Buhari Was Misled to Stay off Senate, Reps Leadership Battle

Prof. Ajayi Boroffice, the senator representing Ondo North Senatorial District, in this interview with Punch's Sunday Aborisade, defends the position of his party, the APC in the National Assembly crisis:

President Buhari has made it clear that he would work with leaders of the National Assembly. As some people have said, don’t you also think his aloofness could haunt his administration?

There is no doubt about that. As the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, elected on the platform of the APC, is the leader of the party. So he cannot afford to be neutral. Those who are managing his policy must have misled him. I think by now, the President must have realised that there is a problem somewhere and if he doesn’t take appropriate actions to remedy what has started, it will cause serious problems for his administration.

Why did your group insist that the remaining principal officers be nominated by the party when the Like Minds were saying that the zonal caucuses should decide who would lead them?

I am a member of Unity Forum, so I align with reasons advanced for our position. The party is supreme.

What then is responsible for this seemingly negative perception towards Tinubu?

I think people are just afraid of his rising profile as a national leader; hence they are prepared to gang up against him. Some have even gone to the extent of demystifying him. One thing I have noticed about him is that he is a man destined to be the hero of our generation. This is because he is a man who continues to rise the more people try to pull him down. The more they try, the more they fail.

Saraki said it would be difficult for him to work with his rivals, especially if anyone of them emerged as the Senate Leader. Don’t you agree with his reasoning?

The Senate Leader is not working with the Senate President; he is working for us, whereas the Senate President is working for the entire senate. So, I don’t think it is right for the senate president to say that he cannot work with his rivals.

- after all ex-Speaker Tambuwal respected PDP and announce his rival Mulikat Adeola as House Leader.

Dangote Warns: We May End Up Buying One Dollar with N500

Media men had a piece of Aliko Dangote last weekend. And when they were done many appreciated why he is one of the richest in the world. In an interactive session with senior editors Dangote discussed state of the nation while explaining some details in his businesses that are geared towards a better life for Nigerians. His tremendous knowledge in many areas awed the audience.

His take on Oil subsidy

The issue with subsidy is that government needs to block all loopholes. If there’s no subsidy, it will affect our foreign exchange, we’ll end up buying a dollar at N500, because there’s no VAT on petroleum products. That’s why the import of petroleum products is taking about 30% of our foreign reserve. We just need to make sure that there’s no siphoning of money. The refining business requires volume. If you don’t have a massive volume, there’s no way you’ll make money. Most of the refineries in Africa are running at a big loss. It’s not possible for government officials to successfully manage oil businesses. It’s good enough if they remove the subsidy, but you can check with neighbouring countries like Senegal. If a poor person in Senegal can afford to pay subsidy, why can’t a poor person in Nigeria afford to pay. I think there must be something for the masses, which should be in terms of power, social insurance, good education system, good roads etc.

On refinery

We are building a refinery and our refinery will make more money if there is subsidy. We have changed the size of the refinery three times because we are looking at the maximum we can do that has ever been done. We started with about 400,000, then we shifted to 500,000. Now, we took it to 650,000 barrels per day. That’s the biggest ever single line thresh of refinery. It’s a huge plant and it comes with a lot of challenges, but at the end of the day, it will save us a substantial amount of money. Presently, about 38% of our foreign exchange goes to petroleum products, so I think that will totally eliminate it and eliminate all the imports. We will also be able to export and we won’t do it all by ourselves. Other refineries will produce. Even if other refineries are not working, we’ll be able to satisfy 100% local demand and we’ll be able to export massively. Five to ten people can make Nigeria a great economy. We have to encourage Nigerians to invest at home.

On Agriculture

I think there will not be an improvement in job creation unless people go into Agriculture. I know even in Agriculture, there’s money. We are also doing four sugarcane factories. We want to export sugar. We are doing a lot of sugar and rice and I think that in the next four to five years, we’ll be able to create about 180,000 jobs.

There are only two countries in the whole of West Africa that eat parboiled rice – Nigeria and Sierra-Leone. Other neighbouring countries eat white rice. So, what’s the business of Republic of Benin collecting ships of parboiled rice to Niger.

