The Chief Imam of Chibiri in Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ustaz Mohammed, has asked God to take care of those who are threatening the unity of Nigeria. He said today, Friday, in his sermon at the end of two-Rakah prayer to mark this year’s Eid-el-Kabir: “Allah, you know those who are threatening the unity and peace of this country of ours, we ask of you to find solution to their antics in the best way You deem fit.” The Chief Imam, who prayed for the well-being of the country and for its quick recovery from the economic recession, appealed to Nigerians to love one another as they are all creatures of one God. According to him, respect for leaders is one of the acts of worship, advising the citizens to suppot the leaders with prayers so that they too would be blessed by God. He advised Muslims to continue to pray fervently that devil would not mislead them from the right path God had shown to them, adding that every Muslim should at all times, be in the state of readiness to die and meet his God. [myad]
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has predicted that prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), aka fuel, will crash in the next four to six months as a result of the competition inherent in the price modulation.
The minister, who presented his scorecard on his two years in office in a podcast released to reporters in Abuja, said that with the price of diesel now crashed by 40 percent, it is evident that the petrol prices will also crash
He said: “once Nigerians throw their trading skill in, once competition thrives, the prices will continue to tumble.
” My guess is that you will see the prices tumble in the next four, five to six months. The market will be more stable and definitely the prices will be lower than what we see today.”
Dr. Kachikwu said that in the last 10 years, the three refineries are working simultaneously, although at 50 percent of their capacity.
“We expect to put in investment to put them to 90% capacity,” he said, adding that this is the first that the NNPC group of companies are recording savings which could be used to address the issue of the refineries alongside the Joint Venture Partners.
The minister noted that this is the first time the government is upgrading the depots to extent that of the 19 only three are not functioning at the moment.
He said this is the first time that a government is considering the replacement of the 35 year old pipelines.
It has been one massive problem after the other in order for the sector to stabilize in term of product supply in the country.
Kachikwu however submitted that but “the time has come to take on the problem bullishly and that is what we are trying to do. So, we believe the ire will be money for infrastructural development in the downstream sector.
“We believe that a lot of the companies will jump up now and be able to sell at the right prices and not the pump down by the problem of price control and will be able to grow their businesses. We believe that most of them efficient ones will drive prices southward rather than northward.
“And we believe that almost 200,000 jobs will be created in this sector and over 400,000 jobs will be saved which would have been lost if we had continued on the path we were in.”
He revealed that on assumption of office two years ago, he inherited a debt of N600billion owed to marketers of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) which the federal government settled.
He recalled that they seized importing the products prior to the payment of their debt.[myad]
The Presidency has described the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu and his followers as touts, hooligans and hoodlums mainly from Onitsha market.
It said: “truth is that most of Little Kanu’s followers are touts, hooligans, and hoodlums. They also grew up in the dingy Onitsha and Aba markets, breathing recycled oxygen and with NO formal education at all. They do not have the ability to process information or respond civilly. So they resort to name calling and abuses. They deserve our sympathies.”
In a statement, the personal assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on social media, Lauretta Onochie said that now that Little Kanu has broken the three main conditions of his bail, and gone ahead to establish his own police, army and secret service, it’s time to pull him back to where he belongs.
She recalled that Kanu was unmeritoriously granted bail by a Nigerian Court but that he has abused and broken the three conditions that are within his personal ability to honour.’
“I must say that I’m personally impressed by the clamour by Nigerians to have Kenny Okwu Kanu, alias “Nnamdi” Kanu, cut to size. It’s therefore, not true that we are a lawless people, as the Ohaneze Ndigbo would have the world believe.
“The laws of our land have paths they follow. If anyone goes contrary to the provisions of our laws, they get pulled in by the laws they have flouted.
“The government of President Muhammadu Buhari will follow due process in all that it does. Kanu was unmeritoriously granted bail by a Nigerian Court. But he has abused and broken the three conditions that are within his personal ability to honour.
“The Conditions that were set for his bail are as follows:-
— Kanu must not hold rallies.
