The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCO) has taken over Sea Petroleum Oil & Gas Ltd and other assets belonging to Senator Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi over a debt of about N20 billion.
AMCON said the takeover followed an injunction granted by Justice M.S. Hassan of the Federal High Court, Lagos, against the Sea Petroleum Oil & Gas Ltd.
In a statement by its Head, Corporate Communications, Jude Nwauzor, today, Friday AMCO said that Senator Oduah-Ogiemwonyi had been having a running battle with AMCON over her “inability to settle her huge debt of nearly N20bn.”
The statement said that AMCON purchased the Eligible Bank Assets of Sea Petroleum & Gas from Union Bank Plc sometime in 2012 and that in spite of overtures and genuine efforts made by AMCON to reach an amicable settlement, the senator and her co-promoters had been uncooperative.
“Having exhausted all avenues of peaceful resolution of the humongous debt, AMCON had no other choice than to refer the matter to court,” the statement said.
It said that the order also affected the senator’s other business interests, for which AMCON had since appointed Moyosore Jubril Onigbanjo (SAN) as receiver over the assets of Oduah-Ogiemwonyi; Sea Petroleum Oil & Gas; Sea Petroleum and Gas FZE as well as Star Tourism and Hotels Ltd.
The statement said that the court also ordered the freezing of the funds of Sea Petroleum & Gas and its affiliated companies and principal promoters, held anywhere by any entity or persons in Nigeria.
It also authorized AMCON and its receiver, Onigbanjo, to take over all assets pledged as collateral for the facility by Sea Petroleum Oil & Gas Ltd.
“In compliance with the order of the court, AMCON through its receiver, Moyosore Jubril Onigbanjo, SAN, today (May 18), simultaneously took possession of the assets of Sea Petroleum & Gas Ltd. and its affiliated companies.
“Justice Hassan specifically, ordered Sea Petroleum Oil & Gas Ltd. and its affiliated companies to hand over the company’s business, which sits on over 9000 square kilometres of land in the fastest developing area of Lagos State along the Lekki-Epe Expressway,” it said.
Other affected assets, according to AMCON, are two tank farms of 500 metric tonnes capacity; a property at Maiyegun Tourism Zone, Lekki Peninsula Scheme 11, Lagos Island and a filling station complex at kilometre 14, Lekki-Epe Expressway, Ikota, Lagos.
The court order also listed a host of other assets across the country, including Plot 2, Block 12C, Babafemi Osapa Crescent Lekki; Block 5, House 4A Mobolaji Johnson Estate, Lekki, and office/filling station at Jakande in Lekki, Lagos, among others.
The Umuahia Diocese, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion has made it clear that its members would have nothing to do with the second term bid of President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 election.
The church, in a communiqué issued at the end of the ninth synod of the Umuahia Diocese held at St. Luke’s Church Amakama Olokoro in Umuahia South Local Government of Abia State, expressed dissatisfaction with the way the President has been handling herdsmen attacks on communities across the country.
The church asked the federal government explain to the world what happened to the traditional ruler of Isiama Afaraukwu, Eze Israel Kanu, his wife Ugoeze Sally, and their son, Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) after soldiers stormed the palace on September 14, 2017.
“The decision of the president to run for a second tenure should be reconsidered, and the synod called on him to resign honourably.”
The communiqué was drafted by a 10-member committee headed by Venerable Alex Ihemekwala and Rev. Nathaniel Ezemandu as secretary.
The synod condemned the “disturbing activities of the rampaging Fulani herdsmen and the inability of the government to rein the militants, adding that “this has led to pillage and destruction of villages and communities as well as dastardly massacre of innocent residents by the marauding Fulani herdsmen.”
It regretted that the federal government has continued to foot drag in taking decisive action against the rampaging herdsmen despite “national outcry against the Fulani herdsmen and calls for the federal government to declare them as terrorists.”
The synod however appreciated the efforts made by the government to negotiate the release of some of the Chibok and Dapchi school girls abducted by the Boko Haram terrorists but frowned on the intermittent resurgence of Boko Haram attacks and abduction of school girls and other residents, after the present administration had told Nigerians that the sect had been technically defeated.
On the general performance of elected political office holders, the synod noted that they have failed to adequately inform the electorate on the position and situation of things in the country at federal, state and local government.
At the local level, the synod commended the Abia State government for the free school meal programme being implemented at the primary schools thereby increasing nutritional intake and combating malnutrition and poor academic performance.
