harcourt axis of Enugu-Port Harcourt Express Road into a death trap. The pictures attached of the bad state of the road explain everything.

11. Posting and encouraging the excesses of the tyrannical Police Commissioner Joseph Mbu during his inglorious days in the State.

12. Supporting the impunity of daily killing, maiming of members of Rivers APC by the Police under the watch of Dan Barure then Commissioner of Police of the State

13. Supporting every imaginable act of impunity in the State, including the plot by five State Assembly members to impeach the Speaker in a House of 31 members.

14. Seizing and grounding the planes of the State for no just cause.

15. Harassing and intimidating the then Governor of Rivers State (Rt. Hon. Amaechi) for no just cause and even supporting the splitting of the Governors Forum into two just to ensure that Governor Amaechi, who was duly elected by his colleagues, does not have an easy reign as the Chairman of the Forum.

16. Refusal to allow the then Governor of the state to construct the Federal Road that leads to the Kalabari Kingdom just to ensure that during the rainy season the Kalabaris will not have a road to their place.

17..Refusal to refund the State the money used to construct the smooth, beautiful dual carriageway from Omerelu to Port Harcourt – particularly up to the Airport Junction from Owerri in Imo State, which the Federal Government abandoned just because Rivers State people ply that road.

18. Refusal to refund the money used by Rivers State to construct the Ahoada/Elele Alimini Federal Road and the interchange (Flyover) at Obiri Ikwerre.

19. Refusal to attend to the poor state of the Onne – Port Harcourt component of the East/West Road. This is the road that services the Port Harcourt Refinery from where petroleum products are supplied to the South East and parts of the South South. That is the road that leads to the Onne Free Zone and to Okrika, the home Local Government of Dame Patience Jonathan, Nigeria’s former First Lady.

20. Turning a blind eye while his party continues to kill, bomb and disrupt APC rallies.

21. Against the spirit of equity, unity, justice and fair play, Dr Jonathan and his wife, Damee patience Jonathan imposed Chief Nyesome Wike a cancellous fellow from the Ikwerre tribe as PDP candidate and Governor of Rivers State, knowing very well that the former Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, was also of Ikwerre extraction and that with Chief Wike as Governor that the Ikwerre tribe will governed Rivers State for 16 years to the detriment of other tribes and sections of the State. This shows that Dr Jonathan and his son and unjust party do not wish Rivers State any good.

22. Former President Jonathan released all the N25 Billion that accrued from the principle of derivation from the five Soku Oil Wells that rightly belong to Rivers State kept in reserve for Rivers State and Bayelsa State were all paid to Bayelsa State his home State to prove his hatred for Rivers State

23. As a President, Dr Jonathan continued to under fund the NDDC to ensure that Rivers State and in extension the Niger Delta region is not developed, till the time he left office, over N700B owed by the Federal Government was not paid to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)

24. Refused to empower and fund the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs initiated by the Yar-Adua’s administration. The then Minister of Niger Delta once stated that the N41.7B due to the Ministry was not paid until Dr Jonathan left office to ensure that 90 percent of the projects initiated by the Ministry were not executed by the Ministry in Rivers State and other Niger Delta States

Popular Actress, Ibinabo Fiberesima Weeps As Court Sentences Her To Five Years In Jail

Nollywood actress and former president, Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN will be exploring the Supreme Court to upturn her five-year jail term in the lingering case of reckless driving, that caused the death of a Lagos state government doctor, Suraj Giwa in 2005.

Her lawyer announced the move today after she lost her appeal at the Court of Appeal in Igbosere, Lagos.

Barrister Nnaemeka Amaechina said that the judgment would be challenged at the Supreme Court adding that a Notice of Appeal has already been filed.

Ibinabo had challenged the judgement of a Lagos High Court which sentenced her to five years imprisonment for the death of Dr. Giwa.

The appellate court presided over by Justice Jamilu Yammama Tukur dismissed her appeal seeking to upheld the option of fine which a lower court had given, but which was challenged by the Lagos State government.

An Igbosere Magistrates’ Court had sentenced Ibinabo to a five year imprisonment with an option of N100,000 fine for reckless driving which caused the death of Dr. Giwa, a staff of a Lagos State Hospital, in an auto accident along the Lekki-Epe expressway, Lagos in 2005.

She paid the fine and was to be left off the hook when the then Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Supo Sasore (SAN), felt unsatisfied with the judgement.

This prompted the state government to take its case to the Lagos High Court.

