ARMEDMEN ABDUCT, ABDUCT NNPC OFFICIAL IN RIVERS

A group of hoodlums have kidnapped and killed a senior official of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation identified as John Ihenacho.

Ihenacho was said to have been abducted by the hoodlums in Ndoki community in Oyigbo Local Government Area last week before he was killed by his captors, who had earlier collected ransom.

It was learnt that the victim was later buried in a shallow grave, even as sources said that ransom was paid in foreign currency.

However, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, said some of the suspected kidnappers had been arrested.

Omoni told our correspondent in a telephone interview that it was during the interrogation of the suspect that they confessed to the crime and took security operatives to where the late NNPC official was buried.

“I can confirm to you that we have arrested some of the suspects involved in the crime and investigation is ongoing. The State Police Command is after other members of the kidnap gang that killed the NNPC official,” the state police spokesman added.

PRESIDENT BUHARI TO SIGN 2018 BUDGET ON WEDNESDAY

President M. Buhari

 
President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to sign the 2018 appropriation bill into law on Wednesday, June 2018.

The weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting for this Wednesday might also not hold due to the budget signing and Public holidays of Friday and Monday.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, at the end of FEC meeting last week informed journalists that President Buhari will sign the 2018 budget this week.

The Presidency had received the appropriation bill from the National Assembly on May 25 after it was signed by the lawmakers.

President Buhari presented a budget proposal of N8.612 trillion to the lawmakers earlier in 2017 with hopes that the bill would be passed in December of that year, but it took six months for that to happen with the lawmakers accusing ministries, departments, and agencies of frustrating the passage by failing to submit the breakdowns of their budget proposals.

The National Assembly, however, increased the proposal by N508billion bringing it to N9.12 trillion from the original estimate of N8.6 trillion.

During the budget presentation, the President had noted that the Appropriation Bill will consolidate on the achievements of the previous budget and that 2018 is expected to be a year of better outcomes.

MASSOB LEADER UWAZURUIKE, JAILED BY COURT FOR CONTEMPT

Founder of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, has been sentenced to one month in prison by a High Court in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

The court order, which was served to the police last Thursday, signed by J.C. Okoro Esq. and dated June 6, 2018, indicates that Uwazuruike will be in prison custody for one month for contempt of court.

News report has it that upon reading through the Motion On Notice filed on July 6, 2017, praying for an order of court to commit the plaintiff in the substantive suit, Uwazuruike, to prison for disobeying the order of court made on Wednesday, April 2, 2014 and after due consideration of the unchallenged oral evidence of the 1st defendant, Chigozie Iheama and exhibits tendered in the contempt proceedings, the presiding judge, Justice Kemakolam Ojiako, ruled that:

“The plaintiff, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, is hereby found guilty of contempt to the said order of court made on April 2, 2014.

“That the plaintiff, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, is hereby sentenced to prison custody and shall be so detained for a period of one month from the date of his commitment to prison.”

Uwazuruike, his agents and proxies have also been restrained from entering into the said land subject matter until the suit is determined. This judgement is coming after Uwazuruike dragged Iheama to court in 2013 over a land transaction issue in suit No. HOW/265/2013. According to Iheama, from 2013 to 2017 that the case was on, Uwazuruike had refused to appear in court in a matter he is the plaintiff.

However before the matter was transferred to the present court, the former judge, Justice Florence Duruoha Igwe, was hearing contempt proceedings against Uwazuruike for defying the orders of court for parties to maintain status quo and commencing building on the disputed land. Iheama alleged that plots by the MASSOB leader to frustrate justice, did not stop when the matter was transferred to the court of Justice Kemakolam Ojiako.

“Consequent order of the court to seal the property by chaining and padlocking the gates was subverted by Uwazuruike who instead removed the gate and sealed up the area with a block wall, making it impossible for court officials to enforce the order,” he said.

On his own part, Uwazuruike had, however, argued that he was not under obligation to be in court as the case was a civil matter. But Iheama differed, saying that the case at hand was the contempt proceedings and not the substantive suit.

While Justice Ojiako noted in his ruling that “the substantive proceeding is adjourned to the July 10, 2018, to await the outcome of the Motion for Stay of proceedings,” counsel to the MASSOB leader, Emma Chukwuka, said that hearing on the appealed suit comes up on October 2, 2018.

