The Many Scenes After Buhari’s Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun’s Resignation

Posted on by Fola OjabowalePoliticsLeave a Comment on The Many Scenes After Buhari’s Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun’s Resignation

Following reports that embattled Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun resigned earlier today, a social media wildfire began as Nigerians have taken to social media to express their various opinions.

Recall that Kemi was accused of forging her National Youth Service Corps Certificate, NYSC, and had also been charged to make public her certificate. But in what can be called a delay from the part of the federal government was experienced in the past two months since the news on the minister of Finance NYSC’s certificate saga broke.

Buhari’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said the allegations against a key member of the administration were yet to be proven. His words, “The minister of information has spoken on the matter. And a process is ongoing to address the allegations.

When that process is complete, Nigerians will know the outcome. “Some people want a particular outcome and because they are yet to see this outcome, they are not happy. Give it (investigation) time. There is a process ongoing,” Shehu said during a TV interview.

He equally said that Presidency would act when it has all the facts need.

But today a report on the alleged resignation emerged and Nigerians have the following to say:

Shocker! Buhari gives APC politician clean bill on corruption, says party is free of greedy politicians

Posted on by Shehu BelloPoliticsLeave a Comment on Shocker! Buhari gives APC politician clean bill on corruption, says party is free of greedy politicians

President Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja defied several appeals to him to reject the expression of interest and nomination forms purchased for him by the NCAN and received the forms at a brief ceremony in the State House. Buhari, who said he was not only grateful but also honoured to be presented with the forms by persons he described as patriotic Nigerians, pointed out that members of the group contributed money to raise N45.5 million for the purchase of the forms.

He also said members of the group were not fewer than three million Nigerians, whom he said were spread across various parts of the country. The president chronicled how his foray into politics began in 2002 up to the time of his election in 2015 and described members of the APC, who left the party, as the weakest of people whose selfish agenda did not align with the selfless vision of his administration.

According to him, with the exit of such selfish persons, APC is now made up of strong and patriotic Nigerians, whom he said were willing to toe the path of building a secure, self-sufficient and corrupt-free Nigeria.

“We now have a party of strong and patriotic individuals who are ready, willing and able to continue on this journey of building a strong, secure, self-sufficient, corrupt-free Nigeria,” he said.

The group had last Thursday bought the N45 million forms for the president, who is the sole presidential aspirant on the platform of APC.

Speaking in the banquet hall venue of the presentation, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the group, Mr. Chukwuemeka Nwanjuba, described the group as a network of young persons, drawn from various fields of endeavour.

According to him, members of the group, whom he said were drawn from every ward of the existing 120,000 polling units across the country, made the contributions from the least of N68.00 and upward to enable them raise the money.

Further stating that members come from every geo-political zone of the country, Nwanjuba, who said the president had been given triple A rating, added that they took the decision because of outstanding leadership principles exhibited by Buhari, including what he described as his record performance in areas of security, economy, infrastructure delivery and financial prudence. He said the young citizens who made up the group had opted to purchase the form for the president to encourage him to continue in his service to the country and also consolidate on what he had done so far.

He said, “These ambassadors whose network seeks to consolidate these gains and engrain this focus, then decided to contribute their intellect and little earnings towards ensuring that our president is encouraged to continue this service, being as it is now apparent the real beneficiaries of all the toil and tenacity of purpose that now radiates this leader.

“In spite of the hue and cry from a vociferous few whose stranglehold on our commonwealth has become somewhat dislodged, it is on account of the resolve of these ambassadors that they proceeded to obtain the nomination form for the president from the All Progressives Congress to encourage Mr. President to seek re-election for another term to help consolidate the work he is doing.”

Nwanjuba said contrary to an agitation that purchasing the form for the president was a clear violation of Section 91(9) of the Electoral Act; no law was broken after all, arguing that if any law had been broken, the president would not have accepted the form.

 

Scandal! Atiku opens can of warms of Buhari’s administration, drops list of corruption under president’s watch

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PDP presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar, has listed what he believes to be corruption cases in the Buhari administration. Mr Abubakar, who defected from the governing APC to the PDP stated this in response to a statement by the presidency.