— He must not grant interviews.
— He must not be in a crowd of more than 10 people.
— He must provide three sureties in the sum of N100 million each.
— One of the sureties must be a senior highly placed person of Igbo extraction such as a senator.
— The second surety must be a highly respected Jewish leader since Mr. Kanu said his religion is Judaism
— The third surety must be a highly respected person who owns landed property and is resident in Abuja
— The IPOB leader must deposit his Nigerian passport
— He must also deposit his British passport with the court
— He must provide the court with reports on the progress of his health and treatment on a monthly basis.
— The order for him to deposit his Nigerian and British passports also mean he cannot travel out of the country (If this is considered, it is the thirteenth condition).
“But now that Little Kanu has broken the 3 main conditions of his bail, and gone ahead to establish his own police, army and secret service, it’s time to pull him back to where he belongs.
“The application for The revocation of that unmerited bail is in process. The court will hear that application after recess.
“The court granted him that unmerited favour. The court, the same court, is also expected to hear the evidence of his unlawful behaviours and decide whether or not to annul that grace that was granted him.
“The truth is that most of Little Kanu’s followers are touts, hooligans, and hoodlums. They also grew up in the dingy Onitsha and Aba markets, breathing recycled oxygen and with NO formal education at all. They do not have the ability to process information or respond civilly. So they resort to name calling and abuses. They deserve our sympathies.
“Let’s be patient. The court will look into the evidence of his spitting on the face of the Judge who granted him the bail and I’m hopeful that the right thing will be done. Which is, Lock him up and dump the keys in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.”[myad]
Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has asked the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu and his group to forget about their ambition for another country out of Nigeria, stressing that it is too late for Nigeria to break up now.
Fayose said that what is needed now is dialogue by all sections of the country to resolve various agitations, adding that the Wednesday meeting of Governors of the South-East states with Kanu had provided a veritable platform, which all Igbos must key into otherwise they would remain guinea pig in Nigeria.
The governor also called on the Federal Government to allow political solutions to agitations by Nigerians as against the use of brute force even as he asked for full and total restructuring of Nigeria through dialogue and negotiation because it is too late for Nigeria to disintegrate.
A statement in Ado Ekiti today, Thursday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, quoted governor Fayose as expressing happiness that Southeast governors have realized that they cannot ignore their own in times like these as agitation is normal and must not be ignored, “although the approach should be handled with caution.”
Governor Fayose blamed the actions and utterances of President Muhammadu Buhari for the agitations going on in the country, adding: the father figure of this country is President Buhari and if his language does not represent unity, there will be agitations like we are witnessing now.
“A father figure rallies even the bad boys in his house. His utterances and actions when he became President were against the unity of this country.
“How can a president say that he will only attend to the needs of those who gave him 97 per cent vote and neglect others who didn’t vote for him?
“For Nigeria to move forward and in unity; there must be no sectionalism, there must be no oppression and there must be justice and equity.”
A youth group, Youths For Change, an umbrella group of Nigerian youths, has called described the Nigeria’s former Aviation minister, Femi Fani Kayode as a bunch of disgrace to the nation’s youth, from the way he speaks carelessly about the leadership of the country.
The youth group said that Fani Kayode’s ranting and increasingly unsubstantiated allegations are becoming an embarrassment, particularly to the youths who had seen him as a role model.
The group’s National Leader, Seun Bobade, in a statement in Lagos today, Thursday, called on the Nigerian media community to stop giving undue attention to Fani-Kayode, adding that the media should not allow itself to be used as a tool to run down anybody or community.
Bobade said the media should have asked the former Minister to substantiate the allegation he made in his latest tweet, accusing the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) of threatening to shut down a TV station if it aired his interview.
”The media must hold Mr. Fani-Kayode to a higher standard. They should not just regurgitate his baseless and malicious allegations without asking him to substantiate such. After all, it’s trite-law that he who alleges must prove.
”The former Minister should have been asked to provide incontrovertible evidence of the allegation he made, including to identify the television station by name, as well as naming the particular fellow at the TV station who was threatened over his interview.
