Photo: Thugs assault APC Campaign coordinator in Akwa Ibom

The APC campaign coordinator in Akwa-Ibom (pictured above) was attacked by members of a rival political party at Etinan Local Govenment in Akwa Ibom state this morning.

Nicki Minaj and Meek Mill share hot photos of Nicki Minaj

The platinum selling rapper is back to her 'barbie doll' pink hairdo. She shared the photo on the left on instagram, Meek Mill shared the photo on the right on instagram.

Obasanjo And Atiku Bury The Hatchet. Spotted Playing Around (Photo)

Ex president Olusegun Obasanjo and his estranged VP has decidedx to make peace after years of  public discord. The duo were spotted recently playfully teasing each other in the spirit of reconciliation.

INEC Staff Reveals: Akpabio bought Jonathan's Election Result in Akwa Ibom for N2.5billion

I wonder why a Governor who claimed that he has performed is still afraid of free and fair election?

The presidential and National Assembly elections in Akwa Ibom State were systematically rigged, an insider anonymous group in INEC have alleged in a petition to the chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega.

In fact, it is so bad that the results for the Governorship Election have already been written for PDP, the group, “Concerned Staff of INEC, Akwa Ibom State”, said in the petition dated April 6.

They said that the March 28 hoax was perpetrated by the State Governor, Goodswill Akpabio, the Resident Electoral Commissioner and the Commissioner of Police, in league with some staff of INEC, and detailed how the election was rigged state-wide...

As of last Monday, five days to the governorship and State Assembly election when the petition itself was being written, the group said, “The Original Copies of the Results Sheets for the April 11th, 2015 elections have been handed over to the Governor to perfect yet another plan of rigging the elections.”

They therefore urged Professor Jega to postpone Saturday’s governorship and State Assembly elections in Akwa Ibom as there is a looming clash between the major parties which may culminate in bloodshed and loss of life.

They also called for the redeployment of the current Resident Electoral Commissioner in Akwa Ibom State in favour of an incorruptible one, and all Electoral Officers similarly redeployed to other States and fresh/new Electoral Officers deployed to the State for Saturday’s elections.

The petition alleges that the Resident Electoral Commissioner collected from Governor Akpabio a whopping N2.5 billion, a Prado Jeep and other items in bribes in exchange for allowing the governor to sit in his office and write the election results he wanted without sending any electoral materials to the respective Units and Local Government Areas.

Full text of the petition:

6 April 2015

Prof. Attahiru JegaNational ChairmanIndependent National Electoral Commission, Abuja

Dear Sir,

PETITION AGAINST GOVERNOR GODSWILL OBOT AKPABIO, CON AND HIS COHORTS ON THE CONDUCT OF THE MARCH 28,2015 PRESIDENTIAL AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONSIN AKWA IBOM STATE

We wish to express our profound gratitude to you on the way you conducted the Presidential and National Assembly Elections held on 28th March, 2015. This goes to attest to the fact that you meant well for Nigeria and Nigerians when you promised to give the people the best in the 2015 elections.

1. However, despite your consistent warnings against fraudulent practices during the elections, Akwa Ibom State Governor, in connivance/collaboration with the State PDP Chairman, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, the Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State, and, indeed, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) staff notably, the Electoral Officers, SPOs and Ad-Hoc Staff who, probably may not have been those employed and trained by your INEC, but employed by the State Government (Cultists/Thugs armed to their teeth), perpetrated fraud in a magnitude that was unimaginable, hence this petition.

2. i) That the Resident Electoral Commissioner collected from the Governor of the State a whopping amount of N2.5 billion, a Prado Jeep and other items and specifically instructed the Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, CON to sit in the office and write the election results without sending any materials(sensitive materials) to the respective Units and Local Government Areas.

ii) Sensing that this plan would definitely arouse the curiosity of the major stakeholders in the State, both opted for the second option. It is a known fact that before 28th March, 2015 elections, the sensitive materials, notably, the Original Result Sheets meant for the State were handed over to the Governor by the Resident Electoral Commissioner for completion at the Governor's House, to be announced by the Commissioner - a practice which is not in conformity with the laid down procedures of conducting,collating, compiling and announcing of results.

iii) That as a matter of policy by INEC to deploy all male indigenous Electoral Officers to other areas, leaving behind female indigenous Electoral Officers was a misguided policy and should be revisedimmediately for the sake of the 11th April elections in Akwa Ibom State in particular. It may interest you to know that the female indigenous Electoral Officers left in State are even worst than their male counterparts.

