IBB WRITES AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT GOODLUCK

Former Nigerian Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida today released a statement through his media aide, Kassim Afegbua more or less advising the President to see things a bit differently especially beyond what his aides tell him.

The statement reads: “The happenings in the country in recent times call for worry if we must be sincere with ourselves. Every day, the nation is treated with one form of political issue or the other. From security challenges to economic challenges, Nigerians are asking several questions that deserve responses from government at the various levels. Democracy is when it is a people-driven government with its fundamental principles of freedom of expression, freedom of association, rule of law, accountability, probity and equal representation amongst others.
“I will like to advise President Goodluck Jonathan to tread cautiously so that those sycophants in, and out of government will not derail his focus, resilience and perseverance. He needs all the comportment, resilience, perseverance, introspection and determination to be able to take the right decisions for the good of the country. The arrest and release of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai is a deliberate distraction which the President must run away from.
“He must avoid gambling with decisions and he must be willing to seek a third opinion on issues before he takes his decision. President Goodluck Jonathan must understand that there is a whole body of people out there who are not happy with happenings in the country. It is his responsibility as President of the country to reach out to them and make his mission understandable to the common man on the street so that they can buy into his government.
“If his body of advisers do not understand the temperament in the country and decide to embark on arresting and releasing people on very questionable allegations, they will be making enemies for the President instead of friends. The prerogative is that of the President and no one else.
“President Jonathan should as a matter of responsibility listens to voices of the opposition and or dissent, as he stands to gain experience and knowledge from their well-informed criticisms rather than build hostilities around them. He has to ensure that he minimizes and maximizes his discretionary powers in a manner that will not be subject of abuse.
“President Goodluck Jonathan must sit back, collect himself and carry out a critical self-appraisal before he takes his decisions. He is aware without mention, that the country is presently faced with several developmental challenges.
“Also, security agencies must avoid getting involved in political issues. Modern day security has evolved to a point where you do not require seeing gun-wielding Policemen on the streets. The ability to collate information and analyse same in a proactive manner will help improve the security situation in the country. We must carry out moral healing as well as political healing in the land.
“The President must make it a point of duty to reach out to people, groups and individuals with the sole purpose of selling his presidency. It is becoming instructive that the concept of winner-takes-all which has pervaded the system for so long may not flourish as such again.”

LASU Closed Indefinitely over Students' Protest

Authorities of the Lagos State University (LASU) Thursday ordered the indefinite closure of the institution  following a violent protest by students over the registration process for the rain semester examination.
The students had gone on the rampage over the inability of many of them to access the school portal to register for the examination.
Their counterparts at the Federal University, Otueke, President Goodluck Jonathan's hometown in Bayelsa State, also rioted over alleged hike in school fees.

A statement by LASU, announcing the closure of the school, read:  “In the wake of the violent protest by some affected students of Lagos State University (LASU) over the closure of the university portal for registration of courses for rain semester 2012/2013 examination, the university management has decided to shut down the university indefinitely. Also, examinations have been put off till further notice.
"With this decision, students are expected to vacate the university premises until further notice.”
The  students had begun the protest on Wednesday over the closure of the portal but it turned violent yesterday as they were alleged to have stoned the Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Obafunwa.
It was learnt that the students were required to register online to sit for the examination but only 708 students were able to do so, leaving out about 1,292 others.

According to sources, the VC had angered the students when during a visit by officials of the student union government  to plead for an extension of time for registration, he reportedly  told them that those yet to register were insignificant and would automatically have to carry the session over.
This sparked a protest that later turned violent.

However, in the wake of the protest, the Lagos State House of Assembly has summoned the Chairman of LASU  Governing Council, Mr. Bode Agusto, and Obafunwa to appear before it today.
The assembly, at a session yesterday presided over by the Speaker, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, also summoned Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Yinka Oladunjoye;  Special Adviser on Education, Mr. Fatai Olukoga; five representatives of the students' union and three representatives of the school ruling council.

The assembly took the decision while deliberating on a motion on matters of public importance moved  by the Chairman of the House Committee on Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Wahab Alawiye King.
While LASU students were protesting the inability of many of them to register for examination, their counterparts at the Federal University, Otueke in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, disrupted activities on campus over increase in school fees.
The angry students defied the heavy presence of soldiers on security duty at the presidential guest house, opposite the school, to shut down the institution.

The students barricaded the two roads leading to the Otuoke community and the institution and were said to have locked up principal officers of the school in their offices over the increase in the school fees from N55,000 to N85,000 .
The students lamented that the increase in the   tuition fees was not commensurate with facilities in the school.
But  Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Mobolaji Aluko, denied increasing the school fees.
He said the fees were charged according to the three sets of students that had so far gained admissions to the school.

"When the pioneers came in, their fees were N45,000 for tuition and accommodation. By the end of their first year before this second set came in, we increased it to N50,000, but separated the accommodation fees from it. It is for pioneer students and they will pay that until they graduate,"  he added.

the man who transforms self to a woman, breaks ribs to get hourglass figure

Many men are now turning to women overnight, apart from the homosexual issues making tongues wag, women are turning to men, and vis versa which leaves most people surprised, this man was transformed into a woman and She was Asked how much her cosmetic work has cost in total, the busty blonde declined to provide an answer, merely stating:

‘There is a reason I am labeled ‘The Most Expensive Body On Earth’. She says that her sex change from male to female, was the most painful procedure she’s had done.

‘It didn't hurt when I got it done at the hospital,’ she recounted. ‘But they give you a dilator as part of the healing process, which you have to keep in for extended periods of time to stretch the vaginal opening. It felt like a knife. It was the most painful thing I had ever experienced.’

‘I really associate glamor with being happy. If you put on high heels and lipstick or get a new outfit, you feel great’.

She has since appeared in fashion magazines, including French Playboy and Vogue, and scored cameos in music videos for artists including Elton John, The Dandy Warhols, and Grace Jones.

When it comes to fashion, Ms Lepore says she likes tight-fitting clothing that shows off her ‘tiny waist.’ And on the beauty front, she says she always does her hair and make-up herself because she’s very particular about her look.

‘It’s a celebration of loving yourself, and the whole ritual of it is so great.

SSS summons Elrufai over provocative statement

The former FCT Minister and Deputy National Secretary, All Progressives Congress, APC, was said to have been invited to clarify the statement, where he was quoted to have said, “The next election is likely to be violent and many people are likely going to die. And the only alternative left to get power is to take it by force; this is the reality on the ground”.

The APC chieftain had further warned that the 2015 general elections would be marred by riots and other forms of violence that might lead to loss of lives and property except the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies were ready to organize free and fair elections.

He accused INEC of incompetence, arguing that if it was not able to hold credible elections in Anambra and Delta states, it would be almost impossible to expect free and fair elections from the electoral umpire next year.

He, therefore, on the basis of the above, passed a vote of no confidence in the Attahiru Jega-led electoral commission and security agencies to organise impartial elections in 2015 even as he predicted a disastrous outcome if those involved did not get their acts together early enough.

246Nigerianinfo learnt that the former minister’s comments did not go down well with the SSS, which necessitated the invitation and also the issuance of a terse statement warning politicians against making provocative and disruptive comments ahead of the general elections.

The second coming of Jesus is a doctrine every muslim must believe, says Imam

The Imam of Federal College of Technology, Yaba Mosque, Imam Saeed Salmon has said that contrary to some belief by Muslims, Islam also subscribes to the widely held Christian belief that Jesus Christ will return in what has been described as his ‘second coming’, emphasising that any Muslim, who does not believe in it, is not a true follower of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Salmon, who spoke at a special lecture held at the Lagos Central Mosque, Tinubu, said Jesus is a messenger of God and would still return to a mosque in Damascus.

“The second coming of Jesus Christ is a doctrine that every Muslim must believe. The teachings of Prophet Muhammad talks extensively about this.

“The Qua’ ran Chapter 4:157-159 teaches this but the teachings of Islam does not support that Jesus was killed or resurrected, rather, he was raised by Almighty Allah to his majesty.

“Jesus is coming again to refute the claim of the Jews that he was crucified and to correct the doctrine of the Christians that he is the son of God.

“Again, the second coming of Jesus is to establish that there is a close relationship between Prophet Muhammad and Jesus himself”, he said.

The Chief host and organiser of the lecture, Amir Ajala Kamardeen, noted that he is under obligation as a true adherent of Islam, to educate the public and to correct any misconception about the religion.

“Jesus is a prophet and messenger of Allah and as a true Muslim, we are bound to believe all prophets of Allah.

“The holy book ,Qur’an points to the fact that the second coming of Jesus Christ is a sign of end time but there are some group of Muslims in Harvard University and in Cairo known as the fatimists and also Ahmadists who are saying otherwise, so, I have put it upon myself to correct them”, Amir Kamardeen added.

Lekki-Ikoyi Toll Gate: Court Adjourns Suit To Feb. 7

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has fixed February 7 for hearing in a suit against the Lagos State Government, over collection of tolls on the newly constructed Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge.

The suit which was slated for parties to file written addresses was adjourned, as the Presiding Judge, Justice Saliu Saidu, was said to on be on official assignment.

Lagos based lawyer and Human Rights Activist, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, had filed the suit, challenging the collection of tolls on the bridge, arguing that the bridge was erected on a federal navigable waterway.

Adegboruwa had filed the suit on November 26, 2012, seeking an order of injunction, restraining the Lagos Government from collecting any toll or tax in any form whatsoever, from motorists on the bridge.

While seeking the court’s resolve as to whether there exists any law in Nigeria, that authorises the collection of such tolls, tax or fee, from citizens, he also wants  the court to declare that the imposition of such a tariff on road users, is an illegal form of taxation and is inconsistent with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Attorney-General of the Federation, and the National Inland Waterways Authority, also joined as first and second respondents in the suit.