NonethelesS, the synod condemned the non-payment of backlog of salaries owed primary and secondary teachers in the state, and “advised that these backlogs of salaries be paid without further delay.
On Wednesday, May 9, 2018, some ex-leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who joined the coalition that gave birth to the All Progressives Congress (APC), issued a seven-day ultimatum to the leadership of the APC to convene a meeting to address alleged marginalization and unfair treatment of their group in the appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB).
The ultimatum bore a great weight in the context of the group’s referential antecedent that strengthened the basis of the ultimatum. It was a significant punch. To be sure, the defunct new PDP (nPDP), under the superintendence of former national secretary and one-time acting national chair of the PDP, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, that issued the ultimatum, has a remarkable history behind it.
The group broke away from the PDP in 2014 due to some irreconcilable differences. Five governors on the party platform-Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Abdulfatai Ahmed (Kwara), Aliyu Magatakarda Wammako (Sokoto), and Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano)- pulled out with their followers. Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, also left the party. The then incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, followed suit.
The list, which comprised some serving senators-Bukola Saraki, Abdullahi Adamu, Adamu Aliero, Danjuma Goje, et al and some members of the House of Representatives, including Yakubu Dogara, Abdulmumin Jibril, Dakuku Peterside, among others, was quite exhaustive. There was consensus among them. Their single-mindedness and unanimity of purpose gave impetus to their agenda.
The outcome of their voyage and its far-reaching implications for the Nigerian nation-state have become part of the novel historical narrative of the electoral defeat of an incumbent president and the dislodgement of a ruling party that had bestridden the nation’s political landscape for all of 16 years. The defunct nPDP played a major role in the untangling of the once-dreaded behemoth of self-appointed and vaunted demigods, oracles, godfathers, fixers and enforcers.
Allowing the group to egress was PDP’s greatest strategic political blunder that irredeemably damaged its electoral fortune in the presidential election. The defunct nPDP with such human and political capacity should rationally not have been taken for granted. In pursuit of an agenda, it has now been somewhat resurrected and has created a palpable tension in the APC consequent upon the submission of its protest letter to the leadership at the National Secretariat. Baraje, who is curiously a core loyalist of Saraki, led the delegation and addressed the press on the essence of their visit and the theme of their letter.
Significantly, it would appear that the timing of the letter and the ultimatum were choreographed to aggravate the anxiety and rancour in the party arising from the current party congresses. Baraje and his cohorts had, perhaps, calculated that the APC leadership might not have the luxury of time right now to address their grievances and that would provide a good alibi to abandon the party. They did not also consult with the large spectrum of members of the defunct nPDP in the APC to get their buy-in, a move that portrayed their action as being in bad faith.
It was, therefore, not difficult for some of the members who occupy strategic positions in the APC government to see through the chicanery of Baraje and his clique. To deflate the ego of the Baraje group and take the winds of its sail, a counter attack from the circle of members of the defunct nPDP was inevitable. Former governor of Nasarawa state and one-time Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Abdullahi Adamu (representing Nasarawa West in the Senate) stood up to Baraje’s offensive, all gloves off, yes, in bare-knuckle punches. The exertion was to vehemently defend Buhari and the APC.
In company with Chief Theodore Georgewill and Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, Adamu stormed the APC national secretariat on the eve of the expiration of the ultimatum by the Baraje-led group to submit a letter absolving the president and the party of culpability of any sort in the alleged marginalization in the appointments of party members into government offices. Adamu, who is currently chairman of the Committee on Agriculture in the Senate, is the North Central Coordinator of Buhari’s presidential campaign. He enjoys a cornucopia of respect in the zone as well as massive goodwill in the entire north.
One of the respected voices in the north, Adamu has, with good grace, thrown his hat in the ring in defence of Buhari’s re-election enterprise. An acclaimed political wizard in Nasarawa state, he is not bothered at all about his re-election to the Senate as he has strategically locked in the Nasarawa West senatorial seat. Very popular and loved by his people, the second term senator continues to deploy his legerdemain for electoral support. Having secured the home base, he is clear-headed about the bigger picture of the unfolding presidential clash.
His first strategic battle was against the reordered sequence of 2019 general elections. Acting in pari materiawith national and APC’s interests, he and some colleagues to whom he provides a sharply-focused leadership were able to dilate the Senate plan to override the president’s veto of the Electoral Act 2010 (Amendment Bill 2018) in furtherance of their sympathetic support for the president’s electoral cause. The issue of overriding Buhari’s veto of the Bill is dead.
