Sahara Reporters Latest News Wednesday 5th June 2019
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 05/06/19
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target=_blank>APC Leadership Crisis: Ruling Party Lambasts Former Chairman Oyegun
John Odigie-Oyegun, APC Chairman
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused John Oyegun, its former national chairman, of handing over a dysfunctional party to his successor.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday in Abuja, Lanre Issa-Onilu, APC’s spokesman, said the former national chairman was responsible for the indiscipline and impunity in the party.
Issa-Onilu said the reason the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) bounced back to claim some states from the APC was because the ruling party did not live up to expectations.
“The leadership under Chief Oyegun, with due respect to him, condoned all sorts of acts of indiscipline from certain members, ” he said.
“It is not surprising that the current National Working Committee inherited such a huge mess, where the party was struggling to differentiate itself from the delinquent PDP. We all know that PDP was practically dead following the devastating defeat of 2015. The PDP bounced back not because the party has changed its insidious way or did anything different, but because APC did not live up to expectations.
“It goes without saying that when an organisation is unable to enforce its own rules, it would suffer the consequences sooner than later. We should not be ashamed to say that our party’s leadership under Chief Oyegun lacked the courage required to confront the pockets of political despots who could not operate by the party’s rules.”
Oyegun had accused Adams Oshiomhole of being incapable of leading a political party in the 21st century, denying responsibility of the mess in the party.
Issa-Onilu, however, lambasted Oyegun for a huge mess Oshiomhole is trying to clear.
“Let me agree that the NWC that led the party into the 2015 elections and continued till June 2018 did nothing different from what you would find in PDP,” Issa-Onilu said.
“It was a period the party was seen as a mere vehicle to attain political office. The system accommodated impunity as certain members appeared to be superior to the party. Their interests were far more important than the collective interests of the APC, even when most times such interests are at variance with the ideals the party stand for.
“You would recall that it was under that leadership that some impudent members of APC called the bluff of the party by imposing themselves on the National Assembly as leaders contrary to the position of the party. Where was the party? Where was the discipline when this happened? It would be difficult to calculate what lack of courage to assert the party supremacy cost APC over that period. The consequences of the inaction of the party were unimaginable.
“We all saw the consequences on governance as the National assembly practically held our government to ransom. The impunity, which President Muhammadu Buhari has rightly described as lack of patriotism, constituted an unfortunate hindrance to the smooth running of government.”
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target=_blank>Again, Nigerian Candidate Wins United Nations General Assembly Presidency
Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Nigeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, has emerged president of the 74th UN General Assembly.
Muhammad-Bande, sole candidate for the position, emerged through acclamation at the 87th plenary meeting of the Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
He is the second Nigerian to hold the office after Joseph Garba, a retired military officer and diplomat, who led the organ between 1989 and 1990.
He will be inaugurated in September. President Muhammadu Buhari had appointed Muhammad- Bande as Nigeria’s representative to the UN on March 31, 2018.
He was born on December 7, 1957, in Zagga, present-day Kebbi State.
He received a BSc in political science from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1979, MA in political science from Boston University, USA in 1981; and a Ph.D in political science from University of Toronto, Canada, in 1987.
He was the vice-chancellor of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto between 2004 and 2009. He served as the director-general of National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies NIPSS) from 2010 to 2016.
He served as the vice-president of the general assembly during the 71st session.
A recipient of the national honour of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), Tijjani Muhammad-Bande is married with four children.
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E2%80%99t-make-reuben-abati target=_blank>The Speech Buhari Didn’t Make By Reuben Abati
Nigerians were left speechless on May 29 when after taking the oaths of office and allegiance, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo left the Eagle Square, the venue of the Presidential Inauguration ceremony without uttering a word. The President had nothing to say to Nigerians. He simply went back into his car and returned to the Presidential Villa. I thought that was an anti-climax. It was such a beautiful ceremony, what with the prayers, parades, gun salute and the symbolic retirement of the Defence flag and the national flag and the hoisting of new ones to signal the end of a term and the beginning of another.