”We say this because previous allegations by Mr. Fani-Kayode in the past have proved to be a mere hoax. For example, on July 13th 2017, he told the Punch newspaper that the President was on life support, that he could not even recognize anyone and that he would never come back to the country as President. One would have expected that when the President eventually returned healthy, Mr. Fani-Kayode would be challenged. Instead, the media has indulged him by publishing another unsubstantiated allegation from him, which he must have designed to cover his earlier statement,” the group said.
The youth group added that it was inconceivable that Alhaji Mohammed, Mr. Adesina and the NBC will be threatening any station over an interview with an opposition politician, because this will run counter to the Buhari Administration’s stated commitment to freedom of expression.
The group advised the Minister of Information and Culture as well as the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity not to lend any credence to Mr. Fani-Kayode by responding to his claim which, it said, amounts to someone’s imagination running wild.
”On June 4th 2017, we had a reason to issue a statement warning Mr. Fani-Kayode to stop his penchant for resorting to the use of base and abusive language in public discourse, saying such behaviour has no place in the Nigeria of our dreams.
”Obviously, Mr. Fani-Kayode, a husband, a father of grown up children and a supposedly-responsible political leader, has not changed his ways, going by the incredibly disparaging adjectives he employed against the government in his latest tweets. We have therefore taken it upon ourselves to take on him every time he exhibits such disgraceful and unedifying traits. Enough is enough!
”We the youths want a country in which government and opposition figures engage in public discourse in an atmosphere devoid of personal insults, acrimony and sheer hatred. Mr. Fani-Kayode and his like are not showing us the path to that country of our dreams.”
President Muhammadu Buhari has asked Nigerians to rise against the odds that have dodged the country, keep the prejudices aside, strengthen the bonds of friendship to build a united nation. In his message to Nigerians to mark the Eid-el Kabir, President Buhari said: “we must learn to see ourselves as brothers and sisters from the same heritage, who must come to terms with the African proverb that ‘‘a family tie is like a tree, it can bend but it cannot break. “I sincerely believe that our nation can make rapid progress on all fronts if we re-enact the exemplary virtues, typified by Prophet (Abraham) Ibrahim, through his sacrifice, patience, steadfastness, generosity and obedience to Allah’s command and constituted authority.” The President thanked all Nigerians who prayed for his recovery and have continued to extend their goodwill and support after his return to the country. “Indeed, your fervent and sincere prayers, which cut across religion, political and ethnic divides, has energised me to re-dedicate myself and this administration to the task of building a great Nigeria.” President Buhari, who congratulated Nigerian Muslims now in Saudi Arabia to participate in the rites of the Hajj, assured that his government, which has made the security, economic well-being and prosperity of all Nigerians its priority, will not rest on its oars until it sees the Nigeria of its dream. [myad]
“It was a matter of concern that those who earned money directly from Government, which is both traceable and verifiable, still failed to pay the correct taxes thereon.”
This is the mood in which the minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun spoke today, Wednesday as her ministry and the office of accountant general of the federation get set to probe some government contractors over false declaration of their income,
Information reaching us showed that a sampling exercise conducted by the Ministry of Finance, found that less than 20% of contractors reviewed accurately stated the income received from the Federal Government in their tax returns, whilst many made no declaration at all.
The result of the sampling showed that some Tax Clearance certificates which were presented at the point of contract award were found to have little bearing on the true value of business conducted by the contractors.
A statement from the ministry of finance said that, in conjunction with Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, it is now compiling detailed records of all payments exceeding N100 million made in the last seven years, including details of the beneficiary bank accounts and other details.
The ministry therefore gives all the agencies 30 days to return the information on payments made, and that accounting officers should certify the accuracy of the data supplied.
“Deliberate omission or manipulation of data by accounting officers will attract sanction.