The Attorney-General of Lagos State, Adeola Ipaye, and the Lagos State Government, are third and fourth respondents.

Houston mayor weds lesbian partner of 23 years in California

Houston Mayor Annise Parker has married longtime partner Kathy Hubbard in a sunset ceremony Thursday at a private residence in Palm Springs, Calif., Parker’s office announced.
A small group of family and friends, including Parker’s mother and Hubbard’s sister, attended the service.
The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Paul Fromberg, rector of St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. The couple chose Thursday as their wedding date because it was the 23rd anniversary of the beginning of their relationship.
“This is a very happy day for us,” Parker said in her statement. “We have had to wait a very long time to formalize our commitment to each other. Kathy has been by my side for more than two decades, helping to raise a family, nurture my political career and all of the other ups and downs and life events that come with a committed relationship. She is the love of my life, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life married to her.”
Fromberg is a gay priest who had been rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Houston before leaving for San Francisco.
Parker’s election in 2009 made Houston the largest U.S. city with an openly gay mayor. While California allows gay people to marry, Texas does not recognize same-sex marriages.
According to the mayor’s statement, Hubbard will avail herself of other insurance options “and will, therefore, not participate in the new policy granting city health insurance benefits to spouses of legally married city.

Resignation: I’ve No Ill-Feelings Towards Tukur, Says Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has no personal animosity against the former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.


The Media Assistant to the former president, Mr Tunde Oladunjoye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that Obasanjo had no grudge against Tukur.

“I want you to note that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has nothing personal against Alhaji Bamanga Tukur”, he said.

Oladunjoye who made a reference to Obasanjo’s recent letter to Tukur said that the former president did not call for Tukur’s resignation.

He said that the issues raised in the letter were purely based on personal principle.

“If you look at Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s last letter to the former national chairman, the issues he raised in that letter were much more than Tukur’s resignation”, he said.

Oladunjoye, however, said that the issues raised in Obasanjo’s letter were yet to be addressed.

Obasanjo had written a letter dated Jan. 7 to Tukur in which he announced his withdrawal from activities of the party at local, state, zonal and national levels.

Obasanjo hinged his reason on the fact that the party had been negating the principles of morality, decency and discipline in its decisions, particularly as it affected the South-West zone.

According to Obasanjo, I also believe that on no account should a known habitual criminal that is wanted abroad to face criminal charges leveled against him should be extolled as a political leader.

No Evidence N8.5tn ‘Missing’ Oil Funds Was Paid Into The Federation Account – NGF

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) led by governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi on Thursday called on the National Assembly to engage a credible foreign firm to carry out a comprehensive independent forensic audit of the alleged missing $49.8 billion (N8.5 trillion) from the Federation Account.

Their call for a probe into the purportedly missing sum, which represents about 76 per cent of the value of crude oil lifting between 2012 and July 2013, according to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lamido Sanusi Lamido, comes on the backdrop of the inability of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Federal Ministry of Finance, Petroleum Ministry, Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, and CBN to reconcile the books as $10.8 billion is still yet to be properly accounted for.

Reading the communiqué of the meeting held in Abuja that ended in the early hours of Thursday, Amaechi noted that declining state revenue being witnessed by the government is not unconnected with such financial diversions.

He said: “We, members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), at our meeting today, at the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge, Abuja, deliberated on a number of issues and resolved as follows: On the issue of the missing $49.8 billion (N8.5 Trillion) or equivalent of two years of the National Budget, there is no evidence that this amount was paid into the Federation Account or duly appropriated.

“We accordingly call on the National Assembly to institute a comprehensive independent forensic audit by an international reputable firm. We fear that the recent decline of State Revenues is not unconnected with the financial diversion”.

The Forum also maintained that the Federal Government is in breach of the Fiscal Responsibility Act by failing to consult with states before forwarding the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to the National Assembly.

It also noted that the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting has not held in the last four months.

Amaechi said: “In clear breach of the provision of Section 11, Part II of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 which requires the Federal Government to hold consultations with states before the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) is laid before the National Assembly; consultation with states on the MTEF and Fiscal Strategy Paper (2014-2016) did not hold.

“The National Economic Council (NEC) meeting where issues of this nature would have been discussed last held four months ago”.

The Forum also decried the recent violent attacks and killings that took place in Borno State and the attack on the father of Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State.

On attacks in River State, the Forum said: “We also condemn the flagrant violation of the rights of citizens to freely assemble in Rivers State by the Nigerian Police; the excessive use of force against unarmed citizens in the exercise of their fundamental rights and the shooting of Senator Magnus Abe.

“The financial irregularities relating to public accounting, the lack of compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, and the recent security breaches are not unconnected with the refusal of the Federal Government to convene meetings of statutory institutions created in the Constitution such as the National Economic Council (NEC), the Council of State, the Nigeria Police Council and meetings of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC). We urge a return to the path of constitutionalism”.

Okonjo-Iweala replies Reps: we’ve created 1.6m jobs

Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala cleared the way yesterday for lawmakers to work on the budget. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala answered the 50 questions asked by the House of Representatives – a pre-condition to examine the 2014 budget.

The minister, in a statement by her Special Adviser, Paul C. Nwachukwu, said 1.6 million jobs were created by the government last year – according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

She said 250,000 jobs were created in the agric sector in the 10 Northern states through provision of inputs, adding that the manufacturing, through the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone, created an estimated 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.

She said the government’s special intervention programme YouWin supported young entrepreneurs, creating over 18,000 jobs as well as the Sure-community Services, which added 120,000 job opportunities.

The Minister said despite noticeable challenges, the economy is showing real and measurable progress in many areas, adding that this could be seen in the fact that more jobs were being created; roads, rail and other infrastructure were being improved, and that the country was saving for the future and planning better for the present.

She cited the improvement in federal highways, which she affirmed had been confirmed by many Nigerians who travelled during the Christmas and New Year holidays, as clear evidence that much has been achieved. She listed key highways which have witnessed significant progress to include the Kano-Maiduguri road, the Abuja-Lokoja road, the Apapa-Oshodi road, the Onitsha-Enugu-Port-Harcourt road and the Benin-Ore-Shagamu road, adding that preliminary work had begun on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the Second Niger Bridge.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said the Railway Modernisation Programme involving the construction of standard gauge lines was underway, stressing that the 1,124 km Western line linking Lagos and Kano is now functional. Work on the Eastern line linking Port Harcourt to Maiduguri is about 36 per cent complete. “The Abuja-Kaduna Standard Gauge line has attained 68 per cent completion while the Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri Line, which is presently 77 per cent completed, will be completed next year,” she added.

On the insinuations by the House Committee on Media that the country was piling up debts under the Minister’s purview as Finance Minister, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said: “ There is no substance to the charge. In fact, the opposite is true.”

“Under the leadership of President Jonathan and working with the Debt Management Office and the Budget Office of the Federation, the Minister followed through with a robust approach which includes progressive reduction of borrowing, quick settlement of due debts and the retirement of N75 billion of maturing bonds via a Sinking Fund dedicated to paying off substantial bonds. These measures have produced clear results as shown in the reduction of borrowing from N852 billion in 2011 to N571.9 billion this year,” Nwachukwu said in the statement.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, in her response which spanned 100 pages, touched on job creation, infrastructure, inland waterways, water resources, aviation, power and manufacturing. It also includes agriculture, health, education and communications technology.

On Inland Waterway, she said: “We have dredged about 72 km of the lower River Niger from Baro in Niger State to Warri in Delta State; and completed the construction of the Onitsha inland port; while the Baro port is nearing completion. The result of all these is that we now have year round navigation around the lower Niger; and we are already witnessing an increase in cargo volume from below 2.9 million metric tons in 2011 to over 5 million metric tons on the inland waterways. As in the case of the rail transport, the number of passengers travelling via our inland waterways has increased fourfold from 250,000 in 2011 to over 1.3 million.”

With respect to Aviation, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said: “The 22 airports across Nigeria are being remodelled and upgraded. We completed the upgrade of 11 airport terminals and work on the remaining 11 terminals is in progress.”

She said the Enugu Airport is operational as an international airport with a new terminal under construction. “We have also commenced work on the construction of three new international airport terminals: in Lagos, in Kano, and in Abuja.”

She said modern navigational and meteorological systems were installed at our airports to improve air safety. In addition, six airports namely: Jos, Markurdi, Yola, Jalingo, Lagos and Ilorin, which are strategically located in proximity to food baskets, have been designated as perishable cargo airports and international standards perishable cargo facilities are being developed at these airports. A new Cargo Development Division has been established by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to give focus to this effort.

Replying to the question on power, she said the government had completed one of the most comprehensive and ambitious power sector privatisation and liberation programmes globally. “We have privatised four power generation companies and 10 power distribution companies, and have virtually settled all claims and entitlements of PHCN workers. Some major cities got an average of 16-18 hours of electricity per day in 2013,” she stated, adding however that power dropped in November and December during the transition.

She said in 2013, the government mobilised $1.5 billion in financing from multilateral sources for investment and upgrade of the transmission network in 2014 and beyond.

To promote clean energy, “we also commenced construction of the 700MW Zungeru Hydro-Power project in 2013. We have strengthened relevant power market intermediaries such as the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), and backed them with financing to stimulate greater private investments in the sector,” she said.

On the manufacturing sector, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said the government launched the National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), which focuses on industrialising Nigeria and diversifying “our economy into sectors such as agro-processing, light manufacturing, and petrochemicals

Jonathan sacks service chiefs, appoints new ones

President Goodluck Jonathan has sacked all the service chiefs, who are statutorily the heads of the nation’s military apparatus.

This was contained in the Twitter and Facebook posts by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, on Thursday.

No reason was given for the changes.

The post read, “President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria approved the following changes in the nation’s Military High Command:

“Air Marshal Alex Badeh takes over from Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim as Chief of Defence Staff.