The presidency in a statement on Wednesday react to an interview Mr Abubakar granted a news media on the “uncompromising” stance of Mr Buhari.

“President Buhari is uncompromising in the quest to restore probity and accountability to public office. He is uncompromising in cleaning the rot Nigeria was consigned into pre-2015, thus the war against corruption is being fought without fear or favour,” Femi Adesina, Mr Buhari’s spokesperson wrote.

Mr Abubakar, in a statement by his media office, however, disagrees with the statement.

“If the above is true, then why did the presidency do nothing as the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, went to court to secure a kangaroo court order to stop the Senate of the National Assembly from investigating who recalled, reinstated and double promoted Abdulrasheed Maina?

“If President Buhari is “uncompromising in cleaning the rot Nigeria was consigned into pre-2015” then how come the latest Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International reveals that Nigeria is more corrupt today than she was in 2015, having moved 12 steps backwards in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, moving from 136 in 2014 under the PDP to 148 today?

“Again, we ask how uncompromising a President can be when he allows a minister accused of forgery to remain at her job?”

Mr Abubakar then alleged that Mr Buhari is surrounded by officials who do not tell him the truth.

“It appears that the president is surrounded by people who have become his echo chamber and are telling him what he wants to hear, otherwise no one in his right mind would call an administration that increased the price of petrol while at the same time paying more subsidy on the product than the previous government which it accused of ‘subsidy scam’, uncompromising against corruption.

“It is only common sense that if the price of petrol increased by 68% from ₦87 per litre to ₦145, then the cost of fuel subsidy should also reduce, especially as the price of crude oil also reduced.
However, by some strange mathematics, the Buhari administration pays a whopping ₦1.4 trillion on subsidy per annum according to the minister of state for petroleum. This amount is almost twice what the Jonathan administration paid and yet President Buhari accused that administration of scamming the nation.

“Where is the transparency in that? No wonder the minister of state for petroleum resources revealed in a leaked memo that $25 billion worth of contracts were awarded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation under the watch of the supervising minister of petroleum, President Muhammadu Buhari.”

He also made reference to the controversial $43 million found in a home in Ikoyi, Lagos. The Nigeria Intelligence Agency has claimed ownership of the money, but its former head is being prosecuted by the anti-graft agency, EFCC, for alleged fraudulent deals with the money.

“More than a year after the probe panel which probed the fantastically corrupt Ikoyi apartment billions affair, nobody knows who owned the money and how $43 million in cash was housed in a government linked flat. So much for an uncompromising attitude to corruption!” Mr Abubakar said.

Mr Abubakar also insisted on his stance that Mr Buhari is “power-drunk.”

The presidency had in its Wednesday statement took exception to such characterisation of the president.

“But power drunk? No! And being a man “who will not be ready to leave power without a fight?” Never! Not President Buhari, who has demonstrated in many ways that he is a committed democrat, though also a retired military general.

He has no apologies about that. Through a sterling military career, he served Nigeria with his heart and might, before venturing into partisan politics,” Mr Adesina had written.

In his reply, Mr Abubakar said, “On the issue of being power-drunk, President Buhari is his own witness against himself. It goes without saying that a president who publicly boasted that the rule of law can be suppressed against certain individuals is not only power drunk, but dictatorial.

“By that statement made by President Buhari at the opening ceremony of the 58th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, Nigerians now understand why this administration continues to flout court orders. This is what happens when a president thinks he is above the law.

“In conclusion, we advise the presidency to familiarise itself with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, in order to understand that the Rule of Law and the fundamental human rights of all Nigerian citizens are guaranteed by that document which the president swore to uphold on May 29, 2015.”

Falana tells Buhari to Improve welfare to fight corruption

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To effectively fight corruption, prominent lawyer, Femi Falana has advised the government to improve welfare.

Speaking while delivering the 19th Mike Okonkwo annual lecture titled ‘Nigeria’s Unity: Matters Arising’, at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Wednesday, the human rights lawyer said: “If the government genuinely wants to fight corruption it has to review the wages of workers, ensure prompt payment of salaries and pension. Furthermore, the government should implement other welfare laws and institutionalize the rule of law and respect the human rights if citizens.”

