$27Billion 'Missing From Excess Crude Account'

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR1y_2sWU4Xe05cCubv2bqqhD6QpYR1m-78fZFYp5ooX6HLMcnjZ2KRxHeTFnhmGvj7rRUu7q_aEvvUXphLaw_VYiY8SkpDifjqnkjC_pxLBJq782k_EH4iqYMeo4yAMhKaJmTnkSFEOA/s1600/Adams-Oshiomhole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR1y_2sWU4Xe05cCubv2bqqhD6QpYR1m-78fZFYp5ooX6HLMcnjZ2KRxHeTFnhmGvj7rRUu7q_aEvvUXphLaw_VYiY8SkpDifjqnkjC_pxLBJq782k_EH4iqYMeo4yAMhKaJmTnkSFEOA/s1600/Adams-Oshiomhole.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>Adams Oshiomhole, Governor of Edo State, has alleged that “barely $3 billion is in the Excess Crude Account (ECA), which ordinarily should have “over $30 billion”. </b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Oshiomhole, who was speaking when traditional rulers from Edo South senatorial district, paid him a visit, said Nigeria has been losing 700,000 barrels of oil everyday for the past 12 years to crude oil theft, describing the act is currently worse than it was during the era of the militancy in the Niger Delta. He lamented that the lack of access to the crude account funds by state governments was hindering developments in different parts of the country. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “From the last time we had a meeting, the handouts they distributed show that sometime for a period of two weeks, we were losing as much as 700,000 barrels a day and that has been on for the past 12 years,” he said. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “I am not able to understand why, suddenly, Nigeria cannot protect its territorial waters because the boundaries have not changed and the people are still the same and at the peak of the so-called militancy, we were still exporting about 2 million barrels a day. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “Then how can we explain that after we have resolved the issue of militancy in the Niger Delta, we have rehabilitated the ex-militants and even awarded contracts to them, that we are losing as much crude oil as that to oil thieves and to the best of my knowledge, there is no major known person who has been prosecuted and convicted for oil theft in a way that reflects the magnitude of what is allegedly stolen. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “What this means is that our budgets have not performed over the past three years whereas the budgets have been based on an average of between $77 to $78 and $79 a barrel. The average price of Nigeria’s sweet crude has been around $108 per barrel. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “That gives a surplus of over $30. Ideally, we ought to be saving $36 per barrel and 2.3 million barrel a day over the past three years and if you look at these numbers you will find that what we have in our excess crude oil account should be over $30 billion but as we speak, we have barely $3 billion in our excess crude account.” </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Lamenting that the federal government had not shared money from the excess crude account with state governments for about 18 months, Oshiomhole claimed that the development had hindered the establishment of beneficial projects in different states. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> He claimed that the account had almost become empty, accusing the federal government of mismanaging the country’s resources. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “Over the past 18 months, we have not shared the excess crude account and yet, the account is empty,” he said. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “Sometimes, we are told that they have taken money from it to fund subsidies, including subsidy on kerosene, but your Royal Highnesses, there is nowhere in your various domains where kerosene is sold for ₦50. So in the name of subsidy, large sums of money are being stolen. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “Things are tough now around the country because the federal government mismanaged our national resources and what is being stolen, nobody agrees it is being stolen. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “What is arguable is, who is responsible for this stealing? When the federal government and the president talk about oil theft and the amount that is allegedly stolen is huge such that whereas we have the capacity to produce about 2.4 million barrels a day, what accrues into the federal government account is less than 1.8 million barrels a day. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “Now, oil price has dropped to $60 and because we have not saved, the naira is undergoing devaluation. Already as low as ₦180 per dollar and I believe by February when the elections are over, nobody is going to want to hold the naira. Wherever the election goes, I expect that the naira will hit over ₦200 per dollar. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “The inflationary consequence of that is prices of everything will go up and part of the vicious cycle of the devalued naira in the manner that is being done is that the price of petroleum products imported in dollars will go up in naira and government will be asking people who are already poor to pay more money for petroleum products.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <a href="http://www.thecable.ng/least-27bn-missing-excess-crude-account"><b>TheCable</b></a></div>

$27Billion 'Missing From Excess Crude Account'

Adams Oshiomhole, Governor of Edo State, has alleged that “barely $3 billion is in the Excess Crude Account (ECA), which ordinarily sho...

