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Buhari Government Revokes 6 Oil Mining Licences

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari

The Muhammadu Buhari Federal Government has revoked the licences of six Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) and one oil prospecting lease (OPL), in the onshore, shallow water and deepwater Niger Delta basin.
This was announced by the ministry of Petroleum Resources, headed by Present Buhari himself with Ibe Kachikwu as junior minister.
No reason was publicly made available for the revocation, but it might not be unconnected with default by the culprits on royalty payments .
The acreages affected include OML 98, an onshore asset located on the western flank of the Niger Delta, held by Pan Ocean, a company controlled by the Nigerian businessman, Festus Fadeyi; OMLs 120 and 121, held by Allied Energy, which has changed its name to Erin Energy and has now gone bankrupt; OML 108, held by Express Petroleum, but whose technical activities are managed by Shebah Exploration & Petroleum, a company owned by Seplat Chairman A.B.C Orjiakor and OML 141, held by Emerald Resources whose principal, Emmanuel Egbogah, passed on recently..
The only OPL among the seven is OPL 206, held by Summit Oil International, a company founded by the late Moshood Abiola, politician and businessman, whose victory at the country’s Presidential elections in 1993 was annulled by the Military.
The Nigerian government is believed to be the most lenient in Africa, in applying the full force of the law on oil acreage rent, especially when it concerns local E&P.

Flying Bees Kill Senior Custom Officer At Badagry, Lagos

A senior officer of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Abba Abubakar has been stung to death by a swarm of flying bees as he was carrying out his duties at the Ashipa area of Badagry in Lagos State.
Abba Abubakar, a native of Yobe state, was survived by wife and children.
The spokesman of the Seme command of the NCS, said: “With sadness and deep sorrow, the Seme Area Command announces the death of our colleague CSC Abba, A.
“The sad event occurred yesterday due to an attack by a swarm of bees around Ashipa axis, Lagos- Badagry Expressway.
“We pray that Allah (SWT) shower His mercy and grant him the highest level of Jannah, and give his family the patience and fortitude to bear this irreparable loss. Aameen.
“He has never failed to report at his duty post daily. We regret to lose such a gallant officer.”
Abubakar has been buried according to the ordinance of the Islamic rites.

Army Strike In Sudan, Sack Omar Al- Bashir

The Sudanese army have sacked the government of Omar Al-Bashir in a coup today, Thursday. The coup was led by the Sudanese defence minister, Awad Ibn Auf.
Awad Ibn Auf announced, in a nation wide broadcast this morning that the constitution has been suspended and the military will now be in charge of the country for another two years.
A three-month state of emergency has also been imposed, as protesters demand immediate set up of a democratic transition. Several political prisoners held by Mr Al-Bashir are now being released.
“I announce as minister of defence the toppling of the regime and detaining its chief in a secure place,” Mr Ibn Auf said in a televised address Thursday at about 2:00 p.m. local time. He will lead the newly-inaugurated supreme military council.
Ibn Auf said Sudan’s airspace would be shut for 24 hours, while border crossings would be closed indefinitely.
Ousted Omar Al-Bashir was pushed out of office following five days of massive protests across the country. The protesters initially hailed the military for aiding their demand for Mr Al-Bashir’s exit, but the suspension of the constitution in place of a military rule for at least another two years could further plunge the country into chaos.
The protesters said that president Al-Bashir had ruled for 30 years and demanded that no one near his power within that time should be allowed near power again.
They vowed to continue the protest even though a curfew has been imposed as part of the three-month state of emergency. It was unclear whether the military was ready to violently resist the protesters in its early days in power.

Netanyahu Goes For 5th Term, As Opposition Concedes Defeat In Israeli Elections

Israel Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has won the election to come back for the fifth term even as the main opposition party conceded defeat in the country’s elections.

The Prime Minister has however given an indication to forge a coalition that has the potential to be the most religious and far-right government in the country’s history.

Leaders of the Blue and White party, headed by former military chief, Benny Gantz, made the concession announcement as it appeared there was no way it could secure the 61-seat majority it needs in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset to form a government.

“We didn’t win this time,” said Yair Lapid, a Blue and White leader. “I respect the voters’ decision.”

