Missing $3bn: Senate commences thorough investigation of power projects sale

The Senate on Thursday, January 28 commenced thorough investigation into the sale of ten National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) by the Bureau For Public Enterprises (BPE).

Bukola Saraki

This decison was taken after a three prayer motion moved by Sen. Mohammed Hassan representing Yobe South senatorial district.

Bukola Saraki, the President of the Senate expressed disappointment in the way the 3 billion dollars was handled.

The Federal Government invested over 8.2 billion dollars in the 10 power projects which were later sold for 5.8 billion dollars in 2014.

Saraki therefore stressed that the Senate ensured that actions are carried out and these organisations are set as a deterrent for defaulters.

“The privatization of some of the companies must be properly investigated: you wonder: how does an agency, sitting somewhere, can on its own, write off over $3 billion without any referral to anybody.
“It is mind boggling: even if you are going to take a decision like that there must be some level of consultation and collective responsibility.
 
“On this matter we must make an example, all these are our responsibilities and we must see some of these through, when we resume from plenary the report of the committee must be given priority,” he said.

The senate directed its committee on Power and its Committee on Privatisation to look into the matter and report back in four weeks.

Saraki stressed that the alleged non-payment of tax by some of the companies in the power sector amounted to revenue leakages.

“We have been talking about non-oil revenue and we talk about how there is need to ensure that taxes are paid at the same time we are condoning agency of government that is not paying tax.
“Then we wonder why our tax to GDP ratio is very low: these are issues that we must make an example of,” said Saraki.

Danjuma Goje, the Chairman of the Committee on Appropriation also expressed his agreement with the matter being investigated

He said that the idea was to inject the private sector to make power more stable but stressed with displeasure that that there was no difference between the pre-privatisation and post-privatisation era.
The Senate thereafter also directed the investigation into preparation, execution and implementation of the management contract for TCN.

However, the Senate also queried the relevance of BPE on the board of Distribution Companies of Nigeria (Discos).

Jonathan gives interview to France 24

– Buhari used weapons bought by Jonathan against Boko Haram
 – Crisis rocking PDP
 

Immediate past president Goodluck Jonathan has praised the government of Muhammadu Buhari.
Jonathan in an exclusive interview to France 24 says the incumbent government is fighting against Boko Haram insurgents with the weapons which were purchased under his administration.

The former president stated that the terrorism caught the country unexpectedly but his administration laid a solid foundation for insurgency to be defeated.

He said: “The new government is working hard and I believe they are still using the equipment we procured. Though the budget is still being debated, no new equipment has been bought, so even those equipment the president is using to prosecute the war against Boko Haram are those equipment we procured.

“When Boko Haram started in Nigeria, we had no terror experience. Yes we had armed robbery and other common crimes, but terrorism was different because the people involved were not afraid to die.
“So, you need a different mechanism to confront terrorism, you need superior technology, so that you will be able to stop them even before the attack. We never had the equipment, but when we were confronted, we started acquiring and before I left office we built reasonable capacity and I believe with what we left behind and also with what the new government will acquire, they will be able to prosecute this terror war to a reasonable conclusion.” 

Jonathan also noted that the crisis rocking his party because of the loss of the 2015 poll. However, he showed optimism that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would soon recover its stability.
“The PDP definitely will have some minor issues, it is expected… We lost the presidency and definitely we will have some kind of leadership problems. When you have a president, everybody looks up to the president. But when you no longer have the president, it becomes difficult for the party to have strong leadership,” the ex-president added.

“I believe whatever you observe will be sorted out. Leaders of the party, elders of the party have been meeting and all this perceived disagreement will soon be sorted out.

“Every political party has misunderstanding, it is not new, it is always there. From the beginning of PDP, even before I got to Abuja as a vice-president and president, there were instances when the chairman of the party will be asked to step down. And some officers leave from time to time when there are issues. So what is happening is not new but I promise you that PDP will stabilize. 

“In fact, by March this year, we are going in to elect officers at the lowest levels of the wards to the local government, to the states, to the zones then of course at the national officers will be elected; that is just in March. So the party will bounce back, whatever you are perceiving, it always happen and we will get over it.”


Jonathan was defeated in his bid for re-election in the 28 March poll by the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.

Ex-president yesterday disclosed that he will speak on the controversy surrounding the appropriation of the funds meant for the procurement of arms under his government by the then National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki at the right time.

