OBLONG MEDIA GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE is where independent minds meet to dissect politics, society, power, and global affairs without fear or filters. This is not mainstream media.
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The Peoples Democratic Party has accused the All Progressives Congress of not being able to accept, with equanimity, constructive criticisms of its administration. In a statement on Saturday, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said it was unfortunate that the APC and its leaders, who gleefully and unjustifiably poured invectives on former President Goodluck Jonathan in the guise of playing the role of an opposition party, would now not want to condone criticisms. “Unlike the APC that denigrated the office and person of former President Jonathan by wrongly depicting him as ‘clueless and incompetent’, the PDP remains the…
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The All Progressives Congress, APC, has condemned what it called the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s “unprovoked insults and unguarded statements” on President Muhammadu Buhari and other members of the APC. The APC said in the aftermath of last Wednesday’s presidential chat, PDP’s spokesperson, Olisa Metuh in a statement issued on Thursday amongst others called Mr. Buhari an “unrepentant tyrant” and a “fascist”. APC said PDP accused ministers and APC members of corruption while further accusing the president of a selective anti-corruption fight. APC’s national chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, in a statement Saturday said, “The APC is worried by PDP’s inciting…
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The presidency says President Muhammadu Buhari will not interfere with the trials of Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser (NSA), and Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), dismissing insinuations that the president is bent on influencing the court to jail the duo. According, Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, Buhari has the right to hold an opinion on the matter, but he would not interfere with the process of the court. During his maiden chat with select journalists on Wednesday in Abuja, Buhari showed a predisposition to keeping Dasuki and Kanu in detention. “Technically, if you see…
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“For those of our uninformed little friends who are in the habit of reminding others that Elections are not won on Facebook and castigating their fellow Facebook users. Well, you guys are right. Elections may not be won on Facebook for the common sense knowledge that Facebook don’t hold real polling units. However, Online presence will continue to drive Offline activities. Deny this at your peril; the joke will be on you. 18 million Nigerians of voting age are on Facebook alone. In the last presidential election, 28 million people voted; this is out of the nearly 69 million…
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Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, has expressed concerns over conflicting judgments emanating from the Court of Appeal. Addressing justices of the Court of Appeal in Abuja at the Annual Conference of the Court of Appeal held in Abuja, Justice Mahmud said: “As the guardians of the law, we must not only be just but also convey certainty in our justness.” The Peoples Democratic Party largely affected by the decisions of justices of the Court of Appeal in electoral matters had accused the justices of interpreting the laws to favour the ruling All Progressives Congress. The party had…
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The first U.S. shipment of crude oil to an overseas buyer departed a Texas port on Thursday, just weeks after a 40-year ban on most such exports was lifted. The Theo T tanker has left NuStar Energy LP’s dockside facility in Corpus Christi, Texas, along the western shore of the Gulf of Mexico, Mary Rose Brown, a spokeswoman for NuStar, said in an e-mail. The ship is carrying a cargo of oil and condensate to Italy from ConocoPhillips’s wells in south Texas that was sold to Swiss trading house Vitol Group. A campaign by oil explorers including Continental Resources…
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Indications have emerged that about 14 ministers, who served the administration of Goodluck Jonathan will not receive any severance package from the current federal government. The ex-ministers that may forfeit their severance package are said to have spent less than two years in office and did not qualify for the package. According to The Nation, President Muhammadu Buhari administration has stuck to the implementation of the terms of appointment. A clause in their appointment letters reads in part: “Severance Allowance of 300 %of Annual Basic Salary payable after full tenure of office with government. The allowance will be pro-rated…
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Most of all, we need to rally around the government of the day and selfishly assist them in achieving their goals to reawaken both the economy and the psyche of Nigerians for the long term growth of Nigeria. We can do this by emphasising the positive about Nigeria in the media – popular and social – even as the battles are fought for the soul of the country on several fronts, battles that must be won by Nigeria for a truly great future. We have reached a significant watershed in the Nigerian experiment. Everyone on the planet with a…
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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday stated that the trial of former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, for alleged corruption indicates that the All Progressives Congress (APC) are afraid that he may be harbouring a presidential ambition. The party also said it sympathised with President Muhammadu Buhari and leaders of the APC over their inability to accept, with equanimity, constructive criticisms of their administration. A statement by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said “it is sad and embarrassing that President Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade has now been reduced to a war between the APC and…
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Nigeria’s oil sector reforms Czar and Group Managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, is facing, perhaps, the toughest test of his glittering career as fuel scarcity persists across the country, threatening to undo his honest intentions about that lucrative but problematic sector. He is fluent, articulate and has good grasp of issues and challenges of the sector when you engage him. You are held spellbound as he reels out figures upon figures concerning the sector. You can see his intentions to reform the sector but all that will pale to nothing if Nigerians…
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Just 7 months in office, President Muhammadu Buhari’s body language no longer works. Buhari’s witchcraft of ‘CHANGE’ has run out of steam, maybe due to fuel scarcity. The demystification begins. President Goodluck Jonathan was very wise in handing over peacefully to General Muhammadu Buhari. Jonathan did the best thing, ever. If Jonathan hadn’t handed over to Buhari, APC warlords would still be foaming in the mouth, ranting and throwing stones outside Aso Rock, and everyone would by now be thinking General Buhari is a miracle worker. Read the article below. Sometimes I feel that sudden urge to run away from…