Indeed, the group’s arguments verge on the president’s achievements and not on primordial sentiments. It holds the view that Buhari has done well enough to deserve a consolidating second term in office. For instance, the group is enamoured by the national and international awareness and support that the president has attracted to the anti-corruption crusade, the degrading of the Boko Haram insurgents and the positive outlook that the economy is gaining with the shoring up of the nation’s foreign reserve from about $21 billion under the immediate past administration to about $47.8 billion presently.
There is also the argument by the Adamu group that the president has the constitutional right to seek a second term. With the full force of approbation of the Buhari effects in government in the last three years, Adamu has committed to enthusiastically take on real and perceived oppositions to Buhari’s re-election enterprise. Having assumed the leadership of the pro-Buhari group in the Senate, he has also stepped in the ring to engage Baraje and his band of external aggressors in the defunct nPDP.
Declaring the group as defunct and, therefore, non-existent, Adamu had cautioned that should the APC leadership call the Baraje-led group for a meeting, the leadership should also invite his group to the meeting as critical stakeholders. Interestingly, in the articulation of his group’s counter positions, Adamu admitted that members of the defunct nPDP to which he and his colleagues on the counter protest belonged, had been taken care of by Buhari and the APC in appointments.
To validate the claim, he had listed the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara, five governors, about six senators occupying the chairmanship of juicy committees and a minister (Rotimi Amaechi) as some of the strategic positions held by members of the defunct nPDP. Adamu’s audacious leadership of the counter offensive has substantially defused tension and knocked the bottom off the presumption that Baraje’s threat enjoyed the kind of unanimity that propelled the group’s breakaway from the PDP in 2014.
Having successfully led a counter action to puncture yet another conspiracy against Buhari and the APC, Adamu and his followers are, no doubt, riding on the crest of approbation in the familiar and sympathetic conclaves of Buhari’s support groups in the legislature, the executive and the APC, whose diktats, as a governing party, will eventually be the lot of the opposition elements within if they do not jump ship.
Senate President Bikola Saraki and Kwara State Governor, Ahmaed Abdulfatai
The suspected killers paraded by the Kwara State Police Command in Ilorin last week have said that they were being funded by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Kwara State governor, Abdulfattah Ahmed saying that the two of the men ordered them to kill many Kwara State indigenes in Nigeria and abroad.
The suspects, who have been transferred to Abuja for further investigation were said to have made the confessions in their statements to the Police in which they said that they have been on the payroll of the Kwara State Government and Mandate Office of Senator Saraki.
The leader of the killer squad who is said to be the son of Salihu Woru the self-appointed spokesman of Magajis in Ilorin Emirate, admitted that he and other suspects were being paid from the Office of the Senate President, saying that Senate Saraki gave them Toyota Corolla cars a few months ago as a way of securing the loyalty ahead of the 2019 elections.
On the list of people marked for execution before the election, they said, are two men, both named Mustapha; Kayode Oyin, Yinka Aluko, Baba Rex, and one Ogunlowo.
It was gathered that bank statements retrieved from the suspects indicated that they received money on a monthly basis from Senator Saraki and the Kwara State government, and that most of them have healthy bank balances running into millions of naira.
Following their confession, the Senate President and Kwara state governor attempted to pressure the Kwara State Police Commissioner, Mr. Aminu Pai Saleh, using Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Jimoh Mumini, who is said to be very corrupt.
Aminu Pai Saleh was said to have been offered money, which he rejected. Mr. Mumini has been critical of the transfer of the suspects to Abuja, saying that the state government has successfully prosecuted cultists and killers at the State High Court under the penal code.
The Senate President and Kwara state governor may soon be invited by the Police. Both men have accused the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, of planning to frame them for murder.
“I know Ekiti fairly well and Ekiti people are well known for their forthrightness, candour and integrity. All of these values seem to have been lost and we must restore these values and return Ekiti to its pride of place in the comity of states.”
These were the words of President Muhammadu Buhari when he hosted the All Progressives Congress (APC) South West caucus at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to President Buhari, the forthrightness and integrity that characterized the people of Ekiti State has been lost under Governor Ayodele Fayose, adding that it is time for the APC to restore those lost values and return the state to its pride of place in the comity of states.
“As we approach the 2019 elections, the return of Ekiti into the fold of progressive states is important as the election of July 2014 is going to be a key pointer to subsequent elections.