“Major-General Kenneth Tobiah Minimah takes over from Lt.-General Azubike Ihejirika as Chief of Army Staff.

“Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin takes over from Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba as Chief of Naval Staff; and Air Vice Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu takes over from Air Marshal Badeh as Chief of Air Staff.

“All the changes are with immediate effect.”

The new Chief of Defence Staff and former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Badeh was born on January 10, 1957 and joined the Air Force as a member of the Nigerian Defence Academy’s 21 Regular Course while the new Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Minimah was born on July 27, 1959 and joined the Army as a member of the Nigerian Defence Academy’s 25 Regular Course. Until his new appointment, Major-General Minimah was the Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps, Jaji.

The new Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin was born on September 16, 1959 and joined the Navy as a member of the Nigerian Defence Academy’s 24 Regular Course. Until his appointment as Chief of Naval Staff, he was Director of Training at Defence Headquarters.

The new Chief of Air Staff and immediate past Commander of the Presidential Air Fleet, Air Vice Marshal Amosu was born on August 1, 1958 and joined the Air Force as a member of the Nigerian Defence Academy’s 25 Regular Course. Until his new appointment, Air Vice Marshal Amosu was the Air Officer Commanding, Tactical Air Command, Makurdi.

Jonathan has briefed the leadership of the National Assembly on the appointment of the new service chiefs and will, in keeping with the provisions of the law, request the National Assembly to formally confirm the appointments when it reconvenes.

PDP national chairman Bamanga Tukur Resigns

Information according to 247Nigerianinfo has it that, a source from Wadata Plaza in Wuse 5, Abuja reveal that the embattled Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP], Malam Bamanga Tukur has submitted his resignation letter to the PDP and to the Presidency. The resignation is to take effect Wednesday January 15, 2014.



The source according to 247Nigerianinfo has it that the embattled Chairman was forced to step down following a brief meeting with Mr. President who impressed on him that he must resign or face the consequences. As gathered, the President had reminded the embattled chairman of a letter from the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] stating that the national executive council of the PDP was illegally constituted. Mr. President told the embattled Chairman that the letter can be recalled into play.



The embattled chairman was reported to remain adamant until it was revealed to him that the national executive council and the national working committee were readying to cast a vote of no-confidence on Thursday January 16, 2014 against him. To avert the vote of no confidence, Bamanga Tukur hurried a resignation letter – and dated his resignation for January 15, 2014 – after the Muslim holiday.
More to follow.....

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US Appeal Court Affirms Life Sentence For Abdulmutallab

Nigerian born Christmas Day underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab Monday at a US appeal court in Detroit Michigan lost his defence against a life sentence.

The convict who was represented by Travis Rossman, had on Christmas Day 2009 attempted to detonate an explosive device on a Northwest Atlantic Airlines Flight 253 operated by Delta Airlines  flying from Amsterdam to Detroit, months after he had travelled to Yemen where he was radicalised by a violent jihadist group with links to al-Queda.

Abdulmutallab who was part of the 289 passengers on board had tried to ignite the explosives concealed in his underwear as the aircraft made its final approach to Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
Against all expectations, the explosives failed to detonate injuring only the bomber before pilots landed the plane, while the convict was escorted into custody.

He was later tried for attempted murder, conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism, attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and other charges.

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Breaking news: Boko Haram: 17 Killed In Maiduguri Car Bombing

A car bomb explosion in the Post Office area of Maiduguri, Borno State, has killed at least 17 people, police sources have told AFP.


Blood-spattered people were seen fleeing and vehicles crashed into each other, while soldiers fired automatic weapons.

A suicide bomber is suspected of being behind the blast near a market.

The attack is the deadliest bomb attack within the city in several months.

Residents of the area said security agencies have since cordoned off the vicinity while the dead and injured are being evacuated.

Islamist militant group Boko Haram has carried out numerous attacks in the region, in a campaign of violence aimed at imposing Islamic rule in northern Nigeria.

AFP news agency quoted police as saying 17 people had been killed, as witnesses spoke of seeing bodies on the ground.

A second car is reported to have been set on fire by the blast.

In an attempt to combat the violence, the government declared a state of emergency in Borno last May, and in the neighbouring states of Adamawa and Yobe. Borno is still under emergency rule.

Jonathan signs bill banning gay marriage, 14 years jail time.

President Goodluck Jonathan has assented to a bill banning gay marriage  and same-sex partnerships in Nigeria, despite international pressure not to do so.
Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the president, Dr. Reuben Abati, Monday confirmed the signing of the bill, whose passage had triggered international outrage over Nigeria’s bid to criminalise homosexuality, to the Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“I can confirm that the president has signed the bill into law,” he said without specifying a date but adding that Jonathan assented to the bill earlier this month.

Abati said Jonathan signed off on the Same-sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2013 because it was consistent with the attitudes of most Nigerians towards homosexuality.
“More than 90 per cent of Nigerians are opposed to same-sex marriage. So, the law is in line with our cultural and religious beliefs as a people.
“And I think that this law is made for a people and what (the) government has done is consistent with the preference of its environment,” Abati said.

Amnesty International had urged Jonathan to reject the bill, calling it “discriminatory” and warning of “catastrophic” consequences for Nigeria’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Under the terms of the law, anyone who enters into a same-sex marriage or civil union can be sentenced to 14 years in prison, while any such partnerships entered into abroad are deemed “void.”

The law also makes provisions for sanctions against anyone who registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organisations or who directly or indirectly makes a public show of a same-sex relationship.
Such a person could be jailed for up to 10 years.
“Only a marriage contract between a man and a woman shall be recognised as valid in Nigeria,” the law states.


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Tinubu Accuses President of Using Police to Undermine Democracy

Former Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, yesterday condemned the police disruption of a rally by the Save Rivers Movement (SRM) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and accused President Goodluck Jonathan of using the police and political mercenaries to undermine democracy.

Tinubu, who is also a leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), reacting to the disruption of the rally of the group, sympathetic to the state Governor, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, on Sunday during which Senator Magnus Abe, was shot with rubber bullets and two children were reportedly killed, said the incident had added another dimension to the dangerous course charted by the Jonathan government.
He accused the president of egging on the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu, to perpetrate illegalities in the state by using the police to harass and attack political opponents.
The state chapter of the party also took on Mbu for saying the police used minimum force in dispersing the rally and told him to go and hide his head in shame.
Tinubu, in a statement by his media aide, Mr. Sunday Dare,  said: “Instead of assuring liberty and democracy, the Jonathan administration now wars against human rights and the democratic freedom of the people to select their own leaders. This represents a sad rush backwards into a past best left behind. President Jonathan seeks to forfeit our democratic future to reclaim a dictatorial past.
ï€ “The people of Rivers State and of the Save Rivers Movement did nothing wrong.  What the police did was criminal. The violent and direct attack on Senator Magnus Abe is a frontal assault against democracy. The Jonathan government, which is supposed to protect the public order, now constitutes threats against the very thing they have pledged to uphold. The police have been unleashed against the people and the voice of dissent like bloodhounds against a defenseless, stationary prey.
“We are supposed to live in a constitutional democracy but we are burdened with a police force that has now become an agent provocateur and a tool of political repression. They are the partisan, strong-arm division of the Jonathan presidency. The police are no longer a neutral law enforcement body.”

According to him, APC will employ every lawful means to protect the lives and rights of Nigerians to  exercise their rights.
He also urged the National Assembly to rise to its statutory responsibility by calling the police and the presidency to order.
He said: “If the National Assembly does not rise at this junction, things will only worsen and at some point they will be forced to confront the violent misbehaviour of a government intent on perpetuating itself.
ï€ “All Nigerians need to set themselves in vocal and sure opposition to the authoritarian evolution of the Jonathan administration.
“Nigeria is a democracy and those who would make it something else fight not only against the will of the people, they fight against the march of our history. Nigeria’s destiny is the rule of law, justice, fairness and freedom.
“No matter the obstacles our would-be emperors may erect, we will have our democracy. We will have our new Nigeria. We will have our rights and our freedom.”
In another reaction to the Sunday incident, the state chapter of APC told Mbu to hide his face in shame for ignorance of provisions of the constitution on human rights.
The party also called on the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), to intervene and ensure the redeployment of Mbu from the state.
The party  in a statement by the Senior Special Aide (SSA) on Media and Public Affairs to the interim state Chairman, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, yesterday in Port Harcourt, accused the police boss of distorting account of the rally.
It said: “We find it necessary to correct the wrong account of events given by CP Mbu, including his claim that we applied for police permit for most of our rallies but failed to do so for the Obio-Akpor rally. This is a blatant lie! We have never applied for police permit for any of our rallies but for police protection. We applied for police protection for the Obio-Akpor rally but instead of granting our request, CP Mbu sent his men to disrupt the rally and kill our people apparently on the orders of his sponsors in Abuja.”
He said it was also wrong for Mbu to have said his men used minimum force to stop the rally.
He added: “How on earth can ‘force’ that resulted in the killing of five children and the shooting of two prominent politicians be described as ‘minimum’?”
ï€ “This just doesn’t make sense! In other words, if the police had used maximum force, then the entire Rivers State would have been burnt on the instruction of a misguided police ‘politician’.
ï€ “Mbu does not deserve the uniform and rank he is wearing. He has demonstrated his crass ignorance of the relevant sections of the constitution that gives Nigerians the power to associate freely without any need for police permit. He should hide his face in shame.”
The APC described Mbu as a security risk and agent of destabilisation in Rivers State, saying that since the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mohammed Abubakar, has refused to call him to order, Dasuki should  intervene and ensure his redeployment.