Nnamdi Kanu Deserves Humanitarian Bail & Judicial Protection From State Falsehood-By SBCHROs & IPOB Worldwide Published By Family Writers

Nnamdi Kanu Deserves Humanitarian Bail & Judicial Protection From State Falsehood-By SBCHROs & IPOB Worldwide Published By Family Writers 



It is the authoritative information of the Southeast Based Coalition of Human Rights Organizations (SBCHROs); comprising International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety), Anambra State Branch of the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), Center for Human Rights & Peace Advocacy (CHRPA), Human Rights Club (a project of LRRDC)(HRC), Forum for Justice, Equity & Defense of Human Rights (FJEDHR), Society Advocacy Watch Project (SPAW), Anambra Human Rights Forum (AHRF), Southeast Good Governance Forum (SGGF), International Solidarity for Peace & Human Rights Initiative (ITERSOLIDARITY), Street Law Africa (LawAfrica) and Igbo Ekunie Initiative (pan Igbo rights advocacy group) that detained Citizen Nnamdi Kanu had never returned to Nigeria or traveled to other parts of the world including his second home-State of the United Kingdom without following and applying legitimate diplomatic processes and procedures. 

Specifically, he did not return to Nigeria via Lagos, Southwest Nigeria in October 2015 without international passport of Nigerian origin. By convention or treatise (international law), which is applicable in Nigeria and the United Kingdom, Citizen Nnamdi Kanu is a member of international, Nigerian and UK citizenship. Also by the provisions of Chapter Three of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, Citizen Nnamdi Kanu is a citizen of Nigeria by birth or parenthood and by the provisions of the relevant laws of the UK; he is also a UK citizen by birth or naturalization. Generally, in the eyes of international law, he is a dual national of UK and Nigeria. Further, by relevant treaties of the European Union and the ECOWAS, Citizen Nnamdi Kanu can enter, leave, stay or live in any member-State of EU or ECOWAS; provided he has UK (EU) or ECOWAS (Nigerian) passport.

Citizen Nnamdi Kanu as an international citizen of UK and Nigeria backgrounds is entitled to and has two international passports of UK and Nigerian citizenship and they are fully and steadily used when he is traveling out of Nigeria to UK or coming to Nigeria from UK. Traditionally and specifically in Citizen Nnamdi Kanu’s case; visa is not required of him when he is leaving UK to Nigeria with Nigerian Passport or when he is traveling to UK from Nigeria with UK Passport. By law, Citizen Nnamdi Kanu is mandated to show his Nigerian Passport to UK immigration officials at any UK international airport enroute Nigeria and to Nigerian immigration officials on arrival at any Nigerian international airport; likewise using and showing his UK Passport to immigration officials when traveling to UK from Nigeria. By law, Citizen Nnamdi Kanu is under no legal or moral obligation whatsoever to show or surrender all or either of his two international passports to anybody including the DSS operatives in his hotel room. 

His right to privacy and protection of his property including his two international passports is sacrosanct and unquestionable. Production of Citizen Nnamdi Kanu’s international passport (s) can only be ordered by a court of competent records. Neither President Muhammadu Buhari nor his DSS operatives has any legal or moral power or authority to coerce Citizen Nnamdi Kanu into showing or surrendering his international passport(s) under the guise of arrest or investigation; except by personal volition of Citizen Nnamdi Kanu.
This is more so when Citizen Kanu’s violent arrest was carried out hours, if not days after he had returned to Nigeria and checked into a hotel. President Muhammadu Buhari’s assertion on 30th December 2015 that “are you aware that that man called Kanu holds two UK and Nigerian citizenship and entered into Nigeria without a passport”, is nothing but a clear case of “presidential ignorance and falsehood derived from unprofessional and falsified intelligence reports”. The falsehood is today compounded further and transformed into “investigative perjury” to the extent that the Federal Ministry of Justice had adopted it as its main ground of counter affidavit and opposition to the application filed by Citizen Nnamdi Kanu’s defense lawyers before an Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.

The Federal Government’s claim that “Kanu had admitted (to them) that he is a British citizen and that he sneaked into the country”, and that “there is the possibility of him sneaking out if admitted to bail”; is fallacious, vexatious, unfounded, spurious, intimidating, insulting, coercing, magisterial and totally untrue. Why Citizen Kanu Should Be Granted Humanitarian Bail: Today marks 102 days since Citizen Nnamdi Kanu was arrested and detained by DSS on 14th October 2015 without conditional or unconditional release. In the history of democracy in Nigeria, no citizen except Citizen Nnamdi Kanu had been arrested and detained for 90 days without trial or release on pretrial bail.

Nigeria ranked 136th least corrupt country in 2015

– Nigeria is 136th least corrupt country
– The US, UK recorded highest ranking ever
– Somalia is the most corrupt country in the world

Nigeria has been ranked as 136 on the list of world’s least corrupt countries in the year 2015.
According to Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index, Nigeria’s rating is a far cry from the top ten in the world as is being speculated in some quarters.

 President Muhammadu Buhari and some world leaders during a recent function.

Denmark, the rating revealed, tops the perceptions index for the second consecutive year but more countries are improving than worsening even as the United States and United Kingdom reached their highest rankings ever.