The Constitution does not outline how an inauguration ceremony should be conducted, except that in Nigeria’s case, a President, who has been elected for a first term, or re-elected for a second term in office, must take an oath of office. It would amount to an illegal extension of tenure to shift the day and date. Over the years, certain traditions have also developed around Presidential inaugurations; these may vary from one country to another. In the United States, an inaugural speech is standard practice. Every US President, with the exception of about eight Presidents whose predecessors suddenly died before completing their term, have delivered an inaugural speech since George Washington (1789). Be it in Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa or India, Presidents or Prime Ministers use the opportunity of Inauguration Day to set the tone for their administration, by articulating their vision and mission. A well-written inaugural speech should capture the mood of the nation, reassure the people, connect with them, stir hope and build confidence. The beginning of a new administration provides an opportunity for the leader to give the people something to look forward to. It can also be used as a platform to send a strong message to the international community and assert leadership. Great speeches have been made on Inauguration Day particularly in the United States. Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural speech (1861), Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s inaugural speech (1933) and that of John F. Kennedy (1961) are among some of the most quoted and referenced inaugural speeches ever. Some American Presidents to deepen the event have even added a touch of poetry to the occasion as President Barack Obama did with Maya Angelou in1993.
On May 29, 2019, President wasted a good opportunity to reach out to Nigerians. He made it look as if the whole event was a distraction if not a piece of inconvenience. And yet, the occasion called for a speech given the state of the nation. On Friday, May 29, 2015, the then newly elected 15th President of Nigeria, and the 4thsince 1999 seized the day when he made that famous statement: “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.” He tried to reassure all Nigerians who had been entertaining fears that he would be vindictive as civilian President. He told Nigerians: “..There will be no paying off old scores. The past is prologue.” He reminded Nigerians of the glory of the past and the nobility of our ancestors. Then he defined the priorities of his administration and his vision for the future. For weeks, Nigerians analysed and debated the President Buhari’s 2015 inaugural speech. There was hope in the air. President Buhari promised Nigerians he would deal with the security challenge in the country, strengthen the economy and also wage war against corruption. Those who voted him into power were excited. Every country needs such a moment of re-awakening. So why would the same man treat Nigerians with such contempt on May 29? A Presidential speech is not just words. Thousands have gone to war to defend their nation by just listening to the words of the leader. Winston Churchill was most effective in using his gift of the gab to mobilise an entire nation in pursuit of defined goals.
In the 2019 Presidential election, over 15 million Nigerians voted for President Buhari. Even if he did not have a written speech, he could have spoken ex tempore, on May 29, if only to thank his supporters and all the party members across the nation who worked hard to ensure his re-election. A day after the inauguration, the President left for Saudi Arabia to attend a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Co-operation. He could while speaking ex tempore refer to that meeting and assure Nigerians work had indeed begun. There is no rule prescribing the format or nature of a Presidential inaugural speech. During his second inauguration in 1793, President George Washington’s speech was just 135 words long!
Nonetheless, President Buhari had every reason to talk to Nigerians. There is widespread insecurity in the land, far worse than the situation Nigerians faced in 2015. If President Buhari inherited certain challenges in 2015, those challenges have become worse, four years later. Insecurity is no longer about Boko Haram but banditry, farmers-herdsmen clashes, kidnapping, and the reign of impunity in parts of the country. The Buhari government may have taken Nigeria out of economic recession, but we have also been told by those who should know that we should expect slow growth and the months ahead may bring greater hardship. The evidence is already available: the spate of suicide cases in the country continues to rise. The people are depressed, there is hunger, poverty and despair. On May 29, the President had an opportunity to talk to the people he leads and allay their fears. What the people need is someone to give them hope and who will back that promise with action. As Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the President could also have addressed the troops. Too many innocent lives have been lost in the battlefields of Nigeria: young men and women – military officers, the police, security and intelligence agents generally, whose duty it is to keep Nigeria safe and secure in the face of the assault on the integrity of the Nigerian state by bandits and terrorists. They deserved the President’s recognition and appreciation on the occasion of his swearing in for a second term in office.
