Ben Affleck and wife Jennifer Garner split

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are getting divorced. The same week they celebrated their 10-year anniversary, the couple released a statement to People confirming their "After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce," the couple said in a joint statement. "We go forward with love and friendship for one another and a commitment to co-parenting our children whose privacy we ask to be respected during this difficult time. This will be our only comment on this private, family matter. Thank you for understanding." The couple have three children together: Violet, 9, Seraphina, 6, and Samuel, 3. Affleck was famously engaged to Jennifer Lopez, and Garner was previously married to actor Scott Foley

Explosion rocks Rivers' oil facility

Residents of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State were on Monday thrown into panic when a facility belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company went up in flames after two explosions, thereby cutting of 20,000 barrels per day of crude oil production.
Reuters quoted an official of the company as saying that the fire, which has not spread beyond the tanks’ containment basin, started on Sunday evening and firefighters were trying to contain the blaze.
“The impact on production net to Eni is approximately 20,000 bpd,” the source said, adding, “I can’t confirm when production will start again.”
The official said the cause of the fire was being investigated.
Some residents of Ebeocha town, who were getting set for their various businesses, were jolted by the deafening sound of an explosion in the facility.
The people became more apprehensive because a similar explosion had occurred at the same point around 10pm on Sunday.
An eyewitness told our correspondent that no casualty was recorded as fire fighters from Agip and Total Exploration and Production raced to the place to put out the inferno.
The eyewitness, who identified himself simply as Ella, said, “Nobody was injured and nobody died. When it happened, fire service men came almost immediately to fight the fire. We cannot really say what caused the explosion.
“We heard the first explosion in the night on Sunday before the second one that caused the fire outbreak.”
Speaking on the incident, the Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, Mr. Augustine Ahiamadu, dismissed speculations that the incident could be as a result of sabotage.
Ahiamadu, who said the cause of the fire could be mechanical, described the site where the incident happened as a high risk zone, adding that the tanks were old and needed to be replaced.
The council chairman, however, said though two explosions occurred Sunday night, he could not confirm if there was any casualty.
Security operatives have since been drafted to the place, even as some people, who believed there would be more explosions, have begun to leave Ebeocha.
Copyright PUNCH

Fresh audit of security personnel for Nig's Pres. Buhari arises

Authorities of the Presidential Villa, Abuja have ordered a comprehensive audit of security personnel and forces deployed in the seat of power.
The audit may have been necessitated by the ongoing inter-agency rivalry in the Villa.
According to a memo signed by the Aide-De-Camp to the President, Lt. Col. Lawal Abubakar, the exercise was needed for “accountability and deployment.”
The memo dated June 25, 2015 was titled, “Request for strength returns of security personnel and forces deployed within the Presidential Villa, Abuja.”
Abubakar requested that the required information should be forwarded to his office latest by Monday (yesterday).
The memo read, “The need for proper accountability by all security forces and personnel deployed within the Presidential Villa cannot be over-emphasised.
“This has made it imperative to collate an updated nominal roll for all security forces and personnel deployed within the Presidential Villa performing physical security duties for proper accountability and deployment.
“Based on this, and in the spirit of enhancing general security within the Presidential Villa, you are requested to submit a comprehensive nominal roll of security personnel and security forces in your department and offices to office of the ADC for further necessary action.”
Meanwhile, officials of the Department of State Services who were removed from their beats and locations inside the Presidential Villa have yet to return to their duty posts on Monday.
That was despite an order by the Chief Security Officer to the President, Mr. Abdulrahman Mani, that they should disregard a directive by the ADC removing them from spots where they could perform “close protection roles” for the President.
Copyright PUNCH

Nigerian senator Shehu Sani scolds PDP over Buhari

A Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Shehu Sani, said on Monday that it was morally wrong for the Peoples Democratic Party to say that President Muhammadu Buhari was too slow in just one month into his four-year administration.
He said the PDP antic was to rush President Buhari into the ‘landmines’ it had set for the administration after its painful defeat at the March 28 presidential election.
According to him, the PDP government had destroyed Nigeria and its economy as well as impoverished Nigerians in the last 16 years of ruling the country.
Sani spoke to newsmen shortly after his visit to the National Library, Kaduna.
Sani, a pro-democracy activist, said President Buhari was too experienced to fall into the ‘devilish’ tricks of the PDP, noting that the President’s current pace was deliberate and calculated to work in the best interest of Nigerians.
The former president of the Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria added that the Jonathan administration laid a lot of land mines, snares and traps for President Buhari.
Sani said, “President Muhammadu Buhari’s pace is not deliberate, but a calculated and deliberate acts to ensure that the steps he takes are in the best interest of Nigeria and in the best interest of our people.
“The Jonathan administration had laid a lot of landmines, snares and traps. You can’t rush President Muhammadu Buhari into such landmines, snares and traps. His critics want him to fall into such traps.
“Those who are criticising Mr. President are the agents of the past. However, despite the challenges of the APC, Nigeria cannot go back to the PDP. The PDP represents evil and we are paying the price of allowing the PDP to rule Nigeria for 16 years.
”It is only people that are shameless that will be critical of the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari, after piling such enormous debt for our country; after looting the treasury of our country; after allowing blood to flow in all parts of Nigeria. Now, you are talking about the government being slow. I think they are very unfair.”
Copyright PUNCH

Several of the abducted Chibok girls join Boko Haram!

Some of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria have been forced to join Islamist militant group Boko Haram, the BBC has been told.
Witnesses say some are now being used to terrorise other captives, and are even carrying out killings themselves.
The testimony cannot be verified but Amnesty International says other girls kidnapped by Boko Haram have been forced to fight.
Boko Haram has killed some 5,500 civilians in Nigeria since 2014.
Two-hundred-and-nineteen schoolgirls from Chibok, are still missing, more than a year after they were kidnapped from their school in northern Nigeria. Many of those seized are Christians.


Three women who claim they were held in the same camps as some of the Chibok girls have told the BBC's Panorama programme that some of them have been brainwashed and are now carrying out punishments on behalf of the militants.
Seventeen-year-old Miriam (not her real name) fled Boko Haram after being held for six months. She was forced to marry a militant, and is now pregnant with his child.
Recounting her first days in the camp she said: "They told to us get ready, that they were going to marry us off."
She and four others refused.
null
Human cost of Boko Haram
219 of the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped from Chibok by Boko Haram in April 2014 are still missing.
They are among at least 2,000 women and girls abducted by Boko Haram since the start of 2014 (Amnesty figures)
Since the start of 2014 Boko Haram has killed an estimated 5,500 civilians in north-east Nigeria (Amnesty figures)
Who are Boko Haram?
Chibok: What we know a year on
Why Boko Haram remains a threat
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"They came back with four men, they slit their throats in front of us. They then said that this will happen to any girl that refuses to get married,"
Faced with that choice, she agreed to marry, and was then repeatedly raped.
"There was so much pain," she said. "I was only there in body… I couldn't do anything about it."
While in captivity, Miriam described meeting some of the Chibok schoolgirls. She said they were kept in a separate house to the other captives.
nullMiriam is pregnant with the child of a member of Boko Haram
"They told us: 'You women should learn from your husbands because they are giving their blood for the cause. We must also go to war for Allah.'"
She said the girls had been "brainwashed" and that she had witnessed some of them kill several men in her village.
"They were Christian men. They [the Boko Haram fighters] forced the Christians to lie down. Then the girls cut their throats."
It is not possible to independently verify Miriam's claims. But human rights group Amnesty International said their research also shows that some girls abducted by Boko Haram have been trained to fight.
"The abduction and brutalisation of young women and girls seems to be part of the modus operandi of Boko Haram," said Netsanet Belay, Africa director, research and advocacy at Amnesty International.
'They had guns'
The Chibok schoolgirls have not been seen since last May when Boko Haram released a video of around 130 of them gathered together reciting the Koran. They looked terrified.
Amnesty International estimates more than 2,000 girls have been taken since the start of 2014. But it was the attack on the school in Chibok that sparked international outrage.
Michelle Obama made a rousing speech a few weeks after their abduction, demanding the girls' return.
Millions of people showed their support for the #bringbackourgirls campaign. The hashtag was shared more than five million times.
Boko Haram has been trying to establish an Islamic State in the region, but it has recently been pushed back by a military force from Nigeria and its neighbours. Hundreds of women and girls have managed to escape during these raids.
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Anna, aged 60, is one of them. She fled a camp in the Sambisa forest in December where she was held for five months. She now sits beneath a tree close to the cathedral in the Adamawa state capital of Yola. Her only possessions are the clothes she ran away in.
She said she saw some of the Chibok schoolgirls just before she fled the forest.
"They had guns," she said.