iv) That materials were not sent to so many areas in the State considered to be the strongholds of opposition parties like APC, Labour Party, Accord Party, etc. and where such materials were sent it was accompanied with photocopies of the Result Sheets,some areas, none at all thereby leading to beating up the Original Ad-hoc Staff employed by INEC resulting in inflicting serious wounds on them. It would also interest you to know that many Ad-hocstaff, including Corpers deployed to the Units died in the event as they were seriously manhandled by the electorates.

v) That the materials, instead of being sent to the Polling Units, were sent to the houses of some notable PDP Stalwarts by the Electoral Officers at the instance/instruction of the Resident ElectoralCommissioner, the Governor and the Commissioner of Police. These materials were duly escorted by the Police to the respective residences of the Party Stalwarts as indicated below:

(a) In Oron axis, all the materials were escorted to the residence of Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi (Hon. Minister of Lands and Housing) along Secretariat Road, Oron. Princess Felicia Bassey's residence along Uyo-Oron Road (PDP House of Assembly Candidate).

(b) The materials meant for Uyo were escorted by the Police and diverted to Mr. Enobong Uwah's residence (a serving Commissioner in the State)

(c) In Ibiono Ibom/Itu Local Government Areas, materials were diverted (escorted) to Mr. Bassey Albert Akpan's residence (Uyo Senatorial District Candidate for PDP).

(d) Materials meant for Ikot Ekpene, Essien Udim, Obot Akara were escorted by the Police and diverted to Governor Godswill Akpabio's residence in Ukana.

(e) Materials meant for Nsit Ubium Local Government Area were diverted to Senator Effiong Bob's residence.

(f) Materials for Abak axis were escorted and diverted to Mr. Aniekan Umanah's residence (a serving Commissioner in the State).

(g) Materials meant for Onna/Mkpat Enin Local Government Areas were diverted to Mr. Udom Emmanuel's residence (PDP Governorship Candidate). Materials meant for most LocalGovernment Areas were diverted to the houses of PDP Stakeholders in those areas.

3. You may agree with me that the elections in the State were marred with high frequency fraud.

vi) That members of the Civil Defence that were meant to oversee the conduct of the election became accomplice and some who could not concede to their antics were driven out of the premises where these materials were taken to.

NEW PLANS TOWARDS 11TH APRIL ELECTIONS

(i) That as I am writing to you now, the Original Copies of the Results Sheets for the April 11th, 2015 elections have been handed over to the Governor to perfect yet another plan of rigging the elections.

(ii) Plan to kill so many that would want to raise a voice against their planned action is in top gear.

(iii) Plans to reduce the materials meant for areas known to be the strongholds of opposition parties like APC, Labour, Accord Parties, etc. have been concluded and perfected by the ResidentElectoral Commission (REC) and Electoral Officers as series of meetings have been held in this regard.

(iv) Areas considered to be volatile during the elections, MUST not be given materials at all.

OUR PRAYERS

(1) That the Governorship election and House of Assembly election should be postponed as indices on ground posits that there would be a serious clash between PDP and other opposition parties which may culminate into loss of many lives and bloodshed.

(2) That the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Akwa Ibom State should be deployed and a new one who is corrupt-free be deployed to Akwa Ibom for the sake of this election of 11th April.

(3) That all the Electoral Officers in the State should be deployed to other States and fresh/new Electoral Officers deployed to the State for the purpose of 11th April, 2015 elections.

(4) That the Akwa Ibom people are aware of the antics of the current Resident Electoral Commissioner and are poised to set ablaze INEC Office. His safety, as a matter of fact, is not guaranteed.

Please Sir, act now and fast too, for 'a stitch in time saves nine.

Thank you.

Sincerely yours,

Concerned Staff of INEC, Akwa Ibom State

Finance Minister, Okonjo-Iweala makes Fortune magazine's World 50 Greatest Leaders list

Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been named among the 50 World Greatest Leaders by world acclaimed Fortune Magazine.

Liberian President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf; Catholic Pontiac, Pope Francis; Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi; Bill and Melinda Gates as well as Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerburg and Apple Chief Executive Officer, Tom Cook also made the list.


Mrs Okonjo-Iweala was placed 33rd in the list. What was written about her below

"A magna cum laude Harvard grad who holds a Ph.D. from MIT, Okonjo-Iweala has helped usher in a GDP-trebling decade of Nigerian prosperity. She is a fearless promoter of sound economic policies,” says Witney Schneidman, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs. No wonder Nigeria’s two-term finance minister—and first woman in the role - has been considered a top contender to run the World Bank one day".

