APC Chairmanship: Oshiomhole Cruising To Victory As Leaders, Governors Endorse Him

June 13, 2018

National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, ex-interim National Chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande and governors on the party’s platform, have endorsed former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, for the position of the national chairman of the party.

The party’s leaders, made up of Tinubu, Akande, Governors Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Tanko Al-Makura (Nassarawa), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Yahaya Bello (Kogi) and Simon Lalong (Plateau) were at the Oshiomhole’s campaign office located at Aso Drive, Asokoro, Abuja, yesterday, on a solidarity visit.

Tinubu, who spoke to reporters shortly after he and Akande met with Oshiomhole behind closed doors, said: “my visit symbolizes solidarity and unity of purpose to continue to bring a progressive party that will carry Nigeria in a progressive manner, (to bring about) good governance with courage and commitment.”

In a response to a direct question as to whether his visit was an endorsement of Oshiomhole’s aspirations, he said: “there is no doubt. I have worked with him, why should I have any doubt? The stuff of this game (politics) is that you win. Have you seen a democrat who is ready to lose? Just accept it, it is about choice.”

Chief Akande also said: “democracy is a matter of choice; you would want somebody who is competent enough to do it (the job) and you allow him to do it.”

In response to a question on the parallel congress held in Lagos, Tinubu said: “anybody can get a branch of a bank anywhere but check whether your (Automated Teller Machine) card will work.”

Earlier, the Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, told journalists that all the governors on the party’s platform were looking forward to Oshiomhole’s chairmanship.

He said: “our party is looking forward to the chairmanship of Adams Oshiomhole.”

Bagudu said that though he was not the chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, “I can tell you that Adams Oshiomhole is my candidate as a governor and all the governors I know. He is the candidate for the chairmanship.

10 Days After, 149 Runaway Inmates At Minna Jailbreak Still Missing

Greenbarge Reporters

June 13, 2018

The Nigeria Prisons has confirmed that 149 inmates are still missing after jailbreak at Minna Medium Security Prison in Tunga area of Minna metropolis on June 3.

Spokesman of the Nigeria Prison Service (NPS), Francis Enobore, told news men that all efforts are being put in place to arrest the remaining 149 escapees.

“Presently, security has been beefed up within and outside prison facility even as the ongoing investigation into the matter is comprehensive and will soon be ready for appropriate action.

“We are walking round the clock to recapture the remaining inmates but as at today six more escapees have been recaptured. In total they are now 61 out of the initial 210.

“A lot of development is ongoing in the prison service which will enable us further solve the issue of jailbreaks among other things.

“The Federal Government has realized the important role the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS), is doing in keeping offenders out of circulation so that social economic activities can be going on smoothly.

“Our budgetary allocations have increased. If you see the infrastructure going on now in different prison locations across the country they are modest type of prison.

“There is a proposal now to have a three thousand capacity prison. One in each of the six geo-political zones across the country. That of North-West have started and some of them have reached 50 percent completion.

“We are going to have court, school, outdoor and indoor training and vocational section among other facilities. It will be a standard prison.”

Ex Ondo Governor, Mimiko, Dumps PDP

Greenbarge Reporters

June 13, 2018

Former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on which platform he contested and won the Ondo State governorship election in 2014.

In a letter of resignation which he to the leadership of the PDP in the state, Mimiko said that his decision to leave the party was personal to him.

The letter read in part:”I hereby with utmost humility inform you of my decision to resign my membership of the PDP with effect from today, June 13, 2018, for some well-thought-out personal reasons.

” It was an honour working with the many prominent Nigerians with whom I shared the PDP platform for the entire period I was in there as a member.

“Accept please the assurance of my very high regards.”

The State Chairman of the PDP, Clement Faboyede said that Mimiko’s exit from the party would not have any negative impact on the party, saying the party is waxing stronger on a daily basis.

“Mimiko is a human being. He has the right to his opinion. We have tried at all levels to discourage him but he insisted on leaving. One thing I know is that PDP will not die as he (Mimiko) leaves. We have survived many turbulent times in the past, so if he goes it cannot affect us negatively.”

Source: PUNCH.

Canada, America, Mexico To Jointly Host 2026 World Cup Tournament

Greenbarge Reporters

June 13, 2018

The United States, Canada and Mexico will jointly host the 2026 World Cup tournament after beating Morocco in its bid to host it. The ‘United 2026’ bid was selected by Fifa member nations, winning 134 votes compared to 65 for Morocco.

The 2026 tournament will be the biggest World Cup ever held – with 48 teams playing 80 matches over 34 days.

Of the 211 Fifa member nations, 200 cast a vote at the 68th Fifa Congress in Moscow today, Wednesday, with the winning bid needing a majority of 104.

Canada, Mexico, Morocco and the US were exempt, while Ghana was absent after the country’s government said it had disbanded its football association amid allegations of “widespread” corruption.

Three US territories – Guam, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico – were among the other member nations to not vote.

Both Mexico (1970 and 1986) and the United States (1994) have previously hosted World Cups. Canada staged the Women’s World Cup in 2015.