Some of the President’s handlers and supporters have tried to dismiss objections to his failure or is it refusal (?) to make a speech on Inauguration day as much ado about northing. They argue that the government had announced previously that May 29 would be a low-key ceremony and that the main celebration would be on June 12 which has now been declared a Federal Holiday for the celebration of Democracy Day. We have now been told to expect a speech on Democracy Day. This sounds like some Presidential staff making an excuse for their own laziness. Inauguration Day and Democracy Day are two separate and distinct events requiring two different kinds of speeches. It is not as if the President even gave a national broadcast on May 29. If he did, then those who dropped the ball on May 29, could easily offer that as excuse. The President of a country cannot be accused of talking too much. President Ronald Reagan addressed the American people virtually every week, on television, on radio or through direct communication and appeal. Jeffrey K. Tulis in his book, The Rhetorical Presidency (1987) says the essence of the modern presidency lies in “rhetorical leadership”, that is power of words, engagement and connection with the people who the President has been elected to lead and serve. Charles O. Jones in an essay titled “The Inaugural Address: Ceremony of Transitions” (2010) argues that “the inaugural address is the most exclusive of presidential speeches.”
Those who have been defending President Buhari have also argued that the President has invited 90 or more world leaders to come and celebrate Democracy Day with Nigerians on June 12. Those world leaders who will attend the June 12 event obviously understand that they are not coming for President Buhari’s inauguration, but an entirely different event. It is up to them to decide whether to attend or not. In 2015, Nigeria invited 54 African countries to President Buhari’s inauguration. About 32 African Heads of State or their Deputies, and at least one King (the King of Swaziland) attended the event. The First Lady of Namibia, and the second Lady of Tanzania attended too; there were over 22 Foreign Ministers, the US Secretary of State, Heads of Parliaments and Heads of International Organizations including the then AU commission Chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. On that occasion too, President Buhari enjoyed the solidarity of all living former Nigerian Heads of State. This year, only General Yakubu Gowon was in attendance. Nobody has told us whether other former Heads of State were invited or not, and even if they showed up on June 12 at Democracy Day celebration, it wouldn’t make up for their conspicuous absence on May 29.
In the absence of anything concrete to hold on to, Nigerians have resorted to speculations and the ridiculous about what happened on May 29 at the Eagle Square in Abuja. There are those who insist that the President indeed said a lot with his silence and body language. I don’t quite understand what that means. Every President can make a difference with his or her own style, but body language is such a confusing style that may be appropriate in the 19thcentury but certainly not in this century. It was US President Woodrow Wilson who observed in 1907 that “the President is at liberty, both in law and conscience, to be as big a man as he can.” Richard Neustadt tells us: “But nowadays he cannot be as small as he might like” (1960). Neustadt is right. The people ordinarily expect the President to rise to every occasion. When he fails them, they opt for the mundane. Heavy weather has been made out of the absence of former Heads of State at this year’s inauguration day in Abuja. There has also been some tittle-tattle about the supposedly brand new Mercedes Benz that brought President Buhari to the Eagle square. That is idle talk of course – should the President have gone to his own inauguration in a rickety vehicle?
During the Presidential campaigns, the key message by President Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is that if given a second term in office, he the President will run a government that will take Nigeria to “the next level.” He is yet to define the content of that “next level”. He could have done so on May 29. Weeks after the dissolution of the Federal Executive Council and one week after his swearing-in, President Buhari is yet to take any step to indicate that the promised journey to “the next level” has begun. The minimum that Nigerians expect by way of difference is that by now, President Buhari would have announced some key appointments, even if all he does is to reappoint the same persons. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in on May 25, three days after he was elected to his first full term as President of South Africa, with his party gaining a majority in parliament with 57.5% of total votes cast. In his inaugural address, President Ramaphosa promised South Africans “a new era.” He told them: “There shall be no longer be any person in this land who will be unable to meet their basic needs.” He invoked the name of Nelson Mandela. He paid tribute to him. Ramaphosa’s predecessor, Mr. Jacob Zuma did not attend the inauguration. He said he did not have time. This has not stopped Ramaphosa from “hitting the ground running.”
