Electricity Tariff: NERC Has Not Lived Up To Expectation – Expert

A Power Expert has faulted the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) over increments in the electricity tariff.

Mr David Aderibigbe was speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday.

He said, “There are conditions and variables that must be affected in the economy before you can have a minor or major increment in the electricity tariff.

“The minor review involves: exchange rate, variability inflation, gas pricing and perhaps, the cost of generation and transmission,” he said.

The Professor of Mechanical Engineering suggested that the DISCOs should have rated the increase in a particular direction.

“I think there is nothing much to do other than working on the rate of increase which must be in a particular direction. What would be the government’s policy so that the consumers will benefit from it?, what would be the government’s policy with regards to the responsibility of the operators and what should be the responsibility of the consumers?,” he asked.

President Buhari Prays for Nigeria in Medinah

It was a Prayer galore for Nigeria as President Muhammadu Buhari arrived Madinah  the city of the Holy Prophet on a private visit, according to NTA.


State House Correspondent Adamu Sambo reports that the President flew in from Riyadh after the high level talks with the Saudi Monarch King Salman Bin AbdulAziz.

Those Who Distorted 2016 Budget will be severely Punished – President Buhari Vows

President Muhammadu Buhari vowed late Tuesday in Riyadh that all those involved in the “padding” of the 2016 National Budget will face the most severe punishment.

Addressing the Nigerian Community in Saudi Arabia, President Buhari condemned the distortion of the budget proposals by entrenched interests.

The President said that the unauthorised alterations  had completely changed the document from the one he presented to the National Assembly.

“The culprits will not go unpunished. I have been a military governor, petroleum minister, military Head of State and headed the Petroleum Trust Fund.

“Never had I heard the words “budget padding”. Our Minister of Budget and National Planning did a great job with his team. The Minister became almost half his size during the time, working night and day to get the budget ready, only for some people to pad it.

“What he gave us was not what was finally being debated. It is very embarrassing and disappointing. We will not allow those who did it to go unpunished,” President Buhari vowed.
The President also assured members of the Nigerian community that his administration was working diligently to fulfil its campaign promises, particularly on security, unemployment, and corruption.

Reaffirming his government’s zero tolerance for corruption, President Buhari said that the war against corruption was a monumental task that he is determined to tackle successfully.

“We have zero tolerance for corruption and other unethical practices. We will deal decisively with anybody found wanting,” he promised members of the Nigerian community.

President Buhari also used the opportunity of the gathering to brief Nigerians in Saudi Arabia on his administration’s efforts to end the Boko Haram insurgency and terrorism in Nigeria.
“Our armed forces have done a great job of dealing decisively with Boko Haram. We are collaborating with our neighbors in the operations of the Multinational Joint Task Force to handle security threats in the sub-region and we have significantly destroyed  the capacity of the insurgents,” the President said.
He also spoke on efforts being made to diversify the Nigerian economy, stressing that more opportunities are now open for local and foreign investors in the country.

FAAC Meeting: FG, States, LG share N370.4b for January – Minister Of Finance

Mrs Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Finance

The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, said that N370.4 billion was shared among the federal, states and local governments as revenue for January 2016.

She announced this in Abuja, while addressing pressmen on the outcome of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting.

She said that the shared amount comprised of the month’s statutory revenue of N290.9 billion.

The minister also said that there was an exchange gain of N3.4 billion which was proposed for distribution.

Adeosun said that the money shared included the N6.3 billion that was refunded to the federation account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

It could be recalled that N387.8 billion was shared to the three tiers of government as revenue in
December 2015, indicating a decrease  of N17.4 billion in the January allocation.

Giving the breakdown of revenue among the three tiers of government, Adeosun said the Federal Government received N137.5 billion, representing 52.68 per cent, while states got N69.7 billion, representing 26.72 per cent.

The minister said the local governments received N53.7 billion, amounting to 20.60 per cent of the amount distributed.

She also said that N22.4 billion, representing 13 per cent derivation revenue was shared among oil producing states.

She added that the country generated N173.7 billion as mineral revenue and N117.3 billion as non-mineral revenue in January, a decrease of N40.9 billion and an increase of N16.9 billion respectively from what the country generated in the preceding month.

