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Recovered Loot Not Enough To Revive Economy

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Recovered Loot Not Enough To Revive Economy
Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed
Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed

Looted funds recovered so far by the Muhammadu Buhari administration is not near what the country needs to revive the economy, minister of information and culture, Lai Muhammed has said.

He said this on Friday at a forum organized by the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Abuja.

In a statement to mark the first year of the administration, Mohammed said the cash recoveries made between May 29, 2015 and May 25, 2016, including recoveries under interim forfeiture (cash and assets), totalled over N3. 4 trillion. It said about N115 billion was being awaited from the Switzerland, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

“What we have recovered and if my record is right is about N78 billion, and 3 million dollars.

“We have been able to block various accounts in which about 9 billion dollar is found but those are not money available to us because we are still in court over them.

“The government spends N165 billion every month to pay federal civil servants, even what has been so far recovered will not even pay 50 per cent of the salaries in a month,” the minister said.

He assured that every penny recovered will be judiciously spent; adding that the case of re-looting of recovered funds is not possible under the present administration.

On budget release, the minister said the Ministry of Finance has so far released N400 billion for capital projects, mostly on roads, railway, and power.

“N400 billion seems a lot, but you must also understand that for three or four years contractors were not paid.

“So, when we paid this money to contractors, they also use part of it to settle their own debt, they used part of it to recall laid off staff.

“But the truth of the matter is that many of them have been paid, they are yet to mobilise to site and they cannot do so until the rains are over.

EFCC Goes After Former Aides Of Suswam Over N107 Billion Fraud

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EFCC Goes After Former Aides Of Suswam Over N107 Billion Fraud
Former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam
Former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam

Some of the former aides of Gabriel Suswam, immediate past governor of Benue State, indicted by the commission of inquiry set up by Governor Samuel Ortom, have been arrested.

Bashkir Makama, the state commissioner of police, made this revelation on Thursday.

Governor Ortom had vowed to recover about N107 billion allegedly embezzled by the Gabriel Suswam administration after the commission of inquiry headed by Justice Elizabeth Kpojime, submitted its report early this year.

The commission indicted 52 individuals and some corporate organisations, nine of whom have so far been arrested.

The state police commissioner said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC, in conjunction with the police arrested and detained the suspects at the State Police Headquarters, Makurdi, and later moved them to the Force Headquarters in Abuja for further investigation and subsequent prosecution.

Makama said, “It is part of the process to recover the alleged  N107 billion looted from the Benue State treasury by 52 individuals and 10 corporate organisations in the last administration as reported to the anti-graft agency by Governor Samuel Ortom.’’

Among the people arrested were former Governor Suswam’s Special Adviser, Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Solomon Wombo, a former Permanent Secretary of the bureau, Asen Sambe, and the accountant, Isaiah Ipevnor.

Others were Janet Aluga, Moses Detso, Peter Ochoga, James Gera, Aorga Emmanuel and a former Legal Adviser of the Benue Investment and Property Company,  John Tyokegh.

Makama noted that Wombo reported himself to the police at the Force Headquarters in Abuja and is currently being detained there.

One of the security operatives, who pleaded anonymity, said that one of those indicted by the Kpojime Commission, Richard Gbande, escaped when the police went to arrest him but his two cars were impounded.

He revealed that a large amount of money and ammunition were recovered from the houses of some of those arrested.

The Benue State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Michael Gusa, who also confirmed the arrests, stated that the Ortom administration will not relent in recovering the looted funds.

“I want to assure the people of the state that after the recovery of the money, it would be channelled towards the development of the state as well as the clearing of all salaries and other entitlements owed workers and pensioners,” Gusa said.

EFCC Begins Secret Probe Of Dogara

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EFCC Begins Secret Probe Of Dogara
Abdulmumin Jibrin Interacting with journalists after meeting with the Presidential Advisory Committee on anti-corruption
Abdulmumin Jibrin Interacting with journalists after meeting with the Presidential Advisory Committee on anti-corruption

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has begun a secret probe into the corruption allegations brought against Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, by Abdulmumin Jibrin.