He has taken some important steps including the announcement of a cabinet within four days after he was sworn in. He has used the composition of his cabinet to make some statements. He reduced the size of the cabinet from 36 to 28 Ministers. He has also appointed a member of the opposition, Patricia de Lille (GOOD party) to head the Ministry of Public Works and Infrastructure. He got rid of persons in the former cabinet who had been implicated one way or the other in acts of corruption, except perhaps Vice President David Mabuza who seems to have been retained in order not to further factionalize the ANC. There are more young persons and women. Women constitute 50% of the new South African cabinet. Ramaphosa says: “In appointing a new national executive, I have taken a number of considerations into account: including experience, continuity, competence, generational mix, and demographic and regional diversity.”
I believe there are lessons here, that can be learnt from South Africa and also from India where Prime Minister Narendra Modi also provides a good example of how a leader can send the right signals. Modi was sworn in on Thursday, May 30. He announced a new cabinet immediately. Like President Buhari, Prime Minister Modi has been elected for a second term. Unlike Ramaphosa’s cabinet, Modi’s cabinet is big – 58 Ministers – and out of these, only six are women, and only three have been appointed to full Ministerial positions. It is not necessarily an inclusive cabinet. There is even only one Muslim Minister and he is Minister of Minority Affairs! Every country has its own politics. The Indian election 2019 was a referendum on Modi’s leadership. He has proven to be the main issue in Indian politics. He ran a Presidential-style campaign. He won by a landslide because the people trust him.
He continues to build on that trust, like Ramaphosa in South Africa, by settling down to work quickly after election and swearing-in. In Nigeria, that has not happened. One week after inauguration, we are still in the dark, stuck in a limbo. Meanwhile, some aides of the President continue to work for him. By the sheer effluxion of time, the assignment of those aides automatically ended on May 28. If the President wants to reappoint them, it is within his prerogative to do so, but they cannot continue to work for him by conduct. This would amount to a violation of Sections 151 and 171 of the 1999 Constitution. President Buhari should quickly emulate the examples of President Ramaphosa (South Africa) and PM Modi (India) and get this “next level” thing off the ground. Getting the momentum right is an essential part of Presidential power.
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target=_blank>EXPOSED: Ibom Air’s Hangar Of Old Aircraft As Gov. Udom’s Promises Fail To Materialise
Almost four months after the launch of Ibom Air by the Akwa Ibom State government, the airline has not taken to the sky.
The government, which equally owns Ibom Airport, had last February launched Ibom Air with fanfare and three aircraft that were allegedly acquired by the government for commencement of local operations.
But, since the airline was launched in March, the government has not put any of the aircraft to use, despite its promises.
Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the three Bombardier CRJ-900LR (CL-600.2D24) aircraft with the registration numbers C-FWKZ, C-FWNL and C-FWNK were previously owned and operated by different airlines in Canada and Libya.
For instance, the aircraft with the registration number C-FWKZ was manufactured in January 2008 and delivered to Suncor Energy Inc. with the registration number C-GSUM in February 2008.
The aircraft was operated for nine years by the company before it was acquired by Avmax Goup on May 2017 from Canada with the new registration number N580AV.
Avmax Group later changed the registration number to C-FWKZ two months later, before Akwa Ibom State government acquired the same aircraft in March 2019, making the aircraft 11 years and four months old.
Also, another aircraft in the fleet of the airline with the registration mark: C-FWNL, was manufactured in May 2008, which made it 11 years and one month at present.
The aircraft too was previously operated by Suncor Energy between August 2008 under the registration number C-GSUA and by May 2017, was delivered to Avmax Group with the new registration number N581AV.