The balance in the Excess Crude Account was 2.25 billion dollars, she noted.

Adeosun explained that acts of vandalism on oil pipelines, among other factors, had continued to negatively impact on oil revenue generation, saying “the shut-in and shut-down of production for repairs and maintenance continued during the period under review.

“However, there was a slight increase in production of crude in December 2015 but the resulting income was marginal due to a 10 per cent drop in crude oil prices.

“The drop in the average price of crude oil from 43.40 dollars in November to 39.04 in December 2015 resulted in a revenue loss of 22.55 million dollars” She added.

Nepal Passenger Plane Crash Kills All 23 People On Board

A small passenger plane has crashed in mountainous western Nepal, killing all 23 people on board.

The Twin Otter aircraft, operated by Tara Air, was travelling from Pokhara to Jomsom and lost contact with the control tower shortly after taking off.

Most of those on board were Nepalis. It is not clear what caused the crash.

The plane was carrying three crew and 20 passengers, one of them Chinese and one Kuwaiti.

Analysts say Nepal’s Aviation Industry has a poor safety record.

Since 1949, the year the first aircraft landed in Nepal, there had been more than 70 different crashes involving planes and helicopters, in which more than 700 people had been killed.

Most accidents had been attributed to bad weather, inexperienced pilots and inadequate maintenance.

In 2013, the European Union banned all Nepalese airlines from flying to its territory for safety reasons.

With Channel Television

Boko Haram: Army Kills 23 Terrorists, Rescue 150 Hostages

The Nigerian Army has disclosed that 23 Boko Haram terrorists have been killed, while 150 hostages rescued as Nigeria/Cameroon troops continue to clear out terrorists’ hideouts.

The Nigerian Army says that in line with the Chief of Army Staff’s directive for troops to maintain the momentum, troops of 7 Division carried out major operations against the Boko Haram terrorist’s locations in Talala and Kumshe axis of Borno State, Channel Television reported.

According to a statement issued by the acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Usman, during the joint operation between elements of 7 division and the Cameroonian forces along Banki-Kumshe axis, 20 Boko Haram terrorists were killed.

He also revealed that the troops destroyed 4 AK 47 rifles and captured a gun truck mounted with an anti-aircraft gun (AA gun) and 2 AK 47 rifles, as well as a 60mm mortar and a Dane gun.

Shocked woman told she was 'constipated ' - only to give birth to her daughter 20 seconds later

Shock: Mum Esther Hope with Lily when she was two months old.

A woman who was told she was constipated gave birth to a baby 20 seconds later on a hospital trolley.

Esther Hope believed her abdominal cramps and back pain was nothing more than constipation and was prescribed laxatives by a doctor.

But after doubling over in pain she was rushed to hospital where her waters broke.

Healthcare assistants still insisted it was “just her body getting ready to go to the toilet” and she was left alone on a hospital trolley - but 20 seconds later gave birth to her beautiful daughter Lily Hope-Moore.

Doctors came back to check on the 23-year-old only to find her cradling her newborn baby .

She said: "I knew it was a baby as soon as I realised it was coming from the wrong place.

"I felt her head and screamed at my dad to get a nurse.

"Within seconds of him leaving the room I delivered her.

"I couldn't believe she was mine. I didn't know what to do, I was hysterical."

"I was in total shock," she continued. "Having a baby couldn't have been further from my mind. I'd had the contraceptive injection.

"I just thought I had a 'food baby' because I suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

"I worked 36 hours the week before and went to a wedding where I drank champagne.

"I even went to Thorpe Park and went on the all the rides. I had no idea."

No idea: Esther when she was seven months pregnant before a girls night out.

Esther, from Chilworth, Surrey, started getting stomach pains in May 2015.

She was given an ultrasound and diagnosed with IBS, an inflamed liver, and prescribed medication by doctors who suggested her diet was to blame.

But over the next few months she started getting back pains and heartburn, and was going to the toilet all the time and had even started craving Coco Pops.

She put on two stone and jumped from a size 18 to a size 20, but put it all down to her 'illness' and said doctors didn't check to see whether she was pregnant .