How can Niger eat two billion tons of rice? We have no business importing sugar, there’s so much land and water here. God has given us these things and we have to use them. Today, Ethiopia is growing rapidly, but the mainstay of their economy is agriculture.

PDP Men fight Jonathan & Wife over Minority offices in Senate

Indications have emerged that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may be heading for a deep crisis over the choice of its principal officers as minority in the National Assembly.

The choice of who gets what in the Assembly among PDP lawmakers, it was gathered has pitched many party stalwarts against one another as they differ on who should get what in the two chambers.

It was gathered that while former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, are in support of Senator George Sekibo who is from Rivers State for Minority Leadership position, the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike were against that.

A PDP Senator said: “We are seeing the APC crisis now, ours is also in the making because before July 21, if we too don’t sort ourselves out, we can at best say that what is capable of weakening the PDP ahead of its role as a viable opposition party in the years ahead may have been planted."

It was gathered that whereas both Ekweremadu and Wike are against the choice of Senator George Sekibo as Minority Leader as suggested by Jonathan and his wife, the former governor of Akwa-Ibom State and now senator, Godswill Akpabio, has indicated interest in the same position.

However, Akpabio’s ambition, which is at variance with the Senate Rules on ranking appears to have received the support of most senators from South-South which will produce Senate Minority Leader.

Meanwhile, the chances of Senator James Manager, who had hitherto been touted as the Senate Minority Leader are looking dim as financial muscle appears to have laid a path ahead of the final decision that will be announced when the senate resumes plenary on July 21.

A senator from the South-South zone confided in a team of newsmen that the brewing crisis was ‘capable of weakening the PDP ahead of its role as a viable opposition party in the years ahead’.

“We all thought the issue of Senate Minority Leader had been laid to rest until the DSP (Deputy Senate President) called us for a meeting in his house where he sought people’s opinion on the propriety or otherwise of selecting Senator John Owan Eno for the position.

“I think it was from there the former Akwa-Ibom governor got the feeling that if the matter has to be revisited, then he would take a shot at it, but he doesn’t know that his ambition is against the rules of the senate as regards the selection of its principal officers.

“Before then, we were all facing the challenge of the suggestion by the former president and his wife that we should consider Sekibo from Rivers but the duo of Ekweremadu and Wike kicked against it.

“From all indications, if we don’t step in on time, our earlier decision backing James Manager may fail as you know what money can do in politics; we can’t say money won’t work in this circumstance."

This Rugged Armoured Patrol Vehicle was Proudly Made in Nigeria(Photos)

Crafted with pride in Nigeria is this Proforce PF2 armoured patrol vehicle. Scroll down to see the driveline of the rugged Landcruiser. 

How My Friend Sold Me To Ritualists For N150,000

Having too many friends sometimes leads to too many wahala. Hearing the story of kidnapped people for ritual purposes or for a ransom is disturbing and with dangerous elements that carry out these dastardly acts roaming freely amongst us, everyone is at risk.

Here is the story of a young man, Timothy Lawani, 25, a trader at Suleja roundabout area in Abuja, who was kidnapped for ritual purpose but survived the ordeal.

Lawani, in an interview with LEADERSHIP's Timothy Opaluwa, said it was God that saved him after he was kidnapped, tied up and was to be sacrificed in Kano.

"We reported the case at A division Police Station in Suleja, but the Policemen demanded the sum of N70,000 in order to start investigation. Since we do not have such amount, we resorted to prayers, and God answered us."

The incident happened at about 4am on January 14, 2015. Lawani went outside his family house at Old Barracks, Suleja to ease himself, when suddenly he heard someone call his name. Walking towards a red Volkswagen Golf parked behind his house, he was surprised to see an old friend, Friday, comfortably seated in the car beckoning on him with two hefty men.

Narrating his story, Lawani said, “In my confused state, I greeted them. One of them held me and the other sprayed a powder on my face. That was the last thing I could remember. I later saw myself in a very large hall with other young men who were tied up. The kidnappers kept bringing other people to join us. Sometimes, they even offered us food to eat which we all refused. They then said, whether we ate or not, we would die after all.