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Watch And Pray, Watch And Prey - By Wole Soyinka

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP0ZPW_ZlUMoOi8bvhiOwBfkzYdG9LgUjc2d41LVWyjVah36G-F6NMf3cMxCrF4t68rMrykctcw5dRpdWtMhfvVn7NbOH43oyQo74W8I8GECtdTannxb4A8u-awGGt_Qr9AgtftqqARYU/s1600/Wole_Soyinka_press.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP0ZPW_ZlUMoOi8bvhiOwBfkzYdG9LgUjc2d41LVWyjVah36G-F6NMf3cMxCrF4t68rMrykctcw5dRpdWtMhfvVn7NbOH43oyQo74W8I8GECtdTannxb4A8u-awGGt_Qr9AgtftqqARYU/s1600/Wole_Soyinka_press.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>I had fully attuned myself to the fact that our Owu retiree soldier and prolific author is an infliction that those of us who share the same era and nation space must learn to endure. However, it does appear that there is no end to this individual’s capacity for infantile mischief, and for needless, mind-boggling provocations, such as his recent ‘literary’ intrusion on my peace.</b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Perhaps I ought to interrupt myself here with an apology to some mutual acquaintances – ‘blessed peacemakers’ and all - especially in this season of ‘peace and goodwill to all men’. Please know that your efforts have not been entirely in vain. I had a cordial exchange with Obasanjo over the phone recently – engineered by himself, his ground staff and/or a chance visitor  – when I had cause to visit his Presidential Laundromat for the first time ever.  During that exchange, I complemented him on making some quite positive use of landed property that was acquired under morally dubious circumstances, and blatantly developed through a process that I denounced as ‘executive extortionism’. That obscene proceeding has certainly set a competitive precedent for impunity in President Jonathan’s recent fund-raising shindig, editorialized in <b><a href="http://nigerianewsroom.blogspot.com/2014/12/punch-editorial-jonathans-21b-donation.html">THE PUNCH (Dec. 23, 2014) as “Impunity Taken too Far”</a></b>. So much for the latest from that directions - we mustn’t allow Handing-Over notes between presidents to distract us for too long. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> To return to our main man, and friendly interventionists, you may like to note that I went so far as to engage him in light banter, stating that some of his lesser sins would be forgiven him for that creative conversion of the landscape – a conversation that he shortly afterwards delightedly shared with at least three mutual acquaintances. I promised a follow-up visit to view some mysterious rock script whose existence, he informed me, was uncovered by workers during ground clearing. The exchange was, in short, as good as ‘malice towards none’ that any polemicist could hope to contribute to the ongoing season of peace and goodwill. Obviously that visit will not now take place, any more than the pursuit of vague notions of some creative collaboration with his Centre that began to play around my mind.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> That much I do owe you from my report card.  Perhaps you will now accept that there are individuals who are born incorrigible but, more importantly, that some issues transcend one’s personal preferences for harmonious human relationships even in a season of traditional good will. The change in weather conditions sits quite well with me however,  since we are both acquainted with the Yoruba proverb that goes:  the child that swears his mother will not sleep must also prepare for a prolonged, sleepless infancy.  So let it be with Okikiola, the overgrown child of circumstance. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> One of the incessant ironies that leapt up at me as I read Obasanjo’s <i>magnum opus</i> was that we are both victims of a number of distasteful impositions  - such as being compelled again and again to seek justice against libel in the law courts. I felt genuine empathy to read that he still has a pending thirty-year case instituted by him against his alleged libelers! Judgment was delivered in my favour regarding one of the most nauseating only this year, after surviving technical and other procrastinations, defendant evasions and other legalistic impediments for nearly as long as his. That leaves only a veritable Methuselah on the court list still awaiting re-listing under the resurrection ritual language known as <i>de novo</i>. Unfortunately, not all acts of defamation or willful misrepresentation are actionable, otherwise, my personal list against this newly revealed fellow-sufferer would have counted for an independent volume of the Nigerian Law Report since our paths first crossed during the Civil War.  My commitment to the belief in the fundamental right of all human beings NOT TO BE LIED AGAINST remains a life obsession, and thus demands, at the very least, an obligation of non-commission among fellow victims.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> I must therefore reserve a full, frontal dissection of Obasanjo’s  <i><b>My Watch</b></i> for later, most especially since the work itself is currently under legal restraint and is not readily accessible to a general readership. So, for now, let me single out just one of the most glaring instances of this man’s compulsive career of lying, one sample that the media can readily check upon and use as a touchstone – if they do need one - in assessing our author’s multifaceted claims and commentaries on people and events. I refer here to the grotesque and personally insulting statement that he has attributed to me for some inscrutable but obviously diversionary reasons. In the process, this past Master of Mendacity brazenly implicates an innocent young man, Akin Osuntokun, who once served him as a Special Adviser. Instead of conferring dignity on a direct rebuttal of an ignoble fabrication, I shall simply make a personal, all-embracing attestation:</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> I despise that species of humanity whose stock-in-trade is to concoct lies simply to score a point, win an argument, puff up his or her own ego, denigrate or attempt to destroy a fellow being. However, even within such deplorable species, a special pit of universal opprobrium is surely reserved for those who even lack the courage of their own lies, but must foist them on others. When an old man stuffs a lie into the throat of an age-mate of his own children - <i><b>omo inu e!