“On my part, let me reassure you that you can count on my support. But charity must begin at home. I urge Ekiti leaders and the leaders from the South-West to take this assignment seriously so that the APC can laugh last in the July election. It is only then that we will all be beneficiaries of victory.
“Let us return to the field to work hard and deliver victory to our great party.”
Ex Director of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Michael Pompeo has called on the Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari on phone to assure him that his country will increase the mutual beneficial relationship with Nigeria in many ways.
Michael Pompeo, who is now the U.S Secretary of State told Buhari on phone late yesterday, Thursday that with him in the Department of State, relations between the U.S and Nigeria would get even better.
He reiterated the desire of the U.S to continue to pursue, side by side with Nigeria, matters of common interest on the African continent, including the fight against terrorism and corruption, trade and dev
President Buhari first congratulated Michael Pompeo on his appointment as Secretary of State even as he expressed satisfaction with the present level of relationship between Nigeria and the US.
The President thanked him for the enormous support the U.S. has extended to the Nigerian security and intelligence services.
Buhari requested the Secretary of State to extend his appreciation to President Donald Trump for the warm reception he was given in the course of his recent visit to the White House.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again pumped the sum of $293 million into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) of the inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market. In a statement today, Friday, the Bank’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor, said that the sum, as in previous interventions, were in favour of interests in the agricultural, airlines, petroleum products, raw materials and machinery sectors. Isaac Okorafor reiterated that the objective of the CBN intervention in the foreign exchange market remained to ensure liquidity in the foreign exchange market and enhance production activities. He stressed that the CBN would continue to ensure liquidity in the interbank sector of the market as well as sustain its interventions in order to drive economic growth and guarantee market stability. Meanwhile, the naira remained stable and exchanged for N361/$1 in the BDC segment of the market today, Friday, May 18.
Former Aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has called on Nigerians not to laugh at the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris over his alleged struggle to read a speech at an event in Kano.
”Our I-G of Pol. needs prayers and we must treat him with compassion. What happened to him whilst reading his infamous “transmission” speech was not ordinary. He is the victim of dark spirits and satanic forces. We must not gloat over it or laugh at him. Instead we must pray for him.”
Fani Kayode said these in series of tweets against the background of the footage trending online in which the police boss was shown as continually repeating ‘transmission’ at the commissioning of the Police Technical Intelligence unit in Kano state. [myad]
Governors of the 36 states of Nigeria have discovered that the sum of N526 billion and 21 billion dollars was under-paid to the federation account by the Nigerian National Petrleum Corporation (NNPC) and other Federal Government revenue generating agencies between 2010 and 2015.
Rising from the monthly National Economic Council (NEC) today, Thursday, the governors said that the affected agencies which included NNPC and 15 others were exposed following the presentation of the report of the technical audit of the agencies to the NEC by KPMG.
Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe, who spoke to news men shortly after the meeting, presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the Council Chamber of the presidential villa, Abuja, said that NEC’s Ad hoc Committee which he chaired with members including governors of Edo, Kaduna, Akwa Ibom, Lagos and the Finance Minister had recommended refund of the amounts under-paid.
According to the governor, NEC has agreed to extend the audit to June 2017.
“One of the resolutions of NEC today is to extend the audit to June 2017. So, the audit will continue for the remaining agencies.
“It is NNPC, NPDC, DPR, Customs, Federal Internal Revenue Services, NPA, Maritime Authority, all the revenue generating agencies and the details of the infringement are contained in the report.
“Because it is voluminous report there are a lot of items that are there.
“The most important decision that was taken is that a sub-committee will be set up which will be an arm of the legal committee of NEC that will look into details of these kinds of infringements and make sure that those issues that are criminal and require prosecution will be handled by office of the Attorney General of the Federation,’’ he added.
He disclosed that the council had resolved to pursue strengthening of the NNPC governance structure to prevent further recurrence of such gross under-remittance by the NNPC and other revenue generating agencies.
In his contribution, Gov. Rauf Aregbesola of Osun said the council commended the courage of the President and Vice President as Chair of Council in ensuring the probe of Federal Government Agencies and completing the audit report.
According to him, this has gone a long way to promote transparency and the anti-corruption efforts of the Buhari administration.
The Minister of Budget and National Planning Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, updated the Council on the just concluded Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) Focus.
He said the ERGP Focus Labs were conducted successfully and the outcomes presented to the public last Tuesday, May 15.