The same registration number of the aircraft was changed to C-FWNL in July of the same year, before it was acquired by OYA International Airline two years later from Libya with registration number 5A.
However, like the previous one, the same aircraft was acquired by the Akwa Ibom in March 2019 for domestic operations.
The third aircraft in the fleet of the state, another Bombardier CRJ-900 with the registration number C-FWNK, is eight years old.
The aircraft was previously operated by Suncor Energy Inc with the registration number C-GSUF in 2012 and later acquired by Avmax Group with the new registration number N571AV in May 2017 and changed to C-FWNK by the same airline in July 2017, but delivered to Akwa Ibom in March 2019 with the same registration number.
Suspiciously, despite the acquisition of the three aircraft, their registration numbers were not changed by the government, which indicated that the aircraft were under a wet-leased agreement.
A reliable source close to the state government told SaharaReporters that the three aircraft might not be put into use any moment soon.
The government has unveiled its own airline, Ibom Air, with the arrival of two Bombardier aircraft while others are expected to arrive soon.
It would be recalled that Governor Udom Emmanuel had in February unveiled the new airline to the public.
Emmanuel noted that the launch was a monumental achievement not only in Nigeria, but in Africa, stressing that the unveiling of the airline was a fulfillment of his blueprint for the state.
He had said: “We want to run the Ibom airline as one of the most efficient, economically viable and profitable that others will come to copy our business modules. The airline could run three flights, Lagos to Abuja out of Uyo every day.”
Senate President Bukola Saraki had unveiled the new aircraft and described the commissioning as “the audacity of hope.”
But, after a month the aircraft have not begun operations, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy in the state, Charles Udoh, had said the Ibom Air would commence commercial flight operations across Nigeria ahead of the swearing-in of Emmanuel for a second term in office on May 29, 2019.
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target=_blank>I’ll Probe Okorocha’s Financial Dealings, Says Ihedioha
The ongoing tussle between Emeka Ihedioha, the new governor of Imo State, and his predecessor Rochas Okorocha, might not end soon as Ihedioha has vowed to probe every financial dealing done by the state in the last eight years.
Ihedioha said this as he revealed that nothing was handed over to him by Okorocha.
He stated this while speaking with the incoming lawmakers in the state today.
The governor vowed that all those who embezzled the state’s funds must be dealt with, adding that the service of security agencies would be employed to investigate all spending.
“I will have to involve the services of security agencies in making sure that those who served the state must account for it (money spent).
“I will criminalise those who loot our treasury. Nothing was handed over to me. We must make them accountable,” Ihedioha said.
He advised the lawmakers-elect to diligently serve the state, noting that the state is at a “critical point”.
He said, “The opportunities that your legislative position offers may also appear daunting as it is exciting, and as challenging as it is empowering.
“I say this, because you will be assuming your position as members of this legislative assembly at a very critical time when the state is at the crossroads of seeking recovery from an era of arbitrariness to the new direction that we are set to go, of order, due process and respect for the rule of law.”
Meanwhile, Okorocha, while giving his valedictory speech warned the incoming administration of Ihedioha not to fight him.
“When you remove this seal of governance off my face, you will see the real Rochas. The real Rochas is still asleep, if not bigger than the governor, so let no one fight me and I will not fight anybody,” Okorocha said.
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target=_blank>Name Kudirat Abiola As Nigeria’s First Lady, MKO As President, Okei-Odumakin Tells FG
Joe Okei-Odumakin, President of Women Arise for Change Initiative, has asked the Nigerian government to honour the late Kudirat Abiola and name her as an ex-first lady of Nigeria and her husband, MKO Abiola, a former president.
Okei-Odumakin and other activists made the position known today at the remembrance of the late Kudirat who was assassinated 23 years ago.
The activist said that Kudirat must be recognized for her struggle to make Nigeria a better place, adding that she must be immortalized.