The Cable, an online newspaper, reported that as part of the investigation, the EFCC has been inviting finance directors of federal ministries and agencies to come with the details of their draft budgets and what was finally approved by the national assembly.

The report said the directors have been appearing before the anti-graft agency on different days of the week.

Recall that Jibrin, a former chairman of the House of Reps. Committee on Appropriation, had alleged that Speaker Dogara and three other principal officers of the House had made  illegal insertions into the 2016 budget to the tune of about N450 billion.

The three principal officers include, Deputy Speaker, Yusuf Lasun, House Whip, Alhassan Doguwa and Minority leader, Leo Ogor.

Jibrin alleged that twelve other lawmakers were also involved in the budget-padding corruption.

The Kano State lawmaker also wrote petitions to the EFCC, the Indepndent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, the Department of State Service, DSS and the Nigerian Police force, calling for the investigation of the Speaker and his cohorts.

Speaker Dogara, however, has denied any wrongdoing in his handling of the 2016 budget.

He said Jibrin was only aggrieved that he was removed as chairman of the appropriations committee.

But Jibrin insists that Dogara must stand down as Speaker of the House in order to give room for full investigation into the allegations.

The leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, the party that produced both Speaker Dogara and Jibrin, had intervened in the matter, at some point ordering both parties to quit making public comments about the case as it portrayed the party in bad light.

The directive, however, did little to deter Jibrin who insists that Dogara must go to jail.

On Wednesday, Jibrin had a three-hour meeting with the Itse Sagay-headed presidential advisory committee on anti-corruption.

NCAA Says Airlines Not Folding Up

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NCAA Says Airlines Not Folding Up

NCAA says airlines not folding up

Claims that airlines in the country may be wounding down operations due to the economic recession have been dismissed by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA.

Muhtar Usman, Director General of NCAA, explained that the airlines were merely suspending their operations temporarily to enable them undertake certain operational overhaul and strengthen their overall operational outlay.

“One of the airlines, Aero Contractors Ltd., at present has only one serviceable aircraft,” Usman said.

“This is in contradiction to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations which stipulates that no airlines operator shall carry out schedule commercial operation with only one aircraft.

“The minimum acceptable number is three aircraft.

“In other words, any airlines with one aircraft is in contravention of the NCAA regulations, therefore cannot be adjudged to be capable of providing safe operation.

“The only option available for such airlines is to suspend its operations temporarily while other aircraft arrive in due course,” the NCAA DG clarified.

Usman, said that the agency’s Regulations provided a window for operators to embark on non-schedule operations in the interim.

He also said further that another airline, First Nation Airlines, was carrying out an Engine Replacement Programme for one of its aircraft.

“In these circumstances, these airlines clearly cannot continue to undertake schedule operations, hence the inevitable recourse to self-regulatory suspension.”

The NCAA boss maintained that the agency would not compromise the safety and security of airlines operations in the airspace.

He said that every facet of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations and Standard and Recommended Practices must be adhered to with due diligence.

19 Years After, Mother Teresa To Become Catholic Saint

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19 Years After, Mother Teresa To Become Catholic Saint
Mother Teresa is regarded by many as one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century
Mother Teresa is regarded by many as one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century

Nobel Laureate, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century, will be declared a saint by the Catholic Church on Sunday, September 4, in the Vatican, by Pope Francis.

Brian Kolodiejchuk, a Canadian priest who promoted her sainthood cause, said this on Thursday, adding that hundreds of thousands of faithful are expected to attend the canonization mass at Saint Peter’s Basilica.

He said that her canonization is one of the highlights of Pope Francis’ Jubilee of Mercy.

“Affectionately called the “saint of the gutters” during her lifetime, Mother Teresa of Calcutta will be made an official saint of the Roman Catholic Church on Sunday, just 19 years after her death,” Kolodiejchuk said.

“The Church defines saints as those believed to have been holy enough during their lives to now be in Heaven and able to intercede with God to perform miracles.

The priest said that Mother Teresa has been credited with two miracles, both involving the healing of sick people.”

Kolodiejchuk said that Mother Teresa was one of the most influential women in the Church’s 2,000-year history, acclaimed for her work amongst the world’s poorest in the slums of the Indian city now called Kolkata.