The list released on Wednesday, January, 2016, showed that Denmark scored 91 points out of a possible 100 while North Korea and Somalia remained at the bottom with unchanged scores of 8.

Nigeria’s rating is expected to be on the rise following the recent corruption bedeviling the $2.1 billion arms deal scandal for which Sambo Dasuki, former National Security Adviser (NSA); Olisa Metuh national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), among other top dogs in the country are presently being probed.

But the report shows that the country may have stepped up in its corruption tag as President Muhammadu Buhari insists on fishing out every corrupt public officer, whether serving or out of service.

The index is based on expert opinions of public sector corruption, with a focus on certain factors like whether governmental leaders are held to account for or go unpunished for corruption.

Nigeria’s rating on the list of least corrupt countries of the world.

Other perimeters considered include the perceived prevalence of bribery and if public institutions respond to citizens’ needs.

Transparency said there was still a lot of room for improvement in Europe and Central Asia, which is seen as one region.

It said: “In low-scorers Hungary, Poland and Turkey, politicians and their cronies are increasingly hijacking state institutions to shore up power.

“It’s even grimmer further down the index. In Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and others, governments are restricting, if not totally stifling, civil society and free media.”

Check out the index of the least and most corrupt countries below:

The ranking of the least corrupt countries in the world.

Nigeria’s rating on the corrupt countries’ list.

Photos of Niger Bridge in Onitsha

Although many Nigerians may be unaware of this, Niger bridge is one of the strongest and most reliable constructions in the country.

It is the passage into Onitsha, one of the commercial nerves of Nigeria’s eastern part, and it links Delta and Anambra states.

Niger bridge is also a heritage of the Igbos which cost approximately £3 million. It was completed in 1965 after Nigeria had become a republic.

The magnificent Niger Bridge popularly referred to as Onitsha head bridge in the eastern part of Nigeria. Photo: Emmanuel Osodi

Many protests by the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) have taken place towards the head bridge, partly because this area is seen as a historic centre for the agitators.Naij.com visited the eastern part of the country recently and saw this fascinating bridge and presents you the video footage and pictures after the visit.

Teenage Igbo boys manufacture helicopter

Two teenagers in Anambra state have yet again proven the ingenuity of the Igbo tribe in Nigeria by assembling a helicopter by themselves.

The young inventors, both 18 years of age, were at the reception held by Senator Chris Ngige after the burial of his late father, Pa Pius Okonkwo Ngige, who died at the age of 105.

According to the students of a local technical college, the helicopter was a project they embarked on based on their field of study and believe they would have done better had they gotten more sponsors from well-to-do Nigerians.

The two young men who produced a helicopter in the eastern part of the country. Photo: Emmanuel Osodi

In fact, they said that they attended the burial reception because they believe they are likely to meet with the rich and mighty in the state and country who may help sponsor them to make their project even bigger.

One of them said: “The one we produced cannot fly yet because the things required for it to fly are not complete and it took us a while before we could come up with even this small one.

One of the boys holding up his helicopter. Photo: Emmanuel Osodi

“If we can get people to sponsor us, we are sure of getting more of this projects and even produce an even bigger one which will fly.”
Check out the video featuring the young inventors here:

TB Joshua is my boy! - witch doctor Kwaku Bonsam

— Popular Ghanaian witch doctor, Priest Nana Kwaku Bonsam, has had a ‘war’ with popular Nigerian Prophet, TB Joshua, at least once in the last two years
— Priest Nana Kwaku Bonsam says he backs up over 1,700 African preachers ‘spiritually’

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Priest Nana Kwaku Bonsam

Prophet TB Joshua who is the founder of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), has come under fire several times for allegedly hiring people to pretend to be sick and disabled and then claim to heal them during his prayer meetings.

Kwaku Bonsam, who operates from a shrine at Sa-Peiman, a village on the outskirts of Nsawam in east Ghana, is assumed to be a very strong witch doctor who is also called ‘Devil of Wednesday’.
Apparently, this Ghanaian priest is said to be very powerful, that he has claimed he’s the ‘spiritual father’ of some of the most powerful preachers in Africa.

Here’s what the priest had to say:

“Over 1, 700 pastors and so called men of God from different parts of Africa have approached me, seeking powers to perform miracles, including Prophet T.B Joshua from Nigeria. He is my boy. I challenge him to come out and deny this. Apart from the pastors, many prominent business people and celebrated church founders in Africa frequent my shrine for my services and if they deny, I am going to name them.”

Kwaku Bonsam went on to say that his god is called Kofi-Kofi, and he fortifies him with supernatural powers which he in turn provides to pastors across Africa.

The question is, why would he choose to threaten to expose his ‘dedicated’ patrons?