"They kept saying my symptoms were related to my previous liver problems," she said.

"I took them at their word and never thought I could be pregnant, not while I was taking precautions.

"My breasts didn't swell and only the upper part of my stomach was hard, the rest of my stomach was normal."

But when she was 37 weeks pregnant she started suffering bouts of constipation and was prescribed max-strength laxatives.

After a few weeks she was in agony, and was taken to Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford by ambulance for an emergency enema.

Esther says that while she was in a cubicle in A&E she was seen by a consultant who witnessed her waters breaking.

"He looked down and said I was urinating because my body was getting ready to go to the loo," she said.

"It didn't look like wee to me, and I started to panic.

"The consultant just gave me the thumbs up and told me not to worry and gave me gas and air for the pain.

"But then my body took over and I felt the urge to push, but not from where I was expecting.

"I looked down and saw a head and almost fainted."

Lily Hope-Moore was born weighing 7lbs 2oz on November 10 last year and Esther's dad, Tim Hope, 51, was the first to hold Lily.

Esther, who is no longer dating the baby's father, said: "I just couldn't bring myself to hold her. It was too surreal to think she was mine.

"I just lay there looking at her thinking how did this happen? How could I not have known?

"Within hours of her being born, my stomach went down. The pain stopped, and so did my urge to go to the loo.

"When I did eventually hold her, I realised she was the most beautiful thing in the world, and I was so lucky to have her."

Esther's mum, Debbie Hope, 53, dashed to the local Tesco to stock up on baby essentials, and friends and family have rallied around to make sure the family had all they needed.

"I come from a traditional Christian family, so it was a real shock and difficult to tell my grandparents, but everyone has been brilliant and understanding," said Esther.

"It's been the best surprise ever."

Oil Prices Crisis: Saudi Arabia rules out production cuts

Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi talks to journalists before a meeting of OPEC oil ministers at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna in this file picture taken December 4, 2013.

REUTERS/HEINZ-PETER BADER/FILES

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said on Tuesday he was confident more nations would join a pact to freeze output at existing levels in talks expected next month, but effectively ruled out production cuts by major crude producers anytime soon.

Addressing the annual IHS CERA Week conference in Houston, Naimi told global energy executives that growing support for the freeze and stronger demand should over time ease a global glut that has pushed oil prices to their lowest levels in more than a decade. 

"A freeze is the beginning of a process. If we can get all the major producers to agree not to add additional barrels then this high inventory we have now will probably decline in due time," said Naimi, possibly the world's most powerful oil policymaker.

But he was emphatic markets should not view the nascent agreement as a prelude to production cuts.

"That is not going to happen because not many countries are going to deliver," Naimi said during a Q&A session after his speech broadly restated the rationale behind Saudi Arabia's decision to maintain output in the face of tumbling prices.

"Even if they say that they will cut production they will not do it. There is no sense in wasting our time seeking production cuts. They will not happen."

Oil prices fell some 4 percent after Naimi's comments. Traders have been skeptical whether freezing production near record levels could support the market.

After a surprise meeting a week ago, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and Qatar agreed to freeze production at January levels and Naimi predicted more support from other countries.

"Hopefully some time in March there will be another meeting and probably gather more agreements on freezing," he said.

Later on Tuesday, Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino told Reuters he was seeking to convene a meeting of major OPEC and non-OPEC producers in mid-March, with more than 10 expected to sign on to the agreement.

Naimi did not address the issue of Iran, the biggest obstacle to a global deal to limit crude production, as it focuses on ramping up output after years of sanctions.

Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Rumhy, Oman's Minister of Oil and Gas, suggested Iran could be exempted from any Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' agreement because it suffered sanctions.

"One solution is that Iran is given time to ramp up production. This is up to OPEC and OPEC countries to decide." Al-Rumhy said.

Oman, the largest non-OPEC producer in the Middle East, would be willing to cut 10 percent of its production if a deal was reached, he said.

"One non-OPEC country is willing to join hands with OPEC, and that is us," Al-Rumhy added.

While Naimi's speech and subsequent discussion marked his most expansive public comments in months, he offered little new insight on the state of oil markets or the evolution of policy making in Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest exporter.