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Boko Haram Kills Five in Borno Market Raid

Suspected members of the outlawed Boko Haram sect have again attacked Ladi-Kayamula village in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State on a market day, killing no fewer than five persons as they shot at traders and customers at the market square.
The latest attack, which happened on Sunday, came barely 10 days after the sect invaded the village on a market day, killed nine persons and injured several others.
The sect members were also alleged to have attacked some homes in the village with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) which set several houses and shops ablaze.
Ladi-Kayamula village is on the outskirts of Maiduguri metropolis, located about 15 kilometres south of the state capital.
However, in a renewed effort to curb the attacks by the Islamist militants, the Nigerian Army has established a Special Operation Command (NASOC)  to effectively deal with terrorism and insurgency within and outside the country.
It was learnt that the insurgents stormed the village at about 2p.m.  on Sunday and opened fire on residents and were said to have particularly targeted traders.
A source told journalists that the terrorists threw explosive devices and petrol bombs at the people in the market.
A resident who did not want his name mentioned for security reason told journalists on the phone that the insurgents, numbering over 20 and armed with sophisticated weapons, also fired into the crowd and slaughtered one person who was not downed by bullets.
It was also gathered that  the quick intervention of troops and airstrikes forced the insurgents to flee into the Sambisa forest.
Spokesman of the 7 Division, Nigerian army, Col. Mohammed Dole, confirmed the incident to journalists in a telephone interview.
Dole said: “ Yes it is true that some gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists invaded Kayamula village on Sunday where they wreaked havoc on innocent civilians. We have mobilised our troops to the area and they are now patrolling the general area with a view to arresting the culprits”.
He however could not give the casualty figure in the attack as he said he was yet to ascertain the number of those affected.
But he added that  normalcy had been restored to the village and that the people were going about their normal businesses.
In a renewed effort to tackle the Islamist militants, the army has established a special command to effectively deal with terrorism and insurgency within and outside the country.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, while fielding questions from journalists at a workshop in Abuja, said the Army Council  recently approved the command to boost the transformation efforts of the army.
According to him, the army’s roles as well as those of other services are crucial to the overall national strategy to defeat Boko Haram terrorists and curb other security problems such as oil theft in the Niger Delta.
He said: “A lot of the performance of the command will depend on skills and human efforts rather than equipment and what we are doing is creating a unit of highly patriotic Nigerians ready to make sacrifices in the face of extreme danger.
“We want a unit  that will have the ability to shift  the grains from the shafts, to be more accurate in their targets, therefore reducing the incidence of collateral damage.”
He added that the United States would provide training assistance towards the quick realisation of the NASOC.

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How Ronaldo won the worlds best player

Revealed after Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo had won the coveted Ballon d’Or, that neither Ronaldo nor runner-up and winner since 2010, Lionel Messi, voted for the other in their top three.

The Portuguese selected Radamel Falcao for first place, followed by Gareth Bale and Mesut Ozil, while the Argentine opted for Barcelona team-mates Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Neymar.

England manager Roy Hodgson chose Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic and Robin van Persie as his top three, while captain Steven Gerrard picked Ronaldo, Messi and Liverpool team-mate Luis Suarez.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles’ stand-in captain Vincent Enyeama voted Messi, Ronaldo, Ribery as first, second, and third respectively, while Coach Stephen Keshi voted Yaya Toure, Ribery, and Luiz Suarez as his best three.

See full list of how national teams captains and coaches voted here

And here are the guys FIFA thought were the best in their positions last year.

Fifa world team of the year
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
Dani Alves (Barcelona)
Thiago Silva (PSG)
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich)
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
Xavi (Barcelona)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Do you agree with FIFA on its XI?

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Pastor Sign Fireman Turns His Bail Into Money Raising Prayer Point in Church

Pastor Sign Fireman, who was released on Saturday, Jan. 11th after being implicated in an alleged ritual murder of a 12 year old girl, turned his arrest and subsequent release into a money-spinning prayer point in his church.

His church, Perfect Christian Mission, in Surulere, Lagos, was agog as his members shared testimonies about his release. The testifiers said they believed that news of Pastor Fireman’s ritual offense was God’s way of advertising the church to attract more worshipers.

Each member’s testimony was then turned into an avenue to collects offering. After one particular testimony praising the Pastor-anchor of the testimony segment said; “God will use your shame to announce you. If you want that to be your portion, come forward now with your special seed.”. The motivated congregation shoved their way to the altar, tossing notes at feet of the anchor.

Towards end of the session, the Apostle told an anecdote of how he became the pillar of finance in his own family, after he only “sowed seed” of N150,000 in another church. He touched three different poles in the church and called out to the congregation to pay the sums of N100,000; N30,000 and N10,000 to touch the respective poles with him so that they could become pillars of finance in their own families as well.

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Sanusi accuses Adeboye of aiding corrupt banker from facing justice

The governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has accused the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, of playing a role in shielding Erasmus Akingbola, the corrupt former Chief Executive Officer of InterContinental Bank PLC, from serious prosecution.

Nigerian authorities asserted that the rogue former banking executive siphoned over N200 billion from the commercial bank he ran. Officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission also accused Mr. Akingbola of using his loot to buy swanky properties in Europe and other parts of the world. The former InterContinental Bank chief also reportedly manipulated his bank’s stocks in insider trading deals.

Mr. Akingbola fled to the UK as soon as Nigerian authorities indicated their desire to try him. He was later forced to return to Nigeria, but his prosecution soon fizzled in what EFCC sources privately confided to be a deal hatched at the highest levels to let him walk free.

Mr. Sanusi hinted at Pastor’s Adeboye’s involvement in the deal in a widely circulated TEDX talk he gave in Abuja, the Nigerian capital. In the video, the CBN governor relates his encounters with vested interests in the banking sector.

Although Mr. Sanusi did not expressly mention Pastor Adeboye by name, confirmation from two sources that the Redeemed Church leader was involved in the deals that led to the obstruction of Mr. Akingbola’s trial.

Justice Habeeb Abiru, who was handling Mr. Akingbola’s trial, was suddenly promoted to the Court of Appeals after Pastor Adeboye intervened on behalf of the rogue banker with President Goodluck Jonathan, one of the sources told SaharaReporters. Mr. Akingbola’s case has since stalled in a maze of judicial manipulations and is currently being tried by a third judge in Lagos.

In the video, the Central Bank Governor also makes a crucial retreat from the position he took during the fuel price hike protests of January 2012. Mr. Sanusi had publicly and forcefully defended the case for increasing the price of fuel and other gasoline products. But in the TED talk, he admits that Nigerians who revolted in the “Occupy Nigeria” protests after the Goodluck Jonathan administration unveiled higher fuel prices were right. Mr. Sanusi disclosed that most of the fuel subsidy funds had been stolen by highly connected individuals who continue to evade justice.

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Lagbaja face finally revealed, robbers invade his house.

Since the early 90′s, Bisade “Lagbaja” Ologunde has managed to keep his face well hidden behind a mask.
According to Lagbaja, his mask is used as an icon of man’s facelessness. Lagbaja is a Yoruba word that means “nobody in particular”. It depicts the anonymity of the so-called “common man”. The mask and the name symbolise the faceless, the voiceless in the society, particularly in Africa.
But it seems we all have our curiousity chilled up as a picture alleged to be Lagbaja’s with his face left unmaked leaked on the Internet recently.
NigerianEye gathered that on September 29 2013,Lagbaja’s Omole Estate, Lagos home was visited by men of the underworld and valuables worth millions of naira where carted away in the process, perhaps, pictures showing his face too?
So far, the afrobeat singer who is in far away United States has not confirmed if the face is actually his or if he is the one that made the picture public or mandated someone to do so on his behalf.
It is however hard to ignore the striking similarities between this face and the masked one especially the lips, eyes and shape of chin.

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Mo Abudu Named Alongside Dangote, Others as Top CEOs in Nigeria

The Chief Executive Officer of EbonyLife Television and a popular TV talk show host, Mo Abudu, has been listed by Ventures Africa as one of the top 10 Nigerian CEOs of 2013.

Abudu,  who has been nicknamed African ‘Oprah Winfrey,’ made the list alongside Funke Opeke of MainOne, Michael Arumemi-Ikhide of Arik Air, Olusegun Agbaje of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) and Aliko Dangote of Dangote Group.

According to a statement made available to us yesterday, by Red Media Africa Communication Associate, Daphne Akatugba, in the list, Ventures Africa reviewed 13 outstanding Nigerian CEOs, saying: “These executive officers have been credited not because they sit on the chair of company with ‘high-sounding’ names but because they have been able to make a difference in highly competitive markets.

“They have demonstrated effective management capabilities through hard work, resilience, research, an understanding of the Nigeria business climate as they moved their companies forward.”

Abudu, also known as the queen of talk shows in Nigeria, is a media mogul and self-taught TV host.

In 2013, Abudu launched EbonyLife TV, Africa’s first continental black entertainment network, targeting Africa’s growing and aspiring middle class with programming that celebrates style and success while motivating its audiences to dream big.

“The Nigerian TV personality has arguably revolutionised pay TV in Africa since she launched the first syndicated talk show, Moments With Mo in 2006, and with EbonyLife TV, she is definitely one of the CEOs to look out for in the coming years,” it said.

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APGA sweeps Anambra LG polls.

The Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) Sunday declared the results of the state’s local government elections it conducted on Saturday with the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) winning 20 out of the 21 local council chairmanship seats.

The commission’s acting Chairman, Mr. Sylvester Okonkwo, who disclosed this at its headquarters in Awka yesterday,  said the outcome of Nnewi North Local Government Area poll was inconclusive, noting that it had been rescheduled for January 18.

He, therefore, reeled out details of the election result, stating that APGA won a total of 304 councillorship seats contested in the state’s 326 electoral wards; with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winning 12, Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) one seat and United Progressive Party (UPP) also wining a seat.

Okonkwo acknowledged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) formally wrote the commission before the election, indicating that it would not participate in the election for lack of confidence on the voters’ register the commission eventually used to conduct the process.

The January 11 electoral process was the only local council poll ever conducted in the state since Nigeria’s returned to democracy in 1999, but 23 registered political parties boycotted the election.