Okei-Odumakin also asked for a conclusive trial of those arrested in connection with the murder of Kudirat and bemoaned the level of insecurity in the country.
She asserted that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari must summon the political will to end killings in the country.
“23 years down the line, poverty and insecurity have increased. Leah Sharibu and other people are still with the terrorists as life has become cheap and brutish. The government needs to display more political will to ensure that security of lives and properties in the constitution must be recognized.
“Leah Sharibu must be freed. Whatever must be done to free her must be done because she is a prisoner of conscience and we still have a lot of Chibok girls, people are dying everybody,” Okei-Odumakin said.
PHOTONEWS: Family, Activists, Remember Kudirat Abiola, 23 Years After Assassination
She demanded the government must declare a state of emergency in the security sector in ensuring that needless killings are brought to an end and all those that have perpetrated any heinous acts are brought to book.
Okei-Odumakin added that the Nigerian government should posthumously declare Chief MKO Abiola as a past president, with his portrait hung everywhere and all his entitlements paid.
“They should gazette the result of the June 12 election; all that must be done in ensuring the Nigeria MKO Abiola, Kudirat Abiola, and several others died for. Their death should not be in vain,” Okei-Odumakin said.
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E2%80%99s-know-if-mko-was-president-elect-%E2%80%93-abiola%E2%80%99s target=_blank>Announce June 12 Presidential Election, Let’s Know If MKO Was President-elect – Abiola’s Son
The youngest son of MKO Abiola, the acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993, presidential election, Abdulmumin Abiola, has demanded the results of the poll.
He stated this in an interview with SaharaReporters during the 23rd death anniversary of his mother, Kudirat Abiola, at the family’s home in Ikeja.
According to Abdulmumin, President Muhammadu Buhari has done a good job to acknowledge what his father stood for when he was alive.
He, however, said he wanted the president to use his constitutional power to release the full results of the presidential poll.
He added that the demand was not made to bring in any sort of incentives to the family but to address the injustice that was done in the past and to officially prove that his father was the president-elect of the country.
“What we should now be asking for is the result of the election my father contested; it should be released by the government. They should just release it and once that is done we will know if my father was the president-elect.
“This will not necessarily bring anything to the family but rather will address the injustice that was done in the past and that is all we can ask for.”
Video of 23 Years Remembrance Of Kudirat Abiola: Activists Demand National Honour, Award For Democracy Martyr
23 Years Remembrance Of Kudirat Abiola: Activists Demand National Honour, Award For Democracy Martyr
While also speaking on the government’s decision to celebrate June 12 as the new date to mark the celebration of democracy in the country, the younger Abiola stated that June 12 would not be fully recognized until some of the national issues his father had fought so hard to achieve are addressed.
“I don’t believe June 12 will be fully recognized until some of the issues that my father tried to address during the 1993 (presidential) election are addressed today,” he pointed out.
“Some of these issues can be poverty eradication, gender equality, women involvement, free health care and so on. If we have free health care services, do we have people to utilize these facilities? We have about 200 million people in Nigerian. I look forward to a time when we would start looking at ourselves as part of the solutions and not the problem.”
The son of the late democracy fighter also declared his intention to run in the 2023 parliamentary election in Ogun State.
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target=_blank>EFCC Arraigns Man Over N320 Million Ponzi Scheme
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Uno Michael Eke, the registered trustee of Micheno Multi-purpose Cooperative Society, before Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court in Calabar, Cross River State, on a separate 74-count charge, for allegedly obtaining over N320 million by false pretence from his victims.
Eke allegedly defrauded his victims through a Ponzi scheme by inducing his victims to invest in his Swissgolden packages, through his company, Micheno Multi-purpose Cooperative Society, under the false pretence of paying them 80 percent return on investment within just 40 days.
With the bait, Eke reportedly duped many people through the scheme and when his investors started calling for their money with expected interest, he could not be reached.
