Edwin ClarkBisola Sodipo Clark, wife of Chief Edwin Clark has dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and declared her support for the candidacy of President Muhammadu Buhari for the 2019 Presidential election in the country.
Sodipo, who contested the 2015 Senatorial election in Ogun State under the Peoples Democratic Party, also announced her formal defection to the ruling All progressives Congress (APC).
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President Buhari receives Letter of Credence from Ambassador of Finland to Nigeria H.E. Jyrki Juhani Pulkinnen in State House on 6th Dec 2018President Muhammadu Buhari has given assurance that he will respect the results of the 2019 election, reflecting the wishes of Nigerians.
He stressed that he will not do anything to sideline the yearnings of Nigerians and that he strongly believes in the collective dream for a greater country.
The President who received Letter of Credence from Ambassador of Finland to Nigeria, Dr Jyrki Juhani Pulkkinen today, Thursday, said that Nigerians reserved the right to elect leaders at various levels in 2019, and all efforts will be made to safeguard the integrity of the process.
“I respect the people’s feelings,’’ he said, “I assure all that we will have a free and fair election next year.’’
The President congratulated Finland on its 101 independence anniversary, December 6, 2018 and commended the growing relations with Nigeria, especially in areas of Information Communication Technology (ICT), trade and education.
In his remarks, Ambassador of Finland said the areas of mutual benefit in relations with Nigeria can be extended to electricity, smart technology and crises management initiatives, pointing out that he will work hard to improve the trade figures and exchanges.
“We will like to contribute to Africa rising, and we know that Nigeria is the biggest country on the continent, so we are very interested in the growth of Nigeria.”
At the level of the United Nations, Dr Pulkkinen said his country will continue to support the restructuring of the multilateral institution to give greater roles to African countries like Nigeria.
President Buhari, who also received letter of Credence from Ambassador of France, Mr Jerome Pasquier, said French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, and the stopover in Lagos, was really impressive in bolstering both countries’ relations.
The President said he was impressed with relations between France and its former colonies in Africa, noting that France continues to play positive roles in promoting security and economic growth in the countries.
“France is investing so much in Nigeria and we are grateful,’’ he added.
President Buhari, however, called for more support in the fight against terrorism as the networks keep expanding with fighters moving across borders to support insurgents.
Responding, France Ambassador said President Macron will continue to support Nigeria, especially in the ongoing war against terrorism, with specific interest in gathering and sharing of intelligence.
He commended the President for Nigeria’s role in resolving the crisis in Togo and Guinea Bissau.
President Buhari equally received Letter of Credence from the Ambassador of Czech Republic, Mr Marek Skolil, assuring him of improved economic relations in areas like solid minerals exploration.
Mr Skolil said his country will continue to support Nigeria’s military in the fight against terrorism in the North East.
“Nigeria is a very important country for us. We look forward to stronger ties, particularly with the armed forces.”
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom EmmanuelPresident of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Paul Usoro (SAN) and the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel have been alleged to be involved in a N1.4 billion fraud.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which charged the case at the Federal High Court in Lagos, said that the Akwa Ibo Governor cannot face the charge along with the NBA President now because of the constitutional immunity which the governor enjoys against criminal prosecution.
The anti-graft agency, in a charge marked FHC/418c/18, alleged that Usoro, from Akwa Ibom State, converted and laundered the money in connivance with Governor Udom Emmanuel.
The charge sheet, signed by EFCC Counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, mentioned four other defendants, including Nsikan Nkan, described as Commissioner for Finance, Akwa Ibom State; Mfon Udomah, described as the Accountant-General of Akwa Ibom State; Uwemedimo Nwoko, described as the Akwa Ibom State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice; and Margaret Ukpe, all of whom are said to be at large.
The commission alleged that Usoro, in connivance with the others mentioned suspects, conspired to commit the offence sometime in 2015 within the jurisdiction of the court.