The winning bid

The ‘United’ World Cup will generate $14bn (£10.3bn) in revenue and make an $11bn (£8.1bn) profit for Fifa, says Cordeiro.

Of the 16 host cities, 10 will be in the United States while the remainder will be split evenly between Canada and Mexico.

Sixty matches will take place in the US, while Canada and Mexico will host 10 games each.

The final will be held at the 84,953-capacity MetLife Stadium, which is home to NFL sides the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

The distance between the most northern host city (Edmonton) and the most southern (Mexico City) is almost 3,000 miles, which compares to 1,900 miles at this month’s tournament in Russia.

The tournament will mark the first time a World Cup has been shared by three host nations.

The 1994 World Cup, staged by the US, had the highest average attendance in the tournament’s history, while Mexico was the first nation to host the event twice.

US Soccer: “Hosting the 2026 Fifa World Cup is a rare and important moment to demonstrate that we are all truly united through sport.

“We are humbled by the trust our colleagues in the Fifa family have put in our bid, strengthened by the unity between our three countries and the Concacaf region and excited by the opportunity we have to put football on a new and sustainable path for generations to come.”

Morocco Federation: “I wish to congratulate Fifa for the conduct of this process and congratulate the president for what he has done in order to move things towards more transparency and more inclusion.

“I would like to reaffirm the determination of my country to continue to work for football and realise one day our dream to host the World Cup in Morocco.”

The Football Association (FA): “We congratulate the USA, Canada and Mexico on winning the bid to host the 2026 Fifa World Cup. Both bids were of a very high quality and we welcome the fact that the bidding process was both open and transparent.

“We cast our vote for the ‘United’ bid as we believe the independent technical assessment made its advantages very clear. However, it is important to note that both bids were deemed to have met the hosting requirements and a tournament in Morocco, close to Europe and in a country that loves football, had a great deal for English football fans to be excited about.”

Fifth time unlucky

Five times they have bid, and five times they have been overlooked – Morocco are perhaps destined to never host a World Cup.

Morocco’s bid faced unwanted attention when Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura was the subject of an investigation into an alleged conflict of interest.

Members of Fifa’s World Cup bid evaluation task force said she had an undeclared family link with Morocco 2026 bid ambassador El Hadji Diouf.

She was cleared of any wrongdoing and dismissed the claims as “laughable” and “unfortunate”.

The same evaluation task force later expressed concerns over stadiums, the availability of accommodation, and the travel network, despite ratifying their proposals.

Nine of the 14 stadiums included in Morocco’s bid were yet to be built, while the remaining five required “significant renovation or upgrading”.

But bid chief Hicham el Amrani said he was confident the country’s infrastructure “could deliver” and made play of the North African nation’s position, nine miles from the southern tip of Spain – dubbing it a “European” World Cup.

Source: BBC

Court Declares Kogi East PDP Senator An Impostor, Sacks Him

Greenbarge Reporters

June 13, 2018

Federal High Court has declared the Senator representing Kogi East Senatorial District, Senator Atai Aidoko on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as impostor and ordered that he should be removed from the red chamber immediately.

The Judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, held, in his judgment that Atai Aidoko was not properly nominated by the PDP for the March 2015 National Assembly election and consequently ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately withdraw the certificate of return issued to him in 2015.

Justice Kolawole ordered the immediate swearing in of retired Air Marshall Isaac Alfa, of the PDP, by the Clerk of the National Assembly in place of the sacked Senator.

The court also ordered INEC to issue a fresh certificate of return to Alfa being the winner of the December 7, 2014 Senate primaries of the PDP.

The court awarded a cost of N750,000 against Aidoko and the PDP respectively.

Join Me In Fight Against Corruption, Buhari Pleads With Diplomatic Communities

Greenbarge Reporters

June 12, 2018

President Muhammadu Buhari hosts diplomatic community

President Muhammadu Buhari has pleaded with members of the diplomatic communities to join him in the fight against corruption which he said is the single biggest menace to Africa’s development.

The President, who hosted Ambassadors and other foreign missions in Nigeria to breaking of the Ramadan Fast today, Tuesday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said: “we shall count on your support to tackle corruption headlong, in order to bring about development, prosperity and well-being of our people.

“As I mentioned in my inaugural speech; if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill us. Corruption undermines development and impedes democracy and the rule of law.”

President Buhari recalled that during the 30^th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa held in January this year, the AU launched the theme for the year 2018 winning the fight against Corruption: a sustainable path for Africa’s Transformation and endorsed him as the AU Champion for the year.

He expressed appreciation to leaders of other countries across the world for the support and peaceful co-existence which has contributed, in no small measure, to deepening the bonds of friendship and the subsisting cordial relations.

He stressed that positive relationship had contributed in helping his government towards the attainment of the key pillars of his administration which are diversification of the economy, good governance (anti-corruption) and security as well as the core objectives of the 2017-2020 Economic Recovery and Growth plan (ERGP).

“You may recall the efforts of the Government in tackling the problem of insecurity since the inception of this administration in May 2015. The Government made every effort to contain the Boko Haram insurgency which bedevilled the country. I am happy to note that, at the moment, the Boko Haram insurgents have been degraded and normalcy gradually restored in the affected areas as we embarked on the task of rehabilitation and reintegration of the affected communities.”

