Fani-Kayode’s Trial Adjourned To July

Fani-Kayode in court today

The trial of Femi Fani-Kayode was today adjourned to 1^st July, 2015 by the trial judge, Justice Rita Ofili  Ajumogobia of the federal High Court sitting in Lagos State,.

Justice Ajumogobia said the reason for the adjournment was due to the absence of Mr. Festus Keyamo who is the lead prosecution council. She said “"It is proper for the entire parties to be around for the judgment, I feel this is the right thing to do... it is better to have everyone present for the judgment”

Mr. Keyamo was represented in the court by Festus AFiyen. Mr. Afiyen requested that the court proceed judgment in the absence of his principal. He said:“My lord, I regret to inform the court that Festus Keyamo who is the lead counsel in this matter, would not be able to make it, due to his handling of another important case where he is the principal witness. We regret this development, my lord”.

But the defence council, Mr.  I.A Adedipe requested that the matter be stood down till Mr. Keyamo arrives. He said: “My lord, I spoke with my learned colleague, Keyamo, just now and he told me that if the court can stand the matter down till 1p.m today, he would be around. My lord, we pray that the matter will be stood down, so that the judgment can be heard as scheduled

It can be recalled that Fani- Kayode is facing trial on a two- count charge bordering on money laundering. His trial began in 2008 before Justice Ramat Mohammed of the same court. He was accused by the EFCC of laundering about N100 million while he was the Minister of Culture and Tourism and later, the Minister of Aviation.  On November 17, 2014, the succeeding judge, Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia dismissed 38 of the 40 counts leveled against him. 

The judgment will be delivered on July 1, 2015.

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Super Eagles to get 'new faces'-Keshi

Nigerian fans watched as the Super Eagles laboured to a 2-0 win over Chad last Saturday. Four new faces were introduced to the team by coach Stephen Keshi. He reiterated that this process will continue as he seeks to achieve a balance in his squad.

Even if you've had a team for over five or six years, you will still have one or two additions or subtractions to make in your team because we’re always looking for that balance,” he said.“Against Chad I had several new faces and they are players I have been studying for some time. I know their quality and if we had time, long enough to work together it would have been different from what we saw against Chad.

“We have to do what we have to do to find a very solid team and I have confidence in this group of players because there is a lot of potential and we have to keep giving them more opportunities,” Keshi said.

However, football administrator, Ahmed Garra Gombe has stated that Keshi was heading for another failure, if he continued with what Gombe termed as his uncoordinated approach to the Eagles job.

“With the way Keshi is going, I am afraid we are headed for another failure.

“Look at the last match that was played. What was the pattern? Did it look like a team that has a mission?”

- Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/afcon-2017-expect-more-new-faces-in-my-team-keshi/#sthash.tDtVGpZR.dpuf

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'I'll Buy Arsenal', Dangote Insists

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote insists that soon, he will have ‘enough time and enough resources’ to buy Arsenal football club, whatever the price.

Dangote, 58, is Africa’s richest man having amassed a fortune in the region of $18.4 billion (£12.2 billion).

He first spoke of his interest in purchasing the Gunners last month when he admitted that ‘one day’ he hoped to buy the club, adding that he ‘already knew’ his strategy to take them forward.

That day may arrive sooner than first expected, with Dangote telling the BBC Tuesday that completion of his proposed oil refinery in Nigeria will provide the funds necessary to launch a takeover of the club.

“When we get this refinery on track, I will have enough time and enough resources to pay what they are asking for,” he told BBC Hausa.

“There were a couple of us who were rushing to buy, and we thought with the prices then, the people who were interested in selling were trying to go for a kill,” Dangote continued.

“We backtracked, because we were very busy doing other things, especially our industrialisation.”

“They are doing well, but they need another strategic direction,” he added. “They need more direction than the current situation, where they just develop players and sell them.”

Stan Kroenke is Arsenal’s majority shareholder, with the American owning 66.64% of the club’s parent company, Arsenal Holdings plc.

- Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/i-am-ready-to-buy-arsenal-at-whatever-price-dangote/#sthash.0tVWrprW.dpuf

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Xenophobia follows Buhari's visit to South Africa

Shortly after the Nigerian's president paid a visit to Nigerians in  South Africa, xenophobic reports which was recently put to calm resurged.

  

The President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, Mr Ikechukwu Anyene, told newsmen in Pretoria, South Africa, that the Northern Cape Province Chapter Chairman of the Union reported the incident to its National Secretariat.

‘’ The National Secretariat of Nigeria Union has received report of xenophobic attacks from Mr Kennedy Osagie, the Northern Cape Province chapter chairman of the union. ‘’ The report indicated that South Africans attacked Nigerians. “ Two cars belonging to Nigerians have been reportedly burnt and they have been going from house to house looting and destroying their property,’’ he said.

Anyene, who said that there were 20 Nigerians living in the affected community, added that none had been reported dead in the incident. ‘’ Six Nigerians have taken refuge with their families in nearby SpringBok community and they do not know the whereabouts of the other Nigerians,’’ he said. He said that the Union had reported the incident to the Nigerian Consulate in South Africa.

Nigeria’s Consul General in South Africa, Amb. Uche Ajulu-Okeke, confirmed the incident, saying the mission had commenced investigations. ‘’ The Nigerian Consulate in South Africa has received report of new xenophobic attacks in Northern Cape Province of South Africa. ‘’ The mission has commenced investigation into the incident and will ensure that Nigerians are safe in South Africa,’’ she said

- Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/xenophobia-nigeria-union-reports-new-attacks-in-south-africa-2/#sthash.cy63PEtc.6ctBhL0Z.dpuf

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Nigerian FG sold oil blocs worth $1.85b and remitted $100m

As President Muhammadu Buhari hosts the head of the leading global corruption watchdog Clare Short this week, top on the agenda will be a probe of how Nigeria allegedly remitted $100 million for the sale of oil blocks on which the country was paid $1.85b, it was learnt on Monday.

Short, who is the Chair of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) arrived in the country on Monday on a three-day working visit. She is expected to hold talks with President Buhari on the implementation of the independent reports of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) The Meeting which is also expected to provide the International Chair the platform to brief the President on the importance of integrating the EITI principles in his economic policy agenda as obtainable in resource rich countries of the developed world, is also seen as a global endorsement of President Buhari’s commitment to good governance, transparency and accountability Buhari had listed the implementation of the findings and recommendations of NEITI Audit Reports as a priority within his administration’s 100 days in office.  

The executive secretary of NEITI, Zainab Ahmed, had said last week that over $7.5 billion between 1999-2011 still needed to be recovered from oil and gas companies in Nigeria. “The amount represents clear cases of underpayments, under-assessments of taxes, royalties, rents…which have not been adequately addressed in the past,” she said. NEITI has suggested selling the state oil company’s stakes in producing joint ventures to fix its budget woes, a call echoed by many in the new administration, as well as scrapping the expensive and graft-riddled fuel subsidy. 

The government relies on oil sales for the bulk of its revenues but there has been little oversight of how these are handled. Central bank governor Lamido Sanusi was sacked under former president Goodluck Jonathan after he said that up to $20 billion in oil revenues between 2012 and 2013 had not been remitted to the government by the state oil company NNPC. Buhari said he would re-examine this allegation. Ahmed also said NEITI audits showed that some $11.6 billion of dividends between 1999 and 2012 from the government’s investment in the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) company were not remitted by the state oil company. “NNPC was unable to provide any evidence that the funds were remitted to the federation as required by law,” she said. NNPC said the issue of reconciling accounts had been raised at a previous Inter-Ministerial Task Team and would be discussed at one this week. 

The team was designed to implement NEITI’s findings. NEITI has also said the sale of eight oilfields to NNPC’s upstream arm in 2010-2011 should be reviewed, as they were sold at $1.85 billion of which only $100 million was remitted to the federation account in February 2014. Before his sacking, Sanusi also criticized some of these deals for being awarded non-competitively to companies that supplied no services. 