The anti-graft agency claimed that the N1.4 billion belonged to the Akwa Ibom State Government.
According to Oyedepo, the offences are contrary to Section 18 (a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.
Justice Muslim Hassan fixed December 10, 2018 for the EFCC to arraign Usoro.
Nigerian embassy in South AfricaThe Nigerian consulate in Johannesburg, South Africa, has disbanded a web of powerful passport racketeers that had operated around its premises for many years.
The Consulate insisted that applicants for Nigerian passports should get it from the consulate, with assurance that the process would be completed within one week.
The Consul-General, Godwin Adama, who spoke to newsmen in Johannesburg today, Wednesday, said that before now, the scammers were charging applicants between 400 U.S. dollar (N144,000) and 1,000 dollars (N360,000) without any assurance of getting their passports.
In the transcript of the interview which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, Godwin Adama was quoted as saying: “I had a serious running battle with these touts, who attempted to intimidate and blackmail me to the extent of threatening physical assaults, but I stood my ground and disbanded them.
“What it now takes to be a proud owner of Nigerian passport is payment of 100 dollars (N36,000) for adults and 77 dollars (N27,720) for children depending on current local exchange rates.
“And for those who travel from outside Johannesburg, they get their passports within 24 hours, because of the logistics of travelling from long distance.
“I succeeded in a record time to reduce the collection of passport between eight and six months to one week.”
The consul-general said that the improvement has also been extended to the issuance of visa, adding that applicants with genuine documents can now receive their visas between 48 and 72 hours in line with the Presidential executive Orders on the ease-of-doing business.
“The premises of the consulate are now free of miscreants who have nothing to do than to be creating chaos and instituting corruption within the system.
“No loiters anymore, and for those who have to stay more than the expected hours due to one logistic issue or the other, a resting place has been provided for them at the gate.
“The room is equipped with conveniences and other facilities for their comfort,” Adama added
Source: NAN.
Russian President Vladimir PutinRussian President Vladimir Putin overnight warned the United States that if it walks out of a key arms treaty and starts developing the type of missiles banned by it, Russia will do the same.
Putin’s remarks to Russian news agencies came a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced at a NATO meeting that Washington will suspend its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in 60 days, citing Russian “cheating.”
The US has shared intelligence evidence with its NATO allies that it says shows that Russia’s new SSC-8 ground-fired cruise missile could give Moscow the ability to launch a nuclear strike in Europe with little or no notice. Russia has denied the accusations.
President Donald Trump earlier this year announced his decision to withdraw from the INF, accusing Russia and China — which is not a signatory to the treaty — of violating it.
Putin accused the United States of making up excuses for pulling out of the pact, saying that the US first made up its mind to walk out of it and only then “started to look for the reasons why they should do it.”
“It seems that our American partners believe that the situation has changed so much that the US has to have this type of weapons,” he said in televised remarks. “What would be our response? A very simple one: in that case, we will do the same.”
Speaking at a briefing of foreign military attaches earlier, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of staff of the Russian military, warned of a Russian response and said that it would be the countries that host US intermediate-range missiles that would become immediate targets for Russia.
When signed in 1987, the INF treaty was lauded as a major safeguard for global security since they eliminated shorter-range missiles that take just a few minutes to reach their targets. The removal of such destabilising weapons would in theory allow more time for decision-making in case of a warning of a missile attack.
US ally Germany, which has been keen to preserve the treaty, called on Russia to try to save it while it still has the time.
“The INF treaty is of great significance for security in Europe,” government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said.
“The German government welcomes the fact that the American government is giving its preservation another chance,” she added, referring to the 60-day deadline. She also noted that the issue came up in a meeting between Chancellor Angela Merkel and MrTrump in Argentina on Saturday.
“It is now up to Russia to avert the end of the treaty,” Demmer said.