Falana attributed the disunity in the country to the inequitable distribution of wealth.  He said peace would only reign when the wealth of the nation is enjoyed by all.  He added that redistribution of wealth would make restructuring meaningful.

“Nigeria is not a united country and we can’t have a unity of the oppressor and the oppressed.  Elites do not fight for the people and professional bodies are now run on the basis of ethnicity.  While we must fight corruption, we need to know what has happened, to our wealth. Unless we revisit the redistribution of the nation’s wealth there cannot unity.

“Instead of handing over the country to market forces, government should control and regulate the economy in a way that our abundant resources are channeled towards addressing the crisis of underdevelopment,” he said.

Regarding killings in various parts of the country, Falana faulted religious leaders for identifying with only those belonging to their fold as victims of attacks.  On the contrary, he said deaths of all Nigerians should be condemned and the perpetrators brought to book.

“Nigerians should henceforth condemn the killing of any citizen or any alien living in our midst and demand that justice be done”, he said.

Falana urged state governors to fight for their freedom.  He said he was in support of state policing, adding that if a new Nigeria must emerge, then there must be community policing.

The lawyer also faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s stance on the supremacy of national security over the rule of law in relation to, saying only the courts could define national interest.

In his speech, Chairman of the event and former Minister of Commerce and Industry in the then Eastern Region, Chief John Nwodo, blamed the youth for not actively participating in politics.

He said many of Nigeria’s prominent leaders started politics in their 20s/30s and called on parents to properly mentor their wards so they can play positive roles in governance.

Also speaking the Lagos State Governor Akinwumi Ambode, represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Adebule said only as a detribalized group could Nigerians develop the country.

Bishop Mike Okonkwo, in whose honour the lecture holds annually, said Nigerians must drop tribalism in favour of national interested.

He added that the President must be President for all regardless of his political leanings, tribe or religion.

The programme climaxed with the presentation of prizes to winners of the 15th Mike Okonkwo National Essay competition for Senior Secondary School pupils.

Atiku: If you have any evidence of corruption against , please come forward

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Former Nigerian Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, was in Ekiti State on Tuesday to consult with Governor Ayo Fayose on his presidential ambition.

Mr Abubakar is seeking the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party to contest next year’s presidential election.

While speaking in Ado Ekiti during the meeting, Mr Abubakar said allegations of corruption against him are false.

He was vice president under President Olusegun Obasanjo, from 1999 to 2007.

Mr Atiku fell out with his principal shortly after the 2003 elections which the PDP won. He was later accused of involvement in corrupt practices for which he was investigated by the Senate.

The Senate in 2006 carried out an investigation through an ad hoc committee of the Senate headed by Victor Ndoma-Egba, and in its report released in 2007, found him guilty of helping himself with funds belonging to the Petroleum Training Development Fund (PTDF).

Mr Abubakar consistently denied the allegations, accusing Mr Obasanjo and the Senate of political persecution and attempting to stop his ambition of becoming president.

In pursuit of his ambition, Mr Abubakar recently dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the PDP, and is one of the leading aspirants in the party.

He told delegates in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday to be united ahead of the 2019 general elections, saying PDP has a good prognosis to win the presidential poll if leaders exhibited extraordinary commitments.

“I have always said that if they have any evidence of corruption against Atiku, please come forward. But nobody has been able to come forward,” he said.

It will be his second time in Ekiti State since he returned to the PDP. He was received by Ekiti State prospective delegates as well as Mr Fayose.

He noted that he had a well packaged and distinct blueprint to develop the country if elected to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.

He however, lamented that the country had sunk into more corruption in the administration of President Buhari, and that even during the civil war, Nigeria had not been as insecure as the country was in this dispensation.

“I have come to appeal to you to support me in our party’s convention. I have the programme that will best develop this country. I wish to appeal for your individual and collective support,” he said.

He described Mr Fayose as a straight forward person, who spoke his mind when it mattered.

“I like the way you do things. You’re brutally frank. You say your mind, it’s a very rare quality. So, I commend for who you are,” he commended the governor.

“We will stand by you and the party in Ekiti until you retrieve your stolen mandate,” he said, referring to the July governorship election in the state won by the APC.