</b></i> - we can only pity an irredeemable egomaniac whose dotage is headed for twilight disgrace. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> D.O. Fagunwa, the pioneer Yoruba novelist, was a compulsive moralist. I suspect that he may have exerted some influence on our garrulous general, resulting in his pupil’s tedious, misapplied and self-serving deluge of moralizing. It seems quite likely indeed that the ghostly, moralistic hand of Fagunwa reached out from the Great Beyond, sat his would-be competitor forcefully before a mirror and bade him write what he saw in that image. I invoke Fagunwa because, at his commemorative colloquium in Akure in August last year, I drew my audience’s attention to a remarkable passage in Fagunwa’s <b><i>Igbo Olodumare</i></b>. The passage had struck me during translation and stuck to my mind. I found it uncanny that the original creative moralist, Fagunwa, had captured the psychological profile of a being whom I have been compelled by circumstances to study as an eerie creation, yet this was a character Fagunwa was unlikely to have encountered in real life at the time that he produced that work. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The section comes from an account of a visit to the abode of Iku, Death, the terrifying host to Olowo-aiye, the narrative voice of the adventure.  Iku, the host, had been admonishing his guests through the histories of seven creatures who were not permitted a straightforward passage to Heaven or Hell, but were subjected to admonitory punishment at the halfway house to the abode of the dead. The most horrendous tortures were reserved, it would seem, for the last of the seven such ‘detainees’, and I invited my audience to ponder if they could identify any prominent individual, a public figure whose life conduct seamlessly fitted into Fagunwa’s portrayal, which went thus:</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “The seventh…. is not among those who set out to improve the world but rather to cause distress to its inhabitants. It was through manipulations that he attained a high position. Having achieved this however, he constantly blocked the progress of those behind him, this being a most deplorable act in the eyes of God, and rank behaviour in the judgment of the dwellers of heaven – that anyone who has enjoyed upliftment in life should seek to be an obstacle for those who follow him. This man forgot the beings of earth, forgot the beings of heaven, in turn, he forgot the presence of God. The worst kind of behaviour agitated his hands – greed occupied the centre of his heart, and he was a creature that walked in darkness. This man wallowed in bribery, he was chairman of the circle of scheming, head of the gang of double-dealing, field-marshal of those who crept about in the dark of night. With his mouth, he ruined the work of others, while he used a big potsherd to cover the good works of some, that others might not see their attainments. He nosed around for secrets that would entrap his companions, and blew them up into monumental crimes in the eyes of the world. He who turns the world upside down, places the deceitful on the throne, casts the truthful down – because such is a being of base earth, he will never stand as equal among the uplifted.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> My co-occupants of the High Table, in side remarks, and those who came up from the audience afterwards to volunteer their answer to the riddle, without exception named one individual and one individual only, even as I remained non-committal. Indeed, one or two tried to put up a defence of that nominee, and I had to remind them that I had named no one! Fagunwa wrote largely of the world of mongrelized creatures but, as I remarked, his fiction remains a prescient and cautionary mirror of the society we inhabit, where beasts of the forest appear to have a greater moral integrity than those who claim to be leading lights of society.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> In this season of goodwill, we owe a duty to our immediate and distant neighbours: <b>CAVEAT EMPTOR!</b>  Let all beware, who try to buy a Rolex from this indefatigable watch peddler. His own hand-crafted, uniquely personalized timepiece has been temporarily confiscated by NDLEA and other guardians of public health but, there is no cause for despair. Such has been the fate of the misunderstood and the envied, avatars descended from the heavens before their time, the seers, and all who crave recognition. Our author invokes God tirelessly, without provocation, without necessity and without justification, perhaps preemptively, but does he really believe in such an entity? Does our home-bred Double-O-Seven believe in anything outside his own Omnipotency? Could he possibly have mistaken the Christian exhortation – <i><b>‘Watch and Pray’</b></i> for his private inclination to '<b><i>Watch and Prey'</i></b>? This is a seasoned predator on others’ achievements – he preys on their names, their characters, their motivations, their true lives, preys on gossip and preys on facts, preys on contributions to collective undertakings…..even preys on their identities, substituting his own where possible. Well, hopefully he may actually believe in the inevitable End to all vanities? So, let our Great Immortal, the Unparalleled Achiever, Divinely appointed Watchman even on the world that is yet to come remember Fagunwa’s  Iku, the ultimate predator whose visitation comes to us all, sooner or later.  </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <b><i>Chei! There is Death o!</i></b><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <b><a href="http://saharareporters.com/2014/12/24/watch-and-pray-watch-and-prey-wole-soyinka">SaharaReporters</a></b>