Her critics, however, argue that she did little to alleviate the pain of the terminally ill and nothing to stamp out the root causes of poverty.

But Kolodiejchuk said her detractors missed the point of her mission, arguing that she had created a place to comfort people in their final days rather than establish hospitals.

“We don’t have to prove that saints were perfect, because no one is perfect,” he said.

Several events have been lined up with regards to the canonization, including a prayer vigil on Friday, and an audience with Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square on Saturday morning.

Kolodiejchuk said it would be followed in the evening by a veneration of Teresa’s relics in a Roman basilica outside of the Vatican.

“As the canonization falls on the eve of Teresa’s feast day, which marks the anniversary of her death on September 5, 1997, there are expected to be more celebrations and religious serviceson Monday and later on in the week.

Mother Teresa was born Agnese Bojaxhiu to Albanian parents in 1910 in what was then part of the Ottoman Empire, present day Macedonia.

She became a nun at 16 and moved to India in 1929, creating her mission in 1950 and gained worldwide recognition for her work, including a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

Mother Teresa still has legions of supporters in India, including Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

“When such a person is conferred with sainthood, it is natural for Indians to feel proud.

The Roman Catholic Church has more than 10,000 saints, many of whom had to wait centuries before their canonization.

APC Set To Conduct Governorship Primary In Ondo, Inaugurates Committees

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APC Set To Conduct Governorship Primary In Ondo, Inaugurates Committees
APC National Chairman, John Oyegun
APC National Chairman, John Oyegun

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has announced members of the committees that would oversee the governorship primary election in Ondo State scheduled for Saturday, September 3.

The Primaries and Appeals committees were inaugurated at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja by the National organizing secretary of the party, Osita Isunazo, on Thursday.

He charged the committees to exhibit the highest standard possible to ensure that the exercise will be free and fair.

The primaries committee has Governor Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa as Chairman, and Bruce Ugbode as secretary.

Members include Hamma Ali, M. Martin and Mohammed Lawal.

The appeals committee is chaired by Helen Bendega, Musa Umara serves as secretary, with Nikky Ejezie as member.

This seem to be in keeping with the tradition in APC that has seen all the governorship primaries of the party being chaired by a governor.

Recall that the Kogi state committee was chaired by governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State.

Bayelsa State was chaired by governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, while Edo State was headed by governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State.

Army Insists Shekau Is Dead

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Army Insists Shekau Is Dead

 

Army insists Abubakar Shekau has been killed
The Nigerian Army insists Abubakar Shekau has been killed

Leo Irabor, the army commander in charge of the anti-terrorism war in the northeast, also called “Operation Lafiya Dole” has reiterated the Nigerian Army’s stand that the leader of Boko Haram group, Abubakar Shekau had long being killed.

He said this on Thursday during a tour of Adamawa State as part of the formations under his command.

Irabor insisted that the person who was originally identified as Shekau is long dead, killed by the army.

“I can confirm to you that the original Shekau was killed, the second Shekau was killed, and the man presenting himself as Shekau, I can also confirm to you that few days ago, he was wounded,

“We are yet to confirm whether he is dead or not,” he said, adding that the Army does not make statements that are not based on facts.”

Irabo also said that there had been division among the Boko Haram as a result of the constant pressure put on them by the Army.

“They released videos to prove that they are still active, but that’s just a façade,” he said.

The army General promised that the troops fighting insurgency in the northeast will not be demoralised until the last terrorist is taken out.

Buhari In Osun, Restates Promise To Deliver Change

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Buhari In Osun, Restates Promise To Deliver Change
President Muhammadu Buhari and his host, Governor Rauf Aregbesola
President Muhammadu Buhari and his host, Governor Rauf Aregbesola

The All Progressive Congress led Federal Government is committed to the fight against corruption and bringing about positive change in the country, President Muhammadu Buhari has restated.

The president restated his commitment during his one-day official visit to Osun State to inaugurate the magnificent Osogbo High School, as part of activities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the creation of Osun state.

Buhari noted that change cannot be achieved on a bed of roses, adding that the challenges facing the country require patience and perseverance and would soon become a thing of the past.

“We are determined to implement our change agenda by curbing excessive waste in government,” he said.