WHY WE CANNOT INVESTIGATE OBASANJO’S $16 BILLION POWER PROJECT – SAGAY

 Prof. Itse  Sagay

Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), has said his committee cannot investigate the failed $16 billion National Integrated Power Project carried out during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.

However, Sagay speaking to Independent said his committee had not looked into the project because it did not have the mandate to do so. He said investigation and prosecution were the responsibilities of anti-corruption agencies.

He said: “When the time comes, we will meet with Buhari on the power project. It is an issue that we were not seriously thinking about in my committee.

“As I said, the anti-corruption agencies are the ones who have all the facts and figures.

“So, we will meet them and give them the initiatives, but if this thing becomes a political issue, it may be necessary to dig in, get the facts and take the appropriate action.

“If anybody wants to make capital of politics by running down the government – which is the most upright government we have had since Murtala Mohammed government – then, this government may have to show that it is a government of principle and a government that has a will to suppress corruption, and those who challenge it will face the music.

“It is not that we don’t want to look into the issue of the $16 billion power project because of the former president but the truth is that my committee doesn’t have that power.

“We don’t do investigation or prosecution. Our work is mainly that of a think-tank. In other words, we do activities to give the anti-corruption agencies greater capacity to make them more effective.

“We make proposals to the government to help the fight against corruption. For example, we have been engaged in training of judges and prosecutors both at the federal and state levels.

“We have been engaged in preparing manuals for prosecutors to use, preparing sentencing guidelines for judges to use.

“We also draft the bill on proceeds of crime which will give the agencies power to seize assets that they suspect have been acquired by crime or illegitimately, putting anyone claiming it under the obligation of establishing how he got it.

“We have a draft of that; it is with the National Assembly. We have a special crimes court which would have done more effectively what the Chief Justice has done by saying that certain courts should be set aside for crimes, particularly corruption.

“Of course, we also write regular advice to the president over issues that we think are pertinent towards the fight against corruption,” he said.

DO YOU KNOW: FAILURE TO SUBMIT YOUR PUBLISHED BOOK TO THE NATIONAL LIBRARY ATTRACTS A FINE?

FAILURE to submit a copy of one’s published book to the National Library within one month of publication is an offence and is punishable, on conviction by a fine.

This is according to section four of the National Library Act which has been in existence since June 1, 1970.

Titled “deposit obligations”, section 4(1) of the National Library Act read: “The publisher of every book published in Nigeria shall, within one month after the publication, deliver at his own expense to the National Library three copies of the book, two of which shall be kept in the National Library for permanent preservation and one of which shall be sent by the Director to the Ibadan University Library.”

The law also states that “If a publisher fails to comply with any provision of subsection (1) or (2) of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction shall be liable to a fine not exceeding N100; and the court before which he is convicted may in addition order him to deliver to the Director three copies of the book in question or to pay to the Director the value of those copies.”

Apparently, many Nigerian publishers do not know about the existence of this law, or they deliberately flout it, perhaps due to the insignificant fine attached to it.

And this could be one of the reasons the National Library is full of outdated books, as revealed by a recent investigation by Premium Times which detailed how Nigeria’s National Library has been left in a state of utter decay, characterised by a bushy surrounding, dilapidated infrastructure, old books and poorly-motivated staff.

A staff of the National Library who pleaded anonymity said the situation was due to poor funding from the federal government. This is despite the fact that N3.5 billion was allocated to the Library in the 2017 budget and another N3.5 billion has been allocated to it in the yet-to-be signed 2018 budget.

“We are supposed to update our shelves yearly but because of the funds, it has not been so. We get our materials from gifts and exchange, book donations and hand purchases and most of our materials are outdated.

“Its not like they bring new books. They only bring the ones processed from the headquarters and the last time we received materials was last year,” the source said.

Experts say there is need for lawmakers to revisit the National Library Act and change some of the provisions that are obsolete, with a view to breathing new life into Nigeria’s National Library, which, in ideal terms, should be a national icon.

FATHERS DAY: SOME FATHERS IN OSUN STATE LAMENTS DIFFICULTIES OVER RESPONSIBILITIES AT THE HOME FRONT

AS Nigerians celebrate this year’s Fathers’ Day, some fathers, who spoke to Sunday Tribune in Osogbo, Osun State, on Saturday lamented socio-economic difficulties they face in fulfilling their responsibilities as fathers.

Sizable number of them blamed their predicaments on poverty and the prevailing harsh economy of the country, which they claimed had been worsened by irregular payment of salaries to workers.