Watch And Pray, Watch And Prey - By Wole Soyinka

I had fully attuned myself to the fact that our Owu retiree soldier and prolific author is an infliction that those of us who share the...

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Donations To Buhari: S/East APC Hails Ndigbo

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqkTmxxX5aDLexuWVua0S09XI8Sn7UO0-4SNCJqtnRZ0usR-c8wceyJ2-LIVwanhKmYLwT6-1OyUlP0xMZKna2qA20N6GK1LZ-1QXda7-uGVpDfWdhA784FrBBo_z-nIK7LhQ2A-RjDVw/s1600/Buhari-with-Chukwuma-Azikiwe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqkTmxxX5aDLexuWVua0S09XI8Sn7UO0-4SNCJqtnRZ0usR-c8wceyJ2-LIVwanhKmYLwT6-1OyUlP0xMZKna2qA20N6GK1LZ-1QXda7-uGVpDfWdhA784FrBBo_z-nIK7LhQ2A-RjDVw/s1600/Buhari-with-Chukwuma-Azikiwe.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>The South-East All Progressives Congress (APC) has congratulated <i>Ndigbo</i> for topping the list of donors to the Buhari Support Organization Campaign Fund, a peoples' contribution to General Muhammadu Buhari’s (GMB) war chest for the 2015 presidential election.</b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “We are happy to announce that when the managers of the First Bank of Nigeria warehoused fund unveiled  ₦54 million so far realized, <i>Ndigbo</i> topped the list of the highest donors; a unique account that has GMB as the only signatory,” APC South-East spokesman Osita Okechukwu said in a statement.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “By topping the donor list, <i>Ndigbo</i> has graciously demonstrated that the celestial bond between GMB and the Nigerian masses and the middle class is Pan-Nigeria and not sectional as insinuated,” he said.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> He noted that the Buhari Campaign Support Fund has General Buhari as the sole signatory for purposes of transparency, and is aimed at assisting the candidate, who refused to enrich himself while in office, to prosecute his presidential campaign.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “The South-East APC salutes our people who embrace the Buhari-Bandwagon-Vehicle for Salvation; for it is our candid opinion that it is less than wise for the hard working and enterprising <i>Ndigbo</i> to put all our eggs in one basket,” Okechukwu said.</div> <br /> <br /> <b>SaharaReporters</b>

Donations To Buhari: S/East APC Hails Ndigbo

The South-East All Progressives Congress (APC) has congratulated Ndigbo for topping the list of donors to the Buhari Support Organizat...

