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."