The last council poll in the state was conducted in 1998 prior to the general elections that ushered in representative democracy in 1999, after over 20 years of military interregnum.
But the political parties, which boycotted the process, cited the controversial register of voters used in the election as not different from the one used for the November 16, 2013, governorship election in the state.

On why it boycotted the process, the APC said three conflicting registers of voters were in circulation a few days to the election even as it stated that it was already in court contesting the veracity or otherwise of the election.

After the process on Saturday, the APC issued a statement, describing the election as another APGA charade couched in deceit and that the apathy exhibited towards it by the people of the  state and the non- provision of result sheets justified its position not to participate.

Commenting on the rescheduled poll in Nnewi North, Okonkwo explained that it was unanimously agreed among parties that participated in the process that the election be conducted on January 18.

Okonkwo, therefore, commended the people of the state for eschewing violence before, during and after the polls, even when there was a report of interception of a vehicle conveying election materials.

He urged those who were aggrieved with the outcome of the election to go to court, recalling that local council election was last conducted in the state in 1998, while attempts to conduct the poll before Saturday had met brick walls.

He noted that attempts were made in December 1998, December 4, 2004, February 2005, November 2011, October 5, 2013, December 14, 2013, December 21, 2013 before it was finally conducted on January 11.

Also speaking, Chairman of APGA in the state, Mr. Mike Kwentor, ascribed the party’s victory to the infrastructure development, which he said, had been successfully executed by the administration of Governor Peter Obi.

Kwentor said the party was not bothered by the postponement of the election in Nnewi North, noting that the party “will win the election when conducted. That three other political parties got pockets of victories shows that there is democracy in the state.


“Grassroots democracy is the election of villagers and commoners, so depending on the credibility of the candidate, villagers voted their choice,” he explained.

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You Are Not Bigger Than Government, Jang Tells Sanusi.

Plateau State Governor, Chief Jonah Jang,  Sunday criticised  the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, over his face-off with President Goodluck Jonathan.

The governor, who is the factional chairman of the Nigerian Governors'  Forum (NGF), urged Sanusi to moderate his utterances as he was not bigger than Nigeria.

In a statement in Abuja, by the NGF media office and signed by Kassim Yakubu,   Jang said as an appointee of the president,  if there was any lack of trust between him and Jonathan, the only honourable thing for him  to do was quit so that the president could appoint someone he would be comfortable to work with.

“If the relationship between the CBN governor and President Jonathan has become frosty, it is only logical that the president becomes uncomfortable knowing how sensitive the CBN is to his transformation agenda. Moreover, we elected the president to run the country and so we cannot be held hostage by an appointee of government if it is true that Mr. President has asked for the resignation of the CBN governor,” he added.

According to him,  Nigerians put their trust in Jonathan to pilot the affairs of the nation when they voted him in as president and, therefore, he should be allowed to run his government without unnecessary distractions, especially from appointees who serve at the pleasure of the president.

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Chris Okotie to run for Presidency in 2015 election.

The founder of the Household of God Church International Ministries Pastor Chris Okotie has indicated interest in the 2015 presidential election. He made this known to Punch newspaper in an interview that: “ I will run in 2015, God willing.God spoke to me about my participation in the political process, which was why I took the step in the first place. He has not said anything contrary. I don’t want to talk about our strategy for now, we have learnt from our past experience, we don’t want to talk about it for now.’’ Okotie is expected to run on the platform of FRESH (Faith, Responsibility, Equality, Security and Hope) Party. Not his first time, Okotie ran for president in 2003 on the platform of Justice Party, and the second time in 2007 on Fresh Party’s ticket.

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Obasanjo's Monumental Corruption Exposed.

