2016 Budget: Sacking DGs Not Enough, Withdraw Budget, Fayose Tells Buhari

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose

 Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has said the sacking of the Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation and appointing a new one was not enough to address the controversies trailing the 2016 budget.He insisted that the budget be withdrawn from the National Assembly and a new and error-free one represented.

Fayose also queried the request by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, for a “special funding arrangement for public media organizations to enable them to scale up their sensitization campaign against insurgency in the North-East.”

According to him, Mohammed had to explain further to Nigerians his request since he said Boko Haram has already been defeated.

“What they told us was that they have technically defeated Boko Haram. What then do they need special fund for? Even last year, there was no such special fund.

“To my mind, there could be more to this clamour for special fund for media on ‘already defeated’ Boko Haram than meet the eyes.”

Fayose said what the controversial 2016 budget required was a holistic approach, not just making one person scapegoat, adding that; “the President must take total responsibility for the budget scam and apologise to Nigerians for the government’s embarrassment caused by the display of gross incompetence.”

Fayose maintained that padding of the budget with strange figures, now being denied by Ministers was a clear intention to steal in advance, adding that; “Though it is good that the President listened to my call for the punishment of those responsible for the national embarrassment, mere sacking of officers at the Budget Office will not remove the stain splashed on Nigeria by the shameful budget.”

He likened blaming an imaginary “budget mafia” for the padding of the budget to a driver blaming someone else for not applying the brake when it should have been applied, saying; “the bulk stops on the President’s table, he can’t blame anyone apart from himself for this national shame.”

“Sacking one or two persons on this budget scam is just like using some people as cover-up for the national embarrassment caused by the President himself. Even the President himself signed a letter wrongly as October 22, 2016 and one is tempted to ask who the President will sack for these avoidable errors.
“In my own opinion, it is necessary that those handling the President should bring it to his consciousness that he is not God that cannot make mistakes and this budget scam must be seen as part of the mistakes that President Buhari is capable of making.

“By doing this, the President will be provided with another opportunity to represent the Budget because I wonder how Nigeria can operate on a budget already disowned by notable ministers, including the government’s spokesperson.

“Or what remedy can anyone do to a budget in which 2015 budgetary allocations of an agency was reproduced verbatim? Even N180 million was discovered to have been allocated to NIMET twice.”

‘God will bring Biafra by himself,’ Traditional ruler assures IPOB leader

Chief Okoye also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to leave Kanu alone to go and look after his family.

• Nnamdi Kanu, director of the banned Radio Biafra, was detained by secret police on 17 October and accused of terrorism.  

The traditional Prime Minister of Igboland (Onowu Igbo), ChiefMichael Ozua Okoye has assured the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu that God himself will bring Biafra to actualization.

Chief Okoye also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to leave Kanu alone to go and look after his family, according to Vanguard.

The traditional ruler is said to have made the comments on Wednesday, February 17, 2016, while speaking to journalists in Onitsha.

“God will bring Biafra by Himself, So, Kanu should endure what we and Ojukwu endured before, during and after the civil war,”Okoye said.

He also described Kanu as a true son of Ndigbo who acted based on what he read about self-determination.

Kanu has been charged with treason and is currently being held at the Kuje Prison in Abuja.

67 Years Old Lebanese Slaughtered In Kano State

A 67 year-old Lebanese has been allegedly slaughtered by his close associate in Kano. The State Commissioner of police, Muhammad Musa Katsina on Tuesday said, the incident occurred at the deceased resident located at Unity Road of Kano Central Business District.

The Police boss said that 4 suspects have already been arrested in connection with the gruesome murder of the Lebanese, adding that “they have so offered useful information”.

Details of the incident, Mr. Katsina said would be made public in due course. A similar incident occurred last week where unknown assailants slaughtered one Kabir Umar Gumel in his Yakasai home in the municipality barely 4 days he was declared missing by the family.

Read What Obasanjo Said About Buhari in Uganda as He Monitors Election (Photos)

Read What Obasanjo Said About Buhari in Uganda as He Monitors Election (Photos)

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is serving as the Chair of the Commonwealth Observer Group at the Ugandan Presidential election currently holding today, 18th of February.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, while speaking from Uganda on the Hausa Service of the BBC monitored in Jos defined President Muhammadu Buhari as a man of his words.

Obasanjo also disclosed that he does not visit Buhari at will, “No, I am the one looking for him but he did not give me the permission to see him.”

 

Former president added that the current fight against corruption embarked upon by Buhari was on the right course, saying he is in support of the fight.

“I support the fight against corruption of the incumbent administration. Buhari had prior to 2015 election vowed to fight corruption and he is doing it. We are seeing how he is collecting the stolen money from corrupt officials,”Obasanjo said.

