A man described as fake pastor, James Ezekiel, has been arrested by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in the Port Harcourt’s Zonal Office for defrauding an unsuspecting victim the sum of N1, 330, 000.00.
Ezekiel, who is a purported to be a “Presiding Pastor of One Touch Power Ministry,” Agudama, Epie, Bayelsa State, allegedly claimed to have won a contract for the roofing of a church cathedral belonging to the Salvation Ministries in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He reportedly put the contract sum as N1,8,000,000,000.00 and showed a contract award letter to his victim and asked him to collaborate with him as one of the “financiers” of the contract, promising the victim mouth- watering interests on his investment.
Troubles started when the victim demanded a repayment of his money from Ezekiel with the interests.
A statement by Head of media and publicity of EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren today, Thursday, said that investigations showed that Ezekiel delayed making payments to his victim by deceiving him that he had been paid the sum of N800,000,000.00 as mobilization fees for the contract but could not access the funds because his company’s account had been frozen by the EFCC.
The spokesman said that Ezekile contrived a fake EFCC’s e-mail message notifying him of the freezing of the account, where upon, the victim sensed foul play and alerted the EFCC.
He said that further investigations showed that the Salvation Ministries did not award any contract to Ezekiel and no transfer of N800,000,000.00 was made into his company’s account. Uwujaren said that the e-mail address which Ezekiel ascribed to the EFCC does not belong to the Commission.
The suspect allegedly initiated the scam to fraudulently obtain money from the petitioner and other unsuspecting members of the public.
The statement said that the suspect is already cooling his feet in the custody of the EFCC and would be charged to court soon.
President Muhammadu Buhari, today, Thursday, gave legal authority to the young Nigerians to contest future elections at all levels with the signing into law of Not Too Young To Run Bill, but asked them to postpone their political ambition after 2019 general elections.
Speaking at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa shortly after appending his signature to the bill, the President said: “But, please, can I ask you to postpone your campaigns till after the 2019 elections!”
According to Buhari, the coordinators of the Not Too Young To Run movement have now established a formidable legacy, “which is that, in our maturing democracy, if you really want to change something in Nigeria, and if you can organize yourselves and work hard towards it, you can achieve it. The outcome of such efforts is this remarkable feat.
“These efforts have resulted in the heroic task of enshrining in law, a reduction of the minimum ages for elective office in Nigeria.
“Eligible age for aspirants for members of the State Houses of Assembly will be reduced from 30 to 25 years;
“Eligible age for aspirants for members of the Federal House of Representatives will be reduced from 30 to 25 years; and
“Eligible age for aspirants for Office of the President, will be lowered from 40 to 35 years.”
President Buhari regretted however that the age limits for Senators and Governors was not reduced, as originally proposed by the sponsors of this Bill, saying that this is an issue that may need to be addressed going forward.
He said however that the focus and contribution of the promoters of the Bill have now successfully increased the quality and maturity of Nigerian democracy and expanded the playing field for youth participation in politics.
“You, the young people of Nigeria, are now set to leave your mark on the political space, just as you have done over the decades in entrepreneurship, sports, art, media entertainment, technology, and several other fields.
“You are undoubtedly Nigeria’s most important resource – not oil, not agriculture, not solid minerals – but you and all of us. Your energy, intelligence and talent are what will drive and develop Nigeria, long after we are all gone.
“This is an opportunity for me to affirm that this Administration will continue to do everything in its power to make Nigeria work for you.
“You may all know that the Bill I just assented now becomes an Act of the National Assembly.
“Thus, it may be tempting for you to think of this as the end of the journey. However, it is only the beginning; there is still a lot of work ahead, towards ensuring that young people take full advantage of the opportunities provided not only by this constitutional amendment but also through Nigeria’s boundless prospects.
“You should inculcate the spirit of self-help. Those who complete their training should not just sit down and wait for government or private sector to employ them. You should be innovative and turn your hands to any legitimate work that will enable you to sustain yourself.