Mr Bimbo Olowookere said, “as a father, to take care of my family has been very difficult due to lack of funds. Everything have changed in the country. Payment of school fees and house rent have not been easy. Feeding the family has been difficult for me.

He continued, “with the situation on the ground, the government is not ready to assist fathers, more so as some of us, who are civil servants, are not getting our salaries as at when due. As a father, your family expect you to take care of them. Nowadays, taking care of the family financially is not easy.

The most important thing that affects us as fathers is the irregular payment of salary”. “Paying half salary to a father is not ideal because you have budgeted for a lot of things and at the end of the month, they give you half salary. That is major reason why things are difficult for us as fathers.

As a father, we face so many responsibilities from our family and family of our father and mother-in laws. Even, socially, we have responsibilities to take care of. I urge the government to come to our aid by paying our salaries and granting us soft loans of zero per cent interest,” Olowookere remarked.

An artisan, Mr Kazeem Adekunle, who is an artisan stated low patronage from customers has negatively affected his string of income, thus preventing him from playing his roles effectively as father in the house.

According to Adekunle, the bad economy has taken a toll on my work.We are not getting jobs from our customers again as we used to get. The complain almost everywhere is that lack of money. When your customers cannot feed well, how do you expect him give you jobs to do?

WHY WE LOST TO CROATIA - GERNOT ROHR

SPORTS:- FOOTBALL:

- Gernot Rohr says the Super Eagles mistakes cost them the match against Croatia

- The German coach also defends Mikel Obi performance against the Eastern Europeans

- The Super Eagles will be taking on Iceland on June, 22, in their next group D match Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has attributed Nigeria's 2-0 loss to Croatia in the opening match at Kaliningrad to too many mistakes.

The Eastern Europeans broke the deadlock in the first half as a Mario Mandzukic's header was unfortunately steered home by Oghenekaro Etebor.
Luka Modric converted a second half penalty to put the lead beyond the reach of the young Nigeria side.

In a post match interview, Rohr admitted his players were aware they made a lot of mistakes that cost them in the match. "We know we made some mistakes, too many important mistakes, and it is clear that we need to get better in order to move on," News Agency of Nigeria reports.

The German tactician also said that the entire team were disappointed with the result adding that the team need to show professionalism when taking set pieces.  "Our organization was good, that is clear just as the tactics were not wrong, but we need to be more professional in the way we take the set pieces. We need to be better before our next game," he added.

Rohr also said he was satisfied with the performance of Super Eagles captain Mikel Obi despite not delivering the goods for Nigeria. "Mikel since I took over have always been playing the way we deployed him to play, and this has yielded results for us.

"But, he couldn't have done better than he did today, because of the quality of those he was playing against. "He had Ivan Rakitic of Barcelona and Luka modric of Real Madrid playing against him, and they are of good quality and playing for clubs bigger than that of Mikel who plays in China. "So he really did well," he said.

Rohr also stressed Alex Iwobi substitution was a tactical one and not because he had a poor performance. "Iwobi deserved his starting place, based on his performances in the last few days. He only had big work to do with the full back, and this took too much out of him. "However, he did well and I don't think he shouldn't have started the game," he said.

The German technical adviser assured they will go back to the drawing board and his boys will have a better performance on June, 22, against Iceland. "We will improve because it is important for us. We have to get better in order to move forward," he said.

WHAT A SAD FRIDAY IN YABA, LAGOS, AS RESIDENTS CELEBRATE EID

Just as residents across the Lagos Mainland and other parts of Lagos State, Nigeria celebrates the auspicious occasion of Eid-il-Fitri, their counterparts in Onike, in Lagos Mainland, were thrown into panic and  confusion following a fire incident which occurred in the area on Friday, June 15, 2018.

According to the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) attached to the Lagos State Police Command, the incident occurred at No. 21 Akintunde Street off Onike round about, Yaba, Lagos Mainland, at about 12 noon.

The inferno razed parts of the building leaving occupants of the building to scamper for safety. Luckily, no life was lost in the incident.

According to eye witnesses on the scene,  a distress call was made to officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) who immediately mobilized to the scene.

The combined team of the RRS, LASEMA and Lagos State Fire Service, however, salvaged the situation after helping put out the fire.