Femi AdesinaThe Presidency has announced a meeting of the special Federal Executive Council (FEC) for Friday, December 7 to deliberate solely on 2019 draft budget proposal.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, who made this known today, Wednesday, when he briefed State House correspondents at the end of the Council’s meeting, said that the Friday’s special FEC meeting would endorse and approve the 2019 draft budget for onward submission to the National Assembly for its approval.
Today’s FEC meeting was presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on October 18, minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udoma, at the consultative forum on the medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) and fiscal strategy paper (FSP) 2019 to 2021, said the Federal Government plans to submit a leaner 2019 budget to the National Assembly before the end of November.
In spite of the recent oil output drop to about 1.9 million barrels a day, Udoma said government was optimistic the 2.3 million barrels a day target was achievable with production now rising to about 2.15 million barrels a day and new oil productions being put into play.
Although a $50 per barrel oil price benchmark was proposed in the ERGP, he said with a significant rise in the price above $80 per barrel currently, government has proposed a $60 a barrel oil price for the budget.
He said that N305 was proposed as exchange rate to the dollar, with government working to keep inflation down after slight increases in the last two months on the heels of 18 months consecutive decline.
The projected target gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for the budget was put at 3.01 per cent, reduced from 4.5 per cent in the ERGP; 3.6 per cent in 2020 and 3.9 per cent in 2021.
“Growth is expected to increase from 0.8 per cent in 2017 to 2.1 per cent this year and 3.01 per cent in 2019 with the continued implementation of the ERGP in 2019 and improved outlook for oil prices,” he said.
On revenue, Udoma said based on the oil price and oil production assumptions, government expects to generate about N3.6 trillion from oil, up by about N500 billion from last year’s figure.
About N6.9 trillion revenue is projected to be available to the budget in 2019.
With other projections showing government expects to collect less revenue from some independent sources, he said only about N624 billion is expected to be realised, against about N847 billion in the 2018 budget, among others.
EFCC Boss, Ibrahim MaguActing chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has said that more than 80 percent of looted funds by Nigerians are hanging in foreign countries.
“More than 80 per cent of the loot outside the country is still hanging. Ask them why it is so difficult to repatriate these funds when it has been established that this money came from Nigeria and you know that this person does not own this money.
“There is no justification. It is not a small amount of money. We have over $300 million hanging in the Jersey Island, a UK foreign territory.”
Ibrahim Magu, who spoke to some news men today, Wednesday in Abuja, said that the law of other countries are becoming stumbling block to the retrieval of millions of funds being held by Nigerian looters in those countries.
He said bluntly that foreign law enforcement agencies are protecting the former Nigerian petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke from being arrested, stressing that she were to be in Nigeria, she would have been arrested.
“I need less than 72 hours to produce Diezani but how can I get her? She is being protected by other law enforcement agencies outside this country.
“This is our predicament. If she were here, I would have arrested her. The barrier is that other law enforcement agencies are involved in the matter. You know she is in the UK and we are making preparations to get her.
“We have already gone to court and this was part of the process of extradition; that is the court should declare that a warrant of arrest be issued against her and that we produce her within 72 hours.”
Wife of the Nigeria’s President Mrs Aisha BuhariWife of the President of Nigeria, Mrs. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, has frowned at insinuation in some social media that she has anything to do with one Mariyatu, who is currently facing interrogation from officers of the Department of State Security (DSS).
She said that her office does not transact any kind of business, promising that any of the workers in her office he is found to have been involved in transacting any business with her will be punished.
“I wish to state that anyone found to be engaged in fraudulent dealings, will face the full wrath of the law.”
In a statement by her media aides today, Wednesday, Aisha Buhari dissociated herself from all the individuals involved in the fraud case being investigate by the DSS against Mariyatu.
“I wish to state categorically that Mariyatu is NOT my SISTER and the so called Amina Mohammed is not and was NEVER my ASSOCIATE and is therefore not in a position to transact any business in my name or that of my office.