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Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan almost secured the release of the abducted Chibok girls. This is according to Ahmad Salkida, the controversial journalist and blogger with unfettered access to the dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group in his December 31st article released on his blog. According to Salkida, President Goodluck Jonathan negotiated a swap deal which would have seen to the release of the girls in exchange for some Boko Haram militants in Nigerian prisons. Salkida said it was therefore curious that President Muhammadu Buhari could say in his maiden presidential media chat last Wednesday that he had no information on the…
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The European Union on Saturday raised serious concerns over Saudi Arabia’s execution of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, warning it could have “dangerous consequences” for a region already fraught with sectarian tensions. “The specific case of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr raises serious concerns regarding freedom of expression and the respect of basic civil and political rights, to be safeguarded in all cases, also in the framework of the fight against terrorism,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement. “This case has also the potential of enflaming further the sectarian tensions that already bring so much damage to…
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It is very interesting to hear or read the words of oath of office during swearing in ceremony of any president. I am not going to go into details of these words but some of these words stand out from the rest. Those words are for example : I Mohammadu Buhari swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President (or discharge the functions of the President) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the law and that I…
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During the presidential media chat on Wednesday 30th December 2015, Nigerian President Muhammed Buhari said that Igbos were not maltreated, and should stop screaming marginalization. Speaking of the continue protests and struggle for the realization on Biafra Republic in parts of the South East and South South, the former miliary head of state said: “Why does it have to worry me, when I have militants, Boko Haram and other. They said they are being marginalsed but they haven’t defined the extent of their marginalisation. Who marginalised them? How? Where? Do you know?,” he queried.”Who is the minister of state for…
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Anarchy looms when chief law compliant becomes chief law breaker under a democratic dispensation. The Federation of Nigeria under Muhammadu Buhari is both in danger and endangered. Though President Muhammadu Buhari’s open and brazen contempt for constitutionalism and rule of law during his last night’s maiden presidential chat is condemned by all and sundry; but his courage to declare same openly is commendable. Nigerians and members of the international community are now fully aware that President Muhammadu Buhari is the chief law breaker and chief enemy of constitutionalism and rule of law in Nigeria. Also as far as the…
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The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) on Friday read the riot act to filling stations who sell petrol above official pump price of N86.50k and N86 respectively. The Assistant Director, Public Affairs, DPR, Mrs Dorothy Bassey, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. “We have put effective monitoring teams in place that will go out to monitor the level of compliance with the new pump price. “We will ensure that any station caught selling above the pump prices will have its product dispensed to customers for free. ”You know that there is holiday today, monitoring is…
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Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has disclosed that three private refinery operators have indicated interest to start operations in the state just as he warned marketers against contravening the miscellaneous code which he said, is punishable by law. The Governor also advocated for the liberalization of the petroleum downstream sector to make room for an inter play of market forces which would regulate the cost of Petroleum products for the consuming public. He stated this during the monthly prayer meeting at the Latter House Chapel, Government House, Uyo. Governor Emmanuel was speaking against the backdrop of artificial…
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Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has said President Muhammadu Buhari has taken Nigeria one step closer to a totalitarian regime by justifying his government’s refusal to allow former National Security Adviser, Ibrahim Dasuki and others to enjoy the bail granted them by court. In his reaction to Buhari’s media chat, Fani-Kayode said: “We are not yet in a democracy. How can president not feel bad that courts orders are not being obeyed? “I am worry by the fact that the president is trying to be the prosecutor, the jury and the judge. First, he does not believe…
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FORMER Minister of State for Education, Kenneth Gbagi, has faulted the Federal Government’s proposal to borrow N1.8 trillion to fund the 2016 N6.08 trillion budget. Fearing that the move could plunge the nation into avoidable doom, Gbagi, who urged immediate reversal of the move, said Nigeria did not need to borrow, if President Muhammadu Buhari recovers half of the country’s looted funds. On Buhari’s N6.08 trillion budget and whether it would boost Nigeria’s economy, Gbagi said: “With regards to the N6 trillion budget, we are yet to be told the basis. From the way it sounds, we are going…
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Except the federal government takes urgent steps to develop other sources of revenue, receipts from crude oil may soon amount to nothing and the 2016 budget may be difficult to implement. This is because the difference between the current cost of producing a barrel of oil in Nigeria and the price of crude oil in the international market is negligible, even as some countries such as Uk, US, Norway, and Angola are already producing beyond the cost price. The cost of producing a barrel of crude oil in Nigeria is put at $31.60 while the price of crude oil in…
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One of the greatest shockers of Mr. President’s maiden Media Chat was the claim that he was unaware of any of his Ministers currently in court for corruption. Mr. President among others said, “I don’t think I took anybody among the ministers who has got a case in court. Tell me one out of the 36. I don’t think I will deliberately make that mistake.” In response to President Buhari’s request for information on any minister in court (and for corruption), it is important to put the records straight that his minister for Transport, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi is…
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The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, has said that the country will begin local production of pencils in the next two years. After a facility tour of Projects Development Institute (PRODA), Enugu, Onu said the project would create over 400,000 jobs in line with the vision of the current administration. He said that it was wrong for the country to be importing pencils when it had the capacity to produce them. “It is unthinkable that 55 years after independence, Nigeria Is still not producing pencils when we have the human and material resources in the country.…