At the Lagos High court, Justice Deborah Oluwayemi set aside the option of fine imposed by the Magistrates’ Court.

In her judgement, Justice Oluwayemi held that the trial Magistrate exercised judicial recklessness when he gave the convict an option of fine.

She stated that the option of N100, 000 given to the convict did not serve the purpose of justice in the matter and subsequently ordered a refund of N100, 000 to Ibinabo and sentenced her to five years imprisonment for dangerous and reckless driving.

The former beauty queen then approached the appellate court to uphold the earlier option of fine by the magistrate court which she had paid but returned to her.

She had prayed her appeal will be heard on humanitarian grounds.

In a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Tukur, the court held that the trial Magistrate Court lacked the discretion to grant Ibinabo an option of fine after her conviction.

It held further that the appeal lacked merit and thereby dismissed it accordingly.

Other members of the Appeal court panel are Justice U.I. Ndukwe-Anyanwu (Mrs.) and Justice Tijani Abubakar.

Ibinabo burst into tears after the judgment was delivered.

Nigerian Senate votes down gender equality bill due to 'religious beliefs'

Nigeria has rejected a gender and equality opportunities bill because it is an attack on its relegious beliefs.

The bill looked to protect Nigerian women from the violence and provide them with the same marital rights as their male counterparts including the rights of widows to inherit their husband's property.

The bill was introduced by Senator Abiodun Olujimi but did not pass a second reading as opponents rejected it as an attack on religious beliefs and the Nigerian constitution, reports Quartz.

Overtly incorporating parts of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the bill declared that women "shall not be subjected to inhuman, humiliating or degrading treatment" and "shall have the right to an equitable share in the inheritance of the property of her husband."

It detailed how women should have the right to fully participate in political activities including the right to vote and be eligible for all publicly elected offices without any restrictions.

One Senate opponent quoted the Bible in a speech declaring his aversion.

A Muslim senator told the BBC that in Islam, women get a half of men's share in inheritance and it is unacceptable to change this.

FG To Create 3 Million Jobs In The Next Three Years – Osinbajo

The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday said that the Federal Government is planning to create about 3 million jobs in the next three years.

The 3 year job plan, he said, is expected to come from the Technology, Wholesale and Retail, Construction and Agro-allied sectors of the Nigerian economy, while 700,000 jobs, which would be private sector driven, would come from the Agro-allied sector.

According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, it was contained in the report of an implementation of job plan titled “Strategic Framework & Implementation Plan for Job Creation & Youth Employment in Nigeria, submitted to Osinabjo by the Job creation Unit (JCU) of the Presidency and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Osinbajo who expressed excitement and hope recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had set job creation as the central focus of government policy when he instructed that policy planning must address the question of, “how many jobs would the policy create?”

Ambode re-opens Mile 12 market

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Thursday ordered the re-opening of the Mile 12 Market following the satisfactory meeting and agreement reached with all the stakeholders involved in the operation of the market.

This is contained in a statement by the state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Mile 12 Market was shut by Ambode on March 3 after a clash erupted in the area.

NAN reports that the leaders of the communities affected in the crisis agreed with the Lagos State Government on Wednesday on the need to relocate the market.

Some of the major agreements reached by consensus among the various stakeholders include relocation of the market to another suitable location and ban on the use of commercial motorcycles in the area.

They also agreed on peaceful co-existence among all the ethnic groups in the market and environs, removal of all shanties and illegal attachments within the market area, among others.

Ayorinde said that the stakeholders agreed that it was only in an atmosphere of peace that their various businesses and trades could thrive.

He assured that Lagos was home for all, and that the State Government would continue to provide the enabling environment for every investor to thrive.

Cameroon soldiers kill 20 Boko Haram fighters in Nigeria

YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Cameroonian soldiers killed 20 Boko Haram fighters on Wednesday during a raid in northern Nigeria carried out by a multinational force tasked with stamping out the Islamist militants, military sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Cameroon commander General Jacob Kodji said the Islamist fighters were killed in the Nigerian town of Djibrila, which is about 10 km (six miles) from the Cameroon border.

A spokesman for Cameroon's Defence Ministry, Colonel Didier Badjeck, said 12 hostages were freed and munitions and armoured vehicles were seized during the operation.

Boko Haram wants to establish an Islamist state in northeastern Nigeria and has waged a six-year campaign of violence to that end, killing thousands of people and displacing two million others.

Boko Haram is thought to have killed around 15,000 people, according to U.S. military figures.