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Female Suicide Bomber Arrested In Kano

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdMdB6JakMOrb1c0jKfnQWesHc9YIb1gJMVGx37p4lXoaRIc84h9bmIFHkAXviMdeHvCNrytBT4z9YUR64NEoii9RiS06Itl4Oy2ifdIO47NehIDf8LPnrrj4nhRkPQ2MJwwugl0_r6Y/s1600/SuicideBomber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdMdB6JakMOrb1c0jKfnQWesHc9YIb1gJMVGx37p4lXoaRIc84h9bmIFHkAXviMdeHvCNrytBT4z9YUR64NEoii9RiS06Itl4Oy2ifdIO47NehIDf8LPnrrj4nhRkPQ2MJwwugl0_r6Y/s1600/SuicideBomber.jpg" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>Following a recent string of bombings in Nigeria's northeast, security operatives today say that they have arrested a girl in Kano State with explosives attached to her body.</b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The girl, Zahra'u Babban Gida, claims she was abducted from Bauchi State. The girl, whose age has not been disclosed, alleges that she was unconscious until today, when she was released by her kidnappers and strapped to an explosive vest.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Babban Gida was arrested opposite Kantin-Kwari textile market, the scene of a major explosion two weeks ago, in which two female suicide bombers detonated explosives, killing many.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Kano State Commissioner of Police Alhaji Tashid Adenrele Shinaba says officers arrested the girl based on suspicion of her movements. She was later taken to headquarters for investigation, where the police were joined by operatives of the State Security Service.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-UGRUFQYEn8tG78DtmYZs0MYCfY3cuVPrRwt4-0swuhuO2BKYhQgyUm2UpilcFjlCJYeVQ1AmyIb_yeyAWSvJ7H3WuLurN7K-VNNfbcmWmJPCaVcPeIucYeDTFI-hQJb6qDsjY31otA/s1600/Explosives.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-UGRUFQYEn8tG78DtmYZs0MYCfY3cuVPrRwt4-0swuhuO2BKYhQgyUm2UpilcFjlCJYeVQ1AmyIb_yeyAWSvJ7H3WuLurN7K-VNNfbcmWmJPCaVcPeIucYeDTFI-hQJb6qDsjY31otA/s1600/Explosives.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The explosives vest she was wearing at the time of arrest</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"> State Security Service Director Bassey Etan assured Kano State residents to report any suspicious activities to the authorities.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"> <b><a href="http://saharareporters.com/2014/12/24/girl-arrested-near-kanos-kantin-kwari-market-wearing-explosive-vest">SaharaReporters</a></b></div>

Female Suicide Bomber Arrested In Kano

Following a recent string of bombings in Nigeria's northeast, security operatives today say that they have arrested a girl in Kano S...

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Igbos Top List of Donors To Buhari Campaign Fund

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWITiWMEhaJ07uo2esuBHJshkDKxN8Ws5olJib_YlCu2ZkpNL5doykGTcp5t8IX0W-nISmk10mRAttd1ST67Ix_xLUtCQk3oOvkaydEDA8MWrL-kLmqrosWTGAyQpUqTRxiDsYcKHfXHY/s1600/BuhariFam41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWITiWMEhaJ07uo2esuBHJshkDKxN8Ws5olJib_YlCu2ZkpNL5doykGTcp5t8IX0W-nISmk10mRAttd1ST67Ix_xLUtCQk3oOvkaydEDA8MWrL-kLmqrosWTGAyQpUqTRxiDsYcKHfXHY/s1600/BuhariFam41.jpg" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>The Igbos of the five states of the South East geo-political zone topped the list of supporters who donated ₦54 million to the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Muhammadu Buhari, the zonal chapter of the party has said.</b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Mr. Buhari, a former head of state, who is popularly called “GMB” announced on Tuesday that he had so far received ₦54 million from Nigerians to prosecute his campaign for the February election.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> In a statement by its spokesperson, Osita Okechukwu, on Wednesday, the party expressed gratitude to the Igbos for topping the list of donors to the Buhari Support Organization Campaign Fund.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> It did not, however, disclose the names of the donors in the statement.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> It said the donations were the peoples’ contribution to the APC flag bearer’s quest to salvage the country from dangerous slide into a failed state.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “We are happy to announce that when the managers of the First Bank of Nigeria warehoused fund unveiled ₦54 million so far realized, <i>Ndigbo</i> topped the list of the highest donors; a unique account that has GMB as the only signatory,” the statement said.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “By topping the donor list, <i>Ndigbo</i> has graciously demonstrated that the celestial bond between GMB and the Nigerian Masses and the Middle Class is Pan-Nigeria and not sectional as insinuated.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The party explained that the Buhari Campaign Support Fund has Mr. Buhari as the sole signatory for transparency purposes, and said the effort is to assist the former military ruler prosecute his presidential campaign because he “refused to enrich himself while in office”.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “The South East APC salutes our people who embrace the Buhari-Bandwagon-Vehicle for Salvation; for it is our candid opinion that it is less than wise for the hard working and enterprising <i>Ndigbo</i> to, election after election, put all our eggs in one basket,” the party said.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b><a href="http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/173761-igbos-top-list-donors-buhari-apc.html">Premium Times</a></b></div>

Igbos Top List of Donors To Buhari Campaign Fund

The Igbos of the five states of the South East geo-political zone topped the list of supporters who donated ₦54 million to the preside...