“You may have noticed already that every one of you represents one of our 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory. This is because today is about preparing for the bright future of our country.
“I am confident each one of you will transform Nigeria in your own way, whether through media, agricultural enterprise, economists, engineers, or as lawmakers in your States or at Federal levels, or as State Governors, and even someday, as President. Why not?”
President Buhari expressed pride about what the young Nigerians have achieved even as he asked them to work to make Nigeria a greater country for the future generations of Nigerians.
And in your repulsive character of appropriating what belongs to others to yourself, you are preaching about targets, the Zero Hunger goal would reach by 2025 in Nigeria with the participating states.
Therefore, a mindset like this prefers not to see or much more acknowledge the laudable initiatives of the Buhari Presidency in achieving food security and self-sufficiency such as the Anchor Growers Programme for rice production and the various agricultural loans to Nigerian farmers and the revitalization of hitherto moribund fertilizer plants across the country.
These steps have placed Nigeria on the map of countries in the world earning foreign exchange from exportation of agric produce.
Your Excellency,
Chief Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo,
Former President of Nigeria,
Obasanjo Farms,
Otta, Ogun State.
Your Excellency, Sir,
Re: THE WAY OUT: A CLARION CALL FOR COALITION FOR NIGERIA MOVEMENT
I am bemused to again read a public letter/special press statement from you addressed to President Muhammedu Buhari GCFR, titled “The Way Out: A Clarion Call For Coalition For Nigeria Movement.”
I recall that in 2013, you wrote a similar letter to former President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, which you captioned, “Before It Is Too Late.”
In my considered and carefully drafted response to that letter to former President Jonathan, I faulted the contents of your epistle variously and returned the verdict of guilt and condemnation you irreverently, dishonestly and selfishly handed down on the administration of Dr Goodluck Jonathan back to your doorstep.
As an erstwhile President of Nigeria, I was riled and never concealed my anger against your grandstanding, passion and obsession with open letters to serving leaders, instead of a silent advice on presumed wrong steps as required of your status.
In that letter, you explained that stepping out publicly was because President Jonathan had ignored previous letters you discreetly mailed to him, which caused the public outburst.
In spite of the unconvincing excuse, I proceeded to advice that a former President genuinely interested in the peace, unity and progress of his country does not toe such path, which diminishes his self-esteem, dignity and character.
I erroneously thought you would harken to my counsel.
But today, I am proved wrong, as you have again trampled on decency and decorous behavior by publicly attempting to ridicule, malign and assault the seat of power with a repeat letter to President Buhari.
In truthfulness, would you again claim President Buhari ignored your secret/private letters to him which has necessitated the public interrogation of issues of governance and leadership under the Buhari Presidency?
The answer is certainly no!
And this posturing has finally erased the tiniest modicum of respect and trust in you from Nigerians.
In the current instance too, you have reeled out a torrent of subsisting problems and perceived deficiencies of the Buhari Presidency very hypocritically and in utmost contempt for the office and personality of President Buhari.
It is all in veiled pursuit of your secret agenda for the absolute ruination and destruction of Nigeria, a foundation faultily laid by you between 1999 and 2007, when you served as President of the country.
Each time you embark on your voyage of self-destruction, you endlessly adumbrate on pervading unresolved national problems, you created and nurtured to fester.
The issues of poverty, insecurity, poor economic management as trumpeted in your letter have existed with Nigeria and aggravated under your reign as President.
Precisely, poverty, hunger and disease are cardinal components of the Millennium Development Goals, (MDGs), which you claim to be spearheading efforts in the guise of “Zero Hunger” initiative; but gave no attention to it when you wielded power at Aso Rock.
This is the pretence and deception that have become your trademark and uprooted or alienated you from Nigerians.
And in your repulsive character of appropriating what belongs to others to yourself, you are preaching about targets, the Zero Hunger goal would reach by 2025 in Nigeria with the participating states.