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Fellow Nigerians, have you heard the news coming from the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola – that former President Goodluck Jonathan constructed more roads than any president ever n the history of Nigeria? He was reported to have made that startling admission on Tuesday, December 8, 2015 in Abuja during his first news conference tagged, “Setting the Agenda for Delivering Change”. He also acknowledged that the transformation in the power sector was above 50 per cent and that he would try to build on it. I could scarcely believe my eyes when I read about it…
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The revelation that our security agencies have no intelligence on the whereabouts of the girls of Chibok is saddening, and perhaps even worse is the statement that the government has no credible means of establishing contact with the leadership of Boko Haram. What have the intelligence units of our various security agencies been up to all these months? This, to say the obvious, is reckless and not something any leader should say without feeling a sense of guilt or embarrassment. So, who have we been fighting all along? Ghosts? We’ve people like Ahmad Salkida and Barrister Aisha Wakkil around…
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Fiery Enugu based cleric, the Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka has raised the alarm over the plan by some unnamed persons to kill President Muhammadu Buhari. Mbaka, who is known for his controversial prophecies, is the head of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu Nigeria. Mbaka it was who falsely prophesied that both Governors Chimaroke Nnamani and Sulivan Chime would not win elections to second term tenures. On a similar note, the charismatic in his 2016 New Year message, which he delivered before millions of worshipers in Enugu Friday morning raised the alarm over plans to kill Buhari owing to his anti-corruption…
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The President said, “I am aware that Nigerians have experienced a number of significant hardships over the past months. Living in the State House has not alienated me from your daily sufferings. “I am aware of the lengthy queues at fuel stations and of the difficulties businesses have faced in acquiring foreign exchange. These challenges are only temporary; we are working to make things better. “When I presented myself to you as a presidential candidate and asked you to vote for me, I wanted to be a leader who keeps his promises. I wanted to be a leader, who…
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Below is former President Goodluck Jonathan’s new year message to Nigerians. On behalf of my family and I, I would like to wish all Nigerians a Happy New Year. We are all brothers and sisters born from the womb of one Nigeria and as I have said previously, we would not be Nigerians if God did not will it. Having found ourselves as Nigerians by the divine providence of God, let us celebrate our Nigerianness and make 2016 our turning point year in which we embrace each other and work as a team to advance the frontiers of Nigeria in…
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Since I am a victim by association to one of the most vilified and scandalised Nigerians through media trial, this open letter is the best opportunity for me to put some issues in proper perspective following some of your public remarks about your old friend. As you are aware, I have been actively involved in cementing relationships between the media and security agencies in the recent past. Immediately after my premature retirement from the public service by the Jonathan administration, I was invited by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), under Col. Sambo Dasuki (retired), to help…
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Wishing all my much loved and much treasured audience a great, prosperous, blissful, healthy, bright, delightful, energetic and extremely Happy New Year 2016.The New Year is not about changing the dates, but direction; it’s not about changing the calendar, but commitment; it’s not about changing the actions, but attitude. May each and every day of ours be renewed with lots of happiness and love. May the bad times we faced in the year 2015 be our stepping stones to success and may we be blessed with many happy moments in 2016. I wish all the negativity and difficulties to…
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President Muhammadu Buhari has said despite the resolve of his administration to tackle corruption, prosecution of suspected oil thieves and looters of public funds may take years. The president made this known during his first media chat yesterday. Buhari said the process of prosecuting oil thieves and recovering monies stolen from government coffers would require the cooperation of other countries where the monies are lodged, and this, he said, may take a long time. According to him, the problem of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is the involvement of international institutions, financial shipping lines and insurance companies in its…
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President Muhammadu Buhari has denied not having knowledge of the difficulties and hardship most Nigerians have been going through especially students in the Diaspora who have been adversely affected by the policies of the Central bank of Nigeria, CBN. Buhari stated this during his maiden presidential media chat on Wednesday 30 December, 2015. The President who was expected to address the dire situation which has crippled business activities in the country, hampering student’s abilities to make payment abroad dashed the hopes and aspirations of Nigerians when he said he was not aware and would ask the Central Bank of Nigeria,…
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Nigeria’s government will not release two prominent detainees despite several court orders for their release, and will not comment on the situation of a third, wounded detainee, President Muhammadu Buhari said Wednesday. Buhari, a former military dictator who calls himself a born-again democrat, did not discuss the propriety of defying court orders when he spoke on national TV. “If you see the atrocities these people committed against this country!” Buhari said in justification. “We can’t allow them to jump bail.” A Federal High Court set no bail conditions and ordered the unconditional release of Biafra separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu…
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• Says party may sanction guilty members The ongoing anti-corruption stance of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal administration has received the surprise endorsement from the top leadership of the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Top leaders of the party under the aegis of the Body of National Vice-Chairmen of the PDP met on Tuesday and affirmed its support for the current fight against corrupt practices in the land, stating that those members found guilty risked sanctions. In the same vein, the vice-chairmen insisted that the party is not a corrupt group, adding that what happened was that all the…
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As the PDP boasted in the past that it would remain in power for 60 years, so is the APC now showing the determination to remain in power for 100 years. The signs are now crystal clear: the APC is out on a full-blown witch-hunt of the PDP. The objective is not only to decimate the opposition, but to ensure it does not recover. All the road-maps point to one destination: the creation of a one-party state in Nigeria in everything but the name. Should this succeed, it would mean the end of effective democracy in Nigeria, Part of the…