 On 16 May, 13 days to the end of his tenure, Obasanjo announced to the Federal Executive Council, FEC, the award of contracts worth N756 billion. That proposal sailed through the council like a greased pig in a slaughter house. As Frank Nweke, then minister of Information, explained, N70 billion of this would be for the resuscitation of textile industries in Nigeria; N58.6 billion for the second Niger Bridge; its maintenance was to gulp N42 billion. The companies to execute the projects were not named. Three days earlier, FEC, approved N16.53 billion port harbours reconstruction in Lagos; N20 billion, expansion of the Lagos airport; N4.8 billion, building of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, permanent accommodation; and N1.39 billion for the Ministry of Defence’s permanent residence for participants of War College Training Course in Abuja; N1.4 billion, conversion of steam and head for the power plants; N47.4 billion, conversion of the Alaoji Power Plant to double circuit; N3.5 billion for procurement and repair of two boilers at the Egbin Power Station in Lagos and N233 million was for fixing the Agege-Lagos Road. THE ENTIRE N850BILLION WAS EMBEZZLED! YET the same Obasanjo had the effrontery to accuse ‪#‎GEJ‬of corruption among other things? And people are taking him serious? Nigeria is indeed a country filled with many people who cannot think for themselves - where everything is sacrifised at the alter of ethnicism and religion. Corruption in Nigeria under Obasanjo administration Transcorp President Obasanjo used his position to corner considerable shares of Transcorp, a blue chip company that was formed overnight to corner juicy contracts and make fat company acquisitions. It was incorporated in November 2004 and officially launched on 21 July 2005, at the Presidential Banquet Hall, State House, Abuja, with Obasanjo as the special guest of honour. The Transcorp matter was so serious that Chief Gani Fawehinmi, the human rights lawyer, dragged the former president to the Code of Conduct Bureau. He wanted Obasanjo tried over the activities of Transcorp and his shareholding in the company seized or forfeited to the federal government as provided for under item 18(2)c of the Code of Conduct for public officers contained in the fifth schedule, part 1 of the 1999 Constitution. Fawehinmi lamented that during its formal launch on Thursday 21 July 2005, Obasanjo announced some concessions to the corporation as part of government support and encouragement. These include: Licence to build a 400,000-barrel per day refinery, licence to build an independent power plant, access to the federal government cassava project for the construction of cassava processing exports facility, designed land mass for the construction of free port facilities, continued support to help open up market on the African continent and to make Transcorp a partner in Nigeria’s current policy on private/public partnership, creating additional opportunities to develop large scale projects in oil and gas, power and information and communications technology, ICT. As Fawehinmi put it, the company acquired three prime business interests from Nigeria: four oil blocks, OPL218, 219, 209 and 220 allocated to it on 21 July 2005 by Obasanjo when it was launched; Nicon-Hilton, Abuja in October 2005 for $105million and NITEL on 3 July 2006 for $750million. The lawyer noted that the Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, and Chairman of Transcorp, Dr. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, admitted before the House of Representatives that the former president is a subscriber to Transcorp through Obasanjo Holdings Limited. He added that, the admission by the Trustees–Elder Daniel Atsu and Barrister Lucky Egede–of Obasanjo Holdings Limited compounds the constitutional illegality of the ex-president’s involvement in Transcorp. Obasanjo Holdings Limited, the lawyer maintained, is the nominee of President Olusegun Obasanjo in Transcorp and acts on behalf of the president as a cover. He argued: “for the president to allocate oil fields or blocs as the Minister of Petroleum Resources to Transcorp, a company in which he has substantial shares, is clearly an abuse of office contrary to section 15(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 which provides that, “the state shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.” The former president used his influence to sway the purchase of NITEL and Nicon-Hilton Hotel in favour of Transcorp, a practice which Fawehinmi regarded as “a corrupt act and violation of the code of conduct.” The Presidential Library When Obasanjo launched his N7 billion library project, government contractors, banks, businessmen, governors, government functionaries and hangers-on fell over one another to donate N4 billion, while the oil majors operating in Nigeria put in US$20 million. Those who donated were a consortium of banks – N622million; 36 state governors – N360million; MikeAdenuga-N250million; Aliko Dangote and friends- N200million; Femi Otedola- N200million; Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA community- US$1million; Ogun State governor-N100million; Obasanjo Holdings- N100million; Sunny Odogwu-N100million; Arisekola Alao-N100million etc. Also, Fawehinmi took Obasanjo to court, saying that he abused his office and violated the constitution because, the presence of the big donors meant he used his office to “force” out the money from the corporate organisations and those seeking one favour or the other. Excess Crude Account When he was in power, Obasanjo withdrew N2.1billion from the excess crude oil funds. That was in March 2006, when he explained that he wanted to use the money to supplement the cost of the extension of the national census. However, the former Nigerian leader failed or refused to inform the National Assembly or those who elected him into power for almost three months. It was only after the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriation began to turn its gaze in that direction that Obasanjo wrote a letter to the House of Representatives, claiming $17,290,067 (about N2.1 billion) was withdrawn after he had convened an emergency meeting of the stakeholders–some state governors and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission members. However, analysts maintained that Section 80(3) of the 1999 Constitution states that no monies shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the federation, “unless the issue of those money has been authorised–not by governors or stakeholders–by an Act of the National Assembly.” Petroleum Trust Development Fund, PTDF Obasanjo was the first to stir the hornets’ net on this matter when he accused Vice President Atiku Abubakar of corrupt enrichment. According to the EFCC document which Obasanjo dangled with glee, Atiku was alleged to have diverted a sum of $125 million approved for the operation of the PTDF to the Equatorial Trust Bank, owned by Otunba Mike Adenuga, and Trans International Bank, TIB, which, thereafter, gave N400 million to MOFAS Shipping Company, owned by Otunba Oyewole Fasawe. EFCC also connected Adenuga’s payment of $20 million for his Globacom licence to PTDF money lodged in his bank. From October 2003, according to the document, MOFAS paid more than N500 million to Umar Pariya, Personal Assistant to the former Vice-President, while N61 million was paid by the company directly to Atiku and N60 million directly to Musa Garba, a contractor who works for Atiku’s ABTI American University. Atiku responded with a ballistic missile that threw Obasanjo off his perch. Speaking through his media aide, Garba Shehu, Atiku said that Obasanjo, his family, businesses, native community and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, benefited from the PTDF money. He revealed that Bodunde Adeyanju, Obasanjo’s Personal Assistant, made over 100 visits to TIB, Abuja, located at Tofa House in the Central Business District, between 1999 and 2004. “The truth of the matter is that there is a big linkage between Chief Obasanjo and Otunba Fasawe, contrary to the claims that the President has made. There are cheques worth over N100 million issued to IBAD Nigeria Limited, a construction company solely owned by Obasanjo, from Fasawe’s MOFAS TIB accounts,” Garba revealed. Shehu charged further that Fasawe made some direct payments to Obasanjo’s Africa Leadership Forum, ALF, and to the Obasanjo Campaign Organisation. “Also, a TIB Abuja branch cheque of N4 million was issued to Ibogun-Olaogun Development Association on 26th February, 2004. Ibogun-Olaogun is Obasanjo’s village,” Garba added for effect. Garba spilled the beans further, claiming that from 1999 to the elections in 2003, Adeyanju, on behalf of Obasanjo, collected over N3 billion from MOFAS account at TIB, Abuja branch. Atiku further revealed to the Senate Committee on the Fund how Obasanjo paid a staggering N250 million of PTDF money to a lawyer to register a company, Galaxy Backbone. NNPC Funds Like a possessive, jealous husband, Obasanjo clung to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources under which is the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. Chief Audu Ogbeh once told TheNEWS: “I was National Chairman of PDP for over three years. I was also honorary Special Adviser on Agriculture. I know and I was told by many ministers that President Obasanjo did not for once bring any memo for the award of oil bloc or contract in the petroleum sector to council.” Obasanjo, through his Chief of Staff, General Abdullahi Mohammed (retd.), allegedly used the NNPC to unilaterally award contracts without regard to tender or competitive bidding. As reported by this magazine in the past, Mohammed, in a letter entitled, “Request for Revalidation of Approval for NNPC funding on the Nigerian Navy” and dated 18 August 2006, merely stated the importance of procurement of spare parts for the Navy and Obasanjo directed NNPC to award the contract. Ten days later, Mohammed approved a contract for the local refit of NN ships and procurement of spare parts at the cost of N4.63 billion. Obasanjo also wrote a letter to the then Group Managing Director, NNPC, Engineer Funso Kupolokun, asking the corporation to fund the training of 50 individuals and establish media and operational centres in Abuja, Warri and Port Harcourt for N1.19 billion. This lack of due process also manifested in the award of contracts handled by Kinetic Ltd., which supplied 193 Cobra Armoured vehicles for the Nigerian Army at the cost of $35.7 million and was paid through Bankers Guarantee No. 550-0-0446905 with Invoice No. STK/2007/088B. This contract was fixed in January 2007 by the former Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Owoye Azazi, on behalf of the Federal Government. Singapore Kinetics was, through the NNPC, given an “advance payment”of $35.7million. Falana, in his suit, alleged that from 1999 to 2007, Obasanjo had withdrawn over N1trillion unauthorised and un-appropriated by the National Assembly, from the NNPC account and the Federation Account. A New Revenue Arrangement At the height of his civilian dictatorship, Obasanjo whimsically altered the revenue allocation arrangement so much that the 36 state governors, including those in his party, PDP, filed a suit at the Supreme Court against him on 16 September 2002. They alleged that Obasanjo acted unconstitutionally by coming up with a new revenue formula without the approval of the National Assembly. Two months earlier, Obasanjo approved a controversial amendment to the Revenue Allocation Act, giving 54.68 per cent, instead of 56 per cent, while the state governments and local governments received 24.72 per cent and 20.60 per cent instead of 24 and 20 per cent respectively. The Governors charged: “The modification order issued by the president is a violation of the judgment of the Supreme Court.” Money Given To Ghana Obasanjo, in July, 2004, whimsically granted Ghana and the Republic of Sao Tome and Principe $45 million loans. It was after questions were raised that he rushed to the National Assembly. Ghana’s share of $40 million was to help it complete its part of financing of the West African Gas project while the remaining $5 million was to enable Sao Tome and Principe tackle some immediate problems. Other Withdrawals On 9 September 2005, Obasanjo wrote a letter to the Senate, requesting approval to withdraw $2.4billion from the account as the government’s counterpart fund for the Power Sector Development Scheme, PSDS, and $12.4 billion to offset Nigeria’s debt to the Paris Club. Although the Senate approved the $12.4 billion to settle the balance of the debt owed the Paris Club, it resolved that this was possible after it had been appropriated by relevant authority as required by law. But Obasanjo withdrew the $12.4 billion from the Federation Account, instead of the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account, which the upper legislative chamber recommended, and he also took $2.4 billion PSDS fund without waiting for the approval of the relevant authorities. That time, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Public Finance and Appropriation, Farouk Lawan, argued that Obasanjo’s action was illegal. He wondered why, for instance, Obasanjo’s “request for fund outside the Appropriation Act was never brought to the National Assembly for consideration and possible approval.” Nigeria Sao-Tome and Principe Joint Development Authority, JDA The JDA was formally inaugurated in January 2002 to explore crude oil in the Gulf of Guinea and the strait between Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe. According to the treaty, which would last for 45 years, with a review due after 30 years, 60 per cent of resources would be for Nigeria, while 40 per cent would be for Sao Tomé and Principe. But the Obasanjo government changed the goalpost in the middle of the match just one year after this treaty, a development that soured the relationship between the two countries. Trouble started after the 2003 first licensing round, FLR, of oil bloc awards. In 2005, the Sao Tome Attorney-General, Adelino Pereira, investigated an allegation raised by a United