See more photos from the scene below.

source: http://www.eyesoflagos.com/2018/06/black-friday-in-yaba-as-residents.html

TEARS FOR THE NIGERIAN CIVIL SERVANTS

A casual conversation with a civil servant acquaintance this past week brought home the grim and gloomy reality of the situation majority of those who work for state governments have found themselves.

The acquaintance, who works with a local government commission, said there are some local government workers who have not collected salaries in 12 months. He said in his case he has not been paid salary for seven months.

As I was trying to come to terms with people going to their workplace week in and week out over a period of one year, discharging their duties and carrying out their assigned responsibilities without the employer fulfilling his side of the agreement, it hit me that this was not just a localized problem but a national dilemma as many of the states in the country owe their workers several months of salary.

According to reports, no fewer than 12 states owe their workers between six months and 15 months in salary. Fifteen months without a salary! Does anyone care whether the workers live or die? For those married to bankers or federal civil servants or politicians or contractors or even traders, the worry is minimal as the spouse will rise to make up for the shortfall. But for those married to unemployed partners or other state civil servants or students, the woes are unimaginable! But does anyone care?

How do they cope? How do these workers manage to survive with the high cost of items in the country? How do they feed their children? How do they pay their wards’ school fees? How do they sustain their undergraduate children? How do they pay rent? How do they clothe their family members? For those of them with health conditions that require regular medication, how do they pay to sustain their health?

I imagine that many of the men will have abandoned their homes and seek refuge with older women or wealthy single women willing to pay for their service. I imagine that many of the women will have turned themselves to ladies of easy virtues just to keep their children fed and clothed. I imagine that many of the undergraduate children of these unfortunate civil servants will have resorted to allowing themselves keep older men warm or turn to crime to remain in school. I imagine that many of these civil servants will have mortgaged their dignity with friends and family for meager handouts.

BUT THERE WERE BAILOUTS TO THE STATES BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.? Since coming on stream, the Buhari administration has bailed out state governments thrice with the emphasis on using the funds for payment of salaries to civil servants to stimulate the economy. In 2015, the Federal Government offered bailout funds to the states from the revenue paid into the consolidated account by the Nigeria Liquefied Gas Limited. Then the FG, working with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), took over the debts of the states so give reprieve to those of them with heavy debt burden. It then provided a window for the states to borrow as much as N10bn in total. Not long ago, the Federal Government also paid about N2.09 trillion to the states as refund for the London-Paris Club deductions.

But in spite of these interventions and the regular revenue from the federation account, a third of the states still owe their workers. However, many of the owing governors do not have any justification for this as they convert state funds to personal use. According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), one of the state governors, who collected the London-Paris Club, refund expended $3million on building a 100-room hotel in Lagos. Imagine a salary-owing governor spending over a billion naira on just one building when some of his workers cannot pay their rent and have to seek refuge with friends and relations. This act of fund diversion is a common denominator of state governors.

Now, what manner of governor will leave millions without food on their tables and clothes on their bodies and spend billions meant for them on a project meant for him? What manner of leader will not have compassion on the suffering masses but will only be concerned about milking and bilking the poor? What manner of person will not think twice about depleting the state coffers as long as his personal account is replete with funds? What manner of leader will run his state aground just to build his personal estate?

I weep for the unfortunate civil servants who have to run from pillar to post, putting up with insults just to keep body and soul together. I weep for their children who have to bear the brunt of misguided leadership. I weep for their spouses who have been subjected to sub-human existence. But much more, I weep for my country. What future awaits a nation whose leaders are only concerned about their Italian shoes, Brazilian belts, Swiss wristwatches, American cars, marble mansions and imported whores? I weep because I do not see a change in the pattern in the immediate future.

Great countries are not built on the greed of leaders but on their sacrifices for their people and thoughtfulness for the future. But who cares about the Nigerian people and the country’s future?

LATENESS OF OFFICIALS, MATERIALS MAR RIVERS LG POLL

The Rivers State’s local government poll was on Saturday marred by the late arrival of officials of the state Independent Electoral Commission and sensitive materials to polling units across the state, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

NAN noted that voter turnout was not too impressive as the exercise started at noon in some polling units instead of 8am.

At about 11.05am, some of the officials were seen setting up tables and arranging the materials for the exercise at units 2, 10, 11, 13 and 14 of Ward 2 in the Obio Akpor Local Government Area.

The situation was the same at Governor Nyesom Wike’s Unit 7, Ward 9, Rumuprikon, and in units 2, 4, 5, 19 and 26 in ward 10, also in Obio Akpor.