Attacks have spilled over Nigeria's border into neighbouring countries including Cameroon, which has been the target of a stream of suicide bombings in recent months.

Along with Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Benin, Cameroon has contributed troops to an 8,700-strong regional task force dedicated to fighting the group.

Nigeria: NNPC Restructuring a One-Man Show - PENGASSAN President

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, says it is not opposed to the on-going reforms in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. The National President of the Association, Francis Johnson, told our Business Editor, Bassey Udo, that all what its members want was an all-inclusive arrangement for all interest groups in the industry.

Excerpts

PT: The oil workers unions seem uncomfortable with the on-going restructuring of the NNPC. What are your concerns?

PENGASSAN: For the unions, there must be consistency in policy formulation and implementation by government. Again, there must be an informed consensus on all issues affecting the industry. There must be a buy-in by everyone - government, players and workers. All interest parties must be on the same page. Everyone must understand the direction the industry is heading. Where there are problems, we should join hands together to solve them

It is not too good for the country that the oil and gas industry, the mainstay of our economy, would show such inconsistency in the way policies are formulated and implemented. We seem to be going one step forward today, and two steps backward tomorrow.

If there are things the government needs to do (I believe there are many) to strengthen the industry and bring it to globally acceptable standards, we must be open and transparent about it, by laying all the cards on the table for all parties to see.

One cannot put one hand on the table and the other under the table and expect others to believe one is sincere about the process.

When the present administration came to office, PENGASSAN presented a comprehensive roadmap to Mr. President on what our members think the industry should be. The roadmap was given full exposure in most media in the country. We also submitted the document to the then Ahmed Joda-led All Progressives Congress, APC Transition Committee.

In the roadmap, PENGASSAN asked government to declare a state of emergency in the oil and gas industry. This is an industry that is grappling with a whole lot of issues, namely crude oil theft (which costs the country billions of dollars over the years), pipeline vandalism, backlog of joint venture cash calls, poor state of refineries, corruption in the importation of petroleum products and subsidy payment to marketers, abuse of Nigerian Content policy, etc.

Also, it looked at the status of the PPPRA (Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency) and Petroleum Equalization Fund, PEF, viz-a-viz the role of the NNPC in the performance of their mandates.

With the state of emergency proposal, PENGASSAN believed all Nigerians could sit down together to discuss these problems and proffer solutions. But, if government is talking about restructuring and reorganisation of the NNPC now, and the same issues are the key issues the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, set to achieve, when did that arrangement change? That is the policy inconsistency PENGASSAN is talking about.

The unions are not aware government has jettisoned these issues in the draft PIB currently before the National Assembly for approval. Yet, government has gone ahead to implement what has not yet been approved. That is clearly a setting for confusion. What is worrisome is: what happens if the National Assembly finally approves something different from what government is already implementing in NNPC?

The unions do not seem to know where the industry is going. The essence of any policy is to build a system that would stand the test of time. We must strive to build a legacy that we would all be proud to be associated with long after we have left the system.

For instance, the NNPC Retail was an idea started by the Gaius Obaseki administration in NNPC. When it was conceived, a lot of people opposed it vehemently. But, Mr. Obaseki saw it through, because he carried everybody along and drove the vision to the end. Today, we can see the benefits.

The need to work together is not only in NNPC. It is applicable in every sphere of the industry and government agencies. At every stage in the decision making process, all parties have the responsibility of letting members of their constituencies know what is going on. If as a union the leadership is not carried along in decisions that affect their interests, how would they explain to members how they would be accommodated?

Nigeria: SON Declares War On Substandard Building Materials

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has declared war on manufacturers of substandard building materials in order to curb rising trend of building collapse across the country.

The Acting Director General of the SON, Dr. Paul Angya, disclosed this in Abuja when the executive members of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) visited him.

Angya promised to partner with the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) in a bid to fight the current wave of production and sale of substandard building material.

Angya said that the increasing rate of building collapse in the country was worrisome and called on the Institute to see themselves as partners in the development of Nigeria in terms of quality and standards.

He informed the Institute of an existing Task Force in SON, and invited them to join SON to fight and instil discipline in the build industry, particularly the Iron and Steel sector.

Embracing Made in Nigeria.

Following the deep slide of crude oil prices from $140 per barrel in 2013 to the current trading just below $40 per barrel the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made bold, proactive moves to protect the economy from spiralling into chaos.