Instead, he sought to make peace with an oil industry that has struggled with the Kingdom's and OPEC's decision in late 2014 to refrain from cutting output to shore up prices, as it had done for decades.

Oil prices have fallen 70 percent since mid-2014 as surplus crude piled up.

"We have not declared war on shale or any given country or company, contrary to all the rumors," Naimi said in the speech. 

It was Naimi's first public appearance in the United States since the OPEC November 2014 meeting.

"We are doing what every other industry representative in this room is doing. We are responding to challenging market conditions and seeking the best possible outcome in a highly competitive environment."

He said the kingdom welcomed "all sources of supply," including shale.

"We are hopeful that the nimbleness and responsiveness demonstrated by shale oil producers will continue. These supplies may be needed quickly once markets balance and tighten."

Naimi also reiterated his longstanding position that Saudi Arabia was ready to meet customer demand, maintaining a cushion of spare production capacity and remaining open to "cooperative action" with other producers to create a stable oil market.

South Korea issues North stern warning after threat to hit presidential residence

South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye addresses the nation at the presidential Blue House in the capital, Seoul, on January 13, 2016. The North Korean military had threatened to blow up the presidential residence. (Photo by AFP)

South Korea has once again warned the North that its “provocations” risk speeding up the “collapse of its dictatorial system” following North Korea's threat to attack the South. 

The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff issued the warning in a statement on Wednesday, responding to an earlier threat by the North Korean military to blow up the presidential Blue House in Seoul, AFP reported.

“North Korea must keep in mind that it will be responsible for all situations arising from its reckless provocations and we warn it will only speed up the collapse of its dictatorial system,” it said.

North Korea will face “stern punishment” if it ignored Seoul’s warning, the statement added.

The North Korean military had leveled the threat in response to the prospect of the South’s annual joint war games with the United States. Code-named Key Resolve/Foal Eagle, the drills are to be held in their largest-ever proportions in the next month.

Washington will dispatch 15,000 troops to the computer-simulated Key Resolve drill, up from 3,700 last year. The drill, which lasted 10 days in 2015, usually begins simultaneously with the Foal Eagle field exercise.

Pyongyang charges that the exercises are a rehearsal for invasion, while Seoul and Washington describe them as defensive.

North Korea, which is under United Nations sanctions over its nuclear tests and missile launches, accuses the US of plotting with regional allies to topple its government.

A South Korean K-1 tank disembarks from a ship on a beach during a joint landing operation by US and South Korean Marines in South Korea’s southeastern port of Pohang, March 30, 2015. (Photo by AFP

Pyongyang declared itself a nuclear power in 2005 and carried out four nuclear weapons tests in 2006, 2009, 2013 and 2016. It also launched a long-range rocket earlier this month reportedly aimed at placing an earth observation satellite into orbit.

Seoul and Washington have also announced a plan to install a controversial missile system known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) on South Korean soil as a means of countering North Korea’s nuclear arms and missile capabilities.

With Press TV

Orientation Course: On-line registration will not be extended - NYSC

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has warned that online registration for the 2016 Batch `A` Orientation Course, for prospective corps members, will not be extended after the Feb. 28 deadline.

Mrs Bose Aderibigbe, the Director of Press Unit of the NYSC, gave the warning in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.

Aderibigbe said that the Stream I of the Batch `A’ orientation course would hold between March 30 and April 18 in various camps across the country.

She added that the Stream II of the same batch would start from April 27 to May 16 in designated states.

 The online registration started on Feb. 8.

The director explained that after registering on the NYSC portal, the corps members would get their call-up numbers.

``Prospective corps members shall wait until they get a Short Message Service (SMS) or an e-mail, informing them to go and print their call-up letters.

``They will get the information before March 30.

``Usually, it takes one week or few days to get this information before the orientation course begins.

Asked if the online registration is for foreign graduates only, Aderibigbe said that the scheme does not segregate its corps members.

``The registration is for both local and foreign trained Nigerian graduates,’’ she said. 

FG Has Scrapped Security Vote To Top Government Officials - Sources

The Buhari administration has ended the controversial practice of routine security vote allocation to top government, military and security officials, according to Sahara Reporters. 