He vowed that the party would come back fighting in the next election. Speaking after him, Gantz said he would serve Israelis whether or not that’s from within government.

“It’s just my first day in the next 10 years that I plan to serve the Israeli public,” he said. “The war is not over.”

Netanyahu’s Likud Party and Blue and White are both on track to win 35 seats in Israel’s Knesset, or Parliament, with about 97 per cent of the votes tallied.

Netanyahu appears to have a clear path to a majority coalition, with his natural partners on the right of the political spectrum projected to win 65 seats.

US President Donald Trump, who spoke to the Prime Minister by phone, said that it might be “a little early” but said it looked like Netanyahu had “won it in a good fashion.”

“The fact that Bibi won, I think we’ll see some pretty good action in terms of peace,” said Trump, using Netanyahu’s nickname. “Everybody said you can’t have peace in the Middle East with Israel and the Palestinians. I think we have a better chance with Bibi having won.”

But others disagreed, pointing to the likely make-up of his coalition and his campaign promise to annex parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Professional Body Metes Out Punishment On Medical Doctor For Negligence

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) has meted out punishment on a Medical Doctor, Nasiru Ibrahim for professional negligence. He was punished and barred from practicing for three months for failing to promptly transfuse blood, as appropriate, for the management of a pregnant woman, Hassana Salihu at Al-Noor Clinic and Maternity, Angwon Rogo, Jos, Plateau State.

The Council blamed the doctor for conducting himself “infamously in a professional respect contrary to Rules 29.4a, 29.4h,and 31 of the Code of Medical Ethics in Nigeria,2008 Edition, and punishable under Section 16 ( 1) (a) and (2) of the Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Act, CAP M8 LFN, 2004 (as amended).”

Dr. Nasiru Ibrahim, who was charged on four count at the MDCN Tribunal, was found to have committed the professional offence, leading to the death of the woman, on January 3rd2015.

Chairman of the Tribunal, Professor Abba Hassan, read the count to the doctor thus:

COUNT ONE: ‘’That you Dr. Umor Nasiru Ibrahim, registered medical practitioner, practicing as such on 3st January, 2015 or thereabouts at Al-Noor Clinic and Maternity, Angwon Rogo, Jos, Plateau State, while managing one Hassana Salihu ( F ), now deceased, as a pregnant woman under your care, were grossly negligent in her management when you failed to promptly attend to her and ensure that she was transfused with blood, as appropriate for the management of her condition, thereby, conducted yourself infamously in a professional respect contrary to Rules 29.4a, 29.4h,and 31 of the Code of Medical Ethics in Nigeria,2008 Edition, and punishable under Section 16 ( 1) (a) and (2) of the Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Act, CAP M8 LFN, 2004 (as amended)”.

COUNT TWO: That you Dr. Umar Nasiru Ibrahim, registered medical practitioner, practicing as such on 31st January, 2015 or thereabouts at AI-Noor Clinic and Maternity, Angwan Rogo, Jos, Plateau State, while managing one Hassana Salihu (F), now deceased, as a pregnant woman under your core, conducted yourself infamously in a professional respect when you knowingly enabled untrained an unregistered persons to attend to her contrary to Rules 39.2a of the Code of Medical Ethics in Nigeria,2008 Edition, and punishable under Section 16 ( 1) (a) and (2) of the Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Act, CAP M8 LFN, 2004 (as amended).

COUNT THREE: That you Dr. Umar Nasiru Ibrahim, registered medical practitioner, practicing as such on 31st January, 2015 or thereabouts at AI-Noor Clinic and Maternity, Angwon Rogo, Jos, Plateau State, and while in full time employment in the Public Service, as the Medical Director, at the National Obstetric Fistula Centre, Ningi, Bouchi State, provided in-hospitol care to one Hassana Salihu (F), now deceased, as a pregnant woman under your care, in your private hospital, thereby, conducted yourself infamousty in a professional respect contrary to Rules 49.1c of the Code of Medical Ethics in Nigeria,2008 Edition, and . punishable under Section 16 (1) (a) and (2) of the Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Act, CAP M8 LFN, 2004 {as amended).

