PDP has destroyed Nigeria’s economy – Oshiomhole

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State says the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government has destroyed the nation’s economy. Speaking to a coalition of women from across the 18 Local Government areas of the state, led by Chief Evelyn Igbafe, who paid him a solidarity visit, Tuesday, Oshiomhole said, “PDP has mismanaged the economy. You can all see that you need about N220 now to buy $1. When PDP took over power in 1999, $1 was between N60 and N65. “They have destroyed the economy. After 16 years PDP cannot give light to Edo people and upon the darkness, they are using their might to collect what they call fixed charges from very poor people and because there is no light, the woman that has to grind pepper has to buy a generator; because there is no light, the woman that grinds cassava has to buy a generator; because there is no light, the woman who has to sell articles at night has to buy a generator. Oshiomhole said, “I like what the Benin leaders are saying. We cannot say this is what we have gained from the PDP and because we are working, they are very afraid.

Keshi blasts NFF, says he is ready to walk away

Coach Stephen Keshi has fired at NFF boss Amaju Pinnick, insisting the federation believe they are doing him a favour by appointing him to lead Nigeria again but he is ready to walk away.
There is no love lost between Keshi and NFF boss Pinnick and this was further underlined by the latest statements by the coach.

Keshi

“The NFF thinks without Nigerian football there is no other place to coach. This is a very wrong assumption,” fired Keshi.
“I love to coach Nigeria, but they think they are doing us a favour because that is the message – that they are doing us a favour to appoint a Nigeria coach. But that is not true, if they don’t want us, we would go somewhere else and coach.”
This week, Pinnick disclosed Keshi could resume as  Nigeria coach should he agree on a new deal, which will pay him far less than what he received when he first headed the Super Eagles.
Keshi also said the NFF are yet to pay him salaries for two months as well as the win bonus for the 3-1 home win over Sudan in a 2015 AFCON qualifier.

Ekiti rigging tape​: You got it wrong, Mr. President​, says APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as untenable and an after-thought the statement credited to President Goodluck Jonathan as the reason why the Ekiti rigging audio tape has not been investigated, saying the President’s waffling on the issue shows he may have something to hide. In a statement issued in London on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the President was wrong to have said the rigging audio tape had not been investigated because the army captain who leaked it had not come forward to authenticate it. It wondered whether the President would have toed the same line if the tape had revealed that the APC colluded with the military to rig the Ekiti election in favour of the APC candidate. APC said the security agencies need no prodding or even a presidential directive to launch an investigation into a weighty issue that amounts to a subversion of democracy.

Missing $20bn: Reps gives Okonjo-Iweala one-week ultimatum to submit forensic audit

ABUJA—The House of Representatives has yesterday issued a one week ultimatum to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the economy Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to submit the report of the forensic audit on the alleged missing $20bn The mandate followed a resolution, passed last week by the House at plenary which directed its Committee on Public Accounts, to investigate the matter. Chairman of the committee, Hon. Solomon Adeola Olamilekan (APC, Lagos) while briefing Journalists on the matter stated that the report “must include the Initial Draft Report, the Executive Summary and Management/Internal Control Letters.” NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA Olamilekan noted that the “condensed version” of the report released to the public through a press conference addressed by the Auditor-General of the Federation with the highlight that Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should remit a minimum of $1.48 billion to the Federation Account had rather prompted the demand for complete report. He said: “Given the weighty allegation of possible loss of $20 billion to the Federation Account arising from alleged non-remittance by NNPC through the ministry of finance, it is curious that the forensic audit was commissioned and appointment of auditors was made by the minister of finance, an indictable official, if allegation is proven, without the involvement or at least input of the Auditor-General, whose office is eminently and exclusively empowered for the duty by the 1999 Constitution.” He noted that “the report has been unduly delayed and its submission also side-stepped the Auditor-General. It is a professional best practice that such reports first come in draft, discussed, fine-tuned before the release of the final report, usually accompanied by the more detailed Management Letter.” - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/missing-20bn-okonjo-iweala-gets-one-week-ultimatum-to-submit-forensic-audit-2/#sthash.9RYvTHpT.dpuf