 

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See more photos of Obasanjo inspecting the election in Uganda with a Commonwealth team:

Details of Diezani’s Foreign Diplomatic Passport Revealed in Interview with Dominica Officials

Details of Diezani’s Foreign Diplomatic Passport Revealed in Interview with Dominica Officials

While writing in the Huffington Post, a prominent journalist interviewed two officials from the Commonwealth of Dominica government on the citizenship status of the former Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources.

Journalist, Till Bruckner, writing in the Huffington Post, interviewed two officials from the Caribbean nation, the Commonwealth of Dominica government on the citizenship status of the former Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Alison-Madueke.

The Commonwealth of Dominica, like many small nations, allows for people who invest in the Dominican economy to receive citizenship under the law. This practice, which has been growing in popularity worldwide, is a major source of foreign direct investment into the Dominica, according to the reporting by Mr. Bruckner.

Vince Henderson, Dominica’s permanent representative to the United Nations, and Emmanuel Nanthan, the head of the country’s Citizenship by Investment Unit, were interviewed on questions surrounding Dominica’s Citizenship Programme and its efforts to increase foreign direct investment.

 

The issuance of diplomatic passports to non-citizens is a crucial aspect of the program as it encourages various foreign business leaders to serve as “ambassadors” for the Dominica, according to the Dominican officials.

 

Mr. Bruckner questioned the ethics and practice of granting these passports, citing Mrs. Alison-Madueke as an example of a passport holder who clearly is corrupt.

 

Both Mr. Nanthan and Mr. Henderson argued that the Dominica government followed its due diligence before issuing Mrs. Alison-Madueke her passport.

 

However, the embattled former minister was given her passport only 6 days after meeting with the Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit in London, leading to questions about how thorough or serious her citizenship process was.

 

The Dominica officials argued that Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s passport approval process was begun long before she met Prime Minister Skerrit.

 

When questioned on the secrecy behind the former minister’s appointment as the Trade and Investment Commissioner for Dominica, Mr. Nanthan and Mr. Henderson admitted that the Dominican government should have been more forthright regarding the appointment.

 

Mrs. Alison-Madueke has been in the UK receiving treatment for cancer since former President Goodluck Jonathan left office in May 2015. In October, she was arrested by agents of the National Crime Agency in the UK accused of money laundering and other financial crimes.

 

It has also been alleged that Mrs. Alison-Madueke was planning to flee the United Kingdom using her diplomatic Dominica passport but that plot was spoiled when the UK authorities arrested her and suspected accomplices.

 

Mrs. Alison-Madueke worked for Shell Petroleum prior to her appointment to the cabinet of former President Umaru Yar’Adua. Upon Mr. Yar’Adua’s death in 2010, President Jonathan appointed Mrs. Alison-Madueke to the Petroleum Ministry. She was widely regarded as one of the most powerful members of Mr. Jonathan’s cabinet.

 

Her tenure was marked by numerous questionable deals, including controversies over billions of dollars of oil revenues that were reportedly not deposited with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

 

Nigerian anti-corruption police investigators told SaharaReporters that serious investigations and collaboration with the UK, and the US would continue to determine the scale of corruption perpetrated by Mrs. Alison-Madueke and her collaborators. Earlier, her husband was arrested by agents of the anti-corruption unit accused of laundering over $600,000 for his wife.

 

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and his wife, Anita, finalize their divorce

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and his wife, Anita, finalize their divorce

The divorce proceeding between Chris Oyakhilome, the Senior Pastor of Christ Embassy and his wife, Anita, has been concluded. Anita’s UK based solicitors, Attwatters Jameson Hill, confirmed the dissolution of their marriage on their website. Anita says she is no longer part of Christ Embassy. Anita and Chris Oyakhilome got married in 1991 and have two daughters.

Rampage in Rivers State; 15 Dead, Scores Injured

Rampage in Rivers State; 15 Dead, Scores Injured

About fifteen persons were killed by suspected cultists in Omoku, headquarters of Ogba Egbema Ndoni local government area on Friday night. Community sources who did not want their names in print said some of those killed were beheaded by the assailants. They said the suspected cultists who were heavily armed struck in the community between the hours of 8pm till about 10pm unchallenged.

Ritual-killings The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ahmad Muhammad confirmed the death of six in the sad incident, saying it was largely a battle for supremacy among rival cult groups  in the area. “The incident is reasonably believed to be a battle of supremacy between rival cult groups in the town. As it is now the situation is under control as more anti riot policemen were drafted to reinforce the existing security in the town. As for casualties, six dead bodies of the suspected cultists were recovered “, he said, The shooting created tension and panic in the council headquarters as many residents reportedly ran indoors. ” When we came out this morning we started hearing wailing in several homes. A man and his wife were among those killed. Some were even be headed “, one of the  sources said. This incident came barely twenty four hours a former member of the 5th House of Assembly  representing the local government area and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Hon Monday Eleanya  was shot dead on Ada George road in Port Harcourt while driving out of his compound.