Media caption Anna, a former Boko Haram captive, claims some of the girls were forced to kill
When pressed on how she could be sure that it is was the Chibok schoolgirls that she'd seen, Anna said: "They [Boko Haram] didn't hide them. They told us: 'These are your teachers from Chibok.'
"They shared the girls out as teachers to teach different groups of women and girls to recite the Koran," Anna recalled.
"Young girls who couldn't recite were being flogged by the Chibok girls."
Like Miriam, Anna also said she had seen some of the Chibok schoolgirls commit murder.
Conversion attempt
"People were tied and laid down and the girls took it from there… The Chibok girls slit their throats," said Anna.
Anna said she felt no malice towards the girls she had seen taking part in the violence, only pity.
"It's not their fault they were forced to do it." she added. "Anyone who sees the Chibok girls has to feel sorry for them."
Exposing women to extreme violence seemed to be a strategy used by Boko Haram to strip them of their identity and humanity, so they could be forced to accept the militants' ideology.
nullFaith, a Christian, says Boko Haram fighters tried to convert her to their version of Islam
Faith (not her real name) aged 16, who is Christian, described how Boko Haram fighters tried to force her to convert to their version of Islam.
"Every day at dawn they would come and throw water over us and order us to wake up and start praying."
"Then one day they brought in a man wearing uniform. They made us all line up and then said to me: 'Because you are always crying, you will must kill this man.'
"I was given the knife and ordered to cut his neck. I said I couldn't do it.
"They cut his throat in front of me. That's when I passed out."
Faith said she had seen at least one Chibok schoolgirl who had been married off to a Boko Haram militant during her four months in captivity.
"She was just like any of the Boko Haram wives," she explained. "We are more scared of the wives than the husbands."
Long road to recovery
With hundreds of women and children recently rescued from Boko Haram strongholds in the Sambisa forest, the Nigerian government has set up a programme to help escapees.
Many fled captivity, only to discover that some or all of their family members had been killed by Boko Haram. Others have been cast out from their communities, who now consider them "Boko Haram wives".
Dr Fatima Akilu is in charge of Nigeria's counter-violence and extremism programme. She is currently looking after around 300 of the recently rescued women and children.
"We have not seen signs of radicalisation," she told us. "But if it did occur we would not be surprised."
And she added: "In situations where people have been held, there have been lots of stories where they have identified with their captors."
nullMalnourished children being treated at Yola's main hospital. They were recently rescued from the forest with their mother
Dr Akilu said beatings, torture, rape, forced marriages and pregnancies were common in Boko Haram camps.
"We have a team of imams… that are trained to look out for radical ideas and ideology.
"Recovery is going to be slow, it's going to be long… It's going to be bumpy."
As the hunt for the Chibok schoolgirls continues, and questions are raised about what state they will be in if they ever return home, those who have managed to escape are beginning the mammoth task of coming to terms with their experiences.
"I can't get the images out of my head," said Anna, breaking down in tears. "I see people being slaughtered. I just pray that the nightmares don't return."
For others, the nightmare is continuing every day. Miriam is expecting her baby any day now.
"I hope that the baby is a girl," she said. "I would love her more than any boy. I'm scared of having a boy."
Miriam's future is bleak. She is terrified her "husband" will find her and kill her for running away. Her community has also rejected her.
"People consider me an outcast," she said.
"They remind me that I have Boko Haram inside me."
BBC

APC insists on its recipe for peace with Saraki

The battle for the control of the National Assembly may be long drawn as the leadership of the All Progressives Congress on Monday insisted on removing the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, of the minority Peoples Democratic Party.
One of our correspondents learnt on Monday that the ruling APC was still miffed that Ekweremadu emerged as the deputy senate president and had vowed never to allow “a senator from a minority party take over the duties statutorily assigned for the majority party.”
A leader of the APC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that Ekweremadu as deputy senate president would hamper the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The APC leader said, “As deputy senate leader, Ekweremadu is automatically the Chairman, Senate Committee on Constitution Amendment. This is a sensitive position that, statutorily, should not be held by the minority.
“Ekweremadu and his PDP co-travellers will hamper the policies of the Buhari government. By the virtue of Senate rules, a member of the minority is not supposed to be the deputy senate leader; so, he is occupying the post illegally.
“We know the body language of some of these elements to anti-corruption. Nigerians know the stance of Buhari on corruption and insecurity. These elements occupying positions in the National Assembly must be removed. Otherwise, this administration is dead on arrival.”
He said the President was in support of the candidacy of Senator Ahmed Lawan for the senate presidency and had told Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to support APC’s candidates for the principal posts.
“The President has refused to see Saraki and Dogara since they emerged as senate president and speaker respectively. Both Saraki and Dogara have done everything possible to see the President but he has shunned them because he is not happy about their conduct. You can see that the President has seen the Lawan group; this shows where his support lies,” the source added.
Meanwhile, barring any last minute changes, the National Executive Committee meeting of the APC will now hold on Friday.
National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, confirmed this to one of our correspondents in a text message on Monday.
In response to an inquiry from The PUNCH as to whether the party’s NEC would meet in Abuja on Tuesday, Odigie-Oyegun replied, “Necessarily on Friday.”
The PUNCH had earlier learnt that some party leaders at various levels had impressed it upon the party hierarchy to convene the high level meeting in order to find an amicable solution to the crisis threatening the party’s survival.
Members of the 48-member NEC are due to arrive in Abuja on Thursday, our correspondent learnt.
A national caucus meeting said to have been scheduled to hold on Monday was cancelled.
One of our correspondents, who visited both the party’s national secretariat and the residence of Odigie-Oyegun, reported that there was no sign that any meeting would hold at either of the venues as of 8.05pm on Monday.
The APC has been in crisis since the inauguration of the National Assembly on June 9 following the emergence of Bukola Saraki and Dogara as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively.
The party had announced Senator Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila as its sole candidates for the two positions.
Matters were made worse when the Senate President ignored a party directive that the remaining four leadership positions in both chambers of the National Assembly should be conceded to those who “lost out” during the inauguration.
Copyright PUNCH

Katy Perry"roars" over a new deal with bishop, nuns

Looks like Katy Perry needs some divine intervention — or maybe just a good real estate attorney.
The "Roar" superstar singer recently made a $14.5 million deal with Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez to purchase a hilltop property that was once the convent of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. But the sisters had their own sale pending, and recently signed papers to sell the acreage and villa-style building to a restaurateur for $15.5 million. That sale went through two weeks ago, reported the Los Angeles Times.

Now, things have gotten into a holy mess as the archbishop argues with the sisters over who actually has the right to sell the property. At one point, 52 Immaculate Heart sisters lived in the convent, said the Times, but in 2011, the diocese moved the remaining sisters to other locations. There are five sisters still living, and two of them are saying the property is theirs.
The convent Katy Perry wishes to make her home.

Perry even made a personal bid to be the new owner, meeting with the sisters and singing the gospel tune "Oh Happy Day" to them. (Before her international pop chart success, Perry released a Christian album.)
The sisters were not impressed. As Sister Rita Callanan told TODAY, "Our days have not been happy since then, I can assure you."
The convent Katy Perry wishes to make her home.
"We have already entered and accepted the offer from Miss Perry," said archdiocese spokesperson Monica Valencia. "The Archbishop has made a promise to care for the sisters, and we want to do what's best for them."
"God help us, we are going to fight this!" said Sister Callahan.
TODAY

BET Awards gets underway with thrills and excitement

Certainly, it does.

Following an electric intro performance by Kendrick Lamar, announcing the 2015 BET awards show kicked off at LA's iconic Staples Centre with the rap singer winning the best rap artiste award.