“After two days, we were made to put on white apparels and join a queue. I noticed that anyone who goes out never comes back; I was so scared. When it was my turn, I went outside, saw a large pool of water like swimming pool and a man standing by the side chanting incantations. He later ordered the guards to take me inside that they were not in need of someone like me.”

Continuing, Lawani said, “In my presence, the man called on Friday who came about 40 minutes later. After telling him that I was not acceptable for their rituals, Friday started flogging me mercilessly. He then ordered the men to take me out, but not before the ritualist got angry, and ordered the hefty men to bring Friday for sacrifice in my place. I heard him beg them to give him just 30 minutes to enable him bring another person, but the man said there was no time.

“With Friday’s hands and legs tied, the man began chanting incantations again. This time, I saw crocodiles coming out of the water. Friday was then thrown inside, the reptiles feasted on him. I was not myself because of the sight of blood and how such large reptiles ate up a whole human being. The man later ordered the men to throw me out, that I was useless to them. They sprayed a powder on my face again and I became unconscious.’’

On how he got back to his senses, Lawani recalled that he was sheltered by a Hausa man who saw him wandering in Gomoja area of Kano State.

After prayers were offered for him for about three days, he regained consciousness but could not speak. It was then he wrote down his father’s phone number which he easily remembered and with which they used to reach his family, that had been searching frantically for him.

His elder brother, Theophilus Lawani, said it was his friend who sold him to the kidnappers for N150,000. Theophilus further revealed that before the Hausa man called them from Kano, Lawani’s friend sent them several messages, telling them to forgive him for selling his friend.

“...We have decided to take my brother for further prayers in Kaduna,” Theophilus stated.

Billionaire Politicians, Get Ready To Sell Your Private Jets

Public officers and politicians have been warned to get rid of their private jets as President Muhammadu Buhari had begun blocking financial leakages in the country’s economy.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole made this known at a public lecture titled “Labour and the Nigerian Economy: What needs to be done”, held at the University of Port Harcourt.

His words: “Few people (in Nigeria) are taking away so much wealth, while majority of the people are going home with almost nothing. 

“A clear example is when you arrive at the private wing of the airport in Abuja; you will find more than 40 to 50 private jets parked there in one airport alone. 

“The question is what sources do these private jet owners get their wealth from; and which businesses do they run to acquire this luxurious lifestyle?

“You find a young man who has connection with state-owned NNPC, which is suppose to work for the interest of Nigeria, corruptly work for only the interest of few persons,” he said.

Oshiomhole said that billions of state funds had being stolen by a few individuals due to chronic corruption perpetrated by some top officials in the NNPC.

Buhari administration is already making moves to rid Nigeria of these corrupt officials and institutions.

“Very soon, those who maintain luxurious assets and private jets will begin to sell them because they will no longer be able to maintain them. “The sources of procurement of these ill gotten wealth by these people is currently being disconnected and more will be disconnected in the few days and in the coming weeks,” he said.

Oshiomhole blamed the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) for its failure to call politicians to order in the face of the country’s current falling economy. He said it was unfair that Senators could earn an annual salary of about N200 million when the lowest grade worker earned a paltry N18,000 monthly as minimum wage or N216,000 as annual salary.

He stressed: “How NLC has kept quiet and allowed Senators allocate to themselves annual income of N200 to N300 million both as basic salaries and bogus allowances combined baffles me.”

70-yr-old and infant baby among rape survivors treated in Lagos by Mirabel Centre

The first sexual assault referral centre in Nigeria, Mirabel centre, opened its doors to victims of sexual assault. A 10-month-old baby girl and a 70-year-old woman were among a total of 737 survivors of rape and other forms of sexual assault treated and offered psychosocial support free of charge. The baby was sexually molested by the father, while the 70-year-old woman was raped by a boy that ran errands for her in the neighbourhood.

Making this and other revelations yesterday in Lagos, Managing Partner, Partnership for Justice, Mrs. Itoro Eze-Anaba, said the increase in reported cases of sexual violence, particularly, child sexual abuse has become a major concern in the country. Eze-Anaba who acknowledged that sexual violence has become rampant said Mirabel Centre was established to fill the gap created by one of the biggest challenges in seeking justice for the survivors who often lack reliable support services and verifiable data.