Sources in the Finance and Budget ministries also said that the order extends to the President himself, and the Vice President.  

In recent decades, security votes became popular among politicians, military officers and public officers, especially presidents and state governors, as a vehicle for siphoning public funds.  As the nation became more and more enmeshed in official graft, however, the practice began to generate tremendous public criticism.

Observers say it was a relic from the long years of military rule, but became even more prevalent as from the Second Republic, and assumed a more dramatic and wider form in 1999. Apart from principal federal government officials, state governors and local government chairmen often allocate huge sums of money to their offices as ‘security’ votes, even as the country grew increasingly insecure. 

Government sources now confirm that as soon as the Buhari administration took power last year, a clear indication was given of the new direction when President Muhammadu Buhari asked accounting officers in Aso Rock to keep an eye on his own expenses and that of his deputy, noting that they both intended to run a transparent presidency, with zero-tolerance for corruption. Subsequently, the President directed that there would be no routine allocation of security votes to he or anyone else as had been the practice since 1983, in the report. 

For state governors, security votes often run into billions of Naira annually in many states.  While the actual amount that normally goes to the president was always sketchy, there have been clear indications that it runs into several billions of Naira, sometimes on a monthly basis.

For example, under the Goodluck Jonathan presidency, several security vote accounts have been discovered not just in the office of the National Security Adviser, the State Security Service and the military, but also in accounts of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation. 

In one particular instance, Mr. Jonathan approved a controversial payment of N2.4b in one day for the rent of 13 house boats for the use of the military in Niger Delta under the Joint Task Force Operation Pulo Shield.  In the memo for the payment, the former president simply asked the then Petroleum Minister to “release the sum from NNPC security vote.” 

The records show that the memo was approved by Mr. Jonathan on February 16, last year.  It turned out, according to security sources, that the payment for the rent of the house boats was more than sufficient to actually buy several more house boats. The money was cashed from an NNPC account in Zenith Bank, Maitama, number 023-01571-41-13-4 and paid into the Main Account of the Chief of Naval Staff.

Budget officials say while security chiefs and top civil servants argued for retention of security votes in order to take care of security contingencies, the President cancelled routine vote allocations outright, and cut security votes in the budget by 25%.

This means that the National Security Adviser’s office, the Department of State Security and the Department of Military Intelligence have had their budgets slashed by significant sums to reflect the president’s order to cancel routine allocation of security votes.

A source added that in a similar vein, the President and his deputy no longer receive huge sums of money normally released by the NSA’s office whenever they travel, as was the practice in past governments especially the Jonathan administration. 

Sources revealed that in the past when the president or his deputy traveled, not only did they receive routine estacodes, the NSA would bring along loads of hard currency drawn from the security vote, sometimes as much as $50,000 per trip, told Sahara Reporters. 

On learning of the practice, President Buhari is said to have given firm instructions to stop such practices, providing only that he and the Vice President would only receive civil service rated estacodes and daily travel allowance when they travel abroad, or locally.

A consequence of the new standard is that prominent Nigerians who visit Aso Rock and depart with huge bags or envelopes stacked with money no longer receive such treatment. A source in the presidency said when prominent Nigerians visit the president or his deputy these days, they only get a very warm reception, tea, water, sweets and kolanut, but that no money exchanges hands. Sources said such monies given out to prominent visitors were normally drawn from the security vote allocation.

Bolivia's Morales loses his fourth term bids

Morales helped lift millions out of poverty by more equitably distributing natural gas revenues [EPA]

Bolivian President Evo Morales has lost a referendum to allow him to seek a fourth term in office, his first direct election defeat since taking the reign in 2006, according to official results. 

With 99.41 percent of votes counted, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal reported on its website on Tuesday that 51.33 percent of voters cast "no" ballots in the referendum, against 48.67 percent voting "yes".

If Morales' party had won the referendum it would have allowed the president to run for re-election in 2019.

The outcome of Sunday's poll also blocks Vice President Alvaro Garcia from running again.

Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, helped lift millions out of poverty by more equitably distributing natural gas revenues, spurring the creation of an indigenous middle class.