Shortly afterwards, Nicki Minaj upped the ante of excitement by winning the best female hip hop artiste again. She,collected the award with her mom, Carol, by her side. For the first time ever, Nicki confirmed her relationship status with Meek Mill, another rap artiste, with a shout out to her "baby,
Meek Mill" to his obvious delight as he beamed widely in delight from his seat in the audience. The crowd approved as they chanted " We love Nicki" and "Mama Carol" as they returned the their seats.

Not long afterwards, Sam Smith won for best new artiste. The person who collected the award on his behalf humorously said Sam Smith couldn't come personally because he thought he won't win because "he's white."

P. Diddy brought nearly everyone that their feet with a medley of hits he's associated with primarily during his Bad Boy Entertainment record label days with Mase.

That's not to say a lot of buzz isn't circulating among viewers over a thrilling performance by Janet Jackson! It would be her first public performance in nearly 10 years.

More to follow...

Controversy over Buhari's security details deepens

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief Security Officer, Abdulrahman Mani, has revoked the order by the Aide-De-Camp to the President, Lt.-Col. Lawal Abubakar, removing operatives of the Department of State Services from giving Buhari close body protection.
Mani, in a memo countermanding the ADC’s order, said the DSS operatives should disregard the directive by Abubakar. He said the order was a misrepresentation of Buhari’s directive.
Buhari’s ADC had on Wednesday last week issued a memo redeploying the DSS officials from 10 beats that they had hitherto manned inside the Presidential villa, explaining that the decision to strip the DSS officials of their traditional roles was part of efforts to enhance general security within the villa.
He also claimed that the development was necessitated by “recent events,” which he did not disclose.
The ADC consequently directed personnel of the Armed Forces and the Nigeria Police to take over the DSS officials’ duties of providing “close/immediate protection” for the President with immediate effect.
But in a June 26, 2015, memo by the CSO, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent on Sunday, Mani directed the DSS officials to disregard the ADC’s order, saying the duties being performed by the DSS personnel in the Presidential villa were backed by relevant statutes and gazetted instruments.
These roles, he added, included close body protection of the President in line with standard operational procedures and international best practices.
He cited Section 2(I )(ii) of Instrument No.SSS 1 of May 23, 1999 made pursuant to Section 6 of the National Security Agencies Decree of 1986, which has been re-enacted as Section 6 of NSA Act CAP N74 LFN 2004.
He said the law empowered personnel of the DSS to provide protective security for designated principal government functionaries.
The functionaries, he said, included but not limited to the President and Vice President as well as members of their immediate families.
He said the law also mandates the DSS to provide protective security for sensitive installations such as the Presidential Villa and visiting foreign dignitaries.
The CSO said it was for that reason that personnel of the DSS near the President were carefully selected and properly trained and that background checks were constantly carried out on them to confirm their suitability and loyalty.
Mani said the issues raised in the ADC’s memo suggested that he ventured into an unfamiliar terrain.
The CSO’s memo read, “In fact, the issues raised in the aforementioned (ADC’s) circular tend to suggest that the author may have ventured into a not-too-familiar terrain.
“The extant practice, the world over, is that VIP protection, which is a specialised field, is usually handled by the Secret Service, under whatever nomenclature.
“They usually constitute the inner core security ring around every principal. The Police and the military by training and mandate are often required to provide secondary and tertiary security cordons around venues and routes.
“However, all other security agencies, including the army, the police and others, also have their roles to play. It is on this note that heads of all security agencies currently in the Presidential Villa and their subordinates are enjoined to key into the existing command and control structure. They are to work in harmony with each other in full and strict compliance with the demands of their statutorily prescribed responsibilities.
“Meanwhile, joint training programmes and other incentives will be worked out in the days ahead to ensure that all security personnel at the Presidential Villa are properly educated to understand their statutory roles and responsibilities.
“This is with a view to avoiding obvious grandstanding, overzealousness, limited knowledge or outright display of ignorance in future.”
Mani asked all the unit and departmental heads to bring the content of his memo to the attention of all personnel for compliance.
He copied the National Security Adviser; the Chief of Defence Staff and the Director-General of DSS.
A source however told our correspondent on Sunday that although the CSO’s directive had been widely circulated, it has yet to take effect as the military men drafted to replace the DSS officials were still at their beats.
The source however introduced another dimension when he blamed a top DSS official in the Presidential Villa for the confrontation.
He claimed that trouble started when the official ordered that soldiers should be blocked from residence reception.
Infuriated by that action, he said the soldiers contacted the ADC who became angry and vowed to report to the President.
“Before that incident, the soldiers have been cooperative and well-behaved. The situation we find ourselves is painful but it is also avoidable,” the source added.
A security expert, Mike Ejiofor, had told our correspondent in an interview on Friday that the ADC’s directive could not stand because it could not be backed by law.
The Presidency had in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, on Wednesday, said Buhari had not given any order for the expulsion of the DSS officials from the Presidential Villa.
Adesina however admitted that a reorganisation of security at the seat of power was underway.
Copyright PUNCH

Patience Jonathan's security aide assassinated?

A Deputy Superintendent of Police, Tamuno Jacob Igbomie, who was Principal Security Officer to the wife of the former President, Patience Jonathan, has been shot dead by unknown assailants.
Igbomie’s corpse was found in his Honda Accord car last Friday along the Airport Road, Abuja.
The former PSO, who was married with two children, was believed to have been killed by assassins who shot him at close range in his car and left the engine running.
A source said the body of the DSP was found early in the morning with all his phones, wallet and other personal effects in tact in the car.
“We believe Tamuno was killed by hired assassins because they did not take away anything in his car. His phones and wallets were still with him when his body was found in the car with the engine steaming.
“He was shot in the night and his body was found early in the morning; we don’t know if he was killed over a business transaction or disagreement with someone,” the source who served with the deceased at the villa stated.
It was gathered that the deceased, who hailed from Okrika, Bayelsa State, was serving at the Federal Capital Territory Police Command before he was deployed to the Presidential Villa as Aide-De-Camp to Patience when her husband was the Vice President.
He was later appointed as the PSO to Patience when her husband became the President in 2011.
Findings indicate that the late policeman had just been redeployed back to his former position at the FCT Police Command, where he was in charge of posting of junior officers.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, confirmed the killing of the policeman, noting that investigation had started to unravel the assailants.
“Yes, a DSP attached to the villa was killed last week Friday, investigation has started to find out the people behind the murder. No arrest has been made yet,” he said over the phone on Sunday.
The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Anjuguri Manzah, said the FCT Commissioner of Police, Wilson Inalegwu, had ordered an investigation into the tragic incident.
Copyright PUNCH

