Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has said that those that looted the nation’s treasury and those that carried the country’s money with Jet to South Africa are the ones angry with the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The governor said that some religious leaders are also angry because avenues to loot money and take to the Churches and Mosques have been blocked by the Buhari’s government.
Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who spoke to news men at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja, today, shortly after Friday Jum’at prayer with President Buhari was responding to the submissions of the Catholic Bishops under the umbrella of Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), in the meeting with the President yesterday, Thursday where the Bishops told the President that Nigerians were angry as a result of alleged bad governance and imbalance in the system.
“Yes, I followed it (the Bishops meting) keenly and one of the key statement there was that Nigerians are angry. Yes, it is very true that Nigerians are angry but the question is who are these categories of Nigerians who are angry?
“The categories of Nigerians that are angry are those who used private jets to cart away Nigeria’s money in dollars out of the country to South Africa. I’m sure you are away that our money is still locked down there; such money if you bring it into the economy, a lot of youths that are unemployed will surely be employed.
“And of course those that have looted the country dry and normally go to the Church and Mosque to pay tithe are no longing doing so, of course we these are the category of people that are angry.
“If you look at it critically, the farmers, those with real jobs are happy because the economy is improving. In no time we have come out of recession, our foreign reserve is increasing, no more bombing in Sambisa, no more bombing in the country, no more bombing in Embab plaza even as close as Abuja, no more bombing in Suleja and all over the country. I think those that are benefiting from these crimes and criminality will be angry and they are Nigerians. So it is important to define the category of people who are angry.
“I want to urge Nigerians to continue to appreciate Mr. President, pray for him so that the good work he has started he will complete it, so that Nigeria will be not of the woods.”
Governor Yahaya Bello said that the recent alteration of election time table by the two chambers of the National Assembly, will help to determine the popularity of the lawmakers, saying that some of the lawmakers at the national assembly rose on the back of the popularity of President Buhari to win election in 2015, but that the adjustment of the time table will help to weed out the “bad” members among them.
Yahaya Bello said: “I so much appreciate this. I think if you observe critically what happened in the last election where Mr. President was elected along with other members of National Assembly.
“Then, we called it Buhari Tsunami, where the good, the bad and the ugly were all put together and elected. It is either going to be in their interest that the Buhari Tsunami will return them or everybody will be on his or her own.
“Let Buhari return and let Nigerians select the good ones out of the bad ones to return to the National Assembly. Whichever order it comes in this upcoming general elections, I can assure you that Mr. President will win landslide and the good ones will return to the National Assembly.”
“They (the lawmakers) have the choice to make and they have made their choice that the good will of Mr. President should not rob on the bad ones. Surely, the good ones on their own account will return to the National Assembly at the appropriate time.”
On his plan to sell some important assets of the state and the criticisms that have trailed the plan, Bello said, “Well, to them you call it important but to us it is not important. It is not important because they are tying down the capital and good money of state that would have been used for other developmental projects.
“You don’t have an important project that is not adding values whatsoever to the lives of the people of Kogi State. And such projects can be converted and used to solve the problems that you are confronted with today. We are in deficit of road infrastructure, schools are in shambles, hospitals and the rest of them.
“So, why keeping an asset that is not yielding anything value all in the name of this is Kogi asset instead of use it for what will benefit the people more and add value to the system.
“You see, this is politics playing but we will not be deterred by some uninformed so called elites that are here in Abuja making noise. Let them come to Kogi State and compare two years of my stewardship with previous administration, then they will know that they are completely off the track. I think the people of Kogi State are with me and appreciate the much we are doing.” [myad]

President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to apply proper measures henceforth on who become judges in the Nigerian court.

He made it clear that those who would be appointed judges are persons recommended by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

A statement today, Friday, by the special adviser to the President on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, quoted Buhari as saying that judges would be those who are fit and proper, and who are not under any disability to function as Judicial Officers.