Buhari assured the diplomatic corps that his government is making every effort to bring the issue of insurgence to a complete end, adding that his government will continue to collaborate with the country’s neighbours under the multilateral Joint Task Force to curtail the movement and operations of terrorist across the borders.

“With peace comes development. As you are aware, this administration has taken bold initiatives to reposition the Nigerian economy on the path of sustainable growth and development. In the preceding years, Nigeria has continued to witness political stability and economic prosperity as acknowledged by World Bank 2017 economic rating on Ease of Doing Business Index for 2018.

“I wish to assure Your Excellencies that we remain committed to creating enabling environment to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and boost private sector engagements between Nigeria and your respective countries.”

Central Bank Injects $210 Million Into Forex Market

Greenbarge Reporters

June 12, 2018

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has made available the sum of $210million, to meet customers’ requests in various segments of the foreign exchange market.

The apex Bank, in its desire to meet customers’ needs in the various segments of the market, offered $100 million to authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment received the sum of $55 million.

According to figures obtained from the Bank today,Tuesday, customers needing foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, were also allocated the sum of $55 million.

It will be recalled that last week, CBN approved an upward review of the trading margin available to operators of Bureau De Change (BDC) in the country, allowing BDC operators could buy the United States dollar from the CBN at the rate of N357/$1 and sell at N360, thereby leaving them with a positive margin of N3.00 per dollar sold.

Meanwhile, the Acting Director in the Corporate Communications Department of the bank, Isaac Okorafor, reiterated the Bank’s commitment to continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market, in line with its pledge to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability.

Okorafor said that the CBN would sustain its strategic management of forex, with a view to reducing the country’s import bills and halting depletion of its foreign reserves.

The bank, last Monday, intervened to the tune of $210 million to cater for requests in the wholesale segment of the market.

Meanwhile, the naira continued its stability today, exchanging at an average of N360/$1 in the BDC segment.

Former Plateau Governor, Dariye, Jailed 14 Years For Criminal Breach Of Trust

Greenbarge Reporters

June 12, 2018

Former Governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye, has been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for what the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Gudu, Abuja described as criminal breach of trust.

The former governor, now a Senator representing Plateau State West Senatorial area, is to spend two-years in prison for criminal misappropriation and 14 years for criminal breach of trust.

The Judge, Justice Adebukola Banjoko, who sentenced him said that all charges are to run concurrently without any option of fine.

Dariye was found guilty of 15 of the 23-count bordering on criminal breach of trust, punishable under sections 315 and 309 of the Penal Code Act, respectively.

He was also found guilty of dishonesty and diversion of funds meant for ecological needs of Plateau State.

The defence counsel, Paul Erokor (SAN), pleaded for mercy on behalf of his client, but counsel to the ‎Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), opposed the plea and asked the court to impose the maximum sentence.

Buhari And His Vice; ‘Abiola’ And His Vice In Aso Rock

Greenbarge Reporters

June 12, 2018

President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in a group photo with the first son of late Chief MKO Abiola, winner of the June 12 1993 Presidential election, Kola Abiola and Vice President to late Abiola, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe shortly after the President conferred national honours on Abiola and Kingibe today, Tuesday, June 12, 2018. [myad]

June 12: How Babangida’s Govt Tormented Gani Fawehinmi, Wife, Son Narrate

Greenbarge Reporters

June 12, 2018

Alhaja Ganiyat and Mohammed, wife and son respectively, of the late human rights lawyer and activist, Gani Fawehinmi, have narrated how the government of the former military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) tormented their bread winner.

According to Alhaja Ganiyat; “every time the security will come, turn our house upside down, even his office was broken into. They took away many files during IBB regime and they were not returned till date.”

This is even as Mohammed said that his father “went through hell and high waters to make sure that June 12 was actualized.”

The wife and son spoke to news men at the venue of the national honour of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), conferred on late Gani Fawehinmi among others, by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, today, Tuesday.

Alhaja Ganiyat Fawehinmi said: “I was a bit disturbed. So I just thanked God that I am alive to witness today and I know that my husband will turn in the grave for this June 12 that is being actualized because he really fought and died for it.

“I believe God has a purpose for it. I believe that it is how God wants it because you can’t run a race ahead of God. So, God has a purpose of actualizing it today which is exactly 25 years after Abiola wanted to be the President.”

Mohammed, Fawehinmi’s eldest son, expressed confidence that his father would have accepted the award because June 12 has been actualized recognizing him as President-elect.

“I feel very elated. I feel very proud. My family feels very honored that all the suffering was not in vain and that the Nigerian people have a chance of better governance in future.”

“I know he would have taken it (the award). I know my father more than anybody. There are two reasons why he would taken it. One, because June 12 was actualized, two, because MKO Abiola was recognized as President elect.

“And you can see from the suggestion at the Senate that they are going to eventually declare the election result and he is going to be given all his benefits after 25 years which he has lost. So, for that reason that is victory for him.

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