SSS Spokeswoman, Marilyn Ogar, Should be Investigated for N15million Bribe

The Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) has called on the EFCC to commence an extensive investigation into an allegation against the spokesperson of the SSS, Marilyn Ogar, over an allegation that was published by Premium Times that she accepted a N15million bribe from government officials in connection with last year’s governorship election in Osun State.

In a petition signed by its chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, CSNAC said it also last year sent a similar request to ICPC to investigate the bribery allegation against Ms. Ogar without any action from that agency.

Below are details of the latest investigation:

CSNAC said - Ms. Ogar was treated to a special offer by the Nigerian government by been referred to the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC, a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in charge of marketing and distribution of petroleum products.

- She and the Managing Director of PPMC, Haruna Momoh, purportedly met, and a deal was struck between the first and second week in June, 2014. 

- Ten trucks of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) were directly allocated to Ms. Ogar by PPMC. 

- Mr. Momoh allegedly advised Ms. Ogar that the allocations be channelled through known fuel independent marketers who were to receive the allocation, sell them and deliver cash to Ms. Ogar.

- Ms. Ogar went with the suggestion and the act was carried out accordingly. 

- PPMC selected three marketers to deliver four, three and three trucks apiece on her behalf. Thereafter, she was introduced to the three marketers and they agreed that N1.5 million for each of the truck of DPK be made as payment to her. 

- Therefore, Ms. Ogar received N15million for doing nothing beyond meeting the PPMC boss as directed by higher authorities. 

“This contradicts the statement made by Ms. Ogar in August, 2014 around the period of Osun elections. She claimed SSS officials are above bribe as the service is well funded and it provides a competitive reward package for its personnel, even before assignments,” the petition said. “So, if that were true, what is her connection with sales PPMC and DPK?”

CSNAC further noted the claim by Premium Times that in order to cover up the deal, Ms. Ogar and the PPMC chose not to issue routine documents for the transaction and conducted most of the deal via telephone calls and text messages but that the June allocation was neither the first nor the last for Ms. Ogar.

It urged EFCC to investigate Ms. Ogar and all government officials involved and prosecute them.

Accident along Asaba/Benin Expressway this morning

This accident happened about an hour ago along the Asaba-Benin expressway. A commercial bus going to Lagos lost control and left its lane into the other lane, almost slamming into other vehicles but ending up in a gutter on the side of the road. Fortunately no one died. Another pic after the cut...

Photos: Trailer falls on vehicles in Lagos

This is why I always avoid these trailers. They have no control. One of them this morning fell on about three vehicles at Berger yard after Mile 2 on your way to Apapa before Berger Bridge where they sell cars. Unbelievable. See more photos after the cut...

'I will rather resign from politics than defect to APC' - Niger Governor

Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger state says he would rather resign from active politics than defect from his party PDP to APC. Addressing some local government Chairmen that paid him a solidarity visit at the state Government house in Minna yesterday April 8th, the Governor referred to PDP members who have since defected as stomach politicians who are suffering from poverty, lack of morals and integrity

"Those who have defected from PDP to APC have clearly demonstrated that they are not principled and they are suffering from poverty, lack integrity and not morals and could easily be described as stomach politicians. For me, I will rather resign from politics than defect to APC or any other party. For principles of integrity, morality, we have chosen to remain in PDP. I heard people insinuating that I have dumped my party candidate for the APC candidate. It is a lie, I will never do such a thing" he said

Loughborough University: Welcome to your future!

Loughborough University is ranked 13th in the UK. Our high ranking in the university league tables and reputation continues to encourage applications for all levels of study from Nigeria. Significant scholarships are available for students from Nigeria. 99% of our undergraduate courses offer a year-long paid work placement leading to a professionally recognized qualification globally.

Our triple accredited MBA with internship is delivered by one of the top 1% of business schools in the world.

Loughborough University offers students from Nigeria an exciting and sport-orientated single site campus with a strong Nigerian community.  We have an active Nigerian Society who provide additional support and organise activities, and visits to various cities in Nigeria are undertaken several times a year by university staff.