According to her, more revealing is the fact that out of the 737victims, the youngest was a 10-month- old and the oldest 70 years old.

“This number is made up of 17 male clients and 720 female clients. Many of these clients are referred to the centre by the police and the hospital, civil society organisations, government agencies and some just walk into the centre for treatment.

“In Lagos, locations with the highest number of assaults include; Kosofe, 91, Alimosho 128, Ikeja 56, Oshodi-Isolo 72, and Agege 80,” she stated. She further lamented that the perpetrators of sexual violence in the country act with impunity due to corruption and incompetency in investigation and prosecution of such cases. Stating that Partnership for Justice offers needed professional care with funding from Justice for All Programme of the Department of International Development, DFID, of the British Council, she frowned that absence of verifiable data and pressures from family and friends has led to many survivors not seeking help nor reporting to the police.

Vanguard

Photos: Robbers attack and strangle man to death in Lagos

A five man robbery gang identified as Anthony Toms (20), Godwin Francis (25), Michael Inyang (21), Evidence David (22), Etuk Tony (23) have been arrested by the Lagos state police command for strangling a 32 year old cab driver, Sonye Chukwudi, aka Zack Friday, as they robbed him at the Ransome Kuti Gardens, Anthony Village on Sunday June 28th. The robbers believed their victim was a rich man who had plenty money.

According to Punch, the robbers, acting on information from one of them, Tom, invited Zack Friday, who uses a Mercedes Benz E320 saloon car for his car hire service, to the Ransome Kuti Garden to carry some flowers to a customer living at Ojodu Berger area of the state. The victim drove to the place, parked his car, met with Tom and as he was helping to carry flowers into the booth, the other robbers came out from their hiding place, hit the victim on his head before using a cloth to strangle him to death. They ransacked his car and found only N4, 750. 

 

They were about escaping with the saloon car when a team of police arrested them following a tipoff

A police source said "'Soon after, they called their hired driver to pick them because none of them could drive. As soon as the driver got to the place, the police surrounded the suspects,”.

Two of the suspects sustained gunshot injuries when they attempted to run.

The prime suspect, Tom when interrogated said 'I am a gardener. I work in that garden at Anthony. I met the man about two years ago. That day, I just wanted to collect the money and steal his car, which we estimated at about N2m. He struggled with us and died in the process.”.

The victim lives alone in Egbeda area in Lagos while his wife and children live in Imo state where he comes from. The robbers are indigenes of Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa and Anambra states.

The robbers have been charged to court.

Chris Brown files paternity and child custody documents for daughter

Chris Brown who has been spending so much time with his daughter Royalty, says he has had it with his baby mama Nia Guzman's child support and custody demands, so he's asking a judge to intervene.

Chris and Nia have been at war over 1-year-old Royalty for a long time now. She's demanding $15k a month in child support, but Chris Brown doesn't think it is a fair amount.

Due to this reason, he has filed legal documents in Houston to establish paternity of baby Royalty. That will give him the right to fight Nia over support and custody.

Chis who has been paying Nia $2,500  per month, believes it is a fair amount. If he ascertains that he is Royalty's father, he will then go to court to file for custody and a fair amount for child support to Nia.
He says Nia has been denying him the right to see his daughter, so he wants a judge to get involved and set guidelines for both of them

Photo: Kano road traffic agency arrests Donkey for causing traffic in the state

As you see am, na so me sef see am, no further explanations...lol

Karrueche Tran poses topless for Flaunt magazine

Chris Brown's former girlfriend shared photos from her recent photo-shoot for Flaunt magazine - denim issue - on her instagram page. See more photos after the cut...

Nigerian twitter reacts to "Baba Go Slow" report on Bloomberg

Nigerians on twitter have reacted to yesterday's report on Bloomberg referring to President Buhari as 'Baba Go Slow'. More of their reactions after the cut...

13 & 14yr old girls stopped to take selfies as they battered woman to death

2 teenage girls took selfies and posted them on Snapchat while they battered a woman to death with a television set, computer printer and a kettle, a court heard yesterday, July 1st.

Angela Wrightson, 39, was subjected to a 'sustained and brutal' assault before her half-naked body was found at her home in Hartlepool, in December 2014.