The International Chair is at the head of a delegation of a special implementation Committee set up by the World body EITI, drawn from 50 member-countries.  The EITI boss is also expected to visit the NEITI Secretariat and observe a Meeting of the Inter Ministerial Task Team (IMTT) set up by the Federal Government to implement the findings and recommendations contained in the NEITI Audit Reports. Nigeria joined the EITI in 2003, began implementation of its principles and established NEITI in 2004. Nigeria also became the first among the 50 member countries of EITI to support implementation with a law, the NEITI Act of 2007.

- Source http://247nigerianewsupdate.co/fg-sold-oil-bloc-for-1-85b-and-remitted-100m/#sthash.KmkDsU4C.dpuf

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Funny Idi Amin's Address to Queen Elizabeth II

"My majesty Mr. Queen Sir, horrible ministers and members of parliament, invented Guests, ladies under gentlemen. I hereby thank you completely…..Mr. Queen, sir; and also what he has done for me and my fellow Uganda who come with me.

We have really eaten very much. And we are fed up completely:And also very thanks to you keenly open up from all windows: so that those plenty climates can come into lunch. But before I go back to my country with a plane from the Entebbe airport of London I wish to invitation you Mr. Queen, to become home to Uganda so that we can also revenge on you .

You will eat a full cow:and also feel up your stomach and walk with difficult because of full stomach completely. Even when you want to rest at night; I will make sure that you sleep on top of me in the top up stairs of my mansion completely so that you can enjoy all the gravity of fresh air.

“But now am sorry because I have to tell you that I have made a shortcall on you only. But next time I shall make a long call on you to last the whole moon completely. Thank you very much to allow me to undress you completely before these extinguished ladies undergentlemen sir.

Lastly but not list, I ask the band to play our international anthem of the republic of Uganda and also the British international anthem..Your majesty sir, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and from the bottoms of all the people of Uganda .

With this few words I thank you Sir.

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...BUT, AGE IS 'A GAME OF NUMBER'

President Buhari of Nigeria

There had not been so much ecstasy in Nigeria as it was in March when, after a much-kicked effort, General Buhari was elected as the president of Nigeria. It was a time when Nigerians all over the globe, for the first time in 15 years, thumbed-up for INEC, for at least giving Nigerian electorates the taste of the soup they paid for.

But, Nigeria has never had the global attention it had days before the election. The sights and sounds of global leaders were, during the pre-election days, channelled to Nigeria. They called for peace. They called for change.

One thing was that GMB might not have won, but GEJ lost. GEJ didn’t lose in the poll but in the six-year race as president of Nigeria; he lost Nigerians’ support, not really their votes. His failure is unconnected to the bothersome shenanigans which his government hosted and aided with impunity. 

GEJ had lost the election even before the polling date; for the cash which was smoked-off to the tune of 3 Trillion Naira (for bribery and tout-renting during the election) was a mere frivolity which meant nothing to the voter.

One man argued that Nigerians needed change. So, even if I was the one who picked the Presidential form in the opposition party, I would have been a good alternative to GEJ. The truth: change is constant!

Nigerians needed change at a time when life was totally unbearable, regardless of the party or person.  The wrinkled skins and rumbled lips were our least concern. We cared less about the grandpa-like accents and the unclear tonality which we heard during the campaign. We needed the deeply-rooted wisdom which sits in the reverberating sounds of change, which lurks within those baritones voices of GMB.

Our hopes are high, and our confidence strongly reposed in GMB, not because of his age; were it for age, we would have at best gone for a younger candidate, not even GEJ.

We wanted change. We wanted a fulfilled democrat, learned, informed and with the widest scope of thought and exposure on state’s affairs. We know that GMB knows Nigeria more than GEJ. He has got some cool clues about the country owing to his statesmanship roles in the country.