Why NNPC must remit missing monies

UNDER past administrations, especially the Goodluck Jonathan epoch, calls for the recovery of outstanding revenues from oil companies fell on deaf ears. The demand resonated recently in the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative reminder to President Muhammadu Buhari of the $19.1 billion still outstanding, part of which the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation collected but refused to pay into the Federation Account as required by law.
A statement by NEITI’s spokesman, Ogbonnaya Orji, said that some oil companies were in default in the payment of royalties and rents, just as under-assessment of taxes was rampant, all of which amounted to $7.5 billion. There was also the $11.6 billion paid by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas to the Federal Government, which the NNPC sequestered for inexplicable reasons for years.
“Our 2012 Audit Report discovered that total dividend loans and interest repayment from LNG paid to the NNPC in 2012 was $2.8 billion; however, in the course of NEITI’s audit, the NNPC was unable to provide any evidence to prove that the funds were remitted to the federation as required by law. The total amount received by the NNPC from LNG under the same circumstances, which has not been remitted to the Federation Account stands at $11.6 billion,” NEITI said.
In the run-up to the last elections earlier in the year, a meeting between the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts and NLNG threw up a similar finding, which prompted the committee to demand bank statements from the NNPC to confirm lodgement of the funds into federal coffers. But rather than comply, it dispatched a sassy missive to the committee, questioning its powers to look into its books.
Such impunity has all along defined the operations of the corporation, and it explains why oil revenues are not accounted for. Lamido Sanusi as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria in February 2014 noted that the NNPC accounts had not been audited since 2005. This is in addition to the $20 billion crude oil proceeds he alleged the corporation had not remitted to the Federation Account. Sanusi’s audacity unnerved Jonathan, and he wasted no time in removing him from office.
Worse still for the administration, a face-saving forensic audit of the NNPC’s account ironically confirmed the abysmal mess. PriceWaterHouseCoopers, the firm that did the job, could not vouch for the integrity of the audit as relevant government agencies refused to oblige the auditors with all the documents required for a thorough forensic inquest. “The procedures we performed did not constitute an examination or a review in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards or attestation standards,” PwC said. Yet, the immediate past Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, in an attempt to hoodwink Nigerians, claimed that the audit report had exonerated the NNPC from any culpability.
As oil is the country’s cash cow, and the NNPC, the hub of its management, implicated in serial scamming of the public treasury, Buhari is advised to begin his anti-corruption war from there. It is laughable that the corporation, which ignored a parliamentary enquiry on accountability, suddenly admitted that it had not remitted funds in its custody for four years running.
The claim by its spokesman, Ohi Alegbe, shortly after the NEITI salvo that accounts reconciliation was the reason for the delay is deceitful, illogical and unacceptable. The NNPC should shop for other reasons for its breach of trust. It is curious that every transaction involving it is enmeshed in an endless cycle of reconciliations – crude oil revenues, fuel marketers’ claims, and now dividend revenue received for mere transfer to the Federation Account.
Apart from this, other financial misdeeds are no less embarrassing. Buhari is already aware of some of them, including not knowing all the bank accounts it has, and failure to satisfactorily explain what it does with the 445,000 barrels per day crude oil swap with some local and international firms.
However, a Swiss non-government advocacy group – Berne Declaration – in a report in 2013 entitled: “Swiss Traders Opaque Deals in Nigeria,” detailed how the NNPC and its confederates in some Nigerian fuel importers and foreigners drain billions of dollars through some “Letter Box Companies.” The Swiss firms were said to have defrauded Nigeria of $6.8 billion in the process, as they bought crude oil below the market value.  
Instructively, Buhari has not been able to release his ministerial list because of his quest for critical information on government’s finances and the oil industry, which his transition committee, headed by Ahmed Joda, has now put together. Faced with a dim financial outlook as crude oil prices in the global market have dwindled by half, since mid-last year, his government can overcome this crunch by recovering these unremitted funds.
As a corrupt and incompetent national oil company, the NNPC failed to renew the Memorandum of Understanding for Joint Venture partnership with the international oil companies, which expired in 2008. The consequence, NEITI noted in its report that covered 2009 to 2011, was that “companies covered by the JVs still use expired MOU in their transactions with Nigeria, resulting in revenue loss of the difference between NNPC’s and the covered entities’ position of over $1.7 billion.”
Because the NNPC is impervious to transparency and accountability, some oil companies have adopted its dodgy template in their operations, which has cost the country dearly. Without delay, these oil firms should be compelled to embrace international best practices in their operations as they do abroad. We believe that the implementation of past NEITI reports, criminally ignored by past governments, would breathe fresh air into the oil sector.
Indeed, these squalid features of the NNPC and the oil industry at large are too glaring and damaging to be overlooked by the government. If the depraved characters that masterminded these obscene rip-offs are not brought to book under the Buhari government, then, the country would have irredeemably lost the battle to entrench good governance structures in the sector the way other oil producing nations have done.
Copyright PUNCH

8th Senate won't fail - Remi Tinubu

The lawmaker representing Lagos-Central in the Senate, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, says the Eighth Senate will not disappoint Nigerians.
According to a statement by her media aide, Maxwell Adegbenro, on Sunday, Tinubu made the promise on Saturday during a meeting with the All Progressives Congress ward leaders in the Yaba Local Government Area of the state.
The senator, while thanking the party’s leaders for their support during the last elections, promised to continue the empowerment programme she started in 2011.
She said, “Words cannot quantify the support I have received from the members of this constituency. It is my belief that we have achieved so much with the first four-year mandate given to me by my constituents, and I feel the need to do more. This is, indeed, a very critical time for our nation but I strongly believe we shall, irrespective of distraction and overzealousness of some people, fulfil the change.
“The 8th Senate shall witness lots of activities for the benefit of the people as promised and we shall not fail. This will not go without the knowledge of our party leaders; that is why we have decided to sustain some of our programmes, including our quarterly town hall meetings, the youth empowerment and skills acquisition scheme, petty trader empowerment capital scheme and the initiative for the elderly citizen. It is our duty to be accountable and responsible to our constituents.”
The senator presented 220 West African Senior School Certificate Examination forms to the leaders to be distributed to the youths, and also awarded scholarship to six undergraduates selected by the New Era Foundation.
She said, “As leaders, I charge you to be accountable and open; show the people kindness. It is practically irresponsible and unacceptable to neglect the people in these trying times. With them lies the power; that is what the party has been preaching.”
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Boyloaf, N/Delta top ex-militant, speaks on FG's cancellation of pipeline contracts

Ex-militant leader, Boyloaf
Former militant leader, Ebikabowei Victor-Ben, popularly known as ‘General’ Boyloaf, has said no youth in the Niger Delta would go into the creeks should the Federal Government revoke pipeline surveillance contracts awarded to ex-agitators in the region.
Boyloaf, who is one of the beneficiaries of the government’s pipeline protection contract, told SUNDAY PUNCH in a telephone interview that since the Federal Government had declared amnesty, it would be a wrong decision for any person to go into the creeks with the intent of blowing up pipelines and other oil installations.
He assured the Federl Government that no Niger Delta youth would get violent as long as the government did not hurt them. He maintained that the people of the oil-rich region were not known for blowing up pipelines.
Boyloaf said, “The youths are not ready to go to the creeks because there is amnesty. No Niger Delta youth will blow up any pipeline as long as the government did not hurt them. Blowing up pipelines is not their stock in trade. So, by the grace of God, everything will be okay. Nobody is praying for violence.”
Dismissing reports that the Federal Government had revoked the pipeline surveillance contract awarded to ex-militant leaders, Boyloaf described the report as the handiwork of some politicians who were trying to instigate violence in the country.
The former militant leader explained that though the three-month contract given to them to protect the nation’s oil pipelines had expired, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation had not been given the directive to renew the contract.
Boyloaf said, “The Federal Government did not come out openly to say that it has revoked the contract. Truth is, the contract has elapsed because it was for three months. Since it expired, the NNPC workers have not received the instruction to renew the contract.
“There are many reports the President is studying; he has not even appointed aides that are supposed to work with him in this area. He (Buhari) is not supposed to jump into things without studying them. I think we will give him time to study the reports before him.”
He, however, urged President Buhari to renew the contract in order not to render them jobless saying the contract was empowering some Nigerians.
“If the President does not renew our contract, there is nothing we can do. The only advice we will give him is to tell him the importance of the contract and the peace Nigerians are enjoying. It is not good to send many people back to the labour market and make them redundant,” Boyloaf added.
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Ogun's varsity students storm mortuary, demand corpses

Pandemonium enveloped the premises of the Ade Maternity Home, Sagamu, Ogun State on Saturday as scores of grieving students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University forcefully removed the corpses of their colleagues who were killed in a crash the previous day from the hospital’s morgue.
Our correspondent gathered that the management of the hospital had wanted to collect N20,000 per corpse before the corpses could be released to their families.
This was said to have angered the students who stormed the private hospital’s morgue and evacuated their dead colleagues forcefully without paying a dime, and moved them to the morgue of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu.
The police had a hectic time trying to keep the students under control.
Head of the teaching hospital’s Morbid Anatomy and Histopathology Department, Dr Deji Agboola, said the   corpses were traced to Ade Maternity Home their colleagues had combed private morgues in Sagamu.
He confirmed that the angry students did not yield to the demand for payment by the hospital before the corpses of their colleagues were released to them.
A source at the hospital also confirmed that the corpses had been taken away.
The Ogun State police command on Saturday said eight students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, were among the 12 victims of the accident which occurred on Friday at Ilishan Junction, along Sagamu/Benin Expressway.
In the accident, a DAF truck with number plate BDG 779 XE laden with container had a head-on collision with a Mazda commercial bus with number plate XV 311 MUS, killing 12 occupants in the bus instantly.
The victims were five females and seven males.
The state police spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, told our correspondent on the telephone on Saturday that eight students of OOU were among the victims.
Giving further details, he said three of them were pre-degree students, while the only survivor is a 300-level Chemistry student of the institution.
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B'Haram: Anambra traders massively protest