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In one of Africa’s most celebrated surprises this year, Nigerian voters unseated President Goodluck Jonathan. The election of Muhammadu Buhari defied expectations of electoral fraud and violence, and his perceived much touted anticorruption platform sparked hopes for reform and economic growth. Into Africa Yet progress on both fronts has been slow and uneven. To understand why, pick up Tom Burgis’s “The Looting Machine,” a bracing look at why a continent blessed with one-third of the world’s hydrocarbon and mineral wealth remains mired in poverty and dysfunction. A former Africa correspondent for the Financial Times, Burgis goes beyond the tales…
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There was never a time the Nigerian people sat together to give themselves a constitution apart from the Independence and Republican Constitutions of 1960 and 1963. The 1999 Constitution was actually Decree 24 of 1999 which was written by former military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, and his lieutenants. It is not an autochtonous constitution that came from the views and positions of the Nigerian people. The Nigerian people, especially the Ndigbo nation where I come from are of the view and very strongly so, that going back to the 1963 Constitution which provides for stronger federating units…
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A Consideration of the Constitutional Transition And Development in Nigeria, From the Pre-Independence Constitutions Which Include the 1922 Clifford Constitution, 1946 Richards Constitution, 1957 Macpherson Constitution, 1954 Lyttleton Constitution And the Post-Independence Constitutions Which Include the 1963 Republican Constitution, 1979 Republican Constitution, And the Present 1999 Constitution, Reveals That the Nation’s Experience in Constitutionalism Has Brought to the Fore the Heterogeneous And Diverse Nature of the Country. This Has Posed a Serious Challenge to Our Survival As a Nation. Only the 1963 Constitution Appears to Address These Challenges And Capture the Essence of Our Diversity. It seems clear that…
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One can conveniently say that in the last 48 years when the military banished the practice of true federalism in Nigeria, our understanding of the bareness of our forced union has been profoundly modified. Our speculations now extend to embrace the infinite; and, whether we are aware of it or not, our daily life has taken its tone and colour from this tremendous realization in our outlook. But the truth is that Nigeria’s federal arrangement is a blatant big time fraud abinitio. Nobody is saying that it is totally bad to copy any political model from elsewhere. The only…
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Imo State Governor has presented a proposed budget of N102,208,328,832 for the 2016 fiscal year, to the state House of Assembly, tagged “Budget of consolidation and continuity.” Making the presentation, yesterday, Governor Rochas Okorocha said that this was lower than the 2015 budget by N41.11 billion, which translates to 28.7 percent. “The budget consists of N44.043 billion capital expenditure, representing 43.1 percent of the total budget and N58.165 billion recurrent expenditure, which represents 56.9 percent of the total budget,” Okorocha said. The governor put the projected recurrent revenue at N76,074,165,612, while the capital receipts was put at N26,134,316,419. …
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The Federal Government has announced an immediate reduction in the price of petrol. The pump price which previously lay at N87 would now be reduced to N86.50. Farouk Ahmed, executive secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) made the announcement. “The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) hereby announces the implementation of the revised components of the Petroleum Products Pricing template for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and Household Kerosene (HHK),” he said. “This followed the approval of the minister of state for petroleum resources, dr. Ibe Kachikwu, for the implementation of the revised template. “The major components…
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A renowned Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmed Gumi, on Tuesday accused the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, of running a parallel government in the North. Gumi, while speaking with newsmen in Kaduna, alleged that for the 40 years of its existence, the Shi’ite sect had been conducting military training for its members. According to him, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria is operating a state within the state. He said, “The Shiites have been embarking on military training and producing cadets and soldiers. “The Islamic Movement of Nigeria does not recognise the corporate entity…
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*2016 Budget for Aso Villa – N18.1bn *2015 Budget for Aso Villa – N6.6bn *2014 Budget for Aso Villa – N12.2bn President Muhammadu Buhari will spend N18.1 billion in 2016 to run the State House, Nigeria’s seat of power, an amount that is N11.5 billion more than what his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, spent in 2015. The amount is also N5.9 billion more than what Mr. Jonathan spent in 2014 on the State House. In 2014, Mr. Jonathan spent N12.2 billion on the State House, while in 2015, the government spent N6.6 billion for the presidential office, amid dwindling revenue…
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Nigeria cannot continue to practice this skewed unitary ‘feeding bottle’ federalism. The change that Nigeria desires is not a change of politicians nor political party, it is a structural change. Until this is done, we shall continue to have the experience of ‘the more things change, the more they remain the same or get worse’…True fiscal federalism is the solution and the APC led Federal Government has a moral, legal and patriotic obligation to make this happen. In April 2012, the present Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, published an article titled “A Federation without Federalism”. In this…
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Robert Klitgaard, the renowned author of “Controlling Corruption,” memorably reduced the definition of corruption to a simple mathematical formula: C=M+D-A. This stands for: Corruption equals Monopoly plus Discretion minus Accountability. This stylised formula is not without its problems, but it is an equation we need to pay attention to if we are really interested in ‘killing corruption before it kills us’. Klitgaard’s is a systemic view of corruption which points us at what to do to eliminate or at least reduce corruption. According to this renowned economist, corruption thrives where the power to make major decisions is concentrated in…
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Nusaibah El Zakzaky, daughter of Sheikh Al-Zakzaky has issued her second statement where she has emphasized on her merely being Muslim; “We are not the Shia Movement of Nigeria; we are the Islamic Movement of Nigeria,” she has said. The text of her second statement: ” I am not a Shia Muslim, I am just a Muslim, and nothing comes before the name Muslim. We Muslims should not accept names like that. Names that segregates us into different types of Islam, there is only one type of Islam brought by Prophet Muhammad (as). We Muslims shouldn’t accept names like…