Mr Fayose called for unity of the members of the party, saying Mr Abubakar has what it takes to lead the country, praying that his efforts would not be in vain.

He also charged the party on unity, saying, “the greatest problem PDP may have is if we don’t go to that election as brothers and sisters.”

“The task before the PDP at this time is not about who has been in the party before and who is just joining. It is about rescuing Nigeria and its people from the calamity of this Buhari’s government,” Mr Fayose asserted.

The PDP state chairman, Gboyega Oguntuwase, said “we have an interest within this your project and by the grace of God, we want this your project to succeed. Nigeria shall laugh, Ekiti shall laugh.

“Atiku is the option to a ‘lifeless president.’ He’s not dead, but he is not somebody that can be counted to lead Nigeria to the promised land.”

PDP governor to Buhari: “Best way to fight corruption is to grant amnesty to looters”

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Ebonyi state governor, David Umahi, has asked the federal government to grant amnesty to individuals accused of looting public funds, insisting that it will go a long way to fight corruption instead of hunting them down like its currently being done

Umahi is quoted as saying this on Monday while declaring open a training on anti-corruption, ethics and integrity in Abakaliki. The event was organised for local government officials in the state.

The governor advised the government to negotiate with suspects to enable them surrender at least 70 percent of looted funds or invest the entire loot in the country’s economy.

According to him, granting amnesty to individuals facing corruption charges would enable the government to recover stolen funds.

“Ebonyi is determined to inaugurate an anti-corruption office because corruption remains the bane of Nigeria’s underdevelopment,” Umahi said.

“The federal government should, however, be commended for its visible efforts in the fight against corruption in the country.

“We have so much of the looted funds either trapped in foreign banks, buried at cemeteries or underground and destroyed by termites.”

He said the fear of anti-corruption agencies has forced several treasury looters to hide their loot.

The governor charged the anti-graft agencies to be resolute and firm in the discharge of their duties and resist political manipulation.

2019: Meet 8 ‘Corrupt Politicians’ Working For Buhari’s Re-election

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At least eight out of the many Politicians working for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari, in 2019, have pending corruption cases against them, a latest investigation has shown.

The investigation showed that the amount involved in the various graft cases, which are currently pending before Security Agencies, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, range from N223 million to N100 billion, for each of the Politician.

Some of the eight Politicians, who used to be members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and other opposition parties, had allegedly defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to stop the dangling axe of the EFCC and other Security Agencies, from falling on them.

Specifically, the Politicians who are currently either under probe or prosecution, for allegedly diverting government funds, have separately vowed to ensure that Buhari remains in power, until 2023.

The eight Politicians include: the Senator representing Nasarawa West at the National Assembly, Abdullahi Adamu; the Senator representing Sokoto North and former Governor of Sokoto State, Aliyu Wamakko; ex-Senate Minority Leader and former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, who recently defected from the PDP to the APC; and a former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu.

Others are: the immediate past Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal; the former Governor of Rivers State and Director-General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, in 2015, Rotimi Amaechi; the Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari; and former National Chairman of the PDP, Ali Modu-Sheriff.

Abdullahi Adamu

 

Adamu, a serving Senator and former Governor of Nasarawa State, is one of the President’s close Allies in the Senate. He is also a member of the National Advisory Committee of the Buhari 2019 Presidential Support Committee.

The Lawmaker is being prosecuted alongside 18 others, for allegedly stealing N15 billion from the State treasury, through contracts awarded when he was Governor for eight years.

Aliyu Wamakko

Senator Aliyu Wamakko is in charge of Buhari’s campaign in Sokoto State. A few weeks ago, he held a massive rally on behalf of Buhari, in order to prove to the President that Governor Aminu Tambuwal’s defection, would be of no effect in the State.

Wamakko, who served as Governor from 2007 to 2015, is under investigation over allegations of theft of public funds and money laundering, totalling N15 billion, an allegation he has vehemently denied.

The Spokesperson for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, had confirmed in April, that the Commission was investigating allegations contained in a petition against Wammako, and that he would soon be invited to defend the allegations.