One of the charges against him read: “That you, Uno Michael Eke (being the president/chief executive officer of Micheno Multi-purpose Cooperative Society) and registered trustees of Micheno Multi-purpose Cooperative Society (MMCS) on or about the 12th day of July, 2018 in Calabar within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, did obtain the sum of N47,000,000 from one Briggs Nimi Osim by inducing her to invest same into your Swissgolden packages through your Micheno Multi-purpose Cooperative Society Ltd, under the false pretence of paying her 80 percent as return on investment on her principal sum on the fortieth day of her investment, which pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act”.
He pleaded not guilty on all charges.
In view of his not guilty plea, the prosecution counsel, T. N. Ndifon, prayed the court for a trial date and for the accused person to be remanded in prison custody.
The defendant was remanded in prison custody, while the matter was adjourned until June 13, 2019, for the hearing of the bail application.
It would be recalled that Eke had previously been arraigned by the EFCC on two separate charges of alleged fraud of N200 million and N301.2 million, respectively. He is currently in prison custody even as more victims of his Ponzi scheme continue to throng the anti-corruption agency’s Uyo zonal office with petitions revealing how Eke collected money from one person to pay the other only to renege when he could no longer sustain his tricks.
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target=_blank>Court Jails Businesswoman 13 Years For $200,000.00 Fraud
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction and sentencing of a businesswoman, Taiwo Martins, to 13 years imprisonment for $200,000 fraud before Justice Candide-Johnson of the State High Court in Ikeja, Lagos.
The convict and her company, Baal Perazim Investment Concept Limited, were arraigned sometime in 2013 on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, issuance of dud cheque and obtaining money by false pretence.The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against them by the Commission.The prosecution, upon the opening of its case in November 2013, called five witnesses and tendered several exhibits, which were admitted in evidence by the court.While the prosecution was about to call its last witness, the first defendant changed her plea of not guilty to guilty during the January 29, 2019 sitting.In view of the defendants’ plea of guilty, the prosecution urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants based on the evidence already before the court.Delivering his judgment on May 23, 2019, Justice Candide-Johnson convicted and sentenced the first defendant to 13 years imprisonment on the four counts.The Judge also ordered the defendants to restitute the sum of N30,000.000.00 (Thirty Million Naira) to the nominal complainant after release from custody.
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There’s A Collapse Of Government In Nigeria -Comrade Aborisade
Lamenting the spate of killings, insecurity and broken health system in Nigeria, a human rights activist, Comrade Femi Aborisade, says there is a collapse of the government in Nigeria.
Aborisade also blamed politicians for the awful state of Nigeria’s health sector and how prominent public figures like President Muhammadu Buhari fly abroad to receive medical care.
Speaking with SaharaReporters at the 23rd commemoration of the death of the late Kudirat Abiola (wife of the acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993, presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola), Aborisade said Kudirat fought for the abolition of poverty but the Nigerian government has successfully compounded the problem.
He pointed out that, if she were to be alive, Kudirat would have demanded an improvement in the provision of health care for the country.
While calling for a revamp of the health sector also demanded that medical tourism by politicians and highly ranked civil servants should be immediately stopped.
“Like Kudirat, we should be insisting that health care should be free in Nigeria and our rulers should stop embarking on medical tourism.
“They should also seek health care in Nigeria. If they are able to do that, they will be able to revamp the health sector. It is because they have the opportunities to go abroad that they have abandoned the majority of Nigerians to a collapsed state of medical care,” Aborisade said.
Commenting on the state of the economy, Aborisade stated that the poor economy and rising insecurity in the country signified a total collapse and absence of government from the people.
“The index of the seriousness of poverty today can be seen in the unprecedented insecurity and fear life. No one can predict whether he or she can live in Nigeria tomorrow because there is a collapse of the government.
“The constitution provides that the primary purpose of government is the welfare and security of the people but when the government is unable to provide security, that symbolizes the total collapse and absence from the point of view of the masses.”
Politics
PUBLIC HEALTH
New Telegraph Newspaper
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