But his governing Movement Toward Socialism party has been hit by scandals. The vote closely followed a revelation that Morales may have been personally involved in influence-peddling.

Until Sunday's ballot, Morales had won nationwide elections, including a 2009 rewrite of the constitution, with an average 61.5 percent of the vote.

The referendum's margin of defeat coincided almost exactly with two unofficial "quick count" samples announced on Sunday by polling firms.

The results showed allegations of vote fraud by some members of the opposition to be unfounded, said Jose Luis Exeni, a member of the electoral tribunal.

The vote count had been unusually slow and Vice President Garcia said earlier on Tuesday that the outcome would be a "cliff-hanger".

He claimed a right-wing conspiracy was "trying to make disappear by sleight of hand the rural vote that favours Morales." Garcia provided no evidence to back the claim.

Organization of American States (OAS) observers reported no evidence of fraud, and the OAS delegation's leader, former Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez, left Bolivia on Tuesday.

Opposition figures celebrated their projected victory.

"We have recovered democracy and the right to choose," said Samuel Doria Medina, whom Morales twice defeated in presidential elections.

Morales had said he was prepared to give up on a fourth term if voters rejected the bid.

"With my record, I can leave happily and go home content. I would love to be a sports trainer," the Spanish newspaper El Pais quoted him as saying.

Kogi Assembly crisis Reps plans to intervene

Momoh Jimoh Lawal

The impeachment saga involving the Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly, Alhaji Momoh Jimoh, the House of Representatives yesterday resolved to intervene in the matter.

This follows the adoption of a motion moved by Karimi Sunday, representing Kabba/Mopamuro/PDP at the plenary session presided over by the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara following which the lawmakers mandated a 10-member fact-finding committee, led by the deputy Majority Whip, Mr. Pally Iriase, to probe the removal of Jimoh by five out of the 20 members of the House, which they said ran contrary to the provisions of the Constitution, The Guardian reported.

In a related development, a Lokoja-based lawyer, Joel Usman has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to also intervene as his silence over the political crisis in Kogi State may be mistaken for approval of the illegalities bedeviling the state.

This was coming on the heels of calls for prayers by a group, the Kogi Patriots for divine intervention over the myriad of problems and controversies that have trailed the emergence of Governor Yahaya Bello.

Members of the lower chamber who condemned the removal of the speaker also directed the Iriase-led committee to within one week submit a report aimed at proffering solutions to restore sanity and adherence to the rule of law in the Kogi State House of Assembly.

While leading the debate, Sunday argued that Jimoh’s impeachment ran contrary to the provisions of Section 90 (2) (c) of the constitution, which stipulates that the speaker or deputy speaker of the state assembly shall vacate office if he is removed from office by a resolution of the House of Assembly by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of members.

Alleging that Jimoh’s impeachment was masterminded by Governor Bello who was bent on installing his stooge as speaker of the state Assembly, he argued: “I am aware that in Kogi State, there are a total number of 25 members of the Assembly, but five of them had their elections nullified at the Court of Appeal and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is yet to conduct a fresh election in the state constituencies.

“Accordingly, only 20 members are currently validly elected in the Assembly and two-thirds of 20 is at least 13 members.
The purported removal of the speaker by the House of Assembly on 16th February 2016 by only five of the 20 elected members is therefore, unconstitutional and void.”

House Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila said it behooved members of the National Assembly not to allow what happened at Kogi State Assembly to reoccur in the polity.

Gbajabiamila (Ikeja: APC: Lagos) who recalled how he had always spoken against impunity in governance over the years, likened the way the impeachment of Jimoh was carried out as a treasonable act which required heavy sanctions on perpetrators.

Other members of the Iriase-led fact-finding committee include Nnenna Ukeje, Zakari Mohammed, Halliru Jika, Obinna Chidoka, Bassey Ewan, Sunday Adebutu, and Abdulsalam Dasuki.

The Majority Leader of the Kogi House of Assembly, Kolawole Matthew, who led 15 of his colleagues to monitor deliberations on the motion gave a vivid account of how the executive in Kogi plotted Jimoh’s removal.