Godswill Akpabio

The former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, has been under probe by the EFCC for over three years, based on allegations that he diverted over N100 billion from the coffers of the State, between 2007 and 2015.

Akpabio was welcomed into the APC by the President himself.

The former Governor, who represents Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District in the 8th Senate, recently vowed that the APC would take over Akwa Ibom State, the way Adolph Hitler invaded Poland.

Akpabio, who on Friday travelled to China with the President, is arguably the closest defector to Buhari, and has vowed to do everything possible to ensure Buhari is re-elected, come 2019.

Although he has been grilled by the EFCC, he has not been charged.

Orji Uzor Kalu

Kalu, who governed Abia State from 1999 to 2007, was one of the most influential Politicians in the South-East during his time in government. After leaving the PDP, he formed the Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA, from where he contested and lost a Senatorial election, in 2015.

The following year, he defected to the APC, and has paid several visits to the President since then.

Recently, he visited the President in his hometown of Daura, Katsina State, where he was bestowed with the title, ‘Dan Baiwan Hausa’, by the Emir of Daura, Alhaji Umar Farouq.

According to the Emir, Kalu was bestowed with the title in appreciation of his “unwavering support for our son, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, Bayajida II.”

The EFCC, had alleged that Kalu and the others, committed fraud, between August 2001 and October 2005. It accused Kalu of utilising his company (Slok Nigeria Limited) to retain in the account of First Inland Bank, now First City Monument Bank, the sum of N200 million.

The Commission, stated that the sum formed part of funds illegally derived from the coffers of the Abia State Government. The EFCC also said that the accused retained in different bank accounts, about N2.5 billion, belonging to the State Government, adding that, he diverted about N3.2 billion from the coffers of the same government.

Regardless of his travails, the former Governor has insisted that he will do all within his power, to ensure that Buhari is re-elected, in 2019.

Babachir Lawal

The immediate past Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, was accused by the Senate ad hoc Committee on Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in the North-East, led by Senator Shehu Sani, of awarding a N223 million consultancy contract for the removal of invasive plant species in Komadugu, Yobe Water Channels, to his company, Rholavision Engineering, in contravention of section 43 (iii) and (iv) of the Public Procurement Act 2007.

A Committee headed by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, subsequently investigated Lawal and recommended his dismissal, in October 2017, a year after he was indicted by the Senate.

Although, he is under probe by the EFCC, Babachir is among the key figures running Buhari’s re-election campaign in Adamawa State. He also revealed during a recent interview on Channels Television, that he still has direct access to the President, a revelation which shocked many Nigerians.

Rotimi Amaechi

Amaechi, who was the Director-General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, in 2015, has been charged with the task of ensuring that Buhari is elected a second time.

The Minister of Transportation, who is the face of the Buhari Campaign, was indicted by the Justice George Omeregi-led Rivers State Judicial Commission of Inquiry, set up to investigate the sale of State assets in Rivers State.

He and others were accused of allegedly misappropriating N97 billion, through the sale of the State valued assets.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, had also alleged that $150 million was spent on Buhari’s Campaign, in 2015.

Nonetheless, Amaechi challenged his indictment, but lost at the Court of Appeal.

Although anti-graft agencies have refused to state if he is under investigation or not, he is yet to clear his name, and is still under investigation by the State Government.

Abdul’Aziz Yari

 

Yari has been engaged in a fierce battle with the EFCC, for over a year, following allegations that he diverted nearly N700 million, which formed part of the Paris Club refund, due to his State.

In July last year, a Federal High Court in Abuja, ordered an interim forfeiture of the sums of N500 million and $500,000, said to have been looted from the Paris Club refund made by the Federal Government, in favour of the 36 States of the Federation.

The sums of money said to have been recovered from two firms, First Generation Mortgage Bank Limited, and Gosh Projects Limited, were allegedly linked to the Governor.

The EFCC, also alleged in an affidavit filed in support of its exparte application seeking the interim forfeiture of the sums of money, that the N500 million was diverted to offset Yari’s personal loan, obtained from First Generation Mortgage Bank Limited.

Ali Modu-Sheriff

In July, the Presidential Support Committee of Buhari 2019, appointed Sheriff as its Director-General.