Join us this September in the UK. To get started, contact us now:

A.C.Butterfield@lboro.ac.uk or call 08057126810

Visit our website to learn more about Loughborough University. Click here www.lboro.ac.uk/international/region/africa/nigeria

Experiences, Rants And Tips From Laila's Cupid: - (Singles Only)

Confused, Flabbergasted and Stunned
…Because that is how such experiences leave me and they are as follows

• when a man in his 50s claims that a 37-40 year old lady is too old. I am left asking-too old for you or too old to get pregnant, which one? Do such men even realise that no lady below 40 will ordinarily (if given a choice) settle for them…unless there is a serious economic catch in the arrangement?

• when a man’s request reads a lady between ages 25-30 but must be gainfully employed…you kind of wonder how many 25-27 year olds are gainfully employed in Naija today. If there are…they are in the minority!

• when a man writes me love note to post and then relax and wait for a lady to approach him. No sane lady would approach you Mr. Tony (surname withheld) no matter how rich and cute you think you are. At least no in this clime. You are dying for someone yet you sit waiting for her to fall into your laps? Wake up and stop confusing yourself. My refusal to publish your notes anymore is not intentional but because of your refusal to do the needful

Sometimes, a tad of reality should accompany our expectations.

• when a lady/guy claims to be in their late 30s, unemployed and searching…you are left wondering if such persons shouldn’t be searching for a job first…I mean, nobody wants to touch someone who can’t bring something to the table with a 10ft pole these days.

Again, I do not believe in the concept of joblessness. There are so many worthy things to do to keep busy-even if the millions are not rolling in yet. You can also learn some skills…there must be a passion you left buried somewhere in you. dig it up and make it pay your bills.
There’s proliferation of private schools (who are in daily need of teachers, nursery minders etc), why not get on board? Then get a related certification(e.g N.T.I) along the line-to boost your qualification. I have been preaching this to a lady that graduated over 5 years ago and still job seeking (from the comfort of her home). Her response to me is usually me, a teacher? nooo !

There is dignity in labour (no matter how lowly!). One who works remains much more respectable than someone who will have to service a battery of men (usually found on facebook and badoo!) to stay afloat. At some point in life…you tell yourself the home truth. It all comes home to roost…you know? The phone that some unemployed people carry around costs more than some certification exam and a Masters degree(in Nigeria) combined! so my rant continue.

• when a supposed mature (age wise-at least) lady is eventually introduced to a man (with a job,education and even from her region of the country) and she comes complaining about his village. As you press the ignore button towards such confused persons,you are also wondering when the village that someone comes from should be of more concern that the character.

• when an over 30 lady keeps rejecting prospective suitors because of Catholic/Anglican dichotomy. its confusing, strange and unthoughtful. (Nuella, Chiamaka and Tinu pls take note) I wonder what church or denomination has to do with love. Your excuses of Fashola and his wife is not so practicable and I for one will caution you against any man who willingly ditches who he was just to be with you.Every man is not as westernized as Fashola and you may not have an arsenal as deep and rich as Fashola's wife

• when a newly match made folks chat with each other and spend half of the time talking about wonderful ex(es)! If such a relationship is important enough (for you to rub it in the face of another). why did you send your request to laila's cupid?? There is no self respecting fellow who will not withdraw once you say such to him/her. Only a desperado will remain in the picture after you throw such at him/her. I understand some people do this in a bid to appear not desperate. But for God’s sake, it is not important. Whoever you are introduced to (for a relationship )already knows you are available-so cut the jest!

Finally…when searching, you need a great deal of patience. The patience to check out whatever lead that comes your way-even when you don’t feel like it. Always advisable to explore all options and leave no stone unturned, so that when you close a chapter…you will not be plagued with second thoughts.
Experience has taught me that where your hope is(sometimes),may not be where your ‘smile’ will come from.

NB: All Blog readers who has a success story from laila's cupid so far can share their stories at Lailasblog.com

Breaking News: Ayirimi Emami Defects to APC in Delta

Wow! Na so?! Yesterday I shared a photo of him with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Today, news is out that one of Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan’s political tacticians in Warri and Chairman of the Delta Waterways Security Committee, DWSC, Warri, Chief Ayirimi Emami, has defected from the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Chief Emami, a former chairman of the PDP in Warri South-West Local Government Area, elatedly displayed his new APC card, as he announced his defection at his home in Ubeji, near Warri, claiming the PDP umbrella was leaking and could no longer provide the needed shelter for Deltans.

Vanguard reports that he asked Deltans to vote for the APC’s governorship candidate, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, in Saturday’s governorship election, pointing out that he, his people and political associates had been living in fear of the unknown for quite some years under the PDP.