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Army Jails Lt Col, 15 Others Over Chibok Girls' Abduction

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqCXBTG1MIIbzNT3YV2JRsIx_LUWnje1PgRX44ISBTHgnygz-lqRZEZnmrcYBnKsbeR2jdml9vOY9Ao_xhgdCsSYRivjufSPBAZ1DoW_FArgjrARJClpxtAwQMqmCm_6DHT_eacUtd7Io/s1600/Court-martial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqCXBTG1MIIbzNT3YV2JRsIx_LUWnje1PgRX44ISBTHgnygz-lqRZEZnmrcYBnKsbeR2jdml9vOY9Ao_xhgdCsSYRivjufSPBAZ1DoW_FArgjrARJClpxtAwQMqmCm_6DHT_eacUtd7Io/s1600/Court-martial.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>The Nigerian Army has sentenced three officers and 13 other soldiers to two years’ imprisonment each over the April 14, 2014 abduction of over 200 schoolchildren from their hostel in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram insurgents.</b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The soldiers, including a Lieutenant Colonel, a Captain and a Second lieutenant, were arraigned before a General Military Court Martial at the Maxwell Khobe Military Cantonment, Rukuba in Jos, Plateau State, in October 2014.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The officers are Col. A. O. Ojo, Capt. O. O. Ogunrinde, and 2nd Lieutenant V.I. Godknows.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Although the trial started at the headquarters of the 3rd Armoured Division of the Army in Jos, the court was moved to Kaduna where the judgment was delivered on Tuesday.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The GCM panel convened by the General Officer Commanding I Division, Kaduna, Maj.Gen. K. C. Osuji, comprised Brig. Gen. Ogunlade (President); Col. J. O. Sokoya, Col. M. Kadiri, Col. M. W. Abubakar, Col. A. A. Bamgbose, Col. A. Garba and Col E.M . Albara</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <i>Punch</i> correspondent learnt on Tuesday that the panel concluded that the prosecution was able to prove the case against the soldiers.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> But the Defence counsel to Col. Ojo, Mr. Shuaibu Isah, told <i>Punch</i> correspondent on the telephone that the judgment was a far cry from the evidence presented before the court.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Isah said he would appeal against the judgment to the confirming authority, which is the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> He said, “We are not satisfied with the judgment of the court. We intend to file an appeal against this verdict before the confirming authorities…”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> A source at the court said that Ojo was convicted on two counts of failing to reinforce Chibok when it came under Boko Haram attack on April 14 and for allegedly releasing information without verification to the Army authorities.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> He said the “unverified information” caused the Defence Headquarters to issue a ‘false’ statement on the release of the abducted girls.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The source added that Ojo, who was said to have resumed duty the day before the attack, had responded to the charge of failing to reinforce Chibok by explaining that he got the information on the Chibok attack at his location in Biu by 1a.m.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The Lt. Col. was also said to have explained that he had other operational issues such as his   inability to notify the nearby military formation in Damboa.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> On the charge that he gave unverified information to the Army authorities, the officer said he never gave any figure on the “rescued or abducted girls.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> It was gathered that the lawyers to Godknows told the court martial that their client, who was charged with cowardly behaviour, was at the Chibok location with 13 soldiers armed with AK 47 but with limited rounds of ammunition to confront over 200 heavily armed Boko Haram fighters.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Another source said that   Godknows left four men to defend the camp while he took nine others to confront the insurgents before pulling back due to their high number and overwhelming   fire power.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The charges against the soldiers which centred on failure to perform military duty carry a maximum of two years imprisonment.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>Credit: <a href="http://www.punchng.com/news/lt-col-15-others-jailed-over-chibok-girls-abduction/">Punch</a></b></div>

Army Jails Lt Col, 15 Others Over Chibok Girls' Abduction

The Nigerian Army has sentenced three officers and 13 other soldiers to two years’ imprisonment each over the April 14, 2014 abduction ...

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