A Labour Party agent for Unit 19, Ward 10, Mr Peter Chukwuemezu, said the situation was frustrating and a sign of insincerity in the process, adding that nobody gave reasons for the delay.

A voter in the unit, Mr Udom Ekporimo, told NAN that he and some other voters got to the ward at 8am and only policemen deployed to the unit joined them later.

A Peoples Democratic Party leader in Unit 26, Mr Lucky Nkoro, decried the late commencement of the election and attributed it to delayed sorting of materials at the council’s headquarters.

Similarly, a voter at Ward 14, Ogbunabali, Mrs Ann Chukwu, said it was a case of voters waiting for the election officials to report for duty.

She attributed the delay to inadequacies in the distribution of materials to the wards and units.

Earlier at Ward 10, Mile 4 area of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, some voters were seen waiting patiently for the officials and materials as of 10.50am. The exercise was however peaceful across the state.

Some youths in Port Harcourt, mostly above 18 years, converted some major streets in the city into football pitches while the election was ongoing.

Some of them told NAN that whether they voted or not, those who would win had already been selected.

One of them, who decline to identify himself, said “this election is just for formality; the only party that will win landslide is PDP, so, why bother going to vote? We want to use this opportunity to do our own exercise since the roads are fairly free of vehicles.”

The state police command banned vehicular movements between 7am and 4pm to ensure a credible exercise.

But it was observed that the order was also violated by some commercial motorcyclists, who operated freely.

At Oyigbo, a motorcyclist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told NAN that he took the risk of defying the order to make money to cater for his family.

”Since there was no disturbance by the security agencies and there are passengers, I needed to make money to take care of my family,’’ he said.

The poll was boycotted by the All Progressives Congress due to its suit against it.

Also, another Labour Party agent for Unit 5, Ward 10 in Obio-Akpor, Mrs Grace Nicholas, said she was not satisfied with the conclusion of the election.

Nicholas said, “I am not satisfied as a polling unit agent for LP. I feel intimidated may be because I am woman.’’

She said the process started peacefully despite the fact that the electoral officials arrived late to the unit with the materials.

Besides, the commission’s Media and Publicity Officer, Mr Innocent Boma, told NAN that the election was peaceful because of adequate security and voters’ orderly conduct.

It was observed that the election was almost disrupted by a stormy rainfall in the afternoon, especially in Port Harcourt.

The rain started at 2.30pm with flashes of lightning, forcing voters at polling booths to run for shelter.

In Eleme area, only accredited voters at polling stands were seen casting their votes amid the downpour.

The state Governor, Nyesom Wike, said the council election in the 23 local government areas of the state was peaceful because the APC didn’t participate in the exercise.

Wike, who spoke after monitoring the local government elections in Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor council area, said 66 out of 68 political parties participated in the exercise.

The governor hailed the state electoral commission for conducting credible poll across the state.

Wike also lauded security agencies for ensuring peaceful conduct of the poll by creating the right atmosphere for the exercise.

In the Ikwerre Local Government Area, a candidate of the PDP, Mr Samuel Nwanosike, described the exercise as peaceful. But the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, in a statement by his media team on Saturday, said the poll was fraught with “massive low turnout.”

Also, the APC in the state disagreed with Wike that the exercise was peaceful because the main opposition party boycotted it.

In his reaction, the state Publicity Secretary, Mr. Chris Finebone, said exercise was peaceful because thugs working for the PDP had nobody to shoot.

Finebone pointed out that the APC was not part of the LG poll because it decided to obey court orders, maintaining that there was no formidable opponent to the PDP during the exercise.

He said, “The governor is simply not saying the truth; he knows that it is the PDP that is in the habit of causing election violence.’’

Meanwhile, a journalist with a Port Harcourt-based radio station, Precious Ahiakwo, told our correspondent that she was beaten up by suspected political thugs of one of the parties that contested chairmanship in the Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of the state.

Ahiakwo lamented that the thugs noticed when she was trying to record where money was being shared to some party supporters and they descended on her.

Earlier, the Nigerian Army said soldiers would be on standby to forestall violence during the poll.

The Spokesman for the Nigerian Army 6 Division, Port Harcourt, Col. Aminu Iliyasu, told NAN that soldiers would be deployed at strategic points several kilometres away from polling centres.

He explained that the army was adopting that strategy because “we are not directly involved in the election and no soldier will be deployed for any election duty.’’