Commercial activities were paralysed on Saturday in Anambra State following protests by traders across the state.
The traders, who closed their shops as early as 9am in major cities of Onitsha, Awka, Nnewi, Ekwulobia and Agulu, took to the streets protesting what they termed plan by the Federal Government to transfer Boko Haram detainees to prisons in the state.
At Tarzan junction, Nkpor in Idemili North Local Government Area of the state, traders and other residents blocked the Enugu – Onitsha Expressway chanting songs suggesting they would be forced to revive the clamour for Biafran Republic if pushed to the wall.
The traders carried placards bearing inscriptions like ‘Buhari should not destroy the peace in Anambra State,’ ‘Biafra kanyi choro’ (We want Biafra), ‘Buhari, Igbos cannot accept your prisoners, ‘We do not want Boko Haram in Anambra,’ ‘Federal Government, why extend Boko Haram to Anambra?’ and ‘Boko Haram prisoners are not allowed here.’
Speaking with journalists during the protests, the Secretary-General, Anambra State Amalgamated Traders Association, Chief Chuma Elucharu, stated that traders in the state decided to shut markets to protest the rumoured relocation of Boko Haram detainees to the state.
Eluchraru said the protests would be continuous until the Federal Government assured that there was no such plan.
At Onitsha, the protesters threatened to be violent should the rumour proved to be true.
There was tension as police used tear gas to disperse the protesters.
While addressing the traders, the President-General of AMATAAS, Chief Okwudili Ezenwankwo, urged them to be calm, saying further consultation would be made by the association to get clear picture of the situation.
Also, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Uche Eze, said there was no need to panic, nothing that the police were handling the situation.
Eze enjoined the people of the state to go about their businesses without fear of molestation.
A senior officer in the Nigerian Prisons Service in the state who spoke on the condition of anonymity to our correspondent, however, said they got a signal recently to prepare to receive some detainees of the violent sect.
But the Nigeria Prisons Service has said there is no plan to transfer Boko Haram suspects in custody to prisons in Anambra State as being speculated.
The NPS Public Relations Officer, Francis Enebore, said most of the terror suspects in prison custody are still awaiting trial and cannot be moved out of the jurisdiction of the court where they would be prosecuted.
He dismissed speculations that the prison authorities had formalised plans to transfer terror suspects from the northern states to Anambra State, saying there is nothing like that.
Enebore said, “Most of the terror suspects are awaiting trial and so, there is no way they can be moved to another state because they must be tried in the state where they committed the crime.
“Apart from this, our duty is to move them from prison to court for trial and since they have not been convicted, how can we transfer them to other states outside the jurisdiction of the court where they would be tried? People are just saying things they know nothing about, there is no truth to the rumours that we are transferring terror suspects to other states.”
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APC Crisis: Buhari meets Lawan group

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday night met with the Senate Unity Forum led by Senator Ahmad Lawan.
SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that during the meeting, which was held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Buhari insisted on party supremacy and supported steps taken so far by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress on the National Assembly crisis.
The APC, had before the National Assembly leadership election, endorsed Lawan as its sole candidate for the senate presidency, but Senator Bukola Saraki defied the party to emerge as the senate president.
The party had also on Wednesday wrote the Senate President and submitted   names of its candidates for the senate principal offices.
In the letter, it named Lawan as its choice for the majority leader; Prof. Sola Adeyeye as the chief whip; George Akume as deputy majority leader; and Abu Ibrahim as deputy chief whip.
But on Thursday Saraki read nominations by the APC zonal caucuses for the positions. The North-East caucus of the party nominated Senator Ali Ndume as the Majority Leader; while the North-West put forward, Bala Na’Allah as the deputy majority leader.
The South-South caucus adopted Francis Alimikhena as the deputy chief.
In his reply on Thursday to the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the Senate President explained why he could not abide by the party’s directive on the offices.
“Whilst one is strongly persuaded to toe the party line and act in accordance with   the suggested party position, regrettably, clear provisions of our extant rules and standard parliamentary convention have not given me that leeway to act otherwise. Therefore, my hands are tied in the circumstances and I seek your understanding in this regard,” he had said.
A senator, who was among the team that met with Buhari in company with Lawan, told one of our correspondents on conditions of anonymity, that the president assured them that he would always align with the party’s position on the issue of the National Assembly election.
The senator said, “Yes, we met with the president and it was a fruitful one, going forward. We had the assurances of Mr. President that he is fully behind the position of the APC leadership on the National Assembly election.
“We are currently on recess but I am sure that when we resume, Nigerians will begin to see the effect of the meeting. I won’t say more than that. “
SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that the plan was for the President to meet as many of the various groups that had emerged in the National Assembly.
A top member of the party, who confided in SUNDAY PUNCH, said, “Yes. The President met with Senator Lawan and some APC senators. The plan is for him to also meet House of Representatives members from the party too.”
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APC'll emerge stronger after present challenges, says APC in Diaspora

The All Progressive Congress (APC), Scandinavia chapter has described the current crisis in the party as one thing that would further strengthen the party.
The statement was made on Thursday by the National Coordinator, APC Scandinavia, Mr. Ayoola Lawal,  during a caucus meeting in Sweden.
Lawal explained that Nigerians and the International communities should not be exceedingly alarmed at the crisis facing the party, stating that:
“Crisis is normal in any system and we want to assure everyone that APC will overcome this current crisis and come out stronger and better than it was known before now.”
Nigerians are yearning for change that APC promises and indeed we shall deliver on our promises.
“For us at APC, the current trend of behaviours of some of our lawmakers and Senators are superable challenge and a test of the resilience of our party leadership
 which Nigerians can testify to over the years even before we won the last general elections at the federal level.
“The party is a party of orderliness and that is why we are still this coordinated. If this sort of crisis befell another party in this country even the former
 ruling party, it would have grown out of hands.”
The coordinator further noted that it is, however, pertinent that everyone in the party respect the party hierarchy
 and act in agreement with laid down rules and regulations as contained in the party’s constitution. No individual or group is above the party.
“We implore every lawmaker and all Senators elected on the platform of the APC to maintain the level of orderliness associated with this party.
“We urge Nigerians to have patience and pray for the success of PMB led administration. The sacrifices made by Nigerians, the trust and the hope of change placed upon APC shall not be betrayed

Germany spied on F/Eagles before World Cup-Ndidi

Flying Eagles defender Wilfred Ndidi has given an insight into why they fell to the Germans and crash out of the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in the Round of 16.
The lanky defender said the Germans had spied on the Nigeria U-20 before the tournament and therefore had a tactical edge during the Round of 16 match, which they won 1-0.
Having won the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup and the 2015 U-20 African Championship with largely the same team, Nigeria was among the favourites to win U-20 World Cup, which ended last week in New Zealand.
Nigeria began the tournament losing 4-2 to Brazil, who were eventually beaten 2-1 in the final by Serbia. Nigeria went on to thrash North Korea 4-0 and beat Hungary 2-0 in their last two group games.
While many Nigerians have remained puzzled by the African champions’ poor outing at the World Cup, Ndidi, in an interview with our correspondent noted that the Germans got vital information about their Nigerian opponents cheaply during the Flying Eagles pre-tournament tour in Germany.
Coach Manu Garba had led the Nigeria U-20 team on a training tour to Germany, where he and his crew perfected their tactics and selected the players that made the final 21-man squad for the tournament.
During the tour the Flying Eagles played and defeated three German Bundesliga age-grade outfits – Hoffenheim, Nurnberg and Freiburg – scoring 14 goals in the process.
After spending about 25 days in Germany, the Flying Eagles travelled to New Zealand, where they stood a good chance of meeting the Germans. Nigeria was in Group E, while Germany was in Group F.
Eventually, Nigeria finished second in Group E and were bound to meet Germany, who finished top of Group F.
Ndidi, who played every minute of Nigeria’s four games in the World Cup, said the pre-tournament tour exposed them to the Germans, who he said had the superior tactics when they met.
The Genk of Belgium defender said, “It was just tactics that the Germans used to defeat us. We did our pre-tournament tour in Germany and we defeated all the clubs we played in Germany. I believe the national team must have got vital information on how we played from those clubs and used the information against us. Individually, the Germans were not better than us but their tactics worked against us.”
Apart from the Germany slip, Ndidi said the high expectations of Nigerians worked against the team at the World Cup.
He said some of his teammates became over-confident and complacent before their first game in the tournament.
“When people expect too much, it becomes difficult for players. Due to the expectations of Nigerians, we were over-confident before our first game against Brazil,” he said.
“The mindset of some players was that no team could beat us because we were good and strong. So complacency began to set in and I guess it was the complacency and over-confidence that made us lose the game.”
Ndidi said the entire team, including the technical crew, should take the blame for the poor outing but pleaded that the team should not be disbanded.
“In football, sometimes you lose to know what your lapses are. We did well at the U-17 World Cup; we did well in Senegal; that we did not do well in New Zealand is not enough reason to disband the team. Winning all the time is a bad thing. Sometimes you lose to know how to win again,” he said.
Ndidi, who is among the eight U-20 players called up by coach Samson Siasia to join the Nigeria U-23 team, said he now looks forward to making an impact for Nigeria at the Olympics.
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APC's NWC inconclusive on Saraki, Dogara