COUNT FOUR: That you Dr. Umar Nasiru Ibrahim, registered medical practitioner, practicing as such on 31st January, 2015 or thereabouts at Al-Noor Clinic and Maternity, Angwon Rogo, Jos, Plateau State, while attending to one Hassana Salihu (F), now deceased, practiced and held yourself out as a specialist obstetrician and gynecologist without having registered an additional qualification in obstetrics and gynaecology with the Medical and Dental Council/ of Nigeria, thereby conducting yourself infamously in a professional respect contrary to Rules 15 and 27 of the Code of Medical Ethics in Nigeria 2008 Edition.’’

After a painstaking deliberation on the affidavits and facts and documents, the panel reached the conclusion that a prima facie case had been established against the respondent.

Professor Hassan said: “from the affidavits, oral evidence adduced, the documents tendered and admitted in evidence, this Honourable Tribunal finds as follows: That the respondent failed to attend promptly to the deceased who required urgent medical attention.

“That the respondent failed to do anything which ought reasonably to have been done under the prevailing circumstance for the good of the deceased

“That the respondent knowingly enabled an untrained, inexperienced person to attend to the deceased who was in child birth

“That as a consultant, the respondent offered in-hospitaI care to the deceased in his private clinic while in full time employment in the public service.”

On the basis of the above findings, the Chairman said: “The Tribunal holds that the allegations made against the Respondent have been proved as required by law.

“The Prosecution has been able to show that the Respondent’s conduct in his professional capacity constitutes infamous behaviour, professional negligence, and unethical conduct which resulted in the death of the deceased. Pursuant to Rule 31 of The Code of Medical EThics in Nigeria, 2008 Edition, The Honourable Tribunal hereby finds the Respondent (Dr Umar Nasiru Ibrahim) guilty of gross professional negligence in all the three counts.

Pele Discharged From Paris Hospital, Returns To Brazil

The world football legend, Pele, has been discharged from Paris hospital where he was admitted and treated for severe urinary infection.

Report said that the 78 year old world football champion left the airport on a wheelchair and was flown to his native Brazil yesterday, Tuesday. He was earlier in the week, taken to a hospital in Sao Paulo, where he was placed under observation.

Pele, the only footballer to win three World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970), has suffered from increasingly fragile health in recent years.

In 2014, he was hospitalized in intensive care for another urinary tract infection, for which he had to undergo dialysis.

Source: AFP

INEC Boss Proposes 3 Year Imprisonment, N500,000 Fine For Vote-Buying Offenders

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmoud Yakubu  has proposed a fine of five hundred thousand naira or three years imprisonment or both for persons convicted of vote buying and selling.

Professor Yakubu said that the adoption of the measure would in a greater way curb the menace. The INEC boss,  who spoke today, Wednesday, at the 9th Forum of the Anti-Corruption Situation Room, organized by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) in Abuja, decried the embarrassment the commission has had to face from international community.

Represented at the event by the INEC National Commissioner and chairman, Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, Professor Yakubu called on the National Assembly to evolve new legislations to curb the ugly trend.

The chairman also appealed to the parliament to expedite action on the Electoral Offences Commission Bill, underscoring the need for a separate agency to be given the responsibility of investigating and prosecuting electoral offences and offenders.

“The National Assembly should isolate vote buying and selling and properly define it, its varieties and ingredients and make it a separate item in the Electoral Act and provide sanction for violation.

“The punishment for vote buying should be increased and made stiffer to act as deterrent to buyers and sellers. Those that commit the offence of buying and selling should be made to pay a fine of N500,000 or be subjected to three years imprisonment or both.

“Restriction on the use of smart phones in the polling units should be imputed into the Electoral Act and violators should be liable on conviction to find of N500,000 or three years imprisonment or both.”

Don’t Take Loan From China, IMF Cautions Nigeria, Others

IMF chief Christine Lagarde

The International Monetary Fund has cautioned Nigeria and other developing countries from taking loans from China due to unfavourable loan conditions.

The Financial Counsellor and Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department of the IMF,  Tobias Adrian, said this on Wednesday during the launch of the Global Financial Stability Report for April 2019 at the IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington D.C.

“Capital flows, which includes capital flows from China, are, of course, important for development.