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Following Dr Ibe Kachikwu’s Christmas day outing at the Port Harcourt Refinery where he gleefully announced the removal of petroleum subsidy and a reduction of the pump price of fuel in Nigeria from N87 to N85 (something he said he’d already signed off a day before Christmas, but due to be announced on January 1, 2015), Nigerians had called for further clarification from a Minister fast becoming an expert in obfuscation. But what did we get? Another outing at Kaduna Refinery and more obfuscation in a supposed attempt at clarification. In this latter outing on on Sunday, 27th of…
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“President Buhari should keep his own part of the bargain if he wants Boko Haram to stop the terror. He should stop the begging, and keep his part of the deal; 1] declare Nigeria an Islamic state, 2] free the captives, 3] implement Sharia across Nigeria 4] abolish Western education. That was the promise Buhari made to Boko Haram leaders, to get their support. Buhari can afford to renege on his electioneering promise to Nigerians but not Boko Haram.” – Senator Shehu Sani, Kaduna state Central –
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• NNPC retains stakes in joint venture assets. The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has disclosed that Nigeria and its former long-term crude oil trading partner, the United States, may soon rekindle their trading relationship in crude oil. The minister, who also said in spite of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) difficulties in meeting its cash call obligations, would not sell some of its stakes in the Joint Ventures (JV) with local and international oil companies (IOCs), added weekend in Kaduna that the United States had made overtures to resume buying Nigeria’s crude oil. He…
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The senator representing Kaduna Central senatorial zone, Senator Shehu Sani, was suspended yesterday from the All Progressives Congress (APC) by his Tudun Wada ward of the party in Kaduna State. The ward chapter of the party in a letter dated December 27, 2015 and addressed to the senator, said the suspension will last for a period of eleven months. The letter also added that henceforth Sani is disengaged from partaking in or attending APC activities in Kaduna State. The letter was signed by the ward secretary of the party, Ahmed Abdulhamid, the Public Relations Officer, Auwal Mai Anguwa and…
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Minister of State for Petroleum Dr. Emmanuel Ibe-Kachukwu yesterday made some counter clarifications about the Petroleum Subsidy Fund (PSF), otherwise known as petrol subsidy. He said that there was no subsidy in the price of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). Kachikwu, who is also the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), spoke to reporters after inspecting the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) in Kaduna. His clarification on the subsidy regime became necessary following stakeholders’ request, such as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) that he provides…
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Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf was the Minister of Information in the dying days of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq. Nicknamed “Comical Ali” by British tabloids, al-Sahaf made a fool of himself during the Iraqi war by constantly fabricating victories of the Iraqi army, even as territory after territory fell to the American-led allied forces. What was so ridiculous about him was that his lies were so blatant, only fools could believe them. Even when American tanks rolled into Baghdad, Comical Ali declared: “There is no presence of the American columns in the city of Baghdad at all. We besieged them and…
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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, yesterday, denied being part of a conspiracy against President Muhammadu Buhari, saying the insinuation that he used the cover of a foreign medical trip to host an anti-Buhari parley was wrong. Reacting to insinuations by what he called “political mischief makers and enemies of unity,” who alleged that he has been hosting political meetings at Burj Al-Arab, Dubai, the former vice president said contrary to the rumours being bandied around by political opponents, he was currently in Dubai with his family for physiotherapy on his injured knee. In a statement by his media office…
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The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry said private operators have lost about N1.46tn as a result of the foreign exchange constraints being experienced in the country over the last six months. This is coming just as the Federal Inland Revenue Service has hinted the citizens will pay higher taxes from next year as a means of shoring up the nation’s revenue. The LCCI, in its 2015 economic review, said its third quarter 2015 business environment survey showed that a forex restriction by the Central Bank of Nigeria was one of the costliest policies in Nigeria in recent years. The…
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Scores of people were feared killed Monday when two female suicide bombers attacked a busy motor park in Madagali town of Adamawa State. A witness, Danladi Buba, said the two female suicide bombers detonated bombs at a mini market near a motor park around 9am, killing many people. “About 30 people were killed with 16 others injured,” Mr. Buba said. When contacted, the Brigade Commander of 28 Task Force Brigade, Mubi, Victor Ezugwu, confirmed the incident, saying the casualty figure was yet to be established. “Two female suicide bombers struck at a garage in Madagali and detonated their devices,…
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*Bonga FPSO. The Shell operated Bonga North West deep-water development has been named Engineering Project of the Year 2015 at the Platts Global Energy Awards in New York, and it also picked up the silver prize for the Project Integration Excellence Award of the International Petroleum Technology Conference, IPTC, in Doha, Qatar. The Bonga North West deep-water development project, which Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, SNEPCo, and its partners brought on stream in August 2014, is an important milestone for Nigeria’s deep-water industry and has generated jobs and businesses. “We are pleased that the achievements at Bonga North West…
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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has said the country will still rely on 75 per cent importation of fuel throughout the whole of next year. Group Managing Director NNPC and Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, stated this during his tour of Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company, KRPC. According to him, “the future is that, Nigeria is still going to import fuel in 2016 and beyond. Best case situation is 25 per cent local and 75 per cent importation. Worse case is what we are experiencing now. “Until we begin to get individuals who can co-relocate,…