He told council members that the labs identified 164 projects spread across the six geopolitical zones of the country, saying that the outcomes indicated that over 500,000 jobs were likely to be created by 2020.
He announced that more labs would be conducted in due course for other sectors and recommended that states should adopt the same model and commended all stakeholders for making the labs a success.
“The labs process was found to be extremely rewarding exercise and stakeholders who attended benefited,’’ he said.
A statement released by the secretariat of the council indicated that the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun,reported to council that the balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) as at May 14, stood at N1,830, 682, 945.
She also reported that the current balance in the Stabilisation Account as at May 14, stood at N15, 725,456,963, while the current balance in the Natural Resources Development Fund as at May 14, 2018 was N116, 104,644,763. [myad]
The leadership of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) has directed health workers in Lagos, Kano and Yobe States “to tactically relax” the ongoing indefinite strike following the cooperation of the governors of these states.
The directive to relax the strike in Lagos, Kano and Yobe States to accommodate emergency services was as a fall-out of the positive responses from the state governments to the demands made by JOHESU.
Speaking to newsmen yesterday, Thursday night, JOHESU Chairman, Biobelemoye Josiah said: “it is paramount we seize this discourse to specially convey deep appreciation to state governments which have gone ahead to meet the various clamours and terms of settlement in agreements with government. These include Yobe and Lagos States which have now adjusted the CONHESS Scale as demanded.
“We specially commend the Lagos State Government for approving the consultancy cadre for pharmacists in its employment. Just like the Niger State Government did with pharmacists since 2012.
“The JOHESU also expresses gratitude to the Kano State government for ensuring good welfare package for its healthcare workforce in addition to the intervention of Governor Ganduje to ameliorate the ongoing strike action. We urge our members in Lagos, Yobe and Kano to tactically relax the strike to accommodate emergency services in those states as a measure of goodwill.”
The JOHESU boss said that the crux of its clamour has always been restoration of the relativity in the CONHESS and CONMESS scale which was deliberately distorted with active government collaboration in 2014, adding that JOHESU remains “steadfast that in alignment with democratic norms and the rule of law, this desire remains very legitimate.”
He berated the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, demanding that the federal government terminates his appointment as a minister.
“The Federal Ministry of Health as presently led by Prof. Isaac Adewol has constituted itself as a major hindrance to fruitful deliberation as he has never disguised his intention to symbolise the propaganda machine of the NMA through his posturing at all our meetings, which necessitated JOHESU to take a position that the negotiations were structured to fail ab-initio.
“Prof. Isaac Adewole is on record to have insisted that the wage structure in the health sector must reckon with what was obtainable in the 1991 late Prof. Olukoye Ransome – Kuti’s dual salary system (MSS and HSS) which marked the beginning of persistent acrimony until it was corrected through the Harmonised Tertiary.
“The duo of the Ministers of Labour and Health who are both members of the NMA have taken a position that parity must entail a basic salary differential in the emolument of health professionals and their doctor colleagues.
“On May 15, 2018, JOHESU came up with a comprehensive presentation to graphically showcase the realities of the various salary scales in the Health Sector from 1977 till date.
“Even when the reality on ground shows that a fresh doctor presently enters the public service on CONMESS 3 which is the equivalent of GL 12 with a take home monthly package of N313,000,00 per month, the closest in line who are health professionals enter public service on CONHESS 9 which is the equivalent of GL 10 with a package of N161,670.00 with a proposal to have an adjustment that takes him to a total emolument of N190,000.00. The two ministers who are members of NMA have taken positions that these health professionals seek parity with doctors. In mathematical terms this is a significant 61% differential.”
Josiah who was accompanied by JOHESU Secretary, Ekpebor Florence, said that should President Buhari fail to remove Prof. Adewole from office, the minister would remain “a major threat to public health, especially at a time that the dreaded Ebola disease is currently rampaging in some African Countries.
“The Federal Government must energise the deadlocked negotiations between the JOHESU and Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment with genuine conciliators who have national interest. Specifically, a befitting budget to offset the already compromised three options presented by JOHESU to the Federal Government on May 16, 2018 must be made available through interventions facilitated by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.” [myad]
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On Wednesday, May 9, 2018, some ex-leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who joined the coalition that gave birth to the All Progressives Congress (APC), issued a seven-day ultimatum to the leadership of the APC to convene a meeting to address alleged marginalization and unfair treatment of their group in the appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB).