“On the other hand, what is very important in lending arrangements are the terms of the loans and we urge countries to make sure that when they borrow from abroad, the terms are favourable.

“In particular, we recommend that loans to countries should conform with Paris Club arrangements and that is not always the case of loans from China,” Adrian said.

On Nigeria’s rising debt levels, Adrian said that the IMF was not overly concerned, as it would allow the country to invest more in developing critical infrastructure.

“At the moment, funding conditions in economies such as Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries are very favourable but that may change at some point,” he said.

The April 2019 Global Financial Stability Report finds that in spite of significant variability over the past two quarters, financial conditions remained accommodative.

As a result, financial vulnerabilities have continued to build in the sovereign, corporate, and non bank financial sectors in several systemically important countries, leading to elevated medium-term risks.

Also, the IMF in the April 2019 Fiscal Monitor Report urged Nigeria to increase Value Added Tax, increase and expand the coverage of excise duties.

The IMF commended the country’s latest Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative, which looks at a comprehensive approach to tax reform.

Source: NAN

I Swear I Did Not Spend $30,000 To Stop Inauguration Of Buhari – Atiku

Atiku Abubakar

The Presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the just concluded election in Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has sworn that he did not spend $30,000 to hire an American lobby group to persuade the United States Congress to stop the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The defeated Presidential candidate, in a statement today, Wednesday by his media aide, Paul Ibe, described the allegation instigated by the Buhari campaign organization as a total fabrication.

He insisted that his court case has become their biggest burden because it exposes their integrity as a sham, and instead of defending their stolen mandate in court, they are now using fake news to divert public attention from the historic electoral heist they have committed against Nigerians.

Atiku stressed that no amount of diversionary propaganda and fake news campaign by the All Progressives Congress (APC) would stop him from continuing the court action he started to reclaim the stolen mandate.

He said that the latest dirty propaganda didn’t come as a surprise  because lying has so far become their only bragging rights of competence.

“Lying has become a culture to the APC administration and therefore, we are not surprised by their latest diversionary allegations.

“Since Atiku resisted pressure not to go to court, the APC has been behaving like a cat on hot bricks because the outcome of the 2019 elections has exposed and shattered the facade of their dubious integrity.

“The APC are behaving nervously like a thief living under the fear of being exposed and shamed. They are now using fake news against Atiku instead of focusing on defending themselves in the court.

“For a party that has broken the worst record in election rigging, the APC doesn’t have any iota of integrity to be taken seriously by anybody.”

Meanwhile, Atiku has also disassociated himself from 2019 election posters being circulated in Abuja.

He said that the campaign season is over and the tainted electoral victory by the incumbent is being challenged in court.

“Our attention has been drawn to posters of His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 election being circulated in Abuja.

“We disassociate the former Vice President of Nigeria from the said posters in circulation.

“We refuse to be distracted, which is exactly the objective of our opponents, but to remain focused on diligently pursuing our election petition with a view to retrieving the stolen mandate.

Buhari Orders Return To Old Cattle Routes To Resolve Herders/Farmers Clashes

Fulani cattle breeders

President Muhmmadu Buhari has directed the minister of agriculture, Audu Ogbe to look at the gazette of the first republic to get the cattle routes and get the grazing routes and re-establish them as a way of resolving the incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen in some parts of the country.

The President, in an interactive session today, Tuesday with Nigerians that are residence in Dubai as part of his official engagement in that country said: I told Audu Ogbeh, the minister of agriculture to look at the gazette of the first republic to get the cattle routes and get the grazing routes and re-establish them so that we can reduce this incidence some you here know the efforts we are making.

Buhari, who said that his government next level is to consolidate whatever it had done, stressed that to be able to do so, his government had to secure the country first.

He recalled that original Nigerian cattle rearers used to carry only sticks and machetes to cut foliage for the cattle.

He insisted that those cattle rearers with weapons like AK47 are strange to Nigeria, even as he admitted that one can hardly identify the difference between cattle rearers from Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria Chad, Cameroon and other cattle herders.

“They look the same but I was accused of not doing anything about those operating locally. I took the governor on this and this is one of the reasons he left our party for another party. “Because I told him the cattle rearers and settlers problem in Nigeria is older than myself not to talk of him.”

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