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Nigerians may have inadequate power supply for a long time as Sam Amadi, the out-going Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, said that 6,000 megawatts of regular supply of electricity is needed before power outages can be significantly reduced in the country. Amadi, who was speaking during a public hearing on the activities of NERC and Distribution Companies, Discos, as they relate to infrastructure and billing by the House of Representatives Committee on Power, also said that 55 percent of consumers remain un-metered. He attributed this to legacy issues which have resulted in consumers being charged through estimated billing.…
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Nigeria earned N412.983 billion from the export of Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG, Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, also known as cooking gas and other gaseous materials in three months, between July and September 2015, according to data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS. The NBS, in its Foreign Trade Statistics Report for the Third Quarter of 2015, revealed that this represented an increase of 9.5 per cent or N35.813 billion when compared to N377.17 billion earned by the country from the export of those commodities in the second quarter of 2015. Giving a breakdown of the third quarter…
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Billions of pounds of corrupt funds from Nigeria, China, Russia and other countries are pouring into the United Kingdom every year through the purchase of luxury houses, cars, jewellery, watches, art and antiques, a Transparency International report says. Robert Barrington, executive director at Transparency International UK says Britain has little ability to stop this kind of money laundering. He noted that money laundering rules are weak and there is a lack of awareness on how to prevent it. According to Transparency International UK’s ‘Don’t Look, Won’t Find’ report, illegal funds are used to buy anything from homes to jets.…
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The president moves in a motorcade of about 12 vehicles as counted by reporters recently. The senate president and the speaker’s convoys comprise of an average of 10 vehicles each.Former President Goodluck Jonathan maintained not less that 23 cars in his motorcade. The highest number of vehicles in Buhari’s ministers’ convoys is four while the lowest number is two as observed. On the eve of inaugurating his ministers last month, Buhari warned his ministers-designate to avoid large convoys, long protocol and retinue of aides. The president gave this directive at the end of the two-day retreat he organised for…
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The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki has described his Deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, as a man every Nigerian politician should look forward to working with and the type of leader that Nigerians would want to continue to serve them. Saraki, who stated this at a civic reception in Mpu, the country home of Ekweremadu shortly after a special thanksgiving service where Ekweremadu rededicated himself to service to Nigeria and mankind said the deputy senate president is a man who has the interest of the country at heart. Speaking on behalf of the Senate, Saraki said although he had…
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Mr. President, as one of your most loyal and faithful subjects who has nothing but the utmost respect for your person and your office I am constrained to write you this open letter. This is because there are a number of issues that I believe that it is important for you to clarify and to come clean on. I say this because some of your assertions of late are at best contradictory and at worst patently dishonest. Whichever side of the political divide we are on I believe that we can all agree on one thing: that the prosecution…
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We are people of many different races, tribes and religions, who are knit together by common history, common interests and common ideals. Our diversity may be great but the things that unite us are stronger than the things that divide us. On an occasion like this, I always remind people about our firmly rooted policy on religious tolerance. Families of all creeds and colour can rely on these assurances. We have no intention of favouring one religion at the expense of another. Subject to overriding need to preserve law and order, it is our determination that everyone should have…
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Elder statesman, Tanko Yakassai served as Special Adviser to President Shehu Shagari on National Assembly Matters and before then was commissioner for Finance in the old Kano State. In this interview, he reviews the steps of the Muhammadu Buhari administration among other issues. Excerpts: Q- After seven months in office do you believe President Buhari is finding it difficult to settle and why? A- Buhari has not been in office for seven months but rather for 13 years. Irrespective of the fact that the election was held in March and he was sworn into the office in May, Buhari…
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The news of the government of president Mohammadu Buhari plans to remove the fuel subsidy and peg the price of petrol at N85 per liter met some strong mixed reactions. Under normal circumstances one cannot control what is not in one’s hands or control. That is why it is hard for any government or body or group to control prices of goods that are not directly produced by such group or body or government. But for the fact that such is being promised by this administration is really raising some eyebrows. Some of the questions are 1, how would…
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Carefully planned war-like events going on at the Onitsha Niger Bridgehead have clearly revealed that the Hausa-Fulani segment of the Nigerian Army have declared a Second Civil War against the Igbo Ethnic Nationality of Nigeria and their South-south counterparts; particularly millions of Xmas returnees. Their sacred rights to ancestral homeland and ethnic identity are under intense threat. It is historically unheard of that a people of innocent background and character, returning to their ancestral homes for special seasonal feast like Xmas; are blocked and made to suffer and suffocate few miles to their ancestral homes. In the…
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Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abba has blamed the renewed agitation for the creation of Biafra on the failure of past governors of the South-East region to impact positively on the region. In an exclusive interview with Vanguard in Abuja, Hon. Na’Abba said though majority of the people in the region do not support the renewed agitation for the creation of Biafra, the leadership of the agitating bodies have unfairly targeted some vulnerable class of people to oil their self serving agenda. According to him, bearing in mind the economic milestone the Igbos have…
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Jesus was not born on December 25. That is the date of a pagan festival of the sun god Tammuz merged with Christianity under Constantine. However, the evidence is overwhelming that Jesus was born during the Feast of Tabernacles. Coming of Elijah Zachariah, John the Baptist’s father, was ministering in the Temple when an angel told him he would have a son. He belonged to “the priestly group of Abijah.” (Luke 1:5). Abijah was eighth in line according to the Jewish time-table for priests ministering in the Temple: “The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, the…