3 Al-Jazeera journalists arrested in Paris for flying drone

Three journalists for TV station Al-Jazeera were arrested in Paris on Wednesday after flying a drone from a park on the edge of the city, a judicial source said. “The first was piloting the drone, the second was filming and the third was watching,” said the source. The arrests come after multiple drone sightings over the capital for the past two nights, although there was no immediate suggestion that the arrested journalists were linked to the earlier incidents. The trio were apprehended in the Bois de Boulogne, a park on the western edge of the city. Flying drones over the French capital is banned by law, and the latest sightings come at a time of heightened vigilance following last month’s jihadist attacks. The names and nationalities of the three journalists from Al-Jazeera’s international service were not given. They are aged 34, 52 and 68. Paris, France | AFP | Wednesday 2/25/2015 – 17:57 GMT | 609 words by Cyril Touaux and Jacques Clement Three journalists for TV station Al-Jazeera were arrested in Paris on Wednesday after flying a drone from a park on the edge of the city, a judicial source said.

Buhari threatens to back out of Abuja Accord

ABUJA – Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, General Mohammadu Buhari has threatened to back out of the historic Abuja peace accord should the political allies of president Goodluck Jonathan continue with their insults and verbal attacks on his person.
He also warned that no one should regard his patriotic commitment to maintaining  national peace for weakness, stressing that neither president Jonathan nor his aides have the monopoly for the “flagrant breaches to the Abuja Peace Accord.”

Gen. Muhammadu Buhar

The APC presidential flag bearer also warned the authorities against interfering with the constitutional duties and operations of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC or surreptitiously hound its chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega out of office before the expiration of his tenure.

Hoodlums attack Plateau APC gov candidate’s convoy

Jos - Political thugs have attacked the campaign convoy of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC)  in Plateau State, Simon Lalong, reports Vanguard.
Four vehicles in Lanlong’s convey were destroyed during the attack.
The incident happened on Monday when the APC campaign train moved from Jos East to pay a courtesy visit on Da Dangyang, the District Head of Gyel.
Festus Fuante, the Director of Media and Publicity Committee of the Lalong Campaign Organization, described the attack as unfortunate.
He commended the party supporters for the calmness and maturity they exhibited in the face of the unprovoked attack.
Read more at Vanguard.

'Buhari be stopped must before he sends us to jail'

Presidential candidate of Nigeria's leading opposition All Progressive Congress, Mohammadu Buhari, meets with US Secretary of State at the US Consulate in Lagos January 25, 2015. US Secretary of State John Kerry said today that peaceful and timely el ~ AKINTUNDE AKINLEYE

Yola - The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial candidate for Adamawa South senatorial district, Senator Silas Zwingina, has called on party members to work hard to prevent the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Muhammadu Buhari from winning the March 28 presidential election, reports Premium Times.
According to him, the call became necessary to prevent Buhari from sending public office holders to jail if he emerges president.

Zwingina, at a meeting of PDP members in Yola, the Adamawa State capital on Tuesday, said the members must stop Buhari and his plan to build more prisons to jail politicians.
He urged PDP members to work hard for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan, who he said is 1 000 times better than Buhari.
Read more at Premium Times.

Oshiomhole: Edo 200-bed hospital ready this year

Oshiomhole

EDO State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has reassured that the ultra-modern Central Hospital in Benin, the state capital, will be ready before the end of this year.
The governor spoke yesterday when he visited the site of the project to ascertain the level of work.
Following the inspection, he said: “The important thing is that going round, the people who are passing by don’t know how much work is going on inside. As you can see, about 300 persons are working here virtually seven days in a week.
“The idea is to see that we don’t compromise quality so that we can achieve quality and speed, because our people are in a hurry to use this facility.

Ministerial slot: Abuja indigenes sue Jonathan

Court

•Seek N1.310b damages 
The indigenes of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja have sued President Goodluck Jonathan and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, for failing to appoint them as ministers.
The suit was filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja by the General Counsel of the Original Inhabitants Development Association of Abuja (OIDA), Mr. Musa Baba-Panya.
It has OIDA President, Pastor Danladi Jeji, as the second plaintiff.
The defendants are the President and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
In the summons, the Abuja indigenes said they were seeking a declaration that the indigenes of FCT-Abuja were entitled to ministerial appointments.
According to a statement by the Media Adviser, Sumner Shagari Sambo, OIDA also wanted a declaration that the continuous refusal, failure or default by previous and current presidents to appoint an indigene of FCT-Abuja as a minister was a flagrant violation of the rights of indigenes of FCT-Abuja.