Two teenage girls, who were aged 13 and 14 at the time of the killing, are accused of carrying out the attack, while the younger girl is said to have published a selfie taken at Ms Wrightson's home after the violence began on social media app Snapchat.

Ms Wrightson and the other girl, her best friend, could be seen in the picture and the older woman already had marks on her face, the court heard.

Both girls were grinning, but Ms Wrightson was not. 

The jury had heard how Ms Wrightson, an alcoholic who would buy cigarettes and drink for underage youths, was found dead by her landlord.

'The body was sitting on a sofa in her front room, she was naked from the waist down,'Mr Campbell said.

The landlord dialled 999, and emergency services were called to the property. Forensic experts found shards of glass and gravel around the victim's 'private parts', and ash in her right ear.

Mr Campbell said: 'It became clear that Angela Wrightson had been the victim of a sustained and brutal assault.

'There were well over 100 injuries. The evidence at the scene of the crime showed she had been struck in 12 separate locations within that room.

'A number of implements were used as weapons. They included a wooden stick with screws standing proud of the surface, a TV set, a printer from a home computer, a coffee table and a shovel.

'Smaller items such as a kettle and a metal pan were used together with a glass vase and other ornaments.'

Later, the younger girl rang a friend using Facebook, jurors heard, and that witness went on to tell police that during the call she heard the defendant shout: 'Go on (names older defendant), smash her head in, bray her, f****** kill her.'

The witness told police she thought she then heard laughing in the background. The friend thought the defendant sounded drunk.

Now aged 14 and 15, the defendants had formed an 'intense' relationship, the court heard.

'The prosecution case is that they were in it together and that they are jointly responsible for this fatal act,' Mr Campbell said.

Both defendants deny murder, with the older girl saying she did not intend serious harm, and her co-accused claiming she did not encourage or take part in the violence.

The younger girl took selfies at the crime scene after the violence had started and published one on social media, the court heard.

One taken at 9pm showed her co-accused in the background, and further back, Ms Wrightson. Both girls were smiling, but the woman was not, Mr Campbell said.

And there were already marks on her face.

Further selfies that the younger girl took showed the girls drinking cider from a bottle.

The girls had let themselves in through Miss Wrightson's unlocked front door at around 7.30pm and left after 11pm, jurors heard. They came back at around 2am the next morning before leaving a final time at 4am. Ms Wrightson may already have been dead by 11pm, the court was told.

Between 11pm and 2am they chatted with a local teenager who asked why they had blood on their clothes, jurors heard. They told him they had both fallen over.

He heard the older girl say: 'We have to get back to the house, check if she is dead.'

The younger girl was staying with foster parents while the older one was in a local authority home, the jury was told.

The older girl had visited her mother on the day of the attack, the jury heard. 'You will be hearing that theirs is not a constructive relationship,' Mr Campbell said.

The girl was seen to be upset and when a relative asked why, she said her mother 'had told her to go and kill herself', the court heard. 

'It is the prosecution case that each was a bad influence on the other and at night, they would often run off together causing the police to be involved in bringing them back to their respective homes,' Mr Campbell said.

The younger girl confided in a friend the next day how a terrified Ms Wrightson begged for them to stop, the court heard.

'She said it had all started when Angela Wrightson had threatened her with a knife and when (she) retaliated, (the other girl) joined in as well,' Mr Campbell said, as he told the jury what the witness said the defendant had told her. 'Thereafter (the older girl) had done most of the stuff, they had smashed up the house and they had smashed the bits over Angela Wrightson.'

The girl told her friend that the TV was smashed over their victim and they had 'stamped all over her head'.

Mr Campbell said the defendant told her friend 'Angela Wrightson had been saying "please don't, stop, I'm scared"' but they carried on.

Mr Campbell said the friend will say the younger defendant wanted Ms Wrightson dead and 'had a hate for Angie, but she didn't know why'.

After news of the murder spread the next day, the older girl told a support worker it was 'shocking'.

During a shopping trip, she asked the adult: 'How do you think it feels to kill someone? Do you think you feel empty? Do you think you would feel bad?' 

The trial was adjourned until today. 

Source: Daily Mail UK