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As a respected Igbo leader and politician, Chief Chekwas Okorie has cut his teeth in national politics. Okorie, a founder of two political parties, presidential candidate and party chairman, spoke with OFFOR ONUKWUWE, and expressed his views on the current-Biafra agitators. He also reveals how he founded the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), United Peoples Party (UPP) and gave the reasons why Ndigbo deserve better than what they are getting in Nigeria. Excerpts: Q- As the founder of APGA, do you think the party would have played key roles in addressing the issues raised by pro-Biafra agitators? A-…
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With the sustained slide in crude oil prices due to glut of oil on international market, experts have warned that Nigeria must prepare for a less than $20 oil price scenario. The warnings are coming on the heels of the new projection contained in the “IMF Executive Board Concludes 2015 Article IV Consultation with Iran” report released last week, which predicted that the price of crude oil could drop between $5 and $15 in 2016 owing to the prospective lifting of economic sanctions on Iran and the capacity of the Middle East oil producing country to roll out one million…
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Works minister, Babatunde Fashola, is a veteran of many battles. As governor of Lagos State for eight years, he was never afraid to take the bull by the horns. Once his mind was made up, he crushed any obstacle, human or material, that stood on the way to development. Oshodi, once dreaded as the den of criminals and another name for gridlock, was turned to a smooth alley that welcomed the best of entrepreneurs and entertainers. President Muhammadu Buhari must have been so impressed that he picked Fashola to head three powerful ministries put together as one in this…
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When you stay in a hotel, how do you know there is no room pinhole camera? When you travel or take a business trip, and stay in a hotel or a guest house or room you could unknowingly be photographed. You can use this method to check your room : When you enter into the room, turn off the lights, and close the curtains, open your phone camera, do not turn the flash light on. Turn around the room with your cell phone. When a red dot is found, that means that a hidden web camera is installed. If no…
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A Nigerian man accused of trying to bomb a US-bound flight on Christmas Day 2009 has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 25, pleaded guilty to attempting to blow up a commercial plane as a would-be suicide mission for al-Qaeda. His family quickly called on the US government to review the sentence. Abdulmutallab was badly burned when a bomb sewn into his underwear failed to detonate fully, prosecutors said. Almost 300 people were on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Some of the passengers from the flight were in the courtroom as Federal Judge…
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So, the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, picked up his pen a day after Christians celebrated Christmas and finding nothing worthwhile to report from Aso Rock, decided to write instead about how the anti-corruption war is in actuality a political onslaught against the only party that can keep the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on its toes for now. Pardon me, but I am not impressed. Shehu’s history as a runner of media narrative for one of Nigeria’s former Vice-Presidents is well known – his deployment of his pen in…
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A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial constituency, Shehu Sani has lambasted his party over what he referred to as a complete lack of political ideology. Sani says he wonders if the current crop of leaders in the party understand the ideologies and principles which a political party should be built upon. Sani gave this insight during an interview with Daily Trust Newspaper where he attributed his ongoing feud with the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai to an obvious ideological disparity which manifested in the formation of the APC, insisting that…
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The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has revealed that he made a big sacrifice in ensuring that the party did well in the last general elections. Tinubu made this disclosure in Lagos on Monday at the 70th birthday anniversary of National Democratic Coalition, NDC chieftain, Prof. Segun Gbadegesin. The former Lagos State governor observed that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, ruled the country for 16 years because opposition parties failed to unite. He recalled that in 2011, his then party, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN; Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, and the…
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“Bad leadership is worse than no leadership at all.” – Unknown Despite the killings and massacres of innocent citizens by the army in the nation especially in Southeast and Northeast of the country, tomorrow, most Nigerian Christians will join other Christians around the globe to celebrate Christmas, which is historically and traditionally, a day set apart by Christians worldwide to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year as penned by Eddie Pola and George Wyle in 1963. It is the most holy, gracious and loving season of the year because…
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The celebrations of Nigeria’s 50th Independence Anniversary have come and are almost gone but the fall-out are still topical. From the bomb planted by some faceless, heartless terrorists to the dinners, debates, symposia, workshops and national recognitions and awards by the President. The solidarity visit of African Heads of State and goodwill messages from world leaders added flavor to the frenzy. I join the rest of the world in congratulating our dear President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces on this auspicious occasion and wish him and all Nigerians well. The Nigeria project must get done no matter…
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By Obi Nwakanma The mish-mash of Nigeria’s post-war history has permitted many sad revisions which in turn has made Nigerian historical studies and its statements therefrom to be lopsided, ethnic, and gnarled. We have tended in Nigeria to celebrate the worst of us, and have confined Nigeria’s true national heroes to the dustbin. Today, only in a place like Nigeria, with its twisted ethos, can a man like Ahmadu Bello for instance, have greater pride of place in the National rolls than Akweke Abyssinia Nwafor Orizu, one of the great spirits of the anti-colonial Nationalist movement. While the likes…
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The democratic process relies on the assumption that citizens (the majority of them, at least) can recognize the best political candidate, or best policy idea, when they see it. But a growing body of research has revealed an unfortunate aspect of the human psyche that would seem to disprove this notion, and imply instead that democratic elections produce mediocre leadership and policies. The research, led by David Dunning, a psychologist at Cornell University, shows that incompetent people are inherently unable to judge the competence of other people, or the quality of those people’s ideas. For example, if people…