Niger Delta ex-militants reject soldiers’ deployment for elections

Leaders of Niger-Delta Ex-militants have rejected any planned redeployment of soldiers for the elections.
They have also declared that the March 28 and April 11 dates for the elections should remain “non-negotiable”.
According to a statement, the ex-militants said: “We insist that elections must hold on March 28 and April 11 2015 as currently announced. We reject any further cancellation, postponement or rescheduling.
“We inform that it is the failure to hold transparent, credible, free and fair elections on March 28 and April 11 2015 that may lead to chaos, insecurity and problems in the Niger Delta.”
In the 10-point declaration issued yesterday, the ex-militants’ leaders said processes leading to the elections must be “credible, free and fair”.
The statement was signed by 11 ex-militants, including General Boni (Burutu LGA), Smart Amola (Warri South-West), Francis Muturu (aka Gen. Aboy), Friday Edema (aka Ijagun 1), Alfred Aniretan (aka Field Marshal), and Sunday Amoma (aka Capone).

Soyinka to EFCC, ICPC, INEC: probe Ekiti rigging plot

 

•Nobel laureate calls on EFCC, ICPC, INEC to probe Ekiti rigging plot
The controversy triggered by the audio tape of how some politicians met with an Army General to plot the rigging of the June 21, 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State drew the reaction of Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka reaction yesterday. In the literary icon’s view, democracy does not begin and end with the ballot box. He says the admission by all dramatis personae in the plot is enough ground to spur anti-corruption agencies and the electoral umpire into action.
The “Advertorial” – full front page of Punch, February 23, 2015 – sponsored by Mr. Ayo Fayose (aka “No Apology”) deserves to succeed in its aim of putting an end to all disputes surrounding the Ekiti elections of June 21, 2014. After all, its entire page is dedicated to a press statement from the US (United States) Department of State, which purportedly endorses the results of that election, congratulates the electoral organisation, the winner/loser duo, not forgetting the security forces – all for their laudable contributions. The release could not be more timely; what with the governor’s own exhortations on the virtues of credibility, avoidance of violence, and its special appeal to “ALL THOSE WHO HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE.”

Kidnappers of American missionary demand N60m

 

An American missionary running an elementary school in Nigeria has been abducted from her workplace in Kogi State.
Rev. Phyllis Sortor was snatched by masked gunmen, who stormed the Hope Alive Nursery/Primary School, which she runs in Emiworo, Ajaokuta Local government Area of Kogi State on Monday.
“She was whisked away at around 10:00am on Monday,” Kogi State Police spokesperson Sola Collins Adebayo said yesterday.
Commissioner of Police Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi said the five kidnappers had tabled N60 million ransom demand.
The kidnappers were “unknown gunmen…(who) came into the school premises shooting sporadically to scare away people before taking (the hostage) away into the bush”, the police spokeperson added.
He added that the gunmen came through the hill at the back of the school and forcibly pulled her out from her office. The abductors scaled over the fence with her. They all disappeared through the hill
“Her whereabouts are unknown but the police have deployed their men to secure the pupils and locate Rev. Sortor.” The abducted missionary worker is from Seattle in the United States.
The Free Methodist Church in a statement on its website said it received a report on Monday morning that the Rev. Sortor was kidnapped.
The message from Bishop David Kendall said the U.S. Embassy had been notified and the State Department and the FBI were working with local authorities to find and rescue her.
The U.S. State Department said it is aware that a U.S. citizen had been reported missing in Nigeria.
“In cases where U.S. citizens are confirmed missing, the U.S. embassy works closely with those involved, supporting local authorities in their search efforts, and providing all appropriate consular assistance,” the agency said.
It wouldn’t release further information, citing privacy concerns.
Sortor’s stepson, Richard Sortor, attended a prayer service on Monday night at Sortor’s alma mater, Seattle Pacific University, telling reporters that “she believes in God, she’s doing God’s work,” KING-TV reported.
Sortor graduated in 1964 from the school affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, said Tracy Norlen, a university spokeswoman.