States of America-based major oil company on certain shady deals it said characterised the FLR awards by the JDA. The investigations were backed by the World Bank and Dobie Langenkamp, a professor of Energy at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. According to TheNEWS’ earlier report, the protesting oil company bid substantially higher than the Nigerian companies that were eventually awarded concession. “But alleged political manipulation and certain option rights to Environmental Remediation Holding Corporation, ERHC, the major beneficiary of the awards, frustrated the US firm to abandon the cause even though it was far more qualified and possesses the requisite financial, technical and managerial capabilities to handle the lead operations in the JDZ than the favoured companies.” EHRC is owned by Chief Emeka Offor, a controversial politician and friend to Obasanjo. Other figures close to Obasanjo were fingered as beneficiaries of the award: Chief Anthony Anenih, now Nigerian Ports Authority chairman, who owns controlling shares in A & Harmattan Ltd., which won oil bloc 2; Godsonic Incorporated Oil and Gas, which succeeded in bloc 4; Aliko Dangote clinched bloc 3 through his company, DEER. So also did Mike Adenuga, whose Conoil won in bloc 4 . “Kema Chikwe, former Aviation Minister,” this magazine wrote, “is believed to have recruited Hope Uzodinma, an Obasanjo crony–who was recently arrested by the Economic and Financial Commission over an alleged scam–to float Filtzim-Huzod Oil and gas. The company, registered in the Cayman Islands, was yet another beneficiary, as was Sahara Energy, owned by Tonye Cole, son of Dr. Patrick Dele Cole, a former Special Adviser to Obasanjo…” Apart from lack of a geological or petroleum engineering academic or professional expertise, the companies, as the Sao Tome government alleged, “equally lack the financial guarantee to actualise operation.” The Sao Tome AG’s office alleged further: “The procedures used to select the companies which received concessions contained serious flaws and did not satisfy the minimum standards required for the award of such licences.” The report views the Nigerian-owned companies awarded exploration rights as emergency “investment vehicles of financial speculators with no track record of achievement in oil producing or exploration.” Also regulatory documents published in the USA, where ERHC is domiciled, described Offor’s company as “little more than a paper company with no operations and just one favourable contract in its portfolio.” The Odi Massacre Odi, a town on the bank of the famous River Nun, popularised in one of Gabriel Okara’s poems, has a population of over 60,000. The inhabitants engage in fishing, farming, harvesting and processing of oil palm produce and trading. And it is a host community for Shell Petroleum Development Company, which controls three oil wells there. Early in November, 1999, some youths abducted and killed 14 policemen. Thereafter, Obasanjo issued a 14-day ultimatum to the government of Bayelsa State to produce the killers or he, Obasanjo, would proclaim a state of emergency. Before the expiration of this ultimatum, however, Obasanjo ordered troops into Odi and the surrounding villages. The soldiers cordoned off the East-West Road by the Orashi River at Mbiama and by the River Niger at Patani, after which they began a major military operation with the use of heavy artillery, aircraft, grenade launchers, mortar bombs and other sophisticated weapons. According to the Civil Liberties Organisation, a human rights non-governmental organisation, which visited the area after, “So ruthless, savage and thorough was the operation that it could only have been intended to achieve a genocidal outcome.” CLO added that two weeks after the operation, the stench of decomposing bodies dumped into various creeks could still be perceived one kilometre from the town. And every house in the entire community, with the exception of the First Bank, a Community Health Centre and the Anglican Church, were burnt down. But the Obasanjo government defended itself. The invasion, code-named Operation Hakuri II by the then Minister of Defence, General T.Y. Danjuma, was “initiated with the mandate of protecting lives and property–particularly oil platforms, flow stations, operating rig terminals and pipelines refineries and power installation in the Niger Delta.” The Zaki Biam Killings Between Monday, 22 October and Wednesday October 24, 2001, Obasanjo unleashed similar mayhem on Zaki Biam, Vaase, Agbayin, Gbeji and Sankara in Benue State for the same reason–alleged murder of some soldiers. Amnesty International said: “The government of Nigeria must…condemn the killings publicly and make it clear that those responsible will be held accountable.” But Obasanjo told the Financial Times, on 9 April 2002, that when you send in soldiers, “they do not go on a picnic”, adding that “in human nature, reaction is always more than the action.” Loans for Obasanjo Farms Limited Obasanjo’s transformation in this area is spectacular. Since its establishment in 1978, Obasanjo’s farm was surviving on shoe string but when he became President, the story changed. Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Special Assistant to the President on Public Communications and one time Minister supervising the Ministry of Aviation, revealed that the former president’s farm was chalking in an average of N30 million a month or N360 million per year. When the former president and Atiku were engaged in a political brawl, going for each other’s balls, the Atiku Campaign Organisation raised the challenge that Obasanjo should tell Nigerians how he could transform his farm, which was going under in 1999, to a multi-billion naira business octopus in 2007. The former Nigerian leader had only N20,000 in his bank account before he was voted into power, according to Malam Nasir el-Rufai, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. But Obasanjo’s spokesman, Uba Sani, said his principal raised a N2 billion loan for the farm. However, Atiku’s foot soldiers replied, asking Sani to tell that to the marines. They argued: “The explanation of Uba Sani has only further exposed the duplicity of General Obasanjo. General Obasanjo should tell Nigerians how a farm, which was moribund in 1999 and had to be bailed out of impending liquidation, became so rich to generate the collateral for a N2 billion loan.” They maintained that one needs a collateral of about N6 billion to raise a N2 billion loan. Obasanjo, in their words, “should tell Nigerians how he transformed from a man, who his closest minister said had less than N20, 000 in his account in 1999, to someone who now has N6 billion collateral to take a N2 billion loan.” Atiku’s people threw the poser: “Nigerians will be glad to know if President Obasanjo solely took a N2 billion loan from the N50 billion agriculture fund facilitated by the Federal Government when there are millions of Nigerian farmers who should access the loan, but have been crying for access since the introduction of the loan. If President Obasanjo collected N2 billion from a N50 billion agriculture fund approved by his government, does this portend conflict of interest or corruption? These are the questions President Obasanjo should answer to rescue his sagging integrity.” Obasanjo As Land Grabber Obasanjo laid foundation for this when, as a military head of state, he promulgated the Land Use Decree in 1978, vesting the ownership of land in the federal and state governments. Through that, Obasanjo dispossessed the people of Akpa in Badagry, Lagos State, for the building of Bells University. A protest by the villagers was crushed by the former president’s soldiers. The same treatment awaited the people of Lekitaba and Gembu towns on the Mambilla Plateau. They were beaten up by policemen when they stood up against what their enlightened sons called “the Savannah leg of the expanding Obasanjo Farm.” The people of Ishasi-Akute in Ogun State and Ayetoro Itele via Ayobo in Lagos State were also given the same dose of medicine. The rest of the community went wild, almost creating another Agbekoya that OBJ went soft, saying in Yoruba: Oto l’eto, oto le’to (legal and backdoor processes are different). People of Awela near Ayetoro also lost 500 hectares of land to OBJ over 12 years ago. And in 2002, the former president acquired 250 hectares at Ajoda for teak cultivation. The former Nigerian leader turned the people of Abela, near Abeokuta, against their leaders over land. As this magazine reported in 2007, the people complained: “He didn’t buy the land from us properly. What he did was to meet the heads of families who owned the land and give them some paltry sums before he took over the land.” Alhaji Yusuf told TheNEWS in January 2005 that Obasanjo used his status to “give us what he likes; the family members are fighting one another instead of the land grabber himself.” Close to Iseyin, Oyo State, Jim Shina Farms offered a N250 million lease to Obasanjo’s farm for 50 years. For good measure, he made it possible that an abandoned Federal Government dam be resuscitated in order to turn this farm into the Garden of Eden. In Cross River state, the story is not different. In 2001, Obasanjo acquired 10,000 hectares from the immediate past Governor Donald Duke for oil palm estate. Also, the retired general secured an additional 5,000 hectares at Kwa Plantation and took over the government oil palm nursery in Ochong. “When this thing started some few years ago, Obasanjo was coming here regularly,” Goddy Akpama, National Democratic Party, NDP, Publicity Secretary, once lamented to TheNEWS. He added: “We all thought he was doing this anti-deforestation campaign. Later we heard rumours that he was coming to take over the forest and all that.” Obasanjo’s over 100 square kilometres of land spread across nine communities in Akampa and Akpambuyi local government areas of the state. At a point, youths from Abiati, Mfamosing, Aningafe, Mbobui, Ndigane, Akonganaku and Akira Ikot, all in Akampa Local Government Area, as well as Effanga Ikot and Oyom Eneyo, challenged the former president, a development that led to the victimisation of Chief Daniel Asuquo, the chairman of Akampa Council. He lost his re-election and spent 18 months in detention on a spurious murder charge, which the court threw out in 2004. Since 2000, this magazine gathered, Obasanjo’s oil palm mill on his plantation, under the supervision of one Gilbert, a Malaysian, has been producing 10 tonnes of palm oil per day. Obasanjo poached a majority of the mill workers from the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research, NIFOR, Evborneka in Edo State. He accommodates them at Kwa Housing Estate, a former property of Calabar Sports Club on Ekorenium Road. In Rivers State, Obasanjo’s oil palm land is located at Ehuagie in Ogbo/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area. His two fish farms are at Ota Ahoada and Ogbo communities. He has other choice parcels of land at Omuotude area. Analysts, however, are anxious whether President Umar Yar’Adua’s plan to review the Land Use Act will affect the former Nigerian leader. Unethical Agribusiness Practice Before becoming president, Obasanjo leased out his Abeokuta Owiwi Commercial Hatchery because it was almost going under. An Israeli farm, Agrited, took over his farm at Oluyole Local Government in Ibadan. From 1993 to 2004, Avian Specialities was in charge of Obasanjo’s poultry at Alomaja in Ibadan. But with a combination of greed, laws designed to favour his farm at the expense of others and other underhand tactics, Obasanjo gained a slow but steady monopoly that caught his competitors panting like a beached whale. It all started on Saturday 24 November 2004 when the management of Zartech Nigeria Limited, an agribusiness company, unwittingly invited a goat to come and inspect its barn of cocoyam! In other words, the company gave Obasanjo the honour to unveil its Tunnel Ventilation houses, a new production system. As the ceremony was going on, the former president’s mind was somewhere else. Something was taking shape in his head. He shunned the lunch with Maurice Zard, chairman of the company and skittered to his Otta farm where he lambasted his own officials for allowing the other company to outperform them. Then Obasanjo started laying his snare, first by persuading the Poultry Stakeholders Council, at a meeting, that importation of grandparent stock, a better breed of chicken, be controlled. In their communiqué, the following companies came up for licence: Zartech Nigeria Limited, Avian Specialities, Tuns Farms, Oshogbo; Obasanjo Farms, Otta; Nirrya Farms, Kaduna and S & D. However, while the stakeholders had their say, Obasanjo had his way. He jettisoned their list and came up with four companies: Obasanjo Farms, S & D Farms, owned by his chum, Femi Coker; CHI Farms, producers of Chivita and the National Animal Production Institute, Shika, Zaria. The stakeholders did not have any stake in the new scheme! Those who had the wherewithal were not given the opportunity while weak ones had a field day. Zartech, the biggest farm in Nigeria, with the capacity to slaughter 20,000 chickens per day, was inexplicably denied the licence. The new arrangement was such that weaker farms would supply big players with grand parent stock. When the stakeholders complained to the former Agriculture Minister, Alhaji Adamu Bello, he threw his hands up in frustration. Not a company to give up easily, Zartech seized the opportunity of the inability of the National Animal Production Research Institute, NAPRI, to finance what was approved for it to import. Zartech expressed its readiness to provide the money. But when Obasanjo got wind of this, his security goons arrested Zartech’s Managing Director, Roger Adjaude and his brother, Tony, and deported them to Lebanon, their country. Dr. A Oni, NAPRI boss was also detained. Obasanjo went further to make it a crime for any foreign airline to freight the grandparent stocks to Nigeria without approval from Aso Rock. They chickened out because they knew that the former president was a mean and jealous chicken farmer. Obasanjo