“To be candid, the executive is behind everything, because when they invited some of our members, to go and impeach the speaker, we said no, that we were not going. Then they spoke to the five who actually agreed and after the announcement that the speaker had been impeached, there was no meeting.

“They went into the assembly and came out and addressed the press that they had impeached the speaker and they announced those who would occupy the positions.

‘‘Why I said the executive was behind them was that immediately it happened, 15 of us were in Lokoja, we held a meeting and passed a vote of confidence in the present leadership of the house. But what we saw the next minute was the removal of the speaker ‘s security detail.

“They removed all his security and on our way to Abuja to report to the National Assembly, they took a towing van, broke into the gate to the Speaker’s house and removed the official vehicles.

‘‘At the moment, the Inspector General of Police ( IGP) has instructed that the security be reinstated which has been done but his official vehicles are yet to be returned.

‘‘The executive has refused to release the official vehicles. They are telling us that the Federal Government owns the police but they own the vehicles. For your information, the swearing-in of the purported speaker took place in the office of the deputy governor. So that shows you clearly who is behind it.”

Speaking  in Lokoja, Usman asked that how five members would sit to impeach a speaker in the absence of 15 other members be properly investigated particularly since the President Buhari came to power on a change mantra, told The Guardian .

“If he is not part of the impunity then he should order an investigation to ensure the security agents are not the ones giving support to some of these illegalities”, Usman said.

The Kogi Patriots, in a statement signed by its publicity director, Dr. Kabiru Ahmed and made available to The Guardian in Lokoja yesterday said a situation where five lawmakers sat to impeach a duly elected speaker who has the support of an overwhelming majority of his colleagues showed all was not well with the state.

NIMASA N2.3Bn Scam: Witness says He Shared N121m on Accused’s Instruction

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,  today February 23, 2016 presented the sixth witness in the ongoing trial of a former Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolokemi and five others for the alleged diversion of over Two Billion Naira.

Others are Captain Ezekiel Bala Agaba, Ekene Nwakuche, Governor Ameche Juan, Blokz and Stonz Limited and Alkenzo Logistics Limited. 

At the resumed hearing today, the prosecution counsel Rotimi Oyedepo,  led in evidence one Uchenna Emenalo,  younger brother to Emeka Emenalo, the owner of O2 Services Limited, the company that was allegedly used to divert part of the proceeds from the Committee on International Shipping and Ports Security in NIMASA.

Uchenna told the court that he approached the third accused person, Ekene Nwakuche as a former school mate to help him secure any contract that his brother’s company, O2 Services Limited could handled. 

The witness further disclosed that after his discussion with the third accused person, he was asked to provide their company’s name and account details.

The witness told the court how between March 2014 and June 2015, O2 Services Limited received about One Hundred and Twenty One Million which he personally disbursed based on instructions from the third accused person Ekene Nwakuche. The third accused persons provided him with different account number into which the said amount was paid.

When confronted with exhibit P17a and b which are documents that supposedly emanated from O2 Services Limited as Contract Application Document and Invoices for payment,  the witness said the signatures on the documents were neither his, nor his brother’s. Asked whether any of the contract awarded to his brother’s company were executed, the witnessed said ‘no’.

Earlier in his evidence,  Uchenna admitted that O2 Services Limited is into Agro Allied Products and lacked competence in security related services.

The witness also denied knowing any General Manager, Field Operations at O2 services Limited as the company is solely run by his brother. 

During cross examination, Joseph Nwobike, SAN, counsel for the first accused person asked the witness if he runs any business by himself to which he answered, no. Uchenna also confirmed that Ekene told him that the contract was Security related but that their company would be registered as RSO, Registered Security Organisation.

 E.D Onyeke counsel for the second accused person asked the witness if in the statement he made to EFCC he mentioned the email address of his brother or the address of O2 Services Limited.  Uchenna said he only used his house address in his statement as he was not asked the office address. The witness also said the same thing when he was asked if he gave the EFCC a copy of his brother’s company letterhead. 

When asked by Adio, counsel to Ekene, whether he benefitted from the money that was paid into O2 Services Limited account, Uchenna admitted receiving the sum of  Six Hundred Thousand Naira for Logistics and bank charges.