The statement said that the President’s position is in furtherance of the executive powers vested in him under Section 5 of the 1999 Constitution, which allows him as the appointing authority to exercise same reasonably, taking all relevant factors into consideration.

President Buhari then assured Nigerians that he will issue his approval or otherwise as soon as the process of the background verification is completed. [myad]

An Ikeja Special Offences Court Judge, Justice Mojisola Dada, today, Friday,  threatened to send Professor J. N Mbadugha, the defence counsel to the Chairman of Innoson Motors Nigeria Limited, Mr. Innocent Chukwuma, alias Innoson to prison for what he called disrespectful conduct in the court.

Professor Mbadugha incurred the wrath of the judge when he reportedly shouted: “this proceeding is a clear abuse of court processes. The EFCC is a reckless arbiter.

“My Lord has refused to be bound by the rule of law and doesn’t want to be bound by the doctrine of Stare Decisis; my Lord wants to override the decision of the Supreme Court.”

Justice Dada, in response, said: “Your whole comportment, conduct, countenance smacks of disrespect to the court and rule of law. I will report you to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

“You are insulting the court, this is clear contempt in the face of the court; you will go to prison from here, if you think the court is defenceless and powerless, you’d be surprised.”

Professor Mbadugha, who initially said he was ready to be charged for contempt, later tendered an apology to the court, saying: “I am sorry My Lord, I hope the court gives me a second opportunity.

“I want to urge the court to temper justice with mercy; to err is human, but to forgive is divine.”

The defence counsel profusely apologised to the court saying he withdrawn his earlier statements.

Shortly before the bench warrant for the arrest of the chairman of the Innoson company, the lead prosecuting counsel for the EFCC, A. B. C Ozioko, said that the automobile boss had been evading justice.

”The first and second defendants (Innoson and his company) took the EFCC before the Senate for public hearing and the first defendant who represented his company was physically there.

“The defendants have respect for the National Assembly and no respect for this court.

“My learned friend (Mbadugha) is a lawyer and he wants to demean the integrity of this court.

“Mr Onwukwe, a defence counsel for the first defendant, was here in court on Jan. 17; this is a criminal charge and proceedings cannot hold until the defendant is present.

“The first and second defendant are not here because my learned friend advised them not to come to court.

“I want Your Lordship to compel the first and second defendants to come to court, which is germane for a criminal charge.

“We have gotten across to the third defendant (Charles Chukwuma) and we are ready to change the charge to reflect only the first and second defendant.

“We shall be applying for a bench warrant for the first and second defendant.”

The defendants are being arraigned on a four-count charge of conspiracy to obtain property by false pretenses, obtaining property by false pretenses, stealing and forgery.

According to the charge sheet, the defendants committed the offences between 2009 and July 2011 in Lagos.

The EFCC alleges that defendants with intent to defraud, conspired to obtain by false pretenses containers of motorcycle, spare parts and raw materials property of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) from Mitsui OSK Lines Limited, Apapa, Lagos.

The defendants are alleged to have fraudulently induced staff of Mitsui OSK and Maersk Line to deliver to them via their clearing agents the goods which were imported from China in the name of GTB by falsely pretending that they were authorised by the bank to clear the goods.

The prosecution claim that the defendants, in order to facilitate the fraud, forged a bill of lading numbered 598286020 of Maersk Line Limited and 11007950841 of Mutsui O.S.K Lines by knowingly putting a false GTB stamp and signature of the bank staff.

The alleged forgery was in order that the forged documents be used or acted upon as genuine to the prejudice of any person within Lagos or elsewhere.

The offences, according to the EFCC, are in contravention of Sections 1(1)(b), 1(3), and 8(a) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2016 and Sections 309(9), 388, 465 and 467(1)(j) of the Criminal Code of Lagos State 2003. [myad]

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as told his fellow Christians not to be deceived by people that don’t wish this country well but to pray for the best to come out of the efforts he and President Muhammadu Buhari are putting together to correct all the past mistakes with a view to launching the country into the path of greatness.