Therefore, a mindset like this prefers not to see or much more acknowledge the laudable initiatives of the Buhari Presidency in achieving food security and self-sufficiency such as the Anchor Growers Programme for rice production and the various agricultural loans to Nigerian farmers and the revitalization of hitherto moribund fertilizer plants across the country.
These steps have placed Nigeria on the map of countries in the world earning foreign exchange from exportation of agric produce.
No one is surprised that you disparaged President Buhari’s efforts in curbing the monster of corruption and insurgency, which flourished under your administration and became untameable, with the reserved commendation by declaring that “it is not yet uhuru!”
You display the lack of capacity to wholeheartedly appreciate the efforts of other leaders.
Rather you preferred to flaunt the African spread of your Presidential Library, which Nigerians have severally and collectively accused you of corruptly funding it.
It is quite funny the failure to acknowledge that the EFCC under Buhari has unprecedentedly recovered looted public funds in assets and cash, trillions of naira never before known to the history of Nigeria’s anti-graft war.
Today, you frequently accuse your former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as very corrupt, but could recover and publish any kobo you recovered from him back to national treasury.
The foundation for the dubious sale of national public assets like NITEL, PHCN etc was laid by you.
The seeds of Boko Haram insurgency was sown under your administration in Borno and exploded, soon after you were forced to relinquish power after the failure of the infamous third term bid.
The subsequent leaders you imposed on Nigeria could not handle the problem, until President Buhari came on board.
As clever and astute as you claim in leadership, you had no solution to the puzzle of militancy in the Niger Delta or the communal clashes that plagued most communities in Nigeria.
President Buhari is leading Nigeria at its most tumultuous and tormenting era, with virtually all regions of the country embroiled in violent crises simultaneously.
But he has significantly reduced the tempo of these conflicts and enthroned peace in most conflict areas.
The herders/farmers conflict is unfortunate, but the President has not relented either.
Apart from drafting security to the affected areas, Buhari has inaugurated an Economic Team headed by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo to work out a permanent solution to the conflict based on its economic undertone.
The claim to team work and collaborative efforts is spurious and porous.
There is no such leadership content in you, exhibited throughout your years of leadership of Nigeria.
Indeed, your close political associates often accuse you of resenting advice and it has earned you the epaulet of Mr.Know All.
It is unconscionable to attempt to reinvent your character and perception of leadership different from what is associated with you simply because you want to impress yourself with tirades against Mr. President.
Furthermore, it belies the truth the postulation that the decision to denounce your party, the PDP to join the change train in 2015 was for altruistic reasons.
The disagreement with former President Jonathan stemmed from his failure to seek your counsel and protect your strategic interests resulted in this decision and the shameful and un-statesmanly manner you reacted.
This is a fact in public domain and it is faulty to claim otherwise.
At every point, you are economical with the truth, by serving Nigerians with a menu of lies.
Therefore, when you publicly declared that you have withdrawn yourself from partisan politics, it bemused many Nigerians.
What else could be the colour and face of politics, when in your letter to Buhari, it expressed concern about the endorsement of President Buhari by some State Governors for a second term?
What else is political, when you offer the unsolicited advice to President Buhari not to contest the presidency again in 2019?
How else is politics played, when you incite public anger against a sitting President, by conjuring all manner of half-truths or outright falsehood against his administration?
No former President of Nigeria who knows the poor state of the economy President Buhari inherited in May 2015 would not appreciate the efforts and measures adopted in revamping the economy.
Nigeria was in recession, had an empty treasury, while public debts piled to frightening levels, most especially in salaries of public workers and local contractual debts, fraudulent oil subsidy claims and so forth.
Meanwhile, crude oil price, the major national revenue source had dropped to as low as $28 per barrel.
In spite of the precarious situation and paucity of national resources, President Buhari navigated his way through the tough terrain, offsetting public debts, diversifying the economy, funding public expenditure and executing capital projects across the country in amounts never before expended on funding capital projects.