The National Secretary of the group, Kassim Kassim, said in a statement, that the conglomerate of about 300 Buhari supporters’ groups, unanimously endorsed Sheriff to lead the Presidential Support Committee, Buhari 2019, and not the Buhari Campaign Organisation for the 2019 election.

He stated that groups that made up the Presidential Support Committee, were all registered with the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Political Matters.

However, Sheriff and others, are under investigation for allegedly receiving N450 million, out of the N23 billion bribe, allegedly disbursed by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, during the build-up to the 2015 elections.

He has been grilled several times by the EFCC, but was never charged. His private jet was also impounded by the Commission, but later released to him.

PDP accuses Buhari govt of stealing N4TN oil million

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged President Muhammadu Buhari to explain the whereabouts of the N4 trillion un-remitted oil revenue and other alleged financial rots in his Presidency as detailed in the audit report by Price Waterhouse Cooper.

The party said that the report by the firm commissioned by Buhari’s administration further confirmed that President Buhari has been presiding over a humongous corrupt administration, while at the same time posturing as Mr. Integrity and pointing accusing fingers at everyone else but himself.

PDP stated this in a statement on Tuesday by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan.

“Nigerians, particularly those who have been defending the Buhari administration, were shocked by revelations, in the audit report, of the theft of N4 trillion in a sector that is under the direct supervision of ‘honest’ President Buhari, as Minister of Petroleum Resources; the callous frittering of N50 billion from coffers of the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) and Ministry of Agriculture; disappearance of N28 billion from the Ecological Fund, using fraudulent borrowing windows, among others sharp practices.

“Nigerians are also shocked to learn how some ministers under President Buhari stole N413 million from agencies and parastatals using fraudulent imprests.

“It is instructive to note that this latest audit report adds to outstanding revelations of corruption under President Buhari, including the leaked NNPC memo detailing underhand contract to the tune of N9 trillion, the illegal lifting of crude worth N1.1 trillion in 2017 using 18 illegal companies, the alleged N1.4 trillion fraud in the oil subsidy regime in addition to stealing of over N43 billion from the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) funds.

“Now that the huge rot in his Presidency has been exposed by a firm commissioned by his own administration, the PDP challenges President Buhari to make good his declaration to jail treasury looters by starting with a self-searching and explanations on the sleazes directly linked to his office, both as President and minister of petroleum resources,” the party said.

The PDP states that the audit report has stripped this administration of all integrity and vindicates our stand that President Buhari runs an innately and inherently corrupt administration.

 

“Nigerians can now see the real reason our nation has been brought to its knees; why our economy suddenly collapsed into a recession and why our citizens have been subjected to the worst kind of suffering, hunger and starvation in the last three years,” it added.

UK returns £70m stolen from Nigeria, declines to mention culprits

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British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Paul Arkwright, on Monday revealed that the United Kingdom recently repatriated about £70 million loot to Nigeria.

Arkwright, who made this known to newsmen in Abuja said that the fund was recovered from a Nigerian convicted in an Italian court. He however refused to give out the name of the culprit.

He said, “There was an Italian court case with a particular person involved. A portion of the fund has been in the UK and that was the portion that was returned recently from the UK to Nigeria. So, it’s in that context that the £70 million was returned.”

He assured that more funds would be repatriated because the UK has no plans to keep any kobo stolen from Nigeria into the country.

“The British government has no intention of keeping one kobo of Nigerian funds in the UK, it all must come back to Nigeria. Just as in Nigeria, the UK feels that the judicial process is important, and we have to go through those processes before the money can be returned,” he said.

On the British Prime Minister Theresa May’s visit to President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, Arkwright hinted that what will dominate the discussion of the leaders will centre majorly on security, trade, investment and 2019 general elections.

“Clean up the corruption in your government”- PDP tells Buhari

Nigeria’s biggest opposition party, PDP, have asked the President Buhari to look into the corruption in his administration  and clean it up if he were serious about the anti graft war.

The party stated that contrary to the Buhari’s claim of fighting corruption, the former army general is surrounded by corrupt people who have made it difficult for his administration to make any form of headway in the last three years.

It therefore said that the claim of integrity by the President was questionable.

It further described the claim by the President that opposition could see that he was trying as an admittance of failure.