Change’s hotspot is on with about 150 million people tethered to it. Age is nothing to us but... ‘a game of number’

Emmanuel Shebbs

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UNIFIED AFRICAN CURRENCY AND PASSPORT; NIGERIANS REACT

Home currencies of African countries may soon be lowered for a unified currency of the African Union. This is the major proposal which its news are hoisting in the global media. 

But of the development, Nigerians have diverse opinions.

While some of them told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that it was a welcome development, others cautioned against its implementation.

Mr Mubo Oladigun, a financial expert, said the proposal though a welcome development, could face lots of challenges in its implementation.

He said one such challenges was the differences in political systems and culture among African countries.

He, therefore, advised African leaders to jettison the idea of single currency and concentrate on delivering on good governance.

Mr Babatunde Johnson, a banker, said that African leaders should not be in a hurry to copy every policy adopted by Europe.

He cautioned that the project worked in Europe did not imply that it would succeed in Africa given the socio-cultural make up of the two continents.

Johnson said African leaders should rather concern themselves with the best way to miximise the human and material potential on the continent to ensure its development.

Mrs Felicia Ikechukwu said the proposal was a welcome development, adding that “it will further unite us as Africans.”

It would be recalled that Mr Anthony Maruping, AU Commissioner for Economic Affairs on June 12 in Johannesburg said African leaders were contemplating adopting a common currency and passport.

“The single currency, passport is aimed at connecting Africa through world class infrastructure with a concerted push to finance and implement major projects”, he was quoted as saying

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F.G TERMINATES MILITANTS' CONTRACTS

Asari Dokubo

Nigerian militants may be loosing the huge fortunes they once enjoyed during the previous governments. This is because Federal Government has terminated the pipeline surveillance and protection contract recently awarded to some ethnic militia by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Vanguard new Nigeria reports that one of the beneficiaries of the pipeline job, the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), which confirmed this in a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Sylvester Eweka, said the Federal Government had also drafted armed military personnel to take over the security of the facilities from the operatives.

The take-over, according Eweka, had already led to a violent clash between operatives of the militia group and the police at the oil pipeline close to Sagamu, Ogun State, during which three of its personnel had been declared missing. According to the statement, those missing were Babatunde Adeyemi, Roland Ajayi and Orungbeja Dele-Osagie.

The men went missing after an armed military task-force attempted to forcefully eject them from their area of operation at the pipeline area. The statement said: “On Sunday, a lorry-load of task force members invaded the Sagamu area, claiming it had orders to forcefully reclaim control of the pipeline area.

“Irked by this unceremonious move, the private security operatives said they had no signal from their management to vacate the site.

“However, after the ensuing fracas, three men could not be accounted for by their team leaders. “Many of the security operatives fled the scene, amidst shooting by the task-force.

“The three men were part of the 4,000 private security operatives employed by New Age Global Business representing the OPC in the contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to provide security against criminals engaged in pipeline vandalism and petroleum products stealing.

“At the weekend, NNPC abruptly sent an SMS message terminating the pipeline security contract with effect from June 15, 2015.”

According to Vanguard, the Publicity Secretary, who said the OPC security outfits involved in the contract were being owed three months salary, further said: “We also demand that the NNPC immediately takes responsibility for the damages caused the group and ensure swift payment of all arrears.”

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CULTISTS NABBED IN IMO DURING INITIATION

Not less than 25 cultists have been arrested by the Nigeria Police Force in Imo state. Reports had it that they were arrested during a conference initiation exercise which took place in a high bush in Imo State.

Middle-aged boys arrested by the police

Nigeriacamara reports that residents who saw the scene sent quick signals to the police who arrived the venue and picked them.

CL Media is not aware if any prosecution process has been commenced by the police. But, Police spokesperson in Imo State by name Andrew Enwerem told Nigeriacamara that "“These ‘cultists’ belong to the Black Axe Fraternity and they were arrested while holding their national conference in the forest", he concluded.

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