He has been able to raise the emptied Nigeria’s foreign reserves to over $40 billion in two years and the Nigerian Stock Market value has risen to an all- time high of over N15 trillion.
When ordinary, Nigerians expect an immediate impact of an economy which has just freed itself from recession, it’s understandable.
But when someone like Obasanjo makes the same assumption and claim mismanagement of the economy, it is outright blackmail, and mischievous.
Rightly, like you asked yourself the question, “what does Obasanjo want again?”
But the answer you offered is also steeped in lies because Nigerians are not convinced that you are genuinely after “the best for Nigeria and Nigerians.”
There is a masked political interest in your outing and as reflected in this open letter, which you revealed yourself as movement for the “Coalition for Nigeria”, (CN) for a strange redemption mission only defined in your senses.
It is this smart way of launching an alternative platform that you have condemned unreservedly the ruling APC and the opposition PDP.
Thereafter, you proceeded to paint a picture of gloom and dark clouds in Nigeria reminiscent of the 1999 experience, which you could not make better, but shamelessly sermonized its baseless rebirth in the current dispensation.
Chief Obasanjo, you must realize that there is absence of any solid legacy from you to remind any Nigerian of your status as a leader who once ruled Nigeria.
So, enough of this bashing of every Nigerian leader.
During your time, you performed abysmally, but Nigerians did not ask you to either resign nor not to re-contest.
Contrary to your misguided belief, Nigerians are impressed with the ruling APC and the Buhari Presidency for what it has recorded so far.
Nigerians know President Buhari is capable of offering more, if he continuous in office to 2023 with the support of Nigerians.
Former President Obasanjo, you can keep your advice, but President Buhari is sure to coast to victory in 2019 to engender more development for Nigerians.
Nigerians should all be alert to avert your distractions or the “Obasanjo syndrome” as you have unleashed in the polity to disrupt harmony and peaceful co-existence in the country.
I thank you for your audience and may God bless Nigeria.
Minister of Special Duties in the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, Barrister Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, has thrown the hat in the ring, declaring his intention to contest the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general elections.
Kabiru Tanimu, a close confidant of ex President Jonathan, spoke to news men at his campaign office in Abuja today, Wednesday.
He said that his decision to seek the highest office in the land was informed by his desire to avail the nation his wealth of experience garnered over the years.
“We feel that we have what it takes to unify Nigerians. We need a winning team that can provide level playing ground and opportunities irrespective of where you come from.”
He said that he had met with Jonathan and other leaders of the PDP who he said had given him their blessings. The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) revealed that he had also met with other aspirants in PDP and they had agreed to support whoever picks the party’s ticket in the end.
“I went to sit down with every one of them. We have spoken and we’ve understood one another. We have a serious national problem that Nigeria has come to see PDP as saviour of this country. “If therefore, Nigerians have said that PDP is the only vehicle that will rescue them from this situation, then we the gladiators must be able to subject our interest to the larger interest of Nigerians.
“Anybody who gets this ticket, we have the understanding that all of us will join hands and support him.”
He said that given the prominent role he played in the PDP administration, he was one of the first former ministers to be examined and insisted he was not found wanting.
The aspirant has set up a campaign committee headed by two-time governor of Adamawa State, Boni Haruna as its Director General while the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Dr. Steve Oruh is Deputy Director General (South).
Other members include retired Colonel Habibu Shuaibu, Dr. Emeka Nwachukwu, Imade Ize-Iyamu, among others.
Veteran broadcast journalist, Shola Atere, is the spokesman of the campaign organization.
President Muhammadu Buhari hosted the Nigerian Super Eagles at the State House this morning, ahead of their departure for #Russia2018.
President Muhammadu Buhari has given a presidential order on Super Eagles to go and conquer the world in Russia later this year.
The President, who hosted the players and their handlers today at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, as they prepared to depart for the FIFA 2018 World cup Finals said: ““this is our time, we look up to you to make us proud.”