The All Progressives Congress is undecided on how to handle the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakuubu Dogara, for disregarding its directive on the choice of principal officers of the National Assembly.
Saturday PUNCH learnt on Friday that the party’s National Working Committee was undecided on whether or not Saraki and Dogara should be punished.
It was learnt that while some members believed that the party should handle the issue with care; others insisted that the Senate President and the speaker should be punished.
The division among the NWC members had prevented the committee from taking a definite decision on the alleged anti-party activities by the Senate President and the Speaker.
Saraki and Dogara, had on June 9 defied the directive of the party by contesting the senate presidency and the speakership.
The APC leaders were particularly angry because the Peoples Democratic Party got the senate deputy presidency.
Saraki and his loyalists, among the APC senators, had boycotted a peace meeting the party had with its senators on June 9.
The meeting was attended by the rival group, Senate Unity Forum, led by Senator Ahmed Lawan, who was endorsed by the party as its sole candidate for the Senate President.
Saraki emerged as senate president unopposed when the meeting was going on at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
The Senate President again on Thursday refused to announce the party’s candidates for the upper chamber’s principal positions.
The APC, had in a letter to Saraki on Wednesday, named Lawan as its choice for the Majority Leader; Prof. Sola Adeyeye as the Chief Whip; George Akume as Deputy Majority Leader; and Abu Ibrahim as Deputy Chief Whip.
The party also wrote Dogara and named a former Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila as the Majority Leader; Ado Doguwa as the Deputy House Leader; M.T. Monguno as the Chief Whip and Pally Iriase as the Deputy Chief Whip.
Saraki read letters from zonal caucuses tof the APC on Thursday.
The North-East caucus of the party nominated Senator Ali Ndume as the Majority Leader; while the North-West put forward, Bala Na’Allah as the Deputy Majority Leader.
The South-South caucus adopted Francis Alimikhena as the Deputy Chief.
In the House of Representatives, the refusal of Dogara to read the party’s letter threw the lower chamber into commotion.
The APC, had in a statement on Thursday by its Secretary Mai Mala Buni, insisted on its position and rejected the principal officers announced by Saraki.
Investigations showed that those who advocated a soft approach were of the view that if the issue was not handled with care, the PDP would cash in on the crisis and woo Saraki, Dogara and other APC senators.
But it was learnt that those calling for a punitive measure insisted that the party would set a bad precedent, if Saraki and his group were not punished.
A top member of the party, who confided in Saturday PUNCH, said, “As of now, we have not reached a consensus on what is going on in the National Assembly.
“Some believe that taking a harsh stand will send the affected lawmakers away, while others are saying that they should not go unpunished.”
Another highly placed member of the party, who confided in Saturday PUNCH out of fear of retribution said, the party was keeping its next line of action close to its chest.
“What I can tell you is that the party will meet within the next few days and make its position on all these issues known,” he said.
When contacted. the APC National Publicity Secretary, Alahaji Lai Mohammed said, “No comment.”
But some state chairmen of the APC on Friday expressed sadness over the crisis in the National Assembly.
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US gives casualty figure from Haram killings in 2 years

The United States State Department has said that Boko Haram killed the most number of people in 2013 and 2014 when compared with other terrorist groups in the world.
The State Department, in a recent report, compiled a list of the world’s deadliest terrorist groups, with the total fatalities that they caused in 2013 and 2014.
The Boko Haram group killed the highest number of people in the period.
The Boko Haram group has killed thousands and displaced millions of Nigerians as a result of its activities in the North-Eastern part of the country.
The report said the Boko Haram group caused about 8,239 deaths in the period; the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq killed about 8,038 people. The Taliban group in Afghanistan caused 5,848 deaths.
The Al-Shabaab group in Somalia killed around 1,539 people in the period, while the Maoists/Communist Party of India-Maoist killed 188.
A security expert based in Abuja, Mr. Lanre Tella, said it was high time the Federal Government worked on its plan to crush the insurgent group.
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NASS crisis: Saraki writes APC

The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, in a letter written to the All Progressives Congress, said his hands were tied with regard to the selection of principal officers of the upper chamber. This was contained in a Friday report on www.thecable.ng.
The National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, had on June 23, written to Saraki, stating the party’s choice of principal officers of the senate.
The APC had nominated Ahmad Lawan as senate majority leader, George Akume as deputy majority leader, Olusola Adeyeye as chief whip, and Abu Ibrahim as deputy chief whip. However, Saraki, on Thursday, announced Ali Ndume as majority leader, Bala Na’Allah as deputy majority leader and Francis Alimikhena as deputy chief whip after the various APC senate caucuses nominated them.
In his letter dated June 25, Saraki was said to have explained to the party that the APC senate caucuses had already taken a decision on the matter before he received Odigie-Oyegun’s letter.
Saraki’s letter read, “The said letter (Oyegun’s letter) was received after various APC zonal caucuses had taken their decisions to candidates as principal officers of the senate in line with parliamentary convention and the extant provisions of the senate standing orders 2015 as amended.”
The Senate President said, “Furthermore, whilst one is strongly persuaded to toe party line and act in accordance with the suggested party position, regrettably clear provisions of our extant rules and standard parliamentary convention have not given me that leeway to act otherwise.
“Therefore, my hands are tied in the circumstances and I seek your understanding in this regard.”
However, he added that without equivocation he remained “loyal to our great party and its leadership and also fully committed to the change agenda of the Mr. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, the APC in Ondo State has said that the party is not to blame for the leadership crisis in the National Assembly.
The party said Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, should be blamed for the division in the party.
The party’s Publicity Secretary in Ondo State, Omo’ba Adesanya, in a statement on Friday,   stressed that the party had played its role by giving directives and that it was left for the leadership of the Assembly to follow such directives.
The statement partly read, “The party leadership had, after an exhaustive meeting with governors and executive members of the National Assembly, issued a directive, but Saraki and Dogara refused to carry out the directives.
“Instead of doing that, they connived with the Peoples Democratic Party members in the Assembly to realise their personal ambitions.
“As principal officers representing APC in the National Assembly, they are expected to carry out the party’s directives in terms of who occupies the positions.
“Therefore, Nigerians should hold Saraki and Dogara responsible for the crisis rocking the National Assembly. They are working against the party that sponsored them by initiating an unholy alliance with the PDP to truncate the ‘change’ that the people expect.”
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FG traces looted funds to Switzerland, Europe and US