“I wish to further state that I don’t run businesses in my office. Therefore, whoever does business with anyone in my name will be doing so at his/her own risk.”
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has commenced what his spokesman, Laolu Akande described as an unusual approach to campaigns, by adopting a door-to-door strategy in two Abuja suburbs of Karu and Nyanya.
in a statement, Akande said that the Vice President today, Tuesday, visited two homes: Alhaji S.K Ahmed’s family in Nyanya and the Jimiko compound in Karu.
According to the spokesman, no sooner Professor Osinbajo arrived in the communities than the people thronged out en-masse in both places, chanting praises of the President and singing party songs.
He said that after meeting both families, the Vice President addressed the crowd and spent time interacting with the people who thronged out in their numbers, often fascinated to see him unannounced in their neigbourhoods.
He quoted the Vice President as saying: “for the honest, decent and hardworking Nigerians, Mr. President has devoted his life to ensuring that their lives are made better even when it is sometimes not easy to do so.
“All of us are going higher. I want you to believe that President Muhammadu Buhari is going to do even better. We have to create more jobs for all these young people. We have to give our market women credit so that they can do more business; our young people money so that they can do more business.”
Speaking on the President’s concern for the common man, Professor Osinbajo said: “when he ask us to start the Trader Moni, he said, this is one way by which we can help people to start doing their own business.”
He said that Nigeria’s future is brighter with President Buhari on the saddle, adding that no public funds would be stolen under his watch.
“So, I am here to say to you that the future of our country is great. All of you that are here, you are going to see a better Nigeria and that greater Nigeria can only come if the government is honest; If the government is not stealing our money.
“If the government is honest, it will build all the roads in Nigeria, for instance, like we are doing the Lagos-Kano rail and others, now. You can see that with little money we are doing much more because we will not agree to the stealing of our resources.
“We will go forward and we will move forward. It is a bit difficult now because we are building the foundation. When we came into office; We found no savings. Oil which was our biggest earnings, we had earned so much in four years but there was little to show for it. They didn’t build the railway, no roads. So, when we came we decided to first of all do the right thing.”
A Federal Capital Territory High Court Judge, Justice Valentine Ashi has given the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigerian Police Force, the Department of States Security Service (DSS) and other security agencies 72 hours within which to arrest and bring a former minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison Madueke.
This followed a motion ex parte made before the court by counsel to the EFCC, Msuur Denga, praying for an order of the court, to issue a warrant of arrest against Madueke, to enable the Commission apprehend and arraign her for alleged financial crimes in Nigeria.
The court granted the ex parte motion, and ordered the security agencies to provide Madueke within 72 hours, for her to face the charge preferred against her.
“The Inspector General of Police, the Chairman of the EFCC, the Attorney General, the Department of State Services, are hereby ordered in the name of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria to apprehend and arrest the first defendant and produce her before this court for further directives within 72 hours.”
The EFCC investigated the former minister along with Jide Omokore, a former Chairman, Atlantic Energy Drilling Company, following a petition dated October 2, 2013, from Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, bordering on money laundering and official corruption.
Investigations into the petition revealed that Madueke as supervising minister of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, was found to have engaged in illicit and monumental fraudulent dealings in oil transactions, which she entered into on behalf of the Federal Government.
Madueke and Omokore, are also alleged to have accepted and given gifts in properties located at Penthouse 22, Block B, Admiralty Estate, Ikoyi, and Penthouse 21, Building 5, Block C, Banana Island, Lagos. They are to be arraigned on February 25, 2019 on a five-count charge for the offences, which are contrary to Sections 26(1) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
Recall that when the matter came up on December 3, 2018 the Commission however filed application for warrant of arrest, condition precedent for Deziani’s extradition protocol to bring her back home to face trail.
The prosecution told the court that Diezani, who is currently in the United Kingdom, jetted out of the country while investigations into the alleged fraudulent acts were ongoing.