He asked them to bear in mind that they are not just going for a tournament, saying that with each game, they should remember that they are carrying the passions, emotions and feelings of over 180 million people.
“Play fair and clean, but demonstrate the gallant spirit which Nigerians are known for.”
Buhari acknowledged that nothing unites Nigerians more than football and nothing will gladden the people of Nigeria than for the players to acquit themselves honourably by winning in Russia.
“You are the youngest team in the tournament; which means you are likely the most inexperienced team, a fact that will not be lost on your opponents. But it is also something you can use to your advantage.
“You have the full support and the blessings of all Nigerians, who will look up to you for as long as the tournament lasts.”
The President commended the Nigerian Football federation for drawing up the right programme that is helping to refine the team into the power horse it is meant to be even as he asked all Nigerians to join him in saying to the team “best of luck!”
The National Industrial Court in Abuja is believed to have intervened in the face-off between the federal government and the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) by taken over the negotiations via its Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Centre.
Information reaching us indicated that the court in its ruling, ordered the union and government to nominate their representatives in the ADR process within 24 hours.
“The agreement reached at the ADR centre will be registered in the court as judgment binding on both parties. JOHESU is to initiate the process of allowing normalcy to return to hospitals within three days.”
The ruling of the court was made available today, Wednesday, to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) by the National Publicity Secretary of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), Dr Casmir Ifeanyi, on Wednesday in Abuja.
The court had earlier on May 17, ordered the aggrieved members of JOHESU to suspend the protracted strike and resume duties across the nation within 24 hours.
The President of the court, Justice Babatunde Adejumo, gave the order after listening to the submissions of Okere Nnamdi, in an ex-parte motion filed by a non-governmental organisation.
The NGO, Incorporated Trustees of Kingdom Human Rights Foundation International, in the motion prayed the court to direct the workers to resume work and go back to negotiation table.
In his ruling, Adejumo ordered the Ministers of Health and Labour, among other respondents, to immediately set up a committee to address issues raised by labour.
The judge ordered that the parties should arrive at an acceptable and amicable solution in the interest of Nigerians who are bearing the brunt of the industrial action.
NAN recalls that the National Chairman of JOHESU, Josiah Biobelemoye, on May 28 in a statement, assured that the union would soon resolve the strike sequel to the intervention of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.
JOHESU embarked on the strike on April 18, to press home its demands for improved healthcare facilities, upward adjustment of CONHESS salary scale, and employment of additional health professionals, among others.
Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the Federal Capital Territory in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Guru, has regretted that former governor of Taraba State, a Clergyman too, Jolly Nyame breached the trust which the people who elected him reposed in him even as the court sentenced him to 28 years imprisonment for misappropriating N250 million which he approved purportedly for the purchase of stationery for the state.
“From the totality of facts before the court, Nyame approved N250 million for purchase of stationery, but is found to have no intention to fulfill the purpose,” the trial judge held.
Nyame will spend 28 years in prison out of which 14 years is for criminal breach of trust, two years for criminal misappropriation, seven years for gratification and five years for obtaining by dishonesty.
Nyame, whose trial began on July 13, 2007 was charged with 41 counts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for criminal misappropriation, diversion of public funds, and breach of public trust.
In a ruling which lasted more than four hours today, Wednesday, Justice Banjoko found Nyame guilty of counts 1, 2, 6, 8,10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, and 36 – charges bordering on criminal breach of public trust; counts 3, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25 – charges bordering on misappropriation of public funds; counts 4 and 5 for charges bordering on gratification. He was, however discharged of counts 22, 24, 26, 28, 32, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41.
In the course of the trial, the prosecution called 14 witnesses and presented documentary evidence, which among other things revealed that the N250 million was shared and never utilised for the purpose for which it was approved. A total of N180 million was diverted to the bank account of Salman Global Ventures Limited, which provided no services for the state.