 First of all, the CBN sought to preserve our foreign reserves and steady the value of the Naira by prohibiting the sale of foreign exchange for the importation of items that can be produced in Nigeria. It also strove to make foreign exchange available to manufacturers to import machineries and other intermediate goods to keep their production lines running. The Bank is at the forefront of the current drive to look inwards, dump the national mania for imported products and redirect efforts to “made in Nigeria” goods. These measures have ensured that the foreign reserves have remained steady at just below 30 billion US Dollars, thus holding up Nigeria’s creditworthiness among our international trade partners. We are expecting the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Finance, to immediately unfold a national economic agenda that will mobilise all sectors of the economy to embrace the “Made in Nigeria” campaign. 
This it can do by first of all enunciating a robust fiscal policy support to complement the CBN’s efforts at managing the foreign exchange, inflation and interest rates. We are disappointed that the so-called Economic Team headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has not shown its hands to guide the drivers of the various sectors of the economy to confront the challenges posed by the oil glut. It was this lack of spark that prompted concerned Nigerians like Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, to call for an emergency economic conference, which the Federal Government has accepted in principle to do. The Federal Government must unleash its various arms to key into the “Made in Nigeria” drive. The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) must redouble its efforts to plug the entry points to ensure that unpatriotic Nigerian traders and their foreign collaborators do not undermine the inward-looking measures. This it can do through the imposition of stringent import tariffs to discourage importation. 

Happily, the National Assembly has shown its eagerness to play a leading role in the “Made in Nigeria” initiative through the application of appropriate legislative measures. Nigerians must do away with import dependency. They must consume what they produce as well as produce what they consume. That is the only way to increase productivity, diversify the economy and provide jobs for our teeming jobless youth. When that happens, the rate of crimes will come down and Nigeria will be economically prosperous and politically stable. Let us see this economic crisis as an opportunity to escape import dependency.

Creating Online Turnkey Business Website

Within this article today, we’ll look at ways that you can work on creating an online turnkey business website. When you are looking at creating an online turnkey business website, the initial development will take more time than with a standard website but it will pay off with big dividends in the end for you. We will look at what types of software you possibly want to use or look for as well as an example of a possible online turnkey business website.

The first key when creating an online turnkey business website is software. Using and buying software helps create efficiencies that you will need in creating an online turnkey business website. If you have a newsletter and people sign up for it, you will want an email system in place which incorporates autoresponders. A good example of an email autoresponder software that you can use is:GETRESPONSE.COM. This software is not too expensive with the standard edition running free trial and the Professional Edition costing you up to a custom pricing. Take some time to look at this website and see if this is software that can work for you.

Other ways to help in bringing traffic to your website and in creating an online turnkey business website would be buying leads from an email marketing firm. If you do this, you can let the autoresponders and other software in place handle the leads so that you can continue to buy leads and have sales conversions occur. Remember that one of the main keys in working on creating an online turnkey business website is to make sure that you are using as much software as possible so that the process is automated. Most of this paragraph has emphasized the fact that you need auto responders. Without this, you would have to manually write each e-mail and this would be a huge waste of your time.

Another good example of creating an online turnkey business website would be creating an affiliate program. When you’re doing this, all of the information should be set up ahead of time so that once your affiliate is able to successfully close a sale, the person who wants to buy the product is sent automatically to your landing page. This would be a great example of creating an online turnkey business website because you’d only need a landing page, a download page for the product, and a thank you page. There would be nothing that would be done on your end as far as marking the websites or anything like that. If you promoted products using clickbank.com as well as affiliate programs.com, you would be very well set up in creating an online turnkey business website.

Hopefully this article on creating an online turnkey business website will help you. There’s a great deal of information that can be found on this on the Internet but take your time in setting up a website ahead of time because using software and buying leads can lead to constant profits for you.

Buhari Sacks 26 Jonathan Appointees

• After budget fiasco, appoints new DG Budget, Akabueze SA, National Planning
•   Dabiri-Erewa is new presidential aide, Foreign Affairs

Bolaji Adebiyi, Tobi Soniyi and Jaiyeola Andrews in Abuja  

President Muhammadu Buhari monday approved the immediate disengagement of 26 chief executives of federal government agencies and commissions whom he inherited from his predecessor, former President Goodluck Jonathan, confirming THISDAY’s exclusive report that at least 35 of them will be relieved of their posts this week.

He also directed that the most senior officers in the affected parastatals should oversee the organisations pending the appointment of substantive heads of the agencies.