Czech shooting: Gunman kills eight in Uhersky Brod

A gunman has opened fire at a restaurant in the Czech Republic, killing eight people before shooting himself dead, officials say.
The man burst into the restaurant in the eastern town of Uhersky Brod around lunchtime, “shooting indiscriminately”, the town’s mayor Patrik Kuncar said.
The incident is not believed to be terrorism related.
Several people were injured in the attack, with one woman said to have suffered serious chest wounds.
Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said the incident was the work of a “crazed individual”.
The gunman has been described as a local man aged 60.

Chadian soldiers kill 207 Boko Haram fighters in Nigeria

Chadian soldiers on Tuesday killed 207 Boko Haram militants in fighting near a Nigerian town close to the border with Cameroon, the country’s army announced in a statement.
One Chadian soldier was killed and another nine were wounded in the clashes near Garambu, the scene of regular attacks by the sect in recent months.
Reuters says there was no immediate independent verification of the Chadian army’s announcement.
Chad’s military also claimed to have seized large quantities of small arms and ammunition and two pick-up trucks.
Niger, Cameroon and Chad have launched a regional military campaign to help Nigeria defeat the Boko Haram insurgency, which aims to carve an Islamic emirate out of northeastern Nigeria.
Chad deployed troops last month in support of Cameroonian efforts to stop repeated cross-border raids by insurgents, whose operations increasingly threaten Nigeria’s neighbours.
The African Union last month authorised the creation of the regional force, which will also include Benin, and is pushing for a United Nations Security Council mandate for the operation.

 

Elections can’t be won through propaganda – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday night declared that it would be impossible for elections to be won by the opposition movement through propaganda.
He spoke through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, during the Presidential Dinner organized in his honour by the University of Port Harcourt Alumni Association.
Jonathan, who was a member of the university pioneer class of 81, could not attend the dinner as he was reportedly weighed down by Tuesday’s suicide blasts in Kano and Yobe.
The President said his administration created room for the opposition movement to exist as a deliberate attempt to deepen democracy in the country.

Full text of Charles Soludo’s article on missing N30trn

My attention has been drawn this morning to an article entitled: “Jonathan Replies Soludo over “missing N30 trillion” claim”— extracting from Mr. President’s interview as published by Thisday newspaper.
ThisDay quoted Mr. President as saying that “Soludo said that under Ngozi’s watch they stole N30 trillion” but that since the sum of the federal budget over the last four years was less than N30 trillion, such an amount could not have been “stolen”.
According to the President, “it is all political”. I had earlier stated that I would not make further comments on the issues until probably after the elections but since Mr. President has decided to join the fray, I am constrained to make a further brief clarification.