“The initiative is part of the construction of a central data base of financial information being developed for use in tax compliance. The database project dubbed ‘Project Light House’ is aimed at building comprehensive profiles of tax payers using a wide range of available data sources, including BVN, foreign exchange allocations, land registry records, and information obtained from foreign governments. The data will be used to cross check information provided to the tax authorities.” [myad]
About two million Muslims from all parts of the world will converge on Arafat tomorrow, Thursday, to climax the performance of this year’s pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
No fewer than 80,000 Nigerian Muslims are in the country for the hajj rites, which began today, Wednesday, with mass movement to Minnah.
The hajj performance will peak on Friday when the pilgrims and Muslims all over the world are expected to observe Eid-Kabir Celebration during which time they would slaughter rams and other recommended animals.
About 65,000 pilgrims from Nigeria went to the Holy land through their various State Pilgrims Welfare Boards while 16,200 others went through independent private hajj tour operators.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Barrister Abdullah Muhammad Mukhtar has asked all stakeholders at the Pre-Arafat stakeholders conference, at Al-Raqiyyah Hall, Ring Road, in Mecca, to buckle up as the hajj rites proper have commenced.
He called on them to ensure a hitch free exercise, adding: “NAHCON would not relent in its efforts to ensure that the pilgrims got the best possible services during the entire exercise.
“NAHCON has resolved to improve on whatever successes recorded and look for ways to correct mistakes observed so far.
“The changes the Commission made to ensure that pilgrims got value for their money have come to stay. WE wont be detered by threats, arm twisting, ill motivated criticism and real or imaginary hurdles would from her goals.
“We will nevertheless welcome constructive criticisms and genuine advises that would add value to the Commission goals.” [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari was given a heroic welcome today, Wednesday, by his kins men and women as he arrived at his country home in Daura, Katsina State.
The President, who was full of life, abandoned the motorcade and trekked the distance through the street from the helipad as an overwhelming crowd surged to welcome him.
The President, who was received at the helipad by the Emir of Daura, Alhaji Faruk Umar Faruk, was almost wrestled to the ground by over-joyous crowd who had already gathered around the helipad, snaking all the way to his house.
An elated crowd cheered, with a chorus: “baba ya da wo, baba oyoyo,” meaning “father is back, welcome home.”
President Buhari was earlier received at the airport in Katsina by the Governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari and the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir Usman, before he was airlifted with a chopper to Daura.
The President will be spending time with his family during the Eid-el-Kabir which comes up on Friday and spread to Monday. [myad]
South East Governors have technically knocked off the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu by asking him to leave them to handle all the grievances that had led to his agitating for a Biafran Republic.
In a communiqué read by the governor of Ebonyi state, David Umahi at the end of the meeting today, Wednesday, the governors promised that series of such meetings would be held subsequently to thrash out issues that have been agitating the minds of Kanu and his group.
The communiqué asked Kanu to stay further action and to call his members to order, even as the governors also asked other Igbo organizations with similar agenda to suspend it.
The governors who attended the meeting, held in Enugu, are Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu state; David Umahi of Ebonyi state and the deputy governor Anambra state, Nkem Okeke, representing Governor Willie Obiano.
Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia state were absent and were not represented.
Also in attendance were Professor Ben Nwabueze, and founder of the Igbo Youth Movement, Evangelist Elliot Uko.
Other issues which were tackled by the meeting which was held behind closed doors, were the IPOB’s call for a boycott of the November 18 governorship election in Anambra State on November 18, and the group’s recent establishment of a ‘Biafra Secret Service’ among others. [myad]
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The Chief Imam of Chibiri in Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ustaz Mohammed, has asked God to take care of those who are threatening the unity of Nigeria.
The Presidency has described the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu and his followers as touts, hooligans and hoodlums mainly from Onitsha market.
Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has asked the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu and his group to forget about their ambition for another country out of Nigeria, stressing that it is too late for Nigeria to break up now.
A youth group, Youths For Change, an umbrella group of Nigerian youths, has called described the Nigeria’s former Aviation minister, Femi Fani Kayode as a bunch of disgrace to the nation’s youth, from the way he speaks carelessly about the leadership of the country.