The President Buhari had on Thursday said members of the opposition cannot fault the efforts his administration had made in its three major areas of focus, namely security, economy and the fight against corruption.

The main opposition party insisted that the President had failed in the three cardinal promises he made to Nigerians when he was campaigning in 2015.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, who spoke with one of our correspondents in an interview in Abuja, also debunked the claim by the Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, that the performance of Buhari’s government was satisfactory to God.

He said, “Here is a President who is surrounded by corrupt people, people who have corruption cases hanging on their necks. Where then is the much-touted integrity of the man?

“If you claim not to be a thief, but you are surrounded by thieves, you eat with them,  open your doors for them and play with them?  Are you not supposed to be worried?

“Where then is the integrity?  Every suspected corrupt person is becoming your friend.  Everyone being tried for stealing and corruption is wining and dining with you. Then you say you have integrity.  President Muhammadu Buhari has shown Nigerians his friends and we now know the kind of person he is.”

Ologbondiyan said the President could not have sincerely claimed to have succeeded in the fight against insurgency and revamp of the economy as well.

In the area of insurgency, he said the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan was able to restore normalcy to the North-East, adding that this was responsible for the ability of the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct elections in the zone in 2015.

He said, “The President has indeed failed in the three areas he promised Nigerians. The indices before Nigerians testify to this.

“He has not solved any problem at all. He made the promise that he would fight insurgency, fight corruption and also revamp the economy.

“The PDP government has fought insurgency to the extent that elections were held and results declared in all the local government areas in North-East by the Independent National Electoral Commission.  The outcome of the elections made the commission to declare President Buhari as the winner. Today, some areas in the zone have been taken over by insurgents.”

On the economy, he said Nigerians were worse off.

“Interest rates have gone up. Banks no longer have the capacity to grant loans. The lending facilities handed over to this government by the PDP government are all wiped off.

“Today, there is no middle class. So, where is the said performance?  When he is rejected by Nigerians next year, he will go to his village, regretting that he has disappointed the people who elected him to serve them.”

Buhari govt is an empire of corrupt individuals, certificate forgers, liars, PDP alleges

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged, that rather than fighting corruption, President Muhammadu Buhari is practically running a “felonious empire of corrupt individuals, certificate forgers, contract inflators, looters of treasuries and well-known liars”.

The party said that all these have made the administration from “head to toe the biggest assemblage of plunderers” in the history of Nigeria.

The opposition party which said that it has thoroughly reviewed President Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration and submits that it has “irredeemably failed in every sector of our national life”, added that available data, both locally and internationally, confirm that the Buhari administration has failed woefully in all its promises and claims, particularly on fight against corruption, economy, security, democracy as well as national unity and cohesion.

In a statement on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said it has observed that the Buhari administration’s claimed fight against corruption has been exposed to be a big lie; a charade designed to hound perceived political opponents while providing cover for humongous corruption and pillaging of resources by agents of the Buhari Presidency.

“Instead of fighting corruption, this administration is practically a felonious empire of corrupt individuals, certificate forgers, contract inflators, looters of treasuries and well-known liars, making it, ‘head to toe’, the biggest assemblage of plunderers in the history of our nation.

“We ask, if, Mr. President is indeed a man of integrity, as his handlers want the world to believe, why is he comfortable employing, embracing, surrounding himself with and offering protection to corrupt persons, certificate forgers and liars as ministers, advisers and political associates?

 

“Are there things Mr. President benefits or has in common with such individuals that attract them to him or for which they enjoy his cover to steal public funds in parastatals, agencies and ministries, particularly those under the direct supervision of the President?

“Largely, due to the incompetence and corruption of the Buhari Presidency, our once robust economy has been wrecked, resulting in unbearable hardship, unemployment, hunger and starvation, strange sicknesses and untold depression with compatriots resorting to suicide missions and slavery as options.

“Under President Buhari, our nation has become dangerously divided. Violent clashes and bloodletting has become the order of the day. Rights of citizens are daily violated; democratic institutions, including the courts and the National Assembly have come under attack; elections are rigged with impunity; the unity of our beloved country is now under stress,” part of the statement read.