The Federal Government has started tracing looted Nigerian funds to foreign nations with the aim of recovering and repatriating them.
The Federal Government specifically targets the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and other European jurisdictions where it believes corrupt officials have been stashing public funds.
This move came on the heels of the declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari on his first day in Aso Villa office that he inherited an almost empty treasury from his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, thus vowing that his administration would recover all the looted funds stashed in foreign banks by corrupt Nigerians.
“The next three months may be hard, but billions of dollars can be recovered, and we will do our best,” the President was quoted as saying in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina.
Some of the countries where looted funds from Nigeria have been kept in the past include Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Others are France, Germany, British Virgin Islands and other tax havens spread across the globe.
Adesina, who confirmed the move in an exclusive interview with Saturday PUNCH on Thursday, said, the search for the looted funds will not be limited to these countries but anywhere in the world where they may be hidden.
He said, “The search will not only cover UK, US, Switzerland, Germany and other known havens for Nigerian looted funds but will cover everywhere under the sun. Anywhere and everywhere that the looted funds are, we have an assurance from the United States of America to assist us to repatriate these funds from anywhere under the sun.”
Saturday PUNCH learnt that the Federal Government’s investigation was meant to identify the individuals who engaged in corrupt practices and ascertain the sums of money involved with a view to repatriating them.
One of our correspondents also learnt that anti-corruption agencies will play a prominent role in the exercise targeted at corrupt government officials in the recent past administration and their private sector collaborators, among others.
To this end, Adeniyi told Saturday PUNCH that the Federal Government is planning to engage the services of foreign private investigators to help trace and find looted funds belonging to the people of Nigeria.
“Everything that needs to be done to get all those funds repatriated will be done, including engaging private investigators,” the Presidential spokesperson added.
Buhari had lamented that officials of the recent past government jettisoned all financial and administrative instructions put in place in parastatals and agencies while embracing impunity, lack of accountability and financial recklessness in the management of national resources.
This, the President decried, had thrown the country into financial crisis.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that foreign search, which is expected to be thorough, will, among others, be directed at foreign banks with the ultimate aim of getting incontrovertible facts and figures that can aid the government in collaboration with the US and other members of the G7 nations to recover stolen funds stashed abroad.
Adesina said the identification of foreign banks being used to stash stolen funds was one of the mandates given to Buhari during a meeting he had with President Barak Obama at the recent G-7 summit in Germany.
He said, “When the President met with the G7, the promise that the American President gave him was that Nigeria should just provide all the facts, the figures, the statistics, including the banks.
“He promised that if Nigeria could make the information available, then the US will help in recovering the stolen funds.”
When asked specifically if the Federal Government had started identifying the banks, the presidential spokesman said, “Yes. In fact, the President said the government will spend the next three months identifying banks, individuals and monies that have been ferried out of this country.
“The assurance the President has given is that within the next three months, we have to concentrate on getting those monies back to the government coffers,” he added.
Buhari had said early in the week that his administration had received firm assurances of cooperation from the US and other countries in his quest to recover and repatriate funds stolen from Nigeria.
Buhari, while granting audience to members of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, had said that it was now up to Nigeria to provide the international community with the facts and figures needed to drive the recovery effort.
He said he would be busy, in the next three months, getting the facts that would help in recovering the stolen funds.
“In the next three months, our administration will be busy getting those facts and the figures to help us recover our stolen funds in foreign countries,’’ the President had said.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that the Federal Government may also go after property owned by public fund looters in London, Dubai, US, Saudi Arabia and other choice international real estate markets where Nigerians are known to be some of the biggest buyers.
It was also learnt that the Department for International Development, a UK government department responsible for administering overseas aid, had alerted the President on over N1.3tn stolen during the last administration, where it is kept and who the beneficiaries are.
This money, a source close to the DFID said, is a low hanging fruit that the President can pluck during his first six months in the office with the help of the UK, US, and other G7 members without hassle.
“This was one of the agreement reached between President Buhari and the G7 countries when the former attended their meeting in Germany,” the DFID source told Saturday PUNCH.
The US in March 2014 had ordered a freeze on $458m in assets stolen by the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, and his accomplices. Abacha died in office in 1998.
The US Justice Department named two bank accounts in the Bailiwick of Jersey and two other accounts in France as depositories of $313m and $145m Abacha loot respectively. Four other investment portfolios and three bank accounts in Britain were also frozen, with an estimated value of at least $100m.
The US also named nine financial institutions – Citibank, Chase Manhattan Bank and Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, now JPMorgan Chase, and New York-based units of Britain’s Barclays Bank and Germany’s Commerz bank – as places where some of the Abacha loots were laundered.
Similarly, the Crown Prosecution Service in the United Kingdom had estimated former governor of Delta State, James Onanefe Ibori’s loot stolen to be around $250m.
Ibori, who is serving jail term for corruption charges in a UK prison, was said to have bought six property in London, including a six-bedroom house with indoor pool in Hampstead for £2.2m and a flat opposite the nearby Abbey Road recording studios. There was also a property in Dorset, a £3.2m mansion in South Africa and further real estate in Nigeria.
He also owned a fleet of armoured Range Rovers costing £600,000, a £120,000 Bentley, a £300,000 Mercedes Maybach, and a private jet for £12m.
President Buhari said the last administration mismanaged the economy while stating that it was a disgrace that state governments in the country can’t pay salaries; hence, the need to recover looted funds wherever they may be hidden.
Commenting on the development, a former Minister of Finance and elder statesman, Chief Olu Falae, commended the move and described it as laudable and desirable.
Falae expressed the belief that looted funds could be recovered because the whole world is now talking about promotion of transparency in governance.
“If some monies could be recovered from Abacha loot in the recent past, then it will be possible to recover looted funds from others as well,” he said.
The former minister, however, urged the President to follow due process while going after the looted funds.
Falae said, “It is just that we have to follow due process because we cannot force the countries where the looted funds were stashed to return them because they are not subject to our authorities. But if we follow due process, it might be possible for us to recover those monies.
“The monies should not just be recovered; they should be used to develop the country. There should be no exception; anybody who has looted the public fund should be made to return it. Not only monies stashed abroad should be recovered, those stolen and kept in the country should also be recovered. I wish the President good luck in his move to achieve this initiative.”
Also, the Convener of Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, Mr. Debo Adeniran, asked Buhari to follow the normal channel through mutual legal assistant treaty that Nigeria has with the countries where such monies were stashed, if he really wants the stolen funds repatriated.
He said, “The President may succeed if he invokes the letter of the mutual legal assistant treaty, but I am not sure Nigeria has such with Switzerland although that country has been voluntarily returning Abacha loot to Nigeria.
“There are several other countries that may not be willing to return the volume of the money that was kept in their banks by the looters except there is international status that Nigeria can invoke to compel them to repatriate the fund.
“Nigeria has to go through legal process except it was one of the wish list that Buhari presented to the G7 countries. We have expressed it in some fora that we expected that Buhari would make it the top of his agenda at the G7 summit in Germany that he should get the G7 to cooperate with Nigeria on how not to allow looted funds by Nigeria’s public officials to be kept in their financial institutions.”
Adeniran also asked Buhari to prevail on the governments of the countries where the public funds were being stashed to assist Nigeria to expose those behind the practice.
He said, “Property acquired in those countries must also be investigated and if it is discovered that the property were procured through proceeds of corruption, they should be confiscated on behalf of Nigeria, sell them and repatriate the money to Nigeria.”
The National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere Renewal Group, a pan-Yoruba organisation, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo, expressed his support for Buhari’s move, which he described as a positive one for the country.
However, he blamed the US and other Western countries for doing nothing in the past to stop their banks from receiving stolen funds from corrupt individuals and corporations in Nigeria, while calling for the punishment of those found culpable.
He said, “It is our hope that something positive will come out of it considering that the banks in the US and some other Western countries were part of the laundering. They collected money from corrupt Nigerians and as far as we know, their countries did nothing to make sure the banks do not collect stolen money from Nigeria.
“Those found culpable in looting our public funds should be tried in the law courts. It’s not enough to collect the stolen funds without any sanctions meted out to them to serve as deterrent to others. Punishments meted out to corrupt individuals are also not commensurate with the crime committed, and this should be corrected.”
In addition, Famoriyo advised the Federal Government to restructure the country and enforce true federalism, which he said, would empower the states.
He said, “Development should be from bottom up and the other way around. What we need is true federalism; this unitary system cannot help us because it’s not sustainable. It’s a system that encourages states to be going to the Federal Government every month with cap in hand.”
Copyright PUNCH