“I believe very strongly that there is a reason for my being elected as Vice President, and possibly the first born-again Christian, the first pastor to have been elected as Vice President. “God is not the God of accident. He understands expertly what He wants to do. My role there is to add to the integrity, to do the right thing and make sure that we push our government in the right way.”

Professor Osinbajo spoke today, Friday, at the burial ceremony of Pa Daniel Olajide Adebiyi at Saint Peter’s Anglican Church in Otun-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

Osinbajo said that Nigeria is great and has the resources, adding that if its resources are not stolen and are used properly, it can be the greatest country anywhere in the world.

He assured that he and President Buhari are just ready and set to make the country great by using its resources prudently.

“So what I ask you for is prayers.  This is a golden opportunity for us as Christians. When the two of us agree on anything, the Lord our God will bring it to pass.  Agree with me that our country will be great and our country will be great.”

On allegation by the Bishop of the Diocese of Ekiti, Bishop Isaac Olatunde Olabowale, regarding the Aso Villa chapel, Vice President Osinbajo said that the chapel is being used very well, adding: “I attend services there, I preach there.  All Christians, even non-Christians, I allow them to come into the chapel; that’s the chapel in Aso Villa.”

Responding to the Bishop’s call for prayers and also for action and activity on the part of the government, the Vice President stressed: “let me say to you that, on our part, we want to do everything that is necessary to bring peace everywhere, whether it has to do with herdsmen or not. Just yesterday, I was talking at a security summit hosted by the National Assembly on clashes and security situation generally and we said there that what the Federal Government is doing is to make sure that nobody can take land and give it to anybody.

“In places where there are grazing reserves we want cattle to be kept wherever they are kept, not necessarily wandering about the whole place. It is in the interest of those who own cattle too, that those cattle be kept in ranges or grazing reserves. That is the place where they ought to be kept so that they feed, but those places must also be paid for and government does not intend to take anybody’s land for any purpose at all. 

“Those who are saying that they want to colonize or establish colonies, the government of Nigeria does not intend to establish any colonies. We are not colonizing anywhere or doing any such thing. And I want to say also that what we are trying to do as a government is difficult, and many of you know that it’s not an easy thing. Our country is a very big country, but we are determined to ensure that we do right for the people of this country.

“That is why in agriculture we are doing the very best we can and we are supporting farmers everywhere.  And today rice importation is down by about 90%.  We want to produce our own food in this country so that we can feed ourselves. We want to provide jobs for our young people everywhere. So far we have employed 200,000 graduates under our N-power programme and we want to employ 300,000 more before the middle of this year. We intend to continue to do these things.”

Professor Osinbajo greeted the family of Pa Daniel Olajide Adebiyi, sying that the passing of the Adebiyi is the celebration of the life of an important and distinguished educationist. 

“Our nation needs men and women like Adebiyi.  He devoted his time and existence to serving other people and he did so with integrity and honesty. 

“When we write about and think about him, we think of only greatness and the way that he contributed to the life of others.  And we know that here is a man who set an example of good character, an example of hard work and service to man and to God. This is why we are celebrating his life, that today he is with the Lord Jesus Christ enjoying peace. All we can pray for too is that, soon enough, whenever the Lord calls us we will also be with the Lord Jesus to enjoy peace in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” [myad]

President Muhammadu Buhari has commiserated with the Buratai family over the death of Alhaji Yusuf Buratai, father of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai.

In a statement by the special adviser to the President on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, Buhari said that late Yusuf Buratai was an ex-serviceman and veteran of World War II, whose service to Nigeria will always be appreciated and remembered.

The President noted that Alhaji Buratai’s years of service to the nation epitomized by courage, skill, determination and devotion “has been rightly bequeathed to his son, who is diligently serving the country.

Buhari prayed that Allah will comfort all those who mourn the late patriot and to grant his soul eternal rest. [myad]