The disengagement was confirmed in a statement by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir Lawal.

The affected persons were the Directors-General of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Mr. Sola Omole; Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Mr. Ladan Salihu; Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Sam Worlu; National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mr. Emeka Mba; National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omieri; and Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr. Ima Niboro.

Others included the DGs of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii; Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mr. Emeka Eze; Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Benjamin Dikki; Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Mr. Ahmed Farouk; Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mr. Joseph Odumodu; and the Managing Director of Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa.

Also affected were the chief executives of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Mr. Umar Munir Abubakar; Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Denzil Amagbe Kentebe; Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Mr. Gimba Ya’u Kumo; Nigeria Railways Corporation (NRC), Mr. Adeseyi Sijuwade; and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Peter Jack, who was recently suspended by the Minister of Communications Technology.

In addition, the heads of the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), Ms. Onyeka Onwenu; Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Mrs. Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko; National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic In Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP), Mrs. Beatrice Jeddy Egba; Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF); New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD); Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund); Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF); Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC); and Nigerian Export-Import Bank were relieved of their posts.

According to the statement, Buhari thanked them for their invaluable services to the nation and wished them well in their future endeavours.

THISDAY exclusively reported yesterday that members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had been mounting pressure on the president to remove the heads appointed by the Jonathan administration, irrespective of the non-expiration of their tenures and what their establishment Acts stipulate for their removal.

For instance, Section 7 of the Public Procurement Act of 2007 that established the BPP, states that “the Director-General shall hold office: (a) for a term of 4 years in the first instance and may be re-appointed for a further term of 4 years and no more; and (b) on such terms and conditions as may be specified in his letter of appointment”.

While subsection 4, states: “Without prejudice to the provisions of this Act, the Director-General of the Bureau may be removed from office at the instance of the President on the basis of gross misconduct of financial impropriety, fraud, and manifested incompetence proven by the Council.”

Similarly, the Act establishing the NTA and FRCN stipulates that “if it appears to the Minister that a member of the Authority/Corporation should be removed from office on the grounds of misconduct or inability to perform the functions of his office, the Minister shall after consultation with the interests, if any, represented by that member make a recommendation to that effect to the President, and if the President approves the recommendation, the Minister may declare, in writing, the office of that member vacant”.

Just as the sacking was made public, Buhari also approved the appointment of Mr. Tijjani Mohammed Abdullahi as the new Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation.

A statement issued by his media aide, Mr Femi Adesina, said Mr. Abdullahi, a fellow of the Certified National Accountants of Nigeria, and a banker of repute with experience in managing public finance, replaced the current Director-General (Budget), Mr. Yahaya Gusau. 
The statement said: “The new Director-General (Budget) is expected to work with the Minister of Budget and National Planning to efficiently deliver on the mandates of the Budget Office of the Federation.”

Buhari has also approved the appointment of Mr. Ben Ifeanyi Akabueze as his Special Adviser, National Planning.
Akabueze, who is the immediate past Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos State, has worked in senior management positions in Citi Bank, Fidelity B

ank, United Bank for Africa, NAL Merchant Bank, Sterling Bank and BIA Consulting Limited, among others.
He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers; Fellow, Institute of Credit Administrators, and Honorary Fellow, Chartered Institute of Bankers.

Abdullahi and Akabueze’s appointments followed the fiasco that has trailed the 2016 budget since its presentation to the National Assembly by Buhari last December.

The 2016 budget has been variously declared “missing” and “error-ridden” by the National Assembly, causing immense embarrassment to the administration.

In addition to Abdullahi and Akabueze’s appointments, Buhari also named Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa as his Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora.

Her appointment takes immediate effect.

Dabiri-Erewa was sighted at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday when she came for her appointment letter after which she completed her documentation.

Amaechi debunks Wike’s allegation of $150m donation to APC

Minister of Transportation and former governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi, has debunked an allegation, by Governor Nyesom Wike to the effect that he (Amaechi) gave $150 million to the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2015 general election.

 

Governor Wike had at a thanksgiving service at Saint Peters Anglican Church, Rumuepirikon, Port Harcourt, on Sunday, alleged that his predecessor gave the said amount of money from the state coffers to APC.

A statement issued yesterday by Amaechi’s media office in Abuja, dismissed the allegation and said the allegation by the governor was aimed at denigrating and disparaging his person and the office he is currently occupying.