Buhari takes action on NNPC

Almost a month after he assumed office, President Muhammadu Buhari has dissolved the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation with immediate effect.
The announcement was made in a terse statement issued on Friday by the Director of Communications in the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Haruna Imrana, on behalf of the HoS, Mr. Danladi Kifasi.
“The directive to that effect was conveyed in a letter signed on Friday, by Kifasi. In it, the President thanked members of the dissolved board for their services to the nation.
Following the victory of Buhari at the presidential election on March 28, there had been growing calls on the new government to tackle the alleged corruption in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, which currently contributes over 80 per cent of the country’s revenue.
Specifically, there had been calls from several quarters for the reform of the NNPC, as the corporation had been described as one of the world’s most opaque national oil companies.
Prior to the dissolution, members of the board, according to the NNPC, include the Minister of Petroleum Resources (Chair of the board); the Group Managing Director, Dr. Joseph Dawha; the Group Executive Director, Finance and Accounts, Mr. Bernard Otti; the Group Executive Director, Corporate Services, Dr. Dan Efebo; Alhaji Abdullahi Bukar; Mr. Danladi Wadzani; Prof. Olusegun Okunnu; Mr. Danladi Kifasi; Mr. Steven Oronsanye, and Mr. Ikechukwu Oguine (Coordinator, Legal Services/Secretary to the corporation).
The immediate past president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, had in July 2012 reconstituted a new board of the NNPC, with the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, as the chairperson.
There has been speculation that Buhari will keep the Petroleum minister portfolio for himself in his yet-to-be-announced cabinet rather than trust anyone else with the ministry.
The immediate past President, International Association for Energy Economics and Director, Emerald Energy Institute, University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Wumi Iledare, had earlier this month urged the president to immediately reconstitute the board of the NNPC and professionalise the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
He said, “In fact, he must, as a matter of urgency, reconstitute the NNPC board with no political appointees and must put round pegs in round holes in the corporation as mandated in the NNPC Act of 1977.”
Iledare, who is also a Professor Emeritus at the Centre for Energy Studies, Louisiana State University, United States, urged the President to ensure that all the agencies in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources are manned by competent hands with no political godfathers.
“He (Buhari) must professionalise the Ministry of Petroleum Resources as soon as possible,” Iledare said in The PUNCH report, headlined ‘Reconstitute NNPC board now, experts urge Buhari’.
“I will be glad to recommend many qualified people to him.”
Commenting on the dissolution of the board, the Head of Energy Research, Ecobank, Mr. Dolapo Oni, said, “It’s in line with our expectations that his restructuring of the petroleum sector would likely start at the NNPC. And I believe this is targeted at blocking leakages in the system and improving transparency and accountability at the NNPC.
“However, the absence of a cabinet or Petroleum Minister supports popular belief that he might want to lead the sector himself,” he added.
Copyright PUNCH

U.S. speaks on latest Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria

 

John Kirby, U.S. Department of State Spokesperson, issued a press statement condemning the spate of Boko Haram terrorist killings most especially in recent days. " "We offer our deepest sympathy and condolences to the families and friends of the victims of recent attacks in Borno State, attacks that resulted in more than 40 deaths.  We condemn in the strongest terms the continued and widespread violence inflicted by Boko Haram on innocent men, women, and children in Nigeria, " adding, " Those responsible must be held accountable."

Furthermore, Kirby said, " These latest attacks serve as a reminder that despite progress on the battlefield, Boko Haram remains capable of deadly and destabilising acts of terrorism.  We commend the efforts by the Nigerian military, as well as the militaries of Chad, Niger, and Cameroon for the gains they have made fighting Boko Haram.  We encourage the government of Nigeria to take steps to secure and govern liberated areas by filling in behind military successes with police and civilian administration."

 

Condluding, the U.S. spokesperson said, "The United States stands with Nigeria in the face of this threat.  We will continue to take steps to increase our support for their efforts."

Since May 29, when the Buhari administration assumed office, Boko Haram has increased its spate of barbaric attacks more than before even during the holy month of
Ramadan when all Muslims, even extremists, abhor such acts.

 

B'Haram female suicide bomber strikes in another Nigerian state

A female suicide bomber on Tuesday detonate her Improvised Explosive Devices in Nannawaji village of Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State in north-east Nigeria, killing scores of people and injuring 26 others.Witnesses said those injured in the suicide bomb attack had been taken to the Damaturu specialist’s hospital for treatment.

An eyewitness, who accompanied the victims to the hospital in Damaturu, Mallam Adamu, told Channels Television that the suicide bomber attacked the market around 10: 30 in the morning.

He claimed many people were killed but could not give the figure. “The market was in disarray after the attack,” he said.

Mallam Ademu, however, stated that 26 victims had been taken to the Damaturu Specialists Hospital for treatment.

Security forces are yet to confirm the attack but the Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Garba Fika, told Channels Television that 26 patients had been brought to the hospital and were being treated.

He said three patients had been taken to the theatre for various operations.

Dr Fika stated that three or four others may be referred to either Federal Medical Centre in Nguru, Azare in Bauchi State or the Aminu Kano Hospital in Kano.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack that bears the semblance of previous attacks by the Boko Haram terrorist group.

Today’s suicide bomb attack is the first major attack in Yobe State since the commencement of the Ramadan fast which is in its sixth day.

Channelstv

Protests spread across US over flag

• 2 hours ago
 
• From the sectionUS & Canada

Protesters rallied to have the flag taken down on Tuesday

Charleston church shooting

• Man cited in 'Charleston manifesto' speaks out
• The power of prayer in Charleston
• What victims' families said to Dylann Roof
• Who are US white supremacists?

Pressure is mounting to withdraw the Confederate battle flag across the US, after South Carolina lawmakers called for its removal from the state house.

Protesters rallied in Columbia on Tuesday to demand the flag's removal from South Carolina's state capitol.

Efforts are under way in four other states - Texas, Mississippi, Virginia and Tennessee - to remove state-sponsored Confederate tributes.

And some major retailers like Amazon and Walmart are also removing it.

The murder of nine parishioners at a historical black church in Charleston, South Carolina, last week renewed debate about the place of the flag in US culture.

The suspect, Dylann Roof, has appeared in many photos holding the flag.

The Confederate battle flag became a potent symbol for the southern states fighting the Civil War as they sought to break away from the union.

It is seen by some as an icon of slavery and racism while others say the banner symbolises their heritage and history.

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Media captionRev Nelson B Rivers III called for the flag to come down in honour of the late pastor, Clementa Pinckney

South Carolina's governor, Nikki Haley, has said the flag should come down and urged the legislature to act - it would require a two-thirds majority vote for that to happen.

A day later, Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe announced he wants to have the flag removed from state licence plates. A recent US Supreme Court decision said states can restrict such designs.

In Mississippi, lawmakers plan on rolling out legislation that would remove the Confederate symbol from the state flag, where it is prominently displayed in the upper left corner.

"As a Christian, I believe our state's flag has become a point of offence that needs to be removed," said Mississippi representative Phillip Gunn.

But former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour said he was not offended at all by it.

Dylann Roof posing with the flag

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Media captionDashcam footage of the moment Dylann Roof is arrested

Lawmakers in Tennessee said they need to "revisit" whether a bust of a former Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader should be displayed in the capitol.

The likeness of Nathan Bedford Forrest has sat in a state Senate chamber for decades.

The push was not only limited to state governments as Walmart, Sears, Amazon and eBay announced that they would stop selling Confederate flag merchandise.

On the scene - Aleem Maqbool, BBC News, Columbia

In the demonstration outside the state capitol, there were just as many white protesters as black, if not more.

Some said they had always recognised the confederate flag was a racist symbol, others said that while they felt that the flag was important in terms of heritage they had come to realise it was offensive to many and so had to be consigned to museums.

African Americans unanimously told us they felt insulted by the confederate flag and had long wanted it gone.

Some expressed disappointment that it had taken the deaths of nine people for politicians who had once defended the flying of the flag beside official buildings, to finally acknowledge how divisive a symbol it was.

Amid calls for Confederate tributes to be removed, some have been the target of vandals.

In downtown Charleston, a statue of former politician and defender of slavery John C Calhoun was defaced with the word "racist" scrawled underneath.

The Confederate battle flag is part of Mississippi's state flag

Birth of a flag

• seen today on houses, bumper stickers and T-shirts
• sometimes accompanied by the words "If this shirt offends you, you need a history lesson"
• but it was never the official national flag of the Confederacy, rejected in 1861
• instead adopted as battle flag by the Army of Northern Virginia under General Lee
• it fast became a potent symbol of Confederate nationalism, more popular than the official national flag
• BBC