“We shall restore integrity to governance through the fight against corruption.

“We are determined to deliver and rescue the country from bad governance.”

The President commended Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun for providing a good learning environment for students in the state.

He said that the Osogbo High School should serve as an example to other governors in the country, stressing that the school project was part of APC’s agenda on education.

Buhari pledged that the APC government would continue to implement education policies that would be cost effective.

“The essence of the state’s creation was to bring government closer to the people and to provide good governance just like Gov. Rauf Aregbesola has done,” President Buhari said.

“Government at all levels must continue to channel their energy toward education because this is the only way we can secure the future of our children.”

Governor Aregbesola said that building the school was part of the state government’s efforts toward the development of education in the state.

He said that the 3,000-capacity school, with 72 classrooms and a multi-purpose hall among other facilities, cost the state government N1.35 billion to complete.

“We are producing the new man intellectually, morally and socially through education,” the governor said.

“We want to determine the next 15 years of the state through education because education is the path to development.’’

Assist Osun State Complete Abandoned Projects – PDP Tells Buhari

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Assist Osun State Complete Abandoned Projects – PDP Tells Buhari
President Buhari Commissioning the Osun High School Osogbo
President Buhari Commissioning the Osun High School Osogbo

The Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to help Osun State with resources to complete the many abandoned projects in the state.

The party also advised the state governor, Rauf Aregbesola, to use the opportunity of the president’s one-day visit to request for assistance to enable his administration complete all the projects it started.

Diran Odeyemi, Spokesman for the PDP in Osun State, said the governor should lead the president to the many abandoned projects scattered all over the state, perhaps Buhari may assist the state to complete them.

“The president if allowed to inspect Ido Osun Aerodrome, the International market in Dagbolu, Osogbo/ Kwara Boundary road and Osogbo/Gbongan road among other abandoned projects may wish to assist the state in resuscitating them for the benefit of the citizens,” he said.

The PDP spokesman however alleged that Governor Aregbesola earmarked N340 million for the President’s visit at a time when the state is finding it difficult to pay workers.

He also criticised the governor for alleged failure to constitute his cabinet.

Semiu Okanlawon, the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy in the Office of the Osun State Governor, had released a statement Wednesday saying that President Buhari is expected to commission the newly built 3,000 students capacity Osogbo Government High School, Osogbo, which he said mirrored the “magnitude of our ideas and interventions in the education sector.”

Okanlawon also said the state remained unrelenting in its “assault on delayed infrastructure in our education sector and all other sectors.”

Niger Delta Community Decries Heavy Military Presence

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Niger Delta Community Decries Heavy Military Presence
Heavy Military equipment were deployed to the Niger Delta as part of 'Operation Crocodile Smile'
Heavy Military equipment were deployed to the Niger Delta as part of ‘Operation Crocodile Smile’

Members of Kokodiagbene community in Gbaramatu kingdom, Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State, have cried out over the heavy military presence in their communities.

Chairman of the community, Sheriff Mulade, said the presence of military personnel in gun boats, purportedly in search of hoodlums in the creeks, has forced his people to be relocating deeper into the swamps in fear.

He said the community was not against the military exercise codenamed ‘Operation Crocodile Smile’ going on in the area, “since it will help to protect oil installation, facilities and creeks” as well as “prevent pirates attacking traders; reduce crime and eradicate illegal bunkering activities in the creek of the Niger Delta.

“But, we want to strongly advise the military authorities to apply professionalism and diplomacy,” Mulade added.

He said the heavy deployment of military personnel and equipment in the area has raised unnecessary tension as residents now live in fear.

“Most of our people are now relocating to nearby communities for safety due to the rumour of military invasion of flow stations and oil installations in host communities particularly in Gbaramatu kingdom.

“The people have therefore appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari and the military authority to direct the military personnel not to invade Kokodiagbene and other riverine communities in the name of illegal oil bunkers, criminals and militants,” the community leader said.

He advised the military authorities to go after the criminals in their hideouts as Gbaramatu kingdom does not harbour militants and pipeline vandals.

But the military authorities have urged members of the communities where the operation is on-going not to panic as it is only a “training” operation for soldiers.

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