“The ‘story-story’ this time is about another phantom $150,000,000 that Amaechi purportedly stole from Rivers State Government coffers and siphoned to his party, the APC within 18days, from December 1 to 18 of 2014. Sadly, again, Wike picked a church, a sacred temple of God, to tell his new imaginary tale; another bogus, fallacious concoction.

“This new scurrilous fabrication by Governor Wike is in sync with the one-point agenda of his Wike administration; which is to throw as much mud as possible at the former governor, Amaechi, hoping that some may at least, stick.

All sorts of spurious stories about alleged corruption and stealing of state funds against the Amaechi administration have been bandied in the media, with no attempt to substantiate or prove these distorted false claims that completely makes nonsense of common sense.

“Even, when Amaechi challenged Wike’s administration and its agents to use any constitutionally available legal process or procedure to prove their jaundiced, deceitful allegations against him and his administration, they have rather elected to do their own corruption probe, trial and conviction in the media; and now, even inside our solemn places of worship (churches). How callous! Why would a government be so determined to desecrate and destroy every institution, all in the name of playing politics?

“It continues to baffle us, like most right-thinking Nigerians, that Governor Wike will stand in a church- a solemn place of worship- and carelessly, brusquely tell such a profound lie.”

The statement challenged Governor Wike, to disclose the name of the person who collected the $150 million on behalf of APC and from which state government account (s).

“How was the $150 million taken and given to APC? Was it by wired transfer from Rivers State Government account(s) to APC account(s)?  So many questions, if Wike had attempted to answer, would have made nonsense of his supercilious allegations,” the statement further said.

Lagos Marathon’s Not So Surprising Winners

The infamously congested, concrete jungle of Lagos is far from a runners’ paradise, but with the launch of a new annual marathon on Saturday organisers hope to show that the city’s bad reputation is undeserved.
Over 20,000 participants turned out before dawn on a typically muggy morning in Lagos to compete in the biggest marathon the city has seen in thirty years.
 

The streets of sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest metropolis, usually clogged with cars, battered mini busses and whizzing okadas—motorbike taxis—were cleared for the event and patrolled by lines of armed police and soldiers.
Runners, some barefoot and others decked out head to toe in candy-coloured athletic gear, braved the haze, taking advantage of the rare opportunity to run on a smooth road with air free of exhaust fumes.
“It’s kind of hectic to stay in Lagos, but people make it work,” Lolade McJohnson, a 33-year-old lawyer cheering on runners, said to AFP.
“After this, we’ll have more people interested in running, maybe now we’ll even have a Nigerian champion.”
Unlike in Kenya and Ethiopia, two countries whose runners have dominated marathons for years, or in marathon-crazed South Africa, Nigeria has yet to develop a long distance running culture.
For some, it’s a casualty of years of chronic mismanagement of lucrative oil funds that has left Africa’s biggest economy without basic infrastructure, let along quality sports programs.
“In the 70’s and 80’s there was a strong culture of running, all that died,” Lagos City Marathon spokesman Olukayode Thomas said to AFP.
“But that is a culture we’re trying to revive.”
With Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, taking a massive hit from the low price of crude and battling an almost seven-year Boko Haram Islamic insurgency, Thomas said events like the marathon show it’s not only doom and gloom for the country.
“It’s not just about Boko Haram, there are a lot of positives in Nigeria.”
Pressing heat
Thousands of people turned out to encourage the runners along the 42 kilometre stretch of road, with gardeners hosing down panting contestants and a mini-marching band composed of a trumpeter and two drummers adding an impromptu soundtrack to the event.
Kenyan Abraham Kipton won the marathon and the $50,000 prize with a time of 2:16.21, crossing the finish line with his arms raised in victory before collapsing on the ground just after the finish line.
Though happy for his win, he had to acknowledge Lagos’s oppressive heat.
“It is my first time running in very high humidity but I thank God for this day,” Kipton said to AFP.
“Nigeria is very hot but it is very good,” agreed the women’s winner Ethiopian Halima Hussein Kayo.
Adeyemi Kazeem, one of the first Nigerian finishers, said that despite not placing in the top three he was proud of his performance.
“I feel good, I can inspire more people to run in Nigeria,” he said.
Still in its infancy, the race suffered a few hitches.
One runner said that by the time he reached the refreshment station there was no bottles of water left and was forced to pull out of the race at the 30 kilometre mark.
But with the next Lagos marathon already pencilled in for February next year, Thomas insists these are just hiccups in the grand scheme of things.
“We were facing many fears before the race—security, traffic—but so far there’s not been any issues,” Thomas said, “it can only get better.”