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I read the press statement of one of our most respected leaders, Senator David Mark, commending president Buhari and urging Nigerians to give him time, and I ask, when did we all become cowards in this nation? Suddenly, the respected David Mark, who has been a senator since the advent of democracy in 1999 and two time Senate President of our great nation, is suddenly afraid that if he does not patronize president Buhari and sing his praises he might not win the re-run election for his Benue South senatorial district. It is disheartening to read some of the…
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Only a fortnight ago, former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, visited Benue state where he spent three days in the state as a guest of the state governor and was amongst other things hosted to a state house dinner. The former president, who was claimed to have come into the state for academic purposes, was welcomed at the airport by the Chief of Staff to the Governor even as the governor had taken off that day for Abuja but the Deputy Governor was in town. Revelations have however emerged that contrary to claims by the crafty former president saying…
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If we must ban ATM card use abroad, why not ban it for politically exposed people like me instead of ordinary Nigerians that depend on it? With BVN, the CBN has theaccount details of all elected and appointed politicians in Nigeria. Don’t punish Nigerians for our wrongs! A lot of the Small and Medium scale enterprises that employ the majority of Nigerians, depend on their ATM cards to do business abroad. What do Nigerians in foreign hospitals for life threatening illness do if they cant access funds via ATM?. What do Nigerian students schooling abroad and who depend on their…
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Fuel retailers are completely in the dark over the planned reduction of petrol price from N87 to N85. Ibe Kachikwu, the minister of state for petroleum resources, announced in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, on Friday that the new pump price will take effect from January 1, 2016. But executives of petroleum marketing companies who spoke off-the-record with TheCable on Saturday said it was news to them. “In the past, the major stakeholders in the industry were consulted about major decisions like this. We held meetings. We were put in the picture, but that is not the case this time around,”…
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Following President Buhari’s order, to investigate the activities of the judges of the Rivers elections and petitions tribunal. The publicity secretary of the PDP, Mr. Olisa Metuh, has described the order by Mr. President as ill-timed, belated and of no consequence. Metuh told newsmen, that various petitions with evidence of telephone conversations between tribunal judges, their aides and APC chieftains were sent to Mr. President over five months ago when the matters were still at the lower courts, but unfortunately nothing was done to address those issues, and the judges and their cronies had their way at the various tribunals. …
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The Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, has called on Nigerians to pray specially for President Muhammadu Buhari, saying, “the president needs God to give him the necessary wisdom to be able to find solution to the country’s economic and security problems”. The governor also challenged the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, to relocate to Sambisa in Borno State or Yobe and move around there without heavy military security if indeed he was sure that Boko Haram had been defeated. Speaking through his media aide, Lere Olayinka, on Saturday, Mr. Fayose said, “only God’s intervention can save Nigeria…
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Ben Murray-Bruce: “In 50 years, Nigeria paid for a million people to go on pilgrimage. Imagine if we had paid for a million people to start businesses instead.”
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A purported plan by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to halt all foreign (non-Naira) transactions on Naira ATM, Debit and Credit cards from January 1, 2016, has met with opposition from some Nigerian students studying abroad, who said it would put them under unnecessary constraints. A communication by the apex bank to some commercial banks said the decision to halt the transactions was to shore up the nation’s foreign exchange reserve. The students wielding placards took to the streets in protest, calling on the Federal Government to find an alternative solution to the problem. See more photos below …
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Nigeria may be in for harder times than previously envisaged as the International Monetary Fund has predicted that crude oil prices may slump to as low as $20 per barrel in 2016. In the ‘IMF Executive Board Concludes 2015 Article IV Consultation with Iran’ report, the body highlighted that the price of crude oil could drop by between $5 and $15 in 2016, cableng.com reports. As of Thursday, the price of crude oil in the international market averaged $37. On December 17, the price fell to $36 per barrel. The Federal Government 2016 budget had based the 2016 budget…
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There appeared to be a significant respite for Naira as it strengthened against the US Dollar in the unofficial currency market a day to the public holidays after suffering severe depreciation daily for three consecutive weeks. As at close of business yesterday, the local currency gained 3.64 per cent relative to the greenback, USD, to close at N265/USD1.0 from N275/USD.0 in the preceding week at the Bureau De Change, BDC, market segment. Similarly, the local currency appreciated by 3.57 per cent of its value relative to the USD at the parallel market segment to close at N270/USD1.0 up from…
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Most Nigerian states have released the figures of their budgets for 2016. The states with the lowest budgets are: Sokoto State………… N112.5bn Katsina State………… N110bn Kebbi State………… N107bn Bauchi State………… N102bn Anambra State………… N101.4bn Ebonyi State………… N101.1bn Adamawa state………… N100.89bn Zamfara state………… N92.8bn Yobe state………… N80.6bn Ekiti state………… N67bn
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President Muhammadu Buhari says his administrations is determined to persuade the Boko Haram terrorists and those who he said have decided to be bad neighbors among Nigerians to drop their arms and let peace reign in the country. The President was speaking at his residence in the Presidential Villa when Christian and Muslim faithful living in the Federal Capital Territory paid him the traditional Christmas homage. The President also appealed to civil, spiritual leaders and all Nigerians to be patient and support the administration in an effort to pull out from the situation affecting the country. He decried a…
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The Managing Director and Chief Executive of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane has ascribed the present economic downturn bedeviling the nation to inefficiency on the part of President Muhammadu Buhari which he said was worse than corruption. Rewane made this known while analyzing the 2016 Budget on Channels television and faulted Buhari’s lack of urgency in solving Nigeria’s economic challenges. However he described the proposed 2016 appropriation bill as a welcome development but picked holes in its assumptions. The common man on the street is not bordered about the huge N6.08tillion budget, all he is concerned is how…
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