27 die in Boko Haram bus stations suicide bombings

Kano, Yobe hit
Jonathan attacks sect
APC: govt to blame
The Boko Haram bloodletting continued yesterday with suicide bombings in the North’s commercial capital, Kano and Potiskum, Yobe State’s biggest town.
No fewer than 27 people died at bus stations in the cities, giving an indication of a co-ordinated action.
Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, the manner of the blasts point in the direction of Boko Haram.
President Goodluck Jonathan criticised Boko Haram for what he described as its focus on “soft targets”, saying the latest action is “an act of a sect facing extinction”.
Twelve persons were killed in the Kano blast. Five others were injured as the explosion rocked the Kano Line Motor Park at Kofar Nassarawa. Fifteen died in Potiskum.
At about 3.15pm, three suspected suicide bombers walked into the park, disguising as passengers.
It was gathered that the suspected bombers believed to be aged between 17 and 18, carried bags and mixed freely with passengers travelling to various destinations.
An eyewitness account said two of the suicide bombers stood by the side of an Urvan bus loading passengers and detonated explosives. Ten passengers were burnt to death.
The third suspected suicide bomber reportedly escaped during the pandemonium that followed the blast.
Three vehicles were burnt.
Kano State Commissioner of Police Idris Ibrahim, speaking at the blast site, said: “As you can see, it involves three vehicles – a Sharon, a bus and a golf car. We estimated that about 12 people died. It seems that the two suicide bombers came in that Sharon car as passengers from outside the city.
“As indicated, investigation is ongoing.”
An eyewitness, Bello Ibrahim, said: At exactly3:05pm, I greeted some of the people, including the man writing passengers’ manifest. Shortly after, I heard a deafening sound. I saw   bodies being roasted.
“I saw the two suspected suicide bombers. They were strange faces, young boys between 17 and 18. Among the dead were the man writing the manifest of passengers and a bread seller. There were up to 10 dead.
Another suicide attack in Potiskum, Yobe state’s commercial city, killed 15 people. No fewer than 33 were injured, eyewitnesses said.
Yesterday’s was the third successive attack in Potiskum within one week.
Last year, members of a Muslim sect on procession were attacked. Many died.
The bomb was reportedly detonated by a woman at the roadside Tashan Dan Borno Motor Park along Kano Road.
Hospital sources said 15 people died while some of the injured were transferred to the Federal Medical Centre, Nguru for better attention.
An eyewitness account said the bomber came into the bus station and went straight into the Kano-bound Toyota bus before blowing herself up, throwing the entire vicinity into confusion after the bang.
Speaking on how the blast was carried out, an official of the National Road Transport Workers Union (NURTW) said the vehicle was getting set for take-off, when the car went into flames.
“The loaders were getting ready to collect money from passengers because the motor was about to filled when we heard a loud sound and the car went up in flames,” he said.
Another witness said the entire vicinity was thrown into confusion with the loud sound from the explosion.
In a statement yesterday by his Special Adviser of Media, Dr. Reuben Abati, President Goodluck Jonathan condemned “the reversion by the terrorist group, Boko Haram to the callous bombing of soft targets in parts of Nigeria in the wake of the ongoing rapid recovery by gallant Nigerian troops and their multinational allies of areas formerly controlled by the sect.
“President Jonathan commiserates with all families who have lost loved ones in the bombings which continued today with attacks on Kano and Potiskum.
“The President shares the grief of all the bereaved families and is deeply saddened by the continued loss of many innocent lives at the hands of misguided and desperate fanatics who are now feeling the heat of the intense counter–insurgency operation by the Nigerian Armed Forces.
“The President assures all Nigerians and the people of the North-Eastern states in particular that the days of mourning victims of incessant terrorist attacks in the country will soon be over as the tide has now definitely turned against Boko Haram.
“President Jonathan further assures the people of Nigeria that the gallant, courageous and patriotic officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces, supported with new platforms, equipment and logistics provided by the Federal Government will carry the ongoing operations against the terrorists through to a successful conclusion in the shortest possible time.
“He affirms that his administration will continue to take all necessary action to guarantee the success of ongoing military operations against the terrorist group and drastically reduce its ability to take and hold territory or recruit, groom and brainwash young persons to undertake suicide bombing attacks on soft targets.”

‘Jonathan/Buhari not fit to rule Nigeria’

KADUNA – The insinuations making the rounds in Kaduna state that both Christians and Muslims Clergy collected bribes from the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to foster his re-election was bolstered yesterday by one Pastor Kallamu Musa Dikwa, who repeated same allegation against leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, last week.
Speaking at a congested news conference in Kaduna yesterday, Dikwa who once an associate pastor with a northern based Church, but has since resigned from the ministry to run his own Non-Governmental Organisation, NGO, Voice of Northern Christian Movement, under which he interfaces with CAN, said Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (rtd) as the next President of Nigeria are not fit to govern the country.

2015 Appropriation: Okonjo-Iweala crippling Nigeria’s economy -Senators lament

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Joseph Erunke
ABUJA – SENATORS yesterday took a swipe at the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, accusing her of crippling the nation’s economy.
Senators had met in a closed-door meeting and accused the minister of destroying the economy through some of her policies and her refusal to release funds for the execution of capital projects, while allocation for the recurrent expenditure was on the increase.

File: Okonjo-Iweala

The Senate President, David Mark had in the secret meeting ordered different committee heads to expedite action on budget defence so that it would be passed before the senate commences another recess for the general elections.
Senator Mark regretted that about four months after the presentation of the 2015 Appropriation Bill, nothing much had been done on it.