Nyame had, during the trial, denied knowledge of Salman Global Ventures Limited. But Justice Banjoko noted: “immediately the fund was released, his verbal instruction was given, that N180 million be paid to Salman Global Ventures”. The judge further added that: “the audacity of the defendant to divert N180 million from the N250 to the company, shows that he had more than a casual interest and so can’t hide behind a screen”. “There was no evidence to show that Salman Global Ventures bidded for any contracts,” the trial judge said, noting that within five weeks, Salman Global Ventures received over N300 million from the state coffers.
Nyame was also found guilty of “misappropriation and misapplication of N165 million with dishonest intention”, and the misappropriation of N24,300,000 purportedly approved for “purchase of grains.”
Justice Banjoko held that Nyame was “guilty of criminal breach of trust beyond reasonable doubt”, while also finding him guilty of the offence of gratification as stated in count 4 of the charge. The EFCC had accused him of accepting a gratification of N80 million from Abubakar Suleiman of Alusab International (Nig) Ltd through Salman Global Ventures “as a reward for the award of contract by the Taraba State Government to USAB International (Nig) Ltd”, an offence punishable under Section 115 of the Penal Code Act 1990.
In the allocution of the defence, which was made by Olalekan Ojo, he urged the court to consider that Nyame was a first-time offender, and a family man who had dependents to cater for.
“He served the people of Taraba State for eight years, and through him the lot of the people in the state were bettered,” he argued, and urged the court to “take into consideration the selfless service of the convict, who has no criminal record of any sort and is still less than 60”.
In its counter-argument, prosecution counsel, O.A. Atolagbe, urged the court to take into cognizance the aggravating effect the action and inaction of Nyame had on the people of the state.
Citing Section 416 2 (a) (d) (e) and (f) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, he urged the court to put into consideration the aggravating factors on the state. He also pointed the attention of the court to the FCT Courts Practice Direction 2016, stressing that Nyame, played a leadership role in the commission of the offence.
“He abused his position of trust and caused severe harm to the society and economy of the state, and so the effect of the offence must be put into consideration,” he argued, adding that, “claim of selfless service is far from the truth”.
After listening to the arguments of both counsel, Justice Banjoko, gave her sentencing and noted that despite claim of being a first-time offender, a family man, and his service, “I am morally outraged with the facts of this case”.
“There’s no moral justification for the level of outright theft, and the Court must therefore, impose a statement, hopefully as a deterrent to other public officers, who may be similarly inclined.”
The Aliko Dangote Foundation has donated 150 fully kitted operational cars worth several hundreds of Naira to the Nigeria Police Force.
Speaking during the formal handover of the cars in Abuja today, Wednesday, Chairman of the Foundation, Alhaji Aliko Dangote stressed that the gesture was as a result of his belief that security is essential to economic development.”
Alhaji Dangote said that the vehicles are given to strengthen the Nigeria Police, adding: “we are formally handing over a total number of 150 GAC saloon cars to the Nigeria Police Force in order to help boost their operational efficiency. I am told that today marks the single biggest number of operational vehicles ever donated to the law enforcement agency by a private organisation.
“Considering the challenges government faces in meeting the entire needs of the populace for necessities like health, education and security, various Public Private Partnerships (PPP) initiatives have been developed. These are partnerships where the private sector collaborates with the public sector to provide services.”
Dangote said that the Foundation has been active in the four areas of Health, Education, Economic Empowerment and Disaster relief, and has been expending about N10 billion annually.
He called on other corporate organizations to rise up to the challenge of helping the security agencies in the country, saying that his Foundation made a N50 million donation to the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, and built the Police Intelligence Hostel Complex in Kwara State, all of which are part of the collaborations by the Foundation.
“Today, we are deepening our intervention in security with the donation of these 150 fully kitted operational vehicles to the Police Force. These vehicles will support the Nigeria Police Force in surveillance, crime prevention and promote law and order.”
In his remark, the Vice-President Yemi Oshinbajo lauded the Dangote Foundation for the rare gesture and expressed the Federal Government’s appreciation to Alhaji Dangote for his untiring support to the government, adding that the donation of cars patrol cars to the Nigerian Police Force will help the Force at combating crimes across the country.