went a step further to make sure the stocks were intercepted at the border. With the coast clear, other farms, since then, have been buying grandparent stocks from Obasanjo’s farm. Obasanjo’s hatred for Zartech manifested when he tried to persuade the United African Company, UAC, not to lease its farm in Maya, Oyo State to it. But UAC stood its ground. Worse still, he accused Agrited of lowering prices, a practice which Obasanjo himself was guilty of. For this, his soldiers drove away the Israelis from the farm he leased to them. Hurried Terminal Contracts On 16 May, 13 days to the end of his tenure, Obasanjo announced to the Federal Executive Council, FEC, the award of contracts worth N756 billion. That proposal sailed through the council like a greased pig in a slaughter house. As Frank Nweke, then minister of Information, explained, N70 billion of this would be for the resuscitation of textile industries in Nigeria; N58.6 billion for the second Niger Bridge; its maintenance was to gulp N42 billion. T he companies to execute the projects were not named. Three days earlier, FEC, approved N16.53 billion port harbours reconstruction in Lagos; N20 billion, expansion of the Lagos airport; N4.8 billion, building of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, permanent accommodation; and N1.39 billion for the Ministry of Defence’s permanent residence for participants of War College Training Course in Abuja; N1.4 billion, conversion of steam and head for the power plants; N47.4 billion, conversion of the Alaoji Power Plant to double circuit; N3.5 billion for procurement and repair of two boilers at the Egbin Power Station in Lagos and N233 million was for fixing the Agege-Lagos Road. Professor Daniel Saror, former Minority Leader of the Senate, told TheNEWS in 2007: “Obasanjo was dipping his hand into the Federation Account to execute many projects, including the power stations in the Niger Delta. Billions of dollars are being spent on those projects without the approval of the relevant agencies. No senator can exercise oversight function over them because nobody at the National Assembly knows about the contracts and the companies handling them. Senator Farouk Bello Bunza had tried to draw the attention of the Senate to this anomaly, but the PDP senators shot his motion down.” If the above contracts were rubberstamped by the FEC, it was not aware of when Malam Muhammad Habibu Aliyu, then Minister of State for Water Transportation, awarded $140 million worth of contracts for the protection of the Lagos coastline and N2.3 billion for a river port in Lokoja. The FEC neither revealed the contractor nor how the money would be raised. Worse still, Obasanjo awarded a N22 billion contract for the dualisation of the East/West Road without going through competitive tender. Others were the Oron-Eket Road awarded for N26.6 billion; Eket-Onne section, N29.4 billion; Onne-Kaiama section, N86 billion, Kaiama-Warri Road, N78 billion. There were also the N30.3 billion contract for the building of a dam at Karhia, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory; dualisation of Jikwoyi-Karshi Road, N7 billion; redevelopment of the popular A.Y.A. area N1.5 billion; surveying and mapping of the FCT, N162.8 million; construction of Abuja Children Resort Library, N130 million; construction of comprehensive health centres in the 774 local government areas across the country, N55 billion. The Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, fund for the development of the agricultural sector was to gulp N15 billion and replacement of dilapidated infrastructure in the education sector, N600 billion. He also committed N21.2 billion for the development of the Middle Rima Valley Irrigation Project II in Sokoto; rehabilitation of Sokoto-Talata Mafara-Gusau Road was reviewed upward to N4 billion; renovation of the Jigawa Polytechnic, N156 million; provision of amenities in border communities around the Nigeria/Niger Republic in Katsina State, N800 million. Dr. Joseph Wayas, Second Republic Senate President, was quoted by a medium: “It was wrong of Obasanjo to award contracts at a stage when he should be preparing his handover notes. Why should you sit for eight years only to start awarding contracts for somebody else to supervise? What is your interest in those contracts? Who do Nigerians hold accountable for the success or failure of those contracts?” Although Frank Nweke, then Minister of Information, argued they were in order, because government is a continuum, analysts wondered that it was the same Obasanjo who, in 1999, set up the Christopher Kolade Panel to probe all transactions of the General Abudusalami Abubakar government. Siemens During a news conference last year, acting U.S. Assistant Attorney-General, Matthew Friedrich, announced that German company, Siemens AG, pleaded guilty to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, one of which was bribery scandal against some Nigerian big shots. President Umar Yar’Adua, penultimate Sunday, directed all relevant security agencies to investigate it. A statement, signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Communications, Olusegun Adeniyi, read: “The attention of President Umaru Yar’Adua has been drawn to media reports of the alleged bribery by an international telecoms company (Siemens) of some past Nigerian public officials and the President wishes to assure the nation that anybody found culpable in the scandal would face the full wrath of the law.” Although Lori Weinstein, the dogged prosecutor, who pursued the case, did not reveal the names to Judge Richard Leon, she said the documents contained clues for the court to figure out who was who in the $4.5 million bribery scam over $130 million telecommunications projects between 2000 and 2001. Yar’Adua’s investigation may unravel who accepted $180,000 wristwatches. Halliburton Bribes The Umar Yar’Adua government, according to analysts, should probe Obasanjo and Atiku over the Halliburton scam. It was the former Nigerian leader who started it all when he mentioned his former VP in the scandal during the controversial BBC interview. Atiku’s media aide, Garba Shehu, however, countered: “Obasanjo had said these and many more while he was in office. Yet, with all the law enforcement agencies at his disposal, he failed to establish a single case against Atiku. The scandal broke out after a French court investigated Kellog, Brown and Root, KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary, on an allegation that it paid $180m to FG officials to win contracts for the construction of the $6 billion NLNG plant. For this, Halliburton pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a fine of $579 million. According to documents on the website of the US Justice Department, Tri-Star, based in Gribraltar, and a trading company of Tokyo were respectively paid $132 million and $50 million to be passed to Nigerian officials. The EFCC, which once probed the $180m bribe scandal, interrogated Edmund Daokuru, former Minister of State in the Petroleum Ministry, and Funso Kupolokun, then the Group Managing Director, NNPC. The scam started from the General Sani Abacha years–Alhaji M.D. Yusuf and former oil minister, Dan Etete were named–and continued under Abdulsalami. Under Obasanjo, Halliburton twice paid kickbacks–in 2001, $51 million and in 2002, $37.5 million. In its 29 March, edition, Next on Sunday reported that after the “transition to civil rule in 1999, the United States Department of Justice attorneys stated that (Albert Jackson Mr.Stanley, Chief Executive of KBR) met with the new President, Olusegun Obasanjo and the then Group Managing Director of NNPC, Gauis Obaseki, in Abuja on November 11, 2001, to designate ‘a representative with whom the joint venture… should negotiate the (obligatory) bribes in support of the award of the (forthcoming) Trains 4 and 5 contracts.” Mr. Wojciech Chodan, an American but UK-based wheeler dealer and Mr.Stanley, as the newspaper put it, met Obaseki over lunch, “to discuss the details of the Trains 4 and 5 contracts.” Violation of Court Orders/Constitution The one that readily comes to mind was the way Obasanjo seized the funds of Lagos State councils, in spite of the Supreme Court ruling. Jide Ayobolu, a public commentator, once lamented “a situation where those that swore on oath to uphold the constitution, are wantonly violating the constitution.” Bells University As President, Obasanjo awarded licence for himself to establish a private university, Bells. This is in spite of what is contained in the statute books that a serving president should not engage in any business except agriculture. Analysts argued that it was for this reason that the former president victimised former Abia State governor, Orji Kalu, whose Slok Airline had to relocate to Gambia. Though supporters of Obasanjo claimed that he ran his companies through blind trusts, but watchers of the government are of the view that he used his influence to the advantage of such ventures. Oil Deals As petroleum minister, Obasanjo did not account for oil sales. For this reason and more, Femi Falana, the human rights lawyer, dragged the former president to a Federal High Court, Abuja. Falana charged that between 2000 and 2006, Nigeria lost over $13 billion unaccounted revenue. “A thorough investigation will crack the secrecy and reveal the wanton billions of dollars that had vanished from the sales book,” Falana maintained. He also wants the court to question OBJ on how he spent over $1billion between 1999 and 2006 for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries, all of which are not working. “On this score, we have since confirmed that more than $700million was misappropriated to enrich Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and his cronies and to fund his political party, the People Democratic Party, PDP,” Falana alleged, adding that in the end Obasanjo sold off the refineries as scraps. A can of worms was opened by Hamman Tukur, Chairman Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) when he called President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua in August 2007. According to Mathias Okoi-Uyouyo, in his book, EFCC and the New Imperialism, A study of Corruption in the Obasanjo Years, “Tukur who almost bit the dust in the dying days of the Obasanjo administration (due to his campaigns for probity in governance), told Yar’Adua that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) had withheld a total sum of N560 billion from the Federation Account from December 2004 to April 2007.” Tukur, as the writer puts it, revealed that NNPC lifts 445,000 barrels of crude oil every day for domestic refining but it sells most of these to refineries outside the country, especially because our refineries are not operating at full capacity. The NNPC pays for refining and collects all the refined products but Nigeria and collects all the refined products but Nigerians only see kerosene, PMS and diesel. “Revenue from the sale of the other LFPO should be enough to recover costs and save Nigerians from price increase. (However,) the NNPC does not account for the other products but it also withholds about N20billion every month from the Federation Account as subsidy.” The critic maintained further that there is also the need to question the rationale of the NNPC being supplied 450,000 barrels of crude oil a day when the refineries when functioning at full capacity can only refine 300,000 barrels a day. The refining capacity of the refineries during the period under review has further plunged to 150,000 barrels per day from 250,000 barrels per day in 1999, yet 450,000 barrels were daily supplied to it. In his calculation, Okoi-Uyouyo said that in 2001, when the local allocation was increased, crude oil was selling at N35per barrel in the international market. “The price NNPC was paying is $18 per barrel for an excess 300,000 barrels it could not refine. A profit of $5,100,000 was earned daily from this transaction. The crude oil was paid for in naira by the NNPC. The organisation paid the Central Bank of Nigeria at N110 to a dollar, when the existing rate of the dollar in the foreign exchange market was N135 to a dollar.” The book further tells Nigerians that revelation by NEITI on an audit carried on its behalf by the United Kingdom-based audit firm, Hart Group, showed that about 65million barrels of crude oil sold between 1999 and 2004 could not be accounted for.” Privatisation of State-Owned Enterprises According to a survey contained in Mathias Okoi-Uyonyo’s book, EFCC and the New Imperialism, the Privatisation programme under Obasanjo was implemented in a “manner that handed over these public assets at ridiculously low prices to people alleged to be his business associates or that of his family members. Typical examples were his Nigerian Telecommunications and Ajaokuta Steel Complex.” On NITEL, Falana has an axe to grind with OBJ. The Investors International Limited, ILL, of London is, as the lawyer explained, owned by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s cronies and was “induced into buying up NITEL”. First Bank, therefore, as the lawyer said, lent $100million to ILL, which the company paid as part of the required 10 per cent deposit to Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, in lieu of NITEL shares. Questions were raised on the loan because it breached the Bank and Other Financial Institution Act, BOFIA, 1991, which states that no bank can give a loan to a single client in excess of 35 per cent of the value of its shareholders’ fund. But Obasanjo, as Falana alleged, withdrew $100 million from the Federation Account without appropriation by the National Assembly to offset NITEL’s indebtedness to the bank, just before the auction took place. Obasanjo also has questions to answer on the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSCON, Ajaokuta Steel Company, Hilton Hotel, NICON Insurance plc, Federal Government houses and others. For Obasanjo, therefore, to say to the international community that he is clean, analysts conclude, he was playing the ostrich. To them, his backside is exposed to the wind, desert wind! The News Magazine