Oshibajo said Dangote is a rare entrepreneur who has done so much to grow the economy of Nigeria. He said the Government needs people like Aliko to join hands with it to grow the economy and also provide jobs to the Youth.
There have been a lot of talks on private-public partnership, but as we can see Alhaji Dangote is walking the talk.
Government’s role, according to him, is to provide the enabling environment while the private sector should take advantage of the opportunities that abounds in the country to grow and develop the economy.
“The donation of 150 cars to the Nigerian Police Force is laudable and we thank Aliko Dangote Foundation for this rare gesture, that is characteristic of the person of Aliko Dangote. He has shown over the years to be an entrepreneur with a difference, a man tha gives so much to the poor”
The Inspector-General of Police, Idris Ibrahim expressed the appreciation of the Police Force to the Aliko Dangote Foundation, with a promise that the cars will be well utilized for the purpose for which they were donated.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has, again, sustained its supply in the inter-bank Foreign Exchange market with the sum of $210 million.
The Bank offered the sum of $100 million to authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market while interests in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment received the sum of $55 million.
Also, the sum of $55 million was apportioned to invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA).
The CBN’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor, who spoke to news men said that the Bank’s continued intervention in forex market is to ensure the availability of foreign exchange to genuine customers.
He called on the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to continue to comply with the Bank’s directive to sell forex over the counter to customers with legitimate needs so as to sustain the confidence in the foreign exchange market.
It will be recalled that the CBN had recently ordered banks not to deny genuine travelers Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) and Business Travel Allowance (BTA) as there are enough dollar supplies to meet the demand.
This was followed by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele leading Bank Examiners to conduct on-the-spot assessment of forex sales in the DMBs on Monday, May 28, 2018.
Meanwhile, the Naira exchanged at an average of N363/$1 in the BDC segment of the market today, Wednesday.
Senator Dino Melaye, representing Kogi in the red chamber of the National Assembly, has asked the Senate President to relocate him from seat he shared with fellow members on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Melaye, who resumed sitting from a long spell with security and legal entanglement, insists that he is no longer comfortable sitting in the same aisle with the APC Senators.
He accused the police of trying to kill him twice through a chemical substance and injection hence he asked Senate President, Bukola Saraki to permit him to relocate from his assigned seat and henceforth sit on the aisle of the opposition PDP, close to former Senate President, Senator David Mark.
The embattled Senator, who wore a neck collar Plaster of Paris (POP) to the plenary, had earlier thanked the members of the PDP and their support and help during his ordeal.
However, Senate Majority Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan was quick to reject that a seat be given to Dino on the aisle of the opposition, insisting that a seat be given to him on the aisle occupied by ruling APC members.
Senate Chief Whip, Senator Olusola Adeyeye rejected the request to transfer Senator Dino to the opposition’s aisle noting that it would be setting a bad precedence.
Senate President Bukola Saraki, amidst laughter by colleagues, said that Senator Melaye could only be temporarily allowed to seat among the opposition for now while efforts are made to make his assigned seat comfortable.
Saraki said that Melaye is only permitted a temporary change of seat to ensure that the lawmaker is comfortable before he recovers from his trauma.
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A man described as fake pastor, James Ezekiel, has been arrested by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in the Port Harcourt’s Zonal Office for defrauding an unsuspecting victim the sum of N1, 330, 000.00.
And in your repulsive character of appropriating what belongs to others to yourself, you are preaching about targets, the Zero Hunger goal would reach by 2025 in Nigeria with the participating states.
The National Industrial Court in Abuja is believed to have intervened in the face-off between the federal government and the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) by taken over the negotiations via its Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Centre.
The Aliko Dangote Foundation has donated 150 fully kitted operational cars worth several hundreds of Naira to the Nigeria Police Force.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has, again, sustained its supply in the inter-bank Foreign Exchange market with the sum of $210 million.
